23 scientists and innovators win medals

NSF

The National Medal of Science honors researchers.

By Alan Boyle

President Barack Obama has named 12 researchers and 11 inventors as recipients of the federal government's highest honors in their fields: the National Medal of Science, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The newly named recipients will receive their awards at a White House ceremony next year.

"I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators,"?Obama said today in a White House statement. ?"They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this nation great ? and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment."

The National Medal of Science was established in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created in 1980, under the auspices of the Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office. Committees select nominees for each of the medals?? the science medal for contributions to research, and the technology medal for contributions to American competitiveness and quality of life.

National Medal of Science recipients include:

• Allen Bard, chemist focusing on artificial photosynthesis, University of Texas at Austin
• Sallie Chisholm, biologist focusing on marine organisms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Sidney Drell, physicist and arms control expert, Stanford University
• Sandra Faber, astronomer focusing on evolution of galaxies and cosmic structure, University of California at Santa Cruz
• Sylvester James Gates, physicist focusing on supersymmetry and string theory, University of Maryland
• Solomon Golomb, mathematician and the inventor of polyominoes, University of Southern California
• John Goodenough, physicist credited for development of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, University of Texas at Austin
• M. Frederick Hawthorne, chemist focusing on boron hydrides, University of Missouri
• Leroy Hood, biologist focusing on DNA medicine, Institute for Systems Biology
• Barry Mazur, mathematician focusing on geometry and number theory, Harvard University
• Lucy Shapiro, biologist focusing on developmental biology, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Anne Treisman, psychologist focusing on visual attention, perception and memory, Princeton University

NIST

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation goes to inventors and engineers.

National Medal of Technology and Innovation:

• Frances Arnold, engineer focusing on directed evolution, California Institute of Technology
• George Carruthers, inventor, physicist and space scientist, U.S. Naval Research Lab
• Robert Langer, engineer focusing on biotechnology and medical technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Norman McCombs, engineer focusing on oxygen therapy, AirSep Corp.
• Gholam Peyman, retina surgeon credited with invention of Lasik eye surgery procedure, Arizona Retinal Specialists
• Art Rosenfeld, physicist focusing on energy efficiency technologies, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Jan Vilcek, microbiologist focusing on the immune system, NYU Langone Medical Center
• IBM:?Samuel Blum,?Rangaswamy Srinivasan and?James Wynne, co-inventors of the ultraviolet excimer laser
• Raytheon BBN Technologies, R&D company focusing on military as well as civilian applications, represented by CEO Edward Campbell

The White House says the affiliations are the awardees' most recently identified employers. Some of the awardees are now retired.

More about science at the White House:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16075058-obama-names-23-scientists-and-innovators-as-medal-winners?lite

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Brampton Academy of Martial Arts - The philosophy behind Kosen ...

For students of martial arts, there is awareness that your practice involves not only physical development but a spiritual journey as well. For many the key is to find a balance and then learn how to apply them it in your day to day life, particularly during times of hardship or conflict. Kosen Bujutsu is a combination of two classical Japanese expressions that help equip you with the physical skills to defend yourself and the confidence to walk away from conflict when it is required.

Kosen is derived from the Japanese word ?ko? meaning ?high school Judo? and honours traditions of classical martial arts based on competitions from the early 1900s at the Budokuden hall in central Kyoto. Bujutsu is derived from two root words ? ?bu? meaning war or martial and d?, the Sanksrit word for ?path? or ?way?. It is the delicate balance that is achieved when deciding what fighting style is best to defeat your enemy while also paying attention to the mind, self-development and growth.

Many martial art studios find this partnership of classic and contemporary disciplines a system that will be of most benefit to their students. With a balance of Karate, defensive tactics, Ju Jutsu and Kobudo, it helps to maximize output, minimize waste and get the student in their best physical shape.

The Brampton Academy of Martial Arts values modern and traditional techniques and has incorporated the Bosen Kujutsu philosophy for over twenty years. For more information on their martial arts programs, visit them at www.amadojo.com.

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Back to Brampton Academy of Martial Arts Profile Page

Source: http://www.bramwestshoptalk.com/2012/education/the-philosophy-behind-kosen-bujutsu/

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Metamaterials experts show a way to reduce electrons' effective mass to nearly zero

Dec. 18, 2012 ? The field of metamaterials involves augmenting materials with specially designed patterns, enabling those materials to manipulate electromagnetic waves and fields in previously impossible ways. Now, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have come up with a theory for moving this phenomenon onto the quantum scale, laying out blueprints for materials where electrons have nearly zero effective mass.

Such materials could make for faster circuits with novel properties.

The work was conducted by Nader Engheta, the H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Mario G. Silveirinha, who was a visiting scholar at the Engineering School when their collaboration began. He is currently an associate professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Their paper was published in the journal Physical Review B: Rapid Communications.

Their idea was born out of the similarities and analogies between the mathematics that govern electromagnetic waves -- Maxwell's Equations -- and those that govern the quantum mechanics of electrons -- Schr?dinger's Equations.

On the electromagnetic side, inspiration came from work the two researchers had done on metamaterials that manipulate permittivity, a trait of materials related to their reaction to electric fields. They theorized that, by alternating between thin layers of materials with positive and negative permittivity, they could construct a bulk metamaterial with an effective permittivity at or near zero. Critically, this property is only achieved when an electromagnetic wave passes through the layers head on, against the grain of the stack. This directional dependence, known as anisotropy, has practical applications.

The researchers saw parallels between this phenomenon and the electron transport behavior demonstrated in Leo Esaki's Nobel Prize-winning work on superlattices in the 1970s: semiconductors constructed out of alternating layers of materials, much like the permittivity-altering metamaterial.

A semiconductor's qualities stem from the lattice-like pattern its constituent atoms are arranged in; an electron must navigate the electric potentials of all of these atoms, moving faster or slower depending on how directly it can pass by them. Esaki and his colleagues showed that, by making a superlattice out of layers of different materials, they could produce a composite material that had different electron transport properties than either of the components.

Though the actual mass of electrons is fixed, Engheta and Silveirinha thought the same principle could be applied to the effective mass of the electron. Engineers have been tailoring materials to alter the effective mass of electrons for decades; existing semiconductors that give electrons a negative effective mass were a prerequisite for the team's new theory.

"Imagine you have a ball inside a fluid," Engheta said. "You can calculate how fast the ball falls as a combination of the force of gravity and the reaction of the fluid, or you can say that the ball has an effectively different mass in the fluid than it does normally. The effective mass can even be negative, which we see in the case of a bubble. The bubble looks like it has negative mass, because it's moving against gravity, but it is really the fluid moving down around it."

Like the optical metamaterial with alternating bands of positive and negative permittivity, Engheta and Silveirinha theorized, a material with alternating bands of positive and negative effective electron mass would allow the overall structure's effective electron mass to approach zero.

And like the optical metamaterial, the electron's effective mass in this case would be anisotropic. While travelling against the grain of the alternating materials, its effective mass would be near-zero, and thus it would travel very fast. But trying to move the electron along the grain would result in a very high effective mass, making it very difficult for it to move at all. "In the direction the electrons are collimated, we see an effective mass of zero," Engheta said. "This is like what we see with graphene, where electrons have an effective mass of zero but only along its plane.

"But a plane of graphene is only one atom thick, whereas here we would see that property in a bulk material. It's essentially like the material has wires running through it, even though there is no wire surface."

As with graphene, the properties of this composite material would be dependent on structure at the smallest scale; a few stray atoms could significantly degrade the material's overall performance. A single uniform layer of atoms is ideal in both cases, and, while deposition techniques are improving, working at the scale of a few nanometers still represents a physical challenge. The team hopes to address this challenge in future studies.

"While physics prevents us from having infinite velocity, having materials that give electrons near-zero effective mass will let us move them much faster," Engheta said.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. M?rio Silveirinha, Nader Engheta. Transformation electronics: Tailoring the effective mass of electrons. Physical Review B, 2012; 86 (16) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.86.161104

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/1tTvy1q0Q2o/121218153239.htm

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The Concept Of Flow In Senior Living Design - Retirement Homes

A seamless flow and optimized space can open up, enhance and reinvent Senior Living communities.

While walking through a skilled nursing building and taking scope notes for a recent project, I started to think about the concept of flow. The dictionary?defines flow as ?movement in or as if in a stream? or something ?issued or proceeded from a source.? And it struck me that this idea of a natural flow is particularly relevant to Senior Living today.

The concept has been on my mind lately because I often see buildings that are 10, 20 or 30 years old. These buildings have evolved into whatever the?communities needed them to be at different points in time. Typically the physical changes have occurred due to staff change, ownership change or even market needs. The change happens, and over time we go with the flow. Unfortunately, the flow of change often means these buildings may no longer be optimally laid out in order to meet the community?s needs and provide its services.

With every renovation project, it is my responsibility as a designer to ask my clients about the flow of their building and come up with logical solutions that meet their needs both operationally and aesthetically. We must look at each project as an opportunity to improve the natural, seamless movement throughout physical spaces in a community with the end goal of enhancing the care provided as well as the lifestyles that the residents value.

My advice to clients is to consider the characteristics and needs of the population their building serves. Do they need more space or less space? What?services would they like to offer their residents that would require different space? What are their community?s storage needs? Do they need additional office and administrative areas in order to provide efficiency and privacy for personnel and also to free up the common spaces in the community? I like to have my clients imagine that their building is a completely blank slate and ask them to create their community?s wish list. I also like to ask clients what they would like guests to see first upon entering the building and consider what type of first impression they want to create.

Once these questions have been answered, a Senior Living professional can look to their interior designer for help developing an effective plan to optimize the building?s space and movement. I recommend having a designer create a diagram of the perfect building as if there were no limitations, and then look at the diagram options to decide what is realistic. If a project has a lower budget it can be implemented in phases, using a one-to three-year plan.

There are many buildings in Senior Living communities today in need of a flow makeover. When such buildings are opened up, enhanced and reinvented, the
entire community will benefit from the order, balance and beauty of seamless flow and optimized space.

Retirement Communities near You Other Locations?

• Welcome to Emeritus at Villa de Anza!! A place to call home - many do. Emeritus at Villa de Anza offers a home like setting and cheerful smiles ...

• Our community is located in the heart of historic Oak Park, just around the corner from RUSH Oak Park Hospital and is convenient to shops, galleries and ...

• Step into a Sunrise Assisted Living community and you can't help but feel at home. We stop at nothing to make your experience warm and inviting, from our ...

• Holley Court Terrace provides a full range of choices for today?s seniors. Choosing a senior living community represents a lifestyle choice and we understand ...

• Wyndemere is much more than a place to live. It?s a vibrant community that nearly 300 residents are proud to call home. Nestled on 22 charming acres ...

• Step into a Sunrise Assisted Living community and you can't help but feel at home. We stop at nothing to make your experience warm and inviting, from our ...

• Discover our beautifully landscaped courtyard and gardens, enjoy our fine cuisine or join in an activity or social group. At Brighton Gardens, we have ...

• Holley Court Terrace provides a full range of choices for today?s seniors. Choosing a senior living community represents a lifestyle choice and we understand ...

• The NEW Admiral at the Lake will bring state-of-the-art retirement living backed by 150 years of experience to Chicago seniors. With a refundable entrance ...

• The Moorings of Arlington Heights is a continuing care community for people who believe retirement is a time of endless possibilities. There's a spirit ...

• Discover our beautifully landscaped courtyard and gardens, enjoy our fine cuisine or join in an activity or social group. At Brighton Gardens, we have ...

• This is one of the premier retirement communities in the nation. Lake Forest Place is situated on 49 wooded acres in a country-like setting, yet it is ...

• Our community is located in the heart of historic Oak Park, just around the corner from RUSH Oak Park Hospital and is convenient to shops, galleries and ...

• Nestled among 41 acres of lush, wooded landscape, Clare Oaks, Bartlett?s first and only full-service retirement community with continuing care options, ...

Search for a Retirement Community

Source: http://www.retirementhomes.com/library/the-concept-of-flow-in-senior-living-design/

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Popular TV chef recipes 'less healthy' than supermarket ready meals

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Recipes created by popular television chefs contain significantly more energy, protein, fat, and saturated fat and less fibre per portion than supermarket ready meals, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today.

The authors suggest including nutritional information on recipes in cookery books. Consideration should also be given to regulation of the recipes demonstrated by television chefs similar to that limiting advertisement of foods classified as high in fat, salt, or sugar, they add.

By 2020, it is estimated that over 70% of adult in the United Kingdom and the United States will be overweight, boosting rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Previous studies suggest that both supermarket ready meals and television chef recipes influence many peoples' diets, but no study has comprehensively examined the nutritional content of either.

So, a team of researchers based at NHS Tees and Newcastle University analysed the nutritional content of television chef recipes with own brand supermarket ready meals. They then compared both types of meals to dietary guidelines published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA).

They randomly selected 100 main meal recipes from five bestselling cookery books by UK television chefs and 100 own brand ready meals from the three leading UK supermarkets.

Recipes were included from 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver, Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale, Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson, and River Cottage Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Own brand ready meals were from Asda, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Nutritional content was calculated from the raw ingredients stated in the recipes and ready meals.

No recipe or ready meal fully complied with the WHO recommendations for the avoidance of diet related diseases. Both types of meals tended to be high in protein, fat, saturated fat, and salt, low in carbohydrate, and within the recommended range for sugar.

Meals based on television chef recipes were less healthy than ready meals, as they contained significantly more energy, protein, fat, and saturated fat and significantly less fibre per portion than ready meals. The recipes were also more likely to achieve "red traffic light" labels according to FSA criteria than ready meals.

Despite reported efforts from industry to reduce the salt content of prepared meals, only 4% of the ready meals met the WHO recommendation. The recipes were more likely to comply with the recommendation, although the authors point out that salt used for seasoning was not assessed.

"This study shows that neither recipes created by popular television chefs nor ready meals produced by three leading UK supermarket chains meet national or international nutritional standards for a balanced diet," say the authors. "The recipes seemed to be less healthy than the ready meals on several metrics," they add.

They say that maximum nutritional benefit "is likely to be derived from home cooking of nutritionally balanced recipes primarily using raw ingredients, rather than relying on ready meals or recipes by television chefs."

And they conclude: "Further reformulation of ready meals in line with international nutritional guidelines, and collaboration with television chefs to improve the nutritional quality of their recipes, may also help consumers to achieve a balanced diet."

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BMJ-British Medical Journal: http://www.bma.org

Thanks to BMJ-British Medical Journal for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 48 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125984/Popular_TV_chef_recipes__less_healthy__than_supermarket_ready_meals

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Gaming chair mimics a full-motion simulator

Paul Marks, chief technology correspondent

(Image: Greg Pease/Getty)

Multi-million-dollar full-motion flight simulators give trainee pilots a good approximation of the ups and downs of real flight, but the powerful hydraulic rams they are mounted on make them far too big, expensive and dangerous for the home. Gamers should take heart, though: a novel kind of gaming chair called a haptic seat might one day bring them at least some of the sensations of a full-motion simulator.

The idea is predicated on the fact that motion produces certain force effects on your body - you are pressed down into the armrests of your seat as a helicopter, say, moves upwards. So Fabien Danieau of Technicolor in Rennes, France, and colleagues at the nearby?INRIA lab?reasoned that a chair with armrests and a headrest that can reproduce these effects, in tandem with the strong reinforcing visuals on screen, could mimic complex motion sensations.

To test the idea, they rigged up a chair in which a headrest and two armrests were each moved independently by a commercial game controller called a Novint Falcon which has a strong force-feedback capability. They then wrote simulation software that uses the Novint system to move the armrests up slightly to make you feel you are dropping - and vice versa. Moving one armrest more than the other, meanwhile, makes users feel they are rolling to one side. Push the headrest forward a tad and you'll feel you've slowed down quickly - or pull it back a bit and you'll feel your head is being dragged back by acceleration.

All three units can be moved at once to provide more complex motion sensations like rolling as speed changes, too. In tests, the team let 17 volunteers try out the system: they reported a "realistic sensation of self motion". The plan now is to extend the number of actuators to boost believability: "The prototype could be extended by adding more points of stimulation, for instance, for the legs," the team say in their paper.

The jury-rigged system they put together looks odd, with the force-feedback units mounted on a steel frame surrounding the chair, but the idea is that the tech could one day be built invisibly into a commercial gaming chair "to simulate a sensation of motion in a consumer environment". There are other ideas that could be built into future chairs, too: creepy chair-back vibrators that introduce spine-tingling effects are in development by Disney, for instance. The team presented their work at a conference on virtual reality in Toronto, Canada, last week.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/26b88395/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Conepercent0C20A120C120Cgaming0Echair0Efull0Emotion0Esimulator0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Video: Obama names victims: "God has called them all home" (cbsnews)

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