Tag Archives: trusted-guides

Mexican Cutey Sez Her.ass.ment

Ines Sainz, a hottie reporter for Mexico’s TV Azteca, said she was sexually harassed by coaches and players during a Jets practice session on Saturday. While on the field, the model-journalist claims the team was purposely running plays near her and things got even worse when she hit the locker room and was serenaded with catcalls. Naturally, Sainz expressed her outrage to the world…on Twitter. Here’s a look at her tweets and with the help of Google, a rough translation of what she had to say http://animalnewyork.com/2010/09/mexican-reporter-says-she-was-harassed-by-jets-… added by: congoboy

Suicide Bombings in Sri Lanka: Scenes From Vanguard

Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated. In this clip, Mariana digs deeper into the Tigers' use of suicide bombers and their designation as a terrorist group by the United States. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . added by: MarianaVanZeller

Programmable Matter Takes Shape with Self-Folding Origami Sheets

June 28, 2010 | 1 comments Shifty Science: Programmable Matter Takes Shape with Self-Folding Origami Sheets A prototype sheet that folds itself into two different shapes may lead to objects that can assume any number of forms on command By John Matson Self-folding robotic sheet SHAPE-SHIFTER: The segmented sheet created by researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can fold itself into a boat or an airplane shape in a matter or seconds. The Harvard Microrobotics Lab Researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) have invented a real-life Transformer, a device that can fold itself into two shapes on command. The system is hardly ready to do battle with the Decepticons—the tiny contraption forms only relatively crude boat and airplane shapes—but the concept could one day produce chameleonlike objects that shift between any number of practical shapes at will. Self-folding sheets are just one facet of programmable matter, the attempt to build structures that can shape-shift on demand. The idea, says study co-author Daniela Rus, a roboticist at M.I.T., is bringing materials and machines closer together to make everyday objects that can be programmed, much like people program a computer. “Instead of programming bits and bytes,” she says, “you program mechanical properties of the object.” The system, described in a paper published online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, consists of a thin sheet of resin–fiberglass composite, just a few centimeters across, segmented into 32 triangular panels separated by flexible silicone joints. Some of the joints have heat-sensitive actuators that bend 180 degrees when warmed by an electric current, folding the sheet over at that joint. Depending on the program used, the sheet will conduct a series of folds to yield the boat or airplane shape in about 15 seconds. The folding-sheet approach is an extension of the field of computational origami, the mathematical study of how flat objects can be folded into complex, three-dimensional structures. Although the design presented in the new paper takes only two shapes, the researchers say that in principle the system could produce many more. “We were looking for ways to embed a bunch of different functionalities into one low-profile sheet,” says study co-author Robert Wood, an electrical engineer at Harvard University's Microrobotics Laboratory. “In the longer run we'd like to develop systems to bring this not to just three, four or five shapes but to a much greater scope of different achievable shapes.” Given a set of desired three-dimensional shapes, the group's algorithms determine how to fold the sheet to produce each of the final shapes and then how to accommodate those different folding sequences on a shared sheet. Another algorithm optimizes the sheet for its desired purpose, limiting the number of embedded actuators needed to produce the final shapes. On the airplane–boat prototype sheet, for instance, only half the joints have actuators. The researchers note that although the algorithms produce a workable folding pattern to make a given shape, human experts are often able to design a more efficient scheme. “It doesn't know how to get creative, and sometimes human origamists can see a few moves ahead, like a chess player,” Rus says. “You see patterns that are not obvious to a computer program that does a step-by-step process.” In the near term Rus envisions the computational origami technology forming the basis of three-dimensional display systems—for instance, maps that can reproduce the topography of a given region on demand. “You can imagine making machines that have the ability to give you three-dimensional views of the objects they render,” she says. In the more distant future programmable matter applications might move beyond mere shape mimicry to involve programmable optical, electric or acoustic properties. Video courtesy of the Harvard Microrobotics Lab added by: EthicalVegan

War Crimes: Vanguard Trailer

Correspondent Kaj Larsen investigates the alarming rise in the number of soldiers who have been traumatized by war and are now accused of bringing the violence home. Of the more than 2 million men and women who have served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as many as a third of them may now have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A growing number of these vets are being charged with violent crimes, and Kaj travels to prisons and mental health facilities in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon to hear their stories. “War Crimes” premieres Wednesday, July 7 at 10/9c on Current TV. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . added by: Kaj

American Jihadi: Vanguard Trailer

In “American Jihadi,” Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel traces the journey of a small town kid from Alabama to Somalia, where as part of Al-Shabab he is now recruiting young Muslims from the west to wage jihad overseas. “American Jihadi” premieres on Current TV on Wednesday, June 30 at 10/9c. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . added by: Christof

The World’s Toilet Crisis

Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi travels to India, Singapore and Indonesia to understand why people don't use toilets and what's being done to end the practice of open defecation. An estimated 2.6 billion people, about 40% of the world's population, have no access to toilets and defecate anywhere they can. As a result, more than 2 million people — including 1.5 million children — die from complications of chronic diarrhea. When human waste isn't contained or flushed down the toilet, it's everywhere — in streets, open fields and, most dangerously, in the very water people drink. Adam investigates how countries are trying to solve an epidemic that few people want to talk about — the world's toilet crisis. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . added by: Adam_Yamaguchi

Possible Signs of Methane-Based Life on Titan

Something is consuming hydrogen and organic molecules on Saturn's moon Titan, and the recipe matches astrobiologists' theories about possible methane-based life. Granted, there may be other chemical explanations — it's just that no one knows what they are yet. New data from the Cassini spacecraft show hydrogen is disappearing near Titan's surface. What's more, scientists have not been able to find acetylene, an organic molecule that should be pretty abundant in the moon's thick atmosphere. All this fits very nicely with a theory from NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay, who proposed five years ago that microbial life on Titan could breathe hydrogen and eat acetylene, producing methane as a result. Scientists emphasize that the findings are not proof of life, and there's plenty of work to do before non-biological causes can be ruled out. Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed,” says Mark Allen of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a NASA release. The good news is that even if life is ruled out, the non-biological explanations are still interesting. According to previous studies, hydrogen should be distributed pretty evenly throughout Titan's atmosphere. But it's disappearing at the surface. “It's as if you have a hose and you're squirting hydrogen onto the ground, but it's disappearing,” says Darrell Strobel, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., who authored a paper published in the journal Icarus. It's possible that the hydrogen is combining with carbon on Titan's surface to produce methane. But Titan is too cold for that to happen quickly enough to account for all the missing hydrogen. An unknown mineral could be the culprit, meaning scientists may have found a new substance previously unknown to exist on Titan. The explanations for the dearth of acetylene are equally puzzling. The hydrocarbon should form abundantly in icy aerosols in Titan's atmosphere, but it's not there. It's possible that sunlight or cosmic rays are transforming the acetylene into more complex molecules that would fall to the ground with no acetylene signature, according to NASA. It's also possible that chemical reactions are transforming acetylene into benzene (which Cassini did observe on Titan's surface), but that would require a catalyst, which hasn't been identified. There's one more thing: Cassini observed an organic compound with the benzene that scientists have not been able to identify. Cassini has several more Titan flybys in which to gather data — in fact, the craft is set to fly within 2,000 miles of Titan's surface this afternoon, to make infrared scans of the moon's north polar region. The region includes Kraken Mare, the largest lake on Titan, which covers a greater area than the Caspian Sea on Earth. If methane-based microbes do live on Titan, there's a good chance they would live in just those sort of lakes. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-06/new-cassini-findings-hint-methane-… added by: pjacobs51

How to Solve the World’s Toilet Crisis

According the U.S. State Department, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF, the world's greatest infectious killer is not malaria, AIDS, or TB, but poop. An estimated 2.6 billion people, about 40% of the world's population, including 1 billion children, have no access to toilets of any kind and must practice open defecation. The result is a continual pandemic of intestinal afflictions that kill 2 million people a year. In this episode of Vanguard, Adam Yamaguchi travels to India and Indonesia to see how the toiletless world deals with poop. It's in the streets, in the fields and, most dangerously, in the very water from which they drink. When it doesn't go down the toilet, poop is everywhere. Adam travels to India and Singapore to investigate what's being done to curb this silent epidemic. “The World's Toilet Crisis” airs Wednesday, June 9 at 10/9c. For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard . “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. added by: Adam_Yamaguchi

Becoming a Reporter: Vanguard’s Mariana van Zeller

Correspondent Mariana van Zeller was first inspired to pursue a career in journalism while watching TV news in her native Portugal. In this exclusive Vanguard extra, she talks about making her way from Europe to New York City's Columbia University, working side-by-side with her husband, producer Darren Foster, and why people continue to underestimate her. “Vanguard,” airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. added by: MarianaVanZeller

The American Architects of Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill

Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda to trace the influence of American evangelical leaders on a proposed law that could make being gay punishable by death. The episode “Missionaries of Hate” premieres on Wednesday, May 26 at 10/9c. Vanguard, airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories. added by: MarianaVanZeller