Category Archives: Space Travel

Conferences and events have historically presented excellent opportunities for businesses of all kinds to get out and network and learn from industry experts. They enable collaboration across topics of all kinds; from branding and lead generation to industry education. During an unprecedented pandemic like what the world is currently experiencing, we need to look to new ways to approach these events that enable the same kind of innovation and relationship building while being mindful of everyones health and wellbeing.

The costs often associated with both planning and attending industry events can be staggering. They often take a year or more to line up. For businesses, it can really add up between buying booth space, travel expenses for teams, and developing the collateral to present. Its often one of the largest line items in a marketing budget. As marketers get more and more pressure to keep costs under control and show ROI, event participation has come under more scrutiny.

There have been many attempts to do more digitally by offering videos and virtual events such as webinars. But these tend to be one-off experiences that dont provide all the social and collaboration benefits of in-person events. Until recently, this social element has been very hard to replicate digitally.

Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to bring valuable change to this industry by delivering highly immersive, collaborative digital experiences with all the social benefits of events. These technologies are able to gather detailed data that can be used to personalize event content and participation for each company or each participant segment. Like many new technologies, AR and VR went through an early phase when the cost and complexity of implementing solutions for use cases such as events were prohibitive. It often required significant development budgets and large ongoing maintenance costs just to produce one application that wasnt always scalable. However, todays fully productized immersive solutions offer highly accurate and precise AR technology plus administrative tools and flexible business models that make it easier to implement, manage and scale.

With the right combination of VR and AR software, any event venue can be transformed into an intelligent digital environment and once digitized, can provide event marketers with the ability to inject an ongoing stream of new content and immersive experiences. Not only are AR events immersive, but they can also be much more efficient to produce & manage. Once a venue is digitized, content can be injected into the space remotely, access can be managed via an administrative tool remotely, and administrators gain detailed data analytics that can serve to improve content, customize experiences and create event efficiencies.

Another huge benefit of digitizing a physical venue with AR and VR is that it creates new digital real estate. This new digital space offers many opportunities for new monetization models, which can be particularly helpful for industries whose revenue streams have taken hits in the current economic environment. This could include new digital advertising and an endless possibility of promotions that combine the digital and physical world. The detailed stream of data that is gathered from AI/AR applications combined with these new digital spaces gives event marketers a high level of control over these new monetization opportunities. As AR evolves and the physical and digital continue to merge, event marketers can reap the benefits of these new revenue streams that may one day exceed the physical ad and promotion revenue.

The COVID-19 crisis is setting the stage for a new era of events and conferences as businesses look for alternative options to travel. We are at the point in development that business ready AI/AR platforms exist and can offer real value for event marketers that want to offer highly immersive digitized experiences and gain access to detailed analytics to create efficiencies and personalize content.

To garner the full benefits of AR, event marketers should seek fully productized software platforms that leverage existing hardware, offer flexible business models, and provide the ability to automatically scale to multiple events and locations. As AR continues to proliferate, event marketers may find that its a cost-efficient way to offer new experiences that complement their physical events and conferences. Businesses may find that AR events are a more cost-effective option that provides a higher ROI, while still offering all the collaborative and learning benefits.

Related: Will iOS 14 Lessen AR Friction?

The article Can Immersive Tech Save Industry Events? by Emil Alon first appeared on AR Insider.

Excerpt from:

Can Immersive Tech Save Industry Events? - Grit Daily

What does wealth at that scale even mean? For one thing, obviously, it means you can buy whatever you want anything money can buy. A $65 million private jet? No problem. A $165 million estate in Beverly Hills? Go for it. But consumer goods, even the most luxurious of luxury consumer goods, cant adequately convey the significance of this much money.

More than buying power, its a form of social power essentially, the ability to command the labor of other human beings. A person living on Seattles minimum wage would find it a stretch to enlist the labor of, say, a massage therapist for the occasional hour. A well-off homeowner, on the other hand, can set in motion a small crew of skilled workers to remodel a kitchen or build a deck. Bezos, with his billions, is in another league altogether. He can call into existence vast armies of human beings to do, within the broad bounds of the law and what people are willing to do for pay, whatever he desires. He could, if he wanted, pay thousands of workers to try to dig a hole through the Earth to China, and when they couldnt dig any further, he could pay them to fill it all in again.

In fact, Bezos has decided to journey in the opposite direction not to the center of the Earth, but outward, into space. Blue Origin, the space flight enterprise funded entirely from his personal fortune, is headquartered in Kent, right here in King County. In 2018, just a few days before Amazon took the gloves off to kill a modest Seattle tax on big business, Bezos explained in an interview: The only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is by converting my Amazon winnings into space travel. That is basically it. The Twitterverse latched on to this remark and was pleased to suggest some other uses for Bezoss billions. It was easy to hear in his words a kind of flippancy, the out-of-touch attitude of a man so unimaginably rich that not merely the world, but the universe, has become his playground.

But theres more to the story, as becomes clear if you actually listen to the interview, or even better, read Franklin Foers excellent piece on Bezos that appeared in The Atlantic last fall. For one thing, Bezos has a lifelong obsession with space travel. As a child he devoured science fiction, and he was and is a total Star Trek nerd. As a teenager he read a book by the physicist Gerard K. ONeill, who imagined human civilization expanding into space, not by colonizing other planets, but by constructing enormous habitats to float between the Earth and the moon, spinning to simulate gravity. Above all else, Blue Origin is about building the infrastructure that will allow a new generation of entrepreneurs to realize that vision.

This all may still sound frivolous. But Bezos is not merely the exceptional geek who, entertaining the idle thought, Whoa, wouldnt it be cool if , can actually make a serious go at whatever comes out of his mouth next. In fact, he ardently believes that we must go to space on a mission to save Earth.

Bezos believes we are running out of room, resources and energy on our home planet. In 2016, speaking at Seattles Museum of Flight, he explained: We need to go into space if we want to continue to have a growing civilization. If you take baseline energy usage on Earth and compound it at just 3% a year for less than 500 years, you have to cover the entire surface of the Earth in solar cells. Thats just not going to happen. Without new room to grow, humanity faces a grim future of stasis, rationing, stagnation. But if we can mine the moon and the asteroids and build ourselves some ONeill cylinders, the Earth can be salvaged and turned into a paradise or, more prosaically, end up zoned residential and light industry. Eventually our solar system could support a trillion humans, with a thousand Einsteins and a thousand Mozarts.

Lets take a moment to appreciate what is admirable in all this. When it comes to billionaires peering anxiously into the crystal ball of the future and making plans, things could be much worse. Bezos is not investing in a palatial underground bunker, or scheming to upload his consciousness to the cloud, or preparing some other personal escape from the coming apocalypse. He has a vision that includes the rest of us, too, still in our flesh-and-blood forms, enjoying Maui on its best day, all year long. Hes genuinely worried about humanitys future, he has a plan and hes doing his best to execute it.

Theres something else to appreciate, too. Jeff Bezos is a man whose day job is basically to stoke the fires of global consumerism, spurring on the devastation of the Earth in the name of profit (sorry, the customer). So its nice to hear him acknowledge that we have a problem. Bezoss choice of 3% sounds suspiciously like whats often considered the ideal growth rate for a developed capitalist economy. Sure, hes talking about energy, and you might argue that long before we run out of that, well run out of other things untapped markets, debt-fueled demand, docile workers. But you dont have to agree precisely with Bezoss analysis of the problem, or buy into his solution, to appreciate that hes grappling with a question many of his peers would prefer to avoid altogether: Jeff thinks we cant keep this up much longer unless we go to space. Whats your plan?

And this brings us to the limits of the Bezos vision. For him, its space or bust. He is apparently unable to imagine the continuing progress of science and technology, or the flourishing of art and culture, on any basis other than an ever-expanding whirlwind of production, distribution and consumption, resource extraction and the endless piling up of material wealth. Its notable that in fishing for exemplars of creative genius, Bezos reached back centuries, to times when the Earth supported a fraction of todays population. Maybe, just maybe, a societys artistic and scientific achievements, its capacity for ingenuity and originality, dont have all that much to do with the sheer quantity of human souls. Maybe what we need most today is to find a way to live that doesnt systematically snuff out, misdirect or neglect the human potential of the great mass of people who already exist.

Im not saying that our grandchildrens grandchildren will never live in great rotating cylinders filled with elk, elevated trains and replicas of medieval cities. I was never a Bezos-level nerd, but my adolescence contained its share of Carl Sagan and wormholes and gazing up at the stars. I have nothing against mining asteroids. I just think that when humanity does expand into space, it will be a collective endeavor, filled with purpose and adventure, not something were driven to do because the imperative of 3% GDP growth is coming up behind us like the yawning jaws of a bear. Lets climb that tree because we want to see the view.

For now, though, its a billionaires world. We can keep fighting to wrest away some of their wealth in taxes, and we can pressure them to make better choices. But in large measure, Jeff Bezos and his ilk get to decide what our problems are and what solutions deserve attention, labor and resources. But lets finish on the bright side. Space tourism may soon be a thing this year, in fact and the man behind it has a track record of customer obsession and cutting costs. Start saving those quarters!

Originally posted here:

Opinion | Jeff Bezos can't save the Earth by leaving it - Crosscut

An empty Copacabana beach in Brazil.

Images taken by Earth-orbiting satellites have revealed the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Earth, with a third of the worlds population now under lockdown.

Once populated areas are now deserted as people remain indoors, from previously bustling city centres to places of worship. Roads that had been full of cars are now empty, while beaches are devoid of pretty much all human activity.

The amazing images were taken by California-based company Planet Labs and Colorado-based Maxar Technologies, both of which have fleets of Earth-imaging satellites in orbit. And by comparing the latest views to archival images, stark changes around the world can be seen in impressive detail.

In these two images below supplied by Maxar, the Park Meadows shopping centre is seen in Colorado first on March 10, and subsequently on March 22.

Park Meadows shopping center in Colorado on March 10.

Park Meadows shopping center in Colorado on March 22.

Next, a busy highway interchange is seen in Los Angeles is seen first on January 28 this year, and then on March 22.

Maxar said it usually takes images during the middle of the day, between 10.30 A.M. and 1.30 P.M., with the images highlighting a notable decrease in traffic on highways and at commuter parking lots since social distancing measures and work from home policies have been put into place.

A highway interchange in Los Angeles on January 28.

The same highway interchange in Los Angeles on March 22.

At the Salt Like City International Airport in Utah on March 5, multiple planes are seen at gates dropping off or picking up passengers. Two weeks later on March 16, however, the planes are all but gone as air travel grinds to a halt.

Salt Lake City International Airport on March 5.

Salt Lake City International Airport on March 16.

A rental carpark at the same airport has seen massive increases in vehicles with a fall in customers. On March 5 it looks about half full, but on March 16 it is close to overflowing.

Cars in rental car lots have skyrocketed, said Maxar. At some airports, rental cars are overflowing into newly creating parking areas.

Customers have taken many of the rental cars at Salt Lake City International Airport on March 5.

But on March 16 the rental carpark is almost overflowing with unused cars.

Similar increases in vehicles can be seen at Phoenix International Airport in Arizona below on March 5 and March 23.

Rental cars at Phoenix International Airport on March 5.

And again on March 23.

Meanwhile, visitors to Denver International Airport have plummeted, as these images from March 7 and March 22 show.

Denver International Airport carpark on March 7.

Denver International Airport carpark on March 23.

Its not just in the U.S., of course. Images show how the number of unused parked planes at the Munich International Airport in Germany has dramatically increased.

Munch airport on February 7.

Munich airport on March 20.

And at the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, both the number of planes and cars have dropped considerably between February 12 and March 19.

Stockholm Arlanda Airport on February 12.

Stockholm Arlanda Airport on March 19.

Tourist destinations too have seen big changes. Below is the Santa Monica Pier in California, first on March 11 and again on March 22.

Many tourist attractions recently closed as social distancing became widely embraced as a strategy for fighting the coronavirus, said Maxar, noting their imagery demonstrates the significant decrease in visitors at these sites.

Santa Monica Pier on March 11.

Santa Monica Pier on March 22.

The outside of the Colosseum in Rome is bustling with visitors on February 21, but is then completely deserted on March 18.

Rome's Colosseum on February 21.

Rome's Colosseum on March 18.

And similarly, the Taj Mahal in India on February 10 is busy, with people visible all over the site. One month later on March 18, most people are gone.

The Taj Mahal on February 10.

The Taj Mahal on March 18.

Maxars images on April 28, 2017 and subsequently on February 22, 2020 also show the arrival of a temporary hospital in Wuhan, China, to tackle the pandemic.

Wuhan on April 28, 2017.

And again with a temporary hospital on Febuary 22, 2020.

Images from Planet Labs tell a similar story. On February 19, the area around the Chicago Shedd Aquarium in the U.S. is full of cars and activity. By March 17, however, its all but a ghost town.

The area around Chicago's Shedd Aquarium on February 19.

And again on March 17.

Seen here is the Copacabana beach in Rio, Brazil. The first image shows the beach bustling with people on April 28, 2018. The next is taken on March 23, almost entirely empty.

Copacabana beach on April 28, 2018.

Copacabana beach on March 23, 2020.

These next images show Disney World in Florida, first on January 6 and full of cars and people, then again on March 18, empty.

Disney World packed with visitors on January 6.

And Disney World empty on March 18.

Heres Mecca in Saudi Arabia, first on January 25 and bustling with lots of people, and then again on March 10, nearly empty.

Mecca on January 25.

Mecca on March 10.

This is Piazza San Marco in Venice, first seen teeming with boats on October 20, 2019, and then devoid of activity on March 18, 2020.

Plenty of visitors are visible in Venice on October 20, 2019.

But activity has dramatically dropped on March 18, 2020.

And finally, traffic in Wuhan seen first in full flow on January 12 this year, followed by near silence following the lockdown on January 28.

Traffic flowing on a bridge in Wuhan on January 12.

The traffic has completely stopped by January 28.

Perhaps these images, more than anything, highlight just how much of the world has shut down as it continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more from the original source:

This Is What The Coronavirus Pandemic Looks Like From Space - Forbes

There are a lot of fight films among the greatest sports movies, and still more fights about them not just concerning which sports movies are truly the greatest and where each ranks, but over what even constitutes a sports movie.

We ranked the top 30 non-documentaries in the hopes of giving fans something to both enjoy and debate in the absence of actual games being played, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some of your favorites undoubtedly are missing or ranked lower than you think they should be. Thats just how these things work. Lets see what made our cut.

30. Love &Basketball (2000)

This is a standard love story in many respects. Boy meets girl as childhood neighbors. They attend high school and college together then go off in separate directions only to rejoin each others orbit. But the characters played by Omar Epps Jr. and Sanaa Lathan are also first-rate basketball players, and its the ending along with supporting players Dennis Haysbert and Alfre Woodard that elevates what might otherwise have been mere soap opera.

29. I, Tonya (2017)

This dark comedy begs you to feel sorry for Tonya Harding, whose 1994 Olympic bid is best remembered for the conspiracy of dunces that injured rival U.S. figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Dont fall for it. Kerrigans the one who deserves sympathy, but fact-based sports movies rarely stick to the facts. Margot Robbie gives a terrific performance as Harding, while Allison Janney steals the movie with her Oscar-winning turn as Hardings chain-smoking mother.

28. Remember the Titans (2000)

27. Rudy (1993)

26. Chariots of Fire (1981)

25. Caddyshack (1980)

Heres proof that it isnt necessary for a great sports film to be a great film. This slobs vs. snobs tale is so quotable and rewatchable that it would have been sacrilege to omit. Its a series of scenes strung together more than a story. Some of those scenes dont even seem like theyre from the same film, and some havent aged well. But theres no getting around the fact Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase are just flat-out funny. So its got that going for it, which is nice.

24. Field of Dreams (1989)

Phil Alden Robinson built this adaptation from a novel by W.P. Kinsella, and we paid to see it because its money we have and peace we lacked. For some the appeal may be quixotic Iowa farmer Kevin Costner putting his familys future at risk by carving a baseball diamond from cornfield to make it a purgatorial playground for dead ballplayers and/or the quest to round up James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster. Theres also the lyrical ode Jones recites (People will come, Ray) and the mystical cleansing of the Black Soxs Shoeless Joe Jackson. But a lot of us are simply suckers for a father and son playing catch, especially when dad is long dead and the two never exactly saw eye to eye.

23. Bend It Like Beckham (2003)

22. Downhill Racer (1969)

21. Invictus (2009)

20. Happy Gilmore (1996)

Its a little bit stupid, a little bit sly and all heart. Adam Sandler is a winner in this story of a hot-tempered but inherently sweet, failed hockey player whose powerful slapshot somehow translates to driving a golf ball exceptionally well. The scene with lovable game show host Bob Barker is a show-stopper, but Christopher McDonalds arrogant antagonist Shooter McGavin, Carl Weathers patient mentor and Julie Bowen as the romantic interest are the glue that holds it all together.

19. Miracle (2004)

If all this film had going for it was Kurt Russells stirring delivery of Team USA coach Herb Brooks Great moments are born from great opportunity speech, this movie might well have made this list. But the story of how the Miracle on Ice 1980 U.S. mens hockey team came together and not only jelled, but triumphed beyond the worlds expectation is an unbelievably compelling narrative told exceptionally well. You cant improve on the true story, but there are a lot of ways this could have been screwed up. This film didnt.

18. The Natural (1984)

17. Girlfight (2000)

16. Moneyball (2011)

15. The Harder They Fall (1956)

This boxing film is based on a novel by Budd Schulberg and, like other Schulberg works (including the novel What Makes Sammy Run? and screenplays for A Face in the Crowd and On the Waterfront), theres a fair amount of cynicism laced through it. Humphrey Bogart, in his final film, plays an out-of-work columnist whose desperation leads him to become a tout for a corrupt boxing promoter. Hes stuck talking up a no-talent South American fighter who becomes a heavyweight contender through a string of fixed bouts. But Bogie being Bogie, it becomes increasingly difficult for him to sell out both his convictions and the Argentine palooka who thinks its all on the up-and-up. Real-life heavyweight champs Max Baer (father of future Beverly Hillbillies star Max Baer Jr.) and Jersey Joe Wolcott lend a patina of realism to a story that would seem to need it by modern standards. When it came out, however, real-life fighter Primo Carnera (who lost a title fight to Baer) sued the filmmakers for appropriating his life story. Despite some similarities, Carnera was unsuccessful. (Fun fact: Chicagos Tribune Tower gets a cameo.)

14. The Wrestler (2008)

The trajectory of star Mickey Rourkes lends power to director Darren Aronofskys film about a professional wrestler, decades removed from his glory days, coming to terms with the consequences of time and bad choices. A bid to reclaim his past imperils whatever shot he has going forward to repair his frayed relationship with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and pursue romance with an aging stripper (Marisa Tomei). Pro wrestling may be as fake and scripted as most movies, but the people in them can be very real indeed and never more so than here.

13. The Karate Kid (1984)

12. Major League (1989)

11. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

10. Creed (2015)

Keep reading. Well get to this in No. 9

9. Rocky (1976)

These two films are essentially the same movie the story of a boxer given a shot at the champ and showing their mettle through their determination to endure. Common threads include Sylvester Stallone and flag-inspired shorts. The original Rocky, a Best Picture winner, was a revelation when it launched the movie series and Stallones superstardom in 1976, but in many respects the remake/reboot 39 years later is more impressive in that it manages to make the whole thing fresh.

8. Slap Shot (1977)

7. Hoosiers (1986)

6. Bull Durham (1988)

5. The Hustler (1961)

Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie give stellar performances in this dark drama about the kind of trouble (with a capital T) that you can get into in at a pool hall. Newmans self-centered Fast Eddie Felson (a role he would reprise 25 years later opposite Tom Cruise in Martin Scorseses The Color of Money) is all talent and ambition. Hes too blind and nave to see the game thats really being played and what hes losing along the way. By the way, the real Jake LaMotta of Raging Bull fame plays a bartender.

4. A League of Their Own (1992)

I have seen enough to know I have seen too much. If all you remember is Tom Hanks saying, Theres no crying in baseball and Geena Davis catching the ball one-handed or doing the splits, you need to rewatch Penny Marshalls classic about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. How good is this film? Madonna plays off her outsized rep and still disappears into her role. The cast, top to bottom, is terrific from Hanks, Davis and Lori Petty all the way down to smaller, memorable turns by Jon Lovitz, Rosie ODonnell, Megan Cavanagh, Garry Marshall, David Strathairn, Bill Pullman and David L. Lander. In the end, there are some unknowable (or at least debatable) points: Do we think the ball was dropped on purpose, and what exactly happened to the Hinson sisters relationship after their playing days ended?

3. Breaking Away (1979)

Victories large and small require sacrifice, determination, hard work and no small amount of faith. Thats the underpinning of this tale of four young men played by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern and Jackie Earle Haley coming to terms with their place in the world and what can and cant limit them going forward. Its sweet and sage and often quite amusing. No one deadpans like Stern. Paul Dooley, always a great choice to play a movie or TV dad, ensures youll never hear the word refund the same way again.

2. Brians Song (1971)

Just a few bars of Michel Legrands The Hands of Time is enough to make grown men weep and talk about how Ernest Hemingway said all true stories end in death, and this bromance tearjerker about a pair of Bears running backs might be their favorite true story. Burt Reynolds was the networks choice to play ill-fated Brian Piccolo, and he wanted the role that ultimately went to James Caan (before his turn in The Godfather). Billy Dee Williams got the part of Piccolos fellow Bears running back Gale Sayers only because Louis Gossett Jr. tore his Achilles tendon while he trained. Clearly this TV movie was touched by magic. Jack Warden is outstanding as George Halas, even more convincing than Abe Gibron as Abe Gibron. But the real miracle may be William Blinns script, which packs so much into just 73 minutes. Years later, the language can seem a bit jarring, like watching an uncensored All in the Family rerun. But its worth remembering a 2001 remake that softened that and other hard edges fell utterly flat.

1. Raging Bull (1980)

So give me a stage / Where this bull here can rage / And though I could fight / Id much rather recite / Thats entertainment. Robert De Niro won the only best actor Oscar of his career with his portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorseses tour de force. (De Niro won a best supporting actor Oscar for Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II.) This film that first paired De Niro with Joe Pesci is about boxing the way 2001 is about space travel. Unlike most of the entries on this list, it is not much fun to watch. But its as visceral as it is cerebral and emotional, and by the end you sense you know what it feels like to stagger away after losing a championship fight. As a meditation on toxic machismo, violence, insecurity, self-sabotage and pain, its unmatched, a true work of art.

Read the rest here:

The top 30 sports movies of all time for your viewing and arguing pleasure in the absence of real games - West Hawaii Today

While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to develop rapidly the world's knowledge of contamination is rising in parallel with the sale of hand sanitizer.

Large and small events have been cancelled globally and air-traffic is drifting to a standstill. The spread of the deadly virus has almost brought our busy planet to a halt.

The effect contamination can have on a planet is not just a recent important topic for consideration. In 1967 a treaty was drafted called 'The Outer Space Treaty'. Now over 50 years old, the treaty has 109 signatory countries. It provides the basic framework on international space law. The treaty was a progressive step to make space travel a peaceful endeavour by stating 'space and celestial bodies cannot be appropriated by a nation. This means a country cannot claim the moon or any other planet as their own.

Abiding by the treaty each space mission must avoid the harmful contamination of celestial bodies. This is one reason why space crafts are often built, tested and prepared in 'clean rooms'. Measured by particle count, there are different grades of decontamination to which a space mission must adhere to. This is mission-specific. For example, if a spacecraft were to land on Mars it would have more stringent decontamination procedures than a mission simply orbiting and not touching the surface of the Red Planet.

Euronews spoke to Mr. Alawadh, an engineer for the Mars Hope mission, based in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai. He told us how a low particle count is best practice for a successful mission. If the 'Hope' probe were to have particles on its thrusters or valves, it could potentially affect the directional control of the craft. Launching in June 2020 the Hope probe has multiple instruments onboard including an infrared spectrometer, an ultraviolet spectrometer and an autonomous camera. To get the optimum data collected during the mission there must be no particles obstructing the instruments.

After a 7 month journey, the Hope probe will enter the Red Planet's orbit. The data that it will collect will give an insight as to how Mars experienced climate change. Scientists here on Earth could then see if there is any correlation with the transformation of our planet's climate.

Read the original here:

Preventing the contamination of other planets - Euronews

LANSING Pure Michigan is going virtual. From live cams featuring beautiful beaches to virtual tours of unique exhibits, Pure Michigan is helping bring the states educational, outdoor and cultural experiences to life at home through its new #VirtualPureMichigan campaign. New virtual experiences will be posted regularly across Pure Michigans Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter channels in the coming weeks as people are being encouraged to Stay Home and Stay Safe to combat the continued spread of COVID-19.

During these extraordinary times, we want to continue to do what Pure Michigan does best inspire people while offering alternative ways to experience the stay at home and follow social distancing guidelines, said Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. By sharing the tremendous virtual offerings our travel partners across the state have available, we are hoping that individuals can enjoy, learn and explore our beautiful state from the comfort of their own homes as they look ahead to future adventures.

Organizations around the state are offering virtual experiences for all to enjoy, including:

Pure Michigan is providing live web camera viewings for people to take a peek at destinations including Alpena, Holland, Frankenmuth, West Michigan, and the Mackinac Bridge.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival is going virtual now through Mar. 29. The entire festival will be live-streamed for free, including all submitted films and follow up discussions with participating filmmakers. The full festival schedule can be found online as well.

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is an internationally recognized cultural destination that immerses visitors in the stories of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and innovation that helped shape America. In addition to exploring the digital collections made available on the museums website, virtual visitors can now explore the Mathematica exhibit online.

Get a sense of spring with a live stream of the butterfly exhibit at Frederik Meijer Gardens.

Take a virtual field trip of the Detroit Institute of Arts with Detroit Public Television.

The Michigan History Museum offers information about Michigans rich past, from the time of the states earliest people to the late 20th. The five-floor museum offers a virtual tour for folks to explore and learn about Michigans first people, the Anishinaabe, and ending at the mid-20th century.

The Michigan Science Center offers a virtual tour for kids of all ages to explore and makes for an educational experience adhering to STEM guidelines, which many schools practice. Kids can explore the health and wellness gallery to learn about the human body, and can explore the lunar and space gallery to learn about space travel and more.

The Menominee Range Historical Museums in Michigans Upper Peninsula encompasses three different museums for guests to explore. Each museum offers a virtual tour including The Menominee Range Historical Museum, which features more than 100 exhibits depicting local history from Native American inhabitants through the early years of the 20th century; The World War II Gilder and Military Museum, which features one of only seven fully-restored CG-4A gliders in the world, as well as extensive displays highlighting military service in the area; and the Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum, which showcases the largest steam-driven pumping engine built in the United States.

Paddle out into the St. Marys River from Voyager Island and Rotary Park in Sault St. Marie on this 360 virtual guided tour. This water trail gives you a front row seat to Great Lakes freighters passing through the channel on their way to and from the Soo Locks.

Manistee County in Northern Michigan is rich with history and natural beauty that can be explored through the Visit Manistee Natural Wonders Tour.

PBS television program, Under the Radar Michigan, features the people, places and things that make Michigan a great place to be. Michiganders can check out episodes that feature Michigans Museums, stories from the U.P., downtown Detroit and more.

The michigan.org website continues to be a resource for future trip planning, featuring unique destinations throughout the state, road trip and itinerary suggestions, and the ability to order the free Pure Michigan Summer Travel Guide also available digitally. Additionally, michigan.org is now featuring ways to Travel Michigan Virtually While Planning Your Vacation.

In the coming days and weeks, the Pure Michigan social channels will be posting virtual experiences all across the state using the #VirtualPureMichigan hashtag. Follow along, or share your favorite Virtual Pure Michigan experience, on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

The rest is here:

Pure Michigan invites fans to experience the state virtually | News, Sports, Jobs - Daily Mining Gazette

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Nike Air Max 90, the classic running sneaker loved for its clean design and simple details. Many consider the style to be the second flagship in the Air Max family, behind only the trailblazing Air Max 1. (Both shoes were designed by the legendary Tinker Hatfield.) For Air Max Day 2020, the Nike-invented sneakerhead holiday, the Swoosh is paying homage to the countless Air Max releases over the years with a grip of new colorways and iterations. The standout is the future-inspired Nike Air Max 2090.

The bold-looking Nike Air Max 2090 takes clear inspiration from the Air Max 90, from its big visible Air bubble to its pared-down silhouette, but as a shoe it's also wholly it's own. It's more of a spiritual sequel. While the original 90 looks the part of a classic running shoe, the 2090 is a re-cladding of the silhouette to seemingly prepare it for space travel (an idea Nike appears to be quite taken with these days). There's a blend of transparent fabric and bold graphics. Virgil Abloh-esque stitching details abound. The Nike Air Max 2090 has also been upgraded with a softer underfoot and comes with an internal lining with a padded heel so you can also feel like you're walking on the moon. All of this adds up for a sneaker that melds timelessness with right-now vibes in equal measure.

"Air Max Day" typically yields a variety of high-concept sneakers, with Nike pulling deep cuts from its archive and exploring new trajectories and designs for its most beloved sneakers. The colors on this Air Max 2090 are meant to evoke "a future state where roads are dominated by electric and solar-powered vehicles." Nike's vision of the future is clearly soft shades of silver and hints of lilac-blue, dusty red, and black. Other Air Max 90 sneakers to drop on the occasion include a version decked out in duck camo print (a cult-loved collaboration with New York retailer Atmos) and a trio of shiny and metallic versions (previously only available through Nike's custom "By You" program).

Does a superfluous sneaker holiday amidst the global pandemic feel a little...off? Maybe. But Air Max Day is really for the diehard fans to celebrate the style and history of a much beloved sneaker legacy. Let the sneakerheads have their fun.

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The Nike Air Max 2090 Is Here to Futurize Your Sneaker Collection - GQ

The coronavirus pandemic has many people stuck at home for the foreseeable future, but that does not mean that our social lives have to end. Thanks to the internet, many people have access to a world of information, media and interactive exhibits. The virus is even forcing many of these online attractions to adapt for more remote viewings.

With the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the U.S., people are advised not to leave home except for absolutely essential reasons. Some states and localities even have legal mandates in place to enforce shelter-in-place orders, and it will be weeks at least before these measures can be lifted. In the meantime, some people are looking for ways to wile away their hours inside. Thankfully, there are ways to feel like you are getting out without risking your health.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention itself has recommended the cancellation or postponement of events with more than 50 people until at least May, and most places have taken that to heart. Experts say social distancing remains the most important measure to slow the spread of the virus and mitigate its impact on the healthcare infrastructure of the country.

This means that technologies like virtual tours, Google Street View and other VR experiences are more important than ever for getting out of the house. In some cases, those with VR headsets are at an advantage, though even a TV can offer a breathtaking sensory experience. With self-isolation expected to go on for some time, it may be important to give yourself a reprieve with these kinds of services.

For the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the CDC's website. While you are home, here are some virtual experiences to help stave off cabin fever.

With the help of Google Street View, Disney fans can explore the closed theme parks as if they are right there, without waiting in lines or paying through the nose. Disney teamed up with Google to create virtual tours of both Disney World in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Some may want to use their time inside to see more of the natural world, such as the National Parks Service's online tour of some of America's greatest wonders. "The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks" online program was made in collaboration with Google's Arts & Culture activation, and includes five national parks Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, and Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida.

If you're more in the market for good old fashioned thrill rides, you can hop on a roller coaster without leaving your home as well. There are actually lots of rollercoaster recordings available on YouTube. Even before social distancing took over, some parents went viral for making "virtual roller coasters" for their children at home.

Aquariums and zoos are closed, but several of the biggest are offering free virtual tours or livestreams of what is going on inside. Animal lovers can tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, or tune in and watch the animals at the San Diego Zoo live. Seeing the pandas snoozing the day away might mitigate some of the guilt for lying around the house, too.

Many, many museums are offering free virtual tours of their exhibits while the physical galleries are closed. This includes some of New York's biggest attractions, such as the Guggenheim Museum, where you can see one of the world's most coveted collections of contemporary art.

Likewise, a similar virtual tour is available for The Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA in midtown Manhattan. If neither of those attract you, consider the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), which holds timeless works from ancient Greece, as well as some breathtaking architecture to house it all.

For something even more informative, you might consider checking out the dinosaurs at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The virtual tour is perfect for school kids who are struggling to stick to a lesson plan outside of the classroom.

Similarly, the British Museum in London's virtual tour allows online visitors to view its collection in an interactive timeline, exploring civilizations from around the world through both time and space.

One of the nice things about virtual daytrips is that you do not even need to confine yourself to one museum, one town or even one continent. With Google's Arts & Culture section, you can visit world landmarks like the Taj Mahal in New Dehli, India and the Sydney Opera House in Australia both in the same day.

In the virtual world, you can even live like royalty for a time with a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens in London. This particular tour began as a set of panoramic pictures taken by visitors and soon became full-blown experiences with Google's Street View feature.

Finally, if none of the above earthly attractions call out to you, you can take a trip out of this world with NASA's free Space Center Houston app. It allows users to experience outer space, space travel technology and learn about the latest science in the field along the way.

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Coronavirus: 8 Unique Ways of Leaving the Home Without Really Leaving the Couch - PopCulture.com

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New Delhi: With the coronavirus pandemic forcing people to stay at home, NASA replugged several of its educational activities, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects and podcasts to keep them occupied as part of its #NASAatHome campaign.

In an interactive Twitter thread Wednesday, NASAs official handle offered to be the window into the universe and asked people what they wanted to see.

The ensuing discussion saw the US space agency responding to the queries and requests of multiple users with podcasts, DIY projects, videos and articles.

On the initiative, Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA, said, We want to be sure that every student, educator and lifelong learner has access to the resources and inspiration of NASA to continue their studies and enrich their ongoing journey.

Also read:Missing your friends? Heres the app that can help you during lockdown

NASA offers several open educational resources in the form of articles, videos and podcasts.

A podcast called NASA Explorers: Apollo tells stories about the Moon and the astronauts who explore it.

Another podcast titled, Houston, We have a Podcast is on the various manned missions to space and gives details about how the entire process of space travel actually works.

NASAs YouTube channel offers more than 4,000 videos on everything related to space including live views of the Earth from space stations.

It also offers several DIY projects to overcome the boredom of quarantine, especially for children. A project titledApollo Moon capsule craft offers step-by-step instructions to make a paper replica of the Apollo capsule, the spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon.

The #NASAatHome initiative has been lauded by several people on Twitter, with many especially appreciating the interactive nature of their Twitter account.

Also read:Online classrooms during Covid-19 mean students should demand fee discounts

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NASA offers podcasts, DIY projects and videos to keep boredom at bay - ThePrint

As COVID-19 pushes us to a life of social seclusion, a look at what this lifestyle change means for us

POULOMI BANERJEE AND NATASHA REGO

It would seem like a dream come true. Weeks of familytime, with no office or school to disrupt the togetherness. Except that39-year-old Gurgaon-based techie, Niranjan Singh Manohar and his wife, Shalini,are running out of ways to keep their younger daughter, Vedika, engaged.Usually, over the weekends we take Pari [the couples elder daughter, aged 10]and Vedika [who is five] on day trips. But now, because of the coronavirusscare, travelling is not advisable, especially for the kids, he says.

School is closed Vedikas class graduation ceremony, tocelebrate her promotion from kindergarten to Class 1, was cancelled. Now sheis home and cant play with her dolls all day, he says. I am afraid, she willget away with more than her usual quota of screen time.

In the last few weeks, as the number of coronaviruspositive cases and deaths have continued to rise across the globe, socialisolation has become the new lifestyle with schools and colleges closing andoffices encouraging employees to work from home. Meetings have been cancelled(or moved to the virtual space), travel plans put on hold, film releases pushedback and places of worship closed. Gyms, clubs, swimming pools all sharedsocial spaces are either being closed down or seeing a low turn out.

Those who are venturing out are clearly under strain tostay protected. I travel from Virar to Dadar [in Mumbai] every day. Somepeople are now wearing masks on the trains, says Krishna Prasad, 30, ajournalist. And I have observed that if someone coughs or sneezes, thepassenger next to him gets up from the seat.

Home Alone

Narinder Kumar, co-founder and COO of the digitalservices company To The New (with its headquarters in NOIDA), returned from awork trip to the US and Australia on March 6. When I left on February 29,there were as yet no health advisories on travelling abroad, he says. When hereturned, however, the situation had escalated considerably, and even though hedid not show any symptoms of the disease, Kumar decided to self-isolate for 14days. I have been working from home since. Even at home, I am using a separatetoilet and room to ensure that I dont pass on the virus to my family, in caseI am infected, says Kumar.

For those putting off planned travels, losses are bothfinancial and emotional. Parul Khanna, chief marketing officer of a travel andhospitality start-up, cancelled a holiday to Greece that was to have started onMarch 13. The money she lost on the trip, made matters worse. The hotels wehad booked in Greece did not return the money, even though we explained that wewere cancelling because of the pandemic, she says.

What Ayshwarya G, 28, a media consultant who was planninga trip to Bhutan in April, lost meanwhile wasnt money, but time spent inplanning and researching everything.

More at risk

The situation is especially critical for those with olderpeople and children at home, for both are more vulnerable and need care andattention.

I dont touch my face; I use a mask when I go out. Imcareful about sanitising and not touching outside surfaces because I live withmy grandparents and theyre 87 and 92, says Ayshwarya.

Older people are even putting off hospital visits forroutine as well as follow-up checks. Parents who would normally enrol theirchildren for activity classes during the holidays, are now left without thatoption. Where schools are organising virtual classes, or allotting assignmentsto be finished during the time at home, it falls upon the parents to ensurethat the kids stay up to date with their projects.

Those working from home have the additional task ofexplaining to their kids why they may not be available through the day, eventhough they are physically in the house. I have two sons. One is 16, the other10 years old. I have always had the scope to work from home sometimes, but nowthat I am doing it regularly, I am having to explain to my younger son thatthere are hours in which I am working even though I am at home and those inwhich I am free, says a Google employee based in Gurgaon, who doesnt want tobe named. It is the same with my colleagues. At times we have kids popping upin the background during video calls, she says with a laugh.

Hard times

It needs a little getting used to this new normal,where the home is work, personal and social space. Many people are drawingcomfort from the time they are spending with their loved ones.

Others are trying to remain positive by doing things thatthey normally wouldnt have had time to. Travel writer, Karishma Kirpalani,says shes already been grounded longer than in several years. My trip toEgypt in the first half of March has been cancelled and Ive also had to canceltravel to IPL locations such as Punjab and Rajasthan with my husband, whopartners with the Indian Premier League, she says. She is using the time thusgained on ourselves. Im using it to focus on writing, revamping the blog andplanning some videos.

Director of interior design and technical services at TajHotels in Mumbai, Reema Diwan, 39, whos been self-isolating and working fromhome believes its natures way of forcing us to slow down.

Not everyone is able to see it that way, though. Theuncertainty surrounding the extent of the problem, and the isolation, is makingmany people angry, irritable, anxious. Those with prior mental health problemsare especially vulnerable. I have received complaints of people losing sleepand stress levels being high. Those who had mild OCD are showing a surge insymptoms, says Sapna Bangar, psychiatrist and head of Mpower The Centre, amental health organisation in Mumbai. Children may be more disturbed becausethey dont completely understand the situation, but can feel that something iswrong. Bangar suggests that parents share with them the illustrated explainers releasedby the World Health Organisation. In a crisis, and this is one, relationshipstoo may show signs of fray.

Help at hand

For many, technology is helping keep at bay the feelingof being cut off, stopping them from getting cabin fever. For those workingfrom home, there are always video calls.

According to an article in The New Yorker, in China,nightclubs that had to close their doors turned to virtual cloud-clubbing,where viewers could watch DJ sets on streaming platforms and even send messagesto be read out. A new reality show Home Karaoke Station had singersperforming from their homes, even as they were in self-quarantine. Gyms offeredonline workout classes. In Iran, doctors and nurses participated in acoronavirus dance challenge, posting videos of themselves dancing in hazmatsuits.

In India, actors like Deepika Padukone, have taken theWHOs Safe Hands Challenge and a video of a cops from Kerala doing a handwashing dance has gone viral.

Having a routine also helps, says psychiatrist at CIMBS,a psychiatric mental healthcare centre in Delhi, Sunil Mittal. Narinder Kumar,for example, still wakes up at his usual time and even dresses for work, beforesettling down to answering his mails and doing his meetings over phone andvideochat, from home.

But the flipside of working from home, at least for some,is the difficulty in drawing the line between personal and professional time.You actually end up working longer. And even clients or colleagues who wouldusually be apologetic about calling you post office hours, now dont think ofit as a transgression into your me time, because you are at home anyway, saysManohar.

In a post-pandemic society

A fortnight? A month? A couple of months? Several months?It is not clear how long it will take for us to defeat the boogie ofcoronavirus completely. How will the time we spend in isolation in the meantimeimpact us? Will it change our habits, making us more introverted than we werebefore COVID-19 pushed us into our rooms?

An article in The New Yorker, states that over time, theimpact of the novel coronavirus may be so sweeping that it alters human ritualsand behaviours that have evolved over millennia. The article quotes professorof biological anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, TerrenceDeacon, on the possibility of the handshake ceasing to be a form of greeting.It could be. Behaviours are driven by the context. Shaking hands is abouttrust. If that behaviour passes on a deadly virus, then it affects our trustmarkers.

The aftermath of the pandemic, as psychologist GeetanjaliKumar says, is the subject of future research. What most people admit, though,is that even after the authorities give people the go ahead to venture out, itmay take time to pick up where they left off before the advent of thecoronavirus.

The seclusion was gradual, so must be the return to ourusual social habits, says psychiatrist Sapna Bangar. For those working fromhome, returning to office must be immediate, once that option is withdrawn. Butcasual socialising might take more time to pick up.

The one thing that I hope this pandemic teaches us andthat we remember even after the threat is over, says psychiatrist SunilMittal, is hygiene. In a country like India, with a dense population,respiratory hygiene (like covering your mouth while coughing), frequent washingof hands and not touching your face, may go a long way in containing the spreadof many other infections.

(HT Media)

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Life in the time of coronavirus - The Navhind Times