Top Tech to Enhance Education

6 devices to boost the back-to-school experience

Gone are the days of paper and pencil being the necessities for learning. Schoolwork has gone digital, meaning it’s time to gear up your students for success with the top tech that keeps them connected in the classroom and beyond.

From kid-friendly smartphones and earbuds to connected wearables and devices that keep learning fun, consider these on-trend solutions as your kids head back to school.

Find more schooltime tech by visiting Qualcomm.com/snapdragonbts.

Stay Connected

Send kids to the classroom and stay connected with a modern smartphone featuring a throwback look that may call to mind your own days at school. Thoughtfully designed to allow users to capture, create and interact with their device, the Motorola Razr runs on the powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform with a modern, ultra-pocketable design. It offers an efficient battery with ultra-fast charging and the largest external flip phone display.

Power At-Home Productivity

Students (and parents, too) can accomplish more after school like homework, studying and socializing with the Dell Inspiron 14 laptop powered by the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 Compute Platform. Equipped with the Qualcomm AI Engine, this processor enhances audio and visual experiences. Effortlessly multitask and shift between apps without sacrificing speed or battery life, given the power-efficient processor that helps deliver long battery life even in thin, light and quiet designs that don’t require a loud, hot fan.

Listen and Learn

Whether students are listening to prerecorded lessons, immersing themselves in audiobooks or simply enjoying some favorite music while completing schoolwork, high-quality earbuds can help block out noise for maximum productivity. For example, the Moto Buds 600 ANC Wireless Earbuds feature Snapdragon Sound technology that delivers advanced wireless audio quality. A game changer for wireless audio, it eliminates the gap between wireless and wired connections for high-resolution music and synced entertainment.

Opt for Kid-Friendly Wearables

If a smartphone is a bit too advanced for your little learners, an age-appropriate smartwatch that keeps them connected may be a better fit. Empower kids to be kids with an option like the Snapdragon Wear 4100-powered Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 with a range of benefits from 4G LTE cellular connectivity to games and GPS-safe zones. This smartwatch is designed with safety and fun in mind without the distractions of a smartphone so you can have some peace of mind while keeping students focused in the classroom.

Keep In Touch During Schooldays

Hectic schedules during schooldays and workdays can leave parents feeling out of the loop. When your children are ready for a ride home or a practice, game or activity gets canceled, ensure you can be the first to know by keeping them connected with the OnePlus 11 5G powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform. It combines power with effortless elegance and is driven by extreme hardware with Dolby Atmos Speakers, Dolby Vision, 80W SUPERVOOC Charging and 3rd Gen Hasselblad Camera for Mobile.

Reward Making the Grade

Custom-built to be the ultimate Android gaming handheld, the Razer Edge with the purpose-built Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 platform delivers unrivaled performance. Combined with a 144Hz AMOLED display for clarity at high speeds and a Kishi V2 Pro console-quality controller, it allows for sustained performance so users can game for hours with high-quality graphics and high frame rates. Specifically designed and optimized for gaming with an active-cooling fan, it unleashes high framerates over long play sessions.

SOURCE:
Qualcomm

Why managers’ attempts to empower their employees often fail – and even lead to unethical behavior

Employees need resources, information and support from colleagues to be truly empowered. Layla Bird/E+ Collection/Getty Images

Tobias Dennerlein, Purdue University

A majority of American workers right now are not feeling very motivated on the job, a new survey suggests.

Management experts often encourage business leaders to motivate employees by empowering them. The idea is that when workers are free to make decisions and manage their workday they become more motivated, perform better and work more creatively.

However, for decades, employee empowerment initiatives have often failed or fallen short of expectations. Zappos, for example, was once hailed for its no-bosses structure, but that experiment has largely been dismantled and abandoned in recent years.

As a leadership scholar, I have studied the effects of leader behavior on employee motivation for over a decade. I’ve learned that when companies design and implement empowering leadership initiatives, they often overlook key factors that are necessary for empowerment to work.

As a result, their efforts to empower employees often result in little impact or are entirely ineffective. In fact, they can even lead employees to engage in unethical behavior.

Here are four ways, my research shows, a company can avoid common pitfalls to empowering leadership initiatives.

1. Provide all needed resources

Empowered employees need to know they can access whatever resources they need to succeed. For example, a marketing professional might need access to information databases, planning software and a sufficient budget for market research. Employees should also feel that additional resources to support new ideas are readily available if and when needed.

To do this, companies can plan and budget jobs in ways that guarantee that employees have additional, or excess, resources to draw upon. Moreover, companies can communicate frequently – verbally in team meetings and also via digital communications – not only that resources are available when needed but also that these additional resources can be obtained easily and quickly.

2. Set clear goals and strategies

“People can’t be self-managing without information,” business management expert Gary Hamel once noted. “[T]he goal is to provide staffers with all the information they need to monitor their work and make wise decisions.”

In other words, companies can more effectively empower their employees if they divulge or communicate how their responsibilities fit into the bigger picture or strategic direction of the business. For example, the marketing professional mentioned above might benefit from an understanding of how a new product fits into the organization’s overall product portfolio.

Firms can also offer regular check-ins or town hall meetings at which everybody in the organization can ask questions about the strategic goals and vision of the company.

3. Signal clear and unwavering support

Employees who are truly empowered believe they have the emotional and physical support needed from colleagues – including supervisors, peers and subordinates – to do their jobs well. This entails verbal encouragement as well as offers to assist on tasks and projects.

Likewise, managers can emphasize that they believe in employees’ capabilities and are there to enable employee growth and autonomy. Organizations can create a company culture of support by rewarding supportive actions that promote employee self-direction.

My research along with management professor Brad Kirkman shows clearly across several studies that when employees do not have access to resources, information and support, they are not in fact empowered. As a result, the desired performance-boosting effects on their job performance, proactive behavior and creativity do not take place.

4. Remove red tape and other ‘bad’ stressors

Unnecessary red tape, office politics, ambiguity and interpersonal conflict create a lot of negative stress for employees, which hinders work performance. These “bad” stressors are different from “good” stressors that can encourage growth.

For example, the marketing professional from the previous examples might have to fill out multiple lengthy forms just to request access to an information database. Or perhaps they have to play political games to garner support for funding of a much-needed planning tool. Conflict, meanwhile, can take the form of unspoken rivalry with co-workers about perceived unjust promotions or resource allocations.

Another study that Kirkman and I conducted showed that an empowering leadership style paired with high amounts of “bad” stressors can actually backfire and be detrimental to a company. We found that employees in those situations are more likely to disengage morally from their work and act unethically than employees who work with less empowering leaders.

For example, in one of our experiments, participants were asked to solve unsolvable anagrams as part of their fictitious job. Among participants who faced higher amounts of “bad” stressors before attempting to solve the anagrams, those exposed to an empowering leader were 75% more likely to lie about solving their puzzles for the sake of their organization than those who were exposed to a leader who was described as not empowering.

Empowering leadership instills in employees a mindset to get things done and a desire to pay back the organization for the empowerment received. But without the information, resources and support to succeed – or when there is a lot of negative stress in employees’ work environments – people seem to switch to an expediency mindset whereby anything goes.

If business executives truly want to empower their employees, they cannot merely encourage managers to empower their subordinates. They must go the extra mile and address the four factors identified above. Otherwise, employees can feel left dangling in the void, struggling to prove their ability and even tempted to take actions that could eventually harm the company.

Tobias Dennerlein, Assistant Professor of Management, Purdue University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

The beautiful pessimism at the heart of Jimmy Buffett’s music

Buffett’s first hit, ‘Come Monday,’ was written when the artist was deeply depressed and suicidal. Bettmann/Getty Images

Drew M. Dalton, Dominican University

With the death of Jimmy Buffett, the feathers of his loyal network of fans – affectionately known as Parrot Heads – collectively drooped.

Over the course of his career, Buffett earned their love by transforming himself into a kind of musical shaman who offered transport from the banalities of everyday life to the bounty of a never-never land of eternal sun, endless sandy beaches and bottomless boat drinks: Margaritaville.

As a young fan in the 1980s and 1990s, I marveled at the power of Buffett’s music to carry his audience to this fantastic utopia, seeing in it nothing more than a bit of harmless fun.

But as I matured and eventually became a professor of philosophy, I came to see Buffett’s music as less an expression of optimistic pleasure-seeking and more a reflection of a profoundly pessimistic assessment of the trials and tribulations of life. Now his work strikes me as a closer companion to the pessimistic conclusions of the 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer than to the hedonism of leisure culture.

I see this hidden pessimism – which underlies most of Buffett’s music – as the key to its enduring power and allure.

An escape to Saint Somewhere

Half troubadour and half travel agent, Buffett has long been in the business of selling escape.

Escapism was not only the driving force and centerpiece of his 30 studio albums and the main plotline of his three novels. It was also the heart and soul of his billion-dollar business empire, which included two restaurant chains, a line of frozen dinners and a fleet of hotels and casinos.

These myriad products, as their varied taglines and marketing campaigns tout, promise to carry their consumer away from the monotony of suburbia to the galleys of some imaginary Caribbean Island – “Saint Somewhere,” as Buffett put it in his 1979 hit “Boat Drinks.”

Buffett readily admitted his commitment to supplying his fans with some relief from reality. In his 2004 appearance on “60 Minutes,” he gleefully professed, “I sell escapism.” When interviewed by Sports Illustrated in 2007 he said, “I’m just doing my part to add a little more escapism to an otherwise crazy world.”

The question remains, however: Why are people so consistently drawn to Buffett’s special brand of escapism? Or to escapism in general?

Answering this question uncovers the pessimistic heart of Buffett’s work.

Just a little relief

Buffett himself ventured an answer to this question in the afterword of his 2004 novel, “A Salty Piece of Land”: “… now, more than ever, we don’t just enjoy our escapism – we NEED it.”

For Buffett, escapism was not merely something fun, some fiddling flight of fancy that can be taken up or discarded at will.

It is something essential to our survival – something that, as he put it in his 1974 track “Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season,” “cleans [us] out” so that it’s possible to move on with life.

To love the music of Jimmy Buffett, in other words, is not to love life. It is to pessimistically admit that life is difficult and that it needs to be escaped every once in a while just to be endured.

In Buffett’s music one catches a glimpse, however fleeting and even false, of the possibility that somewhere out there, somewhere beyond the persistent struggles and disappointment of life, there lies “somewhere warm,” as he puts it: some utopia where all our fears and anxieties might be wiped away and we can heal from whatever grieves us, whether the heartache of a breakup or the trauma of having “[blown] out a flip-flop,” or “stepped on a pop top.”

“When I look out at my audience,” Buffett noted in a 1998 interview with Time magazine, “I see people who are caring for aging parents and dealing with tough jobs, adolescent kids, and they look like they could use a little relief.”

And that’s what he endeavored to give them: a little relief from the woes and worries of their lives.

The role of good art and good music

Buffett’s first big hit, “Come Monday,” originated from his own need to escape a particularly dark period of life.

“I was deathly depressed and living in Howard Johnson’s in Marin County,” he confessed to David Letterman in 1983, “and this song kept me from killing myself.”

Fortunately, he explained to Letterman, “it hit, and I was able to pay my rent and get my dog out of the pound.” It was his capacity to respond to the overwhelming difficulties of life in this spirit of comedic melancholia that made Buffett’s music so special.

His songs acknowledge what everyone already knows to be true: that life can be excruciatingly painful and is often too much to bear, but that one must nevertheless find a way to move on. It is this pessimistic subtext to Buffett’s escapism that made it so achingly irresistible.

In this sense, Buffett’s music exemplifies what the 19th-century pessimistic philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer thought of as the ultimate power of art.

To Schopenhauer, good art grows from a recognition of the difficulties of life, and it endeavors to respond to them by offering a momentary respite from its otherwise relentless slings and arrows.

For these reasons, Schopenhauer saw in art – and in music, especially – a way of escaping reality, of being carried away into a fantasy land that everyone knows can never exist, but that is nonetheless comforting to contemplate.

The value of art, according to Schopenhauer’s pessimistic perspective, comes from how it creates an imaginary space where one can momentarily hide from reality to summon the courage to continue on – and perhaps to even learn from that hiatus how to laugh at the gallows that confront every living creature.

By this pessimistic measure, Buffett’s music was high art, for what it did so well was to help its listeners to escape the onslaught of modern life and teach them to laugh again – not in hedonistic ignorance of its difficulties, but in spite of them. What Buffett and all of his fans secretly know is that such escapist reveries are not merely an optional lark but a necessary tool for survival.

As Buffett himself put it in his 1977 hit “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”

Drew M. Dalton, Professor of Philosophy, Dominican University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Alfa Farmers Scholarships

 

Alfa Foundation Scholarship

The Alfa Foundation will award 100 scholarships for $1,000 each to students attending Alabama colleges, universities and technical schools.

Scholarship Requirements

Applicants of the Alfa Foundation Scholarship Program award must:

• Have a current Alabama Farmers Federation Membership issued in his/her name. Annual membership is available by calling 1-800-964-2532, by clicking registering online, or by visiting an Alfa Insurance office. Membership must be issued in the name of the scholarship applicant to be eligible for consideration.
• High school seniors, graduates, or current post-secondary undergraduates enrolled or planning to enroll in a full-time accredited program at a two- year or four- year college, university, or vocational-technical school located in the state of Alabama for the entire upcoming academic year.
• Have a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent).

Alfa Farmers Scholarships

 

Alfa Foundation Scholarship

The Alfa Foundation will award 100 scholarships for $1,000 each to students attending Alabama colleges, universities and technical schools.

Scholarship Requirements

Applicants of the Alfa Foundation Scholarship Program award must:

• Have a current Alabama Farmers Federation Membership issued in his/her name. Annual membership is available by calling 1-800-964-2532, by clicking registering online, or by visiting an Alfa Insurance office. Membership must be issued in the name of the scholarship applicant to be eligible for consideration.
• High school seniors, graduates, or current post-secondary undergraduates enrolled or planning to enroll in a full-time accredited program at a two- year or four- year college, university, or vocational-technical school located in the state of Alabama for the entire upcoming academic year.
• Have a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent).

5 consejos para viajar de forma segura durante las vacaciones

La temporada navideña puede ser estresante cuando se agregan viajes a la mezcla. Coordinar los viajes terrestres o aéreos y planificar el alojamiento, incluso si simplemente se hospeda con sus seres queridos, a menudo es solo el comienzo y las preocupaciones de salud y seguridad que pueden quedar en el camino.

Por ejemplo, la tasa de incidencia más alta de mortalidad cardíaca durante todo el año ocurre entre Navidad y Año Nuevo, según la American Heart Association (Asociación Americana del Corazón), y cada año ocurren más de 350,000 paros cardíacos extrahospitalarios en los Estados Unidos.

Si se encuentra entre el 62 % de los estadounidenses que planean viajar en esta temporada navideña, según una investigación realizada por IPX1031, considere estos consejos para proteger su salud y seguridad.

Planifique con anticipación
Una planificación adecuada puede ayudarle a garantizar que esté preparado para afrontar cualquier desafío o retraso inesperado cuando salga. Verifique el clima antes de salir, incluso en su destino, y evite las tormentas anticipadas. Salga temprano para tener en cuenta el tráfico potencialmente pesado y trace su camino con anticipación para asegurarse de estar al tanto de cualquier cierre o construcción de carreteras, lo que puede permitirle encontrar rutas alternativas, si es necesario, en lugar de intentar adaptarse sobre la marcha.

Asegúrese de que su familia esté al día con las vacunas
La vacunación sistemática puede ayudar a protegerlo de enfermedades infecciosas que pueden transmitirse fácilmente cuando se encuentra cerca de un grupo grande de personas. Los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recomiendan la vacuna antigripal estacional para todas las personas a partir de los 6 meses de edad. Otras vacunas, como la vacuna contra la COVID-19 o la vacuna de refuerzo y la vacuna contra el sarampión, pueden ayudar a proteger no solo su salud, sino también la de sus seres queridos.

Aprenda CPR
Según la American Heart Association, solo un 40 % de las personas que sufren un paro cardíaco reciben reanimación cardiopulmonar, o CPR, por parte de un transeúnte. Sin embargo, la CPR inmediata puede duplicar o triplicar las posibilidades de supervivencia de una víctima de un paro cardíaco.

Justo a tiempo para la temporada navideña, en aeropuertos, hospitales y otros lugares del país se encuentran disponibles quioscos renovados de capacitación en CPR solo con las manos, que brindan una descripción general de la CPR solo con las manos seguida de una sesión de práctica y una prueba de 30 segundos. Con la ayuda de un maniquí de práctica, los quioscos brindan información sobre la profundidad y la velocidad decompresión, así como la colocación adecuada de las manos (factores que influyen en la efectividad de la CPR) y enseñan los dos sencillos pasos:
1. Llame al 911.
2. Empuje fuerte y rápido en el centro del pecho de la persona que sufre un paro cardíaco hasta que llegue la ayuda.

Muchos de los quioscos de CPR solo con las manos, así como la campaña de CPR solo con las manos, cuentan con el apoyo de Elevance Health Foundation. Para encontrar un quiosco a lo largo de su ruta de viaje, visite heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Prepare su vehículo
Problemas con el auto son un culpable común durante los viajes de vacaciones. Para ayudar a evitar problemas, revise su vehículo antes de emprender en un viaje prolongado. Revise los neumáticos, la batería, los faros, los limpiaparabrisas y cualquier otra pieza que pueda verse afectada negativamente por el clima invernal. También asegúrese de que su vehículo esté equipado con elementos esenciales como una llanta de repuesto o un kit de inflado, un gato, cables de puente, mantas, un botiquín de primeros auxilios y una linterna en caso de una emergencia.

Empaque un botiquín
Si toma medicamentos recetados o de venta libre, puede resultar difícil obtener un resurtido rápidamente en su destino, así que asegúrese de empacar lo suficiente para todo el viaje, además de extras en caso de que experimente algún retraso en el viaje. También puede resultar útil llevar otros elementos esenciales, como desinfectante para manos, un botiquín de primeros auxilios, medicamentos para el resfriado, aspirinas y su tarjeta de seguro médico en caso de lesiones o enfermedades inesperadas durante el viaje.

 

SOURCE:
American Heart Association

Social media algorithms warp how people learn from each other, research shows

Social media pushes evolutionary buttons. AP Photo/Manish Swarup

William Brady, Northwestern University

People’s daily interactions with online algorithms affect how they learn from others, with negative consequences including social misperceptions, conflict and the spread of misinformation, my colleagues and I have found.

People are increasingly interacting with others in social media environments where algorithms control the flow of social information they see. Algorithms determine in part which messages, which people and which ideas social media users see.

On social media platforms, algorithms are mainly designed to amplify information that sustains engagement, meaning they keep people clicking on content and coming back to the platforms. I’m a social psychologist, and my colleagues and I have found evidence suggesting that a side effect of this design is that algorithms amplify information people are strongly biased to learn from. We call this information “PRIME,” for prestigious, in-group, moral and emotional information.

In our evolutionary past, biases to learn from PRIME information were very advantageous: Learning from prestigious individuals is efficient because these people are successful and their behavior can be copied. Paying attention to people who violate moral norms is important because sanctioning them helps the community maintain cooperation.

But what happens when PRIME information becomes amplified by algorithms and some people exploit algorithm amplification to promote themselves? Prestige becomes a poor signal of success because people can fake prestige on social media. Newsfeeds become oversaturated with negative and moral information so that there is conflict rather than cooperation.

The interaction of human psychology and algorithm amplification leads to dysfunction because social learning supports cooperation and problem-solving, but social media algorithms are designed to increase engagement. We call this mismatch functional misalignment.

Why it matters

One of the key outcomes of functional misalignment in algorithm-mediated social learning is that people start to form incorrect perceptions of their social world. For example, recent research suggests that when algorithms selectively amplify more extreme political views, people begin to think that their political in-group and out-group are more sharply divided than they really are. Such “false polarization” might be an important source of greater political conflict.

Social media algorithms amplify extreme political views.

Functional misalignment can also lead to greater spread of misinformation. A recent study suggests that people who are spreading political misinformation leverage moral and emotional information – for example, posts that provoke moral outrage – in order to get people to share it more. When algorithms amplify moral and emotional information, misinformation gets included in the amplification.

What other research is being done

In general, research on this topic is in its infancy, but there are new studies emerging that examine key components of algorithm-mediated social learning. Some studies have demonstrated that social media algorithms clearly amplify PRIME information.

Whether this amplification leads to offline polarization is hotly contested at the moment. A recent experiment found evidence that Meta’s newsfeed increases polarization, but another experiment that involved a collaboration with Meta found no evidence of polarization increasing due to exposure to their algorithmic Facebook newsfeed.

More research is needed to fully understand the outcomes that emerge when humans and algorithms interact in feedback loops of social learning. Social media companies have most of the needed data, and I believe that they should give academic researchers access to it while also balancing ethical concerns such as privacy.

What’s next

A key question is what can be done to make algorithms foster accurate human social learning rather than exploit social learning biases. My research team is working on new algorithm designs that increase engagement while also penalizing PRIME information. We argue that this might maintain user activity that social media platforms seek, but also make people’s social perceptions more accurate.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

William Brady, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Northwestern University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

India’s Chandrayaan-3 landed on the south pole of the Moon − a space policy expert explains what this means for India and the global race to the Moon

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander successfully touched down on the south pole of the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023, sparking celebrations across the country. AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

Mariel Borowitz, Georgia Institute of Technology

India made history as the first country to land near the south pole of the Moon with its Chandrayaan-3 lander on Aug. 23, 2023. This also makes it the first country to land on the Moon since China in 2020.

India is one of several countries — including the U.S. with its Artemis program — endeavoring to land on the Moon. The south pole of the Moon is of particular interest, as its surface, marked by craters, trenches and pockets of ancient ice, hasn’t been visited until now.

The Conversation U.S. asked international affairs expert Mariel Borowitz about this Moon landing’s implications for both science and the global community.

People all across India watched the broadcast of the landing.

Why are countries like India looking to go to the Moon?

Countries are interested in going to the Moon because it can inspire people, test the limits of human technical capabilities and allow us to discover more about our solar system.

The Moon has a historical and cultural significance that really seems to resonate with people – anyone in the world can look up at the night sky, see the Moon and understand how amazing it is that a spacecraft built by humans is roaming around the surface.

The Moon also presents a unique opportunity to engage in both international cooperation and competition in a peaceful, but highly visible, way.

The fact that so many nations – the United States, Russia, China, India, Israel – and even commercial entities are interested in landing on the Moon means that there are many opportunities to forge new partnerships.

These partnerships can allow nations to do more in space by pooling resources, and they encourage more peaceful cooperation here on Earth by connecting individual researchers and organizations.

There are some people who also believe that exploration of the Moon can provide economic benefits. In the near term, this might include the emergence of startup companies working on space technology and contributing to these missions. India has seen a surge in space startups recently.

Eventually, the Moon may provide economic benefits based on the natural resources that can be found there, such as water, helium-3 and rare Earth elements.

Are we seeing new global interest in space?

Over the last few decades, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of nations involved in space activity. This is very apparent when it comes to satellites that collect imagery or data about the Earth, for example. More than 60 nations have been involved in these types of satellite missions. Now we’re seeing this trend expand to space exploration, and particularly the Moon.

The successful landing prompted celebrations across the country, like this one in Mumbai. AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade

In some ways, the interest in the Moon is driven by similar goals as in the first space race in the 1960s – demonstrating technological capabilities and inspiring young people and the general public. However, this time it’s not just two superpowers competing in a race. Now we have many participants, and while there is still a competitive element, there is also an opportunity for cooperation and forging new international partnerships to explore space.

Also, with all these new actors and the technical advances of the last 60 years, there is the potential to engage in more sustainable exploration. This could include building Moon bases, developing ways to use lunar resources and eventually engaging in economic activities on the Moon based on natural resources or tourism.

How does India’s mission compare with Moon missions in other countries?

India’s accomplishment is the first of its kind and very exciting, but it’s worth noting that it’s one of seven missions currently operating on and around the Moon.

Students in India prayed for the safe landing of Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday. AP Photo/Ajit Solanki

In addition to India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover near the south pole, there is also South Korea’s Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, which is studying the Moon’s surface to identify future landing sites; the NASA-funded CAPSTONE spacecraft, which was developed by a space startup company; and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The CAPSTONE craft is studying the stability of a unique orbit around the Moon, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is collecting data about the Moon and mapping sites for future missions.

Also, while India’s Chandrayaan-2 rover crashed, the accompanying orbiter is still operational. China’s Chang’e-4 and Chang’e-5 landers are still operating on the Moon as well.

Other nations and commercial entities are working to join in. Russia’s Luna-25 mission crashed into the Moon three days before the Chandrayaan-3 landed, but the fact that Russia developed the rover and got so close is still a significant achievement.

The same could be said for the lunar lander built by the private Japanese space company ispace. The lander crashed into the Moon in April 2023.

Why choose to explore the south pole of the Moon?

The south pole of the Moon is the area where nations are focused for future exploration. All of NASA’s 13 candidate landing locations for the Artemis program are located near the south pole.

This area offers the greatest potential to find water ice, which could be used to support astronauts and to make rocket fuel. It also has peaks that are in constant or near-constant sunlight, which creates excellent opportunities for generating power to support lunar activities.

Mariel Borowitz, Associate Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

Trump’s classified-documents indictment does more than allege crimes − it tells a compelling story

The indictment of Donald Trump and an aide was ‘laced with rhetorical and narrative techniques.’ Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Derek H. Kiernan-Johnson, University of Colorado Boulder

When special counsel Jack Smith announced the charges he was bringing against former President Donald Trump for retaining government documents, he did something unusual: He invited the public to read the formal legal document, known as an indictment, detailing the allegations.

And many did – concluding not only that the indictment was well-written but engaging.

I study the ethics of using narrative and rhetoric in legal persuasion. I am also a lawyer. I know that nothing required Smith and his team at the Department of Justice to write this way. Although legal scholars have called for a more stringent standard, the law requires only that a federal indictment include a “plain, concise, and definite” outline of the “essential facts” of the case – just enough to help the defense attorney understand what the client faces. Prosecutors could have cleared this hurdle by writing a technocratic document intelligible only to other criminal law insiders.

Instead, they wrote what in legal circles is called a “speaking” indictment. This indictment told a story. And not just any story – one laced with rhetorical and narrative techniques to not just help the public understand the case, but more, to persuade readers that the prosecution is justified.

‘I invite everyone to read it in full,’ said special counsel Jack Smith of the indictment against Trump.

Show, don’t tell

Here are some examples of how the indictment tells a story aimed at persuading readers:

The storage boxes: Trump’s now famous boxes are introduced by, first, the use of selective detail to paint a sentimental scrapbooking scene: We imagine Trump gathering what are described as “newspapers, press clippings, letters, notes, cards, photographs, official documents, and other materials in cardboard boxes.” Yet among this image of keepsakes, notes the next paragraph, were documents about “defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; [and] potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack.”

Mar-a-Lago: These boxes didn’t remain at the White House; after Trump’s presidency ended, he took them to Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors could have just referred to Trump’s “Florida residence” or listed a street address. But doing so might not only be boring but also leave readers with their own stock sense of what a “residence” is.

So they brought Mar-a-Lago to life, describing it as an “active social club” with “more than 25 guest rooms, two ballrooms, a spa, [and] a gift store” that, in the relevant period, hosted “150 social events, including weddings, movie premieres, and fundraisers that together drew tens of thousands of guests.” It was into this Gatsbyesque scene that Trump brought his boxes.

True, Mar-a-Lago does have a “storage room” where many boxes were put. But here, too, indictment authors counter readers’ image of what that might mean. This isn’t a room in a quiet basement corner, but rather one in a hallway with “multiple outside entrances,” near high-traffic areas like a “liquor supply closet” and “linen room.” In a moment of almost Shakespearean comedy, the indictment shows Trump employees in this setting chancing upon confidential documents spilled out on the floor. One texts, “I opened the door and found this…” to which the other replies, “Oh no oh no.”

The photos: Readers are not merely told that Trump stored highly sensitive intelligence materials at less-than-secure locations throughout Mar-a-Lago, they are shown photos of boxes on a stage and in a bathroom.

Boxes at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., in a photo included by the Justice Department in its indictment of Trump for hoarding government documents. U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images

In this handout photo provided by the Justice Department, stacks of boxes are stored in a bathroom and shower at former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Photo by U.S. Department of Justice via Getty Images

These images not only keep readers engaged by breaking up the text but also reinforce the Department of Justice’s written allegations. And because viewers assume images to be true without reflection, including this photographic evidence as visual allegations is especially effective.

Plot inferences: As with any nonfiction story, the indictment has gaps. Readers know that phone calls occurred but not what was said. Readers know that actions took place one after another but not that the first caused the second. But through careful arrangement, the authors prime readers to fill in these gaps.

Using Trump’s own words, the indictment encourages readers to imagine him, to hear him, thinking out loud: “I don’t want anybody looking through my boxes … wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here? … isn’t it better if there are no documents?” Then, starting a page later, readers twice see Trump speak to an employee for less than half a minute. They don’t know what’s said, but in both cases the next sentence after each phone call shows that employee moving boxes in, and then out, of the storage room.

Readers could infer what’s going on: Trump ordered that the boxes be moved and did so to conceal their contents. Without even realizing it, readers complete the story, giving content to the phone calls and meaning to the actions that followed them.

Throughout the indictment, writing techniques such as these transport readers through a story portal so that they see Mar-a-Lago, hear Trump barking orders and feel his motivations; the case’s disparate facts cohere into a vivid, engaging story.

‘It’s only one side’

A bare-bones, legalistic indictment would do none of these things. Nonexpert readers would gloss over it. The public would be left with just Trump’s claims about what the case was about. In contrast, Smith’s approach helps the public understand this historic prosecution.

So maybe more prosecutors should write this way.

But not every defendant has Trump’s power or influence. Not every defendant can broadcast a story for an indictment to then counter. Instead, an indictment full of persuasive storytelling techniques might frame the public’s first, and sometimes only, impressions.

Unlike in a Supreme Court case, where both sides get to share their story of what happened and should happen next, at the indictment stage the prosecutor is the only one speaking. If such a case settles before trial through a plea agreement, or if after trial the case isn’t appealed, then the defendant may never have a chance to present a public, written story.

Prosecutors wield incredible power. This includes the power to persuade through storytelling. While admiring the writing of Smith and his team here, readers should also be aware: It’s only one side of the story.

Derek H. Kiernan-Johnson, Teaching Professor of Law, University of Colorado Boulder

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Understanding 'Warning Strokes': What to expect if you experience stroke symptoms, even if they disappear

Diagnosing a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a “warning stroke,” can be challenging because symptoms often disappear within an hour. However, it’s important to seek emergency assessment to help prevent a full-blown stroke.

While a TIA, which is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain, doesn’t cause permanent damage, nearly 1 in 5 people who have a suspected TIA will have a stroke within three months, according to a scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal “Stroke.” Additionally, almost half will occur within two days – which is why TIAs are often described as warning strokes.

People with cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and smoking, are at high risk for stroke and TIA. Other conditions that increase risk include peripheral artery disease, atrial fibrillation, obstructive sleep apnea and coronary artery disease. In addition, a person who has had a prior stroke is at high risk for TIA.

TIA symptoms are the same as stroke symptoms, only temporary. They begin suddenly and may have any or all these characteristics:

• Symptoms begin strong then fade
• Symptoms typically last less than an hour
• Facial droop
• Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Trouble finding the right words or slurred speech
• Dizziness, vision loss or trouble walking

The F.A.S.T. acronym for stroke symptoms can also be used to identify a TIA: F – face drooping or numbness; A – arm weakness; S – speech difficulty; T – time to call 9-1-1, even if the symptoms go away.

Given the appropriate scan, 2 in 5 people will learn they actually had a stroke rather than a TIA, according to the scientific statement, which highlights the importance of seeking prompt medical attention. Upon arrival to the emergency room, a series of tests may be completed after assessing symptoms and medical history, including a CT scan, MRI and blood tests.

• CT Scan – a non-contrast scan used to look at the blood vessels in the head and neck to rule out brain bleeding and TIA mimics (conditions that share some signs with TIAs but are due to other medical conditions such as low blood sugar, seizure or migraine). A CT scan may also be used to assess the neck arteries; nearly half of people with TIA symptoms have narrowing of the large arteries leading to the brain.

• MRI – The preferred way to rule out a brain injury, such as a stroke, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is typically done within 24 hours of symptoms beginning. Because some emergency rooms may not have access to an MRI scanner, patients may be admitted to the hospital or transferred to a center. About 40% of patients who go to the emergency room with TIA symptoms are diagnosed with a stroke based on MRI results.

• Blood Tests – Blood work will typically be completed to rule out conditions that may cause TIA-like symptoms, such as low blood sugar or infection, and check for cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and high cholesterol.

Once a TIA is diagnosed, a cardiac checkup should be completed within a week of having a TIA, if not done in the emergency room. Consultation with a neurologist should also be completed within 48 hours (no longer than one week) after experiencing a TIA, as early consultation with a brain specialist is associated with lower death rates after a TIA.

To learn more and find additional resources, visit Stroke.org. 

SOURCE:
American Heart Association

Understanding 'Warning Strokes': What to expect if you experience stroke symptoms, even if they disappear

Diagnosing a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a “warning stroke,” can be challenging because symptoms often disappear within an hour. However, it’s important to seek emergency assessment to help prevent a full-blown stroke.

While a TIA, which is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain, doesn’t cause permanent damage, nearly 1 in 5 people who have a suspected TIA will have a stroke within three months, according to a scientific statement published in the American Heart Association journal “Stroke.” Additionally, almost half will occur within two days – which is why TIAs are often described as warning strokes.

People with cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and smoking, are at high risk for stroke and TIA. Other conditions that increase risk include peripheral artery disease, atrial fibrillation, obstructive sleep apnea and coronary artery disease. In addition, a person who has had a prior stroke is at high risk for TIA.

TIA symptoms are the same as stroke symptoms, only temporary. They begin suddenly and may have any or all these characteristics:

• Symptoms begin strong then fade
• Symptoms typically last less than an hour
• Facial droop
• Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Trouble finding the right words or slurred speech
• Dizziness, vision loss or trouble walking

The F.A.S.T. acronym for stroke symptoms can also be used to identify a TIA: F – face drooping or numbness; A – arm weakness; S – speech difficulty; T – time to call 9-1-1, even if the symptoms go away.

Given the appropriate scan, 2 in 5 people will learn they actually had a stroke rather than a TIA, according to the scientific statement, which highlights the importance of seeking prompt medical attention. Upon arrival to the emergency room, a series of tests may be completed after assessing symptoms and medical history, including a CT scan, MRI and blood tests.

• CT Scan – a non-contrast scan used to look at the blood vessels in the head and neck to rule out brain bleeding and TIA mimics (conditions that share some signs with TIAs but are due to other medical conditions such as low blood sugar, seizure or migraine). A CT scan may also be used to assess the neck arteries; nearly half of people with TIA symptoms have narrowing of the large arteries leading to the brain.

• MRI – The preferred way to rule out a brain injury, such as a stroke, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is typically done within 24 hours of symptoms beginning. Because some emergency rooms may not have access to an MRI scanner, patients may be admitted to the hospital or transferred to a center. About 40% of patients who go to the emergency room with TIA symptoms are diagnosed with a stroke based on MRI results.

• Blood Tests – Blood work will typically be completed to rule out conditions that may cause TIA-like symptoms, such as low blood sugar or infection, and check for cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and high cholesterol.

Once a TIA is diagnosed, a cardiac checkup should be completed within a week of having a TIA, if not done in the emergency room. Consultation with a neurologist should also be completed within 48 hours (no longer than one week) after experiencing a TIA, as early consultation with a brain specialist is associated with lower death rates after a TIA.

To learn more and find additional resources, visit Stroke.org. 

SOURCE:
American Heart Association

Bring Back Family Bonding This Fall: 3 ways to free up busy schedules to spend time with loved ones

Busy fall schedules often leave little time for the things that matter most – sharing special moments with those you love. This year, as time seems to speed up during another school year, making family bonding a priority in your household can start with a few simple tricks.

Connect with your loved ones this fall while juggling hectic routines with this advice:

Schedule Family Nights
Desiring evenings spent with your nearest and dearest and actually making them happen are two separate things entirely. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season with days that feel too long and evenings that are often too short. Putting dedicated family nights on the calendar is a good way to avoid last-minute commitments that take away from important bonding time. Incorporate some favorite activities, whether your loved ones are board game enthusiasts or movie buffs, to give everyone something exciting to look forward to.

Make Cooking Together a Family Activity
Making dinner for the family shouldn’t take up valuable time that could be used for quality moments together. Seeking out quick and easy recipes leaves more hours in the day to spend with family members – or you can even make preparing dinner a family activity.

Teaching kids how to make your favorite recipes creates great memories and can maximize time spent together. From making kid-approved lunchbox sliders together to preparing time-saving, weeknight-friendly sliders as a family after school, King’s Hawaiian Rolls and Slider Buns have the power to help unite busy parents and picky kids. Plus, they’re soft and fluffy with the right touch of sweetness, and sliders are customizable, easy, fun and always a crowd pleaser. These Ham and Swiss Sliders or Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sliders offer ways kids can help, from layering meats and cheeses to spreading peanut butter. Everyone can lend a hand in the kitchen while enjoying quality time together.

Encourage Extracurricular Participation
Beyond those special moments at home, there are plenty of ways to connect with your kiddos. Encouraging them to participate in extracurriculars, like sports, band, theater, dance, choir or other activities, provides a great way to enjoy something together as you watch your children branch out and try new things. If they happen to try an activity you used to (or still do) participate in, it’s an easy way to make a unique connection by sharing your own memories, offering helpful tips or even passing down old equipment like sports gear or an instrument.

Find more inspiration for family bonding with delicious meals and snacks by visiting KingsHawaiian.com.

Ham and Swiss Sliders

Total time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4-6

• 1 stick butter
• 1 package (12 rolls) King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
• 1 pound shaved deli ham
• 1 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Melt butter and set aside.
2. Cut entire pack of rolls in half horizontally, keeping all top and bottom halves intact.
3. In 9-by-13-inch pan, place bottom halves of rolls and cover with ham and cheese.
4. Cover ham and cheese stacks with top halves of rolls. Drizzle butter mixture over tops of rolls.
5. Bake, uncovered, 15-20 minutes. Separate rolls for serving.

Peanut Butter, Jelly and Banana Sliders

Prep time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4-6

• 1 package (12 rolls) King's Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls
• 4 tablespoons salted peanut butter
• 4 tablespoons strawberry jam
• 2 bananas, sliced

1. Cut entire pack of rolls in half horizontally, keeping all top and bottom halves intact.
2. Spread peanut butter on bottom halves followed by strawberry jam. Top with banana slices then top halves of rolls.

SOURCE:
King’s Hawaiian

Secrets of the Octopus Garden: Moms nest at thermal springs to give their young the best chance for survival

Female pearl octopus nest at the Octopus Garden off California. Credit: © 2019 MBARI

Amanda Kahn, San José State University and Jim Barry, San José State University

Two miles below the ocean surface off Monterey, California, warm water percolates from the seafloor at the base of an underwater mountain. It’s a magical place, especially if you’re an octopus.

In 2018, one of us, Amanda Kahn, was aboard the research vessel E/V Nautilus when scientists discovered the “Octopus Garden.” Thousands of pearl octopuses (Muusoctopus robustus) were curled up into individual balls in lines and clumps. As Nautilus Live streamed the expedition online, the world got to share the excitement of the discovery.

We now know why these amazing creatures gather at this and other underwater warm springs.

Scientists with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute take viewers on a journey to Davidson Seamount in a video narrated by Jim Barry, an author of this article. Credit: © MBARI.

In a new study involving scientists from several fields, we explain why octopuses migrate to the Octopus Garden. It’s both a mating site and a nursery where newborn octopuses develop faster than expected, giving them the best shot at survival in the deep, cold sea.

Life in the Octopus Garden

Female octopuses seek out rocky cracks and crevices where warm water seeps from the rocks. There, they vigilantly guard their broods. Subsisting off their energy reserves alone, these mothers will never eat again. Like most cephalopods, they make the ultimate sacrifice for their offspring and die after their eggs hatch.

The Octopus Garden, at the base of Davidson Seamount about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of Monterey, California, is the largest of a handful of octopus nurseries recently discovered in the Eastern Pacific. Many have been found near hydrothermal springs where warm water seeps from the seafloor.

The Octopus Garden is about 2 miles deep near Davidson Seamount, an inactive volcano off the Central California coast. It is inside the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Illustration by Madeline Go/MBARI, basemap created via ArcGIS Online, sources: Esri, USGS | Esri, GEBCO, DeLorme, NaturalVue | California State Parks, Esri, HERE, Garmin, SafeGraph, FAO, METI/NASA, USGS, Bureau of Land Management, EPA, NPS

We wanted to know what makes these environments so appealing for nesting octopuses.

To solve this mystery, we assembled geologists, biologists and engineers. Using Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute’s deep-sea robots and sensors, we studied and mapped the Octopus Garden during several visits over three years to examine the links between thermal springs and breeding success for pearl octopuses. We found nearly 6,000 nests in a 6-acre (2.5-hectare) area, suggesting more than 20,000 octopuses occupy this site.

A time-lapse camera that kept watch over a group of nesting mothers for six months opened a window into the dynamic life in the Octopus Garden.

A female pearl octopus brooding her eggs at the Octopus Garden. Credit: © 2020 MBARI

We witnessed male octopuses approaching and mating with females. We cheered for the successful emergence of hatchlings, which looked like translucent miniatures of their parents. And we mourned the deaths of mothers and their broods.

When a nest became empty, it was quickly filled by a different octopus mother. We saw that nothing went to waste at the Octopus Garden. Dead octopesus provided a vital food source for a host of scavengers, like sea anemones and snails.

Warmer water speeds up embryo development

A new generation of octopuses must overcome at least two hurdles before hatching.

First, they must develop from egg to hatchling. They start as opaque, sausage-shaped eggs cemented to the rocks. Over time, tiny black eyes, then eight little arms grow visible through the egg capsule. Second, crucially, they must not succumb to external threats, including predators, injuries and infections. The longer the incubation period, the greater the risk that an embryo might not survive to hatch.

A portion of a photomosaic produced following surveys of the Octopus Garden with MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts and the Low-Altitude Survey System sensor suite from the Seafloor Mapping Lab at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, or MBARI. The photo allowed researchers to count nests and estimate the total. Credit: © 2022 MBARI

For octopus species living in warm, shallow waters, brood periods are only days to weeks long. But a very different scenario plays out in the abyss. Near-freezing temperatures dramatically slow metabolic processes in coldblooded animals like octopuses. The longest-known brood period for any animal actually comes from another deep-sea octopus species, Graneledone pacifica, with a mother tending her nest for a remarkable 4½ years. An octopus nursery for this species was recently discovered off the west coast of Canada.

At Davidson Seamount, where ambient water temperatures are 35 degrees Fahrenheit (1.6 degrees Celsius), we would expect pearl octopus embryos to take five to 10 years, or possibly longer, to develop. Such an extended brooding period would be the longest known for any animal, exposing an embryo to exceptional risks.

Instead, temperature and oxygen sensors we were able to slip inside octopus nests documented a much warmer microenvironment around the eggs. On average, the temperature inside octopus nests was about 41 F (5.1 C), considerably warmer than the surrounding waters. We predicted that octopus embryos would develop faster in this warmer water.

Each octopus has distinctive markings that scientists quickly learned to identify. Credit: © 2022 MBARI

Distinctive marks and scars helped us identify individual mothers. Over repeat visits we tracked the development of their brood. Although we did expect faster growth in the warm water, we were stunned to find that eggs hatched in less than two years. Nesting in thermal springs clearly gives pearl octopuses a boost.

But nesting in thermal springs is a potentially risky strategy. Once eggs are laid, they’re cemented to the rock. We know little of the thermal tolerance of pearl octopuses or their embryos, but even a short exposure to overly warm waters could be lethal to developing embryos, wiping out any hope of successful reproduction for that mother. Indeed, one of the first recorded deep-sea octopus nurseries may have experienced unpredictable fluid flow.

Nurseries highlight risks to seafloor habitat

The thermal springs at the Octopus Garden are part of a ridge flank hydrothermal system. Here, water percolating beneath the seafloor picks up heat from Earth’s mantle before it’s channeled out from volcanic rock outcrops like Davidson Seamount. These systems have become an emerging focus in seafloor geology, though only a few have been discovered so far.

Unlike hydrothermal vents, which form at ridge crests and belch plumes of hot water that are detectable hundreds of meters above the bottom, thermal springs on ridge flanks are cryptic. These springs seep warm water that dissipates only meters above the bottom, making them exceedingly difficult to find and only visible by a slight shimmer in the water.

Our yearlong recordings from thermal springs at the Octopus Garden demonstrate these may be stable environments, with the potential to release warm fluids for thousands of years. Such stability benefits not only pearl octopus, but also the community of life that thrives alongside the nesting mothers.

A male octopus walks through the Octopus Garden. Credit: © 2019 MBARI

The recent discoveries of octopus nurseries off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, also near hydrothermal springs, suggests these areas may be more common than previously thought. It also highlights that hydrothermal springs may be vital biological hot spots.

The deep sea is the largest living space on Earth, and that expansive size can hide the importance of localized hot spots like these. Davidson Seamount and its Octopus Garden are protected as part of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, but many more biological treasures like thermal springs may be at risk, especially as deep-seabed mining proposes to scrape large understudied swaths of seafloor. We hope the octopus mothers we’ve met at this nursery inspire everyone to rethink stewardship for the yet-undiscovered hidden gems that may be lost.

Amanda Kahn, Assistant Professor of Invertebrate Ecology at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, San José State University and Jim Barry, Marine Ecologist, MBARI, San José State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.