Category Archives: Life Extension

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It might have started as a relatively straightforward helicopter life extension project, but the plan to see the CH-146 Griffon continue flying into the 2030s has become far more complex than many first imagined. And what comes next to replace the venerable multi-role airframe may be even more so.

On Feb. 15, 2021, Griffon number 467, the first of three CH-146 aircraft, landed at Bell Helicopter Textron Canadas facility in Mirabel, Quebec, to begin a prototype process that will include the design, development, and installation of new cockpit displays and engines, integrate sensor systems, communications and cryptographic equipment, cockpit voice and flight recorders, navigation systems, automatic flight control systems, and control display units.

Known as the Griffon Limited Life Extension (GLLE), the program will eventually return to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) the CH-146 Charlie Griffon Mark II, what LCol Andrew Hewitt calls a unique airframe.

The flight path, however, could require a deft touch to navigate. Hewitt, who heads a small team under Director Air Requirements (DAR) Tactical Aviation, must satisfy the requirements of a diverse set of missions. The CH-146, a militarized variant of the Bell 412, provides not only tactical transport for the Army, in particular its light infantry battalions, it is also a critical platform for Special Forces (SOF) flown by 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron in Petawawa, Ontario; a domestic search-and-rescue asset operated by 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario; and a frequently deployed utility platform for domestic response operated by combat support squadrons at 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta, and 5 Wing Goose Bay, Newfoundland. Since the airframe first entered service in 1995, the RCAF has integrated almost 45 mission kits to meet different user needs.

As we got into the definition phase and we were looking at the complexity of what we are trying to do, I think the mindset shifted, acknowledged Hewitt, a CH-146 pilot and instructor with 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Edmonton, Alberta.

Even though it is a straightforward project in terms of its goals sustaining the current capability until the mid 2030s what we are trying to achieve is a generational upgrade to the aircraft. Consequently, the developmental process, as we have come to learn, is going to be unique and there will be a lot to do.

Rather than earmark each of the prototypes for different systems such as avionics, mission kits, or engines, Bell and the RCAF have adopted an iterative approach that will allow each prototype to build on the lessons from the previous one. If the idiomatic expression third times a charm holds true, the result will be an airframe ready for flight testing by late summer or early fall 2022.

The first aircraft will provide a platform for the basic avionics design and fitting for bespoke flight management and mission management systems, as well as a check on mission kit compatibility and, where necessary, interoperability. The second will incorporate the lessons learned and provide the basis for installation instructions of all systems for subcontractors. With the third prototype, Bell and the RCAF will have a final opportunity to make sure weve got everything right, he said.

While the RCAF has employed a block approach to upgrade avionics and mission systems on the CP-140 Aurora and complete a structural life extension, the process was conducted over two decades, and the maritime patrol aircraft returned to service after each block. This is notably different.

From what I have seen, [the prototype approach] is unique, said Hewitt.

The government, which awarded Bell a design work contract in January 2019 valued at $90 million, is still finalizing the GLLE agreement with the manufacturer, so the timelines are not fixed. But the objective between now and end of next summer . . . is to go through those three iterations of development so that we can have the aircraft ready for modification in 2023, he said. Initial operating capability would begin by the end of 2024.

Until a new deal is reached, the design work is being completed under an in-service support contract that has been in place since 2011. The Griffon was first acquired from Bell in 1992, and 85 of the original 100 that remain in service will undergo the full modification.

RESTORATION JOB

I tell people it is like pimp my car, joked Donald Falardeau, referring to the MTV series,Pimp My Ride, in which the host, rapper Xzibit, oversaw the restoration and hot-rodding of old cars. You take everything out of it, including all the wire harnesses and boxes, and you start from scratch. Some of the boxes will be re-used but there are a lot of new boxes coming in.

A former aerospace engineering officer on the CF-188 fighter program, Falardeau is Bells program manager for GLLE, overseeing all aspects of the upgrade. As much as possible, we are trying to use off-the-shelf products that come from the 412 line, including the latest evolution, the Bell 412EPX, he told a virtual forum hosted by the Vertical Flight Society on May 11.

The overhaul of each CH-146 includes rewiring and installing some 40 wiring harnesses and power cables; a new console and a mix of avionics from the commercial 412; a mission management system integrated with the WESCAM MX-15 EO/IR imaging system, which was introduced on the Griffon about seven years ago; and new radios and cryptographic equipment in the nose of the aircraft. Several of the Griffons many antennas will be removed, replaced, or repositioned.

In addition to addressing ongoing obsolescence issues with certain components, the avionics improvements will also meet civil air traffic management regulations that now require ADS-B Out.

For pilots who have expressed frustration with the rotorcrafts power, the most significant change might be the introduction of an electronically controlled Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T-9 Twin-Pac engine.

Once you got to the limits of the performance envelope, you had a little bit a twitchiness in the gauge, and it would just take a little muscle impulse at the wrong time to enter an overtorque condition, said Hewitt of CH-146 performance. With digital engine control, we are much more confident pilots will have a greater degree of fidelity in handling the aircraft at those performance limits.

Falardeau attributed the manner and speed at which GLLE has progressed to a tight working relationship with the Air Force and government departments. Frequent and productive program review meetings, as well as design working groups with significant input from the user communities, have steered the project to this point, while a robust risk management system and good processes for change requests have helped eliminate surprises and manage what he called legitimate scope creep as raw estimates have become firm costs and requirements have been solidified.

In line with that approach, Bell, the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, and the RCAF Operational Test and Evaluation unit intend to form one test team, he added. There will be one document that will guide everything for the execution of tests, for qualification and certification.

Refining the requirements has involved a constant back and forth between the Air Force and the Army and SOF to ensure the modifications meet specific missions, said Hewitt. The project team has pulled lessons from recent operations such as the forward aeromedical evacuation support role in Mali in 2018-19.

The Bell 412 has been a stellar platform, but it is power-limited to do such a diverse set of roles. As a multi-purpose utility helicopter, it can never do one thing perfectly, but it can do a lot of things really well, Hewitt observed.

More precise Army and SOF requirements will have to wait for the eventual Griffon replacement, he added.

TACTICAL AVIATION SYSTEM?

Planning for what comes next is now underway. In the summer of 2020, Hewitt officially stood up a unit of one himself to begin the process with others in DAR of identifying the future capabilities needed by user communities. Still in the pre-definition phase, the project is being called the next Tactical Aviation Capability Set (nTACS), a nod to the fact that the eventual solution might not be a platform-for-platform replacement.

The DAR team has engaged with both the U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program and NATOs Next-Generation Rotorcraft Capabilities project, a five-country collaboration announced in November 2020 to modernize multi-role rotorcraft fleets that are anticipated to retire between 2035-2040.

In recent presentations, U.S. Army senior officers have suggested the FVL ecosystem they are constructing will fundamentally change tactical aviation. The traditional limitations of speed, range, endurance, and payload could all be smashed over the next 15 years, Hewitt noted. And increased options for remotely piloted systems something the U.S. Army is trialing under Project Convergence, with a scalable control interface that will allow soldiers to control a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter could significantly change the calculus of what is possible after GLLE, especially as operations increase in the Arctic.

What we are coming to realize is we are not necessarily looking at a replacement aircraft for this capability, we are looking at a replacement set, he said. We want to leave the door open for different types of airframes.

The project was originally called the tactical reconnaissance and utility helicopter concept, but conversations with the Canadian Army and SOF about their future needs suggest a fair amount of diversity in what they will be seeking, he noted.

The Griffons were selected to fill the roles of three helicopters Bell CH-118 Huey, CH-136 Kiowa, and Bell CH-135 Twin Huey so combining diverse missions in a single airframe would not be novel.

But are we confident right now that we are going to be able to pick an airframe to come on service in 15 to 20 years like we did with the Griffon in 1995? Maybe, but maybe not. That is why it is called a set.

Hewitt cautioned against equating Canadian with American requirements as the FVL program advances demonstrators under its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) projects. Both the Bell V-280 Valor and the Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 Defiant offer advanced capabilities of interest to nTACS, but not necessarily the exact solution.

When I look at them, I see developments that check what the U.S. Army is looking for. I dont necessarily see things that check what we are looking for. We have a smaller force with a more diverse set of things to do, so we have to think of more multi-capable platforms, whereas I think the U.S. Army has the luxury of looking for more bespoke and tailored capabilities. I also understand from the European point of view how they are looking at it, he said. Its too early to tell if it is between the two of them or if there is a third way. I think there is going to be quite a few options we will be able to leverage to provide the best capability we can.

As much as speed, range, endurance, and payload remain central to any future platform, Hewitt is focused on data management and integration with a joint force in an all-domain digital battlespace. The Army operating concept of dispersed operations will require a capability not unlike you would see with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or some of the other advanced platforms coming out today.

Data links, sensor and information management, and interoperability will be among the mandatory requirements.

It is still early days for the project. Preliminary discussions have been held with the Air Force, Army, and SOF to make sure we are in agreement with what we are proposing. And Hewitt will soon seek Defence Capability Board approval to begin identifying and developing the options for a capability to enter service in the mid 2030s.

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The life extension of the CH-146 Griffon and a plan for what comes next - Skies Magazine

Since becoming the first medical center in the Inland Empire to offer liver transplants to patients in 1993, Loma Linda University Health has gone on to complete hundreds of procedures recently cumulating to 1,000 liver transplants as of March.

Surpassing 1,000 liver transplants is a huge milestone for the Transplant Institute, carrying out the mission of Loma Linda University to make man whole, says Michael E. de Vera, MD, FACS, director of the Loma Linda University Transplant Institute. The achievement is more than just a number it represents the lives of patients touched by the generosity of organ donors and is also a reminder of the countless others on the waitlist who struggle with liver disease and are waiting patiently and desperately for precious, life-saving organs.

Each year the Transplant Institute coordinates over 100 liver transplants, which are performed by transplant surgeons at the LLU Medical Center and enabled by liver donations from deceased individuals who had selflessly agreed to donate.

We are proud to be the transplant center for all patients in the Inland Empire and southern Nevada, for whom its easier to get to us than anywhere else.Dr. Michael Volk

One of the many liver transplant recipients to benefit from the life-saving procedure offered at LLU is the 1,001st patient, who expresses his thankfulness and hopes that sharing his story will inspire some in similar situations to maintain hope, and others to enroll as donors.

I could be here all day talking about the goodness of what I went through, says 56-year-old Albert Richards Jr., now enjoying his life extension to the fullest and spending time with loved ones who supported him throughout his health journey.

The Las Vegas resident began taking several medications after having suffered from a sudden stroke in December 2016, two of which he discovered years later were not liver-friendly. Richards began feeling unwell an unusual circumstance for the 25-year vegetarian, non-smoker, non-drinker, and erstwhile fit business owner of a security company.

Blood test results indicated Richards liver enzymes were eight times higher than the norm. The series of medical appointments that followed confirmed that Richards had a type of end-stage liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) cirrhosis, and nothing was the same thereafter.

That was the day that my life changed, he says. All of a sudden, the contracts, the invoices, the other duties I had for my business and lifenone of that mattered. It was all about health.

NASH cirrhosis of the liver is the fastest growing indication for liver transplant in the U.S., says Minh-Tri Nguyen, MD, PhD, FACS, FRCSC, the transplant surgeon who performed Richards procedure. NASH cirrhosis typically occurs in patients with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, but may also occur without any of these risk factors such as with Richards. In a subset of patients with fat accumulation in the liver, the liver gets inflamed and subsequently damaged, leading to end stage liver failure in 20% of cases and the need for a new liver via transplant.

Every opportunity I get to share what Ive gone through with others, I want to be able to do that.Albert Richards

Richards joined the liver transplant waitlist in April 2020 and completed video visits with LLU physicians from both the LLU Las Vegas Hepatology & Liver Transplant Clinic and LLU Transplant Institute to evaluate his health pre-transplant.

Liver transplant can be a harrowing journey for patients and their families, so we do everything possible to ease their way, says Michael Volk, MD, medical director of the liver transplant program at the Transplant Institute. We are proud to be the transplant center for all patients in the Inland Empire and southern Nevada, for whom its easier to get to us than anywhere else.

Patients on the wait list for a new liver are prioritized by their Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, Nguyen says. A MELD score above 30 predicts a 90-day mortality greater than 50%. MELD scores range from 6 to 40, and are based on a calculation of four factors:

Richardss MELD score fluctuated around the mid-20s to low 30s, and he experienced complications such as ascites fluid buildup inside his abdomen that causes bloating and hepatic encephalopathy that occurs when the liver is unable to effectively clear out toxins from the bloodstream, thus affecting the brain and leading to fatigue, confusion, and even coma in severe cases.

The long-awaited call to announce a liver was available for Richards came mid-March 2021. Upon his arrival at LLU, however, physicians determined that particular liver was too large for his abdomen. He waited a week for another liver to become available, during which his MELD score spiked to 36. Despite the ups and downs, Richards says his family and LLU care team worked tirelessly to ensure well-being as he awaited transplant.

Words are not adequate to describe how God blessed me and how the doctors and nurses were so supportive, Richards says. They really got me through it. They gave me all the information that was needed, visited me throughout the day, and kept me in the loop with everything from medications to different tests.

Soon enough, another liver became available for Richards. On Friday March 19, 2021, he awoke post-procedure and instantly felt the improvement in his physical and mental health. He says he looks forward to spending precious time with his mother, three siblings, daughter, and two grandsons. He plans to write a memoir of his life and recent experience for his grandsons, typing on his laptop that has a sticky note stuck to it: No bad days, he says, because every day being alive is a good one.

We are looking forward to treating the next 1,000 patients, starting with Mr. Richards.Dr. Minh-Tri Nguyen

I thank God for the wonderful donor and their loved ones who have granted me another opportunity to do something even greater in life and continue striving to be an outstanding person, Richards said. Every opportunity I get to share what Ive gone through with others, I want to be able to do that.

Not long ago, Richards was one of the over 11,000 people in the country waiting for a liver as a lifeline. Nguyen said the milestone of 1,000 liver transplants at LLU is one worth commemorating, yet the work is never done as the only liver transplant program in the Inland Empire and second-largest deceased donor liver transplant center in Southern California there are always more lives to save.

Over the decades, our transplant program has grown significantly and allowed us to serve many patients from the Inland Empire and beyond, Nguyen says. We are looking forward to treating the next 1,000 patients, starting with Mr. Richards.

Loma Linda University Health Transplant Institute treats a wide range of liver diseases with liver transplants, managing illness with personalized support, and therapies. Our specialists are here to help you find out the accurate health of your liver, helping with testing and guiding you through all of your questions. To learn more, visit the Transplant Institutes website, or call 1-800-548-3790.

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1000 liver transplants have improved LLU patients' and families' lives - Loma Linda University Health

The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set newsroom policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or onbangordailynews.com.

Luke Muggy is an operations researcher, Catherine Cohen is a nurse and a health services policy researcher, and Kristie Gore is a senior behavioral scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Rand Corp.

When President Joe Biden recently presented Congress, and Americans, with his vision for an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the acronym may have sounded familiar. It should have.

The new health agency would be modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, a Department of Defense research and development agency. DARPA is responsible for such life-altering technological advancements as the computer mouse and packet-switching the foundation for todays internet (and conceived in partnership with the Rand Corp., where we work).

The purpose of ARPA-H would be to pursue groundbreaking research to develop cures for diseases such as Alzheimers, cancer and diabetes. The potential benefits are enormouslife extension, economic prosperity, national security but so are the potential challenges to its success.

The federal governments role in scientific advancement is not new or unusual. The National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health have been funding research for decades. But the emphasis on transformative innovations is new.

Biden is now asking for $6.5 billion to launch his health agency, a relatively modest figure when compared with NIHs annual budget of about $41.7 billion.

If successfully funded, ARPA-H and ARPA-E, a new $300-million-per-year research agency focusing on energy, will be the first federal advanced research agencies created since 1958.

It is unclear how long it will take to establish ARPA-H, how it will be structured and to which government authority it will answer. DARPA was formed within a year of the Soviet Union launching Sputnik in 1957, and it was placed within the Defense Department. The parallel move would be to situate ARPA-H within the Department of Health and Human Services. While it might be tempting to place ARPA-H within the NIH, there is some concern that it would be hard to distinguish the purpose of ARPA-H from other high-risk, high-reward initiatives that encourage innovation.

With so many potential research avenues to pursue, ARPA-H could benefit from a clear strategic vision and method for identifying projects that hold the most promise for achieving that vision. Its portfolio of research activities could be developed through a process similar to that used by DARPA, which depends on approximately 100 program managers to develop proposals and to select highly innovative projects for funding.

That would be far more expeditious than the process at NIH, which relies on the broader scientific community to rigorously peer-review proposals over the course of several months. Moreover, NIH proposals require substantial background research, clearly specified hypotheses and preliminary data all things that could stifle innovation at ARPA-H.

Some of the policies that encourage innovation at DARPA may be difficult for ARPA-H to emulate. For instance, DARPA limits tenure for researchers to a maximum of four to five years, to impress a sense of urgency upon them. ARPA-H may need to follow a timeline akin to whats typical in biomedical research, where taking a decade to reach a major breakthrough is common. Any tenure limitations should take this into account.

DARPA also maintains an extremely high tolerance for failure. The modest budgets of the NIH, combined with an enormous pool of applicants, force these institutions to bet on low-risk research that guarantees incremental progress. ARPA-H could take a different approach than NIH by accepting a much higher tolerance for failure, so that researchers are not discouraged from dreaming big.

The scientific methods behind the products of ARPA-H might gain public trust if the agency made a point of being transparent and accessible. Consider how the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine was met with incredulity and suspicion, slowing progress toward herd immunity. An investment in ARPA-H could accelerate the time it takes to get innovative ideas from bench to bedside, but it could benefit from informing the public about incremental advancements in a way that is easy to understand.

The presidents vision for ARPA-H could help get more medical treatments to market sooner. Building on lessons from DARPA and NIH, the proposed health agency has the potential to pursue the kind of high-risk research that can lead to high-reward results.

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Joe Biden's proposed health agency would emphasize innovation - Bangor Daily News

If writing for CelebrityNetWorth has taught me anything, it's that there are endless ways to make a billion dollars. You could become a billionaire through a more traditional route like the worlds of finance, tech startups and real estate. You could earn billions as a circus clown. You could earn billions through cryptocurrency. There's probably even at least one person in the world who made a billion dollars from dogecoin.

Crazier still, you could earn your billionaire status thanks to a fateful hallucinogenic trip on magic mushrooms

Johannes Simon/Getty Images

Christian Angermayer isn't a familiar name on Wall Street. He is a 42-year-old German investor who spent most of his life totally abstaining from all drugs and alcohol. His lifelong abstinence streak ended in 2015 after a very fateful dinner party.

In 2015, Christian was a guest at a dinner party seated next to a neuroscientist. The two struck up a conversation about the relative harms and benefits produced by various drugs.

The neuroscientist followed up with a research paper that ranked 20 drugs in order of harmfulness to users.

FYI, alcohol ranked #1 as in it causes the MOST harm to individuals and society at large.

Angermayer was stunned to see that psilocybin aka magic mushrooms ranked at the bottom of the list as in the least harmful. The report claimed that magic mushrooms were a highly effective treatment for severe depression.

The report inspired Christian to break his lifelong abstinence and experiment with mushrooms while on a vacation in the Caribbean, where the substance is legal.

Christian has since described that first experience with magic mushrooms as "life-changing." In fact, he has said it was the most meaningful thing he'd ever done in his whole life.

The trip inspired a moment of profound insight. When he came out of the fog, he claimed to finally understand Bitcoin.

The experience and epiphany inspired him to radically reorganize his investment portfolio. He soon went on to make major investments in psychedelics, weed, space travel, cryptocurrency, life extension and the film industry. It's an odd portfolio for the odd times we live in.

In 2016, Angermayer tried mushrooms again and had another profound, life-changing experience. He got the idea to commercialize psychedelics. To find companies he called up billionaire former Goldman Sachs executive Mike Novogratz. Novogratz told him he knew of a couple, George Goldsmith and Ekaterina Malievskaia, who were trying to start a mushroom business and needed backers.

That startup is Compass Pathways Plc., a pharmaceutical company developing a magic mushroom-based treatment for depression. Angermeyer and Novogratz both made angel investments into Compass.

Today Angermayer's stake in Compass Pathways is worth $2 billion.

Angermayer's strategy is simple. He invests in the things he's passionate about.

To date he has invested in AbCellera Biologics, which had a part in developing an antibody-drug for Covid-19. He founded Atai Life Sciences, a psychedelics-biotech startup that has backing from Peter Thiel.

Angermayer has made a fortune on his investments over the past 14 months. His Apeiron Investment Group has been the main investor in seven companies that have made their IPO in the last year. Those IPOs raised more than $1 billion combined. Ten more companies he's invested in plan to go public in 2021.

As of this writing, Christian's investment fund Apeiron manages more than $2.5 billion in assets. Roughly 50% of the fund's assets are Angermayer's personal funds.

In other words, Christian's net worth is around $1.25 billion. A billion dollar fortune inspired by a magic mushroom hallucination. What a trip!

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How Taking Magic Mushrooms Led To A Billion Dollar Fortune - Celebrity Net Worth

Nigeria signed an accord with some of the worlds largest oil companies that could unlock billions of dollars of investment in an offshore oil field.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. concluded agreements on Tuesday with Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA to create a new production sharing contract for Oil Mining Lease 118, the company said on Twitter. The permit includes Bonga, a deep-water oil field that pumped about 90,000 barrels a day in February.

The partners have so far deferred taking a final investment decision on the Bonga South West project, which could add 150,000 barrels per day to Nigerias output and bring OML 118s total daily capacity to around 350,000 barrels. One of Shells Nigerian subsidiaries operates the block.

Bonga South West could become Nigeria's biggest deepwater field, with others in decline

Source: Tanker tracking data monitored by Bloomberg

The agreement is a watershed for deep-water oil exploration in Nigeria and settles long-running disputes between the Nigerian state and the international oil companies, NNPC said. It could clear the way for more than $10 billion of investment, according to the company.

Through these agreements, stakeholders will have clear and stable set of terms incentivizing further development of the OML 118 block and opening further opportunities in the prolific Nigerian deep water oil and gas industry, a Shell spokesman said by email.

In a separate investor presentation on Tuesday, Shell said it has three projects related to Bonga that are in development but havent yet been given the green light -- Bonga South West, North Tranche 1 and Main Life Extension and Upgrade.

With assistance by Laura Hurst, and Julian Lee

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.

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Nigeria in Accord With Oil Majors That May Unlock New Investment - Bloomberg

A nation with a past deeply rooted in the religious worldview, Russians happened to get to space first in 1961 and Yuri Gagarin, famously, didnt see God. But, religion and astronautics have always been close.

The idea of space travel was first created by a Russian Orthodox philosopher that was born with the last name Gagarin.

Portrait of Nikolay Fyodorov by Leonid Pasternak

A school teacher and librarian, Nikolay Fyodorov (1829-1903) opposed the idea of property of books and ideas and never published anything during his lifetime. He refused to be photographed and to sit for portraits and two of his depictions had to be made secretly. Most of his teachings he conveyed orally to his disciples and friends. The founder of the Russian cosmism philosophy, Nikolay was a bastard son of Prince Pavel Gagarin (1789-1872). It is considered a coincidence that the first man in space also bore this surname. During his life, Nikolay was known under the surname of his godfather, Fyodorov.

READ MORE: Was Gagarin REALLY the first man in space?

For the latter part of his life, Fyodorov worked in Moscow as a librarian in the Rumyantsev Museum library, which is now the Russian State Library. There, he befriended a lot of intellectuals of his time, including Leo Tolstoy and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the pioneer of Russian astronautics and rocket science.

Tsiolkovsky's description and drawing of a spaceship greenhouse

Fyodorov was a strict observant of Russian Orthodox Christianity, but, at the same time, a natural philosopher. His main idea was radical life extension by means of science. He believed that spiritual and scientific development of humanity would lead to the fulfilment of the ultimate Christian idea: the banishment of death and revival of the dead, using the idea of cloning. Fyodorov also believed that space exploration was necessary, because the resources of the Earth are depletable. Later, his followers, who called themselves biocosmists, propagated the idea of immediate development of space communications. The teachings of Fyodorov were taken into account also by Sergey Korolev, the creator of the first Russian space flight.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. From the "Space exploration" series. Palekh Russian traditional miniature painting.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky has the full right to be named the Russian Da Vinci, because, apart from his scientific studies, he was deeply involved in mysticism. Tsiolkovsky stated that he developed the theory of rocketry only as a supplement to philosophical research on the subject.

From the age of 35, he lived and worked in Kaluga, the town that became the center of the Russian theosophical movement. Deaf from an early age due to scarlet fever he suffered as a child, he was very introspective and, for most of his life, continued self-studying. He was at the same time an affectionate and lively soul and claimed to have experienced revealing visions twice in his life.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky with models of his zeppelin

READ MORE: 5 of the most important discoveries by the 'Russian Leonardo da Vinci'

His own philosophy consisted of theism, pantheism and esoterics. He believed in the existence of God, but didnt associate him with Christ. Developing a theory of space exploration, parallel with Fyodorovs ideas, Tsiolkovsky famously said: The earth is the cradle of humanity, but you cant live in a cradle forever!

Sergey Korolev sends Yuri Gagrin to space. From the "Space exploration" series. Palekh Russian traditional miniature painting.

Sergey Korolev (1907-1966), the leading rocket engineer and creator of Yuri Gagarins space flight, studied the works of both Nikolay Fyodorov and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Their findings and ideas inspired Korolevs idea to create a rocket-powered aircraft. It is still debated whether Korolev was religious himself, but he was certainly superstitious. It is known that Korolev didnt put any launches on Mondays and didnt tolerate women on the launch pad but Russian cosmonauts have had a lot of other superstitions, as well.

The 12th century Ladder of Divine Ascent icon (Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) showing monks, led by John Climacus, ascending the ladder to Jesus, at the top right.

What is really remarkable about the first space flight Korolev managed is the amount of coincidences in its numerology. First of all, April 12, the day that Gagarin went into space, in the Russian Orthodox church calendar falls on the feast of St. John Climacus (John of the Ladder), the author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, a monastic text that describes how to raise ones body and soul to God through monastic obedience. The main metaphor used by St. John is Jacobs Ladder to Heaven (Genesis, chapter 28). This observation is debated to the present day, with certain Orthodox clerics defending it.

Another coincidence is the total flight time. No doubt it was thoroughly calculated for example, the next space flight, August 6-7 1961, performed by German Titov on Vostok-2, lasted for exactly 1 day, 1 hour, 11 minutes. Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, famously orbited the Earth in 108 minutes, the number 108 being considered sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. In these Eastern religions, 108 is a lucky number associated with divine harmony, completion and success.

Consecration of the 'Soyuz-FG' launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-20M transport manned spacecraft at the launch complex of the Baikonur cosmodrome.

It is widely known that in 1964, three years after the flight, Yuri Gagarin went to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius only for sightseeing. But in the Soviet atheist times, even this led to certain problems and inquiries by Party officials. Later, in post-Soviet times, religious beliefs became a private matter again. And, it turns out, many contemporary Russian cosmonauts are religious.

However, the same can be said about American astronauts. For example, in 1963, Gordon Cooper spoke and recorded a Thanksgiving prayer during his flight. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 read from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the Moon and there are other examples.

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How are religion and Russian space science connected? - Russia Beyond the Headlines

In the 1950s, students at Theodore Roosevelt Junior High on Guy Park Avenue in Amsterdam put out a weekly newspaper, The Broadcaster. Faculty advisers were English teacher Minnie Anderson and John Carnwright, who taught printing.

Maureen Hanna of Amsterdam provided two editions from 1957.The paper earned a first-place rating that year in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association contest for junior highs with enrollments between 700 and 1,200.

The 1957 co-editors were Christopher Turner and Peter Betz.Betz is retired as Fulton County historian.The lead story in March was the student production of The Silver Skates starring Phillip Bracchi as Hans Brinker.Kathy Dersham got a good review for her vivacious and lovable portrayal of Gretel Brinker.Imogene Fitzgibbons was faculty director.

Principal Fritz Heil had dropped in on an eighth-grade English class to see how students were doing with this question: What is grammar?One student told Heil, Grammar is the study of the language that a person speaks.Heil was chagrined that some students spelled the word gramer or grammer.

The Broadcaster reported, It may be that your principal will be dropping in on an algebra class, a science class or a social studies class to try a similar experiment on you.

There was a story headlined, Lollipops make school day a thing of joy forever.All the students and teacher Elizabeth Sherlock were licking lollipops in her social studies class.

Sherlock had told students that if they wanted to chew gum or eat candy, they would have to bring enough for the class.Students David Reid, Douglas Doesburg and Dave Wieszchowski took her up on the offer.

The Broadcaster reported, As for Mrs. Sherlock, this was the first time she had ever had to eat her own words.

On the sports page, 8DG won the basketball title over 8BR.Homerooms were named with two letters from the last names of their teachers.Harrison Wood led the winning team with 11 points.

A Broadcaster from March 1958 had a story reporting that Charles Maines, Robert Wszolek and Carmen Merando in Fred Martuscellos metal shop were making jewelry.

A review of teenage jargon defined muttnik as a hot dog and reported a coffee pot was the life of the party.

I was a seventh-grader that year and turned in an essay on citizenship, Being obedient to someone in authority is an important part of being a good citizen.

Seventh-grader Thomas Urbelis, who went on to be a high school basketball star and later an attorney, had received a letter from Gov. Averill Harriman.Harriman had heard about Urbeliss interest in New York state history and sent him information on how 1959 would be New Yorks Year of History.

One of my pleasant junior high memories is coming up with the slogan for my eighth-grade homeroom.We were 8CW in honor of our homeroom teacher, Marion Carnwright, who taught art.Her husband, John, taught the print shop.My winning slogan was that we were 8 Can Win.

The junior high was built in 1924 on Guy Park Avenue east of Wall Street and the old high school behind it was annexed to the building. The high school dated from 1904 and was replaced by the Wilbur H. Lynch High School off Bunn Street extension in the 1930s.Lynch today is the middle school.

Attorney Douglas Landon wrote, My class completed eighth grade at Roosevelt in June of 1977, at which time the school closed. I believe it was razed later that year.The site of the school is now the Theodore Roosevelt Apartments.

Categories: News

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Cudmore: Junior High paper gives glimpse of 1950s life - The Daily Gazette

Construction on the Agnes Street extensionwhich will provide east to west connectivity south of Texas 71could begin in summer 2022, Bastrop City Manager Paul Hofmann said Tuesday.

The city's proposed timeline was announced less than a week after the Texas General Land Office awarded Bastrop $4.2 million to fund thestreet extension.

The GLO approvedmore than $28 millionto improve flood mitigation infrastructure in Bastrop, Elgin and Smithville, the state agency announced on May 21. The GLO approved theAgnes Street extension funding in an effort to help first responders reach rapidly-developing areas in southwest Bastrop.

During Tuesdays Bastrop City Council meeting,Hofmann said the city is estimating it will take 10 months to design the project, before construction canbegin

The project will extend Agnes Street from Sterling Boulevard to Texas 304,and construction will take aboutone year to complete.

Part of what Im doing here, I guess, is managing expectations, Hofmann told the council. We got the grant, we dont have a design project yet and it will take several months for us to get that done.

According to the GLO'sMay 21 funding announcement, the project will include acquiring two partial tracts of vacant land and constructing a two-lane asphalt pavement section with a concrete curb and gutter from Home Depot Way to the existing Agnes Street.

Upon completion of the roadway, emergency response time will be dramatically improved, Mayor Connie Schroeder said in last weeks funding announcement. Multimodal mobility for the community and promotion of economic development are additional benefits.

Texas 71,which runs east to west through Bastrop, is designated as a major hurricane evacuation route and as an evacuation route for other flood-related events in Central Texas. Therefore, the Agnes Street extension will provide another east to west connector and help reduce emergency response times during disaster.

Traffic on Texas 71 during evacuation events limits the ability of first responders to provide service south of the highway and west of the Colorado River due to a lack of alternate east and west connector roads, according to the GLO.

Many of the areas hit hardest by natural disasters have never had access to funding for critical infrastructure projects to mitigate flooding and protect residents, Land Commissioner George P. Bush said in a statement May 21. The historic funding were announcing today will go directly to projects that will help fortify Texas homes, businesses and critical infrastructure against future disasters for generations.

Hofmann said that in July, the city expects to receive a contract between it and the GLO for review and approval. At the same time, the city will be working with Kimley-Horn a planning, engineering and design consulting firm to define the scope of work for the project.

Once the city receives this contract, Hofmann said it will undergo legal review and consultant review. Hofmann said the citys consultant for this group of grant applications is The Langford Group.

We will bring that contract to council just as soon as we can, Hofmann said.

Hofmann said Kimley-Horn, which has more than 80 offices across the country including two in Austin, was previously selected by the City Council to work on the Agnes Street project after a competitive process.

Hofmann estimated it would take 10 months to design the project before soliciting bids to construct the extensionand beginthe road work.

He said the design and land acquisition process will begin this summer.

Hofmann also saidAssistant City Manager Trey Job has secured written commitments from property owners to dedicate right of ways for theproject, but a more formal right-of-way conveyance will still need to be executed.

Schroeder, who told the council she was informed of the funding approval on May 19 ahead of the GLO's May 21 announcement, said the city didnt get a grant for the Agnes Street extension project the last time it tried to secure one.

"Imjust thrilled we got the grant for it, Schroeder said Tuesday. Its just awesome to see Bastrop County represented and to see federal dollars going to protect the life, health, safety, drainage protection. Just so thrilled that Bastrop County did so well.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has made more than $2.3 billion in disaster relief funding availableforTexas communities affected by Hurricane Harvey and other severe flooding incidents in 2015 and 2016.

The first round of funding, from which Bastrop's street extension project was funded,saw $1 billion awarded for infrastructure projects designed to mitigate damage from future disasters.

Continued here:

Bastrop's Agnes Street extension project expected to break ground in summer 2022 - Austin American-Statesman

When broadband internet recently arrived at the University of Idahos Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center, Kyle Nagy said the technology became an instant game-changer on expanding distance education opportunities.

Before, when it was windy or there would be thick cloud cover, wed lose the internet sporadically throughout the day, said Nagy, the centers superintendent and orchard operations manager said.

When the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences center near the base of Schweitzer Mountain hosted the Heritage Orchard Conference before the pandemic, perhaps 100 people attended the in-person event.

Now, thanks to broadband installed last winter, more than 1,200 researchers, gardeners and orchardists from nearly all 50 states and 18 countries were enrolled in the webinars last spring.

We reached out to a much larger crowd, Nagy said. No doubt, the broadband and having the bandwidth to reach that many people has been a game-changer.

An Idaho Department of Commerce Rural Broadband grant of $410,000 funded the service, which provides public-accessible wireless internet to the center as well as Extension centers in Boundary, Bonner and Kootenai counties.

More here:

Technology Investments a 'Game-Changer' - University of Idaho

The Market Insights Reports has added a new statistical data to its repository titled as, Global Antioxidant Supplement Market. It provides the industry overview with market growth analysis with a historical & futuristic perspective for the following parameters; cost, revenue, demands, and supply data (as applicable). Furthermore, the report also sheds light on recent developments and technological platforms, in addition to distinctive tools, and methodologies that will help to propel the performance of industries. The report provides pre COVID-19 historic data, the impact of the COVID-19, and also forecasts its recovery post-COVID-19

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Antioxidant Supplement Market Dynamic, Demand Analysis, Statistics, Trends and Opportunities to 2026|NOW, Vibrant Health, AST R-ALA, GNC, Jarrow...