Category Archives: Life Extension

The Canadian oil and gas industry recovery gained steam in Newfoundland Wednesday with a commitment to restart a mothballed Grand Banks production platform and the revival of an expansion for a second North Atlantic site.

Cenovus Energy Inc., Murphy Oil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. are planning an ownership overhaul to begin a 10-year asset life extension project for the dormant Terra Nova field. The field is around 250 kilometers (155 miles) offshore St. Johns.

The agreement also makes an ownership change in the neighboring White Rose field. The shuffle spreads partner risk to improve the outlook for rescuing a C$3.2 billion ($2.6 billion) addition called West White Rose that the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted.

The Terra Nova rebirth provides a superior value proposition for our shareholders compared with the alternative of abandoning and decommissioning, said Cenovus President Alex Pourbaix. While we are still evaluating whether to proceed with West White Rose, the capital risk in our portfolio will be reduced if we decide to move forward.

Suncor President Mark Little acknowledged deep collaboration and support from the provincial and federal governments, which has been crucial to helping us reach this important milestone.

The help, justified by the governments as job support for a province notoriously lacking in well paid employment, includes a grant of up to C$205 million ($164 million), plus a forecast C$300 million ($240 million) in future royalty reductions.

At Terra Nova, Suncor ownership increased by 10% to 48%. The share held by Cenovus, acquired with its takeover of Husky Energy Inc., jumped to 34% from 13%. Murphy raised its stake to 18% from 10%.

At White Rose, Cenovus cut its ownership of the original field to 60% from 72.5% and to 56.38% from 68.87% iin the planned new wells. Suncor picked up the shares dropped by Cenovus.

Asset prices paid for ownership rights that changed hands in the Canadian offshore oil overhaul were not disclosed. The deal eliminated the original minority partners in 19-year-old Terra Nova, which were Chevron Corp., Equinor ASA, ExxonMobil and Mosbacher Operating Ltd.

The restructured Terra Nova consortium predicted production would resume in 2023 at an initial rate of 29,000 b/dy, after maintenance in Newfoundland and a refit in Spain for the fields floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Operational problems shut down 19-year-old Terra Nova in December 2019. The oil price slump inflicted soon afterwards by the coronavirus stalled repairs. At its height a decade ago, the field flowed 100,000-110,000 b/d.

Depleting wells tapped by the 16-year-old White Rose platform were down to about 14,500 b/d this summer, 88% below the fields youthful peak of 120,000 b/d.

The only other Canadian offshore oilfields, which are Hibernia and Hebron that are also on the Grand Banks, produced a combined total of about 270,400 b/d this summer, according to the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board.

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Cenovus, Murphy and Suncor Look to Revive Production Offshore Newfoundland - Natural Gas Intelligence

IMMORTALITY could be soon a scientific possibility - but it could only be avaliable for the world's super-rich.

Billionaires, tyrants and celebs are ploughing their immense wealth into incredible anti-aging technology and bizarre treatments that could one day allow humans to live forever.

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Kim Jong-un, Vladimir Putin, Steven Seagal, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other tech execs and entrepreneurs are linked to projects that aim to delay the causes of aging and even reverse the human biological clock.

Some experts have speculated that humans could achieve immortality by 2050.

Life-extending treatments can range from replacing blood or taking regenerative medicines.

But more other more outlandish ideas include being able to replace entire body parts with artificial mechanisms or potentially even downloading your mind into an immortal robot body.

Incredible advances in medicine and science have meant that our life expectancy has doubled in the last 200 years - with the UK's going from around 40 in the 1800s to now being about 80.

So with humans constantly living longer and living better later in life, who knows how old we could one day become?

Exclusive

Probably the strangest, but potentially groundbreaking method has involved rich people injecting blood from teenagers to stop the aging process.

More than 100 people have taken part in a clinical trial at a San Francisco startup offering blood transfusions for older patients.

The procedure costs 6,200 and sees the patient whose average age is about 60 injected with two and a half litres of plasma taken from (presumably clean-living) young people.

This is the liquid element of blood that remains after other cells have been removed.

Jesse Karmazin, a Stanford-trained scientist who founded the US clinic, told The Sunday Times initial results had been encouraging.

Mr Karmazin said: "It could help improve things such as appearance or diabetes or heart function or memory. These are all the aspects of ageing that have a common cause.

"Im not really in the camp of saying this will provide immortality but I think it comes pretty close, essentially."

"No one wants to live forever at 95 years old, but if you could rejuvenate the body to 29 or 30, you might want to do that," Dr Pearson said.

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Meanwhile, North Korea is reported to have had an interest in trying to ensure their glorious leaders - Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung - live forever.

Kim Il-sung is claimed have set up a "Longevity Center" that he ordered to help him live to 100.

Treatments included blood transfusions from young people who were fed with nutritious food before hand to ensure the "Eternal President" stayed eternal, reported CNN.

Esteemed futurologist Dr Ian Pearson told The Sun he believed humans are very close to achieving everlasting life as long as you can make it to the year 2050.

He reveals that one way to extend life would be to use biotechnologies and medicine to keep renewing the body, and rejuvenating it.

No one wants to live forever at 95 years old, but if you could rejuvenate the body to 29 or 30, you might want to do that, Dr Pearson said.

One way, he said, was genetic engineering that prevents (or reverses) the aging of cells.

Another method, you could replace vital body organs with new parts.

Many scientists around the world are working on creating human organs in labs or by using 3D printers loaded with living cells, which could one day make human organ donors redundant.

But Dr Pearson thinks it's much more likely that we'll extend our lives in a different way: robots.

He said: "A long time before we get to fix our bodies and rejuvenate it every time we feel like, we'll be able to link our minds to the machine world so well, we'll effectively be living in the cloud.

If your biological self dies, you can upload into a new unit... Literally

Billionaire Elon Musks company Neuralink is already working towards a brain-machine interface that would fundamentally integrate us with our technology.

The Tesla boss believes such technology could eventually allow humans to develop a copy of themselves which will live even after their body dies.

He told CNBC: "If your biological self dies, you can upload into a new unit. Literally."

Meanwhile, fellow tech billionaire Jeff Bezos is backing research into ways to stop aging is being backed by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, according to a new report.

TAltos Labs is a Silicon Valley firm that's been offering scientists big salaries to do some anti-aging research and biological reprogramming.

According to a report by MIT Technology Review, Bezos is one of the company's big investors.

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Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner is also said to be financially backing the anti-aging company.

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Shinya Yamanaka will be joining the firm's advisory board.

Yamanaka won a Nobel Prize for research into reversing the age of cells.

The groundbreaking scientist told MIT Technology Review: "Although there are many hurdles to overcome, there is huge potential."

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has been linked to a Russian factory that is working on anti-aging pills.

The 68-year-old leader, who is famed for his poker face resulting from his excessive use of Botox, has revisited the Biocad plant in St Petersburg.

Here he reviewed the development of youth pills that would increase life to 130 years in just 20 or 30 years.

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Last year the Russian strongman won a vote that could pave the way for him to rule until the end of life.

This came after Putins pal, actor Steven Seagal, pleaded with him to back support of the "Russia 2045" which aims to make Russia the centre of immortality and artificial body research.

In an open letter to the leader, Seagal said: "I am appealing to you, hoping that we may have the opportunity for a mutually beneficial enterprise making the world a better place

"It seems as though now you are placing more emphasis on life expectancy and life extension issues.

"I can see that you are actively working hard on coming up with solutions that lead Russia into the future confidently."

The movement is the project of multi-millionaire media mogul Dmitry Itskov focusing on combining brain emulation and robotics to create forms of cyborgs.

This is a robotic copy of a human body with a brain-computer interface that will carry your head once your first body dies.

Another alternative that is being proposed is a "completely non-biological" body and brain onto which your consciousness can be uploaded.

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Inside super-richs quest to LIVE FOREVER with injected blood from teenagers, lab grown organs, & robot b... - The US Sun

Published 8 hours ago

Submitted by LG Electronics USA, Inc.

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., September 14, 2021 /CSRwire/ LG Electronics USAs Lifes Good: Experience Happiness program, in collaboration with worldwide edtech leader Discovery Education, is launching Happiness in Action, a no-cost Virtual Field Trip (VFT) dedicated to teaching students how to put the Six Sustainable Happiness Skillsmindfulness, human connection, gratitude, positive outlook, purpose, and generosityinto action.

The VFT is the latest endeavor of Discover Your Happy, an extension of LGs award-winning Experience Happiness program in partnership with Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Discover Your Happy strives to provide all students, educators, and families with hands-on resources and lifelong social-emotional skills for improved emotional wellness and to achieve sustainable happiness.

As many students face uncertainty and stress about what the back-to-school learning environment will look like this year, its a pivotal time for discourse around mental health and wellbeing, according to Laura Barbieri, corporate social responsibility manager at LG Electronics USA.

Premiering on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 1:00 p.m. ET, go behind-the-scenes with the Discover Your Happy: Happiness in Action Virtual Field Trip into the lives of real-life teens sharing how they prioritize their mental wellbeing. Using the Six Sustainable Happiness Skills, these teens show how each person can bring these skills to life daily while spreading happiness in local communities. Special guests will include industry leaders and experts in the science of happiness, social-emotional learning, and K-12 education. The virtual experience also features accompanying educator resources and student activities, making it easy for teachers to incorporate rich media into the learning experiences they design and deliver every day.

With the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on students mental health, discussions around how to build happiness are more important than ever, and were pleased to partner with Discovery Education again this fall to offer an interactive way for students to celebrate back-to-school while prioritizing their mental wellbeing, said Barbieri, who leads the Experience Happiness program.

As students and educators kick off another school year, this new virtual experience with LG introduces them to science-backed skills that will help them build lifelong happiness, said Beth Meyer, vice president of social impact at Discovery Education.

The Happiness in Action Virtual Field Trip is open to the public, and you can register to watch and access additional resources here. In addition, LG encourages viewers to celebrate the back-to-school season by watching the VFT live or throughout the month of September and posting photos of your classroom or at-home watch party using the hashtag #LGVFTWatchParty to share how you build happiness skills.

# # #

About Lifes Good: Experience Happiness

Aiming to enrich the lives of 5.5 million youth in the United States by 2022, LG Electronics USA launched a unique initiative called Lifes Good: Experience Happiness. Happiness skills can be learned, according to the Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley, which has identified six skills that sustain ones ability to recognize that lifes good: mindfulness, human connection, positive outlook, purpose, generosity and gratitude. LGs award-winning science-based platform is designed to engage leading non-profit and academic partners including Inner Explorer; Be Strong; the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, and Discovery Education that help equip American youth with the skills for sustainable happiness. LGExperienceHappiness.com

About Discovery Education

Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools, Discovery Education helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 140 countries and territories. Inspired by the global media company Discovery, Inc., Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and trusted organizations to empower teachers with leading edtech solutions that support the success of all learners. Explore the future of education atwww.discoveryeducation.com.

Media Contacts:

LG Electronics USA

John I. Taylor201 816 2166john.taylor@lge.com

Jenna Wollin646 376 4201jwollin@mww.com

LG Electronics USA, based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $55 billion global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative energy efficient home appliances, home entertainment products, mobile phones, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, solar energy solutions, LED lighting and vehicle components. LGs focus on environmental sustainability and its Lifes Good marketing theme encompass how LG is dedicated to peoples happiness by exceeding expectations today and tomorrow.LG is a 2018 ENERGY STARPartner of the Year-Sustained Excellence.www.LG.com.

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LG and Discovery Education to Launch 'Happiness in Action' V - CSRwire.com

RAF personnel operate aboard an E-3D Sentry aircraft. (Rui Vieira WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, the United Kingdom released its integrated defense review, a document laying out Londons military goals and modernization efforts for the future. But achieving the goals in that document will require the acquisition system to match policy decisions something Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute think tank warns is a long-standing challenge.

There is a chronic problem at the heart of the UK defense establishment, one that is the root cause of many procurement disasters, force design inconsistencies, and the fact that the country gets significantly less value from its defense spending than many of its allies and competitors. Put simply: political ambitions for capability and a global British role as a military power completely outstrip the funding made available for the Ministry of Defence.

Most, though by no means all, of the bad behaviors in procurement and program management within MoD and the Defence Equipment & Support Agency (DE&S) stem from this high-level mismatch between policy ambition and funding, one that forces defense planners to continually come up with new and often convoluted arrangements to theoretically render the various capabilities needed to meet policy requirements affordable.

Often this simply entails delaying badly needed upgrades or modernization programs because the cash cannot be found in each given year. Aggressive targets for efficiency savings for the services, as a means to free up extra cash for modernization, did initially create budget headroom and help reduce waste. However, once the more egregious examples of actual inefficiency had been eliminated, further large-scale savings quickly became difficult to find. With major equipment programs only affordable through continued efficiency savings, the hollowing out of important enabling and support capabilities, and the reduction of spares and munitions stockpiles has become commonplace hardly efficient in real terms.

Creating armed forces fit and capable for serious combat operations is an inherently inefficient activity by peacetime standards. Right sizing a force structure and enablers for peacetime assumptions on attrition, deployment tempo, ammunition consumption and spares requirements creates brittle capabilities which could quickly lose effectiveness if tested in serious conflict.

The implications of the funding/ambition mismatch are not confined to the armed forces themselves. The services desire to buy equipment and munitions from the US, to leverage cheaper unit costs and the latters massive R&D spending, is counterbalanced by national economic and political requirements to support domestic industry. However, small stockpiles of complex weapons and a force structure with an ever-smaller number of platforms also ensure that the domestic (and broader European) industrial base is generally optimized for low production rates, with long lead times.

This, in turn, means that the ability to rapidly surge domestic production of munitions and spares in a crisis is extremely limited. The real-world consequence for the British military is a near total dependence on the US for rapid resupply and logistics in conflict against a serious state adversary a policy outcome made riskier by the fact that most other European NATO members share the same dependency.

The RAF E-3D Sentry AWACS saga illustrates many of these processes in action.

During the late 2000s, as the US and French air forces began mid-life upgrade (MLU) programs needed to maintain their E-3 fleets to the intended out-of-service date in 2035, the RAF considered its options and took another path. With operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in full swing, and a wide range of upgrade programs and urgent operation requirement acquisitions underway to support those missions, the RAF quietly decided to indefinitely postpone the E-3D MLU to help balance the books a move which attracted little political scrutiny at the time.

By 2017, the repercussions of these cost savings were becoming clear, as the RAF E-3D fleet was increasingly beset by mechanical issues, mission system obsolescence and even flight safety concerns. 2 billion was allocated to a belated life extension program aimed at keeping a reduced E-3D fleet viable until 2035, when it could be replaced in cooperation with the US and France with whatever was chosen to replace their modernized E-3G and E-3F fleets. However, technology and the threat picture had significantly moved on from that which had informed the US and French upgrade programs. This made the 2 billion price tag difficult to justify in light of the limited capability offered in return for fixing the many problems generated by a decade of under-investment in the E-3D fleet.

Consequently, the RAF ordered five of the more modern E-7 Wedgetails as a replacement for the E-3D in the AWACS role in 2019. To pay for this, the E-3D was slated for rapid retirement from service in 2021, and the 2 billion previously allocated to the life extension program shifted to fund the E-7 acquisition. As so often happens within British defense, however, it soon became clear that the RAF had been over-optimistic in their calculations for the E-7 acquisition and all the associated set up costs.

There are many differences in opinion as to why and how the discrepancy arose, but it is certainly the case that the RAF, the broader MoD and then-Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson all faced strong incentives to find a way to make the numbers add up on paper at the time the E-7 deal was signed. The AWACS mission is one of the UKs core commitments to NATO, and the state of the E-3D fleet by 2019 was a source of significant potential embarrassment at both the operational and political level.

Nevertheless, the 2021 Integrated Review and accompanying Defence Command Paper process prompted a hard review of the E-7 cost figures against all the other modernization and sustainment costs facing the RAF and other services. In common with many other major programs, costs did not match the budget available or the figures initially agreed, and the result was that the RAF was told, once again, that budget constraints had to trump capability. Significant efficiencies were found by moving the E-7 fleet from RAF Waddington, where most of the ISTAR fleet is based, to RAF Lossiemouth to take advantage of support and infrastructure commonality with the P-8A Poseidon MPA fleet there. The RAF hoped that this would allow the program to continue with four out of the five original E-7 airframes still being acquired. However, the political side of the review process determined that only three airframes could be procured.

This outcome is symptomatic of the malaise afflicting so much of UK defense, so lets review. As a result of the budget being insufficient to meet the requirements of sustainment, operations and modernization, upgrades for the E-3D in the late 2000s were scrapped. A decade later, the E-3D was out of step with the versions operated by partner air forces, increasingly expensive to operate, with poor serviceability and obsolescent mission systems. The effort to acquire a replacement at short notice has rapidly fallen prey to the same combination of over-optimistic cost estimates to try and maintain a politically sensitive capability without additional funding, leading to further cuts.

The result: the RAF will still pay nearly 2 billion, but will receive only three E-7s to replace the six remaining E-3Ds. Despite the E-7 radar and mission systems being far more capable and flexible than the E-3D that it is replacing, three aircraft are not enough in the medium term to guarantee one on station as required. The iron laws of maintenance, serviceability and crew rotations place hard limits on the ability to endlessly do more with less in the air domain.

The cycle of deferred or cancelled upgrades leading to reduced availability, rapid obsolescence and the need for urgent modernization is endemic in British defense. As programs are delayed to balance the books in-year, the modernization bill increases and the gap between political rhetoric and reality widens. Acquisition programs are then penny-pinched, micro-managed and often spread over a decade or more to try and make the books balance an almost perfect mix to ensure maximum long-term cost and risk for minimal capability. British defense planners are forced into chronic bad behaviors because the force structure required to meet policy demands simply cannot be delivered and sustained within the budget available year on year.

Until the British government engages in a more honest discussion about the need to significantly reduce defense capability ambition or significantly increase spending, program outcomes like the E-3D/E-7 are likely to remain par for the course. A re-alignment of resources and ambitions will not solve all of defenses problems in itself, but it is an essential first step.

Justin Bronk is the research fellow for airpower and technology in the military sciences team at RUSI. He is also editor of the RUSI Defence Systems online journal.

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The Problem at the Heart of UK Defense - Breaking Defense

With the fast advancement of space tourism on the one hand, and satellite technology on the other, space businesses are booming and a new space economy keeps expanding. Among these sectors, space logistics is now taking a new turn, with the worlds first in-orbit gas stations.

The venture-backed startup has already achieved significant success: in 2019, it became the first private company to resupply the ISS with water, and earlier this year it launched the worlds first on-orbit fuel depot, called Tenzing. Now, it made another important step in its development, by securing a $10 million investment, which brings it to a total funding of $17 million.

Whats equally important is that the latest investors are two major names in the aerospace and defense industry, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman achieved the historic first docking of a Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) for life extension services, in early 2020, while Lockheed Martin has a history of investing in servicing technologies.

What Orbit Fab is bringing to the table is a system of tankers and fuel shuttles designed to operate in low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary orbit (GEO) and cis-lunar space. The companys first product is the Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface (RAFTI), a fueling port for the easy refueling of satellites, which can replace the existing satellite fill-and-drain valves. Back in June, the RAFTI had its first flight on the Tanker-001 Tenzing.

The major benefit of these innovative in-space gas stations is enabling satellites to get the required fuel when they need it and where they need it, so that they will no longer be limited to the fuel they were launched with. This, in turn, will open new possibilities for space economy.

Read more here:

Startup Secures $10 Million to Develop Groundbreaking Gas Stations in Space - autoevolution

A couple with 11 kids will soon grow their brood to 12 with the arrival of their newest child - due almost 12 years to the day they celebrated the birth of their eldest.

Courtney and Chris Rogers, whose kids' names all begin with the letter 'c', say their children begged mum and dad for "just one more" sibling so they could be like the Baker family in the Cheaper by the Dozen films.

The films follow Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt as Tom and Kate Baker, running around after their 12 kids who cause chaos at every turn.

Stay-at-home mum Courtney, 37, says she and her church pastor husband Chris can't wait to welcome their newest arrival in March.

The mum, from New Mexico in the US, said: "We're so excited as we had wanted 12.

"I'm very thankful that its happening, and the kids are still going to be close in age."

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She added the new baby will arrive around the time the eldest child, Clint, turns 12.

"One reason my kids wanted us to have 12 is because of the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen. Theyve been wanting me to have another one and kept asking for, Just one more, Mum, just one more'."

The couple are unsure if the youngest will be a boy or a girl - but one thing they know for sure is that the baby's name will begin with a 'c', just like the other kids: Clint, 11, Clay, 10, Cade, eight, Callie, eight, Cash, six, six-year-old twins Colt and Case, Calena, four, Caydie, three, Coralee, two, and Caris, nine months.

But for now, Courtney is keeping tight-lipped about potential baby names.

As well as taking care of the kids and home schooling them all, Courtney documents their busy lives on the 12-acre plot on her Instagram page, @littlehouseinthehighdesert.

The family owns 140 animals including pigs, sheep, dogs and chickens.

Supermum Courtney also admits she didn't start married life expecting to have so many kids.

She said: "When we got married, I was 24. Then we had an early pregnancy loss, so Clint wasn't born until just before I turned 26.

"At that point, I didnt think I was starting motherhood that early. I had no clue we'd have this many.

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"I did want to have a big family, but it was quite a surprise to get here and, so far, have everything working out as planned."

The couple are due to find out the sex of the baby in October - and Chris would like a girl to make their brood completely even with boys and girls.

While Courtney's excited to meet her youngest child, she has some concerns about the delivery after having three C-sections - meaning she can no longer opt for a vaginal birth.

She said: "My youngest, Caris, had a scary beginning, so we're a little bit nervous, but we also know we're going to have a different delivery plan this time around.

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"She was also nine days past her due date. We kept waiting and she just didn't want to come."

Courtney had to have an emergency C-section to deliver little Caris, when doctors realised she was in distress and wasn't getting enough oxygen.

After she was born she spent 15 days in the newborn intensive care unit, and medics warned she could face delays in her development.

Luckily, the tot is now happy and healthy despite a touch start to life.

Having spent the majority of the last 12 years pregnant, Courtney admits she enjoys the experience.

"I've always felt fine during my pregnancies," she said.

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"I don't get morning sickness, I don't have a lot of pain and I can keep up.

"It's different for everyone, but my body usually takes pregnancy very well. We probably wouldn't have had so many if not!"

The supermum doesn't even ask the older kids to help out with their younger siblings.

She said: Once you get to a certain number, the parenting doesn't really change.

"With the last few, we brought them home from the hospital and it was like they'd always been there."

However, the couple are hoping to get the older kids involved in distance learning or online school so Courtney can focus on home schooling the younger ones.

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The family travels around in a 15-seater van, but Courtney admits it can get crowded on long trips.

The last time we took a vacation, we rented a house, because we're just getting too big for even two hotel rooms and run out of space, she said.

They're also having an extension on their house - which was originally a three-bedroom property - to cater for their 12 strong brood.

My husband's been working on it and it should be done by Christmas, Courtney said. We'll have seven bedrooms, four bathrooms - so two kids to a room.

For the most part, Courtney's Instagram attracts positivity - but, as with everything, some people have nasty things to say.

"We get some rude comments, as there are always going to be people that don't like big families. But now we're used to it, it doesnt bother us," she said.

"There are always going to be people who have a different opinion to you."

The couple are making the most of this pregnancy, as Courtney thinks it'll be her last.

We wanted to get to 12 and I really don't want to go on having any more C-sections," she said.

Do you have a big family? Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com with your stories

It's going to be as I turn 38, so physically, I don't know if I'll be able to have any more."

Although they're ready to stop having kids, Courtney knows she'll feel sad when she's done with being pregnant.

"But for now, were focused on welcoming baby number 12 and becoming the real life Cheaper by the Dozen family."

The rest is here:

'Cheaper by the Dozen inspired me to have 12 kids - we had to extend house and buy a van' - The Mirror

Demand for high purity alumina (HPA) a specialised product used in lithium-ion batteries, LED lights, and more is growing at a rapid rate.

When it comes to lithium-ion batteries, HPA is currently used as the coating on the separator between the anode and cathode.

The HPA coated separators improve battery chargeability (charging and discharging rates), performance (power density), safety and overall service and durability.

This LIB battery separator market valued at US$US6.2 billion in 2020 is expected to reach $US11.3 billion by 2026.

But thats not all. HPAs battery applications could grow significantly beyond this.

FYI Resources (ASX:FYI) calls HPA the hallelujah battery material with applications in the separator and anode and increasing potential candidate in cathode development.

The whole battery, basically.

FYI recently inked a deal with advanced battery graphite stock EcoGraf (ASX:EGR) to develop additional uses for FYIs HPA product.

Investors are also watching closely for an update on an MoU between FYI and global aluminium giant Alcoa, where commercial terms are being finalised for a full joint venture operation.

Stockhead chats with FYI managing director Roly Hill about EcoGraf, HPA demand, and that all important deal with Alcoa.

In simple terms it is a joint venture between two battery focussed commodity players, looking at doing something completely different, Hill says.

[This JV] is a very elegant way of adding a little bit of value to the downstream side of what FYI and EcoGraf are doing individually.

For us, it is all about expanding HPAs applications in the battery.

HPA is currently used as the coating on the separator between the anode and cathode.

But it is looking like the utility of HPA is increasing. Now it looks like it [could be used] in the anode, and the cathode as well.

The obvious benefits from the customer perspective are safety, performance, and possibly cost reduction, and life extension of the battery.

Pretty exciting stuff, and the key thing for us is the interest [we are getting] from some of the larger battery groups.

It just a matter of us adding a bit more value and cracking the code a little, to see where it can lead.

We would use Benchmark Mineral Intelligence as our guidance on that, Hill says.

They are suggesting that the anode growth graphite and the HPA could be +700% by 2025 from where it currently sits.

The HPA market, where it currently sits, has a standing rate of 17% to 18% year-on-year growth through battery applications and the more traditional markets LEDs, sapphire glass, those sorts of things. Big numbers.

Potential additional uses of HPA in the battery [mentioned above] are not included in all those numbers.

We had to defer the signing of the term sheets with Alcoa by a month, Hill says.

That is because, out of courtesy, we introduced this [deal with EcoGraf] to Alcoa, along with several other initiatives that we wanted to pursue.

They very much liked that, and the other things that we are wanting to do. We had to defer everything just so they could get involved.

It was originally outside the scope; now it is inside the scope.

No more than me, I can tell you, Hill says.

[But] both companies dont come this far time, money, and effort for it not to succeed.

We cant say signed sealed and delivered just yet, but its very close to the line. We are pretty much aligned on all the major terms, Hill says.

They are very bullish on the business, and the sector.

They have done their homework on us, and the flow sheet. They are prepared to back it by putting skin in the game.

I think the combination of their balance sheet and operational experience plus FYIs agility it will be strong and solid partnership.

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FYI Resources Roly Hill on HPA the hallelujah battery material and that Alcoa deal - Stockhead

Calcium! Zinc! Collagen, oh my! As women age, they are often told to take a myriad of supplements to keep their bones, skin, and hair in tip-top shape, but not all supplements are necessary, and some even do a better job at keeping you healthy than others.

While you should consult a doctor before making any major changes to your supplement routine, there is one supplement that's best for women, at least according to Lyssie Lakatos, RDN, CDN, CFT & Tammy Lakatos, RDN, CDN, CFT, The Nutrition Twins, founders of 21-Day Body Reboot, and members of the Eat This, Not That! Medical Expert Board.

The winner is magnesium, which Lyssie and Tammy note is even more critical than calcium, even though it's difficult to go more than an hour without seeing a calcium supplement commercial.

"Most women are told to get calcium and they focus on that and take supplements. However, when it comes to stress, this can backfire if you don't have enough magnesium," the duo explains. "During periods of stress, calcium moves into the cell as part of the fight or flight response and if there's not enough magnesium to push it back out of the cell, you can't promote relaxation." This, in turn, means that frequent stress (stemming from pollution, daily life, and emotional experiences) continues to take its toll physically and emotionally.

"Magnesium is one of the best supplements women can take. Our bodies need magnesium for more than 300 essential biochemical reactions including producing energy, helping muscles to relax and nervous system regulation, but most of us don't get enough magnesium from dietary sources alone," the pair states. "Given that magnesium plays an important role in factors that have a large impact for women such as bone and heart health, promoting relaxation, reducing anxiety and depression and PMS symptoms as well as preventing migraines, magnesium supplementation can be especially beneficial for women."

Not surprisingly, there's an extensive body of research that shows magnesium supplements can benefit women in more ways than one. For example, a 2008 study found that they can be used to prevent or treat migraines, since neurotransmitters are affected and blood vessels constrict and lead to a migraine when women are low in magnesium.

Additional research has shown magnesium supplements to be especially helpful during PMS, a time when tension in the body is at an all-time high. According to a study that appeared in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, magnesium can boost a woman's mood and reduce other PMS symptoms, such as water retention.

And that's not all. There's a whole other body of research that indicates that not having enough magnesium in your diet can lead to adverse health effects. In fact, not only are low levels of magnesium linked to anxiety and depression, but a magnesium deficiency has also been shown to cause stress, which in turn can have an even larger negative impact on one's overall health.

In fact, The Nutrition Twins point out that magnesium's impact on stress can actually be part of a troubling cycle because, in addition to low magnesium levels being linked to stress, stress can increase magnesium loss, causing a deficiency.

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In short, magnesium can address a wide variety of health issues that women may face as they age. "When you consider that an estimated 8 million American women have osteoporosis and half of the women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis; heart disease is the leading cause of death in women; migraines affect 28 million women in the US and can be debilitating; more than 31 million American women are affected by PMS and experience bloating, moodiness and breast tenderness that negatively affects quality of life during that time of the month; and women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety, there is enormous potential for magnesium supplements to benefit women," The Nutrition Twins share.

When it comes to picking a magnesium supplement, Lyssie and Tammy are fans of Life Extension's Extended-Release Magnesium because of how it is absorbed in the body. "Absorption is critical when it comes to magnesium supplements and this supplement is formulated with magnesium oxide for extended-release and magnesium citrate for immediate absorption to provide more consistent results," the duo explains. "It's also non-GMO verified."

The sisters point out that Life Extension is a brand that they trust, which is crucial since supplements are typically not regulated. "Life Extension has been making high-quality supplements for over 40 years. They pride themselves on transparency and quality, and their magnesium, like all their products, contains a Certificate of Analysis that allows you to confirm its quality and accuracy," Lyssie and Tammy point out. "It's also manufactured in an NSF International-registered GMP facility for safety."

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The #1 Best Supplement For Women, Says Dietitian | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Emily Marrison| Guest Columnist

I keep a small, blue booklet within arms reach of my desk. I have found it to be a valuable tool and inspiration in the work that I do. It was published in February 1922, yet has timeless wisdom.

T.J. Talbert of the Kansas State Agricultural College Division of College Extension penned The Extension Workers Code as a guide to excel in educational outreach efforts. Much of the advice is useful for anyone regardless of your calling in life.

This spring I was especially struck by the section titled Do the Things Which Will Count. Depending on our personalities we can be inclined to get sucked into things that waste precious time. Im not just talking about lazy habits like watching too much television or letting time evaporate while you are on the internet. We know those are time wasters, right?

Im also talking about the good things that still arent the best things. Talbert puts it this way, It is a great art to know what to leave undone, to know how to weed out the less important things, and to spend ones energies in doing the things which will count. He goes on to say, Once we have formulated a plan… we must stick to it regardless of our tendency to be sidetracked by other pressing duties and obligations. Otherwise, all our good resolution and work begun will amount to little or nothing.

I had adjusted quickly to working from home during 2020 and the beginning of 2021. At first it was strange to be less busy, but it was also incredibly freeing. As many workers have returned to in-person work in businesses and offices over the past few months, Ive heard more comments about feeling busy again.

In a quest to squelch this slow creep of the return to busyness, Ive also been reading a more modern bulletin from an Extension colleague in this century. Tim Tanner developed a time management curriculum for Extension professionals. He is an avid reader and researcher and found that American employees are at their best when they possess high levels of personal well-being. He also found that ancient and modern religious scholars have long noted that an orderly approach to daily life creates greater human joy.

Studies show time and time again that we humans are not created to be efficient multitaskers. MIT neuroscientistEarl Millersaysour brains focus on one thing at a time. When we attempt to multitask, we are actually switching back and forth very quickly between tasks and missing out on key observances.

The last thing we need is to climb back onto the hamster wheel many of us had escaped from. Here are three things I am doing to discipline myself to do the things which will count:

Today Ill leave you with this quote from William Carey. My husband keeps this quote near his planning calendar. For doers who like to stay busy, these are wise words to consider. Im not afraid of failure; Im afraid of succeeding at things that dont matter.

Emily Marrison is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 740-622-2265.

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Spend your engery on things that matter - Coshocton Tribune

A Ground-Based Interceptor is lowered into its missile silo in Alaska. (File)

The Biden administrations strategic review, including its work on the Missile Defense Review, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. One major decision facing Pentagon leadership is whether to alter the current homeland defense posture. In this op-ed, Walter Slocombe and Robert Soofer who served in the Clinton and Trump administrations, respectively argue the bipartisan case for keeping the current strategy.

At the recent Space and Missile Defense conferencein Huntsville, Ala., senior defense officials confirmed that the Biden administrations missile defense policy review is well underway. And one of the most consequential questions for that review concerns whether to stay the course on improving US homeland missile defenses.

Early indications are promising. In March, the Department of Defense approved the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) to proceed, and it has received strong support from Congress. It has also received support from both STRATCOM head Adm. Charles Richard and NORTHCOM leader Gen. Glen VanHerck, who would operate the system in a time of crisis.

But NGI has its critics within the administration, in Congress, and in certain think tanks, setting the stage for a high-stakes policy debate between those who value missile defense as an enabler of US grand strategy, and those who doubt any missile defense system can perform well or fear that enhanced missile defense may start an arms race with Russia and China.

The issue is staying ahead of limited long-range missile threats from rogue regional actors, not defense against Russian or Chinese attacks, which instead relies on nuclear deterrence. This has been the guiding principle of US missile defense policy since the end of the Cold War. Thats why it is essential to sustain the strategic modernization program approved under Obama, continued with marginal adjustments under Trump, endorsed under Biden and backed, in a largely bipartisan manner, by Congress.

To maintain a defensive posture towards North Korea, the Obama administration added 14 Ground Based Interceptors (GBIs) to the 30 fielded by the Bush administration and sought to enhance the reliability of Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) by developing a Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) for the GBI. The Trump administration altered the acquisition approach to include a fully modernized interceptor, with a new booster, avionics, and kill vehicles the NGI program. Once developed, 20 NGI/GBIs would be added to the 44 currently deployed in Alaska and California.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has testified to Congress that missile defense against rogue state threats is a central component to keeping the homeland safe. In support of this priority, the Biden administration has, so far, kept the ball rolling by approving NGI development to proceed with two competitive contractor teams. Meanwhile, with the support of Congress, the Pentagon is executing a Service Life Extension Program for GMD to upgrade and replace ground system infrastructure, fire control, and kill vehicle software. These efforts will improve GMD reliability and effectiveness and help secure the system against cyber threats until NGI fielding in 2028.

But that progress could be stymied, or thrown off course altogether, depending on the decisions made in the next few months by the Biden administration and Congress.

Outside voices and some individuals who are now part of the MDR process or whom have a role in Congressional action have criticized the cost, efficacy, and necessity of NGI or, in some cases, for any homeland missile defense. They argue that North Korea could easily overwhelm planned upgrades and future deployments, while the expansion of US missile defense capabilities, meant to pace the North Korean threat, could eventually upset strategic stability with Russia and China. Several points deserve to be made in response.

First, while North Korea intends to grow its ICBM force in the coming years, it has long been a premise of our BMD policy that our systems will adapt to outpace the threat. It is reasonable to assume that an additional 20 Ground Based Interceptors, combined with newly designed kill vehicles and the improved reliability of the GMD system, will be sufficient to stay ahead of the threat.

Second, the costs, while significant, must be understood in context. The reported overall cost of about $18 billion dollars develop ($13B), field ($2.3B), and operate ($2.2B) the NGI system will be spread over ten-plus years. The funding for NGI will, according to numbers laid out in the FY21 budget request, be approximately one-quarter of one percent of DoDs budget over FY21-FY26. Combined NGI and GMD funding will account for about one-half of one percent of the DoD budget across that same period. These are not unreasonable investments to protect the nation against rogue state ICBMs.

A Ground-Based Interceptor test launch. (File)

Third, with respect to efficacy, the senior military leaders charged with defending the nation against North Korean ICBM threats have repeatedly expressed confidence in the system, while the DoD Director for Operational Test and Evaluation has reported that the current GMD system has demonstrated capability to defend the homeland from a small number of ICBMs. Going forward, the GMD system will be able to handle a greater number of North Korean ICBM threats through reliability improvements and the development of NGI, which will be tied to a conservative acquisition strategy, carrying two prototypes through critical design review, consistent with rigorous testing and the principle of fly before you buy.

Fourth, proceeding with NGI is important for a US strategy that, according to the White House, seeks to promote a favorable distribution of power to deter and prevent adversaries from directly threatening the United States and its allies, inhibiting access to the global commons or dominating key regions.

Adversary offensive missile capabilities are meant to coerce the United States, to limit our freedom of action, to discourage us from supporting our allies or countering regional challengers, and, ultimately, to weaken our alliances. Far from replacing deterrence for North Korea and other potential proliferators a significant US defense, adapted to changing developments, complements the threat of overwhelming retaliation. A North Korean regime, considering use of nuclear weapons to coerce the US and our allies, would have to be concerned that such action would not only be fatal because of inevitable US response, but also quite likely to be futile because their missiles would be intercepted.

Moreover, modernizing and expanding our homeland defense underpins Presidents Bidens push to revitalize our ties with friends and partners. An important element of renewing alliances is convincing allies that the United States is prepared to run risks on their behalf especially as some countries seek to use the Afghanistan situation to cast doubt on American resolve. Strengthening US homeland defense helps provide that confidence by reducing our own vulnerability to North Korean coercion.

Finally, while Russia and China are certain to complain about any improvements to US homeland defenses, there is simply no way that a few dozen interceptors poses any serious challenge to China, with its hundred-plus intercontinental missiles and counting, much less Russias several thousand warheads that can range the United States.

As Putin himself has noted, most of Russias nuclear forces will be modernized by the end of 2021 and capable of confidently overcoming existing and even projected missile defense systems. Moreover, both nations continue to modernize their own suite of missile defense systems. In contradiction to Russias claimed principle-based objection to missile defense, it deploys 68 nuclear tipped ground-based interceptors for the protection of greater Moscow and hundreds of regional air and missile defense systems. China possesses regional air and missile defense systems and has tested a mid-course defense system against intermediate-range ballistic missiles.

Homeland and regional missile defenses provide protection for the nation, its deployed forces, and allies, and are critical enablers of a US grand strategy that relies on strong conventional forces, nuclear deterrence, alliances, and, yes, limited missile defenses to maintain a favorable balance of power and a peaceful world order.

For less than two percent of annual defense appropriations, the missile defense enhancement represented by NGI would provide the United States greater freedom of action to respond to crises, to shore-up allies, to deter adversaries like North Korea and, if necessary, to defeat them and limit damage should deterrence fail. No American leader should have to tell the American people that they will not be protected against North Korean nuclear missile threats.

Walter Slocombe is a Senior Counsel at Caplin & Drysdale. He was Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 1994 to 2001. Robert Soofer is a nonresident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy from 2017 to 2021.

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A Bipartisan Call To Stay The Course On US Homeland Missile Defense - Breaking Defense