Showing posts with label SCIENCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCIENCE. Show all posts
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Friday, June 5, 2015
SECRETARY KERRY'S STATEMENT ON WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
World Environment Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
June 4, 2015
Every person on Earth has a role to play in protecting the environment we share—on World Environment Day, June 5, and every day. Every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that future generations are able to enjoy the same safe and healthy planet that we inherited.
This is a pivotal moment when it comes to environmental protection, and how we respond—or don’t—may come to define our generation. Today, our ocean is overfished, polluted, and acidifying by the day. And the science is clear: we must take action on climate change, which poses a threat to the entire planet. We just lived through the hottest year on record. The Arctic is melting faster than previously predicted. Islands and coastal regions face the threat of catastrophic flooding. Countries around the world suffer from historic droughts. Unless we take immediate global action to lower the harmful emissions that are linked to climate change and transition to clean energy sources that also help to grow our economies, we can expect to see these threats multiply.
The good news is we still have time to slow or even reverse some of the troubling trends we’re seeing. And over the course of this year, we’ll have some important opportunities to do so. In October, Chile will host the second-ever Our Ocean conference in Valparaíso, building on the remarkable progress we made at the first Our Ocean conference in Washington last June. And this December, world leaders will come together in Paris to try and reach an ambitious and comprehensive global climate change agreement.
But this isn’t just about what world leaders can do. We can all commit to making changes, small and large. For example, we can choose energy efficient products. We can recycle more. And we can choose to buy our food from sustainable sources. As nations and as individuals, we need to unite to protect our planet. We know what needs to be done; now we need to take action.
World Environment Day
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
June 4, 2015
Every person on Earth has a role to play in protecting the environment we share—on World Environment Day, June 5, and every day. Every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that future generations are able to enjoy the same safe and healthy planet that we inherited.
This is a pivotal moment when it comes to environmental protection, and how we respond—or don’t—may come to define our generation. Today, our ocean is overfished, polluted, and acidifying by the day. And the science is clear: we must take action on climate change, which poses a threat to the entire planet. We just lived through the hottest year on record. The Arctic is melting faster than previously predicted. Islands and coastal regions face the threat of catastrophic flooding. Countries around the world suffer from historic droughts. Unless we take immediate global action to lower the harmful emissions that are linked to climate change and transition to clean energy sources that also help to grow our economies, we can expect to see these threats multiply.
The good news is we still have time to slow or even reverse some of the troubling trends we’re seeing. And over the course of this year, we’ll have some important opportunities to do so. In October, Chile will host the second-ever Our Ocean conference in Valparaíso, building on the remarkable progress we made at the first Our Ocean conference in Washington last June. And this December, world leaders will come together in Paris to try and reach an ambitious and comprehensive global climate change agreement.
But this isn’t just about what world leaders can do. We can all commit to making changes, small and large. For example, we can choose energy efficient products. We can recycle more. And we can choose to buy our food from sustainable sources. As nations and as individuals, we need to unite to protect our planet. We know what needs to be done; now we need to take action.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
RESEARCH SHOWS MEDIA EXPOSURE TO TERROR MAY INCREASE STRESS RELATED SYMPTOMS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Responding to terror (again): A study of the Boston Marathon bombing
Media exposure to prior tragedies may sensitize people to new disasters
The city of Boston endured one of the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in April 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. While emergency workers responded to the chaos and law enforcement agencies began a manhunt for the perpetrators, Americans fixed their attention to television screens, Internet news sites and forums, and Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
In doing so, some of those people may have been raising their acute stress levels, with a corresponding increase in symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, a sense of emotional numbness, or re-experiencing their trauma. Such responses, exhibited shortly after exposure to a trauma, have been linked with long-term negative health effects.
A trio of researchers in psychology and social behavior and nursing science at the University of California (UC), Irvine--supported by the Social Psychology Program in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate--released a paper last year finding that for some individuals, intense exposure to the Boston marathon bombing through media coverage could be associated with more stress symptoms than those who had direct exposure to the attack. Their latest research article, published this month, finds that the likelihood of those symptoms developing also increases with multiple exposures to prior trauma.
In other words, the more hours you spend following disasters and tragedies in the media, the more sensitized you may become.
"Media-based exposure to these large, collective traumas--these community disasters--can have cumulative effects on people," said Dana Rose Garfin, one of the paper's authors. "More prior indirect exposures are associated with higher stress responses following subsequent traumatic events."
Garfin, E. Alison Holman and Roxane Cohen Silver used survey results from residents of metropolitan Boston and New York City collected within weeks of the Marathon bombing to examine the relationship between how they responded to the attack and their media-based exposure to three previous traumatic events: the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Superstorm Sandy and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
"We were able to specifically explore the accumulation of exposure to collective disasters," Silver said. "We looked at three different, collective events to which people on the East Coast--and in particular New York and Boston--have been exposed."
The researchers looked at levels of acute stress in Boston and New York residents within a month after the marathon bombing. The Boston residents were much closer to that act of terrorism, but the researchers did not find that proximity necessarily correlated with higher stress levels. According to their report, New Yorkers already had somewhat heightened stress levels, due to their exposure to Superstorm Sandy, 9/11 and the Sandy Hook shooting, making their responses to the Marathon bombing comparable to those of Bostonians.
These findings do not imply that merely reading one article or watching a single program about a community trauma will necessarily increase stress. The research team's first paper found that acute stress symptoms increased as the number of hours per day of bombing-related media exposure in the week following the bombing increased. People who reported three or more hours per day of media exposure reported higher stress symptoms than those who reported less than one hour per day, and individuals who reported six or more hours a day reported the highest levels of symptoms.
Their latest paper also notes that the effects of cumulative indirect trauma exposure aren't universal.
"There's variability in how this happens," Holman said. "And that's another research question that has to be addressed--to understand what leads to those differences, why some people have sensitivities and others don't."
There are other limits on the findings. The data were correlational--they showed a relationship between increased media exposure to traumatic events and the development of stress symptoms, but they don't provide a direct causal link. Still, based on the evidence the researchers have reviewed thus far, coupled with the findings from a similar study they conducted about exposure to media after the 9/11 attacks, the team members have recommendations for news consumers.
"My recommendation is to turn off the TV and not expose yourself too much through social media or other media sources," Holman said. "Find out what you need to know from the news, but don't overexpose yourself."
Garfin emphasized that overexposure is the key factor.
"I wouldn't say don't stay informed or tune out the news," she said. "It's the repeated exposure to things, which probably isn't giving you new information. We're not saying turn off the TV totally. Stay informed, then go on with your daily life."
The researchers are likely to yield much more in the way of results on the topic. The latest paper represents the first wave of data collection they performed. There are four more following. Their next article, they said, will examine how specific types of media--such as television or social media--are associated with acute stress levels.
-- Robert J. Margetta,
Investigators
Dana Rose Garfin
Ellen Holman
Roxane Silver
Responding to terror (again): A study of the Boston Marathon bombing
Media exposure to prior tragedies may sensitize people to new disasters
The city of Boston endured one of the worst terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in April 2013, when two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. While emergency workers responded to the chaos and law enforcement agencies began a manhunt for the perpetrators, Americans fixed their attention to television screens, Internet news sites and forums, and Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
In doing so, some of those people may have been raising their acute stress levels, with a corresponding increase in symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, a sense of emotional numbness, or re-experiencing their trauma. Such responses, exhibited shortly after exposure to a trauma, have been linked with long-term negative health effects.
A trio of researchers in psychology and social behavior and nursing science at the University of California (UC), Irvine--supported by the Social Psychology Program in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate--released a paper last year finding that for some individuals, intense exposure to the Boston marathon bombing through media coverage could be associated with more stress symptoms than those who had direct exposure to the attack. Their latest research article, published this month, finds that the likelihood of those symptoms developing also increases with multiple exposures to prior trauma.
In other words, the more hours you spend following disasters and tragedies in the media, the more sensitized you may become.
"Media-based exposure to these large, collective traumas--these community disasters--can have cumulative effects on people," said Dana Rose Garfin, one of the paper's authors. "More prior indirect exposures are associated with higher stress responses following subsequent traumatic events."
Garfin, E. Alison Holman and Roxane Cohen Silver used survey results from residents of metropolitan Boston and New York City collected within weeks of the Marathon bombing to examine the relationship between how they responded to the attack and their media-based exposure to three previous traumatic events: the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Superstorm Sandy and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
"We were able to specifically explore the accumulation of exposure to collective disasters," Silver said. "We looked at three different, collective events to which people on the East Coast--and in particular New York and Boston--have been exposed."
The researchers looked at levels of acute stress in Boston and New York residents within a month after the marathon bombing. The Boston residents were much closer to that act of terrorism, but the researchers did not find that proximity necessarily correlated with higher stress levels. According to their report, New Yorkers already had somewhat heightened stress levels, due to their exposure to Superstorm Sandy, 9/11 and the Sandy Hook shooting, making their responses to the Marathon bombing comparable to those of Bostonians.
These findings do not imply that merely reading one article or watching a single program about a community trauma will necessarily increase stress. The research team's first paper found that acute stress symptoms increased as the number of hours per day of bombing-related media exposure in the week following the bombing increased. People who reported three or more hours per day of media exposure reported higher stress symptoms than those who reported less than one hour per day, and individuals who reported six or more hours a day reported the highest levels of symptoms.
Their latest paper also notes that the effects of cumulative indirect trauma exposure aren't universal.
"There's variability in how this happens," Holman said. "And that's another research question that has to be addressed--to understand what leads to those differences, why some people have sensitivities and others don't."
There are other limits on the findings. The data were correlational--they showed a relationship between increased media exposure to traumatic events and the development of stress symptoms, but they don't provide a direct causal link. Still, based on the evidence the researchers have reviewed thus far, coupled with the findings from a similar study they conducted about exposure to media after the 9/11 attacks, the team members have recommendations for news consumers.
"My recommendation is to turn off the TV and not expose yourself too much through social media or other media sources," Holman said. "Find out what you need to know from the news, but don't overexpose yourself."
Garfin emphasized that overexposure is the key factor.
"I wouldn't say don't stay informed or tune out the news," she said. "It's the repeated exposure to things, which probably isn't giving you new information. We're not saying turn off the TV totally. Stay informed, then go on with your daily life."
The researchers are likely to yield much more in the way of results on the topic. The latest paper represents the first wave of data collection they performed. There are four more following. Their next article, they said, will examine how specific types of media--such as television or social media--are associated with acute stress levels.
-- Robert J. Margetta,
Investigators
Dana Rose Garfin
Ellen Holman
Roxane Silver
Monday, June 1, 2015
NAVY ME WORKS TO IDENTIFY HUMAN REMAINS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Medical Examiner Explains Identification Process
By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii, May 29, 2015 – A glass-walled lab offers a brightly lit view of tables displaying hundreds of meticulously placed bone fragments and other human remains, aligned much like military formations.
The lab has a sterile, silent feel, yet the scientists and lab technicians studying and handling the remains don’t seem detached as much as they seem focused.
Navy Capt. (Dr.) Edward Reedy, the first medical examiner for the newly reorganized Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said he and his team use multiple lines of evidence -- circumstances, forensic anthropology, odontology and more -- to effectively identify service members.
Their Reason for Working
“This is not just a job,” he said. “It’s not some place just to come to work for eight hours and then go home. This is literally their reason for working.”
The captain noted that lab technicians and scientists understand deeply the importance of providing answers to next of kin, if only through trace evidence, decades later. He likened walking into the lab to walking into a church.
“It’s sacred ground to people,” he said.
With World War II alone having left more than 73,000 unaccounted for, many of them in the Asia-Pacific region, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency seeks to further enhance DNA testing techniques at the largest forensic anthropology facility and one of the largest pool of anthropologists in the world.
“We take a tremendous amount of pride in the scientific product and the ability to return missing American service people to their loved ones,” Reedy said. “We will periodically go back into our evidence and see if there’s any other material that has previously been unable to be identified because of its small size to be resubmitted for DNA.”
This process, the captain said, helps scientists try to identify even especially small bone fragments.
Less is More Through Technology
In the early 1990s, scientists had a minimum sample submission requirement of about 3 to 5 grams, with each gram about the size of a raisin.
“We’ve reduced that requirement now to less than 1 gram,” Reedy said. “So now 0.8 grams is the minimum sample size required for DNA extraction.”
The recovery process time frame can be daunting. It ranges from as few as six to nine months to decades, depending on the quality of the remains, which can vary depending on climate changes and the soil type where they were found. “For example, in Southeast Asia, the soil there is extremely acidic and will degrade the bone to the point where very little DNA is able to be extracted,” Reedy said.
Some remains, however, come with built-in protective covering, Reedy explained.
“Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, and it will literally survive decades,” Reedy said. The enamel protects the tooth material, which can significantly aid the identification process, he added.
It’s important to give a family answers about their missing relative, no matter how much time has passed, Reedy said.
Different Incarnations
Previously known as the Central Identification Laboratory, the facility has existed under several different incarnations since the end of World War II, but the science in earlier days was largely absent, Reedy explained.
“Back in the late ’40s and up until the early ’90s, there was no such thing as DNA technology,” he said. Scientists relied instead on anthropological techniques to identify recovered remains through race, stature or identifying marks or fractures, particularly on the bones, Reedy said.
But by about 1992, he added, advances in DNA technology occurred, allowing scientists to extract mitochondrial DNA from “ancient remains,” or skeletal material in which the decomposition process has already taken place.
Exponential Advances
“Mitochondrial DNA was the first technology method that was used to help in the identification process,” Reedy said.
Science overall has advanced exponentially, which has inherently yielded important partnerships with organizations such as the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Reedy noted.
“AFDIL has really been a pioneer in advancing DNA technology -- not just for this laboratory, but the entire world,” the captain said.
While AFDIL scientists developed the extraction technique of DNA from bone, DPAA pushed for the evolution, Reedy said. “We were the driving force to make those advancements, to progress the science to the point where we could reliably identify individuals,” he added.
AFDIL developed demineralization protocol that completely removed all the calcium from submitted material, which releases the DNA in a sample during testing. “So not only is mitochondrial DNA released, but autosomal, nuclear DNA,” Reedy said.
Efforts Benefit Diplomacy
Reedy described DPAA’s worldwide, humanitarian mission as one that, in exchange for access to a country, can bring first-class medical care to a remote area, sometimes to villages that may have been deprived of treatment for years.
“It’s another extension of the Department of Defense’s mission to provide the best care to the world,” Reedy said. “That’s an advantage the country’s government can provide to their people.”
Reedy, also a forensic pathologist, said taking care of someone who is deceased is a task he values and treats reverentially.
“This mission really dovetails well into my training,” he said. “It’s very personal for me.”
Medical Examiner Explains Identification Process
By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii, May 29, 2015 – A glass-walled lab offers a brightly lit view of tables displaying hundreds of meticulously placed bone fragments and other human remains, aligned much like military formations.
The lab has a sterile, silent feel, yet the scientists and lab technicians studying and handling the remains don’t seem detached as much as they seem focused.
Navy Capt. (Dr.) Edward Reedy, the first medical examiner for the newly reorganized Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said he and his team use multiple lines of evidence -- circumstances, forensic anthropology, odontology and more -- to effectively identify service members.
Their Reason for Working
“This is not just a job,” he said. “It’s not some place just to come to work for eight hours and then go home. This is literally their reason for working.”
The captain noted that lab technicians and scientists understand deeply the importance of providing answers to next of kin, if only through trace evidence, decades later. He likened walking into the lab to walking into a church.
“It’s sacred ground to people,” he said.
With World War II alone having left more than 73,000 unaccounted for, many of them in the Asia-Pacific region, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency seeks to further enhance DNA testing techniques at the largest forensic anthropology facility and one of the largest pool of anthropologists in the world.
“We take a tremendous amount of pride in the scientific product and the ability to return missing American service people to their loved ones,” Reedy said. “We will periodically go back into our evidence and see if there’s any other material that has previously been unable to be identified because of its small size to be resubmitted for DNA.”
This process, the captain said, helps scientists try to identify even especially small bone fragments.
Less is More Through Technology
In the early 1990s, scientists had a minimum sample submission requirement of about 3 to 5 grams, with each gram about the size of a raisin.
“We’ve reduced that requirement now to less than 1 gram,” Reedy said. “So now 0.8 grams is the minimum sample size required for DNA extraction.”
The recovery process time frame can be daunting. It ranges from as few as six to nine months to decades, depending on the quality of the remains, which can vary depending on climate changes and the soil type where they were found. “For example, in Southeast Asia, the soil there is extremely acidic and will degrade the bone to the point where very little DNA is able to be extracted,” Reedy said.
Some remains, however, come with built-in protective covering, Reedy explained.
“Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, and it will literally survive decades,” Reedy said. The enamel protects the tooth material, which can significantly aid the identification process, he added.
It’s important to give a family answers about their missing relative, no matter how much time has passed, Reedy said.
Different Incarnations
Previously known as the Central Identification Laboratory, the facility has existed under several different incarnations since the end of World War II, but the science in earlier days was largely absent, Reedy explained.
“Back in the late ’40s and up until the early ’90s, there was no such thing as DNA technology,” he said. Scientists relied instead on anthropological techniques to identify recovered remains through race, stature or identifying marks or fractures, particularly on the bones, Reedy said.
But by about 1992, he added, advances in DNA technology occurred, allowing scientists to extract mitochondrial DNA from “ancient remains,” or skeletal material in which the decomposition process has already taken place.
Exponential Advances
“Mitochondrial DNA was the first technology method that was used to help in the identification process,” Reedy said.
Science overall has advanced exponentially, which has inherently yielded important partnerships with organizations such as the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Reedy noted.
“AFDIL has really been a pioneer in advancing DNA technology -- not just for this laboratory, but the entire world,” the captain said.
While AFDIL scientists developed the extraction technique of DNA from bone, DPAA pushed for the evolution, Reedy said. “We were the driving force to make those advancements, to progress the science to the point where we could reliably identify individuals,” he added.
AFDIL developed demineralization protocol that completely removed all the calcium from submitted material, which releases the DNA in a sample during testing. “So not only is mitochondrial DNA released, but autosomal, nuclear DNA,” Reedy said.
Efforts Benefit Diplomacy
Reedy described DPAA’s worldwide, humanitarian mission as one that, in exchange for access to a country, can bring first-class medical care to a remote area, sometimes to villages that may have been deprived of treatment for years.
“It’s another extension of the Department of Defense’s mission to provide the best care to the world,” Reedy said. “That’s an advantage the country’s government can provide to their people.”
Reedy, also a forensic pathologist, said taking care of someone who is deceased is a task he values and treats reverentially.
“This mission really dovetails well into my training,” he said. “It’s very personal for me.”
Sunday, May 31, 2015
SCIENCE/MATH HAVE LIMITS PREDICTING NATURAL DISASTERS LIKE EARTHQUAKES
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Earthquakes expose limits of scientific predictions
But math and science are refining ways to predict, limit impact of disasters
In 2012, six Italian seismologists were sent to prison because they failed to predict the 2009 L'Aquila 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
To some that may seem absurd but it points to the faith so many have come to place in science's ability to predict and prevent tragedies. Experts had for decades predicted that Nepal would experience a massive earthquake, but were unable to provide a more precise warning about the recent 7.8-magnitude quake that devastated the country. The Italian seismologists had similarly predicted earthquake probabilities but could not give an exact date.
Science and mathematics have not reached a point where they can forecast with certainty the exact time and specific severity of these cataclysmic events--and may never do so.
"The best we can do is make an assessment of there being a heightened risk in a certain geographic area over a certain window of time," said William Newman, a theoretical physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has received funding from the National Sceince Foundation (NSF) for his work aimed at improving natural hazard predictions. "We can determine a sense of what is likely to occur, but we will never know exactly."
Newman has spent much of his 35-year career working in computational and applied mathematics but also has employed mathematics in applications to probe natural disaster issues such as earthquakes and climate change.
These days, mathematicians seem to be able to model almost anything, but, as Newman points out, the devil is not only in the details but in creating models that can be used for accurate prediction. In the case of tectonic plates, the randomness of their interaction limits the certainty of predictions, and those predictions become less certain as time passes. In much the same way that a weather forecaster can be more certain about predicting tomorrow's weather than next month's, Newman believes earthquake prediction accuracy has the potential to fall off.
"For mathematicians, three aspects come to mind," Newman said. "We like to think of the equations being well posed, well defined, and that we can run with them. In [Edward] Lorenz's case (whose model of turbulence celebrated its 50th anniversary recently), his equations about atmospheric behavior were, by and large, eminently reasonable. He supersimplified and saw that if he perturbed the initial conditions, after a certain amount of time, he could predict nothing."
Yes, you read that right: nothing.
The problem for mathematicians is that forecasting accuracy can only weaken as more variables cloud the equations and models they build. In the case of earthquakes, Newman says the prospects for good predictions are even more dismal than for atmospheric ones. Chaotic dynamics and complexity prevail.
In Los Angeles, where Newman lives, mathematicians and geophysicists have worked together and determined that sometime in the next 30 years, the area is likely to see a substantial earthquake due to its proximity to the San Andreas Fault. And as each year passes, the risk increases in this window of time. The mathematicians can only put so many pre-determined variables into their equations, including the patterns of tectonic plate changes and the environmental conditions that coincide with earthquake occurrences.
"We have to go into this realizing there are bounds," Newman said. "We are looking at complex systems that can produce patterns we just don't understand."
Additionally, while the news focuses on an earthquake and its aftershocks, there are also "foreshocks." But recognizing a a foreshock is impossible without seeing the seismic event that follows. So trying to formulate day-to-day seismologic predictions after any earthquake event can also be confounding.
Why even try to predict earthquakes?
One could easily draw the conclusion at this point that we walk away from the issue, shaking our heads. But mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, geologists, engineers, and social scientists working together on this issue do provide value, each adding something that could improve the scientific community's understanding of this obviously complex issue.
As instruments become increasingly refined and data proliferate around the world, scientists also gain a better understanding of the consequences of earthquakes.
"It is true that scientists know very little about earthquake predictions," said Junping Wang, program director in NSF's mathematics division. "But this is exactly why we need to support earthquake research. Researching is the only way we can ever hope to build models that help to improve earthquake prediction and build a resilient society."
As they conduct more research in seismology, scientists are able to gain more and better knowledge that can benefit local policymakers looking to enhance preparedness and emergency response to earthquakes and cascading disasters.
"There are still plenty of opportunities where scientific and mathematical research can improve our knowledge," Wang said. "Understanding why an earthquake happened and how it happened helps us build better models, even if they can't tell us a specific date and time. With increased knowledge comes better preparedness."
Earthquake advice from a mathematician
"We can only tell people that there is a certain risk in a certain window of time," Newman said. "Then it's a matter of preparedness."
He cites the example of the Northridge earthquake that rocked the UCLA Mathematical Sciences Building in 1994. Architects designed expansion joints in different sections of the building because they knew that, at some point, it would have to cope with the trauma of earthquakes. In that case, some of the offices went through an "unexpected expansion," but Newman notes that ultimately the repairs were "essentially cosmetic."
Newman, who carries the distinction of being a member of UCLA's mathematics, physics and geology departments, routinely takes students to the San Andreas Fault--and specifically Vazquez Rocks, a set of formations exposed by seismic activity--for their research. He emphasizes that to prevent the fallout of earthquakes like the recent one in Nepal, policymaking that establishes building codes and individual preparedness are essential.
"If you live here, you have to earthquake-proof your home and your business. You need to be able to take care of yourself," he said. "And then when an earthquake does occur, hopefully, it will just be an inconvenience."
-- Ivy F. Kupec,
Investigators
William Newman
Vladimir Keilis-Borok
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of California-Los Angeles
Earthquakes expose limits of scientific predictions
But math and science are refining ways to predict, limit impact of disasters
In 2012, six Italian seismologists were sent to prison because they failed to predict the 2009 L'Aquila 6.3 magnitude earthquake.
To some that may seem absurd but it points to the faith so many have come to place in science's ability to predict and prevent tragedies. Experts had for decades predicted that Nepal would experience a massive earthquake, but were unable to provide a more precise warning about the recent 7.8-magnitude quake that devastated the country. The Italian seismologists had similarly predicted earthquake probabilities but could not give an exact date.
Science and mathematics have not reached a point where they can forecast with certainty the exact time and specific severity of these cataclysmic events--and may never do so.
"The best we can do is make an assessment of there being a heightened risk in a certain geographic area over a certain window of time," said William Newman, a theoretical physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has received funding from the National Sceince Foundation (NSF) for his work aimed at improving natural hazard predictions. "We can determine a sense of what is likely to occur, but we will never know exactly."
Newman has spent much of his 35-year career working in computational and applied mathematics but also has employed mathematics in applications to probe natural disaster issues such as earthquakes and climate change.
These days, mathematicians seem to be able to model almost anything, but, as Newman points out, the devil is not only in the details but in creating models that can be used for accurate prediction. In the case of tectonic plates, the randomness of their interaction limits the certainty of predictions, and those predictions become less certain as time passes. In much the same way that a weather forecaster can be more certain about predicting tomorrow's weather than next month's, Newman believes earthquake prediction accuracy has the potential to fall off.
"For mathematicians, three aspects come to mind," Newman said. "We like to think of the equations being well posed, well defined, and that we can run with them. In [Edward] Lorenz's case (whose model of turbulence celebrated its 50th anniversary recently), his equations about atmospheric behavior were, by and large, eminently reasonable. He supersimplified and saw that if he perturbed the initial conditions, after a certain amount of time, he could predict nothing."
Yes, you read that right: nothing.
The problem for mathematicians is that forecasting accuracy can only weaken as more variables cloud the equations and models they build. In the case of earthquakes, Newman says the prospects for good predictions are even more dismal than for atmospheric ones. Chaotic dynamics and complexity prevail.
In Los Angeles, where Newman lives, mathematicians and geophysicists have worked together and determined that sometime in the next 30 years, the area is likely to see a substantial earthquake due to its proximity to the San Andreas Fault. And as each year passes, the risk increases in this window of time. The mathematicians can only put so many pre-determined variables into their equations, including the patterns of tectonic plate changes and the environmental conditions that coincide with earthquake occurrences.
"We have to go into this realizing there are bounds," Newman said. "We are looking at complex systems that can produce patterns we just don't understand."
Additionally, while the news focuses on an earthquake and its aftershocks, there are also "foreshocks." But recognizing a a foreshock is impossible without seeing the seismic event that follows. So trying to formulate day-to-day seismologic predictions after any earthquake event can also be confounding.
Why even try to predict earthquakes?
One could easily draw the conclusion at this point that we walk away from the issue, shaking our heads. But mathematicians, computer scientists, physicists, geologists, engineers, and social scientists working together on this issue do provide value, each adding something that could improve the scientific community's understanding of this obviously complex issue.
As instruments become increasingly refined and data proliferate around the world, scientists also gain a better understanding of the consequences of earthquakes.
"It is true that scientists know very little about earthquake predictions," said Junping Wang, program director in NSF's mathematics division. "But this is exactly why we need to support earthquake research. Researching is the only way we can ever hope to build models that help to improve earthquake prediction and build a resilient society."
As they conduct more research in seismology, scientists are able to gain more and better knowledge that can benefit local policymakers looking to enhance preparedness and emergency response to earthquakes and cascading disasters.
"There are still plenty of opportunities where scientific and mathematical research can improve our knowledge," Wang said. "Understanding why an earthquake happened and how it happened helps us build better models, even if they can't tell us a specific date and time. With increased knowledge comes better preparedness."
Earthquake advice from a mathematician
"We can only tell people that there is a certain risk in a certain window of time," Newman said. "Then it's a matter of preparedness."
He cites the example of the Northridge earthquake that rocked the UCLA Mathematical Sciences Building in 1994. Architects designed expansion joints in different sections of the building because they knew that, at some point, it would have to cope with the trauma of earthquakes. In that case, some of the offices went through an "unexpected expansion," but Newman notes that ultimately the repairs were "essentially cosmetic."
Newman, who carries the distinction of being a member of UCLA's mathematics, physics and geology departments, routinely takes students to the San Andreas Fault--and specifically Vazquez Rocks, a set of formations exposed by seismic activity--for their research. He emphasizes that to prevent the fallout of earthquakes like the recent one in Nepal, policymaking that establishes building codes and individual preparedness are essential.
"If you live here, you have to earthquake-proof your home and your business. You need to be able to take care of yourself," he said. "And then when an earthquake does occur, hopefully, it will just be an inconvenience."
-- Ivy F. Kupec,
Investigators
William Newman
Vladimir Keilis-Borok
Related Institutions/Organizations
University of California-Los Angeles
Saturday, May 30, 2015
NSF REPORTS SCHOLARS USING GEOGRAPHY TO STUDY HOLOCAUST
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Geography and mapping give new dimension to study of the Holocaust
Research addresses questions about the scale of the Holocaust, the meaning of place, and the significance of spatial patterns
Numerous scholars in recent years have made the horrors of the Holocaust real to the public through various media, including books and memoirs, films, art, photography and museum exhibitions. Anne Kelly Knowles and her collaborators are using a different approach to better understand the genocide: geography and mapping.
More specifically, the researchers are employing historical geographic information systems (GIS), computer programs that store, display, and analyze data of past geographies to gain new insights into how the Nazis implemented the Holocaust, the patterns of events, and the impact of the Holocaust on different places.
"The key is to recognize that perpetrators and victims experienced the Holocaust at different scales, but that those scales registered – came together – in particular places at particular times," says Knowles, a professor of geography at Middlebury College, who is joining the faculty of the University of Maine in Orono as a professor of history in fall 2015.
"We wanted our geographical explorations and experiments to be deeply grounded in history,’’ she adds. "At the same time, we wanted to ask new questions about the scale of the Holocaust, the meaning of place, and the significance of spatial patterns. Mapping complex data, like the development of the SS concentration camps system, inevitably shows you things you would not know – unless you make a map."
GIS "allows you to layer many kinds of information in the same visual space, and to use animation to see change over time,’" Knowles says. For example, in compiling a data base of 1,300 concentration camps and their associated labor camps," you can ask the computer program a question about the data, and it provides the answer as a map,’’ she says. "I could ask: 'Which camps were established by Jan. 1, 1942?' and it would show me in a map. I could continue to ask questions, and see how the number of camps grew."
Michael De Groot, a former undergraduate history major at Stanford University involved in the research, developed a series of digital layers showing the political boundaries of Europe during WWII. Using animation, he showed how the boundaries changed over time in combination with the expansion of the camps. "When you watch this particular animation, you can see the growth of the Reich and the growth of the camps together," she says. "It so clearly showed that the SS only established camps within territory they politically controlled. Some historians already knew this, but to actually see relationships like that hits you between the eyes.’"
Ultimately, GIS animations like this could become a valuable tool for teaching future students about the events of the Holocaust, Knowles says. "The ability to tell the story of the Holocaust visually makes it very exciting for teachers," she says. "It gets across fundamental information about the dynamics of the Holocaust that is crucial for students to understand."
Some material already is available at the Stanford University spatial history lab website, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, she says.
Knowles worked with nine collaborators, an interdisciplinary team of historians and geographers who call themselves the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative, with resource support provided by Holocaust museum. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the project with about $500,000. Last year the group published a book summarizing the first phase of their research, The Geographies of the Holocaust.
Knowles plans to continue her studies with a recently awarded fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which annually supports a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists chosen on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.
Her Guggenheim project, Telling the Spatial Story of the Holocaust,will be a novella-length eBook that follows 10 people through the Holocaust (1933 – 1945), connecting their experiences to the spatial unfolding of the Holocaust as Nazi plans were implemented in one place after another. It will be equal parts research, new modes of geo-visual story-telling, and multi-dimensional narrative.
In the NSF-funded project, the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative focused on the different scales at which the Holocaust occurred across Europe, from the continental scale of the development of the SS camp system, to the regional scale, including attacks on civilian populations in Belarus and Lithuania, as well as the arrest and transport of Jews in Italy. The group also examined the urban scale of the Auschwitz camp and the Budapest ghetto, and the scale of individual experience in a study of Auschwitz survivor testimony from January, 1945.
"The Holocaust happened on every scale possible, including the planners in Berlin working with maps and deciding where to put the next concentration camp, making it easier for them to dehumanize the places and people they were planning to capture and obliterate," she says. ``But there also are the personal experiences, the intimate meaning of home, community, synagogue. We think of geography as both remote, abstract planning and intensely personal experiences in time and space.’"
By conducting a geographic analysis of a database of places where Italian Jews were arrested – and who arrested them – and where they were taken, it became clear "that Italian troops and police were every bit as involved as the Germans were," she says, which contradicted long-held assumptions that the Italians were not involved or not as culpable as the Germans were in the Italian Holocaust. "When you convert the information in a database into a map, you can see geographically what happens to these people and who arrested them - both Germans and Italians were deeply involved. It gives you a more nuanced sense of what was happening on the ground."
"This is what I find compelling about historical geography," she adds. "Asking questions about what is happening to people in their homes and in the streets makes it more real."
Another piece of the study – examining the database related to the assaults on civilians in Lithuania – revealed a short window of time when the attacks changed fundamentally. Initially, the Einsatzgruppen (specialized attack squads of German soldiers) in Lithuania went after men and boys. "But at the end of August, 1941, they started attacking all Jews – all ages, women and children and the elderly," she says."This is the moment of genocide, when they were trying to kill everyone.
"This is not brand new information, but by visualizing it, it makes this moment of genocide clear," she adds. "This is really important because there is no document in the historical record of anyone ever saying: 'Now is when we are going to start killing all the Jews.'"
The Holocaust Geographies Collaborative now is turning to new research on victims’ experiences, applying GIS and other digital methods, such as corpus linguistics (the study of language as revealed in samples of"real world" text), to analyze video and written testimony.
Knowles points out, most importantly, that the work she and her collaborators are doing is not just history, or geography – but both. And they complement and enrich each other.
"We go back and forth," she says. "A map shows us something that raises historical questions. Then you go back and do historical research, which raises more geographical questions. This is the new way of doing Holocaust studies – and of doing history."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Anne Knowles
Related Institutions/Organizations
Middlebury College
Geography and mapping give new dimension to study of the Holocaust
Research addresses questions about the scale of the Holocaust, the meaning of place, and the significance of spatial patterns
Numerous scholars in recent years have made the horrors of the Holocaust real to the public through various media, including books and memoirs, films, art, photography and museum exhibitions. Anne Kelly Knowles and her collaborators are using a different approach to better understand the genocide: geography and mapping.
More specifically, the researchers are employing historical geographic information systems (GIS), computer programs that store, display, and analyze data of past geographies to gain new insights into how the Nazis implemented the Holocaust, the patterns of events, and the impact of the Holocaust on different places.
"The key is to recognize that perpetrators and victims experienced the Holocaust at different scales, but that those scales registered – came together – in particular places at particular times," says Knowles, a professor of geography at Middlebury College, who is joining the faculty of the University of Maine in Orono as a professor of history in fall 2015.
"We wanted our geographical explorations and experiments to be deeply grounded in history,’’ she adds. "At the same time, we wanted to ask new questions about the scale of the Holocaust, the meaning of place, and the significance of spatial patterns. Mapping complex data, like the development of the SS concentration camps system, inevitably shows you things you would not know – unless you make a map."
GIS "allows you to layer many kinds of information in the same visual space, and to use animation to see change over time,’" Knowles says. For example, in compiling a data base of 1,300 concentration camps and their associated labor camps," you can ask the computer program a question about the data, and it provides the answer as a map,’’ she says. "I could ask: 'Which camps were established by Jan. 1, 1942?' and it would show me in a map. I could continue to ask questions, and see how the number of camps grew."
Michael De Groot, a former undergraduate history major at Stanford University involved in the research, developed a series of digital layers showing the political boundaries of Europe during WWII. Using animation, he showed how the boundaries changed over time in combination with the expansion of the camps. "When you watch this particular animation, you can see the growth of the Reich and the growth of the camps together," she says. "It so clearly showed that the SS only established camps within territory they politically controlled. Some historians already knew this, but to actually see relationships like that hits you between the eyes.’"
Ultimately, GIS animations like this could become a valuable tool for teaching future students about the events of the Holocaust, Knowles says. "The ability to tell the story of the Holocaust visually makes it very exciting for teachers," she says. "It gets across fundamental information about the dynamics of the Holocaust that is crucial for students to understand."
Some material already is available at the Stanford University spatial history lab website, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website, she says.
Knowles worked with nine collaborators, an interdisciplinary team of historians and geographers who call themselves the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative, with resource support provided by Holocaust museum. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the project with about $500,000. Last year the group published a book summarizing the first phase of their research, The Geographies of the Holocaust.
Knowles plans to continue her studies with a recently awarded fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which annually supports a diverse group of scholars, artists, and scientists chosen on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.
Her Guggenheim project, Telling the Spatial Story of the Holocaust,will be a novella-length eBook that follows 10 people through the Holocaust (1933 – 1945), connecting their experiences to the spatial unfolding of the Holocaust as Nazi plans were implemented in one place after another. It will be equal parts research, new modes of geo-visual story-telling, and multi-dimensional narrative.
In the NSF-funded project, the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative focused on the different scales at which the Holocaust occurred across Europe, from the continental scale of the development of the SS camp system, to the regional scale, including attacks on civilian populations in Belarus and Lithuania, as well as the arrest and transport of Jews in Italy. The group also examined the urban scale of the Auschwitz camp and the Budapest ghetto, and the scale of individual experience in a study of Auschwitz survivor testimony from January, 1945.
"The Holocaust happened on every scale possible, including the planners in Berlin working with maps and deciding where to put the next concentration camp, making it easier for them to dehumanize the places and people they were planning to capture and obliterate," she says. ``But there also are the personal experiences, the intimate meaning of home, community, synagogue. We think of geography as both remote, abstract planning and intensely personal experiences in time and space.’"
By conducting a geographic analysis of a database of places where Italian Jews were arrested – and who arrested them – and where they were taken, it became clear "that Italian troops and police were every bit as involved as the Germans were," she says, which contradicted long-held assumptions that the Italians were not involved or not as culpable as the Germans were in the Italian Holocaust. "When you convert the information in a database into a map, you can see geographically what happens to these people and who arrested them - both Germans and Italians were deeply involved. It gives you a more nuanced sense of what was happening on the ground."
"This is what I find compelling about historical geography," she adds. "Asking questions about what is happening to people in their homes and in the streets makes it more real."
Another piece of the study – examining the database related to the assaults on civilians in Lithuania – revealed a short window of time when the attacks changed fundamentally. Initially, the Einsatzgruppen (specialized attack squads of German soldiers) in Lithuania went after men and boys. "But at the end of August, 1941, they started attacking all Jews – all ages, women and children and the elderly," she says."This is the moment of genocide, when they were trying to kill everyone.
"This is not brand new information, but by visualizing it, it makes this moment of genocide clear," she adds. "This is really important because there is no document in the historical record of anyone ever saying: 'Now is when we are going to start killing all the Jews.'"
The Holocaust Geographies Collaborative now is turning to new research on victims’ experiences, applying GIS and other digital methods, such as corpus linguistics (the study of language as revealed in samples of"real world" text), to analyze video and written testimony.
Knowles points out, most importantly, that the work she and her collaborators are doing is not just history, or geography – but both. And they complement and enrich each other.
"We go back and forth," she says. "A map shows us something that raises historical questions. Then you go back and do historical research, which raises more geographical questions. This is the new way of doing Holocaust studies – and of doing history."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Anne Knowles
Related Institutions/Organizations
Middlebury College
Thursday, May 28, 2015
NASA PROVIDES HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE OF EUROPA
FROM: NASA
This 12-frame mosaic provides the highest resolution view ever obtained of the side of Jupiter's moon Europa that faces the giant planet. It was obtained on Nov. 25, 1999 by the camera onboard the Galileo spacecraft, a past NASA mission to Jupiter and its moons which ended in 2003. NASA will announce today, Tuesday, May 26, the selection of science instruments for a mission to Europa, to investigate whether it could harbor conditions suitable for life. The Europa mission would conduct repeated close flybys of the small moon during a three-year period.
Numerous linear features in the center of this mosaic and toward the poles may have formed in response to tides strong enough to fracture Europa's icy surface. Some of these features extend for over 1,500 kilometers (900 miles). Darker regions near the equator on the eastern (right) and western (left) limb may be vast areas of chaotic terrain. Bright white spots near the western limb are the ejecta blankets of young impact craters.
North is to the top of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from the left. The image, centered at 0 latitude and 10 longitude, covers an area approximately 2,500 by 3,000 kilometers. The finest details that can discerned in this picture are about 2 kilometers across (about 1,550 by 1,860 miles). The images were taken by Galileo's camera when the spacecraft was 94,000 kilometers (58,000 miles) from Europa.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.
VERY PROMISING QUANTUM DOTS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Many uses in researching quantum dots
These nanoparticles can achieve higher levels of energy when light stimulates them.
It's easier to dissolve a sugar cube in a glass of water by crushing the cube first, because the numerous tiny particles cover more surface area in the water than the cube itself. In a way, the same principle applies to the potential value of materials composed of nanoparticles.
Because nanoparticles are so small, millions of times smaller than the width of a human hair, they have "tremendous surface area," raising the possibility of using them to design materials with more efficient solar-to-electricity and solar-to-chemical energy pathways, says Ari Chakraborty, an assistant professor of chemistry at Syracuse University.
"They are very promising materials," he says. "You can optimize the amount of energy you produce from a nanoparticle-based solar cell."
Chakraborty, an expert in physical and theoretical chemistry, quantum mechanics and nanomaterials, is seeking to understand how these nanoparticles interact with light after changing their shape and size, which means, for example, they ultimately could provide enhanced photovoltaic and light-harvesting properties. Changing their shape and size is possible "without changing their chemical composition," he says. "The same chemical compound in different sizes and shapes will interact differently with light."
Specifically, the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist is focusing on quantum dots, which are semiconductor crystals on a nanometer scale. Quantum dots are so tiny that the electrons within them exist only in states with specific energies. As such, quantum dots behave similarly to atoms, and, like atoms, can achieve higher levels of energy when light stimulates them.
Chakraborty works in theoretical and computational chemistry, meaning "we work with computers and computers only," he says. "The goal of computational chemistry is to use fundamental laws of physics to understand how matter interacts with each other, and, in my research, with light. We want to predict chemical processes before they actually happen in the lab, which tells us which direction to pursue."
These atoms and molecules follow natural laws of motion, "and we know what they are," he says. "Unfortunately, they are too complicated to be solved by hand or calculator when applied to chemical systems, which is why we use a computer."
The "electronically excited" states of the nanoparticles influence their optical properties, he says.
"We investigate these excited states by solving the Schrödinger equation for the nanoparticles," he says, referring to a partial differential equation that describes how the quantum state of some physical system changes with time. "The Schrödinger equation provides the quantum mechanical description of all the electrons in the nanoparticle.
"However, accurate solution of the Schrödinger equation is challenging because of large number of electrons in system," he adds. "For example, a 20 nanometer CdSe quantum dot contains over 6 million electrons. Currently, the primary focus of my research group is to develop new quantum chemical methods to address these challenges. The newly developed methods are implemented in open-source computational software, which will be distributed to the general public free of charge."
Solar voltaics, "requires a substance that captures light, uses it, and transfers that energy into electrical energy," he says. With solar cell materials made of nanoparticles, "you can use different shapes and sizes, and capture more energy," he adds. "Also, you can have a large surface area for a small amount of materials, so you don't need a lot of them."
Nanoparticles also could be useful in converting solar energy to chemical energy, he says. "How do you store the energy when the sun is not out?" he says. "For example, leaves on a tree take energy and store it as glucose, then later use the glucose for food. One potential application is to develop artificial leaves for artificial photosynthesis. There is a huge area of ongoing research to make compounds that can store energy."
Medical imaging presents another useful potential application, he says.
"For example, nanoparticles have been coated with binding agents that bind to cancerous cells," he says. "Under certain chemical and physical conditions, the nanoparticles can be tuned to emit light, which allows us to take pictures of the nanoparticles. You could pinpoint the areas where there are cancerous cells in the body. The regions where the cancerous cells are located show up as bright spots in the photograph."
Chakraborty is conducting his research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with $622,123 over five years.
As part of the grant's educational component, Chakraborty is hosting several students from a local high school--East Syracuse Mineoa High School--in his lab. He also has organized two workshops for high school teachers on how to use computational tools in their classrooms "to make chemistry more interesting and intuitive to high school students," he says.
"The really good part about it is that the kids can really work with the molecules because they can see them on the screen and manipulate them in 3-D space," he adds. "They can explore their structure using computers. They can measure distances, angles, and energies associated with the molecules, which is not possible to do with a physical model. They can stretch it, and see it come back to its original structure. It's a real hands-on experience that the kids can have while learning chemistry."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Arindam Chakraborty
Related Institutions/Organizations
Syracuse University
Many uses in researching quantum dots
These nanoparticles can achieve higher levels of energy when light stimulates them.
It's easier to dissolve a sugar cube in a glass of water by crushing the cube first, because the numerous tiny particles cover more surface area in the water than the cube itself. In a way, the same principle applies to the potential value of materials composed of nanoparticles.
Because nanoparticles are so small, millions of times smaller than the width of a human hair, they have "tremendous surface area," raising the possibility of using them to design materials with more efficient solar-to-electricity and solar-to-chemical energy pathways, says Ari Chakraborty, an assistant professor of chemistry at Syracuse University.
"They are very promising materials," he says. "You can optimize the amount of energy you produce from a nanoparticle-based solar cell."
Chakraborty, an expert in physical and theoretical chemistry, quantum mechanics and nanomaterials, is seeking to understand how these nanoparticles interact with light after changing their shape and size, which means, for example, they ultimately could provide enhanced photovoltaic and light-harvesting properties. Changing their shape and size is possible "without changing their chemical composition," he says. "The same chemical compound in different sizes and shapes will interact differently with light."
Specifically, the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist is focusing on quantum dots, which are semiconductor crystals on a nanometer scale. Quantum dots are so tiny that the electrons within them exist only in states with specific energies. As such, quantum dots behave similarly to atoms, and, like atoms, can achieve higher levels of energy when light stimulates them.
Chakraborty works in theoretical and computational chemistry, meaning "we work with computers and computers only," he says. "The goal of computational chemistry is to use fundamental laws of physics to understand how matter interacts with each other, and, in my research, with light. We want to predict chemical processes before they actually happen in the lab, which tells us which direction to pursue."
These atoms and molecules follow natural laws of motion, "and we know what they are," he says. "Unfortunately, they are too complicated to be solved by hand or calculator when applied to chemical systems, which is why we use a computer."
The "electronically excited" states of the nanoparticles influence their optical properties, he says.
"We investigate these excited states by solving the Schrödinger equation for the nanoparticles," he says, referring to a partial differential equation that describes how the quantum state of some physical system changes with time. "The Schrödinger equation provides the quantum mechanical description of all the electrons in the nanoparticle.
"However, accurate solution of the Schrödinger equation is challenging because of large number of electrons in system," he adds. "For example, a 20 nanometer CdSe quantum dot contains over 6 million electrons. Currently, the primary focus of my research group is to develop new quantum chemical methods to address these challenges. The newly developed methods are implemented in open-source computational software, which will be distributed to the general public free of charge."
Solar voltaics, "requires a substance that captures light, uses it, and transfers that energy into electrical energy," he says. With solar cell materials made of nanoparticles, "you can use different shapes and sizes, and capture more energy," he adds. "Also, you can have a large surface area for a small amount of materials, so you don't need a lot of them."
Nanoparticles also could be useful in converting solar energy to chemical energy, he says. "How do you store the energy when the sun is not out?" he says. "For example, leaves on a tree take energy and store it as glucose, then later use the glucose for food. One potential application is to develop artificial leaves for artificial photosynthesis. There is a huge area of ongoing research to make compounds that can store energy."
Medical imaging presents another useful potential application, he says.
"For example, nanoparticles have been coated with binding agents that bind to cancerous cells," he says. "Under certain chemical and physical conditions, the nanoparticles can be tuned to emit light, which allows us to take pictures of the nanoparticles. You could pinpoint the areas where there are cancerous cells in the body. The regions where the cancerous cells are located show up as bright spots in the photograph."
Chakraborty is conducting his research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with $622,123 over five years.
As part of the grant's educational component, Chakraborty is hosting several students from a local high school--East Syracuse Mineoa High School--in his lab. He also has organized two workshops for high school teachers on how to use computational tools in their classrooms "to make chemistry more interesting and intuitive to high school students," he says.
"The really good part about it is that the kids can really work with the molecules because they can see them on the screen and manipulate them in 3-D space," he adds. "They can explore their structure using computers. They can measure distances, angles, and energies associated with the molecules, which is not possible to do with a physical model. They can stretch it, and see it come back to its original structure. It's a real hands-on experience that the kids can have while learning chemistry."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Arindam Chakraborty
Related Institutions/Organizations
Syracuse University
Sunday, May 24, 2015
CDC SAYS SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION FOUND BETWEEN SEVERE VISION LOSS AND POVERTY
FROM: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Geographic Disparity of Severe Vision Loss in the United States, 2009–2013
An analysis of U.S. county-level data found a significant correlation between severe vision loss and poverty. Southern states had the highest prevalence of severe vision loss and poverty. Severe vision loss (SVL) often affects activities of daily living, leads to depression and social isolation, and increases the risk of falls and injuries. Limited data and research are available at the local levels, where interventions and policy decisions to reduce the burden of vision loss and eliminate disparities are often developed and implemented. After examining county-level data from the American Community Survey, SVL prevalence was strongly correlated with poverty. The majority of counties in the top 25 percent for both SVL and poverty were primarily in the southern United States.
Geographic Disparity of Severe Vision Loss in the United States, 2009–2013
An analysis of U.S. county-level data found a significant correlation between severe vision loss and poverty. Southern states had the highest prevalence of severe vision loss and poverty. Severe vision loss (SVL) often affects activities of daily living, leads to depression and social isolation, and increases the risk of falls and injuries. Limited data and research are available at the local levels, where interventions and policy decisions to reduce the burden of vision loss and eliminate disparities are often developed and implemented. After examining county-level data from the American Community Survey, SVL prevalence was strongly correlated with poverty. The majority of counties in the top 25 percent for both SVL and poverty were primarily in the southern United States.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
NASA's VACUUM CHAMBER 5
FROM: NASA
When you need to test hardware designed to operate in the vast reaches of space, you start in a vacuum chamber. NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland has many of them, but Vacuum Chamber 5 (VF-5) is special. Supporting the testing of electric propulsion and power systems, VF-5 has the highest pumping speed of any electric propulsion test facility in the world, which is important in maintaining a continuous space-like environment.
The cryogenic panels at the top and back of the chamber house a helium-cooled panel that reaches near absolute zero temperatures (about -440 degrees Fahrenheit). The extreme cold of this panel freezes any air left in the chamber and quickly freezes the thruster exhaust, allowing the chamber to maintain a high vacuum environment. The outer chevrons are cooled with liquid nitrogen to shield the cryogenic panels from the room temperature surfaces of the tank.
Most electric propulsion devices, such as Hall Thrusters, use xenon as a propellant, which is very expensive. By capturing the used xenon as ice during testing, researchers are able to recover the propellant to reuse, saving NASA and test customers considerable costs.
The oil diffusion pumps along the bottom of the tank capped by circular covers use a low vapor pressure silicon oil to concentrate small amounts of gas to the point where it can be mechanically pumped from the chamber.
VF-5 will continue to provide a testing environment for Glenn’s advanced Solar Electric Propulsion technology needed for future astronaut expeditions into deep space, including to Mars.
Image Credit: NASA
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
FTC CHALLENGES CLAIMS OF SUPPLEMENTS PREVENTING GRAY HAIR
FROM: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Challenges Marketers’ Baseless Claims That Their Supplements Prevent or Reverse Gray Hair
Defendants Falsely Claimed Their Products Were Backed by Science, Agency Says
Two marketers of dietary supplements have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made unfounded claims that their products could prevent or reverse gray hair. The agency is pursuing legal action in court against a third company for making similar claims.
Under settlements with the FTC, GetAwayGrey, LLC and its president Robin Duner-Fenter, the sellers of “Get Away Grey,” and Rise-N-Shine, LLC and its president Cathy Beggan, the sellers of “Go Away Gray,” are barred from making these types of gray hair elimination claims unless they have reliable scientific evidence to support them. The FTC also filed a complaint against COORGA Nutraceuticals Corporation and its principal Garfield Coore, who market a line of products called “Grey Defence.”
“These companies claimed their supplements could treat gray hair at its roots,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In fact, their root problem was a lack of evidence for their claims.”
As detailed in the FTC’s separate complaints against GetAwayGrey, LLC, Rise-N-Shine, LLC, and COORGA Nutraceuticals Corporation and their respective principals, the defendants market dietary supplements containing the enzyme “catalase.” The defendants have claimed the catalase in their products attacks hydrogen peroxide, the chemical that causes hair to turn gray.
In addition to selling a dietary supplement, Rise-N-Shine also has marketed a catalase-containing shampoo and hair conditioner. The companies have sold their products online and through retailers such as CVS and Walgreens at prices ranging from $29.95 to $69.99 per bottle.
The FTC’s complaints allege that ads for the products made false or unsubstantiated claims that the products reverse or prevent the formation of gray hair, including:
“Watch your grey go away! Now, grey hair can be stopped and reversed . . . We stop grey hair by using a vitamin that includes the Catalase enzyme. Just two vitamin pills a day can bring back your natural hair color.” (GetAwayGrey)
“New & Improved! Now With 50% More Catalase . . . . ‘After 3 months of Go Away Gray, I can see white roots coming in darker. I’m very impressed!’ – D. Heindl” (Rise-N-Shine); and
“65% of Grey Defence Customers in [an] Observational Study Reversed Their Grey! Grey Defence Reverses Greying – Detailed Observational Study Proves it.” (COORGA)
The proposed orders against GetAwayGrey and Rise-N-Shine prohibit the defendants from representing that a covered product reverses or prevents the formation of gray hair, and from making any claim about the health benefits, performance, or efficacy of any covered product, unless the claim is non-misleading and the defendants have competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate it. They also require the defendants to retain certain records of human clinical testing that they rely on as competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The orders include a suspended $1,817,939 judgment against the GetAwayGrey defendants, and a $2 million suspended judgment against the Rise-N-Shine defendants, which would become due if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
The FTC acknowledges the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus for its referral of the COORGA Nutraceuticals case.
The Commission vote approving the three complaints and two proposed stipulated court orders was 5-0. The complaint and proposed order against GetAwayGrey and Robin Duner-Fenter were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. The complaint and proposed order against Rise-N-Shine and Cathy Beggan were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the complaint against COORGA and Garfield Coore was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.
For information about how to avoid advertising fraud for these types of products, consumers can read Dietary Supplements: Health Information for Older People, and A Healthy Dose of Skepticism.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
FTC Challenges Marketers’ Baseless Claims That Their Supplements Prevent or Reverse Gray Hair
Defendants Falsely Claimed Their Products Were Backed by Science, Agency Says
Two marketers of dietary supplements have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they made unfounded claims that their products could prevent or reverse gray hair. The agency is pursuing legal action in court against a third company for making similar claims.
Under settlements with the FTC, GetAwayGrey, LLC and its president Robin Duner-Fenter, the sellers of “Get Away Grey,” and Rise-N-Shine, LLC and its president Cathy Beggan, the sellers of “Go Away Gray,” are barred from making these types of gray hair elimination claims unless they have reliable scientific evidence to support them. The FTC also filed a complaint against COORGA Nutraceuticals Corporation and its principal Garfield Coore, who market a line of products called “Grey Defence.”
“These companies claimed their supplements could treat gray hair at its roots,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In fact, their root problem was a lack of evidence for their claims.”
As detailed in the FTC’s separate complaints against GetAwayGrey, LLC, Rise-N-Shine, LLC, and COORGA Nutraceuticals Corporation and their respective principals, the defendants market dietary supplements containing the enzyme “catalase.” The defendants have claimed the catalase in their products attacks hydrogen peroxide, the chemical that causes hair to turn gray.
In addition to selling a dietary supplement, Rise-N-Shine also has marketed a catalase-containing shampoo and hair conditioner. The companies have sold their products online and through retailers such as CVS and Walgreens at prices ranging from $29.95 to $69.99 per bottle.
The FTC’s complaints allege that ads for the products made false or unsubstantiated claims that the products reverse or prevent the formation of gray hair, including:
“Watch your grey go away! Now, grey hair can be stopped and reversed . . . We stop grey hair by using a vitamin that includes the Catalase enzyme. Just two vitamin pills a day can bring back your natural hair color.” (GetAwayGrey)
“New & Improved! Now With 50% More Catalase . . . . ‘After 3 months of Go Away Gray, I can see white roots coming in darker. I’m very impressed!’ – D. Heindl” (Rise-N-Shine); and
“65% of Grey Defence Customers in [an] Observational Study Reversed Their Grey! Grey Defence Reverses Greying – Detailed Observational Study Proves it.” (COORGA)
The proposed orders against GetAwayGrey and Rise-N-Shine prohibit the defendants from representing that a covered product reverses or prevents the formation of gray hair, and from making any claim about the health benefits, performance, or efficacy of any covered product, unless the claim is non-misleading and the defendants have competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate it. They also require the defendants to retain certain records of human clinical testing that they rely on as competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The orders include a suspended $1,817,939 judgment against the GetAwayGrey defendants, and a $2 million suspended judgment against the Rise-N-Shine defendants, which would become due if the defendants are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
The FTC acknowledges the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus for its referral of the COORGA Nutraceuticals case.
The Commission vote approving the three complaints and two proposed stipulated court orders was 5-0. The complaint and proposed order against GetAwayGrey and Robin Duner-Fenter were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. The complaint and proposed order against Rise-N-Shine and Cathy Beggan were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the complaint against COORGA and Garfield Coore was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.
For information about how to avoid advertising fraud for these types of products, consumers can read Dietary Supplements: Health Information for Older People, and A Healthy Dose of Skepticism.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
DOD LAB DAY AND NEW WARFIGHTER TECH
Right: Air Force 1st Lt. Caroline Kurtz, a human factors engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory, briefs Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work on wearable technology systems as he tours exhibits during DoD Lab Day at the Pentagon, May 14, 2015. At center is behavioral scientist Air Force 2nd Lt. Anthony Eastin. DoD photo by Glenn Fawcett.
First DoD Lab Day Shows Off Warfighter Technology
By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2015 – Robots, medical advances, high-tech versions of warfighter tools and more were on display today at the Pentagon during the Defense Department’s first “Lab Day.”
Some of the department’s top officials also were there, including Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work and Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall, who hosted the event.
The event began this morning, with dozens of booths lining the roads and sidewalks in the Pentagon’s center courtyard and the south parking area. The booths held exhibits highlighting the research and development work of Army, Navy and Air Force laboratories and medical scientists.
Kendall said today’s Lab Day is the first in an ongoing outreach campaign that ties together science and technology efforts across the defense research and engineering enterprise.
Three Big Reasons
“We're gathered here today for three big reasons,” Kendall told an audience that included service members, DoD employees, members of Congress, local science and technology high-school students, media and special guests.
“We wanted to show the groundbreaking work going on at DoD labs, recognize the best of the best, and showcase the specific projects and demonstrations that we're working on in the world of science and technology,” he said.
Kendall said the department has thousands of scientists working at DoD labs in 22 states, producing things such as the Internet, the Global Positioning System, car and truck back-up sensors, Ebola virus disease containment, a mobile capability for destroying chemical material stockpiles, night-vision goggles, emergency-room best practices, and more.
“What we see today is innovation in the foreground,” Kendall said.
Depending on Technology
The department and its warfighters depend on so many different technology areas, and in those areas the United States must be stay ahead of everyone else, he added.
In Kendall’s tour of the exhibits, he saw aerospace technology, safer helmets and other personal protection gear, and advances in autonomy such as the Navy's unmanned jet ski; the Marine Corps’ semi-autonomous robots for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition; and the Air Force's remotely piloted “Vigilant Spirit.”
“All these things and many more allow our warfighters to have the cutting-edge capabilities they really need,” Kendall said, “and laboratory innovation is at the forefront of that.”
In his remarks, Work welcomed Lab Day participants on behalf of Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who is at Camp David, Maryland, today meeting with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Special Welcome
“He wanted me to extend his personal thanks for all of you for coming out today, and his personal thanks for everything that you do,” Work said, adding a special welcome for the local high-school STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- students.
“You represent the next generation of scientists and engineers,” Work told them. “You’re going to help out the country no matter what, but we hope that after seeing some of the things here today you might at least contemplate coming into the Department of Defense and helping us solve many of the problems we're facing.”
Even more exciting than the advanced technology he saw today were the young people who demonstrated and explained the technology, Work said.
Warfighting Edge
“They represent the best that our country has to offer,” the deputy secretary added. “They help give our service members a warfighting edge and they help keep our country and all of our citizens safe.”
During his tour of the exhibits, Work said he saw advanced armor, new night-vision devices and lifesaving medical instruments, all demonstrating the leading edge of technology.
“You represent the best of about 38,000 scientists and engineers in more than 60 DoD labs across the country, he added, noting that the scientists “work hard every day to ensure that we retain our technological superiority, to prepare us for an uncertain future and accelerate capabilities that we need to get into the hands of our warfighters.”
Work added, “I firmly believe as does Secretary Carter that we must continue to innovate to protect our country.”
Scalable Quantum Network
Work recognized a combined team of scientists and engineers from the Army, Air Force and Navy research labs, who won a $45 million award to the Joint U.S. Service Laboratories to develop the first U.S prototype of a scalable quantum network with memory.
The three-year award is funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s Applied Research for the Advancement of S&T Priorities, or ARAP, program.
Quantum-physics-based computing could increase by a billion-fold computing capability critical to accelerating the building-blocks for game-changing capabilities in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, called C4ISR, according to the award document.
The service research labs are collaborating to demonstrate the feasibility of the fully integrated quantum-memory technology.
Focus on Emerging Technologies
“One hundred years ago quantum mechanics was discovered and our understanding of it has developed over the last decade,” Work explained. “It’s the foundation of almost all of our modern technology, and this team is trying to figure out how to encrypt and then transmit information across long-range military networks for the warfighter in a provably secure and robust fashion.”
Kendall, who announced the winners of the award during his comments, said that under the ARAP program, the department focuses on emerging technologies that could impact future operational capabilities.
NSF FUNDS SPACETEC'S PREPARATION OF NEXT GEN SPACECRAFT TECHNICIANS
FROM: U.S. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Who will do the technical jobs needed to fuel a commercial spacecraft industry?
With NSF funding, SpaceTEC is preparing the next generation of spacecraft technicians
For more than 100 years, humans have been buying airline tickets to the next best destination. Soon, that destination could be space, and space technology companies are working hard to have the first commercial spacecraft in the air.
To be space ready, they need aerospace technicians with the right credentials, and one center is situated to provide them.
SpaceTEC National Resource Center for Aerospace Technical Education is at the front end of preparing a technician workforce for this new commercial space travel.
SpaceTEC, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2002 through the Advanced Technological Education program, provides resources and nationally recognized certifications for aerospace technology. It offers assessment tools and performance-based certifications to its 18 college partners, according to SpaceTEC managing director Steven Kane.
"The commercial space companies now are like the aviation industry was back in the 1920's, opening doors for entrepreneurs like Bill Boeing to take an aircraft, stretch it, put some seats in it and start carrying people," Kane said.
SpaceTEC saw a drop in enrollment when NASA's Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, but the industry underwent some retuning, according to Kane.
"Companies are starting to recognize that the curriculum that was created through SpaceTEC fits their needs for those technicians to start doing that work again," Kane said. SpaceTEC has certified about 425 technicians for this industry, according to Kane.
Educating a qualified workforce is part of keeping the U.S. globally competitive in this industry, according to NSF's lead program director Celeste Carter of the Advanced Technological Education program.
Creating SpaceTEC
SpaceTEC began as a way to create a national certification program that all companies would recognize. Earlier, companies conducted their own training and certification process. This meant that a technician starting a contract at a new company would have to go through training again and start at zero, no matter his or her experience.
Brian Madgett, a SpaceTEC certified examiner, has worked in the aerospace industry for over 30 years and knows how essential certifications are, he said.
"It was difficult to get into the industry because there were no standardized certifications for this type of work," Madgett said.
After being certified, Madgett said, the technical certification gave him an edge over other applicants. "Employers need to see the proof of your training and experience," Madgett said.
Partnering with educators and employers
The center works with colleges, companies, government agencies and the military to ensure that the curriculum SpaceTEC created is accepted at the educator and employer levels, according to Kane.
Educators and industry representatives have a seat at the table, Kane said, when the decisions are about the curriculum.
Some colleges like Eastern Shore Community College look to SpaceTEC to guide their program and curriculum, according to Assistant Professor of Electronics and Computer Technology John Floyd.
"As a national resource center, with decades of experience relating to the shuttle program and other high profile Aerospace ventures, the partnership gives us access to information and standards that we do not have locally," Floyd said.
Eastern Shore Community College partnered with SpaceTEC in 2011 to prepare students for the aerospace industry and for job opportunities at the close-by NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Floyd said.
Government agencies like NASA make the SpaceTEC certificate a requirement in their employee contracts.
"The industry collaborations are essential to ensure that educators are producing the graduates that industry values," Carter said.
Mechanical Engineering Technician Kevin McLain took the SpaceTEC exam at Thomas Nelson Community College as a requirement for his NASA contract.
"I think they made it a requirement to ensure that I had sufficient knowledge of the aerospace industry and could prove to them that [I'm] serious about [my] career field," McLain said.
SpaceTEC expands to other industries
Before SpaceTEC experienced a resurgence in certifications, the center saw an opportunity to apply the same skill sets required in their certification program in other industries, such as the automobile, airline and energy industries.
So NSF granted SpaceTEC a supplement in 2009 to create CertTEC, which offers performance-based, national certifications for technical training beyond aerospace technology. It includes certifications for Basic Electricity & Electronics, Aviation Structures, Aviation Mechanical Assembly and Basic Composites. CertTEC has certified almost 1200 technicians, according to Kane.
Like SpaceTEC, this program helps students enter and move up in their industry, according to CertTEC examiner and Senior Instructor Kenny Payton of the Francis Tuttle Technology Center.
"Being in the aviation field for over 40 years, the training and testing baseline insures the employee has the skills that the employer is seeking," Payton said, "making for an easier transition into productive employment."
A new project for veterans
SpaceTEC's newest project is VetTEC, a one-stop shop to help veterans apply the skills they learned in the military to industry jobs.
"When they come out of the military, there's nothing really that provides industry a guide to what this person knows," Kane said.
The military use skill codes, according to Kane, but they don't translate well to job postings' qualifications. VetTEC would be a tool that would let veterans input their skill code, find the certifications that fit their skills and see the jobs available for that skill set.
The project is a work in progress, but could give veterans a way into the commercial space industry, among others.
Beyond national certification, an ongoing dialogue with industry is key to SpaceTEC's success.
"The benefit of a national certification is that no matter what college teaches the information, everybody has to meet this national standard," Kane said. "In order to ensure that there's a home for these certified technicians that are created, the industry has to be involved."
-- Kierstyn Schneck
-- Maria C. Zacharias,
Investigators
Steven Kane
Albert Koller
Tad Montgomery
Patricia Taylor
Michael Reynolds
William Fletcher
Related Institutions/Organizations
Eastern Florida State College
Locations
Cocoa , Florida
Who will do the technical jobs needed to fuel a commercial spacecraft industry?
With NSF funding, SpaceTEC is preparing the next generation of spacecraft technicians
For more than 100 years, humans have been buying airline tickets to the next best destination. Soon, that destination could be space, and space technology companies are working hard to have the first commercial spacecraft in the air.
To be space ready, they need aerospace technicians with the right credentials, and one center is situated to provide them.
SpaceTEC National Resource Center for Aerospace Technical Education is at the front end of preparing a technician workforce for this new commercial space travel.
SpaceTEC, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2002 through the Advanced Technological Education program, provides resources and nationally recognized certifications for aerospace technology. It offers assessment tools and performance-based certifications to its 18 college partners, according to SpaceTEC managing director Steven Kane.
"The commercial space companies now are like the aviation industry was back in the 1920's, opening doors for entrepreneurs like Bill Boeing to take an aircraft, stretch it, put some seats in it and start carrying people," Kane said.
SpaceTEC saw a drop in enrollment when NASA's Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, but the industry underwent some retuning, according to Kane.
"Companies are starting to recognize that the curriculum that was created through SpaceTEC fits their needs for those technicians to start doing that work again," Kane said. SpaceTEC has certified about 425 technicians for this industry, according to Kane.
Educating a qualified workforce is part of keeping the U.S. globally competitive in this industry, according to NSF's lead program director Celeste Carter of the Advanced Technological Education program.
Creating SpaceTEC
SpaceTEC began as a way to create a national certification program that all companies would recognize. Earlier, companies conducted their own training and certification process. This meant that a technician starting a contract at a new company would have to go through training again and start at zero, no matter his or her experience.
Brian Madgett, a SpaceTEC certified examiner, has worked in the aerospace industry for over 30 years and knows how essential certifications are, he said.
"It was difficult to get into the industry because there were no standardized certifications for this type of work," Madgett said.
After being certified, Madgett said, the technical certification gave him an edge over other applicants. "Employers need to see the proof of your training and experience," Madgett said.
Partnering with educators and employers
The center works with colleges, companies, government agencies and the military to ensure that the curriculum SpaceTEC created is accepted at the educator and employer levels, according to Kane.
Educators and industry representatives have a seat at the table, Kane said, when the decisions are about the curriculum.
Some colleges like Eastern Shore Community College look to SpaceTEC to guide their program and curriculum, according to Assistant Professor of Electronics and Computer Technology John Floyd.
"As a national resource center, with decades of experience relating to the shuttle program and other high profile Aerospace ventures, the partnership gives us access to information and standards that we do not have locally," Floyd said.
Eastern Shore Community College partnered with SpaceTEC in 2011 to prepare students for the aerospace industry and for job opportunities at the close-by NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Floyd said.
Government agencies like NASA make the SpaceTEC certificate a requirement in their employee contracts.
"The industry collaborations are essential to ensure that educators are producing the graduates that industry values," Carter said.
Mechanical Engineering Technician Kevin McLain took the SpaceTEC exam at Thomas Nelson Community College as a requirement for his NASA contract.
"I think they made it a requirement to ensure that I had sufficient knowledge of the aerospace industry and could prove to them that [I'm] serious about [my] career field," McLain said.
SpaceTEC expands to other industries
Before SpaceTEC experienced a resurgence in certifications, the center saw an opportunity to apply the same skill sets required in their certification program in other industries, such as the automobile, airline and energy industries.
So NSF granted SpaceTEC a supplement in 2009 to create CertTEC, which offers performance-based, national certifications for technical training beyond aerospace technology. It includes certifications for Basic Electricity & Electronics, Aviation Structures, Aviation Mechanical Assembly and Basic Composites. CertTEC has certified almost 1200 technicians, according to Kane.
Like SpaceTEC, this program helps students enter and move up in their industry, according to CertTEC examiner and Senior Instructor Kenny Payton of the Francis Tuttle Technology Center.
"Being in the aviation field for over 40 years, the training and testing baseline insures the employee has the skills that the employer is seeking," Payton said, "making for an easier transition into productive employment."
A new project for veterans
SpaceTEC's newest project is VetTEC, a one-stop shop to help veterans apply the skills they learned in the military to industry jobs.
"When they come out of the military, there's nothing really that provides industry a guide to what this person knows," Kane said.
The military use skill codes, according to Kane, but they don't translate well to job postings' qualifications. VetTEC would be a tool that would let veterans input their skill code, find the certifications that fit their skills and see the jobs available for that skill set.
The project is a work in progress, but could give veterans a way into the commercial space industry, among others.
Beyond national certification, an ongoing dialogue with industry is key to SpaceTEC's success.
"The benefit of a national certification is that no matter what college teaches the information, everybody has to meet this national standard," Kane said. "In order to ensure that there's a home for these certified technicians that are created, the industry has to be involved."
-- Kierstyn Schneck
-- Maria C. Zacharias,
Investigators
Steven Kane
Albert Koller
Tad Montgomery
Patricia Taylor
Michael Reynolds
William Fletcher
Related Institutions/Organizations
Eastern Florida State College
Locations
Cocoa , Florida
Saturday, May 16, 2015
NAVY DEVELOPS NEW LIGHTWEIGHT BODY ARMOR
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Navy Research Lab Develops New Body Armor for 2016
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, May 15, 2015 – New lightweight, flexible and buoyant body armor developed at the Naval Research Laboratory could be in field use by 2016, the lead scientist who has overseen the armor’s two-year development said yesterday.
Research physicist Raymond M. Gamache of the lab’s chemistry division was one of dozens of exhibitors in the Defense Department’s first “Lab Day” at the Pentagon to display the latest innovations that will advance DoD’s Force of the Future, DOD officials said.
Gamache said his new armor will replace the existing enhanced small-arms protective insert to mitigate the impact from bullets and fragmentation.
Armor Protects Torso, Spine
He displayed two forms of his flexible armor: a fabric for the torso that resembles dimpled foam rubber, and an insert of interlocking pieces that lock up into a solid piece upon impact.
Using both, he noted, would provide torso protection, while the insert could be used in a warfighter’s back to shield the spine from damage.
“It’s a great solution for [spinal injury],” Gamache said. And while the insert can’t stop blunt-force trauma, “you’ll still be alive,” he said.
While Gamache’s armor is intended for protection from bullet fire and fragmentation, it would only offer some degree of protection in improvised explosive device blasts, he said.
Armor is Like Fabric
“You hear stories about troops who won’t wear their armor because it’s both heavy and it is very restrictive,” Gamache said. “This is like wearing a fabric, [and] it’s loose,” he said of the material that resembled dimpled foam rubber, noting that the new material is about 2 pounds lighter than existing body armor.
“The beauty of it is no matter what your body contorts into, you’ll always have the same amount of protection,” Gamache said.
The proximity of the tiny spheres of boron carbide and silicon carbide is what protects service members from the vulnerability of bullet impact and fragments, he explained.
“You can twist and turn, but you’re always going to maintain the same protection against bullets,” he said.
The armor can be used all around the globe in any environment from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region, Gamache said.
There is no temperature variance with his armor, he added, although ventilation can be added for greater air flow in warm climates.
“With this technology, we’re trying to essentially make lighter, more compliant materials that people will be willing to wear [that] still gives equivalent protection,” Gamache said. “And that’s the bottom line.”
Navy Research Lab Develops New Body Armor for 2016
By Terri Moon Cronk
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, May 15, 2015 – New lightweight, flexible and buoyant body armor developed at the Naval Research Laboratory could be in field use by 2016, the lead scientist who has overseen the armor’s two-year development said yesterday.
Research physicist Raymond M. Gamache of the lab’s chemistry division was one of dozens of exhibitors in the Defense Department’s first “Lab Day” at the Pentagon to display the latest innovations that will advance DoD’s Force of the Future, DOD officials said.
Gamache said his new armor will replace the existing enhanced small-arms protective insert to mitigate the impact from bullets and fragmentation.
Armor Protects Torso, Spine
He displayed two forms of his flexible armor: a fabric for the torso that resembles dimpled foam rubber, and an insert of interlocking pieces that lock up into a solid piece upon impact.
Using both, he noted, would provide torso protection, while the insert could be used in a warfighter’s back to shield the spine from damage.
“It’s a great solution for [spinal injury],” Gamache said. And while the insert can’t stop blunt-force trauma, “you’ll still be alive,” he said.
While Gamache’s armor is intended for protection from bullet fire and fragmentation, it would only offer some degree of protection in improvised explosive device blasts, he said.
Armor is Like Fabric
“You hear stories about troops who won’t wear their armor because it’s both heavy and it is very restrictive,” Gamache said. “This is like wearing a fabric, [and] it’s loose,” he said of the material that resembled dimpled foam rubber, noting that the new material is about 2 pounds lighter than existing body armor.
“The beauty of it is no matter what your body contorts into, you’ll always have the same amount of protection,” Gamache said.
The proximity of the tiny spheres of boron carbide and silicon carbide is what protects service members from the vulnerability of bullet impact and fragments, he explained.
“You can twist and turn, but you’re always going to maintain the same protection against bullets,” he said.
The armor can be used all around the globe in any environment from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region, Gamache said.
There is no temperature variance with his armor, he added, although ventilation can be added for greater air flow in warm climates.
“With this technology, we’re trying to essentially make lighter, more compliant materials that people will be willing to wear [that] still gives equivalent protection,” Gamache said. “And that’s the bottom line.”
CDC SAYS PROGRESS MADE REDUCING SOME FOODBORNE INFECTIONS
FROM: U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
CDC data show progress in reducing some foodborne infections in 2014
n 2014, rates of infection from a serious form of E. coli and one of the more common Salmonella serotypes decreased compared with the baseline period of 2006-2008. Meanwhile, some other less common types of Salmonella increased. Campylobacter and Vibrio rose again in 2014, continuing the increase observed during the past few years, according to data published today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today’s report summarizes the rates of infection per 100,000 population and tracks illness trends for key foodborne illnesses.
Infection with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157, which can sometimes lead to kidney failure, decreased 32 percent when compared with 2006-2008 and 19 percent when compared with the most recent three years. These infections are often linked to consumption of undercooked ground beef and raw leafy vegetables. Salmonella Typhimurium, which has been linked to poultry, beef, and other foods, was 27 percent lower than it was in 2006-2008, continuing a downward trend begun in the mid-1980s. Two other less common types of Salmonella, Javiana and Infantis, more than doubled for reasons that are unclear. Salmonella Javiana is concentrated in the southeastern United States, but has been spreading within the Southeast and to other areas of the country. However, when all Salmonella serotypes are combined, there was no change in 2014. Campylobacter increased 13 percent and Vibrio increased 52 percent compared with 2006-2008. Yersinia has declined enough to meet the Healthy People 2020 goal.
The data are from FoodNet, CDC’s active surveillance system that tracks nine common foodborne pathogens in 10 states and monitors trends in foodborne illness in about 15 percent of the U.S. population. Today’s report compares the 2014 frequency of infection with the frequency in the baseline period 2006-2008 and in the three most recent years. Overall in 2014, FoodNet logged just over 19,000 infections, about 4,400 hospitalizations, and 71 deaths from the nine foodborne germs it tracks. Salmonella and Campylobacter were by far the most common– accounting for about 14,000 of the 19,000 infections reported.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that changes in food safety practice are having an impact in decreasing E.coli and we know that without all the food safety work to fight Salmonella that more people would be getting sick with Salmonella than we are seeing now,,” said Robert Tauxe, M.D., deputy director of CDC’s Division of Foodborne Waterborne and Environmental Diseases. “The increasing use of whole genome sequencing to track foodborne illness cases will also help; however, much more needs to be done to protect people from foodborne illness.”
The recent decline in the incidence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157 follows several years of increasing scrutiny for beef products. Since 1994, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken STEC O157:H7 extremely seriously and made a number of changes in its regulatory oversight of the beef industry to protect public health.
"We are encouraged by the reduction of STEC O157:H7 illnesses, which reflects our science-based approach to beef inspection, and we look forward to seeing further reductions in Salmonella and Campylobacter infections as our improved standards for poultry take effect later this year, " said Al Almanza, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA. "Data sources like FoodNet allow us to be strategic in developing our food safety policies, and we will do everything within our power to keep reducing cases of foodborne illness from all meat and poultry products."
Under the provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to publish major new regulations in 2015. The regulations are geared toward ensuring produce safety, implementing preventive controls on processed foods, and improving the safety of imported foods.
“Prevention of illness is the fundamental goal of our new rules under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act,” said Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at FDA. “We have worked with a wide range of stakeholders to devise rules that will be effective for food safety and practical for the many diverse elements of our food system. Once the rules are fully implemented, FoodNet will help us evaluate their impact.”
The FoodNet report also includes results of culture-independent diagnostic tests (a new method for diagnosing intestinal illnesses without needing to grow the bacteria) done in the many hospital laboratories in the FoodNet sites. In 2014, the results of more than 1,500 such tests were reported. More than two-thirds of the tests were for Campylobacter. Other tests performed were for STEC, Salmonella, Shigella and Vibrio. Some of the tests had a positive result. However, the infections were not confirmed by culture, and so CDC experts did not include them in the overall FoodNet results for 2014.
For more information on avoiding illnesses from food, please visit www.foodsafety.gov.
About FoodNet
FoodNet collects information to track rates and determine trends in laboratory-confirmed illnesses caused by nine pathogens transmitted commonly by food: Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, STEC O157 and non-O157, Shigella, Vibrio and Yersinia. CDC compares annual data with data from a baseline period (2006-2008) and a recent period (2010-2012) to measure progress. Since 2010, FoodNet has been tracking the increasing use of culture‐independent diagnostic tests used by clinical laboratories for diagnosis of bacterial enteric infection. Because these tests are replacing culture-based tests, their use is creating challenges to the ability to identify cases, monitor trends, detect outbreaks, and characterize pathogens.
FoodNet is a collaboration among CDC, ten state health departments, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the FDA. FoodNet covers 48 million people, encompassing about 15 percent of the United States population. The sites are the states of Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, and selected counties in California, Colorado, and New York.
CDC data show progress in reducing some foodborne infections in 2014
n 2014, rates of infection from a serious form of E. coli and one of the more common Salmonella serotypes decreased compared with the baseline period of 2006-2008. Meanwhile, some other less common types of Salmonella increased. Campylobacter and Vibrio rose again in 2014, continuing the increase observed during the past few years, according to data published today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today’s report summarizes the rates of infection per 100,000 population and tracks illness trends for key foodborne illnesses.
Infection with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157, which can sometimes lead to kidney failure, decreased 32 percent when compared with 2006-2008 and 19 percent when compared with the most recent three years. These infections are often linked to consumption of undercooked ground beef and raw leafy vegetables. Salmonella Typhimurium, which has been linked to poultry, beef, and other foods, was 27 percent lower than it was in 2006-2008, continuing a downward trend begun in the mid-1980s. Two other less common types of Salmonella, Javiana and Infantis, more than doubled for reasons that are unclear. Salmonella Javiana is concentrated in the southeastern United States, but has been spreading within the Southeast and to other areas of the country. However, when all Salmonella serotypes are combined, there was no change in 2014. Campylobacter increased 13 percent and Vibrio increased 52 percent compared with 2006-2008. Yersinia has declined enough to meet the Healthy People 2020 goal.
The data are from FoodNet, CDC’s active surveillance system that tracks nine common foodborne pathogens in 10 states and monitors trends in foodborne illness in about 15 percent of the U.S. population. Today’s report compares the 2014 frequency of infection with the frequency in the baseline period 2006-2008 and in the three most recent years. Overall in 2014, FoodNet logged just over 19,000 infections, about 4,400 hospitalizations, and 71 deaths from the nine foodborne germs it tracks. Salmonella and Campylobacter were by far the most common– accounting for about 14,000 of the 19,000 infections reported.
“We’re cautiously optimistic that changes in food safety practice are having an impact in decreasing E.coli and we know that without all the food safety work to fight Salmonella that more people would be getting sick with Salmonella than we are seeing now,,” said Robert Tauxe, M.D., deputy director of CDC’s Division of Foodborne Waterborne and Environmental Diseases. “The increasing use of whole genome sequencing to track foodborne illness cases will also help; however, much more needs to be done to protect people from foodborne illness.”
The recent decline in the incidence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157 follows several years of increasing scrutiny for beef products. Since 1994, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken STEC O157:H7 extremely seriously and made a number of changes in its regulatory oversight of the beef industry to protect public health.
"We are encouraged by the reduction of STEC O157:H7 illnesses, which reflects our science-based approach to beef inspection, and we look forward to seeing further reductions in Salmonella and Campylobacter infections as our improved standards for poultry take effect later this year, " said Al Almanza, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at USDA. "Data sources like FoodNet allow us to be strategic in developing our food safety policies, and we will do everything within our power to keep reducing cases of foodborne illness from all meat and poultry products."
Under the provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to publish major new regulations in 2015. The regulations are geared toward ensuring produce safety, implementing preventive controls on processed foods, and improving the safety of imported foods.
“Prevention of illness is the fundamental goal of our new rules under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act,” said Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at FDA. “We have worked with a wide range of stakeholders to devise rules that will be effective for food safety and practical for the many diverse elements of our food system. Once the rules are fully implemented, FoodNet will help us evaluate their impact.”
The FoodNet report also includes results of culture-independent diagnostic tests (a new method for diagnosing intestinal illnesses without needing to grow the bacteria) done in the many hospital laboratories in the FoodNet sites. In 2014, the results of more than 1,500 such tests were reported. More than two-thirds of the tests were for Campylobacter. Other tests performed were for STEC, Salmonella, Shigella and Vibrio. Some of the tests had a positive result. However, the infections were not confirmed by culture, and so CDC experts did not include them in the overall FoodNet results for 2014.
For more information on avoiding illnesses from food, please visit www.foodsafety.gov.
About FoodNet
FoodNet collects information to track rates and determine trends in laboratory-confirmed illnesses caused by nine pathogens transmitted commonly by food: Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, STEC O157 and non-O157, Shigella, Vibrio and Yersinia. CDC compares annual data with data from a baseline period (2006-2008) and a recent period (2010-2012) to measure progress. Since 2010, FoodNet has been tracking the increasing use of culture‐independent diagnostic tests used by clinical laboratories for diagnosis of bacterial enteric infection. Because these tests are replacing culture-based tests, their use is creating challenges to the ability to identify cases, monitor trends, detect outbreaks, and characterize pathogens.
FoodNet is a collaboration among CDC, ten state health departments, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the FDA. FoodNet covers 48 million people, encompassing about 15 percent of the United States population. The sites are the states of Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, and selected counties in California, Colorado, and New York.
Friday, May 15, 2015
CDC REPORT CENTERS ON SWIMMING RISK OF NOROVIRUS SICKNESS
FROM: U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
Study Highlights Risk of Norovirus from Swimming
Simple tips can help swimmers stay safe in various swimming venues.
When most people think of norovirus, they think of people marooned on a cruise ship with raging stomach and intestinal illness, unable to leave their cabins. However, an outbreak at an Oregon lake underscores that swimming can also put the public at risk of catching the ugly bug. Fortunately, following a few easy and effective steps can help maximize the health benefits of swimming while minimizing the risk of getting sick.
In honor of Healthy and Safe Swimming week, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local and state health officials in Oregon report today on a summer 2014 outbreak that spread via swimming in a contaminated lake.
The norovirus outbreak in July 2014 linked to a lake near Portland, Oregon sickened 70 people. Those who swam in the lake were 2.3 times more likely to develop vomiting or diarrhea than those who visited the park but didn’t go in the water. More than half of those who got ill were children between 4–10 years old. Experts believe the outbreak began after a swimmer infected with norovirus had diarrhea or vomited in the water and other swimmers swallowed the contaminated water. To prevent other people from getting sick, park officials closed the lake to swimmers for 10 days.
“Children are prime targets for norovirus and other germs that can live in lakes and swimming pools because they’re so much more likely to get the water in their mouths,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D, CDC’s associate director for healthy water. “Keeping germs out of the water in the first place is key to keeping everyone healthy and helping to keep the places we swim open all summer.”
Swimmers can help protect themselves, their families and friends by following a few easy and effective steps:
Keep the pee, poop, sweat, and dirt out of the water!
Don’t swim if you have diarrhea or have been vomiting
Shower before you get in the water
Don’t pee or poop in the water
Don’t swallow lake or pool water
Every hour—everyone out!
Take kids on bathroom breaks
Check diapers, and change them in a bathroom or diaper-changing area–to keep germs away from the water.
Norovirus was the second-leading cause of outbreaks in untreated recreational water, such as lakes, from 1978-2010. Norovirus can live in water for several months or possibly even years. Swimming venues that are not treated with chlorine can pose a particular risk since there are no chemicals to kill the stomach virus.
May 18–24, 2015, marks the 11th annual Healthy and Safe Swimming Week (formerly known as Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week). This observance highlights ways in which swimmers, parents, pool owners and operators, beach managers, and public health can maximize the health benefits of water-based physical activity, while minimizing the risk of recreational water–associated illness and injury.
Study Highlights Risk of Norovirus from Swimming
Simple tips can help swimmers stay safe in various swimming venues.
When most people think of norovirus, they think of people marooned on a cruise ship with raging stomach and intestinal illness, unable to leave their cabins. However, an outbreak at an Oregon lake underscores that swimming can also put the public at risk of catching the ugly bug. Fortunately, following a few easy and effective steps can help maximize the health benefits of swimming while minimizing the risk of getting sick.
In honor of Healthy and Safe Swimming week, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local and state health officials in Oregon report today on a summer 2014 outbreak that spread via swimming in a contaminated lake.
The norovirus outbreak in July 2014 linked to a lake near Portland, Oregon sickened 70 people. Those who swam in the lake were 2.3 times more likely to develop vomiting or diarrhea than those who visited the park but didn’t go in the water. More than half of those who got ill were children between 4–10 years old. Experts believe the outbreak began after a swimmer infected with norovirus had diarrhea or vomited in the water and other swimmers swallowed the contaminated water. To prevent other people from getting sick, park officials closed the lake to swimmers for 10 days.
“Children are prime targets for norovirus and other germs that can live in lakes and swimming pools because they’re so much more likely to get the water in their mouths,” said Michael Beach, Ph.D, CDC’s associate director for healthy water. “Keeping germs out of the water in the first place is key to keeping everyone healthy and helping to keep the places we swim open all summer.”
Swimmers can help protect themselves, their families and friends by following a few easy and effective steps:
Keep the pee, poop, sweat, and dirt out of the water!
Don’t swim if you have diarrhea or have been vomiting
Shower before you get in the water
Don’t pee or poop in the water
Don’t swallow lake or pool water
Every hour—everyone out!
Take kids on bathroom breaks
Check diapers, and change them in a bathroom or diaper-changing area–to keep germs away from the water.
Norovirus was the second-leading cause of outbreaks in untreated recreational water, such as lakes, from 1978-2010. Norovirus can live in water for several months or possibly even years. Swimming venues that are not treated with chlorine can pose a particular risk since there are no chemicals to kill the stomach virus.
May 18–24, 2015, marks the 11th annual Healthy and Safe Swimming Week (formerly known as Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week). This observance highlights ways in which swimmers, parents, pool owners and operators, beach managers, and public health can maximize the health benefits of water-based physical activity, while minimizing the risk of recreational water–associated illness and injury.
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
KEYNOTE REMARKS: BIOEONOMY AND CLIMATE CHANGE FORUM
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Economic, Energy, Agricultural and Trade Issues: Keynote Remarks at the Bioeconomy and Climate Change Forum
05/06/2015 01:10 PM EDT
Keynote Remarks at the Bioeconomy and Climate Change Forum
Remarks
Charles H. Rivkin
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Washington, DC
May 6, 2015
As prepared
Thank you, Eric, for that introduction.
Good morning everyone, and a special welcome to our ambassadors and others from the foreign diplomatic corps here today.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank the many people responsible for today’s event, including our partner, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, or BIO. I look forward to hearing from Jim Greenwood, President and CEO, in just a few minutes.
I also want to thank all the people in the State Department who worked on this event for their outstanding support and participation in making this event happen. That includes, in particular, the Foreign Service Institute, as well as the Office of Global Food Security, the Office of the Science and Technology Advisor, the Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Scientific Affairs, and of course our own Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
With that, I am delighted to kick off today’s event which will explore some of the innovative and exciting things this extended community is doing to address climate change. This is really one of the most challenging issues of our time but it is truly bringing out the best and brightest among us to respond.
As I thought about climate change and how far we have come, I thought about Homer’s Iliad, the ancient story of Helen of Troy – whose face launched a thousand ships to bring her back to Greece.
But before those ships could launch, they needed a favorable wind. So they consulted a prophet named Calchas, a man who examined animal entrails and observed the flight of birds to make his prognostications. He told the Greeks they would get their wind if their leader sacrificed his only daughter to the gods.
Back then, that’s what passed for climate science. Today, every Greek warrior would simply pull out a smartphone and check his weather app!
Of course, the Iliad’s a myth, set more than 3,000 years ago. But I use it to show just how far science has come and how technology is literally in our hands, letting us do things previous generations would have considered beyond the power of mere mortals. Most importantly, we are using the great discoveries of biotechnology to address climate change in more effective, sustainable and widely applicable ways.
Last fall, I went to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the World Food Prize, and to speak about biotechnology as a tool for hunger alleviation and job creation. While there, I had the opportunity to join a farmer in central Iowa, sit in the buddy seat of his John Deere S670 combine harvester, and watch him work.
As we moved through the cornfields, his combine gathered, husked and shelled 12 rows of corn at a time, turning them into bushels of instant grain. He checked his progress with onboard computers and GPS technology. These helped him deposit seed and fertilizer precisely, and even showed if he had missed a single ear of corn!
While he was doing this, he spoke about the importance of international markets for American agriculture, and how he had once hosted President Xi Jinping of China at his farm.
In just one ride on a combine, I saw a farmer using technology to enhance his livelihood and engage fully within the global economy. I also saw how biotechnology was helping farmers to use sustainable techniques that reduce our carbon footprint and address climate change.
Of course, climate change cuts across all sectors of the bioeconomy, which not only include agriculture but health, industry and energy. It is one of the biggest threats of our time with a decisive role in everything from pandemic diseases to crop damage, and from famine to widespread destruction of homes and habitats.
One question for our time is this: Can we direct the kind of innovation that has already built the bioeconomy towards addressing these enormous challenges?
The answer is “yes,” if we continue to build on the incredible innovative progress we have made so far – and are making right now – in the biosciences.
It’s “yes,” as long as we share the same consensus mission: to provide for humanity’s ever growing needs while reducing our carbon footprint.
Finally, it’s “yes,” if we ensure that our breakthroughs not only create benefits for society but are sustainable in the global market.
Right now, in the United States, the bioeconomy is worth more than $300 billion dollars and already supports 1.6 million jobs. It can, and it should, grow more because, quite simply, we have no choice: We have to invent our way to solutions or face the consequences.
The good news is, innovation is central to our DNA. That’s clearly evident in the bioeconomy. We are finding ways to transform our waste into valuable resources. We are making our production processes more efficient and sustainable. Instead of addressing disease with chemically derived medicines that respond to symptoms, we are using biologically derived vaccines that work on the causes. And we are creating sustainable biofuels to drive our cars, warm our homes, and light up our workplaces.
But innovation needs support from many corners, from the funding of research to the protection of intellectual property rights; from a free and open internet to the imaginative partnerships that government and the private sector can create so that more people are free to make those powerful discoveries that benefit us all.
From the government corner, we need to address macro policies that respond to climate change. We need to agree on global commitments that count, metrics that matter, and standards that improve conditions.
The Obama administration has already shown its ongoing commitment in this space. It recently announced a target of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent in 2025 compared with 2005.
Last November, President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China made an historic Joint Announcement of our intended targets, with China agreeing for the first time to a peak year for its CO2 emissions of around 2030 and to an ambitious target of 20 percent clean energy in its energy mix by 2030.
This December in Paris, we are looking to establish, for the first time, an ambitious, durable climate regime that applies to all countries, is fair, and focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience.
Our commitment to address climate change is as widespread as it is focused.
We launched the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture, which works to produce more food, adapt to a changing climate, and reduce greenhouse gases.
We support the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Climate Technology Center and Network, and the Green Climate Fund, both of which support the efforts of developing countries in different ways to adapt to climate change.
That includes work to protect forests, support resilient agricultural sectors, and reduce greenhouse gases, while generating economic opportunities for their citizens.
We also invest billions in research and development of low carbon technologies and energy efficiency.
On other fronts, my Bureau has a leading role in making sure investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and the entire bio-economic extended community can be more connected, integrated, efficient and profitable.
For example, we advocate in world forums for a free internet to keep open channels of information, commerce and trade. We are integral to the negotiations in two ongoing multilateral trade deals that will not only break down barriers to trade and investment but set new environmental standards for member nations.
We also foster innovation by establishing legal frameworks that protect intellectual property rights, minimize corruption, and reward entrepreneurship.
The government has unique assets in at least two other ways. First of all, we have convening authority: We can assemble political leaders, scientists, economists, university leaders, business leaders and multilateral bodies to pursue mutually agreed upon goals.
Secondly, we have 270 embassies and posts around the world – our shoes on the ground, you might say – to extend our messages and outreach with citizens, political leaders and civil society organizations everywhere.
While the U.S. Government works to play its part, there are roles for a wide array of other actors in the bioeconomy, including other governments, multilateral bodies, businesses, universities, entrepreneurs, and scientists.
As I glance around this room, I can see a good representation of that global community. I look forward to hearing more about the stories you have to tell.
We have so much to build on; so many success stories in biotechnology, as we work to combat the effects of climate change. As I mentioned, one of the consequences of climate change is the increased risk of insect-borne disease exposure, such as dengue and malaria, in places such as Florida and Texas. The National Science Foundation has supported research that reengineers microorganisms to produce an anti-malarial drug. It’s called artemisinin and new companies are already putting it on the market.
That’s a perfect illustration of the bioeconomy at its best: Funded innovative research addresses a serious problem, using cross-disciplinary biosciences. The private sector brings it to market and makes it available globally. The problem is addressed.
As I learned on my trip to Iowa, the agricultural sector continues to benefit from innovation. We are making more sustainable use of land and water. We are developing drought tolerant varieties of corn, nutritionally enhanced rice, and disease resistant oranges. These are crucial breakthroughs as we also try to feed a global population that will reach an estimated 9 billion by the year 2050.
These and other stories prove to me that, despite the size and scale of our challenges, we are rising to meet them head on. I believe it’s because, throughout human history, we have made productive use of innovation since we first learned to rub two sticks together.
Back then it was sticks. Now we’re creating genetically modified mosquitos that don’t carry malaria. We are turning algae into jet fuel. We are making apples that don’t brown and potatoes that produce fewer carcinogens when fried.
Of course, with innovation comes change – and inevitably resistance. Charles Kettering, an American inventor and former head of research at General Motors, who owned 186 patents, once said: “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
The bioeconomy is all about progress, from the cellular level to the macro-economic level, as we work to grow an ecosystem of invention and reinvention that creates the products and processes for a more sustainable future. We may not seem as powerful and impressive as those ancient Greek warriors, waiting for their favorable wind. But if you compare the stakes we face, we can make the case that we’re more modern heroes. By creating a viable, sustainable bioeconomy, we are not only enhancing and sustaining society; we are contributing to a more ecologically balanced planet. For my money, that beats getting Helen back from Troy any time!
Thank you.
Economic, Energy, Agricultural and Trade Issues: Keynote Remarks at the Bioeconomy and Climate Change Forum
05/06/2015 01:10 PM EDT
Keynote Remarks at the Bioeconomy and Climate Change Forum
Remarks
Charles H. Rivkin
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs
Washington, DC
May 6, 2015
As prepared
Thank you, Eric, for that introduction.
Good morning everyone, and a special welcome to our ambassadors and others from the foreign diplomatic corps here today.
Before I continue, I’d like to thank the many people responsible for today’s event, including our partner, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, or BIO. I look forward to hearing from Jim Greenwood, President and CEO, in just a few minutes.
I also want to thank all the people in the State Department who worked on this event for their outstanding support and participation in making this event happen. That includes, in particular, the Foreign Service Institute, as well as the Office of Global Food Security, the Office of the Science and Technology Advisor, the Bureau of Oceans, Environment, and Scientific Affairs, and of course our own Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
With that, I am delighted to kick off today’s event which will explore some of the innovative and exciting things this extended community is doing to address climate change. This is really one of the most challenging issues of our time but it is truly bringing out the best and brightest among us to respond.
As I thought about climate change and how far we have come, I thought about Homer’s Iliad, the ancient story of Helen of Troy – whose face launched a thousand ships to bring her back to Greece.
But before those ships could launch, they needed a favorable wind. So they consulted a prophet named Calchas, a man who examined animal entrails and observed the flight of birds to make his prognostications. He told the Greeks they would get their wind if their leader sacrificed his only daughter to the gods.
Back then, that’s what passed for climate science. Today, every Greek warrior would simply pull out a smartphone and check his weather app!
Of course, the Iliad’s a myth, set more than 3,000 years ago. But I use it to show just how far science has come and how technology is literally in our hands, letting us do things previous generations would have considered beyond the power of mere mortals. Most importantly, we are using the great discoveries of biotechnology to address climate change in more effective, sustainable and widely applicable ways.
Last fall, I went to Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the World Food Prize, and to speak about biotechnology as a tool for hunger alleviation and job creation. While there, I had the opportunity to join a farmer in central Iowa, sit in the buddy seat of his John Deere S670 combine harvester, and watch him work.
As we moved through the cornfields, his combine gathered, husked and shelled 12 rows of corn at a time, turning them into bushels of instant grain. He checked his progress with onboard computers and GPS technology. These helped him deposit seed and fertilizer precisely, and even showed if he had missed a single ear of corn!
While he was doing this, he spoke about the importance of international markets for American agriculture, and how he had once hosted President Xi Jinping of China at his farm.
In just one ride on a combine, I saw a farmer using technology to enhance his livelihood and engage fully within the global economy. I also saw how biotechnology was helping farmers to use sustainable techniques that reduce our carbon footprint and address climate change.
Of course, climate change cuts across all sectors of the bioeconomy, which not only include agriculture but health, industry and energy. It is one of the biggest threats of our time with a decisive role in everything from pandemic diseases to crop damage, and from famine to widespread destruction of homes and habitats.
One question for our time is this: Can we direct the kind of innovation that has already built the bioeconomy towards addressing these enormous challenges?
The answer is “yes,” if we continue to build on the incredible innovative progress we have made so far – and are making right now – in the biosciences.
It’s “yes,” as long as we share the same consensus mission: to provide for humanity’s ever growing needs while reducing our carbon footprint.
Finally, it’s “yes,” if we ensure that our breakthroughs not only create benefits for society but are sustainable in the global market.
Right now, in the United States, the bioeconomy is worth more than $300 billion dollars and already supports 1.6 million jobs. It can, and it should, grow more because, quite simply, we have no choice: We have to invent our way to solutions or face the consequences.
The good news is, innovation is central to our DNA. That’s clearly evident in the bioeconomy. We are finding ways to transform our waste into valuable resources. We are making our production processes more efficient and sustainable. Instead of addressing disease with chemically derived medicines that respond to symptoms, we are using biologically derived vaccines that work on the causes. And we are creating sustainable biofuels to drive our cars, warm our homes, and light up our workplaces.
But innovation needs support from many corners, from the funding of research to the protection of intellectual property rights; from a free and open internet to the imaginative partnerships that government and the private sector can create so that more people are free to make those powerful discoveries that benefit us all.
From the government corner, we need to address macro policies that respond to climate change. We need to agree on global commitments that count, metrics that matter, and standards that improve conditions.
The Obama administration has already shown its ongoing commitment in this space. It recently announced a target of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent in 2025 compared with 2005.
Last November, President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China made an historic Joint Announcement of our intended targets, with China agreeing for the first time to a peak year for its CO2 emissions of around 2030 and to an ambitious target of 20 percent clean energy in its energy mix by 2030.
This December in Paris, we are looking to establish, for the first time, an ambitious, durable climate regime that applies to all countries, is fair, and focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience.
Our commitment to address climate change is as widespread as it is focused.
We launched the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture, which works to produce more food, adapt to a changing climate, and reduce greenhouse gases.
We support the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Climate Technology Center and Network, and the Green Climate Fund, both of which support the efforts of developing countries in different ways to adapt to climate change.
That includes work to protect forests, support resilient agricultural sectors, and reduce greenhouse gases, while generating economic opportunities for their citizens.
We also invest billions in research and development of low carbon technologies and energy efficiency.
On other fronts, my Bureau has a leading role in making sure investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and the entire bio-economic extended community can be more connected, integrated, efficient and profitable.
For example, we advocate in world forums for a free internet to keep open channels of information, commerce and trade. We are integral to the negotiations in two ongoing multilateral trade deals that will not only break down barriers to trade and investment but set new environmental standards for member nations.
We also foster innovation by establishing legal frameworks that protect intellectual property rights, minimize corruption, and reward entrepreneurship.
The government has unique assets in at least two other ways. First of all, we have convening authority: We can assemble political leaders, scientists, economists, university leaders, business leaders and multilateral bodies to pursue mutually agreed upon goals.
Secondly, we have 270 embassies and posts around the world – our shoes on the ground, you might say – to extend our messages and outreach with citizens, political leaders and civil society organizations everywhere.
While the U.S. Government works to play its part, there are roles for a wide array of other actors in the bioeconomy, including other governments, multilateral bodies, businesses, universities, entrepreneurs, and scientists.
As I glance around this room, I can see a good representation of that global community. I look forward to hearing more about the stories you have to tell.
We have so much to build on; so many success stories in biotechnology, as we work to combat the effects of climate change. As I mentioned, one of the consequences of climate change is the increased risk of insect-borne disease exposure, such as dengue and malaria, in places such as Florida and Texas. The National Science Foundation has supported research that reengineers microorganisms to produce an anti-malarial drug. It’s called artemisinin and new companies are already putting it on the market.
That’s a perfect illustration of the bioeconomy at its best: Funded innovative research addresses a serious problem, using cross-disciplinary biosciences. The private sector brings it to market and makes it available globally. The problem is addressed.
As I learned on my trip to Iowa, the agricultural sector continues to benefit from innovation. We are making more sustainable use of land and water. We are developing drought tolerant varieties of corn, nutritionally enhanced rice, and disease resistant oranges. These are crucial breakthroughs as we also try to feed a global population that will reach an estimated 9 billion by the year 2050.
These and other stories prove to me that, despite the size and scale of our challenges, we are rising to meet them head on. I believe it’s because, throughout human history, we have made productive use of innovation since we first learned to rub two sticks together.
Back then it was sticks. Now we’re creating genetically modified mosquitos that don’t carry malaria. We are turning algae into jet fuel. We are making apples that don’t brown and potatoes that produce fewer carcinogens when fried.
Of course, with innovation comes change – and inevitably resistance. Charles Kettering, an American inventor and former head of research at General Motors, who owned 186 patents, once said: “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”
The bioeconomy is all about progress, from the cellular level to the macro-economic level, as we work to grow an ecosystem of invention and reinvention that creates the products and processes for a more sustainable future. We may not seem as powerful and impressive as those ancient Greek warriors, waiting for their favorable wind. But if you compare the stakes we face, we can make the case that we’re more modern heroes. By creating a viable, sustainable bioeconomy, we are not only enhancing and sustaining society; we are contributing to a more ecologically balanced planet. For my money, that beats getting Helen back from Troy any time!
Thank you.
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