Category Archives: Evolution

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9, proposed as a way to facilitate communications in the late 1990s, really caught on as a way for the U.S. to track insurgents during its so-called war on terrorism.

Since then, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles has revolutionized warfare, but will its future hold? Aviation Week editors discuss potential changes for the platform in the U.S. and abroad.

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Rush transcript:

Jen DiMascio:

Hi, and welcome to the Check 6 Podcast. I'm Jen DiMascio, and I'm here with Defense Editor Steve Trimble, and London Bureau Chief Tony Osborne. We're here to discuss a milestone that occurred just a few days ago, the 20th anniversary of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper. Steve, you've been following this story for probably its entire history, or nearly so why don't you bring us up to speed on the program?

Steve Trimble:

Sure. Well, so I thought this was a really interesting time to look at the MQ-9 and where it's going, because my perceptions of it have really evolved in the last few years. If you go back just a few years to 2017, 2018, General Atomics was trying to win the MQ-25 competition, and they ultimately lost that competition after Boeing came in with a very low bid. This is for the US Navy's carrier base refueling system for an unmanned aircraft. And at the time it looked like the MQ-9 was going to really struggle to stay relevant. As the national defense strategy came out and created this pivot from counter-terrorism operations to grade power conflict, what was going to be the role for an aircraft that was really, it sort of defined the counter-terrorism, and even was criticized quite a bit at one point for being the poster child of the CIA assassination and drone strike program. Maybe assassinations a strong term for that, but just that entire thing that still goes on, actually.

And even this year, or in the past 12 months, there's been this debate about really where the MQ-9 fits in production going forward for the US Air Force, and internationally. On the US Air Force side, they've submitted a budget request last February that said that they wanted to eliminate MQ-9 production early. The next 20 or 30 aircraft that they were planning to buy, they wanted to shut down at the end of the last fiscal year. But Congress disagreed with that. And reinserted the funding for 16 more. And it looks like that could happen again this year, at least the debate.

On the other side is the international part of the program. And so we saw a lot of activity in the last year of the Trump administration especially, on authorizing export deals for the MQ-9 to new customers. We saw authorizations for the UAE, for Morocco, for India, for Taiwan. And the question is now, with the Biden administration in charge, how many of those deals will actually get signed? And that's going to be a very interesting discussion that we'll see within the Biden administration, and with Congress over the next year. And really what our cover story for the MQ-9 is, is it's sort of quietly carving out a role for itself beyond the counter-terrorism mission that has defined its legacy, and even in a great power conflict, that it has certain capabilities that may be very relevant in that new kind of operating picture.

And the key thing what General Atomics is saying is, you don't need penetrating stealth for every mission. There's going to be a lot of work for an aircraft that can stay in the sky for a long time, that doesn't cost too much to buy or to operate, and is very flexible in what you can put into it. Now there are a lot of concerns, questions about exactly how they could apply that, but a lot of the demos we've been seeing over the last several months show you a role, things like a self-protection pod, laser communications, even the ability to control an MQ-9 beyond line of sight without using a satellite, by taking a new technique with VHF comms, where you could actually pilot an MQ-9 from the ground, beyond line of sight, without a satellite link. So very interesting things going on.

Jen DiMascio:

So where do you think the Air Force is headed in terms of its advanced battle management systems plan to replace the JSTARS mission? How might the MQ-9 fit into that role?

Steve Trimble:

See, that's the really interesting thing that's developed, is the evolution of the advanced battle management system concept and how the MQ-9 fits into it. The key thing to remember is Joint STARS was going to be replaced by a business jet class aircraft that would basically be exactly what JSTARS is today, but instead of on a Boeing 707, on a business jet class aircraft. Which actually could include a Boeing 737. But the Air Force decided not to go forward with that approach because they thought that that kind of aircraft is just too vulnerable to perform the mission as it's defined today in that great power conflict where you'd have China and Russia armed with very long range anti-radiation missiles, and of course JSTARS has a big radar on it, which makes it a big target.

So the idea is that you take that JSTARS mission, there's actually two missions, there's the synthetic aperture radar on ground moving target indication to keep track of moving targets on the ground, also helicopters and low flying cruise missiles. And then there's the battle management function, which is basically an office suite in the back of the aircraft where you've got multiple people, I think up to 19 people on the JSTARS, managing, okay, here's a target, now I've got to figure out what weapon can address it. Do I need an airplane? Do I need an attack EMS missile from the army? And they're figuring all that out in real time onboard the aircraft. So ABMS distributes that entire package of sensors and battle management functions, and it automates it. At least that's part of the plan today.

And so what they need is a bunch of processors in the sky, and data links, and create this mesh airborne network with various platforms, possibly including the U-2, possibly including tankers that will also be up there in the sky as well. And aircraft like the MQ-9, which have the ability to stay in the air for 24 hours, 30 hours at a time, maybe even longer, and just flying circles, creating this network, creating a cloud-based data library. And as new sensor feeds and information comes in, these boxes on the aircraft are going to be able to identify the right targets and automatically pair those targets with the right weapons. So there's no human involved in the chain.

And that communication that has to take place when, say, JSTARS radar operator sees a target, and then he communicates that to the battle manager. The battle manager looks at all the different options for hitting that target, and then has to communicate with the human operator who has that weapon. If you think about it, that entire kill chain can take several minutes, even longer to do it. And the way the advanced battle management system works is this would all be done automatically and within seconds. And the Reaper could be a big part of that, but all that's still being worked out, but right now the Reaper is being positioned to take on at least part of that mission.

Jen DiMascio:

That's fascinating. Tony, I wanted to come back to you with something that Steve had touched on, which is the massive export push of General Atomics on its predator platforms. How has that manifested in Europe?

Tony Osborne:

It's a very good point that's made by Steve. I mean, Afghanistan conflict where the Reaper really came to its fore really prompted a lot of European countries to start looking at the medium altitude, long endurance platforms. And given that there were no real options available in Europe, a lot of countries went down the route of buying the Reaper. So the UK was pretty much full-steam with a [Foreign Military Sale], and it was also the first non-US country, obviously, then to go down the route of arming. They was followed by Italy, and subsequently we've seen The Netherlands, France, and Spain buying the Reaper. And then of course we're now seeing more and more countries access the platform. So it's proved immensely popular, and now we're seeing the next generation of Reaper come along, that's the MQ-9B, the Sky Guardian, and that's being adopted by Belgium, the UK in the form of the protector platform, which is a enlarged much more capable aircraft that's certified so it'd be on the fly in non-segregated air space. And then we've also seeing the aircraft selected by Australia too.

Certainly in Europe this has created some concern for European industry, because they have never been able to get a foot in the door. They've always seen this market share taken either by the Reaper or by the Israeli Heron, and so that's frustrated them, that's prompted them to go and develop the Eurodrone, which has these big twin engine, 11 ton platform, which they are hoping will take back some of that market and at least get a European platform into the hands of European armed forces. But we've also seen some heavy lobbying from General Atomics as well to try and keep the Reaper going in Europe. So yeah, that export thing, that success, the export success has create a few enemies for the Reaper, I think it's fair to say.

Steve Trimble:

Yeah, and not just the Chinese and Russians.

Tony Osborne:

Oh yes, we forget that the inability to be able to export across the world has then prompted a lot of Middle Eastern countries to go and buy Chinese so-called knockoffs, I think is what the state department officials called them last year, and has then prompted the US to try and create changes in the [Missile Technology Control Regime] (MTCR) regulations. Which could then lead to more [crosstalk 00:11:40].

Jen DiMascio:

Go ahead, Steve.

Steve Trimble:

The MTCR is a good point. So General Atomics is ramping up production of Guardians, Sea Guardian, and protectors, of course, for the UK now. And part of this is enabled by the fact that over the summer the Trump administration... So the Trump administration tried to change the terms of the missile technology control regime, which is actually a voluntary non-binding pact between 35 countries. It's not a treaty, it's not a law, but you're supposed to abide by it, and the point was to prevent the proliferation of cruise missiles back in the 1980s, when that was a concern. But it also got applied to unmanned air vehicles, because if they go on a one-way mission, they look a lot like a cruise missile, in fact.

But the MTCR category one definition has a presumed denial for any UAS that is in the Reaper size class, and it's defined by, I think it's 600 kilograms for the payload and 300 kilometers for the range. Could be wrong about that, but it's in that category. Ostensibly that meant that General Atomics couldn't export the MQ-9 to anybody, but the US government decided to make an exception for the NATO plus six countries, which is the NATO plus six countries that get treated for arms export control purposes, like NATO partners. And that includes Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Jordan, actually. And there's another country I'm forgetting, but yeah, Canada, of course. So that's the... no, Canada's part of NATO. We'll figure it out.

But anyway, so the MQ-9 did get exported through that mechanism, but the question is, how do you get it beyond those? The Trump administration unilaterally decided to change the definition of category one. So even though the other MTCR members haven't changed the definition, the US now interprets the category one and MTCR as a speed definition. Anything faster than 800 kilometers per hour now is considered, to the US government, a category one UAS under the MTCR. That is, of course, the Trump administration decision, and the Biden administration will have to either uphold that, or decide to go back to the original definition as it states in the MTCR. And it's not clear where they're going to go with that. The UAE certainly thinks that it's going to get not only the MQ-9's, but also the F35's that were part of that.

Jen DiMascio:

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I'm also interested in knowing a little bit more about how Europe has responded in terms of its industrial base, or in terms of its plans to develop drones, Tony.

Tony Osborne:

Sure. So I briefly alluded to it earlier, but certainly European industry was getting, it's fair to say, pretty miffed back in around 2015 when all it saw was NATO countries adopting, NATO's European countries that is, adopting the MQ-9 and the Heron. It basically saw country after country, and literally you saw like three nations adopted within 18 months, countries like the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Germany was on the cusp of making a decision. Would it be a new Heron, or would it be Reaper? And of course ultimately went for Heron, Heron TP, in fact, as a sort of intermediate step. So you saw Dassault Airbus in Germany and Spain, and Leonardo in Italy, they all clubbed together and approach European governments, said, "Look, we are deeply concerned that Europe is basically losing its market share," which it didn't really have.

These companies have spent billions. In fact, if you total across the board on developing UAV technology, but it never found a real mission, or never found a true role. We saw BAE Systems in the UK developing things like Mantis, but they never actually found a customer. So they clubbed together, went to the European government, said, "Look, we can develop you or UAV, please don't keep buying Herons and Reapers." And that process has taken five years to the point where we are literally on the cusp, should be in the next few weeks, that Eurodrone contract gets signed.

The problem is that Eurodrone is sort of seen as a bit of a, I hate to say the word, white elephant. Certainly the French law makers have criticized it because it has two engines, whereas France is using the Reaper with its one. Eurodrone is very big, it's 11 tons, twin engine, and there are some big questions about whether that can really at least act as a competitor to the Reaper in the export market. It does seem like the countries, those four countries, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France, will buy the Eurodrone, probably around, I think it's about 40 to 70 aircraft in total is on their various brand control systems.

But that's, I guess, a sort of steppingstone into getting a foot into that MALE market. Obviously Leonardo has done its own thing, it's got a new version of its of its Falco platform, which is sort of seen as a mini MALE aircraft. So Europe is taking tentative steps. Eurodrone has taken a long time to get going, there are questions about whether it can succeed in the market beyond its four initial customers.

Steve Trimble:

It's an enormous airplane.

Tony Osborne:

It is.

Steve Trimble:

It's twice the size of a Reaper, of an MQ-9 Block 5 Reaper.

Tony Osborne:

Part of that is due to Germany's want for an aircraft that can fly over its cities.

Steve Trimble:

So you need triple redundant avionics and blade controls.

Tony Osborne:

Exactly. And so I think French lawmakers said, "Why are we developing an aircraft with all these issues thrown into it?" And all these additional complications were prompted by Germany, who probably won't really fly it over their country anyway. So there is that. And of course General Atomics, coming back to the Reaper, have been lobbying very, very hard to try and get funds diverted into what they've called the Euro Guardian.

Tony Osborne:

So for a long time, if you want to go and buy a Reaper, you buy it through the FMS system, the foreign military sales system. They are trying to offer essentially a direct commercial sale of Reaper, and then be able to fit European avionics and sensors to it. And some of that is already happening in Spain, we've seen development of a pod that you'll be able to put European sensors into. But the Euro Guardian would actually have European sensors fitted directly onto it, rather than the existing General Atomics synthetic aperture radar or their electrical optical camera system. So far that hasn't had a great deal of traction because of that pressure to build European, but that could still move forward, and certainly the protector program in the UK will have several European developed senses developed by Leonardo on it, for example. And we've just seen that General Atomics are putting the Leonardo Osprey radar on it, for example, for the Sea Guardian mission.

Jen DiMascio:

Thanks Tony. Well unfortunately that's about all we have time for today, so I just wanted to thank all of our listeners and remind them to tune in again next week for another edition of Check 6, which is available for download on Stitcher, iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. And if you have some good feedback, please share it with us. Thanks again.

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Podcast: The Evolution of the Reaper - Aviation Week

The new Suzuki Hayabusa has been the subject of many rumors and much speculation. The hype didnt slow down when Suzuki posted a teaser of the new supersport motorcycle. Suzuki finally revealed the new Hayabusa, and it turns out that the new bike is more evolutionary than revolutionary.

The 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa named after the speedy Peregrine falcon debuted early this morning. I expect some riders to have mixed feelings. When Suzuki promised the new motorcycle was all new, I was expecting a Kawasaki Ninja H2-killer of some type. But the new Hayabusa isnt straying out of its lane.

Suzuki maintained the Hayabusas distinctive looks so closely that I initially had trouble picking out the 2022 model from the lineup in the release video:

Despite what my eyes couldnt find, the new Hayabusa does sport new bodywork. Its a bit of a slimmer machine now, and I especially like it in the side profile. Suzuki says this new design gives the Hayabusa one of the lowest drag coefficients of street legal motorcycles, promising excellent top speed potential and stability.

G/O Media may get a commission

Maybe the changes under the skin are what really count.

The DOHC inline-four retains the same 1,340cc displacement as the last generation and the same bore and stroke, too.

This new engine did leave some ponies in the stable; its 188 horsepower is six fewer than the previous generation. Thankfully, torque loss was also minimal, as the new Hayabusa kicks out a still healthy 111 lb-ft, three fewer than before. Suzuki says the new bike accelerates faster than ever before so the power loss didnt make it any slower.

The biggest change to the engine is that this new motorcycle is Euro 5 compliant, allowing it back onto European roads.

Holding it all together is a twin-spar aluminum frame that looks largely unchanged.

Suzuki says its been enhanced for a more stable ride, and the bike can carry more weight as well. The Hayabusa is down four pounds to 582 pounds and has a 50:50 weight distribution.

Keeping the Hayabusa on the road is a 43 mm KYB inverted fork at the front and a KYB monoshock at the back, bolted up to 17-inch, seven-spoke wheels wearing Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 tires. Nothing too surprising or amazing there.

The new Hayabusa did see a big kick in the technology front.

Lighting is now all-LED, front to back, and the motorcycle comes equipped with the Suzuki Intelligent Ride System (S.I.R.S.) system of electronic rider aids. That system has really nice features like cruise control and a bidirectional quick shifter to enable shifting without the clutch.

Suzuki didnt stop there, as the bike carries over the Drive Mode Selector Alpha (SDMS-a) engine-management system. This system lets riders choose engine mapping and power delivery for the riding conditions. In addition, it has a slope and hill control, 10-mode motion track control, launch control and an engine braking control.

The fancy tech comes wrapped up in a combination digital TFT LCD and analog display. It may look outdated, but call me old-school because I still think its beautiful.

These evolutionary upgrades dont come cheaply: $18,599. Thats nearly $4,000 more than the outgoing model. Color schemes are Glass Sparkle Black and Candy Burnt Gold; Metallic Matte Sword Silver and Candy Daring Red; and finally, Pearl Brilliant White and Metallic Matte Stellar Blue. Suzuki has not confirmed availability at this time.

Honestly, while Im happy the Kawasaki KLR650 only slightly evolved, I was hoping Suzuki had more tricks for the new Hayabusa.

More:

The 2022 Suzuki Hayabusa Is More Evolution Than Revolution - Jalopnik

Its been suggested that an advance party of robots will be needed if humans are ever to settle on other planets. Sent ahead to create conditions favorable for humankind, these robots will need to be tough, adaptable and recyclable if theyre to survive within the inhospitable cosmic climates that await them.

Collaborating with roboticists and computer scientists, my team and I have been working on just such a set of robots. Produced via 3D printer and assembled autonomously, the robots were creating continually evolve in order to rapidly optimize for the conditions they find themselves in.

Our work represents the latest progress towards the kind of autonomous robot ecosystems that could help build humanitys future homes, far away from Earth and far away from human oversight.

Robots have come a long way since our first clumsy forays into artificial movement many decades ago. Today, companies such as Boston Dynamics produce ultra-efficient robots which load trucks, build pallets, and move boxes around factories, undertaking tasks you might think only humans could perform.

Despite these advances, designing robots to work in unknown or inhospitable environments, like exoplanets or deep ocean trenches, still poses a considerable challenge for scientists and engineers. Out in the cosmos, what shape and size should the ideal robot be? Should it crawl or walk? What tools will it need to manipulate its environment, and how will it survive extremes of pressure, temperature and chemical corrosion?

An impossible brainteaser for humans, nature has already solved this problem. Darwinian evolution has resulted in millions of species that are perfectly adapted to their environment. Although biological evolution takes millions of years, artificial evolutionmodeling evolutionary processes inside a computercan take place in hours, or even minutes. Computer scientists have been harnessing its power for decades, resulting in gas nozzles to satellite antennas that are ideally suited to their function, for instance.

But current artificial evolution of moving physical objects still requires a great deal of human oversight, requiring a tight feedback loop between robot and human. If artificial evolution is to design a useful robot for exoplanetary exploration, well need to remove the human from the loop. In essence, evolved robot designs must manufacture, assemble, and test themselves autonomously, untethered from human oversight.

Any evolved robots will need to be capable of sensing their environment and have diverse means of movingfor example using wheels, jointed legs, or even mixtures of the two. And to address the inevitable reality gap that occurs when transferring a design from software to hardware, it is also desirable for at least some evolution to take place in hardware, within an ecosystem of robots that evolve in real time and real space.

The Autonomous Robot Evolution (ARE) project addresses exactly this, bringing together scientists and engineers from four universities in an ambitious four-year project to develop this radical new technology.

As depicted above, robots will be born through the use of 3D manufacturing. We use a new kind of hybrid hardware-software evolutionary architecture for design. That means that every physical robot has a digital clone. Physical robots are performance-tested in real-world environments, while their digital clones enter a software program, where they undergo rapid simulated evolution. This hybrid system introduces a novel type of evolution: new generations can be produced from a union of the most successful traits from a virtual mother and a physical father.

As well as being rendered in our simulator, child robots produced via our hybrid evolution are also 3D printed and introduced into a real-world, creche-like environment. The most successful individuals within this physical training center make their genetic code available for reproduction and for the improvement of future generations, while less fit robots can simply be hoisted away and recycled into new ones as part of an ongoing evolutionary cycle.

Two years into the project, significant advances have been made. From a scientific perspective, we have designed new artificial evolutionary algorithms that have produced a diverse set of robots that drive or crawl, and can learn to navigate through complex mazes. These algorithms evolve both the body-plan and brain of the robot.

The brain contains a controller that determines how the robot moves, interpreting sensory information from the environment and translating this into motor controls. Once the robot is built, a learning algorithm quickly refines the child brain to account for any potential mismatch between its new body and its inherited brain.

From an engineering perspective, we have designed the RoboFab to fully automate manufacturing. This robotic arm attaches wires, sensors, and other organs chosen by evolution to the robots 3D printed chassis. We designed these components to facilitate swift assembly, giving the RoboFab access to a big toolbox of robot limbs and organs.

The first major use case we plan to address is deploying this technology to design robots to undertake clean-up of legacy waste in a nuclear reactor, like that seen in the TV miniseries Chernobyl. Using humans for this task is both dangerous and expensive, and necessary robotic solutions remain to be developed.

Looking forward, the long-term vision is to develop the technology sufficiently to enable the evolution of entire autonomous robotic ecosystems that live and work for long periods in challenging and dynamic environments without the need for direct human oversight.

In this radical new paradigm, robots are conceived and born rather than designed and manufactured. Such robots will fundamentally change the concept of machines, showcasing a new breed that can change their form and behavior over timejust like us.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image Credit: NASA

Originally posted here:

We're Teaching Robots to Evolve AutonomouslySo They Can Adapt to Life Alone on Distant Planets - Singularity Hub

Completion of the Australian-led astronomy project sheds light on the evolution of the Universe.

The complex mechanics determining how galaxies spin, grow, cluster and die have been revealed following the release of all the data gathered during a massive seven-year Australian-led astronomy research project.

The scientists observed 13 galaxies at a time, building to a total of 3068, using a custom-built instrument called the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral-Field Spectrograph (SAMI), connected to the 4-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales. The telescope is operated by the Australian National University.

Overseen by the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), the project used bundles of optical fibers to capture and analyze bands of colors, or spectra, at multiple points in each galaxy.

The results allowed astronomers from around the world to explore how these galaxies interacted with each other, and how they grew, sped up, or slowed down over time.

The SAMI instrument inside the Anglo Australian Telescope being readied for action. Credit: ngel R. Lpez-Snchez (AAO-MQ)

No two galaxies are alike. They have different bulges, haloes, disks, and rings. Some are forming new generations of stars, while others havent done so for billions of years. And there are powerful feedback loops in them fuelled by supermassive black holes.

The SAMI survey lets us see the actual internal structures of galaxies, and the results have been surprising, said lead author Professor Scott Croom from ASTRO 3D and the University of Sydney.

The sheer size of the SAMI Survey lets us identify similarities as well as differences, so we can move closer to understanding the forces that affect the fortunes of galaxies over their very long lives.

The survey, which began in 2013, has already formed the basis of dozens of astronomy papers, with several more in preparation. A paper describing the final data release including, for the first time, details of 888 galaxies within galaxy clusters was published today (February 2, 2021) in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The nature of galaxies depends both on how massive they are and their environment, said Professor Croom.

For example, they can be lonely in voids, or crowded into the dense heart of galactic clusters, or anywhere in between. The SAMI Survey shows how the internal structure of galaxies is related to their mass and environment at the same time, so we can understand how these things influence each other.

Research arising from the survey has already revealed several unexpected outcomes.

One group of astronomers showed that the direction of a galaxys spin depends on the other galaxies around it, and changes depending on the galaxys size. Another group showed that the amount of rotation a galaxy has is primarily determined by its mass, with little influence from the surrounding environment. A third looked at galaxies that were winding down star-making, and found that for many the process began only a billion years after they drifted into the dense inner-city regions of clusters.

A/Prof Julia Bryant from the University of Sydney inside the SAMI instrument at the top end of the Anglo Australian Telescope. Credit: Scott Croom/University of Sydney

The SAMI Survey was set up to help us answer some really broad top-level questions about galaxy evolution, said co-author Dr Matt Owers from Macquarie University in Australia.

The detailed information weve gathered will help us to understand fundamental questions such as: Why do galaxies look different depending on where they live in the Universe? What processes stop galaxies forming new stars and, conversely, what processes drive the formation of new stars? Why do the stars in some galaxies move in a highly ordered rotating disk, while in other galaxies their orbits are randomly oriented?

Professor Croom added, The survey is finished now, but by making it all public we hope that the data will continue to bear fruit from many, many years to come.

Co-author Associate Professor Julia Bryant from ASTRO 3D and the University of Sydney said: The next steps in this research will make use of a new Australian instrument which weve called Hector that will start operation in 2021, increasing the detail and number of galaxies that can be observed.

When fully installed in the AAT, Hector will survey 15,000 galaxies.

Reference: The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the third and final data release by Scott M Croom, Matt S Owers, Nicholas Scott, Henry Poetrodjojo, Brent Groves, Jesse van de Sande, Tania M Barone, Luca Cortese, Francesco DEugenio, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Julia Bryant, Sree Oh, Sarah Brough, James Agostino, Sarah Casura, Barbara Catinella, Matthew Colless, Gerald Cecil, Roger L Davies, Michael J Drinkwater, Simon P Driver, Ignacio Ferreras, Caroline Foster, Amelia Fraser-McKelvie, Jon Lawrence, Sarah K Leslie, Jochen Liske, ngel R Lpez-Snchez, Nuria P F Lorente, Rebecca McElroy, Anne M Medling, Danail Obreschkow, Samuel N Richards, Rob Sharp, Sarah M Sweet, Dan S Taranu, Edward N Taylor, Edoardo Tescari, Adam D Thomas, James Tocknell and Sam P Vaughan, 1 February 2021, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab229

The final data release paper has 41 authors, drawn from Australia, Belgium, the US, Germany, Britain, Spain and The Netherlands.

The full data set is available online through Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO)Data Central.

Continue reading here:

Complex Mechanics of the Evolution of the Universe: The Secrets of 3000 Galaxies Laid Bare - SciTechDaily

By Nishtha Grover, Delhi

PUBLISHED ON FEB 06, 2021 01:41 PM IST

One of the upcoming fashionistas in Bollywood is Nora Fatehi and there is no denying that. The Saki-Saki girl has a dreamy wardrobe that is full of swoon-worthy attires, designer bags and highest of the heels. Whenever the acclaimed dancer steps out, she always makes headlines. Be it her airport looks or red carpet attires, everything that she dons is immensely loved by her fans.

Today, Nora turned 29 years old and in order to celebrate the stunner, we will go down the memory lane and have a look at some of her most fabulous sartorial moments.

The Moroccon-Canadian star danced her way into our hearts when she grooved to the song Dilbar in John Abraham starrer Satyameva Jayate which released in 2018. Then there was no turning back, she made a mark for herself in the film industry with that number.

Before that, Nora had made appearances in films like Roar: Tigers Of Sundarbans, Baahubali: The Beginning, Kick 2 (Telugu) and Rocky Handsome. Since then, Nora has been a part of a few big-budget films like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Bharat. She was also seen in Street Dancer 3D that had Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles.

That is not all, Nora Fatehi also has a notable presence on TV. The actor has been a participant in season 9 of Bigg Boss. She has co-judged various dance reality shows and has also been a part of various music videos. The first one being Arijit Singhs Pachtaoge opposite Vicky Kaushal.

She was also seen grooving with Guru Randhawa in his track Naach Meri Rani that released in 2020. She was even a part of the recently released song Chhor Denge that was by Parampara Tandon. Noras upcoming projects include the Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Sonakshi Sinha starrer, Bhuj: The Pride Of India.

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Happy birthday Nora Fatehi: Style evolution of the actor over years, in pics - Hindustan Times

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U of A researchers start bug fight club to study weapon evolution - AZFamily

The Mardi Gras parades have been canceled. The festivities and celebrations are put on hold.

But there's one part of Mardi Gras that can't... be... stopped. The king cake!

King cakes are everywhere this time of year.

"It's the ultimate comfort food... sugar, icing, cinnamon, brioche dough," Poupart's pastry chef Isaac Fort says as he decorates a mini-cake. "It's the best."

But the king cake isn't a new idea. Its history can be traced back to the pagan celebration of Saturnalia - when Romans baked a special cake to honor the god of harvest with a bean hidden inside. Whoever found the bean became king for the day. Not a bad deal. But as with many pagan traditions, Catholics made it their own, and Europeans baked king cakes to celebrate Epiphany, marking the arrival of the wise men and kings who brought gifts to baby Jesus.

"The king cake as we in Louisiana use it, came with the French settlers," Vermilionville museum curator Anne Mahoney Fontenot explains.

The traditions evolved here in the new world.

"The folklore and the history changed so much that it really varies from region to region, even within Louisiana," Fontenot says.

The cakes have evolved, too. There's French style, New Orleans, doughnut, boudin and a very long list of fillings baked inside.

"Everyone has a different favorite flavor of filling," Mandi LaCombe, La Cuisine de Maman restaurant manager, laughs "That will cause arguments. That will cause unions. Everyone is different."

"So it's to each your own. We love every shop in town," Great Harvest owner Brian Melancon says. "It's not competition. It's friendly rivalry."

But no matter your style, you'll usually find a trinket of some kind inside - whether it's a bean, baby or a button - and the beautiful Mardi Gras colors on the outside. Green is for faith, gold for power and purple for justice.

And voila. That's the story of the king cake.

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King Cakes in Acadiana: History and Evolution - FOX 15

In 2011, Travis Kelce wasnt really Travis Kelce yetat least not as a football player. He was a junior at the University of Cincinnati, getting his first real playing time as a tight end. He barely played his freshman and sophomore seasons at UC and was a quarterback in high school. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he had obvious athleticism and a good mind for the mechanics of an offense, but he lacked a clear purpose on the field. There had to be more he could offer than a few blocks here and there and 13 catches over the course of that season.

That year was also Rob Gronkowskis second NFL season, when Gronk became a household name. He had 1,327 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in 2011, both single-season records for a tight end. He seemed unstoppable because of the mismatches he created: He was too fast for linebackers and too big and strong for safeties. He was still an excellent in-line blockerthe traditional role of the Y tight endbut could line up in multiple spots in any formation. New England had been successful for years using slot receivers like Wes Welker to manipulate the middle of the field. Eventually, it started experimenting by lining up a bigger playeroften Gronkowskiin the same space. There was little he couldnt do.

When Kelce watched Gronkowski that season, he saw a prototype for how to unleash an exceptional tight end all over the field. He saw a role that looked as satisfying and impactful as his dual-threat quarterbacking days in high school.

When I moved to tight end, he was the staple, Kelce said Monday. He was up-and-coming and had made his mark in the NFL as a young player, and his dominance fueled me to be able to have that much impact in a football game.

In 2012, in his last college season, Kelce caught 45 passes for 722 yards and eight touchdowns, all career highs by a wide margin. In 2013, Kansas City drafted him in the third round, looking for a playmaking tight end in the mold of Gronkowski and others who were succeeding in similar roles.

He transcended [the position] just in terms of being such a dominant force, a big athletic guy who can run up the seams, catch the ball, make a few guys miss, break a tackle, and take it to the house, Kelce said. You didnt see that in every offense. What that did for a guy like myself, coming into the league, was it gave coach Andy Reid an understanding of OK, we can use the tight end position a certain way if he works at his craft enough.

Kelce and Gronkowski, who came out of retirement to play in Tampa this season, are not identical playersGronkowski is the better blocker and, at his peak, was the better athletebut they are part of the same macroevolution at their position. One way of viewing Super Bowl LV is as the continuation of a cycle that began around the time Gronkowski was drafted: a new generation of tight ends, great pass catchers who could run intermediate and deep routes, not just short ones, and who could split out wide or line up in the slot, entered the league. They were different from the traditional in-line blockers, the Y tight ends who were often offensive tackles who couldnt keep enough weight on. Their emergence punctuated an equilibriumno longer did playing tight end mean performing drudgery in relative anonymity. Teams were encouraged to expand their roles to fit the spread offenses of the modern NFL. Kelce has picked up in Kansas City where Gronkowski left off in New England, setting new standards of achievement. This season, Kelce became the first tight end to record a 1,400-yard receiving season, just as Gronkowski was the first to 1,300 yards in 2011.

Theres been a tight end renaissance in the past decade. From Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham to Kelce and George Kittle, theyre putting up better numbers, earning more fame, and getting bigger contracts. By changing the view of the position from grunt work to glamour, theyve inspired a new generation of players.

Great athletes have started playing the position, Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said Monday. Most of them werent good enough basketball players, so they turned to footballI think Tony Gonzalez was one of those guys who started it, and Antonio Gates. Really good power forwards who ... werent going to the NBA [and] went to the NFL. Thats what youre seeing.

Gronkowski was drafted as part of a two-year run on tight ends in 2009 and 2010. Twenty were taken in each of those drafts, more than any other year since the draft went to seven rounds in 1994, save for 2002, an outlier year when 24 were chosen. In addition to Gronkowski, the 2009 and 2010 drafts included Ed Dickson, Graham, Dennis Pitta, and Jared Cook, among others.

Their success piqued other teams interests and led to another run on tight ends in 2013, especially those with receiving skills. Tyler Eifert, Zach Ertz, Vance McDonald, Kelce, Jordan Reed, and Luke Willson went in the first five rounds of 2013. These players could play in space and thrived as the spread offense took over the NFL. The prevalence of spread concepts has helped offensive players in general, but it took the right player pipeline being in place for NFL tight ends to take advantage. There was no guarantee that a position named for its traditional spot tight to the end of the line was going to flourish in a system defined by spreading out wide.

The NFL, to an extent, has to take what it can get. When theres a steady supply of talent at a position, of a certain body type, or anything else, the smart teams take advantage, and the rest eventually follow suit. Its not clear why so many good tight ends came out of those 2009 and 2010 drafts, but it is possible to draw a line from those players success to other teams wanting the sameand better athletes in high school and college taking an interest in what became an increasingly high-profile and lucrative job. The more good players become available at a position, the more the NFL prioritizes it financially and schematically, and the cycle continues.

Its become a position that is more viable for young players to turn to whereas before it was kind of like playing right field in little league, said an NFL personnel executive. If you look at guys on a scale of 1 to 5, theres probably more 3s and 4s now than there ever were. Before it was some 5s and some 2s.

In 2010, Gates became the NFLs highest-paid tight end when he signed a five-year contract extension with the Chargers worth $7.2 million per year. Last offseason, Kittle signed a five-year extension with the 49ers worth more than twice that, $15 million, in average annual value. Kittles deal largely ignored precedent at the position. I dont care about the tight end market. Im being paid to do a George Kittle deal, his agent, Jack Bechta, told NFL Network at the time. The tight end market, though, definitely cared about them. Hours after Kittles deal was complete, Kelce signed his own four-year extension worth an average of $14.3 million per year. Both deals shattered what had been the previous high-water mark: Browns tight end Austin Hoopers $10.5 million per year. In 2020, 16 tight ends made over $5 million and four made at least $10 million.

Gronkowski and his contemporaries deserve much of the credit for advancing a tight ends role in an NFL offense, but he gives Kelce and Kittle credit for showing the true value of the position in terms that matter to those who play itby getting paid.

I feel like the tight end position is on the map now. Its a position that I feel like kids want to play, Gronkowski said Monday. People want to grow up to be a tight end which is pretty, pretty awesome.

Its also possible those kids also want to grow up to be Gronk, another matter entirely and a taller task, but Gronkowski is right. In Kelces caseor for players like Houstons Darren Fells or Indianapoliss Mo Alie-Cox, who became tight ends after playing college basketballthe specialization at the position takes place during or after college. For many others, though, it starts earlier.

A promising high school athlete with a certain size and speed combination might, for instance, now prefer to play tight end over outside linebacker.

Timothy Bostard is the head football coach at Woodland Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Gronkowskis alma mater. Bostard told me he gets more students wanting to try out at tight end than there are roster spots at the position. A wider range of body types can realistically point to successful college or NFL tight ends as their inspiration.

Theyre trying to migrate to that position because of what it is now, Bostard said.

The beauty of the modern tight end position is how many things it can be. No wonder it captures players imagination. Theres a self-fulfilling element to the cycle: If there are more good players at a position, teams start finding more ways to use them. One reason there are more jobs available now is because some of these better athletes can add value on special teams by covering kicks and kick returns. Teams carry more tight ends on their rosters than they used to, and the very best of them are earning more lucrative contracts. A good receiving tight end can split out wide and function as a fourth or fifth receiver in a spread formation; a bigger one can take advantage of the middle of the field from the slot; and someone still has to block sometimes. Almost none of these players are or will be at Gronkowskis, or even Kelces, level of talent or accomplishment, but theyll follow the trail they blazed and choose to follow the footprints that suit their skill sets best. In an era of positionless football, a positionless position should be thriving.

There are so many different types of tight ends now, where you can line up out wide, you can line up to the left, you can line up in the backfield, you can line up on the line, Gronkowski said. Thats what makes the position really cool and very intriguing to kids these days. I feel like its the cool position.

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The Evolution of an NFL Tight End, From Gronk to Kelce - The Ringer

LOS ANGELES Anthony Davis says hes the happiest hes ever been.

But he isnt satisfied.

In an interview with The Athletic ahead of his first Super Bowl commercial the premise of the Michelob Ultra ad, which also features Serena Williams, Peyton Manning and Brooks Koepka, centers on the slogan, Do you win because you are happy? Or are you happy because you win? Davis said his first season with the Lakers, capped by winning the 2019-20 championship in the Orlando bubble, was everything he envisioned it would be.

Im very happy, Davis said over Zoom when asked to answer the commercials proposition. This has been a fresh start (in Los Angeles). I think the answer to the question can go both ways, but I definitely won last year because I was happy.

This was what Davis had wanted when he requested a trade from New Orleans in 2019: to compete for titles with...

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Anthony Davis' evolution to winning 'multiple' Lakers titles - The Athletic

Recent archaeological digs in Africa found evidence of Middle Stone Age tools dating to just 11,000 years ago, about 20,000 years after these tools were traditionally believed to have stopped being produced. This means groups of ancient humans moved to using newer tools at different speeds, and that early human hunters lived in relative isolation from each other.

All previous archaeological and anthropological discoveries in Africa have supported the belief that humans in Africa stopped using simple points and scraper tools and developed more complex weapons, tools and craft appliances about 30,000 years ago. However, researchers from Germanys Max Planck Institute have published their new findings in the journal Scientific Reports claiming the latest evidence gathered at sites in Senegal, on the West coast of Africa, are fueling a rethink of the passage of human evolution.

The new paper suggests some ancient people living in Africa 11,000 years ago were still using simple tools, while other groups had developed more advanced technologies 20,000 years previously. This directly challenges the traditional theory that humans evolved in a linear fashion, making technological advances together, and proves humans evolved at greatly different rates around Africa, and the world.

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Why the theory of human evolution needs a tweak, once again - Genetic Literacy Project