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The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) bestowed their Small Satellite Mission of the Year award to the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP), Aug. 6, 2020, at the annual Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah.
Designed and built by a team that includes engineers, physicists, and mathematicians from UMBC and Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) in Utah, the HARP satellite's sensors will collect new kinds of information about clouds and tiny particles in Earth's atmosphere, such as wildfire smoke, desert dust, and human-generated pollutants. With its innovative design, HARP is able to observe the particles from many angles at once to give scientists a more comprehensive view of what's going on in the atmosphere. The new data will equip scientists with information they need to better understand climate and air quality concerns.
Support comes full circle: When students become mentors.
Congratulations to our newest GRA graduate, Dr. Brian Carroll.
He just completed his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics. Read more
Click here to view the video
The NASA GSFC Office of Communications and Scientific Visualization Studio presents "NASA Looks Back at 50 Years of Earth Day" to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day.
Earth Day Symposium 2020
This year's Earth Day Symposium is transitioning to a virtual format in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. To learn more about our new format visit our new page COVID 19 Virtual Format. We will continue to provide updates on our website as we continue this transition.
The Earth Day Symposium (EDS) is an annual event sponsored jointly by the UMBC Department of Physics and the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) that highlights local Earth science research from NASA, NOAA, university, and private sector affiliates. The event aims to strengthen collaboration between UMBC and JCET researchers, graduate students, and the local Earth science community.
Click here for more information…
Ocean Science Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) NASA Hyperwall Talk
How a NASA ARSET Training Inspired Air Quality Innovation in India
In late 2015, Amrit Sharma packed up his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota and made the big move to New Delhi, India. Shortly after his arrival, the reality of India's pollution situation came as a shock, "I discovered that millions of people die from air pollution," Sharma said, "and I was in the heart of a city where it is extremely hazardous almost every day of the year." Most of the pollution in New Delhi is caused by road dust and industry, but another major contributor is exhaust from all the cars and buses. Sharma was not an air quality expert, but he knew that he had to do something to put a dent in this crisis. His solution was to found an organization called AirAirAir. Its objective is to make air quality data more understandable and easier to access for people who don't have a scientific background. One of his solutions was to set up a website that tracks air pollution with emojis.
Click here for more information…
Congratulations to JCET GRA Student Jianyu (Kevin) Zheng For Being Selected To Receive Outstanding Student Presentation Award from AGU
Click here for more information
JCET Seminar Series Spring 2020
Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Earth Sciences
The JCET Department at UMBC, led by Dr. Zhibo Zhang, is excited to introduce it's Spring 2020 JCET seminar series on the Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Earth Sciences. Theseminar series looks to provide 1) an introductory overview of the basic AI and "big-data" techniques; 2) hand-on experiences with AI-based algorithms for satellite remote sensing; 3) an outlook of cutting-edge research of the applications of AI in Earth Sciences. There is a great teaching team in place, including three professors from the Department of Information Systems of UMBC, two JCET faculty, and several external scientists/researchers. This seminar series, scheduled on Tuesdays 11:15 AM ~12:15 PM, will be made available online to JCET faculty working at GSFC through WebEx.
For UMBC graduate students: this seminar series will be a one-credit PHYS650-04 Special Topic Course under my name.
For JCET faculty/staff: WebEx information will be sent out before each seminar (we are testing the recording system and might be able to publish the recorded lecture as well).
For more information, please visit the webpage for this course:
JCET Seminar Series Spring 20202
NASA's Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance Mission, or air-LUSI, Takes Flight
The airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance Instrument (air-LUSI) is flying aboard NASA's ER-2 airplane. The ER-2 is able to soar above clouds, about 70,000 feet above ground. The flights, which occur at night to avoid scattered light from the Sun, began Nov. 13 and will wrap up Nov. 17 from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California.
The NASA-funded instrument is "measuring how much sunlight is reflected by the Moon at various phases in order to accurately characterize it and expand how the Moon is used to calibrate Earth observing sensors", said Kevin Turpie, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, leading the air-LUSI effort. Turpie and his team are funded by NASA's Earth Science Division and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
How the Moon helps Earth sensors
Earth-observing sensors, like the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometric Suite (VIIRS) aboard the NASA/NOAA/DOD Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite and the NOAA-20 meteorological satellite, collect images of cloud cover, land surface cover and ocean color. While these sensors are diligently doing their jobs, they also have to brace against high-energy particles and withstand ultraviolet light, which degrade their sensors over time.
To account for any changes in sensitivity, VIIRS and other satellite instruments calibrate their sensors by looking at a known reference and comparing how the most recent look compares to previous ones. If the sensor sees the reference differently than before, it knows it needs to recalibrate or adjust its sensitivity.
Currently, many instruments carry an opaque or white material, called a diffuser, that reflects sunlight and acts as a reference for sensor calibration. However, although the Sun provides a steady output, its harsh rays degrade the diffuser over time. The Moon, on the other hand, is an ideal diffuser since its reflectance of sunlight is stable and more similar to Earth's in brightness.
Scientists have long known about the Moon's potential. "Not long after the Apollo program, a group at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a way of characterizing the Moon so that Earth observing satellites could use it for calibration," Turpie said.
The USGS Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) in Flagstaff, Arizona, measured the Moon on a monthly basis from 1995 to 2003. Tom Stone, a scientist at USGS, along with Hugh Kieffer, a former scientist with USGS, developed a ROLO-based model that has and continues to be used to help calibrate Earth observing sensors in instruments, like SeaWiFS, which operated from 1997 to 2010 and measured ocean color to monitor phytoplankton. SeaWiFS looked at the Moon on a regular basis to note any changes in its instrument's sensitivity.
Although a lot of Earth observing mission calibration teams use ROLO, there can be large discrepancies in their lunar calibration data, Stone said. The hope is that air-LUSI's highly accurate measurements will characterize those discrepancies and determine if they're caused by internal biases in the ROLO model or something else. "We can't validate ROLO calibrations to any better than 5%," Stone said. "Air-LUSI can improve ROLO or determine what needs to be improved."
Air-LUSI's novel instruments are able to obtain highly accurate lunar spectral irradiance measurements that will have the lowest ever uncertainty (less than 1%), Turpie said, which establishes the Moon as an absolute calibration reference and helps remote sensing scientists determine if Earth observing sensors, like VIIRS, are recording actual changes on Earth or changes in their instruments.
Although Earth observing missions can look at the Moon at the same time and phase every month as a way to notice trends in their instruments' sensitivity, they haven't yet been able to use the Moon as an absolute calibration reference, Kurt Thome, a project scientist for Earth observing missions at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said….Read more…
A Night in the life of Moon Measurers…
Read more on on air-LUSI and the NASA Airbourne Science Program…
NASA Science, Cargo Heads to Space Station
On the 19th anniversary of the arrival of the first crew to live aboard the International Space Station, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is on its way to the orbiting outpost with almost 8,200 pounds of science investigations and cargo after launching at 9:59 a.m. EDT Saturday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Click here for video of launch…
Tiny NASA Satellite Will Soon See 'Rainbows' In Clouds
Oct. 28, 2019
NASA's next attempt to map invisible specks in the atmosphere that impact climate change and air quality started from a window seat over the Pacific.
Vanderlei Martins, a professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, was flying across the Pacific Ocean a few years ago when he looked out the window and decided to photograph the bright white clouds floating by. On a whim, he took out a polarizer, similar to a sunglasses lens, and rotated it in front of his camera as he snapped photos. The result? "I saw rainbows in the clouds," Martins said.
This dynamic view of clouds sparked an idea for a tiny satellite that will launch on Nov. 2 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, to the International Space Station. From there it will be released into Earth orbit.
This NASA-funded CubeSat will collect vital information about clouds and aerosols, tiny particles in the atmosphere that can act as nuclei on which cloud droplets and ice particles form. These measurements will help us better understand how aerosol particles impact weather, climate and air quality.
The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) CubeSat is about the size of a hearty loaf of bread. It will be the first attempt to put a polarimeter, which measures the polarization of light, aboard a CubeSat. HARP could pave the way for future NASA missions involving a constellation of little satellites peering down at clouds and aerosols, Martins said. NASA's Earth Science Technology Office is funding HARP under the In-Space Validation of Earth Science Technologies program. Martin in the principal investigator of the mission.
"HARP, as the first multiangle wide field-of-view cloud-aerosol CubeSat mission, is a great example of how a creative and innovative team can advance new technologies for atmospheric science observations," said Charles Norton, special advisor for small spacecraft missions at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Congratulations Dr. Erricos Pavlis On His Fellowship Appointment With The International Association of Geodesy (IAG)
JCET GRA Nicole Trenholm Trains Undergraduates in Summer 2019 Northwest Passage Project
Last August, Nicole Trenholm, a UMBC Graduate Research Assistant in JCET, collected over 100 in situ chlorophyll a, pigments and eDNA genetic samples of sea surface waters in order to assess coastal productivity interpreted through satellite remote sensed ocean color chl a data between open navigable seas to ice laden regions of the Northwest Passage. Trenholm trained a team of undergraduate students to help with the sample acquisition onboard the NSF funded Northwest Passage Project 2019 cruise. Onboard the Icebreaker Oden Nicole assisted Dr. Donglai Gong of Virginia Institute of Marine Science in physical oceanographic measurements of the predominate transport and circulation of water masses across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. They captured observations of Pacific water which moves across Barrow Strait, into Lancaster Sound to meet upwelled Atlantic Ocean originating boundary currents that inevitably outflows into Baffin Bay. They conducted water column profiles and water samples at intriguing locations and at discrete depths even where physical forces may aid in driving downstream plankton blooms that may be seen through ocean color variation. Trenholm assisted in the operation of aerial and underwater robotics to gain a better perspective of sea ice and algae conditions onboard Oden and while adrift on ice floes. "On previous research cruises, I always avoided the ice edge but pushing through it and being dropped off on an ice floe was an indescribable opportunity that changed my perspective on exploring sea ice", Trenholm states. Trenholm is encouraged to submit data to the NASA Ocean Ecology Branch in situ data repository of SeaBass. She plans to assess any matched conditions that may better associate ocean color data with physical forcing on validaited ecological effects such as along the glaciated coastline of the Devon Ice Cap and the bird reserve of Prince Leopold Island. While chlorophyll and pigments samples are processed by scietntists at the High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Lab at Goddard Space Flight Center, Trenholm will help Dr. Louis Plough process eDNA samples at University of Maryland Horn Point Laboratory this Fall. "For 2020-2021, I now prepare for a more strategic coastal sampling plan within the Canadaian Arctic Archipelago and W-NW Greenland in which I will consult with many JCET, GSFC Ocean Ecology and Cryosphere Branch scientists during the course of my JCET fellowship to ensure I will acquire the best observations that can help the interpretation of ocean color datasets now and into the future in this rapidly changing polar wilderness", Trenholm shares.
Qianqian Song Receives FINESST Fellowship From NASA
UMBC's Qianqian Song has just received the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) Fellowship—one of just 59 such fellowships granted nationwide this year. The award provides $45,000 per year for three years for her to continue her studies at UMBC with Zhibo Zhang, associate professor of physics.
Song, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in atmospheric physics,is studying how dust above clouds affects the global climate. Large amounts of dust enter the atmosphere when strong winds blow across dry areas, such as the Sahara Desert.Previous research from the Zhang lab showed that this dust travels thousands of miles and provides critical nutrients to the Amazon rainforest. Other studies have suggested that the dust has an overall cooling effect on climate, by blocking short-wave radiation coming from the sun. "But they were neglecting the long-wave effect," says Song. This is where her innovative work comes in.
Arctic change on the 'Magic Planet' Co-lab Presentation
This summer's Stories on a Sphere UMBC Co-Lab Interdisciplinary Project Team developed a Science on a Sphere Presentation called On Thin Ice.
The undergraduate group was led by JCET Fellow Nicole Trenholm and a co-team lead and fellow Geographic Environmental Science Department Phd student Ben Daniels. The team produced a spherical presentation offering a different look at the changes impressed upon the Arctic marine ecosystem. They developed a how-to for other spatial researchers to be able to contribute datasets and presentations to the NOAA Science on a Sphere Data Catalog and to give spherical presentations a try! Here the team debuts their presentation at NOAA Headquarters in Silver Spring on Wednesday June 19th at Science on a Sphere. Trenholm will continue to produce spherical content and presentations with this cutting edge science communication medium in order to best relay her research with JCET.
Congratulations to JCET's Graduate Fellowship Award Co-Recipients for 2019-2020
The UMBC JCET Department is proud to announce it has co-recipients for its Graduate Fellowship Award for the 2019-20 academic year. They are Ms. Pei Guo from Information Systems ("Multilayer Causality Network Modeling, Learning and Inference from Large-scale Global Spatiotemporal Climate Data," IS Advisor: Dr. Jianwu Wang), and Ms. Nicole Trenholm from Geography ("Ocean-Glacier Interactions the Driver in Arctic Coastal Productivity," GES Advisors: Dr. Jeff Halverson & Dr. Kevin Turpie). Congratulations to both Pei and Nicole and good luck in the coming year.
Maryland 2019 Academy of Sciences Annual STEM Awards
Lorraine Remer Receives Research Faculty Excellence Award
Dr. Lorraine Remer, Research Professor in UMBC's Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) and Affiliate Professor in the Departments of Physics and Geography and Environmental Systems, has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the UMBC Research Faculty Excellence Award. The award recognizes overall excellence in research, and where appropriate, significant contributions to teaching and service/leadership while at UMBC.
Click here for more information Lorraine Remer Award Winner
Congratulations Dr. Jae Lee!
Congratulations to Dr. Jae Lee (JCET/UMBC) who was presented with the Piers J. Sellers Award for Interdisciplinary Science from Director of Sciences and Exploration Directorate/GSFC, Mark Clampin, on Feb. 26, 2019 at the 12th Annual New Year's poster party. Her poster "Is There a Time Lag between Total Solar Irradiance and Sunspot Area?" explores two fundamental quantities in Heliophysics and Earth Science: the solar magnetic field emergence and total solar energy input to Earth. To examine the relationship between the two, she showed SDO solar disc images, ground observations of Sunspot area, and three different satellite measured total solar irradiance data from SORCE, TCTE, and newly launched TSIS.
The Third Annual Earth Day Symposium is on April 26th, 2019 from 9am-4pm in Physics 401 at UMBC Main Campus
The Earth Day Symposium (EDS) is an annual event sponsored jointly by the UMBC Department of Physics and the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) that highlights local Earth science research from NASA, NOAA, university, and private sector affiliates. The event aims to strengthen collaboration between UMBC and JCET researchers, graduate students, and the local Earth science community.
Click here for more information 3rd Annual Earth Day Symposium
Iceberg Twice The Size of New York City Set to Break Away From Antarctica, Says Nasa
The iceberg would represent the largest break off since scientists first began monitoring the area
Clark MindockNew York
An iceberg twice the size of New York City is poised to break away from the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, sparking safety concerns for scientists in the area. The iceberg would represent the largest break off there since scientists first began monitoring the area, in 1915.
In a release, Nasa says that a crack has been growing at a rate of about 2.5 miles (4km) per year since 2012, and that the chasm was dormant before that time. That northward growing crack could soon meet with another growing chasm, the so-called "Halloween crack" that was discovered in October of 2016 growing eastward form the McDonalds Ice Rumples.
Nasa scientist Chris Shuman told The Independent that the size of the iceberg — around 1,700 square kilometers, or about 656 square miles — would make it the fifth largest iceberg that is currently being tracked by the National Ice Centre in Suitland Maryland.
"What is driving this is the natural, long-term flow of glacial ice off of the margins of Antarctica so that the advancing ice begins to float on the sea (in this case the Weddell Sea, forming the Brunt Ice Shelf)," Mr Shuman said. "Year-by-year, the ice moves farther offshore as it is supplied by the glaciers inland until the forces of tides, currents, storms etc… begin to crack the floating ice".
Click here for the whole story Brunt Ice Shelf
Congratulations Valerie Casasanto
2018 Robert H. Goddard Honor Award Winner for Outreach with ICESat-2
Valerie Casasanto of the UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) is one of the 2018 Robert H. Goddard Honor Award winners from code 600 for her work with the ICESat-2 Outreach Team. Please be sure to congratulate Val for her hard work and dedication to the success of Goddard, UMBC and JCET. Her professionalism is deeply appreciated.
TSIS-1 Team Receives Group Achievement Award From NASA
UMBC Among Top 150 U.S. Universities in Federal Research Funding
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released its latest Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey, including UMBC among the top 150 U.S. universities in federal research and development expenditures for fiscal year 2017. The annual HERD survey combines total funding from all federal agencies, including NSF and others, as well as research funding from non-federal and non-governmental sources.
UMBC is ranked #146 in federal funding for the 2017 fiscal year and #169 in total funding from all sources. The federal research investment figure includes funding sources such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), among many others.
Partnering with NASA
The university is a strong national leader when it comes to NASA funding, where UMBC ranks #12 across all U.S. colleges and universities. This leadership also applies broadly to the overall category of research in the geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, where UMBC ranks #28 nationwide.
The Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST II) is one core research partnership UMBC maintains with NASA. UMBC and the University of Maryland, College Park, are leading partners in the consortium, which received a commitment of $87.5 million over five years from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center beginning in 2017 (following a successful 10-year agreement that launched in 2006).
The partnership supports cutting edge research in high energy astrophysics, gravitational waves, and other areas. Jane Turner, professor of physics, directs the Center for Space and Science Technology (CSST), which is the UMBC arm of CRESST. She explains that this research collaboration also creates important teaching and learning opportunities that benefit faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students.
The Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) is another particularly active and robust UMBC-NASA partnership. NASA renewed JCET in 2015 at a level of $46 million over five years, affirming its commitment to this ongoing, highly productive research collaboration.
"UMBC has a terrific relationship with NASA," says Susan Hoban, JCET's associate director. "The UMBC-Goddard JCET is in its third decade, conducting research that advances our understanding of the Earth's changing climate. NASA scientists, as well as UMBC faculty and students, benefit from this ongoing collaboration."
Reflecting and informing society
The arts, humanities, and social sciences at UMBC regularly receive funding from a range of federal sources including the DHHS, USDA, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The latest HERD rankings include projects in a broad range of fields in these areas, such as education, the environment, health disparities, and design. For fiscal year 2017, UMBC ranked #36 in social science research expenditures from federal sources, above institutions such as Princeton University (#48) and Brown University (#52).
Chris Curran, assistant professor of public policy, received a two-year $620,000 National Institute of Justice grant to study the role of law enforcement officers in public schools. Curran, has shared, "Law enforcement have become an increasingly common presence in school settings, particularly after high profile events like the tragedy at Sandy Hook. Our work seeks to understand the role of these officers in promoting safety, managing student behavior, and facilitating relationships with students."
Also during the 2017 HERD survey period, Margaret Re, associate professor of visual arts, received a major Art Works grant from the NEA to develop the exhibition and catalog for "A Designed Life." The project explores how the U.S. government sponsored exhibits of modern American textiles, wallpapers, containers, and packaging in the 1950s to promote American culture abroad. It's now on display at UMBC's Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture.
Computing, information, and engineering
UMBC also has very strong federal support for research in computing, information sciences, and engineering disciplines. In all three areas, UMBC ranked in the top 125 U.S. universities in funding received from federal sources.
In the 2017 HERD period, UMBC received an NSF Major Research Instrumentation award to expand the university's High Performance Computing Facility. Also in computing,Ting Zhu, assistant professor of computer science and electrical engineering, received a prestigious NSF CAREER Award for his work to develop "Internet of Things" technology.
Faculty also received numerous awards for innovative medical research. Erin Lavik, professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, received funding from the National Eye Institute to develop a "living model of the human retina."
Liang Zhu, professor of mechanical engineering, was PI on an NSF grant to study how applying heat to drug-carrying nanoparticles can cause tumors to shrink. Her research with UMBC colleagues in mechanical engineering, biological science, and chemistry and biochemistry could lead to a more targeted, non-surgical approach to treating tumors in cancer patients. "Not every patient can have surgery," explained Zhu, "so this is an alternative treatment option."
Karl V. Steiner, UMBC's vice president for research, notes that these most recent research funding rankings highlight UMBC's strength across disciplines. "I could not be more proud of the efforts of our faculty and students as we build our research community together. The HERD Rankings are one measurement of our scholarly impact, and represent a key method of national comparison," he says.
Steiner continues, "Our top ranking is in NASA support, and the related research highlights areas of remarkable strength built over several decades. We are also thrilled about the strength of our social sciences research community and growing recognition for our important engineering and information sciences programs."
Click here for more information: UMBC Research In Top 150 Universities In Research Funding
NASA's ICESat-2 Solvang Pre-launch Multimedia Presentation
With JCET's Valerie Casasanto
ICESat-2's Public Outreach Lead Photos courtesy of Len Wood, Santa Maria Times
ICESat2 Solvang Concert – September 15, 2018
JCET All Hands Meeting Tomorrow At GSFC
DSCVR: A 21-Year Journey
Please plan to attend the JCET All Hands meeting Tomorrow at GSFC.
The speaker will be Dr. Jay Herman
Wednesday, October 17, 2018 Building 33, Room H114 9:15AM – 10:30AM
Congratulations Ali Tokay and Yujie Wang
JCET's GSFC Award Winners
Congratulations Dr. Ali Tokay on receiving NASA's GSFC Code 610 Atmospheres Performance Award in the category: Outstanding Performance – Outreach or Mentoring for his sustained mentoring of students in research internships.
Congratulations Dr. Yujie Wang on receiving NASA's GSFC Code 610 Atmospheres Performance Award in the category Noteworthy Contribution Group Award for Development of code MAIAC and release of MODIS collection 6 operational data product MCD19.
NASA launches satellite to map Earth's ice sheets
ICESat-2 Launch
Coming to California for launch?
Check out ICESat-2's launch week activities near Vandenberg Air Force Base at https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/launch-info to find out information on where to catch our hands-on exhibits, a teacher workshop both in person and on Facebook Live, and a live multimedia music and science performance Sept. 14 (RSVP here: https://bit.ly/2x8I51J).
Can't make it in person?
Host a launch party with materials at https://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/launch-info, and tune in to NASA TV at 8:10 a.m. ET/5:10 a.m. PT for the start of our launch broadcast!
What is ICESat-2? => Click Here
JCET GRA Seminars For Fall 2018
This semester's JCET Seminar features Jess Herpel from the Maryland Department of the Environment as the kick-off speaker, on Tuesday, September 11. Please note the new time for the seminars this semester, 10 – 11 AM, in PHYS 401.
Click here for more information on the JCET GRA Seminars for Fall 2018: JCET GRA Seminars
UMBC, NASA, and Partners Mount Intensive Chesapeake Bay Air-Quality Study
This Summer, students and faculty from UMBC and three additional universities teamed up with NASA researchers and Maryland's Department of the Environment to collect huge amounts of data that will provide a snapshot of air quality in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and over the Chesapeake Bay. The study measures factors ranging from wind speed to ozone concentration.
"In trying to understand air quality near the coast, it's critical to obtain measurements over the water and over the land simultaneously with as wide of a variety of instruments as possible," says John Sullivan, Ph.D. '15, atmospheric physics, and the lead NASA researcher on the project.
UMBC serves as the primary land-based site, and equipment placed on remote Hart Miller Island in the Bay collects data over water. "With two sites, you can begin to really answer questions pertaining to differences in air pollution and understand the mechanisms driving these differences," Sullivan explains.
Ozone in the forecast
This summer's work is an extension of the Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Study (OWLETS), dubbed OWLETS-2, and it is particularly focused on tracking the presence of ozone in coastal cities. Ozone in the upper atmosphere helps maintain Earth's temperature and absorbs harmful UV rays.
However, near ground level, breathing in ozone causes inflammation in the respiratory system, which can be dangerous for young children, the elderly, and those with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Plants also take up ozone, which can reduce crop yields.
Chemical reactions between sunlight and emissions from vehicles and industry generate smog-like ozone episodes, so one would expect the highest concentrations at midday, when the sun is at its brightest. However, wind over the Bay changes that.
"The Bay breeze is like a wall that doesn't allow normal west to east airflow to happen," explains Ruben Delgado, assistant professor at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (a UMBC-NASA partnership) and the lead UMBC OWLETS-2 researcher. That means the midday ozone heading out to sea comes back in during the late afternoon, causing a spike just as local residents are heading home from work and school. Other factors, such as smoke blowing over the city from wildfires in the West, can also have a real impact.
Better understanding how these issues influence the presence of ozone in Baltimore can help improve air quality forecasts and protect sensitive populations from ozone's ill effects. "The National Weather Service is interested in this kind of data, because it allows them to push their models to a new frontier," Delgado explains.
Students step up
Working with Delgado are students from UMBC, Howard University, City University of New York, and Hampton University. The students and their home-institution faculty mentors are all members of the NOAA-funded Center for Earth System Sciences and Remote Sensing Technologies and Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology.
Delgado finds mentoring these emerging researchers to be both personally rewarding and essential to the success of the project. "My favorite part of this project is giving the students hands-on experience," Delgado says. "They get to contribute to the process from start to finish."
Kat Ball '21, chemical engineering, is one of those student researchers, and her experience has been transformative. "I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in meaningful scientific research so early on in my academic career," she shares. "I've only just completed my freshman year, and will be one of the authors on the publications that result from all the data we received, which is something I thought I would only be dreaming about for quite some time."
Ball learned that field and lab research differ in important ways. "Not everything is easy to deal with when you're miles away from an actual lab where you have all of the necessary parts, chemicals, and even just clean water that you need to deal with problems that arise," she says.
Working with much more experienced team members, Ball was intimidated at first, but soon felt at home on Hart Miller Island. "Hearing from people with such impressive qualifications that your input on the situation truly matters expanded the confidence I had in myself as a researcher," she shares.
Read more here: Chesapeake Bay Air-Quality Study
In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements of Precipitation Course in Brazil
Ali Tokay (JCET/UMBC, Code 612.0) presented a course on In-Situ and Remote Sensing Measurements of Precipitation at the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC), Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil during August 6-9, 2018. The course included wide range of topics including fundamentals of raindrop size distribution and rain parameters, ground-based precipitation measurements by rain gauges, disdrometers, and vertically pointing and scanning radars, global and regional precipitation products, space-borne precipitation measurements focusing on Global Precipitation Measurement sensors and algorithms. The course has drawn 40 registered participants from about 15 different institutes across Brazil.
Ocean Research Project Vision Sets Sail To Help Save Oceans
Matt Rutherford and UMBC Graduate Student Nicole Trenholm
Capital Gazette Article by:
Matt Rutherford and Nicole Trenholm weren't going to let bad news about a grant for this year's arctic marine expedition stop them. So they hitched a ride. Friends with boats, right? "The deal is they will take us into Greenland waters for our research in exchange for me helping them navigate the toughest sections of the Northwest Passage," Rutherford said. He met the owners of the boat while delivering a boat from Panama to San Diego a few years back. The couple, who make up the Ocean Research Project using the small platform of a sailboat to perform marine research delving into man's effect on the world's oceans, was determined to get back into the Arctic for follow up research from their 2016 mission to northern Greenland. And they were buoyed after co-publishing a paper with NASA scientists and the Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) project, published by Oceanography magazine in June, based on their research into ocean temperatures affecting Greenland glacier melt. And further boosted by the donation of a 65-foot steel-hulled Bruce Roberts sailboat to their cause. It needs some sprucing up, but should prove to be a vessel for the long haul. They took off from their home base in Annapolis July 23, flying to Reykjavik, Iceland, then to Greenland. The scientist half of the operation is Trenholm while Rutherford, famous for his 2012 single-handed nonstop voyage around the Americas — the first to ever accomplish the sailing feat — is the captain and spark plug. Trenholm, who also has a blog and teaching arrangement with Anne Arundel County Public Schools STEM program, posted some details after they made it to Aasiaat, Greenland, a small village about a third of the way up the icy coast. They boarded Toboggan, the boat they hitched a ride on, and took off up Disko Bay to record water temperatures approaching Jakobshavn Glacier, known to calf off chunks of ice the size of New York City. "With our CTD instrument, which measures conductivity, temperature and depth, we indeed found that warm water," Trenholm wrote. From there they moved north to Upernavik to check ice charts and gear up to cross Baffin Bay into the Northwest Passage, a three-day sail. By Friday night they were just off Devon Island, the largest uninhabited island on earth, at the eastern end of the passage.
They plan to conduct more research.
Read more at Ocean Research Project Vision To Save Oceans
The NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET)
The NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program offers satellite remote sensing training that builds the skills to integrate NASA Earth Science data into an agency's decision-making activities. Training sessions are offered in many areas of remote sensing, including air quality, climate, disaster relief, health, land, and water resources. These trainings, offered both online and in person, have a world wide reach of over 13,000 participants and more than 3, 600 organizations. Managed by Ana Prados , the ARSET program team consists of Training Coordinator, Brock Blevins, Technical Writer and Editor, Elizabeth Hook Program Evaluator, Annelise Carleton-Hug and Project Support, Marines Martins. There are many specialty leads and instructors including Melanie Follette-Cook, Pawan Gupta, Amber Jean McCullum, Amita Mehta, Erika Podest, and Cynthia Schmidt.
The photo above is from an in-person training last week July 10-12, "Satellite Remote Sensing of Dust, Fires, Smoke, and Air Quality" conducted by Pawan Gupta and Melanie Follette-Cook. With assistance from Elizabeth Hook, Brock Blevins, and Selwyn Hudson-Odoi. This training was coordinated with Washington State University who hosted the training in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10, and the US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. Over the course of three days, 39 participants from 25 organizations attended the training.
To Learn more visit: NASA Applied Remote Sensing (ARSET)
Air Quality Study Over Chesapeake Bay Seeks To Understand Pollution
Article by Liz Bowie – Contact Reporter for Baltimore Sun
The sky above Hart-Miller Island became a busy laboratory for several weeks this summer as researchers launched balloons, drones and planes to better understand the complex swirl of air pollution over the Chesapeake Bay. State and federal agencies initiated a research study aimed at providing more detailed data on how and why the Chesapeake Bay seems to act as a magnet for ozone pollution, amplifying the smog before it is then blown back over land. "The study is an exciting example of cutting-edge research on the interface between land and water," said Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. The study attempts to understand in a three-dimensional way what happens to the emissions of power plants, cars and other pollutants once they gather over the Chesapeake Bay. The results could help Maryland make the case for forcing sources of air pollution in states upwind to better control their emissions. Maryland officials blame air pollution from upwind states for more than two-thirds of the smog that forms over the Baltimore and Washington regions. On hot summer days, the sunlight and heat trigger chemical reactions between pollutants and other compounds in the air, multiplying what is known as ground-level ozone. Ozone is a form of oxygen found naturally in the upper atmosphere that protects the Earth from ultraviolet radiation, but ground-level ozone is a key ingredient in smog and can cause or aggravate breathing or heart problems in humans. Already this year there have been eight days when Baltimore's air quality exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. Ozone is created by the chemical reactions between pollutants known as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Nitrogen oxides come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars and power plants. The nitrogen often falls out of the air as ozone is created. About a third of the bay's nitrogen pollution falls from the air onto the land and water, said Ariel Solaski, a staff litigation attorney at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Excess nitrogen in the bay contributes to algae blooms and dead zones. Significant improvements in the bay's water quality have been seen since nutrients including nitrogen have been reduced in the rivers and streams flowing into the bay.
Read More: Air Quality Study Over Chesapeake Bay at Hart Miller Island
UMBC Climate Commitment Video
UMBC Energy Video
UMBC Transportation Video
UMBC Waste Reduction Video
UMBC Atmospheric Scientists Use New Instrumentation
To Study Cloud and Aerosols in Exploratory NASA Aircraft Campaigns
Aerosol-cloud interaction continues to puzzle climate scientists. It is among the most significant contributors to our climate but least understood. Aerosol-cloud processes are poorly represented in climate models and measurement requires high accuracy, narrow resolution, and cooperation between different instruments.
Several studies converge on the idea that a multi-angle imaging polarimeter, with high accuracy and narrow spatial and angular resolution, is the strongest candidate to sample cloud and aerosol properties at the level required for climate study. The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) is a wide field-of-view camera, designed and developed by J. Vanderlei Martins and the Laboratory for Aerosol and Cloud Optics (LACO) Group at UMBC to fill this role.
Over the past year, AirHARP, the HARP instrument adapted for aircraft, flew on two NASA research campaigns: the Lake Michigan Ozone Study (LMOS) and the Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and LIDAR (ACEPOL). The LMOS campaign was a joint NASA-NOAA-EPA effort to explore the connection between lake breezes and high ozone exceedance levels on the eastern coastline of Wisconsin in the summer months. AirHARP took data on many B-200 flights alongside the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) GeoTASO instrument, a trace gas experiment that measures ozone pre-cursors, such as NO2, through the entire atmospheric column. Brent McBride, a Ph.D candidate in Martins' group, operated AirHARP on-board the B-200 and led field operations on the ground throughout the campaign, while LACO group members engaged remotely from UMBC. While AirHARP does not have trace gas sensitivity, measurements of convective clouds and low aerosol levels over eastern Wisconsin will be compared to co-incident observations made by AERONET sun photometer sites and the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on the GOES-R geosynchronous satellite.
Read more: UMBC Atmospheric Scientists Use New Instrumentation
UMBC Physicists Discover Unexpected Effect of African
Wildfires on Climate
Clouds play a prominent role in moderating Earth's climate, but their role is still poorly understood. Generally, clouds cool the Earth by reflecting incoming sunlight back out into space. Reducing the clouds' reflectivity—with a layer of pollution, for example—reduces the cooling effect. However, new research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Zhibo Zhang, associate professor of atmospheric physics at UMBC, two of his students, and collaborators from University of Wyoming, University of Science and Technology of China, Universities Space Research Association, and University of Michigan adds another level of complexity to this model.
Every fall, fires race across central and southern Africa. Many are wildfires; others are intentionally set by humans to clear farmland. They create so much smoke that it's clearly visible from space. Wind sweeps the smoke westward over the Atlantic Ocean, where it rises above the largest semi-permanent gathering of clouds in the world. For years, scientists believed that overall, the smoke diminishes the clouds' cooling effect by absorbing light that the clouds beneath otherwise would reflect. The new study by Zhang and colleagues doesn't dispute the existence of this effect, but introduces a new mechanism that counteracts it by making the clouds more reflective.
Read more: UMBC Physicists' New Discovery
JCET GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP 2020-21Call for Proposals : Due Date: 9 PM EDT, April 12, 2020JCET is seeking proposals from graduate students at UMBC who plan to collaborate with a JCET faculty or fellow research project, or support an existing exemplary student....Posted: February 27, 2020 12:21 PM
JCET Seminar Series Spring 2020Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Earth ScienceThe JCET Department at UMBC, led by Dr. Zhibo Zhang, is excited to introduce it's Spring 2020 JCET seminar series on the Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Earth Sciences. Theseminar...Posted: January 15, 2020 3:04 PM
Postdoctoral Research AssociateJCET Seeks a New Postdoctoral Research AssociateUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE COUNTY (UMBC) JOINT CENTER FOR EARTH SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY (JCET) Research Activity: The Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) in cooperation of...Posted: September 12, 2019 12:58 PM
JCET Co-Recipients for 2019-20 Graduate Fellowship AwardThe UMBC JCET Department is proud to announce it has co-recipients for its Graduate Fellowship Award for the 2019-20 academic year. They are Ms. Pei Guo from Information Systems ("Multilayer...Posted: May 20, 2019 10:06 AM
JCET GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP 2020-21Call for Proposals : Due Date: 9 PM EDT, April 12, 2020JCET is seeking proposals from graduate students at UMBC who plan to collaborate with a JCET faculty or fellow research project, or support an existing exemplary student....Posted: February 12, 2019 2:28 PM
2-Week School at University of Sao PauloCourse on Atmospheric Aerosols, July 2019, at USP in BrazilSão Paulo School of Advanced Science on Atmospheric Aerosols: Properties, Measurements, Modeling, and Effects on Climate and Health July 22 to August 2, 2019, São Paulo, Brazil...Posted: February 5, 2019 1:36 PM
JFK: Conspiracy or Not?Special Guest Speaker, Dr. Nicholas R. Nall, NOAA AffiliateLet us know if you are coming at this link. 55 years ago last month, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in an open motorcade by a sniper in Dallas, Texas on 22...Posted: December 10, 2018 2:30 PM
Carbon Zero Interdisciplinary CoLabLead By Dr. Jasper Lewis (UMBC/JCET)Students from the Carbon Zero Interdisciplinary CoLab program did a presentation, along with the other CoLab students, for the Interdisciplinary Committee Faculty Social on 10/9/18. They also...Posted: October 22, 2018 3:12 PM
Congratulations Ali Tokay and Yujie WangJCET's GSFC Award WinnersCongratulations Dr. Ali Tokay on receiving the NASA's GSFC Code 610 Atmospheres Performance Award in the category: Outstanding Performance – Outreach or Mentoring for his sustained mentoring of...Posted: September 28, 2018 2:39 PM
UMBC, NASA, and Partners Mount Intensive StudyOf Chesapeake Bay Air QualitySCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AUGUST 21, 2018 10:26 AM SARAH HANSEN This Summer, students and faculty from UMBC and three additional universities teamed up with NASA researchers and Maryland's...Posted: August 21, 2018 2:19 PM


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a new movie, but the tale has a long and distinguished history before Nicholas Cage starred in the current version. This Sunday at 7:30 p.m., Dukas' music inspired by the story will be offered at a FREE concert at Coker United Methodist Church. The San Antonio Symphony opens its Classics season on October 8 and 9 with it too.
The story, in its current form, goes back to a 1797 poem by Goethe called Der Zauberlehrling. It is an old tale, with versions dating back two thousand years. Composer Paul Dukas wrote his 1897 version based on Goethe's poem. We know it today primarily because it was featured in the original 1940 Disney movie Fantasia. It was used again in Fantasia 2000.
Some of the lesser-known "incantations" of the work include versions with Bugs Bunny, Doctor Who, and Alfred Hickcock Presents. Here is the famous scene starring Mickey Mouse from Fantasia:
Here is the complete poem:
That old sorcerer has vanished
And for once has gone away!
Spirits called by him, now banished,
My commands shall soon obey.
Every step and saying
That he used, I know,
And with sprites obeying
My arts I will show.
Flow, flow onward
Stretches many
Spare not any
Water rushing,
Ever streaming fully downward
Toward the pool in current gushing.
Come, old broomstick, you are needed,
Take these rags and wrap them round you!
Long my orders you have heeded,
By my wishes now I've bound you.
Have two legs and stand,
And a head for you.
Run, and in your hand
Hold a bucket too.
Flow, flow onward
Stretches many,
Spare not any
Water rushing,
Ever streaming fully downward
Toward the pool in current gushing.
See him, toward the shore he's racing
There, he's at the stream already,
Back like lightning he is chasing,
Pouring water fast and steady.
Once again he hastens!
How the water spills,
How the water basins
Brimming full he fills!
Stop now, hear me!
Ample measure
Of your treasure
We have gotten!
Ah, I see it, dear me, dear me.
Master's word I have forgotten!
Ah, the word with which the master
Makes the broom a broom once more!
Ah, he runs and fetches faster!
Be a broomstick as before!
Ever new the torrents
That by him are fed,
Ah, a hundred currents
Pour upon my head!
No, no longer
Can I please him,
I will seize him!
That is spiteful!
My misgivings grow the stronger.
What a mien, his eyes how frightful!
Brood of hell, you're not a mortal!
Shall the entire house go under?
Over threshold over portal
Streams of water rush and thunder.
Broom accurst and mean,
Who will have his will,
Stick that you have been,
Once again stand still!
Can I never, Broom, appease you?
I will seize you,
Hold and whack you,
And your ancient wood
I'll sever,
With a whetted axe I'll crack you.
He returns, more water dragging!
Now I'll throw myself upon you!
Soon, 0 goblin, you'll be sagging.
Crash! The sharp axe has undone you.
What a good blow, truly!
There, he's split, I see.
Hope now rises newly,
And my breathing's free.
Woe betide me!
Both halves scurry
In a hurry,
Rise like towers
There beside me.
Help me, help, eternal powers!
Off they run, till wet and wetter
Hall and steps immersed are Iying.
What a flood that naught can fetter!
Lord and master, hear me crying! –
Ah, he comes excited.
Sir, my need is sore.
Spirits that I've cited
My commands ignore.
"To the lonely
Corner, broom!
Hear your doom.
As a spirit
When he wills, your master only
Calls you, then 'tis time to hear it."
By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe with translation by Edwin Zeydel, 1955
Jack Fishman
Email: email@example.com
For more blogs by Jack Fishman visit: www.sasymphony.org/blog
The SLL era begins October 2!


text:
An Iranian-German "distraught", "bullied" teenager, David Sonboly (a.k.a. "Bloody Divans"), 18 years old, killed 9 people, injured 27 people using a Glock 9 mm. On the 22nd of July, the Utoya shooting anniversary.
The murderous teenager, from http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/692 ... -shot-dead
No explanations as to why people should listen to what "Selina Akim" says.The sick murderer, who killed nine and left dozens injured, hacked a Facebook account with the name "Selina Akim", promising free food at McDonalds to unwitting victims. "Selina" posted messages hours before the deadly shooting promising food to anyone who came to the fast food restaurant.
Theatre of the event, the "Olympia" mall, apparently built in Munich on occasion of the 1972 Olympics during which the Palestinian organization "Black September" took hostage and killed the Israeli olympic team, thus marking it one of the most prominent pro-zionist terrorist events of the past century.
http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/shopping/ ... s/oez.html
On repubblica.it there is a very interesting interview with one Italian woman, witness of the shooting, who apparently works in the mall at an ice-cream shop. The interview is interesting because from it we learn that she not only works in the mall, but lives there too (finding herself now blocked from getting back home). In other words the witness is entirely dependent on the structure which hosted the psyop event.
I cannot put my finger on it, but she looks like another Italian crisis actor from another psyop, cannot remember which.
This is the website of the mall: https://www.olympia-einkaufszentrum.de/, whence I learn that the mall is owned by a conglomerate called ECE, I don't know much more than this at this stage.


text:
The Ohio State University
Creating the Extraordinary Student Experience
Time: Sunday, January 27, 2019 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: RPAC B134
Barre None is a combination of ballet, Pilates and yoga-inspired exercises designed to strengthen, sculpt and lengthen your muscles. While this class targets your glutes, legs and core, it will improve your overall balance, flexibility and strength. With high reps and low weight, this class is guaranteed to make you feel the burn!
Add to your calendar
© 2020 The Ohio State University – Multicultural Center
Ohio Union, Suite 1000, 1739 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-688-8449 | Fax: 614-292-4462 | email@example.com
If you have trouble accessing this page, request an alternate format.


text:
Zakhar Zibrov
Presentation of paritcipant of youth competition Ukraine. Library of 150 places
date 27.04.12
time 12:00
Zakhar Zibrov
date 27.04.12
time 12:00
17.05.2016– 21.05.2016
01.04.2016– 29.04.2016
We are happy to announce Ivan Honchar Museum as the theme and the location of the Place Making & Building Transformation workshop.
CURATOR:Theo Hauben / HAU|Hauben architecture & urbanism / the Netherlands
TUTORS: ELENA ARCHIPOVAITE / Lithuania & ANDREA VIDOTTO / Italy
This workshop is about the publicness of space in Kiev. Rather than focusing on the physical properties of public spaces, this workshop will scrutinize public space uses and the functions they hold in the lives of the citizens.
More info and the application process:http://festival.canactions.com/…/canaction…/workshop/5/about
20.03.2016– 21.05.2016
Subject of the CANactions 2016:
Dates of CANactions 2016:
Curator of the IAF CANactions 2016:
10.03.2016– 24.04.2016
GEBERIT with CANactions invites young architects and designers to contribute to the development of sustainable public street toilets for Ukrainian cities within STREET GEBERIT: Всеукраїнський конкурс (March 10, 2016 - April 21, 2016)
The need for sanitation in urban areas is obvious. Inappropriate sanitation can be damaging to human health and the environment. Especially in urban areas, where public toilets are more common.
Innovative design improvements in public toilets and new ways of recycling will help governments and their partners to meet the enormous challenge of providing quality services to public sanitation.
Organizer: GEBERIT - The European leader in the field of sanitary products.
Co-organizer: CANactions - interdisciplinary urban research platform.
Partners: Zhytomyr City Council.
First place - 30 000 UAH and the realisation of the project
Second place - 15 000 UAH
Third place - 7000 UAH
Audience Award - 5000 UAH
Who can participate:
The competition is open to persons under 35 years, who are citizens of Ukraine, from students to skilled architects and designers.
More information THERE
29.02.2016– 21.05.2016
Competition will take place for the ninth time in a frame of the International Architectural Festival CANactions 2016.
Applications for can be submitted from February 29 till April 13 23:59 (Kyiv time).
The competition is open for:
• students and graduates of Architectural departments of Ukrainian institutions of higher education, specialization - Architecture
• age restriction - up to 35 years, inclusively
• Bachelor's degree is necessary
• number of projects from one author is not limited
• the theme of projects is not limited
• individual membership or stuff is permitted
Among the awards are:
- the opportunity to study in DIA (Dessau Institute of Architecture) to get Master Degree - Germany,
- participation in workshops EASA - Lithuania
- participation in workshop Hello Wood 2016- Hungary.
- to fill the application form
- to send the project by e-mail: email@example.com
Waiting for your apply!
11.11.2015– 03.01.2016
Among our students we would like to see talented and ambitious agents of change who are ready to initiate urban projects and implement real transformations in Ukrainian cities. The topic of the STUDIO #2 is 'Tackling the Future of Ukrainian (Post)industrial Cities'
Theme:Tackling the Future of Ukrainian (Post)industrial Cities
Dates:February 15 – May 21, 2016
Curator:Urs Thomann, CH
Tuition fee:11 800 UAH
Application deadline:January 3, 2016
Do (post)industrial cities of Ukraine have a future?Have they truly become post- or do they still remain industrial?How to take a step forward from a utopian Soviet past to a contemporary city without the utopian pretense?
The STUDIO #2 participants will be working on finding answers to these questions and raising new ones through developing strategic scenarios and tactical proposals for Kramatorsk – an Eastern Ukrainian city which has been chosen for our case study.
The students will get an opportunity to present their results at the annual CANactions International Architecture Festival in May, 2016.
Want to apply? Read more on our website:
You have one more chance to become a member of first urban school in Ukraine CANactions School for Urban Studies: Studio#1.
By popular demand, we continue to accept applications until 10 August 2015
28 липня о 20:00 архітектор Віктор Зотов прочитає лекцію про урбаністику, а також разом із командою фестивалю презентує CANactions School for Urban Studies: Open call for Studio #1
А після заходу сонця розпочнеться кінопоказ «Берлін – симфонія великого міста» (1927).
21.07.2015– 10.08.2015
First in Ukraine urban school declares accepting applications for grant in CANactions School for Urban Studies Studio#1.
We will give a grant to study free for citizens of Ukraine, who have experience of successful social projects and seek to join team, which will develop strategy for one of the cities in Ukraine.
(must contain personal details, education, level of English, and also your experince in urban projects, participation in social and cultural projects, workshops, master-classes, educational programs etc.)
Motivation letter
should describe why exactly you want to win a grant and become Studio#1 participant, your vision of professional activities after the graduation from Studio#1
must contain examples of your design, architectural or urban projects, extracts from your written reports, publications, research and analytical work etc. Portfolio have to contain up to 5 projects, no more than 10 pages overall, and should not exceed 20 MB. Each project must be signed with title, year, explanation, significance and amount of work the candidate has conducted for the project.
Scan-copy of passport
Scan-copy of University Diploma. Candidate must possess at least a Bachelor's degree
The application deadline is August 10, 2015.
The required documents must be sent via e-mail: email@example.com
More details: http://school.canactions.com/
made by Web Studio


text:
Mayor Ed Lee will be on the hot seat for his unqualified support of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and his related opposition to the CleanPowerSF renewable energy program, which his appointees to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission are trying to sabotage, when he shows up for the monthly mayoral question time at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.
Hopefully the boring, scripted question time format that Lee created in collaboration with Board President David Chiu will finally give way to what the voters intended when they required the mayor to engage with the legislative branch: an actual, substantive, back-and-forth policy discussion meant to illuminate issues of public concern.
Because that's what's needed on this important issue. After more than a decade in the making, the board last year cast a historic vote to create the project on a veto-proof 8-3 vote. But the SFPUC is now refusing to set the maximum rate for the program, which should be a fairly technical and pro forma action, instead raising unrelated issues that the supervisors have already considered. In other words, unelected mayoral appointees have decided to veto a hard-won democratic gain, creating something akin to a constitutional crisis in a city that values public process and input.
So for the first time ever, all the of the supervisors scheduled to ask questions (it rotates because odd- and even-numbered districts each month) have focused various aspects of a single important issue. Even though Lee has mastered the politicians' dark art of speaking without saying anything, this one should still be a doozy as supervisors ask the following questions:
1. Mayor Lee – As you know, San Francisco has set ambitious goals to combat climate change. In many ways, the City is making great strides in this direction, from increasing bicycling, to pursuing zero waste goals, to hiring a new, excellent environmental policy advisor in Rodger Kim who has a strong background in environmental justice and community engagement. However, the Public Utilities Commission has repeatedly failed to set rates for CleanPowerSF, the most impactful local proposal yet designed to curb carbon emission. This program was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the legislative body of the City. However, there are some allegations that your office is stalling its implementation. What specifically are you doing, as the City's head executive, to implement this policy in a timely fashion? (Supervisor Mar, District 1)
2. Mr. Mayor, can you please outline your objections to the CleanPowerSF program as approved last year on an vote 8-3 by the Board of Supervisors? (Supervisor Chiu, District 3)
3. Recognizing the constraints imposed by state law, particularly with respect to opt-out provisions, how would a clean power program need to be structured in order for you to support it? Are you willing to work with the Board of Supervisors, and have your staff and commissioners work with the Board of Supervisors, to revise CleanPowerSF so that you can support it? Can we come to the table and make clean power a reality without any further delay? (Supervisor Breed, District 5)
4. The Board of Supervisors has been very supportive of CleanPowerSF. Do you think it is appropriate for a City Commission to go against the policy the Board of Supervisors set when it approved CleanPowerSF? (Supervisor Campos, District 9)
5. Days after the one-year anniversary of the 2010 PG&E San Bruno pipeline explosion, you called PG&E a "great local corporation" and a "great company that gets it." However, the examples of PG&E's immoral, illegal, and greedy behavior are legion:
– PG&E avoided admitting fault in the San Bruno explosion, failed to cooperate with the investigation, fought against paying a fair fine, and hopes to make ratepayers pay for the fine.
– PG&E's current electric mix is only 20% California-certified renewable.
– Outages of PG&E-owned streetlights have increased over 400% in recent years, and PG&E wants to increase by $600,000 a year the amount it charges the City for streetlight maintenance without committing to improved service.
– Despite the fact that PG&E already has some of the highest electric rates in the country, PG&E is seeking to further increase rates in each of the next three years.
– While PG&E has proposed a new Green Tariff program, it remains only a vague proposal and there is no guarantee that it will ever be implemented.
– PG&E's previous green campaigns-such as ClimateSmart and "Let's Green This City"-have proven to be short lived and ineffective public relations stunts. Multiple public surveys conducted by the PUC to gauge the level of support for CleanPowerSF have all found that a substantial number of San Franciscans want the opportunity to pay a slight premium for a 100% renewable alternative to PG&E.
Why does your office continue to oppose providing City ratepayers with an alternative to PG&E's monopoly by implementing CleanPowerSF? (Supervisor Avalos, District 11)


text:
Craig Russell
San Jose, California
Craig served as the Java Chair of the Object Data Management Group and played a key role in the development of the ODMG 3.0 Java binding. For the next standard for database access from Java, the ODMG decided to support the Java Community Process as the delivery vehicle. With support from all major relational database and middleware vendors, Java Specification Request 12, Java Data Objects, was proposed in May 1999 and released in April 2002.
Concurrent with the development of the JDO standard, Craig's primary responsibility was to lead the implementation of the object-relational database engine for several Sun products, including Java Blend and Forte for Java Transparent Persistence. Craig currently is the architect for the Container Managed Persistence implementation of Sun ONE Application Server, where he deals with the reality of implementing the high-performance, specification-compliant version of the object-relational database component of the J2EE application server.


text:
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text:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's annual Costume Institute gala, also known as the "Oscars of the fashion world" has come and gone once again. This year's theme was "China: Through the Looking Glass" – the exhibition of the same name (curated and organized by longtime MET curator Andrew Bolton) looks at China's influence on western fashion and opens this month.
There was glamour, there was edginess, and there was (of course) ridiculousness on the red carpet. All courtesy of celebrities, models, designers and anyone else who was either a guest or paid the hefty sum of $25,000 for a ticket!
PS. Shoutout to the fabulous Chiara Ferragni, who was a guest of Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa, for making fashion history by being the first blogger ever to attend the MET gala!
(Click on any of the photos below for the slideshow).
[Photos via: Hollywood Life; E! Online; WhoWhatWear; NY Times; Huffington Post; Vogue; Vanity Fair; Harpers Bazaar].


text:
Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches Recipe
I scream, you scream, we all scream for...
Serve this banana ice cream solo or smoosh it between rich and cakey peanut butter oat cookies.
Read more: Scooped: Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Yield:makes 1 quart ice cream, or 9 sandwiches with some ice cream remaining
- Active time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total time:4 hours
- 3 ripe medium bananas, sliced into coins (about 12 ounces)
- 3/4 cup raw (turbinado) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cups cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 batch (18) peanut butter oat cookies
Heat oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. In a baking dish, toss bananas with raw sugar. Bake until bananas are fall-apart tender and thick stacks of sugar syrup bubble on top of each other, about 30 minutes.
Transfer bananas to blender or food processor and add salt, lemon juice, cream, and milk. Blend on high until very well combined, about 30 seconds. Chill carafe in refrigerator until mixture is very cold, about 3 hours, then churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to airtight container and firm up freezer for 3 to 4 hours before serving.
For ice cream sandwiches: Scoop 3 to 4 tablespoons of ice cream onto the bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie and squeeze flat with the palms of your hands. Serve immediately, or wrap in plastic wrap and chill in freezer. Recipe makes 9 ice cream sandwiches with additional ice cream left over.
This Recipe Appears InScooped: Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches
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Springfield-area home prices continued to rise last month — 11.5 percent to be exact — even as statewide prices fell slightly and prices nationwide were down by a record amount for the month of October.
Springfield-area home prices continued to rise last month — 11.5 percent to be exact — even as statewide prices fell slightly and prices nationwide were down by a record amount for the month of October.
It's a trend that's continued through much of the year, though local homes sales have slowed, including a 19.1 percent drop in October compared to last year, and the number of homes on the market is unusually high.
"It really has to do with where you are. The Midwest, in fact, has remained the most affordable region. It didn't see the big, double-digit gains during the price boom. Prices did not run away from income, and those areas are doing better now," said Walter Moloney of the National Association of Realtors.
While midsized markets in the Midwest such as Springfield did not see the 20-percent-plus increase in home values during the real-estate boom, he said the areas have avoided the kind of price slumps that have occurred on both coasts.
"It's always been a very balanced market, where you don't have the wide swings in demand you do in California or southern Florida," Moloney said.
Figures released by the Capital Area Association of Realtors on Wednesday showed the median sale price of a local home — half selling above and half below that price — has continued an almost uninterrupted climb since 1994.
The annual median broke through $100,000 for the first time in 2005.
But the double-digit increase from October 2006 to October 2007 was a little surprising even to association executives. Association president Phil Chiles said he believes buyers still in the market are able to buy "more home" at current interest rates.
"Six months ago, they could afford $90,000; now, they can afford $95,000, so they are stepping up a little bit. The banks have the money to lend if you have good credit," said Chiles, adding that homes in the $90,000-to-$100,000 range remain the most popular for local buyers.
"It isn't the high-price homes (driving up the median)," Chiles said.
National Association of Realtors economist Lawrence Yun even suggested in a report released Wednesday that homes are somewhat undervalued in the Midwest because of the drag created by the nationwide slowdown.
"The housing market correction is clearly focused on volume and not in home prices. All real estate is local — conditions vary from one city to the next," Yun said.
The 5.1 percent drop in median home prices nationwide for October was the biggest year-to-year drop on record. Home sales also were down for the eighth month in a row nationally.
Tim Landis can be reached at (217) 788-1536 or email@example.com.


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Questions that should be asked when buying a custom poker table?
What type and what grade lumber are you using? We only use A1 grade lumber to make our table tops and the finest hardwood available is used on our pedestal bases and legs. Many companies use C grade lumber from there local building supply warehouse which can have voids, knots and many other unsightly imperfections.
What type of equipment do you use to cut your tables?
We use state of the art computerized woodworking equipment to insure a perfect cut every time. Many companies claim to offer flawless craftsmanship but if there tables are cut by hand there can be human error. We know we had to start somewhere.
Do you use full sheets of foam to upholster you armrests?
Yes we do. We will never piece foam together to save money. We build every poker table as if it were being built for ourselves. Many companies piece there foam together with glue and glue hardens and you can see and feel it through the padded armrest. Glue doesn't last forever. The glue seam in the foam could eventually break and cause an unsightly void.
What type of felt do you use on your poker tables?
We like many other companies offer a casino grade cloth with a card suit pattern. This is a great option but there are a few cons with this fabric you should know about. To the touch it feels rough. If you are going to pass the deal at your game you shouldn't have any issues with it but many dealers complain that it is rough on there fingertips. The cards slide well and the fabric is very durable. We will provide our customers with fabric samples upon request. We also offer velour that most companies do not offer. We stumbled upon what we think is the greatest fabric to use on game tables. The fabric is very soft to the touch and cards are dealt across the table effortlessly. The fabric doesn't pill like velveteen which many other companies offer on there tables. This is the most durable fabric we have used. I have received nothing but positive feedback from our customers. One local poker room couldn't believe that after one year of nightly use there is no show of wear and tear in front of the dealer position. We also offer custom printed poker cloths for your table. The fabric is made from gaming suede which is the same material used in casinos around the world.


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Via ESPN Boston:
"I didn't send anything to hurt the reputation of anyone on the New England Patriots or on behalf of Robert Kraft," said Gronkowski. "That's all, just a simple picture, that's all. From here on out, I'm just here to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the big game this weekend."
Yes, because no New England Patriot would do anything to embarrass the team with a camera (or another camera).
• Rob Gronkowski, Hanging Out With Porn Star Bibi Jones, Looks Like He's Enjoying His Bye Week
• Rob Gronkowski's Porn Star Ladyfriend Says She Humped Dan Uggla And Assorted Married Athletes
G/O Media may get a commission
Gronkowski apologizes for pics [ESPN Boston]


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Date, banana & rum loaf
A tasty cake with no added fat or sugar - try it to believe it. Plus it's easily made gluten-free
Nutrition and extra info
- Freezable
- Gluten-free
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal310
- fat8g
- saturates1g
- carbs57g
- sugars49g
- fibre3g
- protein5g
- salt0.39g
- 250g pack stoned, ready-to-eat dates
Dates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits - it's thought that they were a staple part of…
- 2 small or 1 large banana (140g/5oz in weight)
Probably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the…
- 100g pecans, 85g/3oz roughly chopped, rest left whole
Related to the walnut, pecans are native to America, and grow enclosed in a glossy, browny-red…
- 200g raisins
- 200g sultanas
- 100g fine polenta
An Italian storecupboard staple, polenta has its roots in the peasant cuisine of northern Italy…
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 2 tsp baking powder (use gluten-free if needed)
Baking powderbay-king pow-dah
Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…
- 3 tbsp dark rum
- 2 egg whites
- a few banana chips and 1 tsp sugar (optional), to decorate
Probably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the…
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with non-stick baking paper, using a little oil to make it stick. Put the dates into a small pan with 200ml boiling water and simmer for 5 mins. Drain the liquid into a jug, then put the dates into a food processor. Add the bananas and 100ml of the date liquid and whizz until smooth. Mix the nuts, dried fruit, polenta, spice and baking powder in a bowl, then add the date purée and rum, and stir until combined.
Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the cake mix. Tip into the tin (it will be quite full), then top with the remaining pecans and the banana chips and sugar, if using. Bake for 1 hr until golden and crusty and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into slices.


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Fuel Injector Component Quality Control
Automated gauging process and improved quality control
Product used: LAL95 series linear actuator
Problem: Customer was experiencing problems with lasers, including inconsistency, lack of reliability and insufficient repeatability, and no gauge correlation to the offline manually operated master gauge. The parts were hand sorted with a manual gauge using a dial indicator.
Solution: SMAC automated the manual gauging process. A linear actuator with 0.1um resolution encoder replaced the dial indicator, which provided a very repeatable motion profile. The SMAC solution was 40% better than their best manual gauging repeatability and reproducibility study.
- Automated Screw Thread Quality Checking
- Bore Gauging & Groove Inspection
- Automated Switch Testing
- Fuel Injector Component Quality Control
- Fuel Injector Plug Gauging
- Automotive Wheel Valve Pressure Test
- Contact Inspection of Rod Eccentricity
- Precision Force Control for Battery Winding/Tensioning
- Automotive Containment
- Seatbelt & Child Seat Buckle Testing
- Electronics & Semiconductor
- Glass Manufacturing
- Bottle Filling
- High Speed Soft Eject, Soft Divert, and Multi-lane Sorting
- High Speed & Consistent Bottle Capping
- Capsule Packaging
- Sanitary Assembly: Food Hygiene Syringe
- High Efficiency Liquid Nitrogen Dosing
- Bottle Fill Line: High Speed Pressure/Leak Detector System
- Brewers and Microbrewers
- Sealing and Cutting
- Dairy Manufacturers
- Bio-Medical & Science
- QC & Inspection
- General Manufacturing
- Oil and Gas
- OEM Solutions
- Automotive
For More Information
> Get a Product Demo
> Ask Questions
> Get Product Pricing
> Get a Product Demo
> Ask Questions
> Get Product Pricing


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T&c.g Green Clover Print Waisted Corset Dress | Knee Length Dresses bx6wGA2B
Product Code: bx6wGA2B
Availability: In Stock
Occasion: Casual
Material: Polyester
Composition: 100%Polyester
Dresses Length: Knee-Length
Neckline: Round Collar
Sleeve Length: Sleeveless
Pattern Type: Print
With Belt: No
Season: Summer
Weight: 0.320kg
Package Contents: 1 x Dressf18">Washing Instructions
1.Use the recommended amount of a premium detergent for delicate articles.
2.Silk articles need to be washed separately because they have a lower colorfastness than other fabrics.
3.Hand washing is recommended for delicate items such as lace, lingerie, wool, silk or very dark colors that may run. Using lukewarm or cold water under 30°C and squeeze gently. Turn inside out when hanging up and do not dry clothes in full sunlight.
4.The clothes should be at least 3 quarters dry before ironing. Ironing temperature recommended from 100°C to 180°C depending on the fabric.
5.The steam setting should be on high since ironing silk requires a lot of moisture. After the silk is lightly misted with water, it is placed face down on the ironing board and covered with a press cloth.
6.Avoid washing or bleaching for leather articles. Dry Cleaning is recommended for them.
T&c.g Green Clover Print Waisted Corset Dress | Knee Length Dresses bx6wGA2B


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Recruit Students
The Jacobs School offers several services that allow companies to gain visibility among top engineering students, and help fill workforce needs for highly trained and talented engineers.
Job Bulletin
Employers may post internship and job opportunities in the Jacobs School's free online bulletin. The bulletin appears on the Jacobs School website for alumni and students, and is e-mailed weekly to students. Post a job »
Corporate Affiliates Program Recruiting Services
The Jacobs School's Corporate Affiliates Program (CAP) offers exclusive recruitment benefits to its members, including:
- A searchable student resume database.
- "Day at Jacobs", a tailored on-campus information and recruiting day just for your company.
- Direct access to student design project and internship opportunities.
- Networking with faculty and access to some of the Jacobs School's best and brightest students at CAP events.
- For more information about becoming a CAP member, visit the CAP website.
Team Internship Program
The Jacobs School offers its signature Team Internship Program as part of an effort to enhance our student's education through real-world engineering experiences in a multi-disciplinary team setting. Students work on-site with industry partners as a systems-oriented solution team focused on a clearly defined and significant project. Nearly 50 percent of the School's students who go through the internship program are offered jobs by their corporate sponsors. For more information, visit the Team Internship website.
Industry-Sponsored Design Projects
Several Jacobs School departments offer a capstone industry-sponsored student design project course that allows companies to increase visibility with students and gain access to engineering talent. Projects range from cellular home automation to RF circuit design and wireless sensor networks. For more information, visit Student Design Projects web page.
Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair (DECaF)
The Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair, organized by the Triton Engineering Student Council, draws engineering students seeking both full-time employment and internships. Proceeds from the annual event, held in February of each year, directly support student pre-professional organizations. See http://tesc.ucsd.edu/decaf/.
Research Expo
Jacobs School M.S. and Ph.D. students have their resumes on hand and are available to discuss their research results during an exhibit that features more than 200 research posters. Research Expo is held annually in February in conjunction with the Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair. For more information, visit the Research Expo website.


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The Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management® (GSCFM®)
Program Dates: June 17-27, 2019 and June 22-July 2, 2020
Conducted on the Campus of American University
The National Association of Credit Management is the leader in executive education for the credit and financial management community. NACM entered the arena of continuing executive education over 75 years ago, decades before major colleges and universities. Today, NACM continues its dedication to the global promotion and enhancement of the business credit professional through its many educational programs, lead by the GSCFM.
The Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management (GSCFM) pioneered the concept of advanced-level, executive education and continues to deliver quality, application-based continuing education for the business credit and financial professional. The quality and effectiveness of tomorrow's business credit and financial executive depends on today's training and education. The most promising executives must strive to move beyond their current skill levels in anticipation of tomorrow's demands.
The GSCFM, conducted on the campus of American University, is a two-week per year (for two years) intensive program exposing participants to a wide range of ideas, practices and resources, and leads to the mastery of new concepts and the development of a new, clear vision.
The program delivers high quality, application based credit, financial and management instruction in a setting designed for executive education. The professional relationships that develop throughout this program are a critical component to the program's long-standing success.
Contact Us
Read the 2019 Brochure
The GSCFM sessions are conducted by experienced faculty who use a balanced mix of lectures, group discussions and case studies that relate to current and future workplace demands. The program challenges participants to examine issues and processes not simply from the standpoint of corporate credit and finance, but from a cross functional point of view. Participants will return to their companies with in-depth knowledge of the field and the ability to use that knowledge on the corporation's behalf.
A participant's company customarily covers the full cost of tuition, meals and living and travel-related expenses. In so doing, the employer recognizes the contributions and potential of promising managers, affording them the opportunity to advance their knowledge and career expertise. Employer sponsorship allows participants to be relieved of workplace responsibilities for the duration of the two-week program.
• Learn more now!
• View digital brochure
• A Lifetime of Benefits, Measured in Weeks (pdf)
• From Behind the Desk: GSCFM Through The Professor's Eyes (pdf)


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- Wash Similar Colors Together
- Machine Wash Warm
- Fabric: 100% Polyester
- Colour: Blue
- Sleeve: Long Sleeve
- Neckline: Hooded
- Length: Regular Length
- Design Pattern: Solid
- Brand: Miniklub
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Research: Vendor Value 2003
Our special report begins by providing ratings for 41 product and service vendors, including our top ten vendors below. It continues by singling out which vendors received the most "excellent" and "poor" scores, and which ones have earned the highest and lowest customer loyalty ratings. We also compare competing vendors and list the ones that do better with larger or smaller companies.
Our methodology has some limits: It measures only the perceptions of U.S.-based IT executives. It does not rate or quantify the performance of any particular product or service offering or family of offerings, or how well a vendor handles a particular customer service-related issue. But our survey can help IT executives see how their peers view the business value and reliability of many widely used IT vendors.
This article was originally published on 12-01-2003


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Some songs don't make sense as fan favourites only. They feel like they should belong to, be known and loved by, the widest possible audience. Probably every music fan has a list of songs like that.*
It's one thing when such a song is by a band of indie heroes whose music is scruffy and raw, and would need to be significantly polished up to become acceptable to the mainstream. However good they are, there's a reason why Turn On the News is known only to Husker Du fans and Unsatisfied only to Replacements fans, but even my dad would recognise Soul Asylum's Runaway Train were Ken Bruce to play it tomorrow. There's a reason why Rod Stewart's readings of I Don't Want to Talk About It and Downtown Train were hits but the Crazy Horse and Tom Waits originals weren't. But I can't really understand how Communication by the Cardigans wasn't a huge hit.
The Cardigans' discography is spottiness incarnate. Lovefool is enduringly perfect (it's the bassline. Dear lord, that bassline); My Favourite Game is enduringly regrettable. Every album has some great moments (even Gran Turismo had Erase/Rewind), but all of their albums have clunkers and a bulk of material that's neither really here nor there.
But Communication – from 2003's Long Gone Before Daylight – is different. Communication wasn't the typical indie-with-strings ballady thing you got from a lot of that era's bands, and neither was it particularly rootsy, although much of Long Gone Before Daylight was – the drums, for example, sound 2003 (clipped and somewhat like samples), not 1973.
The record is beautifully arranged. The band are cast in supporting textural roles, other than guitarist and principle songwriter Peter Svensson, whose prominent riff features in the intro, after the first chorus and in the outro, and who gets to play rather a nice harmonised solo**. Other than that, the most notable performance by a band member is Bengt Lagerberg's drumming, which has nice Bonham-inflected kick drum work (the influence of Bonham's Kashmir beat is evident in those semi-quavers), but isn't in the least bit bombastic. He could have turned this song into a power ballad but wisely chose not to, playing with Hot Rods for a smaller sound. The band merely provide the frame for Patrik Bartosch's string arrangement – only really getting big and prominent in the final chorus, but otherwise nicely supportive to the mood and atmosphere of the song – and Persson's vocal.
Which is where a song like Communication succeeds or fails. Her voice pushed to the very front of the mix and left relatively dry and exposed, Persson sings Communication like it's the most important thing she's ever had to say, and her performance is moving and feels very true. It's what gets her over a couple of slightly awkward lines (whatever they may mean to us, Persson's delivery insists that her words are meaningful to her), and gives such force when the band plays its two huge arrangemental aces: the triplet downbeats of "I'm talking and talking" in the final chorus and that magical moment when Persson sings "And I hold a record for being patient" while drummer Lagerberg plays the song's most live-sounding fill and the song seems suspended in mid-air for a second until the rest of the band comes back in.
It's a glorious moment. It's a big moment, in some ways too big for a song that no one really heard when it came out.
Songs have long lives these days, and can return to the charts or enter them for the first time decades after release, were they suddenly to find mass relevance. Maybe some music supervisor will use Communication to score a particularly emotional scene in a TV show or film and the song will find the wider audience it's not had up to now. Until then it remains, I suspect, treasured by the band's deep fans.
*I'll give you some of mine: Jellyfish's The King is Half-Undressed, Big Star's The Ballad of El Goodo, Sparklehorse's Some Day I Will Treat You Good, No Need to Worry by the Folk Implosion
**Svensson has a profitable sideline these days as a writer, guitarist and producer for hire. Look for him among the credits on records by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Ellie Goulding.
Here's the EP I released with Melanie Crew in July 2020, Away from the City:


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As expected, "Iron Man 3" completely dominated the box office this weekend.
After setting a box office franchise record at midnight Friday, the highly anticipated superhero flick went on to rake in a whopping $175.3 million this weekend, scoring the second biggest opening weekend of all time (behind "The Avengers'" $207.5 million weekend last year).
NEWS: 5 things to know about "Iron Man 3"
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
The film, starring Robert Downey, Jr., shot past the opening weekends of both "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2," which nabbed $98.6 million and $128.1 million, respectively.
Globally, "Iron Man 3" has amassed $680.1 million only 12 days after it was released internationally, making it highly likely that it will hit the $1 billion mark worldwide. To put that amount into perspective, "Iron Man 2's" final worldwide total was $624 million.
Meanwhile, "Pain and Gain" and "42" still remained in the top three, with the bodybuilder flick bringing in $7.6 million and the Jackie Robinson biopic landing $6.2 million.
Tom Cruise's "Oblivion" and animated film "The Croods," followed with $5.8 million and $4.2 million, respectively.
WATCH: "Iron Man" stars suit up
Here's a complete look at the weekend's top movies, per Friday-Sunday studio estimates and stats as compiled per Box Office Mojo:
1. "Iron Man 3," $175 million
2. "Pain and Gain," $7.6 million
3. "42," $6.2 million
4. "Oblivion," $5.8 million
5. "The Croods," $4.2 million
6. "The Big Wedding," $3.9 million
7. "Mud," $2.2 million
8. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $1.8 million
9. "Scary Movie 5," $1.4 million
10 ."The Place Beyond the Pines," $1.3 million


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I did a bit more research on my 3rd great-grandmother Susan William Lee (Martin) Kennedy. Now that's a mouthful! I was rechecking GenealogyBank, to check the dates on a couple of mentions, and I found a new interest of Mrs. Kennedy's: she was the president of the Old Ladies Home Society of Texas, based in Houston. This organization was established in the early 1900's to help elderly women who were low-income or indigent.
This from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, dated 25 May 1904:
I may have figured out why I can't find her in the 1900 or 1910 censuses. She was traveling all over Texas raising money for the Old Ladies Home! I found articles about Mrs. Kennedy and the Old Ladies Home in the Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the San Antonio Daily Messenger. Places mentioned (besides the homes of the various newspapers) include Corsicana, Mineral Wells, Austin, Denton and Houston. In fact, the more that I research into her life, I see it may be time for a timeline!
Did I mention what a wonderful resource GenealogyBank is?
I have also added a To-do page to this site, to remind me of documents or images I need, plans for research trips, etc.


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The number of technology company mergers and acquisitions fell by 60% and the value of those deals by 52% last year, according to figures produced by consulting form PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Though deal-making slumped to levels last seen in 2003, PWC analysts have claimed that UK deals will soon pick up in number and value.
The number of deals in 2009 fell to 25 from 66 in 2008 and the total paid in tech merger deals fell from €6.8 billion to €3.3bn, according to PwC's figures.
PwC partner Andy Morgan said, though, that some initial signs indicate that a gentle recovery in deal-making activity might be on the way.
"Recovery in UK tech M&A appears less pronounced than in the US where mega-deal announcements have provided momentum. However, the right conditions appear to be in place to mean a tipping point into the next stage of the deal cycle and local confidence is starting to return," he said.
Morgan warned, though, that financiers and company owners should temper their expectations.
"Extended transaction timetables are still a feature of the market and successful completions will depend on vendor price expectations. Both buyers and sellers must embrace a new era of realism if deals are to be done," he said.
PwC has produced a report which says that there is likely to be an upturn in activity in early 2010.
"Some technology companies have already signalled their intention to float, notably the UK security software firm Sophos, which has signalled its plans to list on Nasdaq later this year, two years after abandoning plans to list in London because of market volatility," said that report. "However, many of those flagged for IPO may well succumb to the greater certainty which may be offered by the embrace of a strategic trade suitor."
PwC identified five areas of technology business where activity is most likely to happen. These are financial technology; software as a service; healthcare software and services; security technology; and companies which become attractive as firms get involved in the convergence of different digital services.
The report said that €15bn worth of deals were set to take place in the first three months of 2010 across the world. It said, though, that this would only happen if company owners changed their expectations of the prices they will get for their firms to more closely match the expectations of buyers.
European companies last year showed themselves to be disproportionately affected by the global economic downturn. Europe's share of the world's technology deals market fell from 39% in 2008 to 17% in 2009, PwC said.
"We expect activity in Europe to pick up in 2010, as corporate confidence returns and weaker exchange rates make certain European markets look more attractively valued," said the report.
Copyright © 2010, OUT-LAW.com
OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.


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Yoga Fixes
Complement your spring exercise routine with yoga to counter stresses and strains, restore balance, and avoid injury.
Practitioners of yoga turn to this mind/body discipline for its unparalleled benefits, from increased strength and flexibility to improved focus and efficient breathing. Now more and more athletes are following suit, incorporating yoga to enhance their capacity to do the sports they love. No matter what your fitness level, yoga can ease the physical discomforts that come with even casual athletic activity. The combination of body-opening yoga poses and deep breathing promotes blood flow to stiff or overused muscles, helping them heal faster.
To help you integrate yoga into your other fitness activities, we worked with Iron Man triathlete and "Iron Yoga" author Anthony Carillo to create yoga "fixes" for the most common problems in three popular sports: running, cycling, and swimming. Try practicing them three to four times each week, either before, after, or on alternate days from your regular workouts to loosen up, strengthen, and balance your body. Whether you routinely bike 20 miles or simply take a regular morning walk, you'll find that incorporating simple yoga poses into your routine can counteract tightness and stress, strengthen your mind/body connection, and help you more fully enjoy your favorite fitness activities.
Yoga Fixes for Running
Yoga Fixes for Cycling
Yoga Fixes for Swimming