Daily Archives: July 21, 2017

What City Ants Can Teach Us About Species Evolution And Climate Change – Undark Magazine

Posted: July 21, 2017 at 12:19 pm

Acorn ants are tiny. Theyre not the ants youd notice marching across your kitchen or swarming around sidewalk cracks, but the species is common across eastern North America. In particular, acorn ants live anywhere you find oak or hickory trees: both in forests and in the hearts of cities.

Cities are a microcosm of the changes that are occurring at a planetary scale on an urbanized Earth.

Thats why theyre so interesting to Sarah Diamond, a biology professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Were comparing this little forest island within a city to traditional forest habitats, she says. Specifically, she and her colleagues are looking at how well city ants can tolerate higher temperatures compared to their rural cousins. The experiment is made possible by whats known as the urban heat island effect, which describes the tendency of the built-up infrastructure of cities think heat-absorbing concrete and asphalt, for example to create a hotter environment than less developed areas.

The urban island effect is several degrees Celsius warming as you go from rural habitats to urban habitats, Diamond says. A few degrees may not seem like a huge difference intuitively, but its on par with the amount global temperatures are expected to increase over the next decades.

The impact of climate change is something we cant simulate easily in natural ecosystems, but the artificial environment of cities may provide needed clues. We can take advantage of this unnatural experiment to see how organisms are responding to altered climatic regimes, Diamond says.

She and her team collected ant colonies from various sites in the city of Cleveland and in the surrounding countryside of Ohio. They then compared how colonies from each site adapted to the temperature conditions for both urban and rural environments. No matter how they mixed and matched temperatures, Diamond says, the urban ants always have higher heat tolerance, and they always lose their cold tolerance compared to the rural ants.

And because ants born in the lab only grow up in that environment, researchers have found that they seem to experience real genetic change, not just a shift in behavior, says Ryan Martin, one of Diamonds collaborators at Case Western. You can separate out those acclimatory effects, compared to those effects that are divergent between urban and rural ants [due to] genetic change. In other words, ants born from urban parents have higher tolerance to heat than ants born in rural environments, even when those newborn ant babies have never experienced the same conditions as their parents.

Diamond and her colleagues see the same effect in ants from places with measurably different climates, including Cincinnati, Ohio; Knoxville, Tennessee; and northern Florida. Theyre also expanding their research to include terrestrial isopods (the common critters known variously as pillbugs, sowbugs, and roly polies, among other names). The ultimate goal is to help answer a profound question: Can we predict how well some species will adapt to climate change based on how well they do in cities?

Cities do a lot more than generate heat, of course. They contaminate the soil and air, alter patterns of water drainage and sunlight exposure, radically increase noise pollution, and break up habitats. In the process, they routinely force plants, animals, and microbes to adapt or disappear. And studies have shown that the time scale for these environmental disruptions is astoundingly short compared with the usual rates of change in the natural world.

Cities are a microcosm of the changes that are occurring at a planetary scale on an urbanized Earth, says Marina Alberti, professor of urban design and planning at the University of Washington. Humans in cities are changing the rules of natures game. Empirical evidence is showing that we selectively determine which species can live in cities and cause organisms to undergo rapid evolutionary change.

A number of researchers have become interested in urban ecology because of those relatively fast changes. Most North American cities are less than a century or two old, and the number of humans living in cities has jumped dramatically over the last 100 years. Even though thats a blink of an eye compared with the history of Earth, eco-evolutionists like Diamond are finding a wealth of measurable differences between urban organisms and members of the same species living in undeveloped ecosystems. Their experiments are beginning to reveal how quickly evolution can act under pressure.

Charles Darwin began On the Origin of Species by talking about artificial selection: how humans have bred animals and plants to bring out some features and suppress others. Any number of species have been domesticated, from dogs to pigeons to corn, changing from their wild form into something different. Artificial selection can be extremely rapid, simply by controlling how domesticated species reproduce.

Urban evolution, on the other hand, is still controlled by natural selection. What separates it from normal natural selection is that humans are the indirect source of the selection pressures. Our actions restrict nesting spaces by chopping down trees, paving over places for plants to sprout, and driving out some predators while bringing in new ones like cats and dogs. And of course, we raise temperatures by replacing vegetation with concrete, building with heat-absorbing roofs, and introducing greenhouse gases such as ozone from engines.

Our findings of rapid change of many plants and animals demonstrates the power of natural selection even in our cities, says Alberti. Many species will continue to go extinct, but we show that others are evolving the necessary strategies and physical characteristics to coexist with humanity. Understanding the role we play in planetary eco-evolution will provide us with the information to make better decisions and build more sustainable urban settlements.

But how large and rapid are these changes? And how can we separate fundamental changes in organisms makeup due to evolution from behavioral shifts? For instance, city ants havent evolved into a distinct species from country ants, even if they still exhibit measurable genetic shifts. Urban-dwelling birds, on the other hand, sing at higher pitches to be heard over the noises of the city. But its unclear if that behavior is a genetic change, or if their offspring would resume normal levels of singing if they were raised in the country.

In a recent study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Alberti and her colleagues found more than 1,600 cases from around the world in which urbanization has produced measurable evolutionary effects. Those effects include changes in the size of seeds or offspring, what kinds of food animals eat and where they nest, and how species interact with each other. The cases include plants, invertebrates (insects and so forth), and a range of vertebrates, from fish to birds.

Because of rapid urbanization, these changes occurred on the scale of centuries or less. By showing the genetic differences between urban and rural acorn ants, Diamonds experiments in Cleveland revealed that the shift must have occurred since the city began its modern period of growth. Thats roughly 100 years, or about 20 generations of acorn ant queens. And the shift might have been even faster, since were only seeing the end result, not the incremental changes since Cleveland began to change into a modern city.

Andrew Hendry of McGill University, one of Albertis coauthors on the recent study, says he suspected that the urban heat island effect is less significant than other problems city-dwelling organisms face, such as habitat loss or the breaking up of habitats into small discontinuous pieces. Even so, he added, that doesnt mean temperature isnt an important factor: When it comes to specific things the temperatures affecting, it can give us some guidelines about how fast can things evolve, what types of organisms can evolve faster or slower, or respond strongly or weakly in respect to temperature.

In other words, an organism that evolves rapidly in the city might do better in general when trying to adapt to a warming world. All the weedy, invasive species, like cabbage white butterflies, are doing fine, Diamond says. Thats little consolation, though. Just as cities contain a shadow of the biodiversity of the rural landscape they replace, climate change could result in a cascade of species loss.

Just as cities contain a shadow of the areas former biodiversity, climate change could result in a cascade of species loss.

What you find is urban populations have lower [genetic variation], says Martin. Presumably, that means theyve used up some of that variation in evolving, but it also might mean theyve lost some of their ability to respond [to environmental changes].

Diamonds ant lab is dominated by a row of environmental growth chambers. They resemble refrigerators, but their interiors can run the temperature gamut from hot summer days to cold winter nights. She opened one and presented a cup designed to hold urine samples, familiar to anyone who has undergone medical or drug tests. No ones peeing in these, she says. Were putting acorn ants in them.

Inside the cup was an entire living colony of ants crawling around their acorn nest. Each insect is smaller than one eighth of an inch long, with a body so light orange-brown in color it is almost invisible against the acorn. Acorn ant colonies usually have fewer than 100 tiny workers, which explains how they can all fit into a single nut resting in the cup.

Most species arent as easy to study as acorn ants. Theyre either too big, reproduce too slowly, or dont survive well under lab conditions. However, by focusing on these tiny creatures and how they survive in living urban laboratories, we may be starting to understand how vulnerable all species are in the uncontrolled experiment known as climate change.

Matthew R. Francis is a physicist, science writer, public speaker, educator, and frequent wearer of jaunty hats. He blogs at Galileos Pendulum.

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What City Ants Can Teach Us About Species Evolution And Climate Change - Undark Magazine

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A visual journey through the evolution of the influencer – Mashable

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Mashable
A visual journey through the evolution of the influencer
Mashable
That's the tension today's social media celebrities have created. And it's not just marketers, brands, and stars who feel confused. It's everyday customers as well. Especially when it comes to who to trust. In a sense, there's nothing new about ...

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A visual journey through the evolution of the influencer - Mashable

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Evolution of Cam Newton, offense focus for Carolina Panthers in … – ESPN (blog)

Posted: at 12:19 pm

The Carolina Panthers open training camp on July 26 at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Heres a closer look at the Panthers' camp:

Top storyline: As quarterback Cam Newton goes, so go the Panthers. When Newton had an MVP season in 2015, the Panthers went to the Super Bowl. When he had statistically the worst season of his career in 2016, the team struggled and missed the playoffs after capturing three consecutive NFC South titles. Newton had offseason surgery to fix a partially torn rotator cuff, so training camp will be the first big test to see if the problem has been corrected. The Panthers added more weapons in first- and second-round draft picks Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel. Their presence will give the 6-foot-5 quarterback more opportunities to get rid of the ball quicker and take fewer hits ... and to give him fewer reasons to run. Its an evolution for Newton and the offense, and how well that adaptation process goes will largely determine how well the Panthers do this season.

QB depth chart: Newton is coming off shoulder surgery, and the Panthers want their franchise quarterback to run less in order to safeguard his long-term health. Beyond that, nothing has changed from the past three seasons. Derek Anderson remains entrenched as the veteran and capable backup. Joe Webb is back as a third quarterback/wide receiver/special-teams player.

Bubble watch: The message that place-kicker Graham Gano needed to step up came on the third day of the draft, when the Panthers selected Harrison Butker out of Georgia Tech in the seventh round. It was the first time the Panthers drafted a place-kicker. Gano missed several big kicks that had a drastic impact on last seasons 6-10 record, and he made just 78.9 percent of his field goals.

That rookie could start: Taylor Moton. The second-round pick out of Western Michigan might be a long shot to start at right tackle, but with the future of Michael Oher uncertain and 2015 fourth-round pick Daryl Williams still somewhat unproven, Moton might get an opportunity. He impressed coaches during offseason workouts with his ability to play right and left tackle. Moton could be a year away, but if he impresses when the pads are on, hell have a chance to start now.

Kelvin Benjamin's weight: Much, probably too much, was made of the 6-foot-5 wide receiver being overweight at the start of offseason workouts. The last time that happened was two years ago, and Benjamin reported to training camp in the best shape of his career. He was arguably the MVP of that 2015 camp before suffering a season-ending knee injury. If Benjamin can return to that form and be pushed by the other receiving weapons the Panthers have added, he could be in for a big season.

Contract issues: In 2016, Greg Olsen became the first tight end in NFL history to record three consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. He wants a restructured deal to reflect that accomplishment, even though his current contract doesnt expire until after the 2018 season. Outside linebacker Thomas Davis, 34, entering the final year of his deal, also would like an extension. These are two key players and leaders, so look for the front office to do all it can to keep them happy.

For daily updates at camp, check out the Carolina Panthers clubhouse page.

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MGM acquires ‘Real Housewives’ studio Evolution Media – FierceCable

Posted: at 12:19 pm

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is buying the assets of Evolution Media and rolling them into MGMs television division led by Mark Burnett, president of the Television Group & Digital.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founder and CEO Douglas Ross will be president of the acquired business and Alex Baskin, executive vice president of programming anddevelopment, will become Evolutions president of programming and development.

Evolution Media produced series including The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules for Bravo, as well as other series for E! network, CBS, NBC and Disney Channel.

Those productions will join MGM Televisions current series including Survivor (CBS), The Voice (NBC), Shark Tank (ABC), Jamie Foxxs Beat Shazam (FOX) and Steve Harveys FUNDERDOME (ABC), along with scripted series Fargo (FX), The Handmaids Tale (Hulu), Vikings (HISTORY) and the upcoming Get Shorty (EPIX).

Doug and Alex have been creating and producing hit series for decades. These guys have talent and drive and will help our MGM Television hit machine to continue to grow and grow, said Burnett in a statement.

After 30 years of being fiercely independent, we couldnt be more proud and excited to join forces with the dynamic, creative and supportive leadership team at MGM. We look forward to working with Gary, Mark and Barry to supercharge Evolution and to write the next chapters in the companys history with them, said Ross in a statement.

RELATED: MGM to spend more than $1B to buy out Viacom and Lionsgate in Epix acquisition

Earlier this year, MGM dropped about $1 billion to buy the whole of Epix from co-owners Viacom and Lionsgate.

"The addition of EPIX provides MGM with a premier distribution platform that complements our strong stable of new and library content in both film and television. The acquisition creates increased revenue diversity, new opportunities for growth, and earnings accretion for the benefit of stockholders," said Gary Barber, chairman and CEO of MGM, in a statement.

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Darwinism: Old politics will perish – The Hans India

Posted: at 12:18 pm

70 years in a nations timeline is substantial. Time is fleeting, so are political ideologies, ideologues, instruments and applications. The theory of Darwinism is applicable not just to living beings but also to live institutions.

Survival of the fittest applies even to political parties in democracies across the world Those who adapt survive, those who wont perish. I strongly believe this evolutionary challenge is currently underway in the political ecosystem of India.

Indian National Congress is a pre-independent political entity. It was primarily set up as a common platform for fighting and achieving freedom. Prior to 1947, freedom from the British was a singular ideology and objective for all Indians.

Mahatma Gandhis advice to Nehru to shut down Congress party was in the true spirit of democracy. Bapu did not see the relevance of Congress party in its old form after independence. However, the decision to outrun Bapus advice and continue Congress party was driven out of a well-conceived dynastic plot by Jawaharlal Nehru. In retrospect, the contemporary history is a testament to that pre-conceived plot. India today has the 5th generation of Nehru scions at the helm of Congress, the dynastic party.

First things first. A dynasty was irrelevant even in 1947 right after independence; as we are a democratic republic, its even more irrelevant today. The irrelevance incremented all the way till 2014, with every generation of Nehrus dynasty experiencing power.

Congress party was rendered irrelevant in 2014 General Election, where it won just 44 MP seats from across India and that pattern continues till date in almost all the subsequent state or local body elections. Indian voters message is very clear to Congress party: your politics wont work anymore.

However, Congress continues to ignore that message, in the dynastic arrogance that it has been stuck for over 70 years. Anyone else would have understood the anger and disenchantment, Congress party wouldnt and it refuses to acknowledge even today.

It has over the period turned into a thick-skinned, unscrupulous, self-serving and un-empathetic political formation, which lost its ability to be sensitive to its immediate environment. It happens, when you outgrow your relevance and purpose. No wonder it is naturally progressing itself to possible extinction. It proves the relevance of Darwinism in the political ecosystem.

I foresee an unprecedented extinction of Congress party from the mainstream political system of India. It will be quite tough for Congress to accomplish even a double-digit tally in the next General Election. This is not my partisan pre-electoral assessment 2 years in advance, but an outcome of incisive analysis of changing mindscape of the Indian voter.

If Congress has to correct its course, the time is now. If it has to survive, it has to reinvent itself as a new political organization under non-Nehruvian regime. Theres no other way out, no other cosmetic correction will save this dinosaur from extinction.

BJP is blessed with regeneration and re-adaptation intrinsically, owing to a professionally managed, democratic, political organisation. That is how, just under two decades the first of its political formation, Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS), merged into Janata Party for a contextual fight against rampant corruption in 1970.

Being a listening and feeling organisation, it re-emerged in 1980 as Bharatiya Janata Party with a progressive ideology of integral humanism and nation first. BJP has a built-in organisational mechanism through its core values to be grounded and to eternally have its ear to the ground.

BJP further evolved and adapted to the needs of changing India, through a change of old guard and redrawing its ideology to focus on the larger needs of Indians and India. Inclusive development, transparent governance, corruption-free administration and global leadership are the aspirations of 1.25 billion people. Thats exactly what is being promised and delivered by the BJP government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.

BJP understands, empathises and redirects its political agenda, adapting to the changing needs of the electorate. This singular competence is enabling BJP to lead the entire political ecosystem of India.

Parties like Congress are incapable of natural progression and evolution owing to their dynastic liabilities, highly centralised leadership, numbed and dumbed political leadership through incessant corruption.

These contrasting natural strengths and weaknesses of these two national political organisations, is the reason for the steady and steep rise of BJP, which is bound to continue till a credible alternative evolves in the national scene. However, it seems unlikely that a credible alternative evolves, even in the next decade.

Communist parties have no relevance in a democracy. Original Communist ideology is of single party rule. Communist system of governance is a clear alternative model to the democratic system of governance. Its imperative that Communist parties are fundamentally irrelevant in a democracy. The local fusion of democratic values and Communist ideology is a disastrous model.

It is like Indian Chinese fusion fast food recipes, which are far from any authenticity and originality. Communist parties have been in Indian political ecosystem for over a century and have made zero impact on the composite governance model of India. Relevance of these parties in New India is not even a point of discussion. Communist parties today are at the bottom of the food chain and are left with no survival opportunities. Extinction is imminent.

Regional satraps are what they are, satraps to national parties. The extinction of one leads to the other naturally. The current situation of UPA exemplifies this evolutionary trend. This coalition of losers is left with just 5 parties, with only DMK as a noteworthy partner.

Congress party, the primary host of almost all the regional parties in India in the last five decades, finds itself deserted by its foster children. Most of the regional parties are micro models of Congress party, they are mom & pop stores. While their original origins are through much proclaimed differentiation from the national entities, their post power equations are quite similar to their mother model dynastic politics.

The agenda of regional partisanship, protection of regional identity, development of the regional parties gets quickly diluted to their eternal quest to stay in power, no matter what. It leads to family control, nepotism, massive corruption, misgovernance and divisive appeasement politics. Regional parties which seemed to control the national governments for over two decades in the past have lost their strength, with their loss of regional credibility.

In 2014, Indian voters gave BJP and PM Narendra Modi a decisive new mandate with their changing priorities. They have removed any dependence on regional parties for delivering the governance agenda. As I see, this mandate will only get more decisive going forward to 2019.

This consistent voter pattern against regional satraps has been established in state elections across India, where the electorate chose BJP against very popular regional parties. Regional parties are fast losing their credibility. Its the rigidity built into their political model, which works against their basic survival in a rapidly transforming new political environment across India.

New India needs inclusive development, progressive policies, citizen-centric administration, transparent governance, corruption-free and accountable leadership. New India aspires for credibility, respect, results and global leadership. Congress and regional satraps are being oblivious to these rising standards for public office, growing aspirations over public leadership.

Unacceptable, petty and divisive politics for family control, survival politics for relevance, is being rejected across India. Darwinism is more relevant than ever in Indian politics. Those who adapt will survive, others will perish.

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Watch all of the panels from TC Sessions: Robotics right here – TechCrunch

Posted: at 12:17 pm

The robotics industry is at an important crossroads. As machines play an increasingly important role in our work and home lives, a lot of difficult questions will need to be addressed, from proposed AI regulation, to automation-related job loss, to the level of control and autonomy we bestow upon our robotic counterparts.

Earlier this week, we were honored to host many of the greatest minds in the field on the MIT campus the birthplace of much of this robotic innovation. Industry and university leaders joined us at TC Sessions: Robotics, including Amazon Robotics Tye Brady, Disney Robotics Martin Buehler, MIT CSAIL director Daniela Rus, ABBs Sami Atiyaand all three iRobot cofounders, Colin Angle, Helen Grenier and Rodney Brooks.

Its impossible to cover all of the topics in such a broad and groundbreaking field over the course of a single-day event, but we did our best, from drones and Disney to household robotics and launching a commercially viable startup in the space. It was an amazing day full of great talks and incredible robot demos.

Thanks to everyone who helped us fill Kresge Auditorium on Monday, and for those who couldnt make it out to experience the robotics breakthroughs first-hand, heres the next best thing.

Daniela Rus, the head of MITs interdisciplinary CSAIL lab, demoed four of her teams most fascinating robotics projects. Rus stated that her passion is working toward a world where robots are pervasive in our lives, and the devices on-hand were a good demonstration of that breadth. In one demo, a robot is created on a 3D printer, hydraulics and all. In another, an origami robot folds itself into shape and goes to work powered by a magnet, while another, created from sausage casings, is designed to be ingested to help retrieve dangerous swallowed objects like batteries.

Investors Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital, Helen Zelman Boniske of Lemnos and Manish Kothari of SRI Ventures talk with Connie Loizos about how robotics startups can grab and keep their attention. The panel also discusses the robotics hype cycle and whetherweve reached a tipping point for VC interest in the category.

Sami Atiya from ABB spoke to Ron Miller from TechCrunch about the future of industrial robotics, including how many jobs they could realistically take, how data could make them smarter and the actual potential for a hacked robot.

Robots may be replacing humans in the workplace here and there, but its more likely that youll be working alongside a robot than training it to do your job. Devin Coldeweytalked about the challenges and opportunities of collaborative robots withClara Vu (VEO), Jerome Dubois (6 River Systems) and Holly Yanco (UMass Lowell).

As artificial intelligence and robots grow in sophistication, so too do the ethical conundrums associated with them. How can we design these systems so that they reflect the best of humanity and not our greatest flaws? Devin explored these questions withDavid Barrett (Olin), David Edelman (MIT) and Dr. Brian Pierce (DARPA).

Elaine Chen of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship moderated a discussion about robotics startups featuring Helen Greiner of CyPhy Works and Andy Wheeler of GV. The group discussed finding venture capital and the ways in which the space has evolved over the last couple of decades.

Amazons Tye Brady expressed his views on the state of the robotics industry and how to build the ideal robotic system. By using Star Wars R2-D2 as a comparison, he talked about how companies can build robots. TechCrunchs managing editor Matt Burns then pressed him on Amazons ultimate plan to replace the human workers in its warehouses with robots, which he ultimately claimed is not Amazons goal.

Greg Kumparak spoke to Deepu Talla (Nvidia, VP and General Manager of Intelligent Machines), Heather Ames (Neurala, co-founder and COO) and Brian Gerkey (Open Source Robotics Foundation, CEO) about building the robot brain. They chatted on the state of AI, on how more standardization might be needed moving forward to help robots from different companies communicate and where students and other new entrants into the field should focus to make the biggest impact. Heather Ames also announced a partnership with Motorola Solutions that will allow police to tap Neuralas machine learning algorithms to let their body cameras find missing children amongst crowds of people.

Buddy Michini of Airware, Andreas Raptopoulos of Matternet and Jan Stumpf of Intel spoke to hardware editor Brian Heater about the state of the industrial drone industry. The conversation covered the rapid rise of drones as a robotics platform both in research and among consumers, and the ways in which unmanned aircraft are becoming an increasingly popular tool for surveying and data collection. The conversation also touched upon the regulatory and other technological limitations in mainstreaming drones for various tasks and how the technology is being used to help underserved communities.

iRobot CEO Colin Angle joined hardware editor Brian Heater for a fireside chat about how his company became the commercial backbone of the Boston robotics community. Angle discussed the many trials and errors of launching a robotics startup and why the Roomba was the exact right device to cement the companys place as the leader in household robotics. The CEO also offered up advice for new students making the move from university research into a commercial market and discussed the importance of funding from departments like DARPA in helping robot companies stay afloat.

Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Center (TRI), joined TechCrunchs managing editor Matt Burns on stage to chat about TRIs work in building robots that assist the elderly. Pratt explained that this is a passion of Toyota and addresses a growing need to provided assistance and care to a quick-growing segment of the population. Burns later asked Pratt to comment on Elon Musks recent call to have the U.S. government regulate AI, saying the technology is the greatest threat to our civilization a notion not shared by Pratt.

Rodney Brooks of Rethink Robotics talks with Connie Loizos about his upcoming book, which he hopes will dispel talk of AI as an existential threat to mankind (along with a little requisite shade thrown Elon Musks way). The iRobot co-founder and former MIT CSAIL director also discusses the pain points of building a robotics startup and the ethics of autonomous vehicles.

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Burundi teenage robotics team missing after competition in DC – CNBC

Posted: at 12:17 pm

Six teenagers from a Burundi robotics team have been reported missing after an international competition in Washington and two of them were seen entering Canada, police said on Thursday.

The four males and two females were last seen late on Tuesday afternoon when the robotics contest ended at the FIRST Global Challenge, police said. Authorities issued missing persons photographs of the six on Wednesday.

Two of the Burundians - Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, and 16-year-old Don Ingabire - were spotted crossing the United States border into Canada, District of Columbia police spokeswoman Margarita Mikhaylova said.

"We don't have any indication of foul play and we're continuing to investigate this case," she said. Police said they did not have information about how they were spotted or the nature of the border crossing.

Canada's Border Services Agency said it could neither confirm nor deny that the pair entered Canada.

Teams of teenage students from more than 150 countries took part in the competition, which was designed to encourage careers in math and technology. An all-girl squad from Afghanistan drew worldwide media attention when President Donald Trump intervened after they were denied U.S. visas.

Burundi has long been plagued by civil war and other violence. Fighting has killed at least 700 people and forced 400,000 from their homes since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would run for a third term in office.

The Burundi Embassy in Washington said by email that it did not know about the robotics contest or if a Burundian team was attending.

Competition organizer FIRST Global said in a statement that its president, Joe Sestak, made the first call to police about the missing competitors. The non-profit group learned on Tuesday night that the Burundi team's adult mentor had been unable to find them, it said.

The keys to the students' rooms at Trinity Washington University were left in the mentor's bag and their clothes had been taken from the rooms, the organization said.

"The security of the students is of paramount importance to FIRST Global," the statement said. It added that FIRST Global had provided safe transport to university dormitories and students were always supposed to be under the supervision of their mentor.

The other missing Burundians were named as Nice Munezero, 17; Kevin Sabumukiza, 17; Richard Irakoze, 18; and Aristide Irambona, 18. Police said the students had one-year visas.

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How Did The Afghan All-Girl Team Do At The Robotics Competition? – NPR

Posted: at 12:17 pm

Lida Azizi, right, and other members of the Afghanistan team repair their robot during the competition. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption

Lida Azizi, right, and other members of the Afghanistan team repair their robot during the competition.

The first international robotics competition for high schoolers made headlines before it even started and after the event was over as well.

First there was the story of the all-girl Afghanistan team, which was denied visas to attend for unknown reasons.

Then there was the post-competition story: All six teens on the Burundi team were reported missing on Wednesday, the day after the competition ended, with reports that two of them were headed to Canada.

At the last minute, the Afghan team did get visas. They waved their country's flag during the parade of nations at the event's opening ceremonies. And they showed off their robot. Like all the entries, it was designed to separate balls representing water particles and water contaminants, among other tasks.

So how did the Afghan team do?

"The girls did a good job in the competition," says Roya Mahboob. She's a tech entrepreneur from Afghanistan and the CEO of the Digital Citizen Fund, the nonprofit which sponsored the team.

"They did much better than many of the other countries, but of course we could still do better. We had less experience and practice," Mahboob says.

They ranked 114th out of 163 teams ahead of the U.S. and the United Kingdom teams.

And they didn't go home empty-handed. They did win an award for "courageous achievement" for showing a "can-do attitude' throughout the Challenge, even under difficult circumstances, or when things do not go as planned," according to First Global, the nonprofit that organized the event.

The other two "courageous achievement" winners were the teams from South Sudan and Oman.

The Afghan team was thrilled by the award: "They got so excited, they were very happy," Mahboob says.

Mexican billionaire and First Global founding member Ricardo Salinas announced during the competition that next year's international robotics competition will be held in Mexico City.

The Afghanistan team hopes to be back.

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How Did The Afghan All-Girl Team Do At The Robotics Competition? - NPR

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This Robotics Player Neared 1000, Then Toppled Here’s Why – Investor’s Business Daily

Posted: at 12:17 pm

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is hamstrung on a "psychological barrier" at 1,000 a share, an analyst arguedFriday as the stock toppled despite the robot surgeon-maker's sales and earnings beat late Thursday.

The numbers simply weren't good enough to pull the stock above 1,000, Evercore analyst Vijay Kumar said. In early trading on the stock market today, Intuitive Surgical stock fell 2.6%, near 946.40.

Shares have climbed by half this year, and closed in on the 1,000 mark Thursday, hitting a high at 974.66. Intuitive Surgical inched up after hours following its second-quarter earnings report.

"While a headline revenue, procedure and overall systems beat all pointed to 'life is good' for Intuitive Surgical, they key question for investors is whether these numbers were enough to drive the stock higher and potentially break through the 1,000 psychological barrier," Kumar said.

IBD'S TAKE:Intuitive Surgical is fending off robotics advances from Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google and Medtronic (MDT). How will it fare as offerings from those rivals come to fruition? Visit IBD Data Stories.

U.S. procedures a proxy for overall health of the company continued to be healthy, he wrote in a note to clients. That said, procedure guidance implies a slowdown in the second half of the year from the first half.

"Guidance of about 15% (growth) at the high end implies about 13% (growth) in the second half of the year vs. 17% seen in the first year," he wrote.

RBC analyst Brandon Henry doesn't see the same psychological barrier at 1,000.He upped his price target on Intuitive Surgical stock to 1,000 from 950. But her kept his sector perform rating on the stock.

Henry also increased his sales views for 2017 and 2018 to $3.03 billion and $3.38 billion, respectively, and calls for adjusted profits to come in at a respective $23.65 and $26.65 a share.

Meanwhile, Intuitive Surgical is working to maintain its lead in robotics and is aiming to have a lung biopsy system launched in 2019. It's facing robotics competition from the likes of Google parent Alphabet and Medtronic.

"While robotics competition is coming, Intuitive Surgical is making the necessary investments no expand its total addressable market and remain a premium player in the surgical robotics market," he wrote in a note to clients.

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This Robotics Player Neared 1000, Then Toppled Here's Why - Investor's Business Daily

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National Robotics Education Nonprofit Picks Pittsburgh As Headquarters – PR Newswire (press release)

Posted: at 12:17 pm

Founded in 1993, the organization's mission is to develop the nation's workforce by inspiring students to pursue majors and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). BEST Robotics works closely with companies across industries to provide opportunities for students. Nearly 5,000 volunteers and mentors work with students through 45 licensed hubs.

"We're very excited to establish a headquarters here," said executive director Rosemary Mendel. "Our program will help prepare students for the growing number of STEM jobs throughout Western Pennsylvania and the Tristate region."

Mendel, a Western Pennsylvania native, said Pittsburgh's recognition as a top tech community and a top educator of STEM talent factored into the location decision. As part of its decision to locate here, she said BEST Robotics will bring a free STEM education and robotics competition to middle and high schools in the Pittsburgh region.

"BEST is committed to making STEM learning and careers accessible and inclusive, and we deliver on that commitment by making the program free to schools and students," said board president Todd Atkins. "Our focus is on expanding the program both regionally and nationally to provide access to alternative STEM education and to increase the pipeline of educated STEM professionals."

"Collaborating is an integral part of our program delivery," Mendel said. "BEST is fueled by volunteers, industry mentors, university outreach and corporate partnerships. I'm looking forward to working with local leaders to bring the program to students in our area."

Local educators active in the BEST Robotics program are excited by the decision.

"The BEST program encompasses learning beyond STEM and has had measurable impact among the students who participate," said Dr. Mike Bright, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Grove City College.

"There are many individual stories of students who decided they could go to college or major in a STEM field based on their BEST participation," said Bright, a BEST board member and founder of the Wolverine BEST Hub at Grove City.

BEST Robotics students report an 88 percent increase in computer and technology aptitude because of their participation, and a 77 percent increase in their interest in STEM. Long-term tracking of student participants shows that nearly 50 percent later chose STEM-related college majors.

About BEST, Inc.

BEST Robotics, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. Supported by volunteer educators, BEST provides schools with a free robotics design education program and competition with the goal of inspiring students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Each year, thousands of students from more than 850 high schools and middle schools nationwide participate in BEST Robotics regional competitions.

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-robotics-education-nonprofit-picks-pittsburgh-as-headquarters-300492039.html

SOURCE BEST Robotics, Inc.

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National Robotics Education Nonprofit Picks Pittsburgh As Headquarters - PR Newswire (press release)

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