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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Michigan human services director to leave post after 4 years

Posted: September 17, 2014 at 10:40 am

Lansing Maura Corrigan will retire as head of Michigans Human Services Department at years end, completing a four-year commitment she made when she took the job, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder confirmed Tuesday.

Early in his first term, Snyder appointed the former Michigan Supreme Court justice to head the huge, often-troubled state agency, which oversaw various forms of assistance to more than 2.9 million Michigan recipients in 2013.

Her departure at the end of of 2014 has been the understanding from the very beginning when Maura agreed to leave the Michigan Supreme Court to take on serving as Department of Human Services director, said Snyder press secretary Sara Wurfel.

Corrigan wants to leave government so she can spend more time with her family, including grandchildren, in Metro Detroit, department spokesman Robert Wheaton said.

She was a Republican nominee when she first ran for the Supreme Court in 1998 and for re-election in 2006.

Department-head departures by appointees at the end of a governors term in office are common in Michigan. Health Department Director James Haveman recently said he will step down after suffering a mild stroke last spring.

Snyder, whose first term ends this year, is in the midst of a tight re-election race with Democratic challenger Mark Schauer, a former state lawmaker and U.S. congressman from Battle Creek.

Corrigan has been ... a tremendous leader with an unwavering commitment to and passion for serving our states children and families in need, Wurfel said.

She said Snyder was grateful Corrigan was willing to leave her second eight-year Supreme Court term, which would have lasted until next Jan. 1, to take over leadership of the welfare agency in 2011.

This administration inherited large and long-standing problems, including a federal consent decree (the department) was under for states child welfare system, Wurfel said. Major improvements have been made, not only there but in so many other ways ... as well as being fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars.

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PostHuman – sci-fi action animated short film directed by Cole Drumb

Posted: at 10:40 am

Official video for PostHuman - produced by Colliculi Productions. Animated sci-fi thriller short film featuring the voice of Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica). Directed by Cole Drumb. Produced by Jennifer Wai-Yin Luk.

Production company: Colliculi Productions Animation studio: Humouring The Fates Voice of Kali: Tricia Helfer Voice of Terrence: Ulric Dihle Original Music: Neill Sanford Livingston Post Production Sound: Kid Dropper Sound Final Post Production Sound: Bad Animals Final Video Post Production: Lightpress

Set in an adrenalized future of espionage, assassins, and out of control super science, PostHuman follows a genius hacker and his dog as they help an enigmatic young woman to free the remaining test subject of a black ops ESP test lab.

http://posthumanthemovie.com/ https://www.facebook.com/PostHumanThe... https://twitter.com/PostHumanFilm https://twitter.com/JenWLuk https://twitter.com/ColeDrumb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2091950/ http://posthumanthemovie.tumblr.com/

Awards: Screamfest 2012 -- Best Animated Short Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival 2012 -- Best Animation Short Arizona Underground Film Festival 2012 -- Best Animation Short Couch Fest Films 2012 -- Best Sci-Fi Animation

Official Selection: Dragon Con Independent Film Festival - 2013 Las Vegas Film Festival - 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival - 2013 Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre - 2013 Calgary Underground Film Festival - 2013 Little Rock Horror Picture Show - 2013 Byron Bay International Film Festival - 2013 Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival - 2013 The Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Film Festival - 2012 Miami Short Film Festival - 2012 Couchfest Films - 2012 GIRAF Animation Festival - 2012 San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival - 2012 San Jose International Short Film Festival - 2012 Tallgrass International Film Festival - 2012 Screamfest Los Angeles- 2012 Little Terrors - 2012 Sitges -- International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia - 2012 Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival - 2012 Arizona Underground Film Festival - 2012 Fantastic Fest - 2012 1 Reel Film Festival at Bumbershoot - 2012 HollyShorts - 2012 New York International Short Film Festival - 2012 Seattle International Film Festival - 2012 Sarasota Film Festival - 2012

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PostHuman - sci-fi action animated short film directed by Cole Drumb

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Hinsdale high school district stops investigating teachers who 'liked' Facebook post

Posted: at 10:40 am

The investigation into 17 suburban teachers who liked a Facebook post featuring a photo of an ax lodged in a car windshield has been canceled, a school official said Tuesday.

Hinsdale Township High School District 86 administrators canceled the probe after teacher union leaders criticized the investigation into the post, which linked to a news story about teacher contract talks.

At a press conference today about the negotiations, Board President Richard Skoda said Superintendent Bruce Law made the decision not to proceed with the investigation that stemmed from an incident in August in which the photo was inadvertently included with a news story about contract negotiations and then shared on a Facebook page for Hinsdale teachers.

Skoda said he did not know why Law had canceled the investigation, but said it may have been due to reaction from the community.

The Facebook posting that had an ax through a windshield was unfortunate and caused some people great concern, Law said via an email statement to the Tribune Tuesday afternoon.

He said he asked the board whether he had discretion over the Facebook investigation and it was given to him and he ended the investigation. Law did not say why the investigation was launched or why it was halted.

To go beyond that would be to discuss personnel matters, he said.

Skoda denied that the board had any role in either prompting or halting the investigation.

I never said to him 'I want these people investigated, terminated,' Skoda said.

Skoda said he maintained that the photo was an anti-social picture. Were not talking about whether it was deliberate or not.

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NASA Awards Boeing And SpaceX Contracts To Deliver Astronauts To The Space Station

Posted: at 10:40 am

Concept art of Dragon docking with the space station. (Credit: SpaceX)

NASA officially announced today that both Boeing and SpaceX have been awarded Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contracts. These contracts are for the development of spacecraft that will be able to take astronauts to the International Space Station, with a target start date of 2017. The third company in the running for a contract, Sierra Nevada Corporation, did not receive an award.

This announcement from NASA partially contradicts earlier reports that Boeing was to be the primary winner of the contract, with SpaceX only receiving a secondary award. Instead, NASA doesnt appear to be distinguishing between the two companies as a primary or secondary provider, although there is a difference in the financial value of the two contracts.

Both companies are developing manned capsules which will ferry up to seven passengers and payloads to the International Space Station. Boeings CST-100 is planned to be launched by Atlas 5 rockets, which are built and operated by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will be launched by SpaceXs own Falcon 9 rocket.

Artist conception of Boeing CST-100 approaching the ISS. (Credit: Boeing)

According to Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders, both companies will have to meet five separate certification milestones, and will receive payment upon completion of each one. That certification process will include a flight with one astronaut on board. Once the spacecraft are certified for delivery, each company will be contracted to conduct at least two and up to six spaceflights to the ISS with four crew members and cargo payloads.

This will enable NASA and its international partners to perform more research on the international laboratory, nearly doubling its research potential, Lueders said.

The spacecraft will also have the capability to serve as a lifeboat for up to 210 days in the event of an emergency, she added.

According to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, the total value of the contracts to the two companies will be worth up to $6.8 billion over the life of the contract. Boeings potential award is $4.2 billion and SpaceXs potential award is for $2.6 billion.

According to Lueders, both contracts have the same goals and requirements. The values of the contracts are based on the proposals submitted by the companies themselves and the amount of money the companies believed they would need to meet the contract requirements.

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NASA Awards Boeing And SpaceX Contracts To Deliver Astronauts To The Space Station

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B.W.O – Barcelona (Shane 54 & Myon Retro Futurism Remix) – Video

Posted: at 10:40 am


B.W.O - Barcelona (Shane 54 Myon Retro Futurism Remix)

By: Thomas Daly

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B.W.O - Barcelona (Shane 54 & Myon Retro Futurism Remix) - Video

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Reports: Boeing To Beat Out SpaceX For NASA Contract – Thanks To Jeff Bezos

Posted: at 10:40 am

Artist conception of Boeing CST-100 approaching the ISS. (Credit: Boeing)

Update on September 16 at 4:32 EDT: NASA has officially awarded both Boeing and SpaceX these commercial crew contracts. You can read the full story about the awards here.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Boeing is likely to be the primary winner of NASAs Commercial Crew contract. This contract, which is worth billions, is being awarded for the final phase of development for a manned spacecraft that can take astronauts to the International Space Station and serve as a replacement for the Space Shuttle. That contract is expected to be awarded this month.

There are currently three contenders for the Commercial Crew contract: Boeing, which is developing a manned capsule currently named the CST-100; SpaceX, whose unmanned version of its Dragon capsule has made several trips to the space station, and Sierra Nevada Corporation, whose winged Dream Chaser spacecraft will be capable of landing on a runway.

According to the WSJ report, a growing consensus of experts in industry and government believe Boeing will win the primary award of the contract, due to a belief that the veteran aerospace company is the least risky option. The report also notes that there is likely to be a smaller award to develop an alternative to Boeings CST-100, and that award is likely to go to SpaceX.

One thing that may have clinched the deal for Boeing, according to Reuters, is an unexpected assist from Jeff Bezos. According to that report, Bezos commercial space venture, Blue Origin, will be working with the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance to develop a new rocket engine to replace the currently Russian-built RD-180 engine.

Blue Origin is currently developing what it calls the BE-3 rocket engine for flights of its planned New Shephard space capsule. This liquid hydrogen fueled engine had its first successful full-cycle test in December of last year.

Blue Origin tests its BE-3 rocket engine. (Credit: Blue Origin)

Boeings CST-100 is designed to be lifted into orbit on a ULA Atlas 5 rocket, which features the RD-180 engine. However, a number of government officials have expressed concerned about ULAs reliance on the Russian engines, particularly because ULA is currently the only launch provider for the military and other government agencies. Earlier this year, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister threatened that the country would halt the export of RD-180 engines to the U.S. However, engine deliveries since have so far continued uninterrupted.

ULA has stated that it currently has a two year supply of the engines, and last week the company announced that it was finalizing details related to the development of a replacement engine with a U.S. aerospace partner. If these reports are correct and the partner referred to is Blue Origin, this may be what tipped the decision in their favor.

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Ten Technologies Affecting You, Your Customers and Your Business: Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote an Event with the …

Posted: at 10:40 am

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) September 17, 2014

When your vision is to be the leading global resource for packaging and processing, and your mission is to improve and promote members abilities to succeed in a global marketplace calling in a global futurist like Jack Uldrich to discuss the latest technologies that will affect you and your future is smart thing to do. And that is precisely what the Packaging Machine Manufacturers Institute is doing on September 17th.

Founded in 1933, PMMI is a trade association made up of more than 650 member companies that manufacture packaging, processing and packaging-related converting machinery, commercially-available packaging machinery components, containers and materials in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

PMMI members are globally renowned for making the highest quality equipment, offering responsive service and committing to meeting their customers needs. To that end, being on the cutting of edge of technology is crucial, and Jack Uldrich, as a futurist has his finger on the pulse of the technologies that PMMI needs to be watching for and utilizing in the coming years.

Among the ten technologies that Uldrich will discuss with the PMMI group are things like the new Leap Motion control (hand gesture technology,) advanced 3D manufacturing techniques which may well transform and revolutionize the future of manufacturing, as well as sophisticated robotics which are already providing a healthy advantage in the production of many packaging and manufacturing materials.

When it comes to the future of manufacturing Uldrich says, "Five years ago, a 3D printera device that can manufacture physical objectscost $100,000. Today, similar printers are available for $1,000 and are poised to revolutionize the world of manufacturing. What will the world of tomorrow look like? The time to start thinking about this is now."

The Author of "The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business" Uldrich will also address how nanotechnology will transform the manufacturing industry in the coming years.

Uldrich says, "In the coming year, packaging leaders can also expect to hear more about the Internet of Things. In its simplest form, the idea is that in the coming decade an estimated 50 billion physical objects will be connected to the Internet through low-cost, wireless sensors. What makes the technology so potentially revolutionary is that some of the sensors will be nano-barcodes that can authenticate products (such as valuable pharmaceutical drugs) or nano-sensors that can read a host of information, including temperature, humidity and the level of exposure to oxygen, and then relay this information to manufacturers, distributors and customers to provide a complete history of the item."

Uldrich who speaks all over the world on a variety of topics such as future trends, emerging technologies, innovation, change management and leadership, is also a leading expert on assisting businesses unlearn and adapt during times of transition. He has served as an adviser to Fortune 1000 companies and is noted for his ability to deliver provocative, new perspectives on competitive advantage, organizational change and transformational leadership.

Parties interested in learning more about him, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack as a futurist or trend expert can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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Mind matrix

Posted: at 10:40 am

Ever wondered how your mind works? Tune into Brain Games on National Geographic to get an informed view.

The Emmy-nominated host of Brain Games, Jason Silva, reveals the inner workings of the mind through interactive experiments. The executive producer of the show invited me to host Brain Games. It has been a wonderful opportunity, says Jason over phone.

In the show, various facets such as addiction, language, superstitions, patterns, compassion, anger, battle of the sexes and intuition are explored, from which startling facts emerge. Speaking of one of the episodes, Intuition, which is often dismissed as irrational, Jason says: What we call intuition is the sub-conscious knowledge that we have collected over years of experience. In the show, we ask a series of questions and try to prove that most people follow their intuition.

A futurist and filmmaker, Jason has generated huge interest on the internet with his short films, Shots of Awe. These short videos has been termed as philosophical espresso. Jason explores topics such as technology, science, the evolution of intelligence and even love. Shots of Awe is what I am truly thinking about, at any given moment. I am a cerebral ruminator. I work through my cerebral philosophical obsessions through a short video platform.

The videos are well executed and inspire one to think beyond. The videos arent just flights of fancy of the mind. They are anchored. There is a desire to reconcile the philosophical tangent with closure.

Jason has been variously termed, as a performance philosopher and an epiphany addict. Ask him how he describes himself and Jason says: I like the term Carl Sagan coined wonder junkie, says Jason who grew up in Venezuela and has a degree in philosophy and film.

Jason believes that technology is seeing a rapid and exponential change. He says that technology will amplify our human experience to a point that we cannot comprehend. The next level of technology is that we are going to put it in our brains.

Jason has been a television presenter on former US Vice President Al Gores Current TV and is a global speaker, and has spoken at TEDGlobal, Googles Zeitgeist Conference, among others.

Brain Games is aired from Monday to Friday on National Geographic at 9 pm.

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Mind matrix

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Space Station Crew Member Discusses Life in Space With the Media – Video

Posted: September 16, 2014 at 7:44 am


Space Station Crew Member Discusses Life in Space With the Media
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio discussed the early days of his six-month mission on the orbital laboratory with WPKN Radio in Bridgeport,...

By: Beng alr

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Space Station Crew Member Discusses Life in Space With the Media - Video

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Commercial Space Program Success – Video

Posted: at 7:44 am


Commercial Space Program Success
A little more than two years after the end of the Space Shuttle Program, the United States now has two space transportation systems -- SpaceX #39;s Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft and Orbital #39;s...

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Commercial Space Program Success - Video

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