Latest news with #Musgrave
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Science
- Associated Press
LEGENDARY NASA ASTRONAUT STORY MUSGRAVE TO RECEIVE AWARD AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
The National Space Society's ISDC Will be Held in Orlando, FL in June 'Story a true polymath, and his contributions to core ideas of long-term spaceflight and settlement are impressive, making him a truly deserving of the prestigious Heinlein Memorial Award'— Isaac Arthur, President of the National Space Society KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL, UNITED STATES, May 15, 2025 / / -- Former NASA astronaut Dr. Story Musgrave will receive the prestigious Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award for his efforts toward making humanity a spacefaring civilization this June at the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference ® (ISDC®). The conference will be held June 19-22 in Orlando, Florida, at the Rosen Centre Hotel. Musgrave is a former NASA astronaut who was active during the Apollo, Skylab, and shuttle programs. He flew into space six times and aboard all five shuttle orbiters. He is also a medical doctor and holds six academic degrees in mathematics and statistics, business administration, chemistry, physiology and biophysics, literature, and an M.D. Musgrave served in the U.S. Marine Corps and has flown 17,700 hours in a wide variety of aircraft including 7,500 hours in jets. 'Story Musgrave is a legend in the astronaut corps,' said Isaac Arthur, president of the NSS. 'Besides his stunning academic accomplishments, he is also a pilot, has practiced medicine, and is deeply educated in literature. He is a true polymath, and his contributions to core ideas of long-term spaceflight and settlement are impressive, making him a truly deserving of the prestigious Heinlein Memorial Award.' Musgrave was selected as an astronaut in 1967 during the height of the Space Race and initially worked on the design and development of the Skylab program. He served as a backup science pilot for Skylab 2 crew flight, then moved on to the space shuttle program, working on spacesuits, life support systems, airlock design, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit. During the shuttle program he flew on STS-6, STS-51F, STS-33, STS-44, and STS-80, accruing 1,282 hours of spaceflight time and 27 hours of EVAs (spacewalks). Musgrave has received a variety of awards including the NASA's Distinguished Service Medal, Exceptional Service Medal, and Spaceflight Medal; as well as a National Defense Service Medal. He has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and the National Aviation Hall of Fame. The Heinlein Memorial Award will be presented to Musgrave on Sunday, June 22, at the closing dinner of the ISDC. The conference runs from June 19-22 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida, and more information can be found at the conference website, ABOUT THE NSS The National Space Society is the preeminent non-partisan citizens' voice on space exploration, development, and settlement, reaching millions through its membership, numerous outreach channels, and media activities. The organization was founded in 1987 via a merger of the National Space Institute and the L5 Society. To learn more about the NSS and its mission to establish humanity as a spacefaring species, visit us on the web at Aggie Kobrin National Space Society +1 949-836-8464 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Instagram Facebook YouTube X Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Forbes
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Packers Draft By Position: The Tight End Group Is Deep And Gifted
Penn State tight end Tyler Warren (44) will be long gone by the time the Packers pick in the first ... More round. But Green Bay could take a tight end later in the draft. The NFL Draft begins April 24 and the Green Bay Packers have the 23rd pick in the first round. Between now and then, I'll examine Green Bay's current situation at each position and how likely the Packers are to take a player for that group. Today, we'll look at the tight ends. Tucker Kraft was a Pro Bowl alternate after finishing second on the team in receptions (50) and receiving yards (707) in 2024. Kraft also led the Packers with seven receiving TDs. Kraft's 707 receiving yards were the most by a Green Bay tight end since Jermichael Finley in 2011 (767). And Kraft joined San Francisco's George Kittle as the only tight ends in football with 50-plus receptions, 700-plus receiving yards, seven TDs and an average of at least 14.0 yards per catch. 'I don't think there was another tight end in the NFL bringing the violence as well as — I'm not saying every block I had was perfect — but if you're going to put together tape of mistakes that I made, it was because my playstyle was overcoming my technique,' Kraft said at the end of the 2024 season. 'I talked about playing with violence and finishing and just being an a--hole out there. 'I think you turn the film on, you're going to see (No.) 85 all over the field, just doing that. I'm just going to come back and bring it again in 2025.' Luke Musgrave had his second straight injury-riddled season. Musgrave missed 10 games after tearing a ligament in his ankle that required surgery. He finished the year with just six catches for 45 yards The Packers have team control over Kraft and Musgrave through the 2026 season. With Kraft blossoming into a star, he seems likely to get a second contract at some point. Musgrave, a second round draft pick in 2023, has potential, but has missed 16 of 34 games to date (47.1%). This draft is loaded with tight ends, led by sure-fire first rounders Tyler Warren of Penn State and Michigan's Colston Loveland. Another five tight ends could go in the first three rounds. Green Bay could use depth, especially considering Musgrave hasn't been able to stay on the field. Tight end is not a pressing need, though, meaning if the Packers take one, it will almost certainly come on Day 3. Packers coach Matt LaFleur on Tucker Kraft: 'I think that's on us to make sure we find him and feature him because he is, I mean, when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. So, if there's an area that we gotta do a better job on, I would say featuring the tight end.' Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich on Kraft: 'He's just one of those guys, you keep giving him the ball, he has the will to get in the end zone. He just plays with the right mentality. He wants to score and make plays for his teammates.' LaFleur on Luke Musgrave: 'It's been unfortunate because I think he was starting to, especially when you look at his rookie season, he has an unfortunate injury and it kind of derailed him. And then you look at this year and he missed a ton of games. But I think we can all see the talent the guy has. Both he and Tuck have been in working out this offseason. So, I think it's going to be a great year for both those guys.' Here are five players the Packers might consider selecting at some point between the fourth and seventh rounds. • Gunnar Helm, Texas (6-5, 241) — Second-team All-SEC last season after leading the Longhorns in receptions (60), and finishing second in both receiving yards (786) and receiving TDs (seven). Dangerous in the middle of the field and has impressive hands. His 40-yard dash time (4.92) was disappointing. Projection: Round 4-5 • Jake Briningstool, Clemson (6-5 1/2, 240) — Receiving tight end who had 127 career catches, more than any tight end in Clemson history. Also had 17 TDs with the Tigers. Not much of a blocker who also has small hands (8 5/8) and short arms (31 ½). Projection: Round 5 • Mitchell Evans, Notre Dame (6-5, 258) — Led the Fighting Irish in receptions (29) in 2023 before suffering a torn ACL. Came back and led Notre Dame in catches again in 2024 (43). Improved dramatically as the 2024 season went on. Willing blocker who lacks great acceleration. Projection: Round 5-6 • Luke Lachey, Iowa (6-5 1/2, 251) — Modest production with the Hawkeyes, posting 66 catches, 662 yards and four TDs in the last three seasons. Can play as a move tight end or in-line. Father, Jim, was a former offensive linemen who played 11 NFL seasons and made three Pro Bowls with Washington. Projection: Round 6-7 • Gavin Bartholomew, Pittsburgh (6-4 ½, 246) — Honorable-mention all-ACC player in 2024 after posting 38 catches for 322 yards and four TDs. High character individual who was a team captain. So-so athlete who must improve his blocking. Projection: Round 6-7 Part 1 — Quarterbacks Part 2 — Wide Receivers Part 3 — Running backs
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Shilajit: male influencers claim it boosts testosterone and libido, but what does the science say?
Gender biases embedded in the way social media algorithms serve us content are well documented: algorithms have been found to amplify misogynistic content and unduly objectify women's bodies, and are often cited as a driver of political polarisation between young men and women. If you are online and of the male persuasion, you are more likely than me to have encountered videos extolling the supposed masculine benefits of substances such as shilajit and ashwagandha. Interest in shilajit has taken off in recent years, in no small part thanks to square-jawed men who pose with jars of the stuff in TikToks and Instagram posts, looking like perfect caricatures of virility with their fastidiously groomed facial hair and inexplicable shirtlessness. A black, tarry substance commonly stirred into water or milk as a drink, shilajit is variously purported by male influencers to boost testosterone levels, muscle growth, libido, brain function, energy and vitality, among other claims. Also known as mumijo, mumie and rock sap, shilajit is a mineral substance that comes from rocks in mountainous regions. Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist at the University of Adelaide, describes shilajit as 'a variety of plant and soil material that has been compressed down as part of mountain-building formation. A lot of it comes from around the Himalayas.' The composition of shilajit varies widely depending on the source location, but it is primarily made up of humic substances – 'a range of organic acids typically found in soil as a result of breakdown of organic material,' Musgrave says. Other components of shilajit include various minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium; resin and waxy materials; and amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The substance has been used for millennia in the Ayurveda and Siddha systems of traditional medicine originating in India. Prof Dennis Chang, the director of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine at Western Sydney University, points out that 'traditional use is not equal to scientific evidence'. 'All medicines should be subject to the same level of rigour in terms of scientific evaluation, including their efficacy, their safety as well as their quality,' he says. Shilajit is naturally occurring, but that is no guarantee of safety. Groundwaters in the Himalayas where shilajit is commonly found 'tend to have a lot of arsenic in them,' Musgrave says, warning of the risk of potential contamination. In Australia, there are no products containing shilajit listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, meaning the substance is not regulated as a complementary medicine. 'There's quite a bit of shilajit on sale in Australia,' Musgrave says. 'In some of these preparations there are more heavy metals – things like lead and arsenic – than is allowed in current regulations.' Musgrave, who has previously found issues with the content of herbal medicines sold in Australia, says while many shilajit products available would have relatively low levels of heavy metals, there was no guarantee of safety. 'You have a good chance of being poisoned by these things,' he says. As for the purported health effects, one review found that despite its long history of use, shilajit 'lacks scientific evaluation' and there was no 'substantial evidence' that it has a biological effect in the body. On claims that it boosts testosterone, 'the evidence is very thin on the ground,' Musgrave says. A systematic review on testosterone boosters found that shilajit was 'possibly effective', noting that a study on its benefit in middle-aged men had a 'high risk of bias' because it was funded by a firm that manufactured the product. Research on shilajit's cognitive effects has been conducted in rodents, Musgrave notes. 'A lot of these things that are quite promising in preclinical studies, especially in relationship to memory, really don't translate out to what happens in humans because of differences in biochemistry. 'This material – provided you get can get it from a source where you know what the heavy metal concentrations are – is generally rather inoffensive, but it's also generally unlikely to do anything.' Ashwagandha, of the plant Withania somnifera, is also commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine, with claims of boosting fertility, reducing stress and improving sleep. The results of several clinical trials do suggest that ashwagandha may help reduce stress and anxiety. Research into its impacts on sleep is more limited, but a 2021 review found that ashwagandha extract had a 'small but significant effect on overall sleep' compared to placebo. The evidence that it has any benefit for male infertility, however, is 'too limited' and not sufficiently robust, a meta-analysis found. Last year, the Therapeutic Goods Administration issued a safety advisory for ashwagandha, linking it to gastrointestinal side effects and very rare cases of liver injury. Chang notes that the liver damage is likely the result of idiosyncratic drug reactions in some people, meaning 'it's very hard to predict, and it could happen to anyone, but the incidence is not as high'. 'Liver damage from ashwagandha is fairly uncommon,' Musgrave agrees. 'It's possibly due to metabolism of the materials that are within the plant itself.' But to his mind, it raises an important question: 'Is there any point in buying expensive supplements with the possibility of getting liver damage when there's no really significant benefit to be had?' Donna Lu is Guardian Australia's science writer Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims What health trend do you want examined? Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
USA Today
07-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Packers expecting 'great year' from third-year TEs Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave
Packers expecting 'great year' from third-year TEs Tucker Kraft, Luke Musgrave Lost in the perceived needs at wide receiver this offseason is the potential of tight ends Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave in the Green Bay Packers' passing game as the duo enters Year 3 in the NFL in 2025. While the Packers won't have Christian Watson to start the season, and the offense needs more from Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks, Kraft and Musgrave -- if healthy -- could provide a big part of the answer to the questions facing the passing game. "I think it's going to be a great year for both those guys," coach Matt LaFleur said from the Annual League Meeting last week. Kraft, who emerged as one of the NFL's best young tight ends in 2024, caught 50 passes for 707 yards and seven scores across 70 targets last season. He averaged 10.1 yards per target and led all tight ends in average yards after the catch but only averaged 2.9 catches per game. The Packers sound like they've discovered ways to get him more involved on a week to week basis. 'I think there's some things we can do schematically with him that maybe we haven't done in the past, so that's why I'm excited to get everybody back and try to implement some of the ideas that we got from watching tape and collectively as a staff," LaFleur said. "Because there is one thing that is evident when you watch: When Tuck gets the ball, usually good things happen. He's a powerful dude, he runs extremely hard, I love how he finishes." Getting Kraft more easy catches with run-after-catch possibilities has to be a focus of the Packers offense in 2025. While a terrific athlete with good hands and blocking ability, Kraft's toughness with the ball in his hands is his elite trait -- and one the Packers need to take full advantage of next season. Musgrave is more of a question mark after two injury-plagued seasons to start his career. He's played in only 18 of his first 34 regular season games, and after catching 34 passes as a rookie, Musgrave had only seven catches for 45 yards and played in only seven games due to an ankle injury in 2024. "I'm excited for Luke. He's had a great offseason. He's been training in Green Bay. He's bigger, stronger, faster. He's attacking it the right way," LaFleur told Larry McCarren of Musgrave's elite trait is speed. Standing 6-6, Musgrave ran 4.6 in the 40-yard dash at the combine in 2023. He could help the Packers replace some of the vertical presence of Watson, who could miss half the season or more in 2025. Like Watson, Musgrave has the rare size/speed combo. But he must stay on the field as a third-year player. "I think we can all see the talent the guy has," LaFleur said. Tight ends traditionally take time to get acclimated to the professional game. The position requires so much physical and mental load, given how important tight ends are to both the run game and the pass game. Kraft and Musgrave are entering the stage where tight ends often take off. While the Packers are expected to add at receiver in the NFL draft, it will be interesting to see how often LaFleur utilizes two tight end sets, especially as the Packers center the offense around Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs more and more. Having Kraft and Musgrave as a versatile combo at tight end could help the Packers be more effective running the football and more dangerous in the play-action passing game. The receivers in Green Bay need to be better in 2025, especially in terms of consistently catching the football. But the tight ends should be a big piece of the puzzle in the passing game, and it's possible the ascension of Kraft as a weapon and the return of Musgrave could turn the tight ends into a focal point of the offense.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Tapping into the sweetness of spring
Teresa Peterson Barn RaiserKitaŋh! Wetu ahi. (Finally! Spring has arrived.) Spring is making its way here in Mni Sota Makoce (the Land of Cloudy Waters), and Waziya (Old Man Winter) is finally heading north. It is during this transitional time we can gather the sweet sap that the maples so willingly give thing we have the weather app on our phones so that we know when the time is right. Aye—as the age of technology, we would have perhaps consulted the Farmer's Almanac or maybe, just intuitively known it was time to tap the maple trees. Yet, there are other signs if one is willing to pay Musgrave of the Hiawatha First Nation, in Ontario, pours boiled maple sap into birch bark cones, where the sap will solidify into maple sugar. You can watch a 3-minute video of Musgrave collecting sap the traditional Anishinaabe way here. (CBC News)For example, just this weekend, I heard honkers across the road. There is a little depression in the landscape, a small wetland, and an ideal place for waterfowl to take a rest. Too, I spotted a skunk shuffling in a ditch. While the skunks do not necessarily hibernate, they are more inactive during the bitter cold and snowy weather. Their body temperatures and heart rates slow, and they drift off into a deep sleep called torpor. Yep, I definitely associate the frequent smell of skunk with a sign of early spring, the warming temperatures during the day and back to freezing temperatures at night are what provide the right conditions for the tree's stored sap to flow up the trunk and back down to the roots. This back-and-forth aligns with this transitional period of not quite spring, yet not finished with last fall when our Autumn Blazes were dropping their scarlet leaves, they began storing extra energy into a concentrated sucrose in their roots. It is similar to our own biological process of additional fuel (too much food) that is stored as fat reserves. And the cycle prior to that, during the summer, light is being captured through the leaves and converted into starch. This starch supports the life and growth of the tree, a magical process called photosynthesis. Some of you might remember this term from your science class. Ideal conditions for sap to flow are when temperatures rise above and below freezing—for example, 40s during the day and 20s at night. It is this back-and-forth that creates pressure within for sap to flow down the tree due to gravity or out through a broken branch. Tapping trees takes advantage of the traveling energy, by capturing some of the life-giving our 10 maplesEach year, my partner, Jason, gathers sap from the trees so I can make syrup. Jason (or Jay, as he prefers) is Dakota and from the same small rez as me. Both of his parents are Dakota and from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. His mother grew up on the Lake Traverse Reservation—the Ḣeipa District, to be precise. His father grew up in the Upper Sioux Community, the related and original eastern Dakota lands in Minnesota. Jay was born over in Sisseton but grew up in both communities after his parents split up. Later he made his permanent home at Upper Sioux when he and his dad returned from a stint on the Fond du Lac reservation—a northern Ojibwe reservation. How they ended up in Ḣahatoŋwaŋ territory is another story for another is a quiet and patient man. He is short, perpetually trim, and light on his feet. His spontaneous and easily contented characteristics are from an earlier drifter lifestyle and later, as a response to coming home. He is quite my opposite—except that I, too, am low to the ground. We are complementary to each other, which I believe is why we have been happily married for so Jay has retained the ancestral gene that intuitively signals it is time. He begins the sap harvest by gathering the supplies he keeps stored in one of our boys' abandoned backpacks from their schooldays. He carries the backpack over a shoulder, and with a little hammer his rough brown hands gently tap the metal spigots, called spiles. He puts them in two to three inches through the semi-rough bark into the trunk about three feet up from the ground. Our trees are mature and could handle two spiles, but he only uses one. Then he hangs white food-grade gallon buckets from a small hook connected to the spile to collect the tree tree sap looks just like ordinary water yet contains approximately 2% sugar content. Although he could collect sap until the trees begin budding, he usually stops collecting far earlier. Typically, he collects 40 gallons each year from the 10 maple trees surrounding our front and back yards. As he walks from tree to tree, he pours the sap into five-gallon buckets, covers them, and stores them in the garage until he has enough to begin cooking it depending, this will take approximately a week to gather as he begins preparing his makeshift wood stove. The outdoor stove is made from an old oil barrel that he sets up in the back of his shed. He will gather cut up wood from our hillside but prefers supplementing from my dad's stash of oak, as it burns hotter than the scrub cedar abundant on our will start cooking down the sap when he has at least 10 gallons ready. The reused roasting basin holds about three gallons that nestles on top of a hole cut in the side of his barrel. Bundled up, he will sit for many hours in his makeshift 'sugarbush'—our backyard, composed of a folding chair, a pile of wood, five-gallon pails of tree sap, and the felines circled under his boot-covered feet. While the cooking-down process could be done with consistent heat from a propane stove, we prefer the smoky flavor of our maple syrup. Tapping trees and making maple syrup is our first foraging activity as spring and renewalIn the Mni Sota River valley, early spring snowstorms are common and can bring discouragement after being cooped up indoors. Yet, just as these heavy and quick-melting snows leave behind beneficial moisture and nitrogen for emerging perennials and annual crops, we gain enthusiasm and energy for the work ahead. The late Dakota elder Danny Seaboy shared this teaching that wa skaŋ, those melting snows, are heavy with moisture and leave behind beneficial minerals for the wato oyate, the plant nation. The ground is cleansed and the air smells fresh with these final seasonal snowstorms. After the long winter's solitude of reflection and rest, we are year's harvest was plentiful and nourished our family throughout the cold and dark moments and months. We have finished up long-overdue tasks, mended neglected relations and garments. We have told stories of ancestors and place and passed between us the memories of warm summer days. We have shared collected traditions and gifts, recipes and seeds. We have thoroughly assessed the learnings from last year and reflected on past experiences. We are rested, rejuvenated and ready to put the new ideas into a Dakota word meaning the time of blood, is the time when things grow and renew. It is spring and I can hear the enthusiasm in the migratory birds flying overhead, returning north once again. I imagine their conversation, 'Yes, yes, this is the path we took last year. I can see the all-too-familiar big pond up ahead. Keep flapping. Keep going. We can do it!' Other signs of spring emerge. The grass is greening up and early blooms of bloodroot, western rock jasmine, and the pasqueflower can be found. And we too awaken from our slumber and are ready for shifting of seasons is all about change, and while we anticipate this change, the change also changes us. We begin to wake up earlier, we spend more time outside, we may even feel lighter with our sweaters and Netflix put away for warmer days ahead. In Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler poetically writes, 'All that you Change / Changes you . . . God / is Change.' We are awakened and now ready to set about changes and charter new paths and plans. Let the groundwork and planting from Perennial Ceremony: Lessons and Gifts from a Dakota Ceremony by Teresa Peterson. Published by the University of Minnesota Press. Copyright 2024 by Teresa Peterson. Used by permission.
