Day: March 1, 2019

African School of Physics Program Aims to Launch More Science Careers

Africa-born particle physicist Ketevi Assamagan is a man on a science mission. His goal is to bring science education to a new generation of African youth through a traveling program known as the African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications, or ASP.

“Sometimes, people just need some help to be able to find the right resources,” said Assamagan, one of the founders. Assamagan works at the U.S. Energy Department’s Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York, experimenting with a huge device or collider that beams tiny particles at each other, almost at the speed of light.

“So, together with some colleagues, we decided to create this school,” said Assamagan, who earned a doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1995. Gratitude to past mentors fueled the desire to start the ASP, said Assamagan, who was born in Guinea but grew up in Togo.

Positive elements

The ASP program runs for three weeks every two years in a different African country. The first was in 2010 in South Africa, with subsequent gatherings in Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda and Namibia. The next is planned for July 2020 in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Each workshop brings together up to 80 students, who are treated to intensive lectures and training by top-flight physicists.

“We get students from all over Africa [who] have at least three years of university education,” Assamagan said. “The majority of them are usually at the master’s level and they come from different fields: nuclear and high energy physics, medical applications, computing, mathematics and theoretical physics.”

The students’ expenses are covered by roughly 20 international sponsors, including the Brookhaven lab; the International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy; the South African Department of Science and Technology; and Italy’s National Institute for Nuclear Physics. 

Another sponsor has been the European Center for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, in Geneva. Assamagan worked on CERN’s particle accelerator for several years while conducting research on the elusive Higgs boson subatomic particle. He left in 2001 to join Brookhaven.

Sustained support

After the program, participants are paired with senior mentors who offer advice on additional education, teaching and research opportunities, both in Africa and abroad.

For Zimbabwe native Last Feremenga, participation in the 2010 ASP workshop served as a springboard to a doctorate in physics from the University of Texas. Now he’s a data scientist with Digital Reasoning, an artificial intelligence firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

“I sift through large datasets of written text in search of rare forms of conversations/language. These rare conversations are useful for our clients from health care to finance,” the 32-year-old told VOA in an email. He added that he’s using “similar tactics” to those he learned at ASP.

Julia MacKenzie, senior director of international affairs for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says training programs such as ASP are especially important in developing countries.

“Science is increasingly recognized as an important engine of economic growth and societal advancement,” she wrote in an email. She noted “increasing numbers of such programs on the African continent, where there is a surging young population entering the workforce.”

“A potential impact of graduate training is exposure to new ideas and people,” MacKenzie added. “Any time graduate students can come together, it’s likely that new friendships will form, and those relationships can provide support through inevitable challenges and spawn new collaborations.”

Hands-on learning

Assamagan says that when he was in high school in Togo, science was taught from second-hand textbooks from abroad. There was no experimentation.

“Direct involvement … in terms of playing with things and getting mental challenge to try to figure it out was not really there,” he said. “We want to resolve that” through ASP.

The 70 or so science teachers at the workshop last year in Namibia learned hands-on experiments that could be replicated with scant equipment and resources. 

For example, using only a small plastic box with an aluminum plate, tin foil, Styrofoam, pure alcohol and dry ice, high school students could build a tabletop “cloud chamber” to simulate the detection of cosmic particles from outer space. Another experiment taught physics to elementary school children by way of art. The children could drip paint on a canvas tilted at various angles, then observe the patterns the paint made as it descended.

“You can then start introducing the idea of gravity,” Assamagan said, adding, “And then relating things falling down to the Earth going around the sun as being driven by the same force.”

Assamagan predicts a bright future for physics research in Africa. He says he sees talent and commitment, but that more digital libraries, along with continent-wide access to high-speed internet connections and the political will to provide them, are needed.

VOA Africa division’s Carol Guensburg contributed to this report.

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Scientists See Evidence of Underground Lake System on Mars

Scientists say images of craters taken by European and American space probes show there likely once was a planet-wide system of underground lakes on Mars.

Data collected by NASA and ESA probes orbiting the red planet provide the first geological evidence for an ancient Martian groundwater system, according to a study by researchers in Italy and the Netherlands published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Francesco Salese, one of the scientists involved, said in an email Friday that the findings confirm earlier models and smaller-scale studies, and that the underground lakes may have been connected to each other.

The notion of water on Mars has long fascinated scientists because of the possibility that the planet may have once harbored similar conditions to those that allowed life to develop on Earth. Patches of ice previously spotted on Mars provide tantalizing hints of a watery past for the arid world.

Researchers said flow channels, pool-shaped valleys and fan-shaped sediment deposits seen in dozens of kilometers-deep craters in Mars’ northern hemisphere would have needed water to form.

Co-author Gian Gabriele Ori said an ocean some scientists speculate Mars may once have had between three and four billion years ago could even have been connected to the underground lakes.

The researchers also saw signs of minerals such as clay on Mars that would have required long periods of exposure to water to form. Ralf Jaumann, a planetary scientist at the German Aerospace Center who wasn’t directly involved in the study, said such sites are a good starting point for future Mars landers to search for signs of ancient life.

However Jack Mustard, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University who also wasn’t part of the study, questioned the paper’s claims, saying he didn’t see evidence of underground lakes in the data.

“But I am probably just a skeptical Martian,” he added.

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Ebola Likely to Spread in Eastern DRC as Security Worsens

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the deadly Ebola virus is likely to spread in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo because of deteriorating security in conflict-ridden North Kivu and Ituri provinces.

The latest WHO figures put the number of Ebola cases at 885, including 555 deaths.

International efforts to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in eastern DR Congo have hit a serious roadblock. The charity Doctors Without Borders has suspended its life-saving operations. The action follows attacks on two of its Ebola treatment centers this week — the first on February 24 in Katwa, followed by an attack three days later in Butembo.

The World Health Organization called the attacks deplorable and said there is a great risk of the spread of the disease. During the attack on the facility in Butembo, four Ebola patients fled for their lives.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said three of the patients have since returned, while one is still missing.

“If you want, the positive note is that all of these four patients were convalescent, that means they were already getting better,” he said. “Hence, they had a lower viral load, which makes it way less likely for further infections.But yes, it is highly important to find those people, that last patient and then, of course, immediately start the contact tracing and monitor the contacts these patients might have been in touch with.”

Lindmeier said the WHO remains committed to staying in the DRC until the job is done. However, he notes that an Ebola outbreak as complex as this one can only be managed collectively and by having all the partners on the ground. He added that it is normal to expect organizations to do whatever is necessary to protect their staffs.

The Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces is the second largest in history after the 2014 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people.Prior to the recent incidents, progress was being made in containing the spread of the Ebola virus in the DRC.

The WHO reports the disease is now largely under control in the former hot spots of Mangina, Beni, and Komanda.It says more than 250 people have been cured and 80,000 protected through vaccination.

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US Consumer Spending Fell 0.5 Percent in December

U.S. consumer spending tumbled 0.5 percent in December, the biggest decline in nine years, as the holiday shopping season ended in disappointment. Meanwhile, incomes rose sharply in December but edged down in January.

The fall in consumer spending followed sizable gains of 0.7 percent in October and 0.6 percent in November, the Commerce Department reported Friday. December’s result means that spending for the quarter decelerated significantly, a primary factor in the slowing of overall economy in the final three months of the year. Gross domestic product recorded a growth rate of 2.6 percent after a 3.4 percent gain in the third quarter.

Incomes jumped 1 percent in December, though slipped 0.1 percent in January. The government did not release spending data for January because of delays stemming from the government shutdown.

The big fall in spending reflected sizable declines in purchases of durable goods such as autos, as well as nondurable goods such as clothing during the all-important holiday shopping season. The result shows that consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic growth, was showing significant weakness heading into the current quarter.

Many economists believe that GDP growth will slow further during the current January-March period, with some expecting GDP to drop to a growth rate of 2 percent or lower.

Inflation, as measured by a gauge preferred by the Federal Reserve, was up 1.7 percent for the past 12 months ending in December. That’s the slowest 12-month pace since a similar 12-month gain for the period ending in October 2017 and is below the Fed’s 2 percent target for annual price increases.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress this week that with a number of economic risks facing the country and with inflation so low, the central bank intends to be “patient” in deciding when to change interest rates again.

The move to a prolonged pause in further rate hikes, which the Fed had announced at its January meeting, has cheered financial markets which had been worried that the central bank, which hiked its benchmark rate four times last year, could move rates up too quickly, raising the risks of an economic downturn.

The spending and income report showed that the saving rate jumped to 7.6 percent of after-tax income in December, compared to 6.1 percent in November. That was the highest saving rate since January 2016.

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In France, Chefs Team Up with Scientists in Push for Sustainable Eating

Spelt risotto was on the menu at a recent lunch in Paris. Spelt is an ancient form of wheat with a nutty flavor. It is rich in fiber and minerals, and counts among dozens of sometimes ancient and obscure foods scientists say benefit people and the planet.

A green cuisine effort is growing in France as scientists warn that meat consumption must be drastically cut to fight climate change and sustainably feed a global human population set to reach 10 billion by 2050.

“Seventy-five percent of our food comes from 12 crops and five animals. Sixty percent of all our calories come through three vegetables,” said David Edwards, director of food strategy at environmental group WWF, which jointly produced a report, “Future 50 Foods,” with the German food giant Knorr.

The message: Our current eating habits, which rely heavily on large-scale farming and livestock production, have got to change.

“We’ve had a 60 percent decline in the wildlife population since the 1970s — the last 50 years, within a lifetime,” Edwards added. “And …  a precipitous decline in insect populations also … food has pushed wildlife into the extreme margins.”

The Paris lunch featured many of the report’s so-called “future” foods. Vegetables are in. Meat is out. On the menu: walnuts, root vegetables, lentil flour, yams and soy milk.

Also, fonio — a drought-resistant grain that Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam now markets in the United States and serves at his New York City restaurant. He sources it from smallholder farmers in Africa.

“We’re still importing food like rice in Senegal. Yet we could have our own fonio, our own millet. We should be consuming it. But we still have this mentality that what comes from the West is best,” Thiam said.

Former White House chef Sam Kass, who led Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity, is now fighting for the environment.

“When we talk about these dramatic changes to overhaul everything, people are like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know what to do.’ And here, it’s like, just pick 2 to 3 foods and eat them once a week. That would be a big start,” Kass said.

In Europe, research fellow Laura Wellesley of British think-tank Chatham House says governments must aid in a shift to so-called plant-based meat and, more controversially, meat grown in laboratories.

“The EU has really invested quite heavily in this area … but it could do more,” Wellesley said. “It could invest more public finance in the research and development of culture and plant-based meat that are truly sustainable and are healthy options. And it could also support the commercialization of innovations.”

At the Paris lunch, diner Thomas Blomme gave his first course a thumbs-up.

“[S]ome sort of soup, with a lot of spices and some new ingredients. Tasted really well with some lentils,” he said.

And for diners heading back to work but feeling a bit sleepy after the seven-course tasting menu: A green moringa after-party booster juice was offered.

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Oregon OKs 1st Statewide Mandatory Rent Control Law in US

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed the nation’s first statewide mandatory rent control measure on Thursday, giving a victory to housing advocates who say spiraling rent costs in the economically booming state have fueled widespread homelessness and housing insecurity.  

  

Brown, a Democrat, said the legislation will provide “some immediate relief to Oregonians struggling to keep up with rising rents and a tight rental market.” 

 

Landlords are now limited to increases once per year that cannot exceed 7 percent plus the change in the consumer price index, which is used to calculate inflation. 

 

The law prohibits them from serving no-cause evictions after a tenant’s first year of occupancy, a provision designed to protect those who are living paycheck to paycheck and who affordable housing advocates say are often most vulnerable to sudden rent hikes and abrupt lease terminations. 

 

New York has a statewide rent control law, but cities can choose whether to participate. California restricts the ability of cities to impose rent control. Last November, voters defeated a ballot initiative that would have overturned that law. 

Emergency measure

 

The Oregon law takes effect immediately. Democrats who control the Legislature say the state’s housing crisis justified passing the bill as an emergency measure. 

 

In hearings for the bill passed, tenants testified that they have struggled to keep up with skyrocketing rents, with many said they’ve been forced from their homes. Kori Sparks, a resident of the fast-growing city of Bend, said she relies on disability and has “to deal with the stress of losing an accessible home on short notice.” 

 

She said rent control will protect vulnerable people from “a predatory system where profit comes before people and denies them of a basic human right.”  

  

Builders in Oregon have not been able to construct enough houses and apartments to meet the demands of the thousands of people moving to the state for jobs and, in some cases, for a lower cost of living. Many people move to the state from California. 

 

A state report estimated that a renter would need to work 77 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom apartment. One in three renters in Oregon pays more than 50 percent of his or her income for rent, far higher than the congressionally set definition of housing affordability, which suggests setting aside 30 percent toward rent.   

  

In the Portland metropolitan area, rent began to plateau in 2017 after four consecutive years of rent hikes averaging 5 percent or more. The average rental unit costs about $1,400 a month, according to data released by the city.  

Many are homeless

  

Oregon is also suffering from a lack of affordable housing and has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. 

 

Landlords and developers argued that rent control would make the housing crisis worse, saying investors will now be less willing to build or maintain properties.  

  

“History has shown that rent control exacerbates shortages, makes it harder for apartment owners to make upgrades and disproportionately benefits higher-income households,” said Doug Bibby, president of the National Multifamily Housing Council, a national association representing apartment building owners. 

 

The governor acknowledged that rent control alone isn’t enough, and that the state needs an “all hands on deck” solution. Brown has proposed a $400 million investment in affordable housing solutions in her two-year budget proposal. 

 

“It will take much more to ensure that every Oregonian, in communities large and small, has access to housing choices that allow them and their families to thrive,” she said. 

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Tesla to Close Stores, Take Orders for $35,000 Model 3

Tesla says it is now taking orders for the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3, will close stores and move to online orders.

Tesla says it is now taking orders for the long-awaited $35,000 Model 3, a car for the masses that is essential for the company to survive.

The company says to reach the lower price, it’s shifting all sales worldwide from stores to online only. Some high-traffic stores, however, will remain open.

The company will offer the standard base model, which can go 220 miles (350 kilometers) per charge. It also will offer a $37,000 version with a premium interior that accelerates faster and can go 240 miles (385 kilometers) per charge.

Tesla started taking orders for the Model 3 in March of 2016, but until now hasn’t been able to cut costs enough to sell them for $35,000 and make a profit.

The cheapest one that could be ordered until Thursday started at $42,900.

 

 

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Gap to Separate Old Navy, Close Stores; Shares Jump 

Gap Inc. said Thursday that it would separate its Old Navy brand into a publicly traded company in order to focus on its struggling namesake apparel business, sending its shares up 18 percent. 

Old Navy has had a better success than the Gap brand in recent years as a wide range of budget apparel has made it more appealing to a broader base of consumers. 

“It’s clear that Old Navy’s business model and customers have increasingly diverged from our specialty brands over time,” Gap’s Chairman Robert Fisher said. 

The company also said it planned to close 230 Gap specialty stores over the next two years. 

Gap’s overall same-store sales fell 1 percent in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, compared with analysts’ average estimate of a 0.3 percent rise, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. 

Gap, Athleta, Banana Republic and the remaining brands will be part of a yet-to-be-named company. The separation is expected to be completed by 2020, Gap said. 

The company’s shares were up 17.7 percent at $29.89 in extended trading.

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