The Cherry Blossom Classic, Conclusion [EvolutionBlog]

Time for the big finale. The Monday morning game. Since I had already requested a bye for the final round, this was my last chance to make a respectable result. Here’s how it went down.

I was playing black. My opponent sported a rating of 1983. But he also had a formidable Russian name, and I figure that counts for another fifty points.

He opened with 1. Nf3. Cagey! You’re not quite sure what you’re going to get with this. Maybe an English. Maybe a Reti. Maybe a transposition into a standard d4 or e4 opening. I decided to steer the game toward my normal Orthodox Queen’s Gambit, and the first few moves were 1. … d5 2. c4 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6, with our first interesting moment.

I was hoping for 5. d4 here. Then we would be solidly in Queen’s Gambit territory. Actually, it would be a not so good line for white, since his dark-squared bishop is trapped behind the e3 pawn. Alas, my opponent decided to keep things firmly in the English Opening, and he played 5. b3. Normal development ensued for the next three moves: 5. … Be7 6. Bb2 0-0 7. Qc2 Nbd7

White to play. Moves like 8. d4 and 8. Be2 are certainly reasonable, and I expected one of those. But my opponent had different ideas. Only eight moves in and he decided to go for glory with 8. Rg1. Gosh, what could his plan be? Actually, the computer is generally supportive of white pushing the g-pawn, but suggests h3 as a better way of preparing it.

I admit I got a little nervous when I saw this. Russian guy is planning to storm my kingside? Yikes! But after mulling things over for a bit I calmed down. Has black’s play been so poor that this sort of primitive kingside attack can work? It’s two more moves for him just to attack my knight, after all, and black should be able to use that time find counterplay in the center or on the queenside. The computer recommends 8. … e5 here for black. Interestingly, its second choice is 8. … h5. But I decided I wasn’t worried about the kingside attack and just completed my development with 8. … b6. Play continued 9. g4 Bb7 10. Be2 c5 11. g5 Ne8:

White to play, again. Black is threatening to get some play on the queenside with something like dxc4 followed by Nd6. The point is that the c-pawn will then be hanging since after Nxc4, Bxc4, white’s knight on f3 will be hanging to the bishop on b7.

So what should white do? He certainly doesn’t want to play 12. d3, since that hinders the attack by closing a key diagonal. But I didn’t think he could just ignore it altogether. He disagreed, however, and after a short think he banged out 12. h4. Goodness! This guy has kingside attacks on the brain. After 12. … dxc4 13. bxc4 Nd6:

He thought for a while and then played 14. h5. I swallowed hard. My exact thoughts were, “One of us has seriously miscalculated. I just hope it isn’t me.” Play continued 14. … Nxc4 15. g6 Nxb2 16. gxh7+ Kh8 17. Qxb2 Bf6:

Around here I was starting to feel confident. I just didn’t see much of an attack at all for white. He’s effectively a pawn down, since the button on h7 is likely to fall. Playing h6 is not really a threat, since black can always reply with g6. White would have to double rooks on the g-file, move his queen back to c2, and then maybe hope a sac materializes on g6. But that was all many moves away if it was possible do it at all.

The next few moves were 18. Qc2 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. 0-0-0:

And here I went in for a big think. I ultimately decided on 20. … Qf6. The computer likes this, but also suggests Qd6 as possibly stronger. I wasn’t worried about 21. Ne4 by white, since 21. … Qf5 seemed like a strong reply. (White could not then play 22. Bd3 because of 22. … c4.) The reason for the long think was the possibility of 21. f4, which is what white played.

The point of the Qf6 move was to meet f4 by trading the knight on c3. Each piece trade diminished white’s attacking potential. Also, since white would surely want to avoid the trade of queens, he would have to take back with the d-pawn. This would leave him with a very compromised pawn structure.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it meant giving up my dark-square bishop, which seemed like a very strong defensive piece. I was reluctant to do that. One of the reasons I was so not worried about attacks on g7 was that my bishop had it covered. Was I willing to give that up? Yes I was! Play now continued 21. … Bxc3 22. dxc3 Rad8 23. Kb2. I’m actually unsure about the point of this move, but the computer suggests it as one of white’s best options. And now 23. … Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rd8 25. Rg1 Qf5 leading to this position.

It seemed to me that this effectively forced the queen trade, and with it the last ghost of any kingside attack for white. White cannot avoid the queen trade, since any queen move will be met by Be4 and very quickly it is black who is generating the attacks.

White went in for a big think here. I was mulling over the endgame after the queen trade. Is it winning for black? White will be a down a pawn with a weak pawn structure, and black’s pieces will have little trouble finding active posts. So I was feeling good. But the game would be far from over. The computer evaluation is that black has a clear advantage, but the machine is not yet ready to call it winning.

But white didn’t play the queen trade. He emerged from his big think by playing 26. Bd3.

Permit me to recreate my thoughts when this move appeared on the board. “Oh my God! Oh my freaking God! How did I miss this? Of course he’s just going to interpose his bishop. I’m a fish. I’m the fishiest fish in the sea. I’m whatever’s lower than a fish. Enough of this! Time to stop playing this game once and for all. … Wait a second. I did consider this move, didn’t I? There was some reason why he couldn’t play this. What was it again? Oh, right. I can just take the bishop. Whew!”

I played 26. … Qxd3. My opponent groaned, mulled it over for thirty seconds or so, and then resigned. The computer churlishly suggests that taking with the rook was actually stronger than taking with the queen.

So there you go! Rating wise, that win cancelled out the draw against the little kid in the previous round. Overall, my quick calculation says I should gain about…three rating points. I’ll take ’em! Interestingly, I went 2.5/3 against people in my rating class. But the two draws against the lower rated players knocked me down a peg.

Oh well.

So that’s it for now!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1WZR0d8

Time for the big finale. The Monday morning game. Since I had already requested a bye for the final round, this was my last chance to make a respectable result. Here’s how it went down.

I was playing black. My opponent sported a rating of 1983. But he also had a formidable Russian name, and I figure that counts for another fifty points.

He opened with 1. Nf3. Cagey! You’re not quite sure what you’re going to get with this. Maybe an English. Maybe a Reti. Maybe a transposition into a standard d4 or e4 opening. I decided to steer the game toward my normal Orthodox Queen’s Gambit, and the first few moves were 1. … d5 2. c4 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6, with our first interesting moment.

I was hoping for 5. d4 here. Then we would be solidly in Queen’s Gambit territory. Actually, it would be a not so good line for white, since his dark-squared bishop is trapped behind the e3 pawn. Alas, my opponent decided to keep things firmly in the English Opening, and he played 5. b3. Normal development ensued for the next three moves: 5. … Be7 6. Bb2 0-0 7. Qc2 Nbd7

White to play. Moves like 8. d4 and 8. Be2 are certainly reasonable, and I expected one of those. But my opponent had different ideas. Only eight moves in and he decided to go for glory with 8. Rg1. Gosh, what could his plan be? Actually, the computer is generally supportive of white pushing the g-pawn, but suggests h3 as a better way of preparing it.

I admit I got a little nervous when I saw this. Russian guy is planning to storm my kingside? Yikes! But after mulling things over for a bit I calmed down. Has black’s play been so poor that this sort of primitive kingside attack can work? It’s two more moves for him just to attack my knight, after all, and black should be able to use that time find counterplay in the center or on the queenside. The computer recommends 8. … e5 here for black. Interestingly, its second choice is 8. … h5. But I decided I wasn’t worried about the kingside attack and just completed my development with 8. … b6. Play continued 9. g4 Bb7 10. Be2 c5 11. g5 Ne8:

White to play, again. Black is threatening to get some play on the queenside with something like dxc4 followed by Nd6. The point is that the c-pawn will then be hanging since after Nxc4, Bxc4, white’s knight on f3 will be hanging to the bishop on b7.

So what should white do? He certainly doesn’t want to play 12. d3, since that hinders the attack by closing a key diagonal. But I didn’t think he could just ignore it altogether. He disagreed, however, and after a short think he banged out 12. h4. Goodness! This guy has kingside attacks on the brain. After 12. … dxc4 13. bxc4 Nd6:

He thought for a while and then played 14. h5. I swallowed hard. My exact thoughts were, “One of us has seriously miscalculated. I just hope it isn’t me.” Play continued 14. … Nxc4 15. g6 Nxb2 16. gxh7+ Kh8 17. Qxb2 Bf6:

Around here I was starting to feel confident. I just didn’t see much of an attack at all for white. He’s effectively a pawn down, since the button on h7 is likely to fall. Playing h6 is not really a threat, since black can always reply with g6. White would have to double rooks on the g-file, move his queen back to c2, and then maybe hope a sac materializes on g6. But that was all many moves away if it was possible do it at all.

The next few moves were 18. Qc2 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. 0-0-0:

And here I went in for a big think. I ultimately decided on 20. … Qf6. The computer likes this, but also suggests Qd6 as possibly stronger. I wasn’t worried about 21. Ne4 by white, since 21. … Qf5 seemed like a strong reply. (White could not then play 22. Bd3 because of 22. … c4.) The reason for the long think was the possibility of 21. f4, which is what white played.

The point of the Qf6 move was to meet f4 by trading the knight on c3. Each piece trade diminished white’s attacking potential. Also, since white would surely want to avoid the trade of queens, he would have to take back with the d-pawn. This would leave him with a very compromised pawn structure.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it meant giving up my dark-square bishop, which seemed like a very strong defensive piece. I was reluctant to do that. One of the reasons I was so not worried about attacks on g7 was that my bishop had it covered. Was I willing to give that up? Yes I was! Play now continued 21. … Bxc3 22. dxc3 Rad8 23. Kb2. I’m actually unsure about the point of this move, but the computer suggests it as one of white’s best options. And now 23. … Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rd8 25. Rg1 Qf5 leading to this position.

It seemed to me that this effectively forced the queen trade, and with it the last ghost of any kingside attack for white. White cannot avoid the queen trade, since any queen move will be met by Be4 and very quickly it is black who is generating the attacks.

White went in for a big think here. I was mulling over the endgame after the queen trade. Is it winning for black? White will be a down a pawn with a weak pawn structure, and black’s pieces will have little trouble finding active posts. So I was feeling good. But the game would be far from over. The computer evaluation is that black has a clear advantage, but the machine is not yet ready to call it winning.

But white didn’t play the queen trade. He emerged from his big think by playing 26. Bd3.

Permit me to recreate my thoughts when this move appeared on the board. “Oh my God! Oh my freaking God! How did I miss this? Of course he’s just going to interpose his bishop. I’m a fish. I’m the fishiest fish in the sea. I’m whatever’s lower than a fish. Enough of this! Time to stop playing this game once and for all. … Wait a second. I did consider this move, didn’t I? There was some reason why he couldn’t play this. What was it again? Oh, right. I can just take the bishop. Whew!”

I played 26. … Qxd3. My opponent groaned, mulled it over for thirty seconds or so, and then resigned. The computer churlishly suggests that taking with the rook was actually stronger than taking with the queen.

So there you go! Rating wise, that win cancelled out the draw against the little kid in the previous round. Overall, my quick calculation says I should gain about…three rating points. I’ll take ’em! Interestingly, I went 2.5/3 against people in my rating class. But the two draws against the lower rated players knocked me down a peg.

Oh well.

So that’s it for now!

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1WZR0d8

Pluto’s heart: Icy and alive

A close-up of a part of Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planum region. To see the whole heart, look at the image below. Image via NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

NASA said on June 1, 2016 that team members with the New Horizons space mission – which visited Pluto in July, 2015 – have determined the depth of a layer of solid nitrogen ice within Pluto’s distinctive “heart” feature. This large heart-shaped plain on Pluto is informally known as Sputnik Planum. New Horizons scientists say it’s being constantly being renewed by a process called convection, which brings fresh material up from below, replacing older surface ices with fresher material. Mission scientists used state-of-the-art computer simulations to show that the surface of Sputnik Planum is covered with icy, churning, convective “cells” 10 to 30 miles (16 to 48 km) across, and less than a million years old. The study is published in the June 2, 2016 issue of the journal Nature.

A statement from New Horizons mission scientists said:

The findings offer additional insight into the unusual and highly active geology on Pluto and, perhaps, other bodies like it on the outskirts of the solar system.

William B. McKinnon, from Washington University in St. Louis, is the co-investigator on the New Horizons science team. He also led this study. He said:

We found evidence that even on a distant cold planet billions of miles from Earth, there is sufficient energy for vigorous geological activity, as long as you have ‘the right stuff,’ meaning something as soft and pliable as solid nitrogen.

These scientists believe that Pluto’s solid nitrogen is warmed by this world’s modest internal heat. They compared the icy “cells” coming up to the surface of Sputnik Planum with a lava lamp, saying the solid nitrogen ice:

…becomes buoyant and rises up in great blobs … before cooling off and sinking again to renew the cycle. The computer models show that ice need only be a few miles deep for this process to occur, and that the convection cells are very broad. The models also show that these blobs of overturning solid nitrogen can slowly evolve and merge over millions of years.

The team said these convective surface motions on Pluto average only a few centimeters a year – about as fast as your fingernails grow – which means cells recycle their surfaces every 500,000 years or so. Their statement explained:

While slow on human clocks, it’s a fast clip on geological timescales.

McKinnon added:

This activity probably helps support Pluto’s atmosphere by continually refreshing the surface of ‘the heart.’

It wouldn’t surprise us to see this process on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to find out someday with future exploration missions there.

The New Horizons spacecraft is on course for an ultra-close flyby of another Kuiper Belt object, 2014 MU69, on Jan. 1, 2019, pending NASA approval of funding for an extended mission.

Pluto’s Sputnik Planum captured hearts here on Earth. Scientists continue to explore this region on Pluto, with data still being returned by the New Horizons spacecraft after its close flyby in July, 2015. Image via NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Bottom line: Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission used state-of-the-art computer simulations to show that the surface of Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planum region is covered with churning ice “cells.” These icy cells are geologically young, less than a million years old.

Via New Horizons

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1XQEmML

A close-up of a part of Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planum region. To see the whole heart, look at the image below. Image via NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.

NASA said on June 1, 2016 that team members with the New Horizons space mission – which visited Pluto in July, 2015 – have determined the depth of a layer of solid nitrogen ice within Pluto’s distinctive “heart” feature. This large heart-shaped plain on Pluto is informally known as Sputnik Planum. New Horizons scientists say it’s being constantly being renewed by a process called convection, which brings fresh material up from below, replacing older surface ices with fresher material. Mission scientists used state-of-the-art computer simulations to show that the surface of Sputnik Planum is covered with icy, churning, convective “cells” 10 to 30 miles (16 to 48 km) across, and less than a million years old. The study is published in the June 2, 2016 issue of the journal Nature.

A statement from New Horizons mission scientists said:

The findings offer additional insight into the unusual and highly active geology on Pluto and, perhaps, other bodies like it on the outskirts of the solar system.

William B. McKinnon, from Washington University in St. Louis, is the co-investigator on the New Horizons science team. He also led this study. He said:

We found evidence that even on a distant cold planet billions of miles from Earth, there is sufficient energy for vigorous geological activity, as long as you have ‘the right stuff,’ meaning something as soft and pliable as solid nitrogen.

These scientists believe that Pluto’s solid nitrogen is warmed by this world’s modest internal heat. They compared the icy “cells” coming up to the surface of Sputnik Planum with a lava lamp, saying the solid nitrogen ice:

…becomes buoyant and rises up in great blobs … before cooling off and sinking again to renew the cycle. The computer models show that ice need only be a few miles deep for this process to occur, and that the convection cells are very broad. The models also show that these blobs of overturning solid nitrogen can slowly evolve and merge over millions of years.

The team said these convective surface motions on Pluto average only a few centimeters a year – about as fast as your fingernails grow – which means cells recycle their surfaces every 500,000 years or so. Their statement explained:

While slow on human clocks, it’s a fast clip on geological timescales.

McKinnon added:

This activity probably helps support Pluto’s atmosphere by continually refreshing the surface of ‘the heart.’

It wouldn’t surprise us to see this process on other dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to find out someday with future exploration missions there.

The New Horizons spacecraft is on course for an ultra-close flyby of another Kuiper Belt object, 2014 MU69, on Jan. 1, 2019, pending NASA approval of funding for an extended mission.

Pluto’s Sputnik Planum captured hearts here on Earth. Scientists continue to explore this region on Pluto, with data still being returned by the New Horizons spacecraft after its close flyby in July, 2015. Image via NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Bottom line: Scientists with NASA’s New Horizons mission used state-of-the-art computer simulations to show that the surface of Pluto’s heart-shaped Sputnik Planum region is covered with churning ice “cells.” These icy cells are geologically young, less than a million years old.

Via New Horizons

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1XQEmML

US researchers find bacteria resistant to last-resort drug [The Pump Handle]

Back in November, researchers from China reported finding a gene that confers resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin in several E. coli isolates, and warned that pan-drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae — a family of bacteria that includes common foodborne illness culprits E. coli and Salmonella — “is inevitable and will ultimately become global.” As researchers in other countries began examining stored isolates for the gene, MCR-1, they found it. STAT’s Helen Branswell reports it “has been found in many European countries, parts of Asia, North Africa, South America, and North America, including Canada.”

Last week, researchers from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research reported in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that they’ve found MCR-1 in the U.S. Specifically, they identified it in E. coli cultured from the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman with symptoms of a urinary tract infection. Patrick McGann and his co-authors note, “the patient reported no travel history within the prior 5 months.” And they found the gene within three weeks of launching systematic efforts to look for it. Maryn McKenna reports at Germination:

The Pennsylvania woman’s diagnosis occurred thanks to a system set up within the DOD after MCR was discovered. Since last fall, any E. coli that was already resistant to a family of drugs known as ESBLs (extended-spectrum beta-lactams), as hers was, has been sent up the chain to Walter Reed, to be scrutinized for colistin resistance. That kind of systematic checking for antibiotic resistance, known as active surveillance, is rare in the United States. Most civilian surveillance systems are patchy; they focus only on foodborne illnesses, or rely on physicians or labs to report diagnoses, or draw from a few state health departments with already well-funded labs.

In addition to this discovery by the Department of Defense, an HHS.gov blog post reports, “A USDA and HHS search for colistin-resistant bacteria in food animals, retail meats and people also has found colistin-resistant E. coli in a single sample from a pig intestine.” Over the past year, these three agencies have been involved in surveillance and research activities as part of President Obama’s National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

MCR-1 is of particular concern because it’s carried on a plasmid, a small piece of DNA that can easily transfer from one strain of bacteria to another. While the bacteria from the Pennsylvania woman was susceptible to some antibiotics, the fear is that a separate multi-drug resistant bacteria — like “nightmare bacteria” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) — could acquire MCR-1. In other words, we could soon be facing bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics currently available. In such a “post-antibiotics future,” medical procedures that are now routine, like dialysis or hip replacements, could carry the risk of untreatable infections.

The fact that US agencies discovered MCR-1 in a human patient and animal sample is a sign of success for their new surveillance efforts. CDC and USDA are investigating possible sources of these infections and working to identify any other cases. Worldwide, surveillance efforts have succeded in identifying MCR-1 in samples from a variety of sources in several diffeent countries. Where we’re lagging, though, is in adressing the root of the problem: inappropriate use of antibiotics. Lance Price of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center (ARAC) at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (where I also work) had this statement:

Much like in the U.S., Chinese livestock producers are overusing antibiotics to prevent diseases and make animals grow faster. Colistin is widely used in Chinese livestock and this use likely led to the evolution of mcr-1. This promiscuous gene can be transferred from bacterium to bacterium, increasing the likelihood that it will find its way to CRE. History shows that mobile resistance genes can spread quickly around the world, silently riding in people, animals, and food. We’re watching this scenario play out in real time.

Scientists rang the alarm bells about mcr-1 back in November, but the attention didn’t last much longer than an average news cycle. Now we find that this gene has made its way into pigs and people in the U.S. If our leaders were waiting to act until they could see the cliff’s edge—I hope this opens their eyes to the abyss that lies before us. It’s time to act. We need a global agreement to end the abuse of all medically important antibiotics in livestock production in the U.S. and around the world.

I wish I could express some optimism about the likelihood of US leaders responding to this threat with the force and urgency it deserves. But if our current Congress can’t even approve sufficient funds for Zika virus response, when the virus is already circulating in Puerto Rico, I fear they won’t consider the MCR-1 discovery to be the wake-up call it ought to be.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1Uhznze

Back in November, researchers from China reported finding a gene that confers resistance to the last-resort antibiotic colistin in several E. coli isolates, and warned that pan-drug resistant Enterobacteriaceae — a family of bacteria that includes common foodborne illness culprits E. coli and Salmonella — “is inevitable and will ultimately become global.” As researchers in other countries began examining stored isolates for the gene, MCR-1, they found it. STAT’s Helen Branswell reports it “has been found in many European countries, parts of Asia, North Africa, South America, and North America, including Canada.”

Last week, researchers from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research reported in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that they’ve found MCR-1 in the U.S. Specifically, they identified it in E. coli cultured from the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman with symptoms of a urinary tract infection. Patrick McGann and his co-authors note, “the patient reported no travel history within the prior 5 months.” And they found the gene within three weeks of launching systematic efforts to look for it. Maryn McKenna reports at Germination:

The Pennsylvania woman’s diagnosis occurred thanks to a system set up within the DOD after MCR was discovered. Since last fall, any E. coli that was already resistant to a family of drugs known as ESBLs (extended-spectrum beta-lactams), as hers was, has been sent up the chain to Walter Reed, to be scrutinized for colistin resistance. That kind of systematic checking for antibiotic resistance, known as active surveillance, is rare in the United States. Most civilian surveillance systems are patchy; they focus only on foodborne illnesses, or rely on physicians or labs to report diagnoses, or draw from a few state health departments with already well-funded labs.

In addition to this discovery by the Department of Defense, an HHS.gov blog post reports, “A USDA and HHS search for colistin-resistant bacteria in food animals, retail meats and people also has found colistin-resistant E. coli in a single sample from a pig intestine.” Over the past year, these three agencies have been involved in surveillance and research activities as part of President Obama’s National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

MCR-1 is of particular concern because it’s carried on a plasmid, a small piece of DNA that can easily transfer from one strain of bacteria to another. While the bacteria from the Pennsylvania woman was susceptible to some antibiotics, the fear is that a separate multi-drug resistant bacteria — like “nightmare bacteria” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) — could acquire MCR-1. In other words, we could soon be facing bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics currently available. In such a “post-antibiotics future,” medical procedures that are now routine, like dialysis or hip replacements, could carry the risk of untreatable infections.

The fact that US agencies discovered MCR-1 in a human patient and animal sample is a sign of success for their new surveillance efforts. CDC and USDA are investigating possible sources of these infections and working to identify any other cases. Worldwide, surveillance efforts have succeded in identifying MCR-1 in samples from a variety of sources in several diffeent countries. Where we’re lagging, though, is in adressing the root of the problem: inappropriate use of antibiotics. Lance Price of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center (ARAC) at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (where I also work) had this statement:

Much like in the U.S., Chinese livestock producers are overusing antibiotics to prevent diseases and make animals grow faster. Colistin is widely used in Chinese livestock and this use likely led to the evolution of mcr-1. This promiscuous gene can be transferred from bacterium to bacterium, increasing the likelihood that it will find its way to CRE. History shows that mobile resistance genes can spread quickly around the world, silently riding in people, animals, and food. We’re watching this scenario play out in real time.

Scientists rang the alarm bells about mcr-1 back in November, but the attention didn’t last much longer than an average news cycle. Now we find that this gene has made its way into pigs and people in the U.S. If our leaders were waiting to act until they could see the cliff’s edge—I hope this opens their eyes to the abyss that lies before us. It’s time to act. We need a global agreement to end the abuse of all medically important antibiotics in livestock production in the U.S. and around the world.

I wish I could express some optimism about the likelihood of US leaders responding to this threat with the force and urgency it deserves. But if our current Congress can’t even approve sufficient funds for Zika virus response, when the virus is already circulating in Puerto Rico, I fear they won’t consider the MCR-1 discovery to be the wake-up call it ought to be.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1Uhznze

New Online Summer Science Camp!

Keep kids engaged with science, technology, engineering, and math with the Science Buddies Summer STEM Camp! Add this flexible, convenient, online camp to your summer mix for creative robotics, electronics, and Raspberry Pi fun all summer long!

Get Creative with Summer Science Camp!

Participants in the Science Buddies Summer STEM Camp will work on projects from either the BlueBot: 4-in-1 Robotics Kit or the Raspberry Pi Projects Kit—or both!

The BlueBot Kit can be used to build four different robots, and Campers will be challenged to do even more with their BlueBots! The Raspberry Pi Projects Kit has eight activities in which students explore Scratch programming and electronics to make interactive creations. Campers will receive additional challenges and support to move beyond the core activities by the end of Camp.

Camp officially opens June 6, but students can get started at any time during the summer. Science Buddies' flexible Camp program provides weekly activities for students (based on the kit(s) being used), support and encouragement from a team of enthusiastic science experts, additional challenges for eager students, and real-world connections that help students see how the projects they are doing and making relate to STEM in the real world.

Virtual Camp Convenience

Once enrolled, campers can log in at any time and as frequently as they want, making it easy to fit Camp in regardless of other summer plans. Camp ends August 5, 2016.

Enroll Today!

Find out more (or sign up) in the Science Buddies Store.

from Science Buddies Blog http://ift.tt/1RNenyI

Keep kids engaged with science, technology, engineering, and math with the Science Buddies Summer STEM Camp! Add this flexible, convenient, online camp to your summer mix for creative robotics, electronics, and Raspberry Pi fun all summer long!

Get Creative with Summer Science Camp!

Participants in the Science Buddies Summer STEM Camp will work on projects from either the BlueBot: 4-in-1 Robotics Kit or the Raspberry Pi Projects Kit—or both!

The BlueBot Kit can be used to build four different robots, and Campers will be challenged to do even more with their BlueBots! The Raspberry Pi Projects Kit has eight activities in which students explore Scratch programming and electronics to make interactive creations. Campers will receive additional challenges and support to move beyond the core activities by the end of Camp.

Camp officially opens June 6, but students can get started at any time during the summer. Science Buddies' flexible Camp program provides weekly activities for students (based on the kit(s) being used), support and encouragement from a team of enthusiastic science experts, additional challenges for eager students, and real-world connections that help students see how the projects they are doing and making relate to STEM in the real world.

Virtual Camp Convenience

Once enrolled, campers can log in at any time and as frequently as they want, making it easy to fit Camp in regardless of other summer plans. Camp ends August 5, 2016.

Enroll Today!

Find out more (or sign up) in the Science Buddies Store.

from Science Buddies Blog http://ift.tt/1RNenyI

EPA Celebrates Inaugural Environmental Justice Academy Graduation

2016 Inaugural Environmental Justice Academy Graduates with EPA Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability Staff

By Denise Tennessee, US EPA 

On Saturday, May 6, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency celebrated the graduation of the inaugural class of the Region 4 Environmental Justice Leadership Academy: a program initiated by our Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability (OEJS). During the ceremony at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, we honored 21 graduates from five Southeastern states.

Two OEJS staff, Ms. Sheryl Good and Ms. Daphne Wilson, recognized that many communities throughout the region – which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida – are burdened by inequitable environmental concerns. While we do provide support through funding opportunities and technical assistance programs to our communities, we saw that the agency could do more to assist in building the capacity of community leaders so that they may better address their environmental challenges.

Thus, the idea for the Environmental Justice Academy was born.

The EJ Academy is an in-depth leadership development program that offers community leaders the knowledge and skills needed to be more effective in identifying and addressing the environmental and public health challenges in their communities.

We are proud of our graduates for having completed this rigorous nine-month program.

Click to learn how to use the CPS Model in your communities.

Each module of the EJ Academy focused on one element of the EPA’s Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) model, which is a seven-step process for bringing about positive change and community revitalization. The CPS model emphasizes the need for community leaders, community members and their stakeholders to work together to establish mutually beneficial partnerships and solutions.

Participants were taught how to leverage human, social, technical, legal and financial resources to ensure successful collaboration and negotiation as well as how to increase the capacity of all community members as a means to establish long-term progress.

In addition to lectures by internal and external subject-matter experts, in-class exercises and homework assignments, the participants were asked to identify an environmental challenge in their community. Throughout the program, the participants were asked to apply their new skills towards designing and implementing solutions to engage their community to overcome this challenge. With individualized feedback, guidance and assistance from the experts brought in by the EJ Academy, participants were able to complete a community portfolio, which may assist them in securing funding, describing community resources and challenges, and establishing credibility amongst stakeholders, as well as an action plan to guide organizational activities.

Throughout the program, the EJ Academy assisted participants to identify and secure potential partners, to interact directly with technical experts from the EPA and other organizations, to network with regional community leaders to establish mutually beneficial relationships, and to match with nearby academic institutions in EPA’s College Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) to provide technical assistance for the implementation of each respective project.

Please contact R4_EJAcademy@epa.gov for more information.

People interested in applying for the next EJ Academy class should reside in a Region 4 state and be able to demonstrate that they are actively involved in a leadership capacity in a community that has been disproportionately impacted from environmental contaminants.

Congratulations to the inaugural Environmental Justice Academy graduates. We have graduated a remarkable class. We feel strongly that each and every one of our graduates has the ability to make a visible difference in the communities that they serve. Their achievement underscores our commitment at the EPA to help improve the health and viability of all communities, including some of the most vulnerable populations. We look forward to watching the incredible things that these graduates do!

And stay tuned to the Environmental Justice in Action blog because we will be highlighting the stories and work of our amazing EJ Academy graduates!

About the Author: Denise Tennessee is the Director of the EPA’s Region 4 Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Atlanta, Georgia. She is responsible for implementing the environmental justice, pollution prevention and source reduction programs, and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities initiative in eight southeastern states. With over 34 years of professional experience, she has also worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/1O5lV5a

2016 Inaugural Environmental Justice Academy Graduates with EPA Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability Staff

By Denise Tennessee, US EPA 

On Saturday, May 6, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency celebrated the graduation of the inaugural class of the Region 4 Environmental Justice Leadership Academy: a program initiated by our Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability (OEJS). During the ceremony at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, we honored 21 graduates from five Southeastern states.

Two OEJS staff, Ms. Sheryl Good and Ms. Daphne Wilson, recognized that many communities throughout the region – which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida – are burdened by inequitable environmental concerns. While we do provide support through funding opportunities and technical assistance programs to our communities, we saw that the agency could do more to assist in building the capacity of community leaders so that they may better address their environmental challenges.

Thus, the idea for the Environmental Justice Academy was born.

The EJ Academy is an in-depth leadership development program that offers community leaders the knowledge and skills needed to be more effective in identifying and addressing the environmental and public health challenges in their communities.

We are proud of our graduates for having completed this rigorous nine-month program.

Click to learn how to use the CPS Model in your communities.

Each module of the EJ Academy focused on one element of the EPA’s Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) model, which is a seven-step process for bringing about positive change and community revitalization. The CPS model emphasizes the need for community leaders, community members and their stakeholders to work together to establish mutually beneficial partnerships and solutions.

Participants were taught how to leverage human, social, technical, legal and financial resources to ensure successful collaboration and negotiation as well as how to increase the capacity of all community members as a means to establish long-term progress.

In addition to lectures by internal and external subject-matter experts, in-class exercises and homework assignments, the participants were asked to identify an environmental challenge in their community. Throughout the program, the participants were asked to apply their new skills towards designing and implementing solutions to engage their community to overcome this challenge. With individualized feedback, guidance and assistance from the experts brought in by the EJ Academy, participants were able to complete a community portfolio, which may assist them in securing funding, describing community resources and challenges, and establishing credibility amongst stakeholders, as well as an action plan to guide organizational activities.

Throughout the program, the EJ Academy assisted participants to identify and secure potential partners, to interact directly with technical experts from the EPA and other organizations, to network with regional community leaders to establish mutually beneficial relationships, and to match with nearby academic institutions in EPA’s College Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) to provide technical assistance for the implementation of each respective project.

Please contact R4_EJAcademy@epa.gov for more information.

People interested in applying for the next EJ Academy class should reside in a Region 4 state and be able to demonstrate that they are actively involved in a leadership capacity in a community that has been disproportionately impacted from environmental contaminants.

Congratulations to the inaugural Environmental Justice Academy graduates. We have graduated a remarkable class. We feel strongly that each and every one of our graduates has the ability to make a visible difference in the communities that they serve. Their achievement underscores our commitment at the EPA to help improve the health and viability of all communities, including some of the most vulnerable populations. We look forward to watching the incredible things that these graduates do!

And stay tuned to the Environmental Justice in Action blog because we will be highlighting the stories and work of our amazing EJ Academy graduates!

About the Author: Denise Tennessee is the Director of the EPA’s Region 4 Office of Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Atlanta, Georgia. She is responsible for implementing the environmental justice, pollution prevention and source reduction programs, and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities initiative in eight southeastern states. With over 34 years of professional experience, she has also worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

from The EPA Blog http://ift.tt/1O5lV5a

How Does Quantum Mechanics Allow The Sun To Shine? (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]

“The bedrock nature of space and time and the unification of cosmos and quantum are surely among science’s great ‘open frontiers.’ These are parts of the intellectual map where we’re still groping for the truth – where, in the fashion of ancient cartographers, we must still inscribe ‘here be dragons.'” -Martin Rees

Inside the nuclear furnace of the Sun, protons and other atomic nuclei are compressed together into a tiny region of space, where the incredible temperatures and energies try to overcome the repulsive forces of their electric charges. At a maximum temperature of 15 million K, and with a long-tailed (Poisson) distribution of energies at the highest end, we can compute how many protons are energetic enough to overcome the Coulomb barrier.

Different colors, masses and sizes of main-sequence stars. Image credit: Morgan-Keenan-Kellman spectral classification, by wikipedia user Kieff; annotations by E. Siegel.

That number is exactly zero. When you consider that 95% of stars are less massive and reach lower core temperatures than our Sun, the problem appears to be even bigger. Yet we’re saved by quantum mechanics, where spread-out wavefunctions can overlap, and nuclear fusion as we know it can proceed.

Image credit: E. Siegel, of how nuclear fusion occurs in the Sun thanks to quantum mechanics. From chapter 5 of his new book, Beyond The Galaxy.

At a fundamental level, it’s only the quantum nature of our Universe that enables the stars to shine at all.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1TXIZmR

“The bedrock nature of space and time and the unification of cosmos and quantum are surely among science’s great ‘open frontiers.’ These are parts of the intellectual map where we’re still groping for the truth – where, in the fashion of ancient cartographers, we must still inscribe ‘here be dragons.'” -Martin Rees

Inside the nuclear furnace of the Sun, protons and other atomic nuclei are compressed together into a tiny region of space, where the incredible temperatures and energies try to overcome the repulsive forces of their electric charges. At a maximum temperature of 15 million K, and with a long-tailed (Poisson) distribution of energies at the highest end, we can compute how many protons are energetic enough to overcome the Coulomb barrier.

Different colors, masses and sizes of main-sequence stars. Image credit: Morgan-Keenan-Kellman spectral classification, by wikipedia user Kieff; annotations by E. Siegel.

That number is exactly zero. When you consider that 95% of stars are less massive and reach lower core temperatures than our Sun, the problem appears to be even bigger. Yet we’re saved by quantum mechanics, where spread-out wavefunctions can overlap, and nuclear fusion as we know it can proceed.

Image credit: E. Siegel, of how nuclear fusion occurs in the Sun thanks to quantum mechanics. From chapter 5 of his new book, Beyond The Galaxy.

At a fundamental level, it’s only the quantum nature of our Universe that enables the stars to shine at all.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1TXIZmR

Should Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Be Used to Stop the Spread of Zika?

This post is part of KQED’s Do Now U project. Do Now U is a weekly activity for students and the public to engage and respond to current issues using social media. Do Now U aims to build civic engagement and digital literacy for learners of all ages. This Read More …

Source:: DoNow Science

from QUEST http://ift.tt/1UdQF0s

This post is part of KQED’s Do Now U project. Do Now U is a weekly activity for students and the public to engage and respond to current issues using social media. Do Now U aims to build civic engagement and digital literacy for learners of all ages. This Read More …

Source:: DoNow Science

from QUEST http://ift.tt/1UdQF0s