Households that host social gatherings have higher rates of COVID-19 spread


New research shows that small gatherings -- specifically linked to birthdays -- preceded increases in COVID-19 case numbers during the pandemic. Photo by profivideos/Pixabay

June 21 (UPI) -- Small social gatherings can fuel the spread of COVID-19 in areas with high infection rates, an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine found.

This is particularly true in areas in which spread of the virus is high, the researchers said.

Infection rates were 31% higher among households in high-transmission areas in which a member celebrated a birthday, the data showed.

They were about 57% higher in households in which a child celebrated a birthday and about 22% higher in those in which an adult did so.

"Informal gatherings, such as birthday parties, are still an important source of COVID-19 transmission that have received less attention up until now and should not be overlooked by the public," study co-author Christopher Whaley told UPI in an email.

"Many policies designed to slow COVID-19 spread previously were targeted at formal gatherings [such as] work, travel, dining, etc., but our findings suggest that [informal] gatherings may have deserved additional focus," said Whaley, a researcher with the RAND Corporation in Berkeley, Calif.

The findings are based on an analysis of COVID-19 in 2.9 million households nationally, from the beginning of the pandemic through Nov. 8 of last year, using a health insurance database from Castlight Health, a healthcare research company.

The goal of the study was to assess the risk for COVID-19 spread associated with "small social gatherings" by comparing changes in infection rates following "important life events, specifically birthdays," researchers said.

The overall prevalence of the virus at the time of the study was 28 cases per 10,000 people in the general population.

Households located in areas with high virus spread in which a member celebrated a birthday within the past two weeks had 8.6 more cases per 10,000 people in the general population compared with households without birthdays in low-spread areas.

There were 16 more cases per 10,000 people in the general population among households that celebrated a child's birthday and six more in those in which an adult's birthday was observed.

The findings suggest that birthdays, which "likely correspond with social gatherings and celebrations," are associated with increased rates of diagnosed COVID-19 infection within households in counties with high COVID-19 prevalence, the researchers said.

"Choosing safe activities depends on whether you have been vaccinated for COVID-19," Dr. Dena Bravata, chief medical officer at San Francisco-based Castlight, told UPI in an email.

"Every family or group should discuss and evaluate what's best for their specific circumstances, [but] if you haven't been vaccinated, you must continue to take prevention measures such as wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart and washing your hands," she said.

U.N.: 'Alarmingly high' number of violations against children in 2020


The recruitment of children, to do things like perform work and fight wars, was responsible for the highest number of violations, the report said. File Photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA-EFE


June 22 (UPI) -- The number of grave violations committed against children last year was "alarmingly high," according to a United Nations report that stated the COVID-19 pandemic worsened existing vulnerabilities children face.

The annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict said Monday that the United Nations had verified 24,000 grave violations committed against about 20,000 children in 2020 in 21 conflict areas.

"Escalation of conflict, armed clashes and disregard for international humanitarian law and international human rights law had a severe impact on the protection of children," the report states.

The recruitment of children, to do things like perform work and fight wars, was responsible for the highest number of violations (8,521), with nearly 7,000 being recruited to fight wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Syria and Myanmar.

The second highest violation last year was the maiming (5,748) and killing (2,676) of children.

Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Syria and Yemen were the locations where the highest number of violations were committed, the report said, as more than 8,400 children were either killed or maimed in ongoing fighting.

"The wars of adults have taken away the childhood of millions of boys and girls again in 2020," Virginia Gamba, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on Children and Armed Conflict, said in a statement.

RELATED U.N. Report: Record number of people were displaced in 2020

"This is completely devastating for them, but also for the entire communities they live in, and destroys chances for a sustainable peace."

The violations that experienced the greatest growth last year were abduction and rape and other forms of sexual violence, the report said, explaining that abductions increased by 90% while forms of sexual violence rose by 70%.

While three out of four violations were committed against boys, girls accounted for 98% of all victims of rape and sexual violence, it said.

"If boys and girls experience conflict differently and require interventions to better address their specific needs," Gamba said. "What the data also showed is that conflict doesn't differentiate based on gender."

The report also noted that COVID-19 "aggravated existing vulnerabilities," including hindering children's access to education, health and social services. It also found that the pandemic's impact on socioeconomics exposed more children to being recruited, abducted and sexually violated.

RCMP investigating 'suspicious' fires that burned down two B.C. Catholic churches

ON FIRST NATIONS LANDS

Two Catholic churches were burned down Monday in the same Canadian province where late last month the remains of 215 bodies of children were found at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Photo by Murray Foubister/Flickr

June 22 (UPI) -- Canada's national police service said two Roman Catholic churches on First Nations land were burned down by fires they consider "suspicious."

The fires were spotted early Monday, which was National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, and in the province of British Columbia where less than a month ago the discovery of remains of hundreds of children buried at a former Indian Residential School reignited the nation's anger over Canada and the Catholic Church's treatment of indigenous people.


Sgt. Jason Bayda, Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman for the region of Penticton South Okanagan, said Monday in a statement that both wooden churches burned to the ground.

"Police are treating the fires as suspicious," he said.

The first fire at the Sacred Heart Church on Penticton Indian Band land was spotted by an officer at around 1:20 a.m., he said, while the St. Gregory's Church on Osoyoos Indian Band land was discovered at 3:10 a.m.

The two churches are separated by some 27 miles.

"Should our investigations deem these fires arson, the RCMP will be looking at all possible motives and allow the facts and evidence to direct our investigative actions," Bayda said. "We are sensitive to the recent events but won't speculate on a motive."

The fires came after the Tk'emlupste Secwépemc First Nation said late last month it discovered the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, which was operated by the Catholic Church from 1890 to 1969 before it was taken over by the Canadian government until it was finally shuttered in 1978.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission report published in 2015 said based on records the death toll at the school had only been 51.

The commission said there were 139 residential schools nationwide that were conducted on a policy that "can be best described as 'cultural genocide,'" resulting in the deaths of 4,100 children it had been able to verify though the number is believed to be as high as 6,000

Canada first apologized to its indigenous citizens over running the residential schools in 2008 but despite repeated calls to do so the Catholic Church has yet to offer an apology.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Catholic, called on the church to offer its apology following the recent discovery, but Pope Francis only expressed his "sorrow" and "closeness to the Canadian people" over the tragedy.

Standing before the charred Sacred Hearts Church on Monday, Penticton Indian Band Chief Greg Gabriel said his community is angry over the discovery of the remains but they do not condone the destruction of the church, Penticton Western News reported.

"I understand there is a lot of anger in our community with the discovery of those 215 innocent, poor children's graves," he said. "There is a lot of hurt. But this type of action doesn't help if in fact it is found to be deliberate."

WW3.0

China's military warns of 'war' if Taiwan pursues independence


China's defense ministry warned Thursday that Taiwanese independence would mean "war" as relations remain at a low point between the two sides. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- China's defense ministry warned the United States Tuesday against interfering with Beijing's Taiwan policy.

Any Taiwanese move toward independence would also spell "war" for the island nation, Beijing said.

Chinese defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said Thursday at a regular press briefing that Taiwan's unification with the mainland is a "historical inevitability." Attempts to declare Taiwanese independence would be a dead-end road, and seeking independence means "war," the spokesman said.

Ren's remarks come after U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said earlier this month that the United States "won't abandon Taiwan," after a trip to Taipei to confirm a U.S. shipment of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Duckworth's trip to Taiwan with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Ark., was part of U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with Taiwan. Beijing condemned the trip at the time.

Relations between Taiwan and China have declined as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has pushed back against Beijing's one-China policy, which does not recognize Taiwanese sovereignty.

Tsai's advisers also have put forward new proposals that have drawn the ire of the Chinese government.

Yao Chia-wen, a senior adviser to Tsai, proposed in April changing the country's name to "Republic of Taiwan" from "Republic of China," Taiwan News reported.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, vowed to retaliate if Taiwan adopted a new name.

Ren said Thursday Taiwan is an "inalienable part of China," and that China is "firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges or military contacts between the United States and Taiwan."

Ren also said that the United States "cannot stop Chinese advancement" or economic rise, and that the United States should abide by the one-China principle and three U.S.-China joint communiqués.

#NOTOKYOOLYMPICS

Japan shrugs off Emperor Naruhito's concern about COVID-19, Olympics


The office of Japan's Emperor Naruhito expressed concerns Thursday about health and safety during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

June 24 (UPI) -- Japan's central government dismissed remarks from the emperor's office after the Imperial Household Agency said Emperor Naruhito is concerned about a surge in coronavirus cases during the Tokyo Olympics.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Thursday Tokyo is confident it will hold a safe Olympics.

"I would like to ask the Imperial Household Agency for details, but as I have said, we will realize a safe and secure games," Kato said, according to Kyodo News.

Kato also played down the emperor's remarks, which some local observers see as the withdrawal of royal support for the Summer Games.

The Japanese spokesman for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the emperor's office was expressing personal views, according to local press reports.

Doubts about a COVID-free Olympics have been building in Japan, where medical experts have warned the event could lead to a surge in new cases as athletes from around the world mix and mingle during competition.

Yasuhiko Nishimura, the grand steward of the agency, had said Thursday the emperor shares the public's concerns, Fuji News Network reported.

RELATED Organizers bar consumption, sale of alcohol at Tokyo Summer Olympics

Naruhito "harbors concerns that the hosting of the Olympics may lead to the continued spread of COVID-19," Nishimura said, according to the report.

"His majesty is very worried about the current infection situation of the COVID-19 disease."

Japan confirmed 1,779 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, a number that is greater than the daily caseload of a week ago reported on June 16, according to NHK. The increase in the number of cases is correlated with the lifting of a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas, the report said.

RELATED Organizers limit local spectators at Tokyo Olympics to 50% capacity

Tens of thousands of Olympic volunteers have quit, according to CNN. On Saturday Japanese officials confirmed a coach in Uganda's Olympic team tested positive for COVID-19.

Uganda Olympic Committee President Donald Rukare has said the Ugandan delegation had all been fully vaccinated with two shots of AstraZeneca vaccines.

Lebanon may need a savior, but it likely won't be Syria this time

TO PUT IT BLUNTLY THEY ARE BOTH BASKET CASE POLITICAL ECONOMIES

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma, cast their votes in the presidential election at a polling station near Damascus, Syria, on May 26. Bashar al-Assad was elected to a fourth term, spurring speculation that Syria may once again play a role in stabilizing Lebanon. Photo by Youssef Badawi/EPA-EFE


BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 23 (UPI) -- Lebanon, which has for decades relied on outside powers to help solve its problems, is again waiting for "a savior" to pull it from its worst political and financial crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.

With the failure of the Lebanese leaders to form a new government, the re-election of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a fourth term last month has fueled speculation about a new Syrian role in stabilizing its crisis-stricken neighbor.

Some analysts in Beirut have argued that handing over Lebanon again to Syria was a possible option based on shifting regional dynamics, including recent Saudi-Syria rapprochement to limit Iran's influence and Arab-European desire to normalize ties with Assad, who survived the war and remains in power. But others say that seems unrealistic, at least for now.

"I don't think that Syria now is capable or ready to play a role in Lebanon while it suffers from large destruction and the regime is not in control of all the country," Fares Boueiz, who served as Lebanese foreign minister for two terms under Syria's rule in the 1990s, told UPI.

RELATED EU foreign policy chief threatens sanctions if Lebanon can't form gov't

"A major part of the problem in Lebanon is related to the big role Hezbollah is playing in Lebanon and Syria," he said. "Redefining Hezbollah's role and size in Syria will reflect directly on Lebanon...That could be a way" to restabilize the situation in Lebanon.

Syria of the 1970s

Syria today is not the powerful Syria of the 1970s, when it first sent its troops to Lebanon, with U.S. encouragement and tacit Israeli approval to help stop raging civil strife.

RELATED Iran's Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipour, co-founder of Hezbollah, dies of COVID-19

As the war lasted 15 years, Syria consolidated its military presence with up to 30,000 troops deployed across most of the country and imposed itself as the most powerful player after battling Palestinian armed groups, various Lebanese factions and Israeli forces.

In peacetime, when the 1990 Saudi-brokered Taef accord ended the civil strife, Syria was entrusted to fix the country, which allowed it to control it completely, exerting significant influence on Lebanese politics and every aspect of life, as well as forming long-term alliances with local parties.

Syria's 29-year heavy-handed control of Lebanon came to an end in 2005 when it was forced to pull out troops more than two months after the Feb. 14 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A critic of the Syrian presence in Lebanon, Hariri was killed in an explosion that targeted his convoy in Beirut. His killing was swiftly blamed on Syria, but an international court years later ruled that members of Hezbollah were behind it.

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Syria's departure further divided the Lebanese, while the mostly corrupt political elite, who have dominated politics for years, engaged in constant political disputes and failed to agree on how to run the country and solve its problems until its worst economic crisis broke out in October 2019.

Exhausted and fragmented

Boueiz said Lebanon emerged from the civil war "exhausted, largely destroyed and fragmented...with no state institutions and some 10 confessional mini-states ruled by the then powerful and heavily armed Christian and Muslim militias."

"An Arab-international decision ended the war at that time, but Lebanon did not have any mechanism to reunify the country, and the world was not interested in sending troops to fix the situation," Boueiz told UPI. "Syria was thus entrusted to put the country back together and rebuild the state with the blessing of the U.S., France and most of the Arabs."

Lebanon, he said, had no other choice at the time but to rely on Syria, although "it has its own calculations and interests, in addition to its big struggle with Israel, Lebanon being part of it."

Boueiz said "what we have achieved then" under the two terms rule of late President Elias Hrawi "was close to a miracle."

"Nobody had thought that Lebanon could be back after all the destruction," he said, noting that 90% of "the state components were restored," with a 40,000-strong army, 30,000-member security forces, hospitals, schools and state institutions rebuilt.

Without Syria, he argued, it would have been impossible to disband the war militias, which were 10 times stronger than the army at that time.

Hezbollah was the only exception for its fighting with Israel, which was occupying a so-called "security zone" in southern Lebanon, an equivalent of 10 percent of Lebanese territories.

"We were in an impasse: Should we consider Hezbollah as an internal militia and eliminate the resistance and the possibility of confronting Israel and liberating our land? That was not acceptable," Boueiz said.




Lebanese youths ride a motor scooter carrying both the Lebanese and Hezbollah flags beside a bridge in Beirut's southern suburbs that was bombed by Israeli jets on July 14, 2006. File Photo by Oussama Ayoub/UPI | License Photo


That logic was maintained until 2000 when Israel was forced to pull out its troops and southern Lebanon was liberated. Instead of reviewing Hezbollah's "resistance status" and finding a formula to contain it, the Iran-backed group, with Syrian backing, was not ready to relinquish its weapons or its fight with Israel, arguing that it was still occupying Lebanese land: the disputed Shabaa farms and Kfar Shouba hills, the northernmost strip of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel during the 1967 war.

Hezbollah further argued that its arsenal was meant to deter Israel and prevent it from continuing to be a threat. In the meantime, the militant group was growing stronger, boosted by large financial and military support from Iran and Syria.

"The change started when late Syrian President Hafez Assad lost hope in the possibility of achieving peace with the collapse of the Madrid peace process in the late 1990s and started to prepare for a long-term confrontation" with Israel, Boueiz said. "In fact, the size and power of Hezbollah started to grow significantly due to an Iran-Syria agreement" until it reached the point of engaging in the war in Syria in support of Assad.

U.S. sanctions on Iran had a toll on Hezbollah, which "finds itself obliged to fund itself from inside," benefiting from the state resources -- like the other Lebanese political parties -- as well as increasing its illegal activities through ports and land crossings..."that opened the way for the current economic crisis," he said. "Hezbollah's link to Iran and its struggle or conflict with the West and the Gulf countries led to Lebanon's isolation, which was boycotted by the West and most Arab countries."

Such a boycott and Lebanon's failure to implement reforms deprived the country of financial assistance badly needed to avert the country's total collapse, raising fears of security chaos and social explosion - a situation that would call for urgent outside intervention.

Mohanad Hage Ali, an analyst and fellow at the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center, said "there is room for one party to play a big role" in Lebanon because of the deteriorating situation. But the Syrian regime, which is under international sanctions, has emerged "weak" from 10 years of a destructive war on its territories.

"I can't see any development at least for the time being that would allow Syria to play a serious role in Lebanon except in one exceptional case: a total security collapse in the country that could necessitate fighting terrorist groups," Hage Ali told UPI.

NASA, Nelson push for annual moon landings for 'a dozen years'


NASA Administrator Bill Nelson testifies Wednesday in Washington D.C. about the agency's budget before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Photo courtesy of NASA


June 23 (UPI) -- NASA needs crewed lunar landings every year for "a dozen years," the agency's administrator, Bill Nelson, said in a House of Representatives committee hearing Wednesday.

Nelson, who became administrator May 3, said Congress hasn't appropriated enough money for the nation's coming lunar aspirations.

"We want to have these sustained landings over a dozen years, and that's gonna cost some more money," Nelson testified to the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

The @Space_Station orbits roughly 250 miles above the Earth. Did you know that under #Artemis, the Gateway will serve as a multi-purpose outpost 250,000 miles from Earth orbiting the Moon? pic.twitter.com/MUAVURQoPb— NASA's Artemis Program (@NASAArtemis) June 23, 2021

Members of the committee, including Chairwoman Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, pressed Nelson for more detailed plans to use lunar exploration as a springboard to prepare for astronaut journeys to Mars.

Known as the Artemis program, its goal was first outlined by NASA under the Trump administration.

But Nelson said Congress has failed to provide adequate funding for moon missions when the House and Senate finalize the annual budgets in recent years.
RELATEDNASA administrator Bill Nelson supports $10B boost for moon landing

Last year, NASA made a "$3.4 billion request for human spaceflight for the exploration part, and the Congress appropriated just $850 million," Nelson said.

The Biden administration is seeking $24.8 billion for NASA in fiscal 2022, which would be a 6.6% increase from 2021. But there's an amendment to the 2021 budget pending in Congress to boost moon landing budgets this year by $10 billion.

Separate from funding, Nelson said NASA must wait to develop further plans until a contract dispute is resolved among Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Alabama-based Dynetics.
RELATEDBrazil becomes first South American partner to NASA's Artemis Accords



The three space companies pursued NASA funding to build lunar landers, and only SpaceX was awarded funding so far. Musk's company now faces bid protests filed by the other two companies with the federal watchdog Government Accountability Office.

Nelson said he and newly appointed NASA executives Pam Melroy, the deputy administrator, and Bob Cabana, the associate administrator, are drawing up new Artemis plans pending the GAO decision due by Aug. 1. Melroy and Cabana are former astronauts.

"The three of us are already trying to make the plan so that when the GAO decides on the bid protests, we can move out quickly, depending on what they decide," Nelson testified.

The first Artemis mission, an uncrewed test flight of the SLS rocket and Orion capsule, is scheduled to launch from Florida later this year.

Nelson's defense of the agency's strategy came as committee chairwoman Johnson and Frank Lucas, R-Okla., suggested that NASA hadn't provided enough detail on its moon and Mars plans.

"NASA needs to develop that plan and program now, because there aren't unlimited resources," Johnson said. "And we really can't afford to pursue nice projects at the expense of neglecting essential tasks."

LUNAR EXPLORATION FOR DUMMIES
NASA to send mannequins to moon to prepare for crewed missions



NASA will send three inanimate occupants, like this one, to the moon on Artemis I to help measure radiation and vibration. Photo courtesy of NASA

ORLANDO, Fla., June 24 (UPI) -- NASA's upcoming Artemis I mission to the moon, planned for later this year, won't have a human crew, but the space agency is preparing three inanimate occupants of the Orion capsule to measure radiation and vibrations.

The Artemis I "crew" members, mannikins, will help NASA test radiation, vibration and impacts from landing before the space agency plans to send astronauts in an Orion capsule by 2023.

That mission will be the first time since Apollo programs ended in 1972 that astronauts have ventured into Deep Space.

New data is needed because NASA's technology, spacecraft and medical understanding have advanced significantly since the last lunar missions half a century ago, according to the space agency.

Two of the mannikins, are designed with materials to mimic bone and human organs. Named Zohar and Helga, they will be festooned with over 2,000 dosimeters to help NASA understand space radiation exposure.

NASA refers to Zohar and Helga as phantoms. One will wear a protective radiation vest and one will not.

The Moonikin riding aboard the #Artemis I mission will be vital to understanding what future astronauts will experience on the flight. But the Moonikin is missing something very important - a name!

Head over to @NASAArtemis for a chance to vote: https://t.co/uarwcbC9Po pic.twitter.com/4V0eu6PJGl— NASA (@NASA) June 16, 2021

The third mannikin is a human-sized rubber dummy used to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which will have two dosimeters, as well as vibration sensors, Mark Baldwin, engineer and program manager for NASA contractor Lockheed Martin, said in an interview.

"The Artemis I flight really is our golden opportunity to get all of these sorts of measurements from mannikins in seats," Baldwin said. "That's because once we have astronauts in the capsule, there's a lot less room for all this equipment."

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Such measurements will help Baldwin and other NASA experts adjust Orion equipment for the upcoming journeys to the moon.

Baldwin underwent seven hours of vibration testing over two days at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2017 to help him understand the astronaut experience. He said the greatest risk to Orion occupants may be the impact upon splashdown in the ocean.

"It would be a terrible shame for the Artemis mission to go perfectly the whole time and then our crew gets injured in the last 250 feet, so we have to make sure we understand the impact and vibrations," Baldwin said.

Two sensors on the unnamed mannikin's seat will measure the pressure of the "body" on the seat during takeoff and landing. The additional dosimeters will be tucked into its pockets to complement those on the phantoms.

NASA and other space agencies will run many tests and comparisons of the data obtained from the radiation mannikins, said Ramona Gaza, project manager of NASA's Crew Active Dosimeter project.

For example, she said, the dosimeters should show a spike in radiation as the spacecraft passes through the Earth's radiation field, known as the Van Allen belt.

"There's so much information that needs to be analyzed and compared and understood," Gaza said. "The additional two dosimeters on the third mannikin will give us a few additional data points to compare."

New data is needed regarding Deep Space exposure to radiation, since astronauts haven't been on such long journeys for decades, Gaza said.

The radiation mannikins were part of NASA's effort to make the Artemis missions international, she said.

The Israel Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center contributed and named the radiation mannikins.

NASA recently launched a social media contest to name the third mannikin. Early results have narrowed the field to Ace, Delos, Campos and Rigel.

Ace stands for Artemis Crew Explorer. Delos is the island where Greek mythology holds that Artemis and Apollo were born. Campos refers to late NASA engineer Arturo Campos, who was instrumental in bringing Apollo 13 astronauts home when an explosion in space ended their journey to the moon. And Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation.

NASA expects to announce a winner of the naming contest Tuesday.

IKEA IN SPACE,THEY NEED A HEX WRENCH

Finnish company will test tiny, wooden satellite in space

By Paul Brinkmann


An illustration depicts the Woodsat satellite with wooden exterior in space. Photo courtesy of Arctic Astronautics

ORLANDO, Fla., June 23 (UPI) -- An educational space technology company in Finland, Arctic Astronautics Ltd., plans to launch this fall a tiny 2-pound satellite made mostly of wood, named Woodsat, as a science experiment and to encourage interest in space.

Small launch company Rocket Lab plans to carry the Woodsat into space aboard an Electron rocket lifting off from New Zealand.

The goal of the mission is to determine how wood and how instruments carried on the satellite behave in space, Samuli Nyman, chief technology officer of Arctic Astronautics, said in an interview.

"Wood has been used in aviation, and model airplanes especially, for a long time," Nyman said. "And it turns out, wood has some special properties in space. It is anti-magnetic, which can be important, and it can withstand the extreme cold of space, whereas metal and plastic can become brittle in extreme cold."

Woodsat has attracted attention from corporations and media around the world and elicited cooperation from the European Space Agency.

Arctic Astronautics, which normally focuses on tiny educational satellite kits for schools, builds Woodsat. A Finnish company, UPM Plywood, provides high-quality wood for the craft and covers the launch cost.

Prototypes of the Woodsat are prepared at a laboratory in Finland for testing in June. Photo courtesy of Arctic Astronautics


A Woodsat satellite is prepared for a June 12 test flight in Finland. Photo courtesy of Arctic Astronautic

YES I KNOW IKEA IS NOT FINNISH

PATER FAMILIAS IS A TYRANT 

Britney Spears asks court to end 13-year conservatorship, citing abuse


Britney Spears on Wednesday asked a Califonia judge to end her 13-year conservatorship without a health evaluation, alleging abuse by her parents, management and a former therapist. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo


June 23 (UPI) -- Britney Spears on Wednesday asked a California judge to end her court-ordered conservatorship without requiring her to clear a health evaluation.

Spears, 39, addressed Judge Brenda Penny for about 20 minutes by phone as she requested the termination of the conservatorship managed by her father, Jamie Spears, for nearly 13 years alleging she has faced abuse at the hands of her family and therapists including being forced to go on tour and perform in a Las Vegas residency, placed on lithium against her will and prevented from removing an intrauterine device so she can have another child.

"The main reason why I'm here is because I want to end the conservatorship without having to be evaluated," Spears said, noting that she had researched similar cases where judges ended conservatorships without evaluations.

Spears, however, said she expected her family to contest her request, stating that her father "loved the control to hurt his won daughter" and noting he and others continue to profit off of her musical career.

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Jamie Spears has been the conservator of his daughter's $60 million estate since 2008 after she was placed on psychiatric hold.

On Wednesday, Spears said she has been "in shock" and "traumatized" while living under the conservatorship and that she felt her concerns were left unaddressed following her last court appearance on the matter.

"I haven't been back to court in a long time, because I don't think I was heard on any level when I came to court the last time," she said.

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Spears added that "a lot has happened" since that last court appearance detailing a stretch in 2018 where she was forced to go on tour under threat of legal action, noting the conservatorship would not allow her to hire her own lawyer to defend herself.

During this period, Spears said her management accused her of refusing to take part in rehearsals and failing to take her medication, noting her medication was administered in the morning when management was not present and that she developed her own choreography for the shows.

Spears said her management offered her the opportunity to drop out of a Las Vegas show but shortly after she did her therapist said he had received complaints from her management and placed her on lithium.

RELATED Britney Spears hopes to make Jodi Montgomery permanent conservator

"He put me on that and I felt drunk. I couldn't even have a conversation with my mom or dad really about anything," she said, adding that multiple nurses were placed in her home while she was on the medication and she was not allowed to leave her home for a month.

Under the conservatorship, Spears said she has not been allowed to be alone in a car with her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, and that they are unable to start a family together as she has been prevented from removing her IUD.

"I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told I can't get married," she said. "I have an IUD inside me but this so-called team won't let me go to the doctor to remove it because they don't want me to have any more children."

As she closed her statement, Spears said that the conservatorship has done her "way more harm than good."

"I just want my life back. And it's been 13 years and it's enough. It's been a long time since I've owned my money. And it's my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested," she said. "Again, it makes no sense whatsoever for the state of California to sit back and literally watch me with their own two eyes, make a living for so many people and pay so many people trucks and buses on the road with me and be told, I'm not good enough. But I'm great at what I do. And I allow these people to control what I do, ma'am. And it's enough, and it makes no sense at all."

HER FANS WERE HER ADVOCATES FOR OVER A DECADE

Speaking before a judge for 20 minutes, Spears said she has been "in shock" and "traumatized" while living under the conservatorship. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo




Britney Spears said that her management forced her to go on tour and perform in a Las Vegas residency in 2018 and she was prescribed lithium after they alleged she skipped rehearsals and did not take her medication. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo




In the hearing, Spears also said that she has not been able to be alone with her boyfriend and has been prevented from scheduling an appointment to remove an IUD. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo




As she closed her statement, Spears said that the conservatorship has done her "way more harm than good." Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo