Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

NEW PALTZ, NY Jens Ponikau learned his trade, geothermal system design, in his native Germany over 30 years ago. When he came to the US he (naturally enough) wanted geothermal heating and cooling for his own home, only to discover almost no one was working with the technology.

I wondered why nobody was doing this, Ponikau says, for me it was a no-brainer. So I put in [my own] system, but I also realized the void in the marketplace. The states were going away from fossil fuels and towards renewables.

Seeing the opportunity, he founded Buffalo Geothermal Heating in 2008, a company that specializes in geothermal system design and installation, while also helping maintain such systems throughout their entire life cycles. The company has more than a dozen employees, and the staff includes several IGSHPA (International Ground Source Heat Pump Association) certified installers and Certified (by the American Association of Energy Engineers) Geoexchange Designers. (Ponikau is also the current Vice President of the New York Geothermal Energy Association.)

We also have about a dozen sub-contractors, Ponikau adds. For example, our excavators. We dont do our own drilling, we sub that out. Due to the nature of the work and the demands of the technology, Buffalo Geothermal works closely with developers at all stages of a project.

We want to be the one-stop shop, Ponikau says. We believe its very important to know all the little ins and outs, all the little tricks and ways to design a system not only to work well, but to work very efficiently, so theres nothing wasted in the process. There are so many little things you have to keep in mind, it really takes an expert in the field.

Buffalo Geothermals involvement with Zero Place began when Ponikau was contacted by an energy consultant attached to the project.

Zero Place was founded by David Shepler, the COO of Elemental Cognition, an R&D company specializing in Artificial Intelligence. Shepler was formerly the Program Director of the Smarter Energy Research Institute at IBM (the same people who helped develop the Watson natural-language AI). Shepler partnered with Anthony Aebi of Greenhill Contractingwho has been building zero-energy homes since 2007 and builder/developer Keith Libolt of Affordable Housing Concepts. The construction manager for Affordable Housing was Mike Scirbona.

3d Rendering of the flow center. The main mechanical room is still unfinished.

The idea behind Zero Place was to build a net-zero, mixed-use, multifamily building in New Paltz, New York, that could be a model for projects across the Northeast. Buffalo Geothermal had completed a similar building (on a slightly smaller scale) three years ago in Buffalo, NY, which immediately gave them an advantage over the competition.

We were the only ones with a reference like that. We could say, hey, whats the big deal? Were doing this kind of stuff all the time, Ponikau says.

Construction broke ground in 2018 and Zero Place is scheduled to open for its first tenants sometime in December of 2020 (the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the opening by several months). The building will feature 46 residential units (25 two-bed, 21 one-bed), including five affordable housing units, and 8,400 sq. ft. of retail space.

The trick is actually that all those multifamily buildings are what we call cooling dominated, Ponikau says. They put more heat into the loop field than they pull out during the wintertime. That means that, by definition, you need to make the loop field larger so it can carry the additional cooling load, just because the building is producing so much internal heat, because of its energy density. You know, it has 50 refrigerators, probably 100 TVs, it has probably 200 computers, just because of the density, when you get 100 people together in a building, thats what happens.

So even here, in Buffalo, or in this case the Hudson Valley, which is a very cold spot during the winter, you have a significant amount of excess heat produced by the building. And the entire trick about geothermal is that we use that heat, suck it out in the summertime and reject all that heat into the ground, and in the wintertime we recover that heat. So its more like a battery storage than us tapping for magma.

Two essential elements of any geothermal application are the building envelope and the geothermal field.

For the envelope, Zero Place uses insulated-concrete form (ICF) walls, triple-paned fenestration, high-R slab and roof assemblies and thermal bridging reduction. The envelope performs 37 percent better than code and 65 percent tighter than NYS ECCC (the New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code). To maintain fresh air circulation without losing thermal efficiency, the building uses energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) for each individual unit.

Ground source heat pumps provide 100 percent of the buildings heating, cooling and DHW. The geothermal loop field consists of 15 wells drilled to 299 ft. depth. After 500 feet you are regulated as a gas well, actually, Ponikau explains, so we tend to avoid it. You technically would need a mining permit, believe it or not.

The loop field.

The entire geothermal field is within the building footprint, an important consideration when building in a densely populated urban area, given the high cost of real estate.

Believe it or not, we only use 15 percent of the building footprint, Ponikau says. We could have put six or even seven times as tall a building on it and still get [the entire field] underneath the footprint.

The wells use larger diameter pipe so the back pressure is not as high. A wider pipe also benefits heat transfer by providing greater surface area.

All-in-all, the application uses 60 geothermal heat pumps from WaterFurnace: 50 single-stage for apartments and hallways, two dual-stage for foyer and community bathroom, six variable speed geothermal pumps for commercial spaces, and two high temperature hot water generating heat pumps for 100 percent of the domestic water. There is, by the way, no gas line to the building which means zero emissions (not to mention some confusion from the building inspectors who had a difficult time believing you could actually build a multifamily building without one).

Zero Place will be only the second multi-family building to make 100 percent of domestic hot water via the geothermal system. In addition to the added redundancy, the system uses four 162-gallon storage tanks to accommodate peak hot water usage.

Wilo ECM pumps are used to circulate the water throughout the loop. Because of a balanced header system there are no balancing valves and no flow restriction. The system picks up on and responds to any kind of change, Ponikau says. Fewer heat pumps running in fewer apartments and the circulation system slows down. It only circulates as much as you need in order to provide enough flow of water from the ground loop to each heat pump. If there are fewer heat pumps on it throttles back.

As an added bonus, while each unit has its own dedicated heat pump, the pumps themselves are located outside the residences in the hallways. The units were always very quiet to begin with, Ponikau says, but now theres nothing inside the apartment that makes any kind of noise at all. The second thing is, for maintenance purposes, you dont have to go into the apartments to change filters or whatever maintenance crews have very easy access.

Key to the success of the Zero Place project has been an ongoing partnership with NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The public benefit corporation managed to provide $109,000 in efficiency rebates, did a secondary design review and will be performing independent energy monitoring and energy verification once the building is occupied.

NYSERDA sees Zero Place as an important test case. Theyre hoping lessons learned from the project can influence and educate future policy makers about the kind of return on investment geothermal systems can deliver in the Northeast, where extended, chilly winters are the norm.

Zero Place under construction.

To help improve the quality of data obtained from the project, WaterFurnace delivered in-kind support by installing 15 remote control and monitoring systems attached to its heat pumps, each streaming 256 data points every ten seconds.

NYSERDA has to go back and verify the accuracy, so everybody worked hand-in hand and went the extra mile, Ponikau says. You know theres no data on this that anyone can go by. Now the fact that this is all renewable, completely emission-free is intriguing for them. This project will be the first of its kind on this scale, and because of this theyre urgently awaiting the results.

Data on the project is important because the design is really pushing the envelope of what is possible in an energy efficient building without sacrificing comfort. We would actually argue that we are increasing comfort, Ponikau says. The owner didnt shy away from spending money to invest in the extra efficiency and extra comfort a lot of developers only think about the initial investment because theyre going to flip the building anyway in five years, so they dont care how efficient it is. Its a little bit different here.

That difference extends to the tenants themselves who have been selected to participate in the ethic of the building. Each tenant has full control over their own heating and cooling. Zero Place bundles power and water with rent. There are lease agreement limits with payments for exceeding consumption thresholds. Custom mobile software informs tenants of their energy usage, including a posted leader board of the most energy efficient occupants.

The final price tag for the building was $10,547,313, which works out to a cost per sq. ft. of $167.57. But the much more interesting numbers are in the projected energy savings: between a 20 and 25 percent premium over an NY ECC-code compliant building, savings that work out to an estimated 8-10 year payback (including the cost of insulation, geothermal, and the rooftop solar system).

246 kW of solar (683 panels @360W) installed on roof and solar awnings on south wall.

The numbers are so good that NYSERDA has already named Zero Place as one of its Round One, Late Design Phase winners of the Multifamily Building of Excellence Award. The Award is part of a state-wide competition to stimulate the design, construction, and operation of very low, or zero carbon emitting buildings. Along with bragging rights, it includes a cash award of $750,000.

[To learn more about the program, visit https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Multifamily-Buildings-of-Excellence/About ]

Ponikau hopes that the building lives up to and exceeds its promise once it is fully-occupied, and that Zero Place can serve as a model for the entire net-zero building community.

Its great to be on the cutting edge of something like this, Ponikau says. Multifamily, mixed-use buildings like this, theyre just a staple in big cities the whole world over these days. And if you can prove that something like this can be net zero and worthwhile within the environment! I mean, were talking 50 miles south of Albany, NY, with -15 degree winters and 95 degree summer days.

It could mean big changes for how people live and use energy in some of the most populous states of the country.

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Zero Place and The Future of Geothermal - Contractor

Apparently, pigs feel better with the right lighting in sheds. Thats why, as part of their Enlightened Pigs project, Slaughterhouse Westford in IJsselstein and pig farm De Hoeve BV in Valkenswaard are looking into how lighting can best be utilized to improve the well-being of their animals.

Pig farm De Hoeve BV has undertaken several projects in the field of sustainability. For example, in 2017 the Dutch company started a project to create an optimal climate in the sheds. This research not only measures the temperature of the sheds, but also the CO2 and oxygen content and the presence of ammonia and fine particulates. Pig farmers are able to create better conditions for the animals with this data. The project fits in with the plans of the Dutch government, which wants the Netherlands to lead the way in sustainable circular agriculture by 2030. This includes recycling waste, but also animal-friendly livestock farming.

It is already common knowledge that lighting affects peoples productivity and mood. In contrast, the influence of lighting on animal welfare has been researched only to a limited extent. The companies want to find out in their project how factors such as the intensity and color of light play a role in animal welfare, the environment, and ultimately the operational results.

The companies want to develop a lighting technique that is ideal for animals. This lighting concept should eventually be included in the standard monitoring system. Among other things, this system measures the temperature and air quality in the stalls and then adjusts it for the most optimum climate possible.

The companies are working together with the Animal Production Systems Group chair at the Dutch Wageningen University & Research (WUR). This study group focuses on sustainable livestock farming and animal welfare. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) is funding the research.

Lighting systems used in this research are sourced from Signify, formerly Philips Lighting. Signify also supplies smart sensors for adjusting the lighting.

Pig farm De Hoeve BV has undertaken several projects in the field of sustainability. For example, in 2017 the company started a project to create an optimal climate in sheds. This research not only measured the temperature of the stalls, but also the CO2 and oxygen content and the presence of ammonia and fine particulates. With this data, the pig farmers are able to create better conditions for their animals.

The Monovergister project was launched in 2016. The goal of that project was to establish an energy-neutral pig farm. Energy can be generated with manure from the pigs by using the mono-digester. Fresh manure is used daily for this, which also limits the amount of methane that is produced.

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Adaptive lighting in sheds improves pigs' welfare - Innovation Origins

Delonte West, former NBA (National Basketball Association) point guard, was pleading for help. Dressed in an oversized white sweater and grey sweatpants, West stood at a Dallas intersection with a cardboard sign. While this might have come as a shock to some, this was not all that surprising for those who followed Wests story.

In 2016, West was photographed in Houston, barefoot and wearing a hospital gown, as well as panhandling in Temple Hills, Maryland, which he initially denied. Earlier this year he was videotaped getting beaten up on a highway in Washington, D.C.

Since his teenage years, West has had issues with substance abuse and self-harm and spent time in childrens hospitals. 10 years ago West opened up about his struggle with bipolar disorder. In an interview with ESPN, West spoke about an earlier altercation where he took out his frustrations on a high school referee officiating a training camp scrimmage.

"I felt a feeling of anger, and I just wanted to throw it all away and quit the team," he said. I needed help.

For years people knew about his struggle with mental health, but that didnt stop them from mocking him.

Following an incident in 2009 where West was found carrying three guns at a traffic stop in D.C., National Public Radio seemed to try to turn this serious situation into a joke. In their article the lede read Delonte West of the NBAs Cleveland Cavaliers is apparently serious about his role as a shooting guard. Too serious, making a reference to his position on the court.

In 2012, Bill Simmons, an American sports analyst, named West as one of The 20 Craziest Players in the NBA due to his instability on and off the court.

Since West resurfaced into the public eye, many players have offered their support and have spoken publicly about their own struggles with mental health and the lack of support and services from the NBA.

Sad to hear the news about Delonte West. We failed him, former NBA player Royce White tweeted.

His own career was stopped short due to the NBA not addressing his mental health challenges.

We should be talking about mental health honestly all the time, not just when celebrities are in crisis, he wrote. Lets not caricature the mental health topic through Delontes struggles... Check your own coffee mug first.

Phil Martelli, Wests former coach at Saint Josephs University, tweeted that he was working to get West help. Jameer Nelson, another NBA player and former teammate of West at Saint Josephs, tweeted his support for West and how people struggling with mental health should seek out professional help immediately.

Due to COVID-19, the NBA created the bubble, a closed environment that allowed players to safely play basketball. Located at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Fla., Disney facilities such as their pools, golf courses, gaming areas, bowling lanes and spa services are open to the players. Even so, players had to remain in the bubble for the entirety of the season with little chance to see their families. Some had referred to it as a prison sentence.

Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers recently talked about his struggle with depression and anxiety while inside the bubble. He mentioned how there was no escape from basketball. As the season progressed, he eventually went to see the team psychiatrist and received overwhelming support from his fellow players and coaches.

"I mean, we're all dealing with it," George said. "Whether I was the first to say it or not, we're all dealing with it. I've had conversations with guys here, and there's been a couple guys that are like, man, I'm happy I'm not the only one. I've been dealing with this, too. It's a thing in here. It's a brotherhood. We support one another."

But its not just basketball players. Athletes from all sports have dealt with pressures for the entirety of their careers.

28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps has spoken about his battle with depression.

After every Olympics I think I fell into a major state of depression, Phelps said in a 2018 interview.

He has admitted to having suicidal thoughts and using drugs to self-medicate. Phelps used his experiences to help others through his own foundation.

Abby Wambach, former member of the U.S. womens national soccer team, also had her run-in with mental health. After being arrested in 2016 for driving under the influence of intoxicants, she sought out help for her longtime drug and alcohol addiction.

Its really hard to talk about things when youre ashamed, Wambach said. And Im not ashamed about what happened to me anymore because it led me to where Im at right now. Im proud of where Im at.

Luckily, in recent years the conversation surrounding mental health has become less taboo. Sports leagues are taking steps to provide resources to their athletes.

In 2018 the NBA required teams to add full-time mental health professionals for the 2019-2020 season. Also, athletes are required to attend programs so they can be educated about mental health and treatment.

Major League Baseball (MLB) has increased efforts in generating and destigmatizing mental health awareness by launching their own mental health initiative. The Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of this MLB initiative to create a position known as the minor league mental health coordinator, who is responsible for leading, implementing, and organizing a variety of services directly related to mental and emotional health.

Still, these steps do little to help former players in similar situations to West. So whats going to happen to him?

Mark Cuban, entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks (the team that West played his final NBA season with), has tried to help West multiple times. In 2014, Cuban attempted to connect West with a financial advisor but was unsuccessful.

This past Monday, Cuban was filmed picking up West at a gas station in Dallas.

I can confirm that I found him and helped him, Cuban said in an interview with the Washington Post. The rest is up to Delonte and his family to tell.

Cuban took West to a nearby hotel and offered to pay for his mental health and drug rehabilitation treatment. West has since checked into a rehab facility in Florida. Hopefully he can continue to improve and cope with his difficulties with the appropriate help. Were all rooting for him.

If you or someone you know is suffering from substance abuse or mental illness, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations hotline at 1-800-662-HELP or seek out a professional.

More:
Delonte West's story sheds light on the mental health of athletes - Johns Hopkins News-Letter

News item | 10-10-2020 | 09:08

Amman, Jordan/Saturday 10 October 2020 - Mental health has been at the forefront of discussions as the entire world deals with the disruptions and challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Local studies and polls have recorded higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and domestic violence amongst Jordanians due to the COVID-19 situation. The overwhelming stress and anxiety caused by facing a global pandemic, lock-downs, remote working and education, fear of infection, economic down-turns and much more has had significant mental health consequences on people all over the world. The crisis also hits some of the more vulnerable communities, such as refugees, especially hard as they are already dealing with their past traumas of displacement.

In Jordan, mental health and well-being remains a topic that is sometimes stigmatised. To tackle this stigmatisation and encourage discussions about mental health, The Embassy of the Netherlands and artmejo, launched #mindthemind to raise awareness of the importance of mental health through public art. The campaign included an open call for artists and muralists to submit works of art that address the issue. An independent panel have chosen a group of four artists to collaborate on three large-scale murals around Amman that tackle the issue and spread positive messages about mental health. The murals will be completed and unveiled throughout the month of October.

In addition, the Embassy and artmejo in partnership with Ruwwad Al-Tanmeya, held a virtual community engagement session that brought together over 20 local artists and four women from Ruwwads community. The aim of the session was for the artists to hear from the women about their first hand experiences in dealing with mental health and engage in a conversation about the importance and impact of mental health.

On World Mental Health Day, let us foster a more open and knowledgeable environment around mental health issues, especially in light of the plight of refugees who have lost everything and went through horrid experiences, but also in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. We are very proud to have launched the #mindthemind campaign this year and we hope it encourages more people to talk about the importance of mental health, said Barbara Joziasse, Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Jordan.

Artists Omar Sha and Sara Allan said: Our aim for the murals is to create positive, happy and calming visuals in the streets of Amman that would touch the inner child of the viewers and do a bit of healing. I appreciate that we were given the chance to try to achieve that.

Artists Randa Abu Rahmeh and Sandra Sarkissian said: Mental health is a prevalent topic in todays world and Im glad for the opportunity to visually contribute to the ever-growing dialogue around the subject matter, especially in our region. We are hoping to create something that deeply resonates with others, and so these artworks are inspired by our own personal experiences with mental health challenges.

In addition to the three murals that will be created, artmejo and the Embassy have commissioned a group of local musicians to compose and perform a song that addresses the issue of mental health. The musicians who collaborated on the song are: Muhammad Abdullah, Mohammad Idreesi, Amjad Shahrour, Amr Abukhleif, Ammar Urabi, Ghalia Barghouthi and Zaid Allan and Zaid Khaled

The Netherlands is a long-standing supporter of initiatives and projects for improving Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in crisis situations and has a history in helping develop expertise on MHPSS, making it a forerunner in the field. In Jordan, the Netherlands mainstreams MHPSS into key programmes and sectors such as education, employment, and social protection.

The #mindthemind campaign comes as a collaboration with artmejo, an online platform that promotes art & culture in the Arab world. The platform aims to provide young local artists with an opportunity to join in on conversations surrounding the current social climate and invites them to actively ignite social change through various art forms.

Every year the world celebrates Mental Health Awareness Day on October 10. This day is used to educate and raise awareness of mental health issue and advocate against the stigmatisation of mental health.

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On World Mental Health Day, The Netherlands sheds light on the importance of mental health in Amman through murals and music - The Netherlands and You

The near-Earth asteroid Bennu continues to reveal its secrets to NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission, which has been orbiting the space rock for nearly two years.

New research reveals veins of carbonite materials in Bennu's boulders, as well as signs of organic minerals widespread across its surface. The variety of rock compositions on the asteroid's surface, the gravity of the asteroid, and the unbalanced, diamond-shaped structure of the asteroid's body suggest that Bennu formed after the collision of two parent asteroids, the study found.

Altogether, the new results provide a baseline for the samples that OSIRIS-REX will collect from Bennu's surface on Oct. 20. The spacecraft is expected to bring those samples back to Earth in 2023, if all goes according to plan, and will reveal not only insight about the asteroids that pass near our planet but also a glimpse of the first ten millions years after the suns formation.

Video: Asteroid Bennu - Up close and personal in new NASA tourRelated: OSIRIS-REx: NASA's asteroid sample-return mission in pictures

In the process of building planets, the early solar system also created a lot of little debris that would never become a world. These leftovers have many of the same signatures of planetary building blocks but just didn't quite make it into the finished product. Many of these drifted to the asteroid belt, though some were hurled back towards Earth early on to deposit water on the surface of the then-dry planet.

"Because it migrated from the main asteroid belt into an Earth-crossing orbit, Bennu is a prime example of how material could have been delivered to the early Earth from farther out in the solar system," Amy Simon, a researcher at NASA's Goddard Flight Center in Maryland, told Space.com in an email. Simon is the author of one of six papers on Bennu published today (Oct. 8) in the journals Science and Science Advances.

"The widespread evidence of both carbonates/organics and hydrated minerals on Bennu bolsters the argument that asteroids and comets may have brought the needed building blocks for life here to Earth and other planets," she said.

Over the last two years, OSIRIS-REx has collected enough images of Bennu to map the asteroid's surface. Variations in the color and albedo (brightness) provide insights into the asteroid's "skin," as well as revealing how it changes over time.

Bennu is considered a rubble pile asteroid, gravitationally coalescing after something slammed into its original parent body. By comparing the differences in color and albedo in the boulders and craters, scientists were able to determine that the asteroid is made up of two distinct populations of boulders.

According to Daniella DellaGiustina, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, the leading hypothesis for the appearance of these separate populations is that the original asteroid contained several separate zones that underwent distinct geological processes. When Bennu drew together after the impact that shattered that object, it gathered material from at least two of those zones, DellaGiustina told Space.com.

OSIRIS-REx has also spotted several small boulders with compositions similar in many ways to the asteroid Vesta, the second largest object in the asteroid belt. Those boulders may provide insights into the object that shattered Bennu's parent body. "We think these rocks originated from a fragment of Vesta that collided with Bennu's parent body and were also inherited when Bennu formed," DellaGiustina said.

Bennu also has a surprising amount of carbon-rich materials, including carbonates and organic materials. Carbonates are inorganic minerals, while organics contain carbon in more complex forms. Mapping the wavelengths of light bouncing off of Bennu can provide hints about its composition. Previous observations had already revealed the presence of hydrated phyllosilicates, or clays, on the asteroid's surface. Now, the new research reveals that organic and carbonate materials cover Bennu's exterior.

According to Simon, Bennu carries a wide mix of signals that could be the result of compositional variation, weathering differences, age differences, a variety of particle sizes, or some combination of all of them.

"While a global spectrum of an asteroid may show you one dominant characteristic, it's likely that all asteroids have variation on their surface, too," Simon said. That may explain why complex C-type asteroids associated with Bennu have a diversity of signatures.

"The true test will be analyzing the returned Bennu samples and seeing exactly how the particles vary," Simon said.

Another team of researchers explored the physical characteristics of Bennu's boulders using thermal infrared data to determine their surface roughness and thermal inertia (the measure of how slowly an object's temperature changes), both of which are used as proxies for the physical characteristics of a planetary surface.

Working with his colleagues, Ben Rozitis of The Open University in the United Kingdom found that Bennu's boulders could be classified into two types by strength. The weakest of these boulders would be unlikely to survive a fall through a planet's atmosphere, suggesting that any meteorites of that type that were hurled towards Earth would never survive to reach the ground. The weak boulders have a low reflectance and a hummocky texture, and a lower thermal inertia than C-type asteroids.

The stronger boulders are more reflective, with angular sides and evidence for water-rich mineral deposits in their cracks. Although these boulders also have a lower thermal conductivity than similar meteorites, their numbers come close to the measurements of CM-type asteroids taken in the laboratory.

Rozitis and his team concluded that other near-Earth objects likely contain boulders similar to the ones found on Bennu, rather than the smaller, fine-grained regolith. They also suspect that the samples of material collected by OSIRIS-REx and returned to Earth will contain pieces of the boulders that would not otherwise survive a fall through the atmosphere.

"We therefore expect OSIRIS-REx to return for analysis material that is not currently in Earth's meteoritic collection," the authors wrote in their paper.

The map also revealed that Bennu's surface is weathering in a surprising way. Exposure to the charged particles streaming from the sun and the rain of micrometeorites can have important effects on space rocks. On the moon and other asteroids, scientists have found that their impact darkens the surface, causing it to reflect sunlight in longer wavelengths. But Bennu is doing something unexpected. Instead, the asteroid is growing brighter over time, its rocks reflecting shorter wavelengths of light.

"Something about Bennu is quite different than other planetary surfaces we've observed," DellaGiustina said.

In the early days of the solar system, when it was a scant few million years old, heat from radioactive elements melted water ice, allowing it to interact with and change the rock of the parent body. The rapid decay of those elements means that the alteration had to happen early before the collision that destroyed Bennu's parent body.

That water most likely created the ribbons of minerals seen in some of Bennu's boulders. Similar veins are seen in meteorites, according to Hannah Kaplan, also at Goddard, but they range from microns to millimeters in length and width, while Bennu's veins are 3 to 15 centimeters wide and up to 1.5 meters long. "The veins on Bennu are therefore much larger than any meteorite example we have," Kaplan says.

Although OSIRIS-REx hasn't spotted any vein-bearing boulders in Nightingale, the anticipated sampling region, Kaplan says that doesn't rule out the possibility of smaller, carbonate-rich fragments. She anticipates seeing evidence of carbonate in the material returned to Earth.

Although Bennu shares several compositional traits with CM and CI meteorites, Kaplan and her colleagues found that the dominating material in the fractures was different from known meteorites. It's possible that looking at Bennu from far away reveals different features than those captured in individual meteorites. It's the difference between examining a mountain or a boulder on that mountain; Bennu is looking at the mountain, while meteorites are more like individual boulders.

"From a single boulder, you can get a lot of information the mountain is mostly granite, it's so many years old but you might miss the fact that there are trees nearby, too," Kaplan says.

Related: Eruptions on asteroid Bennu hint at causes of space rock explosions

Bennu's rubble-pile formation gives it a top-like shape. As the material drew together gravitationally, it began to rotate. The resulting asteroid bulges in the middle and is thinner at the poles. Bennu also has four ridges evident in its northern hemisphere, running from north to south.

In addition to mapping the surface, OSIRIS-REx scientists were also able to create a 3-D model of Bennu down to a resolution of 20 cm (8 inches). Two of the ridges were found to extend through the equator and into the high southern latitudes, and portions of all four are present in the south. In the southern region, material covers the ridges, rendering them invisible to the naked eye.

The northern and southern regions also have different low-albedo areas. South of the equator, the wide-scale darker features occur in the transition between the sloped southern cap and the flatter equatorial region. In the northern features, fewer such regions exist, and most are associated with scattered material identified as rock slides or falls.

"The differences we identified between the northern and southern hemispheres of Bennu suggest fundamental differences in the surface properties and subsurface structures," the authors, led by Michael Daly, a planetary scientist at York University in Canada, wrote in their paper.

The vanishing ridges may indicate a wedging rotational failure in Bennu's history. As the spinning material collapsed down, the material that made up the ridges remained essentially whole, refusing to crumble. Their formation would have led to topographic changes that further impeded disruption, occurring either as the asteroid reaccumulated after the initial collision or later in its lifetime. In the southern hemisphere, large boulders kept material from spreading out, while in the northern hemisphere their relative paucity allowed the material to move and expose the ridges.

Last year, researchers announced that Bennu was blowing dust off of its surface. Led by Daniel Scheeres, of the University of Colorado, Boulder, the researchers used this blown off material, along with the spacecraft itself, to track Bennu's gravity. By modeling how both felt the tug of gravity, the researchers were able to indirectly probe the interior of the asteroid. The dust and rocky satellites revealed that Bennu has a wide variety of material inside of it that pulls differently at orbiting objects depending where they are related to the asteroid's surface. The regions at the equator and center are less dense than the material at its poles.

Previously, researchers suggested that the equatorial bulge could be the result of its spin, as material migrates towards the equator and settles there. Gravitational observations confirm this is the case. It also suggests that the migrating material is more porous than the surrounding material, causing a lower density even as more material settles.

The center of the asteroid is also low-density, and its formation has previously been suggested to be the result of its rapid 4.3-hour spin. By comparing the spin rate of Bennu today with the proposed spin required to transform it from a pile of rubble into an asteroid, the researchers determined that the center, which has a lower density than anticipated, may have formed early in the life of the asteroid. The size of the bulge and underdense region, both consistent with a period of rapid rotation when Bennu lived in the main belt, contrast with the recent origin of the equatorial ridges.

"The mass distribution of Bennu, based on analysis of the measured gravity field, has signatures of both currently active processes and of an ancient event," Scheeres and his colleagues wrote.

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Boulders on asteroid Bennu shed new light on the space rock's history - Space.com

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Ruairi OConnor and Charlotte Hope star at Henry VIII and Queen Catherine in The Spanish Princess. (Courtesy of Starz)

Stephanie Levi-John knows the second part of The Spanish Princess will be quite a journey.

She cant wait for an audience to tune in and watch.

Its been really nice to speak about the show, Levi-John says during a recent interview. Im really excited because we get to see a different perspective with the new episodes.

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The Spanish Princess is a story told uniquely from the point of view of the women, which also sheds light on a previously untold corner of history: the lives of people of color, living and working in 16th century London.

The second part of The Spanish Princess begins Sunday, Oct. 11, on Starz. (Courtesy of Starz)

It follows Catherine of Aragon, played by Charlotte Hope, who is the strong-willed young princess of Spain, who has been promised the English throne since she was a child. She arrives in a grey, rain-lashed England with her glorious and diverse court including her ladies-in-waiting Lina a Spanish noble of African Iberian descent and the sweet and free-spirited Rosa.

When her husband, Prince Arthur, dies suddenly, the throne seems lost to Catherine until she devises an audacious plan and sets her sights on the new heir, the charismatic and headstrong Prince Henry, who will one day rule as King Henry VIII, played by Ruairi OConnor.

Stephanie Levi-John stars as Lina de Cardonnes in The Spanish Princess. (Courtesy of Starz)

Part 2 continues the story of Queen Catherine and Henry VIII. Presiding over the most glamorous court in Europe and beloved by their people, together they create an England that is proud, confident and strong enough to withstand threat from abroad.

Catherines struggle to produce an heir places her marriage and position in the court at risk, and she is haunted by her choices from the past.

Despite proving herself a politician, a diplomat, a national inspiration and even a military commander, Catherine must battle to save her love with the king, and to preserve the peace and prosperity of their reign.

Levi-John portrays Lina de Cardonnes. The second part of the series premieres at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, on Starz.

Levi-John says Part 2 brings the flip side of Lina to audiences.

We get to see a little bit of her home life and her life away form the palace, she says. Its a sanctuary for her. Lina is living her life with Oviedo. The two of them have fought to be together. They share this beautiful, humble life.

Stephanie Levi-John and Aaron Cobham portray Lina de Cardonnes and Oviedo in The Spanish Princess. (Courtesy of Starz)

Levi-John says Lina and Oviedo, played by Aaron Cobham, are trying to balance their professional and personal lives.

As Queen Catherine is trying to birth an heir, that trickles down to affect the couple.

(Theres) loads of drama and its becoming a roller coaster within their household, she says. At the same time, Lina wants her home to be a place of empathy. Shes got her own priorities, and they dont include Catherine. That used to be her whole life. Shes constantly trying to think of what to do and what is right for her life.

During the second part of the series, Levi-John says, being able to have a look into Linas home life opened her eyes.

Shes wised up to the way Catherine treats her at times, she says. Playing that battle within her (was difficult). Does she fight for what is right knowing that she may be berated? I think the whole motherhood aspect of things was beautiful too. I dont have any children, and I wanted to do that justice. I wanted to show a true depiction of carrying a child. I found that really difficult and it touched a personal nerve.

Being able to spend time in Linas shoes has taught Levi-John a few things.

Ruairi OConnor and Charlotte Hope in a scene from The Spanish Princess. (Courtesy of Starz)

I love that Lina is not someone you dont want to mess with, she says. I love her loyalty, and that has taught me a lot. Shes so mentally and emotionally strong. And having a wonderful partner. I like the fact that shes human.

Arriving on set each day, Levi-John was transported to another time, which was also an opportunity for her to dress the part with corsets, handmade clothes and more.

There was such a beauty in being able to stand in your full glory, she says of the costumes. The decadence of it all. The costumes and set designers were incredible. Walking into the set, it boggled my mind, because it did transport me to a different time.

Levi-John says The Spanish Princess will give viewers an outlet, as well.

This year, its been tough for everyone, she says. We managed to film this before the pandemic hit. Viewers are hungry for something different. Im very proud to be part of this show and be part of this world and escape the madness.

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Female point of view: The Spanish Princess sheds light on women, people of color in 16th century London - Albuquerque Journal

Archaeologists have found that the openings of all jars stored in Israel over 350 years have the diameter of an average mans hand a tefach which has significant bearing in regards to tumah and tahara.

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A study carried out by three Israel archaeologists publicized this week found a fascinating common denominator among storage jars in Israel over a period of 350 years all the rims of the jars maintain the diameter of a mans hand atefach. The finding holds true despite drastic changes in the shapes and volumes of storage jars over the centuries.

The storage jars all had an inner-rim diameter of 8.85 to 8.97 centimeters, a measurement that corresponds to the width of an average mans hand. And according to the study, the size of an average mans hand hasnt changed in the past 3,000 years, citing 1980 data from the US Army, which found an average dimension of 8.670.48 centimeters when measuring male soldiers hands for the purpose of ordering gloves.

The study, which was published under the auspices of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, cited the two modern Rabbinical opinions of Rav Avraham Chaim Naeh and the Chazon Ish.

According to Rabbi Chaim Naeh, one tefach = 8 centimeters, whereas according to the Chazon Ish one tefach = 9.6 centimeters, the press release stated.The uniform opening of the ancient storage jars, which falls between 8.85-8.97 cm, falls squarely in between these two opinions and may shed light on the dimensions of the biblical tefach. [YWN editors note: The opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein on the measurement of a tefach corresponds to squarely in between the opinion of Chazon Ish and Rav Chaim Naeh.]

The Hebrew University press release also addresses a possible connection between the tefach measure of the storage jars rims and the laws of tahara and tumah, which can be read below. The archeologists findings were published inBASOR, theBulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

It was natural for the ancient potters to adopt the handbreadthtefachstandard. It was a unit of length that was widely used in ancient times, and is mentioned both in Assyrian and Egyptian sources and in the Torah, for instance:Numbers 25-25, Numbers 37-12, the researchers shared.

The team did 3-D scans of 307 Iron-Age jars found in Khirbet Qeiyafa (Judah Kingdom; early 10th century BC), hippo jars from northern Israel (Israelite Kingdom, 9th Century BCnicknamed for their large size and loop handles which resemble hippopotamuses) and royal Judah Kingdom storage jars (8-7th Century BC). The researchers observed large variations between the jarseven those from the same time period and geographic region. Only one measure remained constant: the averaged inner-rim diameter which always measured, with a standard deviation, between 8.85 and 8.97 centimeters.

The distribution of this diameter is statistically identical to the hands breadth of modern man. To gain data on the standard measure of a modern mans palm, the team tapped measurements taken by the USA Army when ordering gloves for their soldiers, the mean value being 8.670.48 cm, which is consistent with the measurements taken from the ancient jars. Though human heights and weights have changed over time due to improved diet and health, previous research has shown that palm dimensions have not changed much over the last 3,000 years.

As to why the inner rim remained consistent while the overall shape of the jar varied so much, our Israeli group of researchers has several theories. It was a natural choice for ancient potters to use their palms as the standard diameter for jar openingsit was easy to implement when working on the wheel: the potter could simply use her/his palm as a tool. Further, storage jars were multiuse items, which meant their openings had to be large enough to allow for cleaning between uses and this involves fitting your hand into the jar.

However, there is another, ancient aspect which may explain the connection between the uniform neck diameters. It is based on the highly-regarded and observed purity laws in the Torah. The Book of Numbers deals with the question: What is the status of jars that were left in the vicinity of a corpseare they impure or pure?

This is the law, if a man dies in a tent, anyone entering the tent and anything in the tent shall be unclean for seven days. Any open vessel which has no seal fastened around it becomes unclean. (Numbers 19: 14-15)

It is clear from this passage that the contents of a jar become impureand therefore unusable unless there is a special seal on its top. This ruling had serious economic ramifications. Imagine having to throw out valuable stores of grain and oil after Grandpa Ezekiel died in the family tent. Subsequent Jewish traditions quantified these rules of impurity, stating that the minimal opening size through which impurity may enter is the square of a hands breadth by hands breadth.

Impurity does not enter a shelter, nor does it depart from it if there is an opening less than a handbreadth [tefach] by a handbreadth [tefach]. (14.1)

According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught that the verse is speaking only about a ceramic container, for it is a container that contracts impurity only through its opening. (21.1) Maimonidess Code of Jewish Religious Law, Mishneh Torah.

Here Maimonides brings down an ancient tradition vis a vis the laws of impurity, stating that a round opening with a maximum diameter of one hands breadth, or tefach, would ensure that the jars content would still be pure even if it were stored near a corpse. From here it would make sense that potters would create storage jars with a tefach, or hands breadth, opening.

For the purposes of storage and transport, a jar opening should be small. On the other hand, pouring, cleaning and easy manufacturing would dictate a large opening, at least a hands-width. Perhaps, the final convergence to a one handbreadth opening killed several birds with one stone and kept in mind the spiritual, legal traditions regarding the minimal window through which impurity could defile the contents of a ceramic vessel and thus make them unusable.

Over time, different rabbis attempted to provide conversions of the traditional biblical measurements to our modern measurement. The conversions for the tefach vary, with competing theories brought forth by Avraham Chaim Naeh and the Chazon Ish, both 20th century Orthodox rabbis who lived in pre-State Palestine. According to Rabbi Chaim Naeh, one tefach = 8 cm, whereas according to the Chazon Ish one tefach = 9.6 cm. The uniform opening of the ancient storage jars, which falls between 8.85-8.97 cm, falls squarely in between these two opinions and may shed light on the dimensions of the biblical tefach and, because we no longer hold by purity laws when it comes to the contamination of stored items, elucidate just how tall your sukkah can be, down to the last centimeter.

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Discovery Sheds Light on Size of a Tefach - Anash.org - Good News

Children's National Hospital will hold blood drives on Tuesdays and Thursdays at its new outpatient center in Lanham, Md. through Oct. 22.

WASHINGTON The family of a little girl battling a rare form of blood cancer at Childrens National Hospital is raising awareness about the critical need for blood and platelet donations.

Since the coronavirus pandemic started, many organizations that collect blood have experienced a shortage of donations because of canceled blood drives. Over the summer, the American Red Cross reported having a less than five-day blood supply on hand which is typically rare.

According to Steven and Daniela Krum, whose four-year-old daughter Isabel was recently diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, a disease that attacks white blood cells, blood donors are needed at Childrens National Hospital too.

We are always in need of donors, said Beth Riggs, a spokesperson for Childrens National. Sickle Cell, Cancer and other patients are always in need of blood transfusions.

Isabel has spent the last three weeks in the hospital following her diagnosis, which has been really difficult for her parents.

When she struggles, we struggle, Mrs. Krum said. You dont want to watch your kid go through any of this but were grateful theres so many people behind us.

Isabels dad told WUSA9 that she has a PICC line to receive chemotherapy, but due to the high risk of infection, doctors need to replace it with a port that goes under the skin in her chest. He said she did not have enough platelets to get the procedure a week ago and neither did the blood banks.

This meant she would have to wait, which led to a plea for family members on social media. The Krums hope theres enough platelet supply in the coming weeks for Isabel to get the port.

Its going to take an army to get through this, said Mr. Krum, as he and his wife leaned over Isabels hospital bed.

In six months, we look forward to her being her normal self, said Mr. Krum, who explained how long her treatment will be. Maybe shell have less hair, less weight, but all those things shell recover from and come out on the other side, stronger, wiser and a tough kid."

Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood or platelets, according to the American Red Cross. Unlike blood donations, which must be used within 42 days, the shelf life for platelets is much shorter. Platelets must be used within five days.

One pint of blood can be used for four to five children, according to Childrens National Hospital.

We need you to donate blood, to donate platelets, to donate plasma, said Mr. Krum.

Childrens National Hospital is holding a blood drive through Oct. 22 at its new outpatient center, located at 2900 North Campus Way in Lanham, Md.

You can make an appointment here for the drives that will be held between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on the remaining days:

You can also donate blood at Childrens National in Northwest. For more information, click here.

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4-year-old girl battling rare blood cancer at Children's National sheds light on need for blood donors - WUSA9.com

Potential long-lasting effects after contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has been much-discussed in recent months, but a new study sheds more light on the lingering symptoms that some patients have experienced.

This study was conducted by Clinical Microbiology and Infection and followed up with 150 patients who had "non-critical" COVID-19, meaning they survived and were not admitted to an ICU.

The results found that two-thirds of the patients, all of whom were over the age of 18 a median age of 49 experienced symptoms 30 days, or even as long as 60 days after symptom onset.

It concluded that "more than one-third felt still sick or in a worse clinical condition" at day 60 than at the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

These prolonged symptoms were most commonly seen in patients aged 40-60, who had been hospitalized (but not in the ICU) at the onset of COVID-19, and who had experienced breathing problems.

According to the World Health Organization, the median time from illness onset to recovery is about two weeks for mild cases and 3-6 weeks for severe or critical illness.

Symptoms the patients in the study continued exhibiting 30-60 days after disease onset mainly included anosmia/ageusia (loss of smell/taste), dyspnea (difficulty breathing) or asthenia (fatigue).

The lingering symptoms were more commonly found in patients with comorbidities, including obesity, chronic respiratory disease, dialysis, heart failure or a previous cardiovascular event, liver cirrhosis, insulin-dependent diabetes, immunosuppression and pregnancy.

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Most children and adults who have coronavirus recover fully within a few weeks, the Mayo Clinic says.

But while the study found lingering symptoms were more common in patients who were admitted to a hospital at symptom onset,the Mayo notes that some people, even those who had mild cases, can experience symptoms for months after initially recovering from the virus.

Those symptoms include fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, joint pain, organ damage and blood clots.

The Minnesota Department of Health and other health experts are still studying the long-term effects of the virus to learn how it will impact people over time. This is why health officials stress the importance of wearing a mask, social distancing and staying home when you're sick.

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Study sheds more light on lingering symptoms of COVID-19 - Bring Me The News

A shed is a small structure that looks like a mini house that can be installed in the corner of your yard. You can always choose between buying or building a shed, and if you choose to build one, then it becomes a great activity and hobby for you and your family to enjoy. There are many reasons why someone would want or need a shed in their yard. If you happen to be an artist and do not want to ruin any valuables in your home if you play an instrument and want to soundproof your home and numerous other reasons.

Read on below to discover even more reasons why you might need a shed in your yard.

If you have a large back or front yard and think it looks bland, then installing a shed can actually spruce up space and make it look nicer. With sheds, you can plant large trees and plants next to it to make it look as though it came straight out of a fairytale. You can also make you shed either stand out or blend in with the rest of your yard, depending on which will give your yard a fresher look.

The number one reason most people buy or build a shed is to declutter their homes. It is possible that you have a bunch of things that are laid out in your yard, in your garage, or items that are just taking unnecessary space in your house. With a shed, you can dedicate it to be an area to put all the extra things that you need but are cluttering your home. This way you will be able to enjoy your home more and to a fuller extent.

Another main reason why people install sheds is the workplace. When you bought your house, you may have had the deal of a lifetime, but you had to sacrifice an extra room to work with. As mentioned, this can be your painting, playing, or small office area. So it is also possible that you need a soundproofed area where it will not make too much noise for others living with you.

When you buy or build a shed in your home, this adds more value to your home as there is the availability of storage space. This will never hinder your selling process given that sheds can be uninstalled if need be. Yet the reasons why someone would not need a shed are much less than reasons why you would need one. Especially if your home does not have a garage or attic, the extra storage space or workplace will prove crucial for future homebuyers.

When it comes to having the availability of a shed, then protection and safety are excellent bonuses, if not the main reason to have one. When you are looking for a garden shed, then you may want to look into buying a garden shed guide as it will give you the best ideas on how to find the right one for your needs. If you have expensive gardening tools, for instance, that you do not want to be weathered down, a small wooden structure will definitely come in handy to protect your belongings and a guide will help you find one that will stop any rain from pouring in on your equipment

Instead of a treehouse or your kids messing up their rooms or your house in general, having a shed is the best option for family fun and entertainment. This shed can be used for your children to play in and watch movies and draw and completely mess up and use their full creativity rather than mucking up your house.

One of the coolest reasons to invest in a shed is its customizable factor. If you are building one, then you can make the shed a secondary home with one or two small rooms for different reasons. Some people also have a small patio outside their shed, especially when it is in the backyard and you have no place to sit there. This will protect your chairs and tables from the sun and weather in general as you can put them back inside when you are not using them. You can also make a sturdy roof for your shed if you would like to sit atop it with your friends or family.

The ease of accessing your items multiplies when you have a shed given the decluttering of other locations in your home. If you had everything put in a room in your home like the attic or in the garage, your items may have gotten quite jumbled up, and would be really difficult to get a hold of one thing without messing up another.

If you happen to have children who play in the yard, you can keep the tools far away from them to keep them safe from any gardening tool dangers. Gardening equipment or if your DIY tools can be very dangerous for a child, especially if they are left unwatched. This way you can be sure that when your items are in the shed, the shed is locked and you can protect your children from any harm.

The list of reasons why you might need a shed in your house goes on and on. There are a ton of ways you can make use of it and can change it up every once in a while. When your kids grow up, you can turn the shed into a workspace instead of an entertainment space. When you are tired of your hobby, for instance, you can turn it into a television area. If you have a garage sale, you can declutter your shed as well and utilize it in another way. The purposes are endless, and it is very rare that you find someone who has no purpose for one at all and tears it down. Be sure to do your research and look for one that suits all your needs, or go the extra mile and build one yourself.

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Claritas only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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9 Reasons Why You Might Need A Shed In Your Yard - KHTS Radio