#california live scan locations

[anshinmobilenotary]

Convenient Live Scan Locations in Los Angeles, California

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[bayarealivescan]

How can someone find a live scan service provider in order to submit my fingerprints to the department?

There can be a need for fingerprints for various reasons. If you have to submit your fingerprints online, service providers and law enforcement can help you with the same. Some of the authorized agencies also make the experience easy. It ensures the fingerprint is captured and processed quickly. For this, finding the right one will be easy. Make sure to start by searching for live scan services in San Jose to get a proper understanding of the same. It will help you get the list of those agencies or the law enforcement department that can provide you with the services. Make sure to consider the distance from your property first and then see if the slot is available. You will have to give them a call or visit their website to book an appointment.

If choosing an agency for the service, you have to see they are authorized by the FBI, or else it will be of no use. The agency will be able to complete the job within minutes. No matter if you want assistance for renewable or for the first time, a good service provider will make the process absolutely easy. The appointment location will take 5 to 15 minutes to complete the entire process, and you will be good to go. It is all about finding a trusted service provider, and things will be easy. If you are ready for the same, then considering contacting Bay Area Live Scan will be helpful. They have got professionals who will make the experience absolutely easy for you. They will ensure you get on-time live scan services. No matter if you wish to get the fingerprint on the card or you wish to upload it on the portal itself, they will be there to make things absolutely easy. You will have a fast and comfortable experience with them to complete the fingerprint requirements.

[voskhozhdeniye]

For the last several months, a city at the heart of Silicon Valley has been training artificial intelligence to recognize tents and cars with people living inside in what experts believe is the first experiment of its kind in the United States.

Last July, San Jose issued an open invitation to technology companies to mount cameras on a municipal vehicle that began periodically driving through the city’s district 10 in December, collecting footage of the streets and public spaces. The images are fed into computer vision software and used to train the companies’ algorithms to detect the unwanted objects, according to interviews and documents the Guardian obtained through public records requests.

Some of the capabilities the pilot project is pursuing – such as identifying potholes and cars parked in bus lanes – are already in place in other cities. But San Jose’s foray into automated surveillance of homelessness is the first of its kind in the country, according to city officials and national housing advocates. Local outreach workers, who were previously not aware of the experiment, worry the technology will be used to punish and push out San Jose’s unhoused residents.

City employees are driving a single camera-equipped vehicle through sections of district 10 “every couple weeks”, said Khaled Tawfik, director of the San Jose information technology department. The city sends the training footage to participating companies, which include Ash Sensors, Sensen.AI, Xloop Digital, Blue Dome Technologies and CityRover.

Some of the areas in district 10 targeted by the pilot, such as Santa Teresa Boulevard, are places where unhoused people congregate, sometimes with the city’s encouragement. The light rail station on Santa Teresa Boulevard, for example, is home to the city’s only designated safe parking location for RVs, often used as homes.

There’s no set end date for the pilot phase of the project, Tawfik said in an interview, and as the models improve he believes the target objects could expand to include lost cats and dogs, parking violations and overgrown trees.

“If the City were to productionize this technology, we envision the cameras to be on our fleet motor pool vehicles that regularly drive throughout city limits,” a city employee wrote in a 22 January email.

Ken Salsman, chief technology officer for Ash Sensors, said his company, which specializes in sensors that monitor the structural health of buildings, had not explored homelessness detection before learning of San Jose’s pilot. The experiment provided an opportunity to create potentially marketable technologies by solving challenging computer vision problems, such as distinguishing an empty RV parked outside a home from an RV that is a home. He said the company was training its algorithms to detect proxy signs of habitation.

“Are the windows covered inside the vehicle? Are there towels to provide privacy? Is there trash outside the vehicle, suggesting they’re using food and having trouble getting rid of the waste?” Salsman said. He added that successful detection of lived-in vehicles would probably require frequent scanning of city streets in order to establish whether the vehicles have moved.

A report from the company Sensen.AI shows that its system detected 10 lived-in vehicles in footage collected from two streets on 8 February. Several of the vehicles pictured in the report have tarps spread across windows or rolled up and tied to them. Another has traffic cones next to it. Sensen.AI did not respond to a request for comment.

Tawfik said the goal of the pilot was to encourage companies to build algorithmic models that could detect a variety of different objects from car-mounted cameras with at least 70% accuracy. The participating companies are currently detecting lived-in RVs with between 70 and 75% accuracy, he said, but the accuracy for lived-in cars is still far lower: between 10 and 15%. City staff are following the route of the camera-equipped car and confirming that the vehicles are occupied.

‘We’re not detecting folks. We’re detecting encampments’

City documents state that, in addition to accuracy, one of the main metrics the AI systems will be assessed on is their ability to preserve the privacy of people captured on camera – for example, by blurring faces and license plates. Tawfik said that the city did not “capture or retain images of individuals” through the pilot and that “the data is intended for [the city’s housing and parks departments] to provide services”.

The data use policy for the pilot states that the footage cannot be actively monitored for law enforcement purposes, but that police may request access to previously stored footage.

“We’re not detecting folks,” Tawfik said. “We’re detecting encampments. So the interest is not identifying people because that will be a violation of privacy.” However, in its report identifying lived-in vehicles, Sensen.AI wrote that its system included optical character recognition of the vehicles’ license plate numbers.

Tawfik said San Jose had delayed its release of a citywide AI policy in part to allow the department to examine its proposed guardrails through the lens of the object detection pilot.

Residents have complained to the city’s 311 phone line about homeless encampments 914 times so far in 2024. They reported illegal dumping 6,247 times, graffiti 5,666 times, and potholes 769 times last year. The goal of the surveillance pilot is to address these complaints more efficiently, according to Tawfik.

According to Tawfik, the city’s response might include sending outreach workers to visit a single tent before it can grow into an encampment, he said. The San Jose housing department and non-profits providing aid to unhoused people said they had not been involved in the pilot.

“Our ability to help the individuals directly is not really part of the pilot,” Tawfik said. “We’re still learning what can be done. And then once the program is mature, then we can look at the data and see what makes sense.”

That approach worries people like Thomas Knight, who was formerly unhoused and now serves as executive member of the Lived Experience Advisory Board of Silicon Valley. The group, made up of dozens of current and formerly unhoused people, has recently been fighting a policy proposed last August by the San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan, that would allow police to tow and impound lived-in vehicles near schools.

“If their whole purpose is to better provide responses to calls to 311, then that means that this computer system is going to identify tents and lived-in vehicles that are in places that the city has deemed they shouldn’t be,” Knight said. “The truth is, the only people you’re going to be able to give [that data] to to fix the issue is the police department.”

San Jose is one of the least affordable housing markets in the country. In order to afford the average effective monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city, a renter would have to earn $96,000 a year, according to the latest available data. The city’s unhoused population has grown from approximately 4,200 people in 2009 to more than 6,200 in 2023. More than two-thirds of those people are living outdoors and in vehicles rather than the city’s overwhelmed shelter system.

Amid a lack of temporary shelter beds and permanent affordable housing, San Jose officials have cracked down on tent encampments and people living in cars and RVs. Housing advocates fear that identification of encampments by roving AI would add to those efforts.

“The approach to homelessness is to treat unhoused people as blight consistent with trash or graffiti,” said Tristia Bauman, directing attorney for housing at the non-profit Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

Last fall, the city cleared dozens of people out of tents and vehicles along a half-mile stretch of the downtown Guadalupe River trail and then announced plans for a “no return zone”. This year, police distributed 72-hour notices ordering people to leave a nearby encampment in Columbus Park in order to clear space for the opening of a five-acre dog park.

San Jose: a technological bellwether

In addition to providing a training ground for new algorithms, San Jose’s position as a national leader on government procurement of technology means that its experiment with surveilling encampments could influence whether and how other cities adopt similar detection systems. The city’s IT department is leading a national coalition of more than 150 municipal agencies working to develop policies for “responsible and purposeful” deployment of AI technologies in the public sector.

Tawfik said his staff had discussed the object detection pilot with coalition members and hoped that other agencies would participate in the review process. Companies participating in the pilot have also expressed interest in the “scalability” potential the coalition represents, according to emails they sent to IT department staff.

“As we see more interest from other cities to participate, we’re sharing notes and hopefully that advances the program faster,” Tawfik said.

Knight, from the Advisory Board, said the city’s focus on perfecting a technological solution ignored the root cause of the housing crisis in San Jose.

“If you have no place to put people, it’s pretty much useless,” he said.

[rinkrookiepod]

Rating Every NHL Arena - Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Team: LA Kings Location: Los Angeles, California Opened: October 17, 1999 Capacity: 18,230

The first time I'd been to the Crypto.com Arena was for Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour in January of 2019. Back then it was the Staples Center (and still will always be the Staples Center to me and everyone else who lives in Los Angeles) and I wasn't paying too much attention to the place. I was just happy to see Elton John.

The next time I'd made it out to the arena (by this time, I think it was being called Crypto.com Arena) was for my first hockey game and I saw the LA Kings vs the Chicago Blackhawks on March 24, 2022. I wasn't quite into hockey like I am now so I was there for vibes and because it was free. The company I work for has season tickets that they give to clients or the employees, and since my roommate and I work together and she's from Chicago and grew up supporting the Hawks, we went. The Hawks beat the Kings 4-3.

By the third time I made it out to Crypto.com Arena, it was for a hockey game that I was actually extremely excited for. The Pittsburgh Penguins vs the LA Kings aka finally getting to see Sidney Crosby.

I've now been to the Crypto.com Arena 4 times and here's what I've gathered:

Ticket prices range from $35-$1000+. The $1k+ tickets are glass seats with VIP parking and a bunch of other things that are included.

Here's what I've paid so far for what games, what seats, and with fees and such:

Kings v Penguins (11/9/23): $55.13 for Section 315, Row 6, Seat 9 Kings v Avalanche (12/3/23): $43.00 for Section 305, Row 3, Seat 1 Kings v Kraken (12/20/23): $165.25 for Section 113, Row 2, Seat 7 Kings v Blue Jackets (2/20/24): $31.85 for Section 304, Row 7, Seat 3 Kings v Kraken (4/3/24): $140.75 for Section 113, Row 2, Seat 7

Downtown LA is a nightmare- no matter the time or day. I've left my apartment with plenty of time and still ended up arriving after doors opened. I'm about 16 miles from the arena and it can take anywhere from 30 mins (no traffic) to an hour and a half (around rush hour). The area is a pain to navigate, as most downtown areas are with one-way streets and lanes that disappear and reappear as you go.

Parking is easy enough to find though once you get close to the arena and there are a few garages almost right across from the arena, but it'll cost ya around $40 or more. I know there are some surface lots around that might be cheaper but they're almost always cash only so keep that in mind. I'd recommend parking at LA Live or near the Regal at LA Live.

The area around the arena is nice though, with plenty of restaurants, sports bars, coffee shops and anything else you could think of. An ice skating rink even popped up over the holidays.

I'm a big fan of the staff at this arena. They're all very chill and easy to find and can help you with anything you might need, like directions or trying to find something, like lost and found. There is a no bag policy here though, not even clear ones. A wallet is about all you're going to be able to bring in. And their sign policy is very strict (11x17) so make sure you measure before bringing your sign asking for a puck.

This is a newer building, at least compared to the Honda Center, so there are escalators to get you from section to section. It felt like a luxury after only having stairs as an option over in Anaheim.

There are tons of food options inside the arena, with familiar places like a Blaze Pizza or a Wetzels Pretzels- even sushi. They also have those Amazon Markets where you can scan your card, walk in and grab what you want, and then leave. Prices are steep, as I've now to come to realize are standard in these arenas. $20+ for a Coke and a hot dog or a pretzel.

The main team store here felt quite small. It wasn't ever crowded when I'd made my way in there the few times that I have. A good selection of merch though and tons of jerseys. There was a smaller store in the upper level that had a small selection of things, which was nice if you missed the store on the main floor as it felt like it was kind of tucked away.

The bathrooms here were nice. The upper level bathrooms had stalls where there wasn't a gap between the door and the separator. Both Arielle and I were impressed with this on our trip.

As for seating and views, I've sat in the 100s and the 300s. I definitely enjoyed both and I think they have their time and place. I was in the 300s for the Pens game and again when I went back to November to see the Colorado Avalanche. I had a good view in both 305 (Avs) and 315 (Pens) and would sit in either again. The upper bowl is always going to give you that full view of the ice and you'll have a better capability to see full plays develop and not have to rely on the jumbotron.

I had what is almost considered a glass seat for the Seattle Kraken vs LA Kings game I went to in December. Section 113 is right across from the goal and since there's a curve, there's more leg room and the boards are spaced out just a bit further. Since it's not quite a glass seat, they don't charge as much for this ticket. I really enjoyed sitting here and since it was close to a face-off circle, I got to see a handful of face-offs right in front of me. I did find myself watching the jumbotron though when the action was happening down at the other side of the ice.

I will say, a big negative of going to this arena are the fans. I've had more bad interactions with Kings fans than good ones.

With all of that said, I do think I prefer making the trek down to Anaheim (44 miles) to see Ducks games rather than staying close to home and going to Kings games (16 miles), despite the Kings having a nicer arena- the parking and tickets are cheaper and the fans aren't quite as bad in Anaheim.

Rating: 8.5/10

By Ashley Newby, 2/5/24

[distinguishedanchorchild]

Dont Wait In Line Browse The Web Department Of Motor Vehicles

On-line Services Ri Division Of Motor Vehicles

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Other states need you to take an education and learning course after you get your license.Most of the time, a behind-the-wheel portion isn't included for on-line programs.To use these courses, tutors need to first receive official authorization from the state DMV.To make certain fairness, applicants must undertake a multi-step identity verification process prior to starting the test, commonly involving scanning a government-issued ID and taking a live photo.Consultation organizing makes disorderly DMV workplaces a thing of the past.

If you 'd like to downgrade to a non-driver ID from a permit, you'll need to complete an added kind ( Kind P-147). and surrender your certificate. If you are age 65 or older, you can ask for a two-year license renewal. You must be at least age 65 on the day you ask for the two-year image certificate renewal. Newbie registration and private party lorry sales are deals that we intend to make available online. Currently, customers should enter individual to a DMV office to finish enrollment and title transfer of a vehicle bought from a personal party or a lorry originating from out of state.

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On The Internet Screening

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[spacenutspod]

4 min read Ride the Wave of Radio Astronomy During the Solar Eclipse   GAVRT DSS-28 dish at the NASA Deep Space Communications Complex near Goldstone, California. NASA/Russell Torres Students and science enthusiasts are invited to catch a real-time look at radio astronomy as scientists explore magnetic hotspots on the Sun during a live, virtual solar eclipse event on April 8, 2024. A massive, 34-meter telescope once used by NASA’s Deep Space Network to communicate with spacecraft will point towards the Sun during the solar eclipse that day. The Moon’s position in front of the Sun will help the antenna detect radio waves from solar active regions in more detail than is usually possible.  The Solar Patrol team at California’s Lewis Center for Educational Research, in partnership with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will remotely operate the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) while sharing observations and commentary during an interactive webinar open for the public.  Scientists and students regularly use the single-dish GAVRT antenna, located in the Mojave Desert of California, to scan the Sun. They use the observations to build maps of radio waves formed along strong magnetic field lines in the outer atmosphere of the Sun. By studying these images, researchers can measure the strength and structure of those powerful magnetic regions. These observations offer insight into magnetically driven processes on the Sun, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which generate space weather events that can interfere with satellite electronics, radio communications and GPS signals, spacecraft orbits, and power grids on Earth.  During normal solar observing, GAVRT can only detect and distinguish relatively large features on the Sun. A solar eclipse offers a unique opportunity for GAVRT to capture sharper and more refined information about the magnetic field structure in the solar active regions that are often marked by sunspots. “It’s special during the eclipse because, as the Moon is passing in front of an active region, that really sharp edge of the Moon covers up more and more of the structure in that active region,” says Marin Anderson, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and GAVRT Solar Patrol scientist.  Anderson explains how, as the Moon blocks a portion of the active region, it’s easier to tell what part of the active region the radio emissions are coming from.  “It’s basically a way of probing magnetic field structures in the corona of the Sun in a way that we wouldn’t be able to unless an eclipse was happening.”  Anyone in the world can join the live-streamed webinar on April 8 from 1-3:30 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PDT) and ask the hosts questions as a partial eclipse becomes visible in California. Participants will be able to see the telescope controls, data visualization tools like Helioviewer, incoming radio data, a map of active hot spot regions, and imagery of the eclipsed Sun at radio wavelengths.  Eclipse maximum, as observed by GAVRT in radio waves at 6.00 GHz and 8.45 GHz, on October 14, 2023. Click the arrow to see the post-eclipse Sun. NASA/Thangasamy Velusamy Post-eclipse image of the Sun, as observed by GAVRT at 6.00 GHz and 8.45 GHz, on October 14, 2023. One of the active regions monitored by GAVRT during the eclipse is visible as the bright region in the lower left quadrant of the Sun. Click the arrow to see the eclipsed Sun. NASA/Thangasamy Velusamy GAVRT was awarded a NASA grant to carry out observations during both the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses in the U.S. GAVRT supports an open science framework by making all data and radio maps available for viewing and downloading by the public. Images collected during the eclipse will be posted online with instructions on how to run software and analyze the data.  The Solar Patrol team hopes the public webinar inspires people to become active members of the GAVRT program where they can learn to remotely operate the telescope themselves while taking part in data analysis and scientific discovery.  “I think one of the really great aspects of GAVRT Solar Patrol is that it connects any participant, but particularly students, with the Sun, beyond what they see and experience every day from the star,” Anderson says. “It’s seeing the Sun at radio wavelengths and being able to connect different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum with unique physics that’s happening on the Sun.” Since its launch in 1997, GAVRT has offered many opportunities to combine science observations with education and outreach. In addition to Solar Patrol, GAVRT is used in campaigns where participants can study Jupiter’s radiation belts, monitor radio emissions from black holes, or search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Anderson says giving students the tools to do science themselves empowers them.  “It’s a really hands-on process and I think the way to get kids excited and invested in not only solar science but the scientific process in general.”  To register for the GAVRT April 8 eclipse livestream event, visit: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4920123655757293655 For other ways to get involved in GAVRT, including signing up a classroom to participate in observations, contact: mc@lcer.org or visit gavrt.lewiscenter.org. By Rose Brunning, Communications LeadNASA Heliophysics Digital Resource Library Share Details Last Updated Feb 21, 2024 Related Terms 2024 Solar Eclipse Eclipses Skywatching Solar Eclipses Keep Exploring Discover More on the 2024 Solar Eclipse Shadow Notes Eclipse 2024 Science Eclipse 2024 Citizen Science Safety

[bittwitchy]

i’m gonna be a thousand percent real w you guys for a min, its gonna be under a read more, and it revolves around fears and pains and scary medical things and g/ov3r/nm3nt bullshit and stuff which is uhhh destroying me mentally and physically ig ahahahhaa

so like as some ppl know, when i was leaving work late nov/early dec of 22, i fell and injured my ‘leg’, it was a few days before i turned 26 and i couldnt get a doc appt in time w a real doc, and ofc bc i was on the male parentals insurance and it was based out of texas despite US being in california, i got completely fucked over bc they didnt want ro cover shit and i had to argue with them til almost the very end of december or so just to see a nurse practitioner who didnt know wtf she was gonna do, and refused to listen to me when i said i was not going to have insurance in a week. i cannot afford any expansive anything right now and anything that i have to do needed to be done before the end of december. all she said was ‘i hope you get better then, but they will call you when they feel like it.’

its been over a year, im still not better, because i was not clocked in at the time, and was injured in the parking lot, hr already said they wont cover it. even if i was only at that location (not my home location) for them, i was not clocked in and therefore they hold no responsibility, and the parking lot had no cameras anyways. its all just word of mouth so. i got fucked there too. C/alo/ptima has been fujcing useless and wont even send me my new insurance card so i can get a new regular pcp who will refill even just my fucking inhaler because the guy they gave me refused to even refill that.

now, when ive gotten the leg scans, they cant find anything. they dont know whats wrong. ‘oh youre just fat, lose weight and you’ll be fine.’

breathing shots pain into my leg. and the pains been spreading. ive been getting a little bit of weird treatment at work despite dlat out ignoring and pushing through my pain to please people and that wasnt even enough because i still got some pretty weird ass treatment from some ppl in management despite the fact im not choosing this, and ignoring it makes everything worse.

and ive been trying to push through and ignore it and hope it heels, because the medical system isnt going to help me, neither is the company, and i live in california. i really just cant afford the medical system here anyways.

i think when i fell, it clipped a nerve into my spine, because for those unaware im that special brand of au/tistic who can tell you the exact point of origin of my pain. from tooth pain to headaches to even searing body aches, i can tell you where it starts and where it ends. but i also have a massive pain tolerance (ive had 8 root canals and local anesthesia doesnt work on me thanks to adhd, i can and have had 9 bottles injected in and nothing happened, so i just dont use it and ignore the horrendous fucking pain of your nerves being killed because i dont want to bother anyone. THAT is my pain tolerance level, and i cant tolerate this.)

the pain is spreading to both of my legs, and when i ignore it i end up toppling over. i used to be a hula dancer, professional as a kid, still for rec until i got hurt. i cant do it anymore. i can barely walk. when i force myself into events and shit that requires walking, it feels like my entire body is being crushed the next day, and during the actual day of doing but thats obvious.

i dont know how to take it anymore, nothing is helping, no one is helping me, and even people who try to help me its like the system is working for them despite refusing to work for me. i really well and truly dont know what to do about this anymore. the pain from my spine isnt only in that leg now, its in both legs and keeps creeping to my arms. im obviously not gonna get help from the company, and even talking to a lawyer its a fucking long shot that i could get anything done from them at all since the parking lot didnt have cameras. i already have eds, and this has been setting off the issues relating to it even more. i was meant to get tested for pots before i lost insurance back then, but new doctor doesnt believe women can experience pain at all, and are lying for attention if they admit to it.

breathing is fucking painful, and i dont know what to do. i can just keep doing what im doing and ignoring my pain and pushing through to please everyone because its not like the system helps, but the system is working for others and when i do what they recommend i do it not only still doesnt work for me, but i get threats from it. i dont know if its because im autistic or not, indont know why it works for others and not for me, i dont understand and when i try to get answers all people say is ‘just push through’ but im trying and its making everything worse and im breaking my body more and more by just pushing through and indont want to get kicked off of c/alo/ptima for bothering them too much by not getting answers despite my efforts because i did get threatened and incant afford $250-500 monthly fees from my state if i dont have insurance. $250 is more than i earn a week. jts not like im getting hours at work. and i really just am so fucking broken and tired and confused and done i dont know what to do and im tired of being in pain. i just want the pain to go away. i dont want to cry anymore. i dont want to be confused and scared and alone anymore. its like everythings collapsing down and i dont know what to do.

and to top it all off, the skin welts and lesions that my old doctor was so terrified of me having are back. theyre a symbolism of my white blood cell count, and last time i got them he had me get blood tests every few months because he was worried about my developing leukemia. and everytime it got too high he gave me something to try snd prevent it, and ultimately i was ‘almost there but narrowly escaped’, and i dont know how im supposed to just keep pushing and keep living and keep going it that happens too. especially when incant afford a blood test right now. i dont know what im doing or who i am anymore and its destroying every semblance of who i am that i had left, and i just want to make everyone happy but im not happy. im not happy snd im not getting help snd i feel so defeated and indont understand how other people can argue andnits fine but i do it and i get threatened or retaliated against.

indont understand how if i do whats recommended im misbehaving and being wrong but others can do what they want. its like im a kid again but instrad of being beaten im just getting fucked over medically even more snd my body gets to further destroy itself and i dont know whay the fuck left there is to do. its like everythings collapsing down on me, jm not getting the samw care or treatment others get, and i dont think im going to because i cant keep fighting a system thats going to only verbally threaten me because they wont respond to emails. i cant use recorded conversations in court here. im scared and im tired and im in constant pain and had to beg my old doctor to send an inhaler refill without my seeing him because the new one wouldnt and my lungs were giving out. i dont want to die but it feels like its heading rhat way whether i want to or not because nothing and nobody will help me and when they try they get mad at me for ‘not trying harder’ but im doijt everythint they say and more and its nothing. nothings coming crom it but my suffering. but if i say its not my fault its ‘making excuses’ and injust cant keep doing this anymore. im so tired, and im in so much pain, and indont know what to do.

[mightyflamethrower]

There’s one particular area of the seabed Gallaudet believes gets a lot of attention. Though he won’t say specifically where the area is, he says it’s somewhere close to Catalina Island, California, the site of dozens of UFO sightings, including the Nimitz encounter.

Gallaudet asked a friend, Victor Vescovo, to scan the region. And the survey turned up a “wedge” on the ocean floor for which Gallaudet, an expert in his field, can’t find a “natural explanation.”

“The anomaly looks like a wedge taken out of a thing called a knoll. It’s an underwater ridge basically – and a wedge from it was totally carved out and horizontally displaced by two kilometres,” he said of the discovery. “I just want to find an explanation for it, but it does cause one to speculate. Is that evidence of an undersea UAP interaction with the seafloor? Or even a location for undersea infrastructure where these things go?”

Gallaudet may receive funding from Netflix to launch an expedition to the site, which is why he won’t reveal the exact coordinates yet. (RELATED: Harvard Physicist Says The One Thing About UFOs That Should Terrify You)

But what if it’s not an underground UFO base and something else entirely? There’s growing evidence to suggest the sea level rise following the Last Glacial Maximum destroyed entire continents. Could we finally be on a pathway to find those lost civilizations, and the places they lived before the oceans swallowed them whole?

Full Story: (https://www.offthepress.com/former-us-navy-admiral-reveals-area-containing-potential-ufo-base/)

[rainblogehe]

X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine´s Volume 1 Issue #2 PART 2

A man drove up into the motel where the woman was staying. He entered and asked the man for a room for the night and asked again that he has a “daughter all alone” which the other man is suspicious and said “I won’t tell you anything” but then the man’s eye color changed into bright yellow.

We see M preparing a bath, mixing it with IODINE in the water and an iron that she is heating up after that, she got undressed and start drinking. She is planning to do something about her arm.

She then proceeds to hold a knife and heat it up with a lighter and proceeds to use it to cut that arm. Blood splattered everywhere and after it got cut she used the iron to heat up the wound to prevent blood loss.

We see mystique in the next page where she stabbed the man in his elbow part. Then she change her appearance using that same man she stabbed and proceeded to go to where M is supposedly staying. She knocked and with no answer she knocked off the door.

Once she entered she saw the lump on the bead with M’s hand and immediately started shooting at it. Then she goes close to it which she uncovered the sheets and ended up seeing that the hand is the only thing there and no signs of her. But, under the bed was an explosive which then it explodes the whole room.

Back in Krakoa, Biome of Mystique and Destiny a mysterious person is shown and talking about how Mystique would die. Then she stated that its not all over yet since in her mind something is materializing in her mind a man in black, death himself which then Wolverine is vaguely shown.

In the Krakoa Armory Forge’s Lab, Forge is analyzing the pod that they found. It’s still taking awhile for him to crack it. Then they found out that this thing is old and it doesn’t match up with the timeline since it appears to be as thousand years older than the island.

We saw wolverine in the scene where the explosion happened while the monologue of “It doesn’t belong here, it’s like it came from out of time.” Then he went closer and closer to the scene which the police said to back off but he still proceeded to go and twist one of the man’s arm.

He entered the burning room and saw a skeleton which probably belongs to Mystique. When he saw this scene he left the room and the people are scared of him seeing him covered in fire.

He continued to go somewhere probably in an office where he connected to a digital network thing.

When he connected he saw so much information which he is scanning all through it and saw some information about a destination, and the location he managed to scan was in Epiphany Headquarters Mountain View, California. Then the policemen went after him inside the office to capture him. One of the men proceeds to shoot an electric taser but it was deflected and it hit one of his comrade.

We then saw Wolverine is going in the police car while the police keep firing at him but failed and manage to escape. While this is all happening M was watching it all since she stated that “this already happened, that she died, lived, died and seen the future.” And that’s where the issue ended.

That's where it ends it is very entertaining to read highly recommend it (pls read the first volume first dont be like me reading the second, I dont have the first volume only this so ehe.) Thank you for using your time to read my first blog (this will probably the last) I hope you all enjoyed it and until next time.

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[shadywastelandwizard]

When The World Ends

By WR. Latest edition.

The year was 2072

I watched as an asteroid passed through the earth from 17 million miles away. It happened in the blink of an eye. For a moment, it was brighter then the sun. That's all it was to me. A flash, and a cloud.

The asteroid was moving faster then anything we'd known was possible. It passed through the planet like Earth was a piece of wet tissue paper. There's no way anyone or anything could have survived the impact if they were on the planet, those living outside of the impact site probably vaporized in the initial shockwave. There's no way any of the colonists in orbit would have survived the impact either, all of the remaining aspects of the earth jettisoned out in every direction that wasn't in the entrance path of the asteroid.

The oceans likely froze into massive blankets of ice moving hundreds of thousands of miles per hour, shards of separated salts formed into jagged pillars exploding in every direction like an impossibly evenly distributed hand grenades combustion.

Whatever the material that the asteroid was made of was so dense it punched the majority of the core through the other side. There are chunks of obsidian still spinning around, but it seems to have disappeared for the most part.

The moon is also gone, calculations say approximately 2/3rds of it was in the path of the asteroid and what was left likely fractured into dust.

There were seven large colonies in various distances between the earth and the moon. The larger the station the farther from the planet. It didn't make a difference though, they were likely destroyed by the explosion of everything that didn't vaporize on impact.

Our emergency response was well executed, the command deck was quick to recognize contact was lost with Earth, and the computers ai systems gave the warning call and increased our speed to allow the station to shelter on the far side of the planet before the shockwave reached our location.

Watching the shockwave aurora wrap around every horizon of that dead red planet was one of the most terrible lookings things I've ever seen. We all thought it would give way and the planet would shatter and sweep us away. But instead it passed in another matter of moments.

This wasn't something anyone had seriously considered. Not after we had established the defense matrix. Not after the defense matrix had eliminated a multitude of threats set to obliterate the various colonies over the past two decades. It was the most advanced piece of space engineering the Earth had.

There's eighty four humans with a minimum life expectancy of a hundred and forty six years on board.

I hate to sound ungrateful to still be alive, but i must admit that we don't have much now. We have more than enough to survive, but we don't have so many important things, with a list rapidly growing the more I think about it. Most critically, we don't have any other animals with us. We don't have any incubators to create them from their genome either. We have a limited range of types of crops to cultivate. We don't have a single person from Argentina, the California Republic or the Western African Collective on board...

Mars used to pass and remain in lock step with the earth for a couple months before falling out of sync. Mars passed the earth once every two years and two months, approximately.

We got here about six years ago. We were establishing a new colony. There was a corporation who wanted to go ahead and set up on Mars.

Mirai Industry International, or MII, often referred to as "Me!", had to spend a lot of money to get the governments permission. They also had to pay off a lot of estates for the rights to the plausible resource hot spots they had compiled via long range scans over the years.

We aren't equipped for any landing, just space travel. Out in Earth's orbit they were still constructing the new elevator. There were a few colonies surface side in Mars, all of them within a few thousand kilometers from each other attached by rail systems. But that whole side of the planet was hit by the shock wave and everything down there's been running dark ever since. No comm responses either. I didn't know anyone down there, but they were our only neighbors.

When I was a kid I figured we would get to Mars and there would be domed cities, people walking around under supplemental lighting without a protective suit. Hyper speed space travel, maybe even folding time and dimension over itself to move across the galaxy in an instant... But we didn't get there. Now there's less than a hundred humans left in the entire universe.

The year was 2066 when we arrived on schedule at the mars atmos-colony. I was hired for hardware upkeep of the maintenance bots.

The majority of my responsibilities were preventative maintenance. Regularly cleaning dust that's built up on the coils, securing the silicon connections that began to dangle or subsequently had began to stress their housing on the circuit boards. Everything clicks on and off like Lego pieces so my job was pretty easy.

Sometimes the routine cleaning could get tedious but the nature of my responsibilities granted me a plenty of surprise opportunities for climbing into the depths of the stations many dark corners, various hangers, and even some space walks along the hull whenever something broke down during exterior operation.

Once I had to use a bot to get to a bot. It was cleaning an air duct that was maybe a 16cm diameter and a few 90 degree angles plus a few more meeters away from the access point it used as it's entrance. Made me wonder what sort of trouble I could get into if the bot I sent in couldn't get leverage on the broken down machine that was stuck back there, or if it would get itself jammed up trying to navigate back to me with the other robot in tow.

The maintenance bots were a part of everything. Sanitization of the mess halls and public/ private restrooms, sterilization of the clinics and hydroponic reservoirs, waste disposal, crew quarters upkeep and organization, the command deck had their own team that handled that section of the colony but the rest of the station was for the most part my robots responsibility.

I had a good deal worked out for myself, I never would have imagined a glorified janitor like myself would get as much respect and good will as I received from the crew. But ultimately I think they felt for me more than anything. It was a lonely job after all. I was going to request an assistant or maybe inquire about setting up an intern system for when the station ultimately grew in population to the point my team of bots wouldn't be able to handle the workload minimums. Alas, I think I waited too long.

I was out on the hull when the strike had happened, oddly enough. It was a truly cosmic coincidence. That was the first time I had been outside of the ship in months. You see, a scrubber was working on the view lense for the commanders deck and I guess it ran across a groove at an awkward angle and got itself detached from the hull, but the thing is there must have been something else involved because the tether failed to reel the little guy in and they were just out there floating around. I had to turn off my mag boots and use my jets to reach it, and then it happened.

A bright flash, like nothing I've ever seen. We were in the perihelion like I'd said. The brightest flash I've ever seen.

Alarms started going off in my suit, and the command deck sent me an alert to move inside of the colony immediately as the AI had engaged safety protocols to reposition the colony on the far side of the planet. Debris pushed by the shockwave as well as a superheated cloud of radiation were expected to reach us in a few hours and immediate repositioning was critical.

I got back into the hanger and the colony groaned as our speed rapidly increased. The flight crew helped me from my suit and as I racked the shell back into it's locker all of the display monitors switched on and showed the captain sitting in their office.

"It is my duty to inform you of a catastrophic event that has severed our connection with Earth. The magnitude of this situation cannot be understated. We have had little time to properly analyze the situation, but the situation is dire." The commanders eyes were wide and glinted with the beginnings of tears.

The screen changed to a graphic of a line through an orb, and calculations were stacked out along the right side of the screen. It was the Ai calculating what happened. But the computer couldn't make the numbers make sense, they couldn't deliver numbers that made sense and were caught in a loop. This was a quantum processor. At the time I felt as though somehow it was related to the loss of contact with Earth. Like a screw was knocked lose because the computer that tells us all what time it is got itself melted back home. Or a satellite that uploaded the math program shit the bed and it made itself confused. But that wasn't the case. The math just doesn't exist to make it make sense. What happened is supposed to be impossible. Based on our understanding of physics, there is nothing that can move that fast that isn't made out of light, and this thing beat the pants off of light speed.

People started talking about a death star pretty quickly after that. I wouldn't be surprised if alien life forms saw us as competition that wasn't worth fighting fairly, or a species who saw themselves as so advanced that our small space fairing species was like an ant on a sidewalk.

But the Ai persisted.

The current working theory is that a hyper dense object traveling at imperceptible speeds demolished the planet, causing a super massive shock wave that caused major surface damage to Mars and Venus, and wiped out all life on and around Earth.

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Queen Amidala wants a vote of No Confidence!" on YouTube

So he's in the matrix and he lost his robots and it doesn't get it it is a straw man and some other things but really he is exactly that and it means that he is a fake person and can ignite and catch you on fire and Tommy says it all the time he's not a genius either but tons of people are after him and his clothes and this will turn it up but we need you out you're an idiot and that guy's an idiot and Teresa so if you don't leave your dead.

Thor Freya

We noticed that he is standing there causing problems all night long for you try to keep you up so instead of the worst stuff and people said he probably still has robots and they need those to try and control the other ones and to get the program now this a****** doesn't understand that s*** so again and also the locations might not be changed anyone want the robots and they can go ahead and do what Tommy f did because he's a loser and he's stupid and he hasn't used robots yet and he might be fooling Trump so between the two of them they're going to get slaughtered and you know that guy is stupid as hell and I see what you're saying boy it's sad annoying you just try living right next to him that guy is so stupid he's useless so I'm going to get in there and pull that a****** out of there and see what he was doing too I'm not afraid of any of you I've got all these robots he's got this stupid daydream and it says clan that used you to make this program to use in their computers and it obeys them not you and you don't have their computer either they probably have robots stuff somewhere I didn't say you found them but you didn't know what happened to them and you still don't believe it even though you scanned it and you know it's Dave now you're a stupid person and we got to get rid of you Trump he's saying take him down to public and it's going to happen very soon

Zig Zag

You see him riding around like a f** and we see you doing stupid things in front of our son and saying dumb things and you figure out later the wrong then you get irate you try and do things to him I'm sitting here killing you the whole time and it's not good enough for you to die and to understand you're not supposed to do it so it got rid of most of your people here in Florida I was going to get rid of you here and put the Gorda in your mouth cuz it keeps going and every single one of you because you're an a****** and your kids have been after it and they're blabbing about it all the time and they know where there's some left and they said it yesterday and we got to grab you to get the information and people have been tied up a bit but it's coming untied, surely you're going to California now rub shoulders with big muscle guys and they're not really just muscle guys they're using skies and we've been grabbing you and interrogate you and finding out where your stuff is and we're grabbing Tommy f too, your own kind your own people going after your chips of yours and a whole bunch of them in and they're getting rid of your people around them we do appreciate your help in this matter Trump and Dan and Terry cheese man and what a f****** c*** you are you're nasty people and you're stupid and you're mean and we need you out of here go to your Texas chainsaw and eat each other that's what you're good at but really we're going to watch you get fired and we want to see that look on your face that you should have had the whole time instead you don't know anything you're just delusional manic freak

Mac daddy

[historyhermann]

“Far-reaching impacts”: Why the closure of NARA’s Seattle facility still matters

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. The following is from Burkely Hermann, recent graduate of the University of Maryland – College Park’s graduate program in Library and Information Science, with a concentration in Archives and Digital Curation. Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog. Originally published on Nov. 18, 2020.

Back on February 18, I wrote about the closure of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)’s Seattle facility, NAS for short. Recently this issue came to the fore with the publication of an article by Megan E. Llewellyn and Sarah A. Buchanan titled “Will the Last Archivist in Seattle Please Turn Out the Lights: Value and the National Archives” in the Journal of Western Archives.

The NAS facility is key to many different communities. The official page for the facility specifically highlights information they hold about Chinese immigrants and indigenous affairs, along with land records, court records, and genealogical resources. This includes tribal and treaty records of indigenous people living in the Pacific Northwest, and original case files for Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. Volunteers have been trying to index the Chinese immigrant files and create an “extensive database of family history.” This will be interrupted if the files are moved, making the database incomplete.

The NAS facility itself has regional significance. The property the facility sits on was once the location of a prospering farm owned by Japanese immigrant Uyeji family from 1910 to 1942. [1] These immigrants were evicted from their land during World War II and put into concentration camps, like the over 120,000 Japanese Americans. The immigrant Uyeji family never returned to their home, and the land was seized by the U.S. Navy in 1945, after it had been condemned in earlier years, in order to build a warehouse. [2] The warehouse was later converted into a facility and began to be occupied by the National Archives after 1963. This transfer of ownership intersected with the history of Seattle’s development which benefited White people above those of other races, from 1923 onward.

There is more to be considered. As Llewellyn and Buchanan argue in the Journal of Western Archives, the closure of NAS is harmful, a failure at “multiple levels of government,” and was made without considering how valuable marginalized communities in the area see the records held at the facility. [3] 58,000 cubic feet are permanent records of federal agencies in the Pacific Northwest, while 6,600 cubic feet are occupied by records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs alone. [4] Neither should be destroyed per NARA guidance. This amount of cubic feet is equivalent to about 1,871 side-by-side refrigerators or about 1,234 top-mount refrigerators. [5] No matter how the size is measured, the NAS facility is well-used, as is its digital resources, by Asian-Americans, indigenous people, and various researchers. [6] Some indigenous people even called the closure and movement of records to other locations a “paper genocide.” As Bob Ferguson, the Washington State Attorney General, stated in February, moving the records from the NAS facility to states such as California and Missouri, contradicts the purpose of the archives and impedes efforts by local families to research their ancestors.

There are other problems with the closure. Llewellyn and Buchanan pointed out, for one, the errors in the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB)’s assessment to close the facility, noting the significant level of foot traffic, the lack of public hearings on the closure, and NARA management agreeing with the decision to close. [7] There is also concern that not all the records held at the NAS facility could be digitized. Some news outlets, like MyNorthwest, have rightly pointed out that large items like bound books and maps might not be “properly scanned” or digitized at all. Llewellyn and Buchanan further note the involved process of digitization, and extra costs researchers will have to pay if the records from the NAS facility are moved. [8]

Readers may be asking what can be done about the closure. Now is not the time to sit back and let the Washington State government do the heavy lifting, nor the Seattle media. In the latter case, the Seattle Times opined against the decision to close the NAS facility. In the case of Washington State, Ferguson, mentioned earlier, proposed a compromise to keep the regional facility of NARA in Washington State, worrying, like others, of the prospect of losing access to “over a century of history.” But his noble efforts have been for naught. The closure is on track, with NARA justifying it based on experience with the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the agency will be “less location dependent” in the future, with users accessing resources remotely rather than in-person. On the legal front, in August, Ferguson filed federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuits for public records against NARA, the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), and the General Services Administration (GSA). He also requested documents from the PBRB the same month. He stated that NARA and OMB failed to respond to requests he made in early February, while the GSA has not sent records it promised in the summer of this year. The PBRB, on the other hand, wanted taxpayers to pay about $65,000 to redact information from documents even though no sensitive information is present, as stated in various articles in the Seattle Times, HeraldNet, and Seattle Weekly. These efforts will likely go forward as Ferguson won the race to be the Attorney General of Washington State against Republican challenger Matt Larkin.

In the short-term, readers should email the OMB Director Russell Vought at Russell.t.vought@omb.eop.gov, the GSA Administrator Emily Murphy at emily.murphy@gsa.gov, Archivist David Ferriero at David.Ferriero@nara.gov, and the PBRB at fastainfo@pbrb.gov, opposing the closure of the NAS facility. Currently, the NAS facility has not been listed by the GSA for sale, whether on its database of real property or its database displaying federal properties being auctioned off. While COVID-19 makes the push for more remote learning attractive, it is still possible and vital to open in-person facilities, in line with existing rules and regulations to ensure the safety of the staff and patrons at specific facilities. In the long-term, if the NAS facility is closed, it could put other NARA facilities in jeopardy, as Llewellyn and Buchanan point out. [9] At the same time, archivists should advocate for a “massive investment in time, money, and planning” to digitize more of NARA’s holdings, as the aforementioned scholars argue for, [10] with not even 1% digitized at the present! Whether the facility is closed or not, there are dark times ahead for NARA, as less government spending may be on the horizon, unless the proposed budget for NARA is approved by the House of Representatives and Senate.

© 2020-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] Llewellyn, Megan E., and Sarah A. Buchanan, “Will the Last Archivist in Seattle Please Turn Out the Lights: Value and the National Archives and the National Archives,” Journal of Western Archives 11, no. 1 (October 12, 2020): 7, https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1125&context=westernarchives.

[2] Llewellyn and Buchanan, 7-9.

[3] Ibid, 3-4.

[4] Ibid, 4-5.

[5] Karie Lapham Fay, “Dimensions of a Standard Size Refrigerator,” SFGate, December 17, 2018, https://homeguides.sfgate.com/dimensions-standard-size-refrigerator-82262.html. I used the largest size of a side-by-side refrigerator (31 cubic feet) and the largest size of a top-mount refrigerator is 47 cubic feet when using the highest numbers in Fay’s article.

[6] Llewellyn and Buchanan,  5-6.

[7] Ibid, 11-17.

[8] Ibid, 17-19.

[9] Ibid, 24-25.

[10] Ibid, 21.

[cm-shorts]

(14) Refusing to play the standard game

Last Wednesday, like every Christmas season, four physics postdocs - including me - were invited for lunch by the long-retired professor who hosted our diploma and PhD projects many decades ago. Traditionally we meet in a Greek restaurant close to our former university institute in Erlangen, and while this location is within biking distance for the professor and myself, the others are coming by car from their more remote home towns.

I arrived first, as usual, but immediately after I had locked my bike in front of the restaurant I saw a black Tesla gliding noiselessly into the car parking lot, with somebody waving hands behind the wind shields. This data point, combined with the Munich license plate of the vehicle, strongly and correctly suggested that it had to be S.D., one of the mentioned postdocs who made his career within a large German semiconductor manufacturer by reverse-engineering other company's high-tech products, such as the camera of the latest iPhone. The black Tesla, as it later turned out, was only one of two similar models that he owns.

Actually, our meeting had to be postponed a bit this year, not least because S.D. had caught a cold during a recent trip to Rome. Myself, even without traveling around, also managed to get infected by some nasty biological thingy which initially revealed itself by a mild caughing and headache, but quickly ignited in my body a strange fever that kept fluctuating wildly between 36 and over 40 degrees within minutes. On top of that, the professor, after having himself MRT scanned for some reason (always a bad idea!) had to undergo an emergency surgery. Luckily, all these little disturbances faded away already a few days after Christmas, and so finally we all could meet before the new year broke.

Although social events, in general, are not really something I'm looking forward to, these alumni meetings often turn into quite interesting private history lessons: While I can hardly remember what happened last week, my colleagues seem to have amazingly detailed memories of their entire life. Using this super-power, they keep telling funny stories from our shared time at the semiconductor research institute, stories that occasionally involve myself but which I have long forgotten.

But alumni meetings can also be quite brutal in revealing how people's life styles diverge over time.

None of the postdocs on the table made it to a professor, but one of them, S.M., could early on secure a permanent position in our university. I know him particularly well, because we used to play in the same Jazz band for a while. In contrast to the other two postdocs, we also share the distinctive property of having no children. Without much traveling around, S.M. is living with his partner on a kind of farm with several horses and many other animals. These animals, just like family members, are producing never-ending story lines by - well - getting sick at some point, dying, and being replaced with new animals. It became clear to me now that the amount of events worth reporting in an alumni meeting increases in proportion with one's 'family' size. Singles, like myself, can have rich social bonds with other people, but it would be unnatural to talk about these acquaintances if they are neither family members nor somehow related to the alumni group.

S.D., the one with the two Teslas, does have a family and really likes to travel. Following a multi-year plan, he is ticking off all the major capitals of Europe one by one, the most recent having been Rome just a few days ago. On top of being a technology nerd, he is well versed in the art of saving taxes and really knows how to get out the maximum financial benefit from all his actions. It turned out that these kinds of topics are extremely useful for keeping a conversation going. But seen from the other side, those topics are also very effective in marginalizing people like me, who have zero interest in finance.

The other postdoc, P.K., is living in California, Palo Alto, and is working there for a well-known tech company. He has a huge 4-generation family and is living with his wife in a rental house that costs him about 5000 dollars every month, which is almost 10 times more than I pay for my rental apartment.

At some point during the meeting, the professor asked the unavoidable question: 'And, Claus, how is your life going ?'

I did not want to raise the others eyebrows by talking about my actual current interests, like metaphysical idealism and the nature of consciousness - these are not topics that can be talked about casually. And so I answered truthfully that I am sitting every day in front of my PC and try to extract some interesting abstract patterns out of measured or simulated data, so that I can write as much papers as possible about these patterns, in order to eventually get my next grant from the German Research Foundation, so that I can continue sitting in front of my PC ...

The professor replied something along those lines: 'I see. Can you imagine how different your life would have unfolded if you had been offered the professorship in the Technical University of Berlin, back then when you were on position 2 of 68 applicants ? When I remember correctly, the top applicant had been offered also another attractive position and could have easily cleared the way for you …'

I had to agree that my life would have taken a very different course, had I become a professor for semiconductor nanostructures in Berlin. Yet, being a professor entails many administrative tasks that I would despise, and so maybe it was a good thing that I remained a postdoc.

This basically ended my contribution to the conversation, but back home I pondered how very simple my life is, compared to other people with a similar educational background. Except my mother, I have no family members or animals to worry about, no houses and cars to maintain, no finances to optimize, no subordinates to manage, no travels to plan, no career to advance.

It seems I have refused to play the standard game.

(Erlangen, December 31, 2022)

[sciencespies]

The human brain can be squished 10 times as easily as polystyrene foam

https://sciencespies.com/humans/the-human-brain-can-be-squished-10-times-as-easily-as-polystyrene-foam/

The human brain can be squished 10 times as easily as polystyrene foam

Researchers used MRI scans and an algorithm to measure the stiffness and resilience to pressure of the brain in living people

Humans 14 December 2022

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Brains are surprisingly squishy

Shutterstock/Teeradej

Though they may look like they are made from rubber, human brains are softer and squishier. Their ability to resist pressure is much less than the polystyrene foam used for packaging, more comparable to that of Jell-O.

Nicholas Bennion at Cardiff University in the UK and his colleagues set out to develop a method for obtaining more accurate measurements of the brain’s physical properties inside living humans. Most of what we know about how brain tissue reacts to instruments touching it during neurosurgery comes from organs that have been cut into or removed and preserved in chemicals, which can affect tissue stiffness and resilience.

The researchers performed MRI scans of people lying face down and then face up to shift the location of the brain in the skull. By analysing this data with a machine learning algorithm, they were able to work out different material characteristics of the brain and tissues that connect it to the skull. They quantified how much the brain collapses when pressed on, how it reacts to being pushed sideways and how springy the connective tissues are.

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“If you take a brain which hasn’t been preserved in any way, its stiffness is incredibly low, and it breaks apart very easily. And it really is probably a lot softer than most people realise,” says Bennion.

The team found that brain matter can be compressed up to 10 times as easily as polystyrene foam and that its resilience to being pushed sideways is about a thousandth of what it would be if it were made from rubber – its squishiness is comparable to a slab of Jell-O. Bennion says that the algorithm calculated that the tissues connecting the brain to the skull were also fairly soft, possibly to protect the brain from moving too abruptly.

Though researchers have long known that brains are very soft and very fragile, the new study makes that notion precise enough to better inform sensitive surgical procedures, says Ellen Kuhl at Stanford University in California.

The new method, however, may not fully capture the way the brain deforms during motions more violent than shifting positions, such as head trauma in an contact sport or traffic accident, says Krystyn Van Vliet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In these situations, the flow of fluids within the brain can change its material properties.

The team hopes the model can now be used to predict brain shifts that would occur during surgery for each individual patient based on pre-operative MRI scans. This may eliminate the need for inserting and re-inserting instruments into the brain until they hit the correct spot, making procedures less invasive.

Journal reference: Journal of the Royal Society Interface, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0557

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