Science
Roberta Place Long-Term Care home in Barrie, Ont. reports 70th resident death amid COVID-19 outbreak – 104.1 The Dock (iHeartRadio)
A Barrie, Ont., long-term care home that was consumed by COVID-19 reports another resident death Friday.
Roberta Place says the outbreak has claimed its 70th life at the senior’s home.
The outbreak was declared on Jan. 8 and infected every resident and 106 staff members.
Earlier this week, Dr. Charles Gardner, Simcoe Muskoka’s medical officer of health, said the long-term care home outbreak could be declared over soon as active cases dwindle.
“Transmission has gone down quite dramatically. So we’re getting very few new cases happening, associated directly with that outbreak and also out in the community in the homes, which is certainly a very good thing,” Gardner said.
On Friday, the home reported 15 staff members are still infected, but no residents.
Still, the region’s top doctor said he is concerned about transmission in the community.
“We’ve seen elsewhere in Simcoe County now a couple of workplaces in community settings which have a variant of concern, and we need to watch that very closely to see if it turns out to be the U.K. variant.”
As of Wednesday, 55 Roberta Place residents rolled up their sleeves to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while seven got their second dose.
Additionally, 103 staff and essential caregivers were immunized.
Science
Orbiting spacecraft spots Nasa’s Mars Rover in huge crater on planet surface – Yahoo Canada Sports
An orbiting European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft has spotted Nasa’s Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars – along with its parachute, heat shield and descent stage.
The rover was pictured in the Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide depression containing sediments of an ancient river delta.
It was spotted by the ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter, which captured the Rover and the components using its CaSSIS camera on 23 February.
The rover landed on Mars on 18 February.
Read more: What are fast radio bursts, and why do they look like aliens?
Perseverance will explore the Jezero Crater region of Mars, and will also collect and cache samples of Martian rocks and soil for subsequent missions to collect and return to Earth as part of the joint ESA-Nasa Mars Sample Return campaign.
The Trace Gas Orbiter helped to return the videos and imagery taken by the mission’s onboard cameras during the descent of the rover to the surface of Mars, by providing a data relay.
Nasa’s rover blasted off from Earth last July.
The rover – a scientific laboratory the size of a car – will spend the coming years scouring for signs of ancient microbial life in a mission that will prepare the way for future human visitors.
Scientists know that 3.5 billion years ago Jezero was the site of a large lake, complete with its own delta.
Read more: Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth
They believe that while the water may be long gone, somewhere within the crater, or maybe along its 2,000-foot-tall (610-metre) rim, there could be evidence that life once existed.
Last month, British astronaut Major Tim Peake urged Britons to apply for jobs as astronauts as the ESA recruits space explorers for the first time since 2008.
The new astronauts will first fly to the International Space Station – and are likely to be part of missions to the moon in the latter part of this decade.
Successful applicants will be subjected to intensive training, which includes a three-week course in caving and a course in geology (there are more details on how to apply here).
Major Peake said: “Over the next few years and decades, space exploration will become even more exciting as we travel back to the moon and even further to Mars.
“For space missions to succeed, they require highly motivated people from diverse backgrounds to combine their skills and work as a team.
Read more: There might once have been life on the moon
“The next generation of UK citizens have so much to offer the world, and so I would encourage anyone who has dreamt of pushing the boundaries of what is possible to take this opportunity to be part of ESA’s future cohort of space pioneers.”
British citizens of any age are invited to apply, and the ESA is also issuing a special call for candidates with physical disabilities to apply to its astronaut reserve.
The pilot project aims to open the astronaut career path to people who have previously been excluded from space flight.
Those with a lower-limb deficiency or who are considered to be of short stature and meet other recruitment criteria are invited to apply.
Watch: Perseverance Rover sends back first images
Science
Orbiting spacecraft spots Nasa’s Mars Rover in huge crater on planet surface – Yahoo Movies Canada
An orbiting European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft has spotted Nasa’s Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars – along with its parachute, heat shield and descent stage.
The rover was pictured in the Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide depression containing sediments of an ancient river delta.
It was spotted by the ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter, which captured the Rover and the components using its CaSSIS camera on 23 February.
The rover landed on Mars on 18 February.
Read more: What are fast radio bursts, and why do they look like aliens?
Perseverance will explore the Jezero Crater region of Mars, and will also collect and cache samples of Martian rocks and soil for subsequent missions to collect and return to Earth as part of the joint ESA-Nasa Mars Sample Return campaign.
The Trace Gas Orbiter helped to return the videos and imagery taken by the mission’s onboard cameras during the descent of the rover to the surface of Mars, by providing a data relay.
Nasa’s rover blasted off from Earth last July.
The rover – a scientific laboratory the size of a car – will spend the coming years scouring for signs of ancient microbial life in a mission that will prepare the way for future human visitors.
Scientists know that 3.5 billion years ago Jezero was the site of a large lake, complete with its own delta.
Read more: Astronomers find closest black hole to Earth
They believe that while the water may be long gone, somewhere within the crater, or maybe along its 2,000-foot-tall (610-metre) rim, there could be evidence that life once existed.
Last month, British astronaut Major Tim Peake urged Britons to apply for jobs as astronauts as the ESA recruits space explorers for the first time since 2008.
The new astronauts will first fly to the International Space Station – and are likely to be part of missions to the moon in the latter part of this decade.
Successful applicants will be subjected to intensive training, which includes a three-week course in caving and a course in geology (there are more details on how to apply here).
Major Peake said: “Over the next few years and decades, space exploration will become even more exciting as we travel back to the moon and even further to Mars.
“For space missions to succeed, they require highly motivated people from diverse backgrounds to combine their skills and work as a team.
Read more: There might once have been life on the moon
“The next generation of UK citizens have so much to offer the world, and so I would encourage anyone who has dreamt of pushing the boundaries of what is possible to take this opportunity to be part of ESA’s future cohort of space pioneers.”
British citizens of any age are invited to apply, and the ESA is also issuing a special call for candidates with physical disabilities to apply to its astronaut reserve.
The pilot project aims to open the astronaut career path to people who have previously been excluded from space flight.
Those with a lower-limb deficiency or who are considered to be of short stature and meet other recruitment criteria are invited to apply.
Watch: Perseverance Rover sends back first images
Science
Mission Successful: XOS Optics Land on Mars with NASA's 2020 Perseverance Rover – Stockhouse
ALBANY, N.Y. , March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — There was a sense of cheer in the air the afternoon of February 18 th , 2021, as a successful mission to Mars has just been accomplished by NASA’s Perseverance Rover. With millions watching the event via live stream, Perseverance touched down in the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater at 3:56 pm Eastern Time .
XOS, a technology company based out of East Greenbush, New York , proudly plays a role in the mission, supplying the rover’s custom polycapillary X-ray focusing optics. A micro-XRF (micro-X-ray fluorescence) instrument on the Perseverance, called PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry), is mounted at the end of the rover’s robotic arm and houses the XOS optic. This instrument will be used in conjunction with a camera system to measure compositions of various chemical elements in rocks, soils, and more on Mars, and along with six other scientific instruments on the rover, it will work to search for – and hopefully discover – evidence of past life on Mars.
In addition to the application of elemental mapping, as in the case of seeking evidence of past life on Mars, Micro-XRF is also used in applications such as plating thickness, forensics, and cultural heritage. Its non-destructive nature and minimal sample preparation make it ideal for sensitive elemental analysis applications. The use of polycapillary X-ray optics has dramatically changed the analytical speed of micro-XRF analysis, supplying accurate and reliable measurement results in hours, as compared to the days-long wait of more conventional approaches.
Visit xos.com/mars2020 for more information on micro-XRF, polycapillary optics, and XOS’ part in Perseverance’s mission.
About XOS
XOS is a global leading provider of advanced optics and OEM sub-systems that greatly improve the measurement speed, precision, and sensitivity of X-ray analytical instrumentation. XOS’ polycapillary optics can be used in many applications, including plating thickness, forensics, cultural heritage, and elemental mapping. fleX-Beam™, our latest compact X-ray generator solution, combines a low-powered X-ray source and precisely aligned polycapillary optic to deliver a bright X-ray beam for advanced material analysis. The innovative optic mounting and alignment design enables an easy X-ray tube and/or optic replacement, making it a user-friendly tool for both OEMs and end users.
View original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mission-successful-xos-optics-land-on-mars-with-nasas-2020-perseverance-rover-301237525.html
SOURCE XOS
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