Latest long-term Mars habitat crew a global mix
Now in its sixth year, the University of Hawaii at Manoa Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) is set to begin its next mission
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Publicity
New massage style launched in Honolulu
Honolulu massage therapist Charisma Koffman has introduced a new type of bodywork called “Sarga Bodywork,” which puts a new spin
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Clean Energy Fair returns to Kahala Mall on Saturday
To kick off “Energy Action Month” in October, Hawaiian Electric is hosting its annual “Clean Energy Fair” this Saturday, Oct.
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UH Launches Pacific ICT Initiative
The College of Social Sciences (CSS) at UH Mānoa has established the Pacific Information and Communication Technology for Development Collaborative (PICTDC). PICTDC is an innovative interdisciplinary initiative focusing on the social and economic implications of information and communications technology in the Pacific region.
The collaborative emphasizes the potential uses of technology for social good, promotion of digital inclusiveness, sustainable improvement in quality of life, and empowerment of public discourse on good governance.
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Top teams tie at first Hawaii state hackathon
Solutions tackling state challenges involving homelessness and jail facility visitation received top honors at the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge (HACC)
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‘Books and Spirits’ Event Series Launched
An author and entrepreneur are together launching “Books & Spirits” later this month, describing it as “a new kind of
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Hurricane preparedness tips from Hawaii Red Cross
Are you ready for hurricane season? June 1 signals the start of hurricane season in Hawaii, which lasts all the way until November. The Hawaii Red Cross is telling residents that now is the time to create or update preparedness plans.
“Avoid the craze of standing in supermarket lines to get bottled water and the anxiety of last minute plans for you and your family members,” the organization urges. “The Hawaii Red Cross is here for you and your loved ones by providing services and information to ensure that you can be prepared for any natural disaster that comes your way.”
The Hawaii Red Cross offers three tips to help you get ready for this year’s hurricane season.
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Contemporary island art featured in ‘Contact 2016’
For the third year, Pu‘uhonua Society’s Maoli Arts Alliance is presenting its juried contemporary art exhibition “Contact 2016.” The exhibition features new and recent artworks by Hawaii’s contemporary artists, and is the only show of its kind in the islands.
Selected artworks explore themes of “Contact,” cultural exchange and migratory movements, many of them reflecting on personal narratives of heritage and connection. This year’s show is titled “Foreign and Familiar.”
Jurors are expected to select work by over 80 submissions in a wide variety of media from over 50 artists for the exhibition. On view at the Honolulu Museum of Art School from March 24 to April 17, 2016, “Contact 2016” also includes a series of free programs, including lectures, panel discussions, and films, designed to complement the show.
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Report: Honolulu has 10th worst traffic in U.S.
A new report out of transportation analytics firm INRIX ranks Honolulu 10th on its list of the 10 most congested cities in the country, with each commuter wasting 49 hours per year stuck in traffic.
The top 10 list also includes Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Houston, New York and Seattle, and commuters spent a total of 8 billion hours stuck in traffic in 2015 across all ten cities combined. INRIX also notes that the U.S. accounts for 50 percent of the top 10 metros with the worst traffic congestion across both the U.S. and Europe. Only London has worse traffic than top-ranked U.S. cities.
INRIX released its 2015 Traffic Scorecard today, a benchmark for governments and agencies in the U.S. and Europe to measure progress in improving urban mobility.
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John Yukio Gotanda Named New HPU President
A Roosevelt High School graduate has been named the new president of Hawaii Pacific University. The HPU Board of Trustees selected
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HPU team wins regional programming contest
A team from Hawaii Pacific University recently won the Hawaii site of the 2015 ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC),
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Kids win latest Startup Weekend Honolulu
History was made on Sunday when 12-year-old Buddy Leong, 10-year-old Koko Leong and 6-year-old Kyndra Leong beat out a field of over fifty adults to win first place at Startup Weekend Honolulu. The achievement may represent the youngest team to win a Startup Weekend worldwide.
Founded in 2009, Startup Weekend has been held over 1,200 times in over 560 cities with an estimated 105,000 participants. The Global Startup Battle is now being held in over 250 cities worldwide.
Over 25 individuals pitched an idea on Friday night and the 10 ideas with the most votes went on to recruit a team. The teams had until Sunday afternoon to create a business model, prototype, get customer validation and deliver a five-minute final presentation. They are judged by industry experts and a winner is named.
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Tech-Savvy Educator Named Windward Teacher of the Year
Stephanie Mew of Kapunahala Elementary is the 2016 Windward District Teacher of the Year. The third-grade instructor has taught at the Kaneohe school for 13 years and possesses 26 years of professional teaching experience.
Known for her high energy, Mew incorporates topics that interest her into her classroom to inspire students. Topics have included technology, engineering, math, robotics, science and gardening. Fostering creativity, Mew also teaches that failure is sometimes good.
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NASA rocket launches UH student project into space
University of Hawaii community college students watched their scientific payload spin into space today when a two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding
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Red Cross assists Saipan in wake of Typhoon Soudelor
Typhoon Soudelor made landfall over the weekend on the Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian. Category 2 hurricane force winds
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KeckWatch App Fuels Fans of Astronomy
Today, W. M. Keck Observatory launched a new smartphone app to stoke the curiosity and wonder of astronomy. KeckWatch offers mankind’s collected knowledge of the cosmos on the screen of your iOS device.
In addition to being able to easily identify stars and planets with both conventional and Hawaiian names, it offers a unique glimpse through the gigantic eyes of the Keck I and Keck II telescopes, the two largest and most scientifically productive telescope on Earth. The app was built by First Light Design, the makers of category-defining app Distant Suns, and can be can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store today.
“Our work studying the cosmos these past two decades has led to remarkable understandings of our Universe and has placed Hawaii as the premiere location on Earth for astronomical research,” said Hilton Lewis, director of Keck Observatory.
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Lawmakers commit to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045
Hawaii lawmakers voted 74-2 today to pass the nation’s first 100% renewable energy requirement. The measure, House Bill 623, makes Hawaii a global leader in renewable energy policy by requiring that 100% of the islands’ electricity must be generated from renewable energy resources—such as wind, solar, and geothermal—no later than 2045.
“Hawaii lawmakers made history today—not only for the state, but for the planet,” said Jeff Mikulina, Executive Director of the Blue Planet Foundation.
The measure, if enacted by Governor David Ige, would make Hawaii the first state in the nation with such a 100% renewable energy standard. Blue Planet Foundation, whose mission is to clear the path for 100% renewable energy, praised the move.
“Passage of this measure is a historic step towards a fossil fuel free Hawaii,” said Mikulina. “This visionary policy is a promise to future generations that their lives will be powered not by climate-changing fossil fuel, but by clean, local, and sustainable sources of energy.”
“We applaud the leadership of both the House and the Senate, and of the energy committee chairs, Rep. Chris Lee and Sen. Mike Gabbard, for helping make this historic policy a reality,” he added.
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Legislature advances bill calling for fossil fuel-free future
A joint House-Senate conference committee passed a measure yesterday that would make Hawaii a global leader in renewable energy policy. The
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Latest crew set for 8-month simulated Mars mission
The six astronaut-like crew members of the next Hawai‘i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission starting October 15 will be isolated in their dome habitat for eight months. This mission is twice as long as any previously completed at the Hawaiʻi site, and second only to Russia’s Mars500 experiment in total duration.
Also, for the first time, HI-SEAS will have a female commander. In NASA history, only two women have ever commanded the spaceship: astronauts Eileen Collins in July 1999, and Pamela Melroy in November 2007.
For true space flight, the commander role requires previous astronaut experience as well as at least 1,000 hours experience piloting a jet aircraft. For HI-SEAS, Commander Martha Lenio was selected based on feedback from fellow crew members and from instructors of the National Outdoor Leadership Skills course that both NASA and HI-SEAS require of their teams in training.
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Energy Excelerator announces latest cohort
The Energy Excelerator selected 17 startups from a pool of high quality applicants to transform Hawaii’s energy system. Fifty percent of the new portfolio startups has principal team members with previous exits.
“We are excited to work with a new cohort of startups with a ton of experience in running successful companies,” says Dawn Lippert, Director of the Energy Excelerator. “These are really smart people that have vetted technologies and are eager to partner with our local businesses to help solve some of our most difficult energy challenges.”
The Energy Excelerator’s goal is to strategically address Hawaii’s energy challenges across many different sectors. The 2015 cohort consists of startups with innovative solutions for the State’s energy, transportation, water, and agriculture industries.
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Microbes touted as key to future agriculture
A local technology commercialization company is working with two mainland biotechnology firms to encourage the adoption of microbial treatments to boost agricultural productivity while reducing water consumption as well as cutting the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
“Everything we’ve been taught about farming is incorrect,” declares Vincent Kimura, president of Inovi Green. “Historical and current agricultural processes of crop fertilization and soil tilling are falling out of favor, damaging ecosystems and producing diminishing returns. Environmentally-friendly microbial treatments have evolved to do this work far more effectively.”
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Hawaii scientist maps, names ‘Laniakea’ galaxy cluster
An international team of astronomers has defined the contours of the immense supercluster of galaxies containing our own Milky Way. They have named the supercluster “Laniakea,” meaning “immense heaven” in Hawaiian.
The team was led by University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomer R. Brent Tully, who recently shared the 2014 Gruber Cosmology Prize and the 2014 Victor Ambartsumian International Prize. The paper explaining this work is the cover story of the September 4 issue of the prestigious journal Nature.
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Three UH scientists selected for Mars rover teams
NASA has announced the selection of seven science instruments to be included on the Mars 2020 rover. Three scientists from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) — Sarah Fagents, Shiv Sharma and Anupam Misra — will be members on the instrument teams to conduct unprecedented science and exploration technology investigations on the Red Planet. The new rover will carry sophisticated hardware and instruments to perform geological assessments of the rover’s landing site, determine the potential habitability of the environment, and directly search for signs of ancient Martian life.
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East-West Center Welcomes 128 New Student Fellows
For the first time in the East-West Center’s history, students from Oceania comprise the largest percentage of incoming EWC student participants, thanks to the establishment of the Center’s Pacific Islands Leadership Program and several other new programs geared toward Pacific islanders. Students also hail from the U.S., most countries in Asia, and as far away as Italy and Zambia.
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Big Island Election Challenged in Hawaii Supreme Court
On August 6, 2014, Governor Abercrombie signed an emergency proclamation, in advance of two anticipated storms projected to impact Hawai‘i: Hurricanes Iselle and Julio. The proclamation – valid from August 6 through August 15 – included a statement that “the danger of disaster is of such magnitude to warrant preemptive and protective action in order to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the people.”
Facing massive damage from Iselle on August 8, and thousands of Hawai‘i County residents dealing with historic flooding, power outages, property damage, and road closures – some of which continue even now – the Chief Elections Officer determined that the primary would go on as scheduled on August 9. the Chief Elections Officer went on to change the rules of the election (who could vote, where and how) at least two more times over the course of three days.
This series of decisions led to the denial of the right to vote for many Hawai‘i County residents. Indeed, Precinct 04-03 had among its lowest voter turnout ever.
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Hawaii Herald launches online edition
The Hawai‘i Herald today took a major step forward in its more than thirty year history with the launch of its online edition. The debut issue is focused on the Primary Election, with a story on the “David vs. Goliath” gubernatorial race between incumbent Governor Neil Abercrombie and veteran State Senator David Ige, as well as a Q&A forum on the issues with responding candidates for the major offices.
“This is an historic moment for The Hawai‘i Herald, the only Hawaii-based newspaper dedicated to covering the local Japanese American community,” says Keiichi Tagata, president of parent company Hawaii Hochi, Ltd. “After 34 years of sharing stories in print with loyal readers, mostly in Hawaii, we look forward to sharing the Herald with a wider audience of readers around the world.”
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Third historic volcano found off O‘ahu
University of Hawaii researchers, working with colleagues in California and France, have discovered evidence of a third major shield volcano making up the island of O‘ahu.
Previously, geologists believed the island’s current profile is the remnants of two volcanoes, Wai‘anae and Ko‘olau. But extending almost 100 km WNW from Ka‘ena Point, the western tip of the island of O‘ahu, is a large region of shallow bathymetry, called the submarine Ka‘ena Ridge. It is that region that has now been recognized to represent a precursor volcano to the island of O‘ahu, and on whose flanks the Wai‘anae and Ko‘olau Volcanoes later formed.
The team included scientists from the University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de L’Environment in France, and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
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Leaf Doctor: UH plant expert launches third app
Fresh from his success with two widely utilized smartphone apps, plant pathologist Scot Nelson has created a new and more technical app, the Leaf Doctor, for a more specialized audience.
Nelson, who works at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaii, doesn’t anticipate that the Leaf Doctor will have the same broad, popular appeal as his Plant Doctor app. For many of those who will use the Leaf Doctor, though, it is likely to be a professional game-changer.
The Leaf Doctor focuses on the finer points of diagnosing plant diseases.
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Study: Shorter men may live longer
Short height and long life have a direct connection in Japanese men, according to new research based on the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) and the Kuakini Honolulu-Asia Aging Study (HAAS).
“We split people into two groups – those who were 5-foot-2 and shorter, and 5-4 and taller,” said Dr. Bradley Willcox, one of the investigators for the study and a UH Mānoa Professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine’s (JABSOM’s) Department of Geriatric Medicine. “The folks that were 5-2 and shorter lived the longest. The range was seen all the way across from being 5-foot tall to 6-foot tall. The taller you got, the shorter you lived.”
Researchers at the Kuakini Medical Center, JABSOM and U.S. Veterans Affairs worked on the study, which was recently published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed medical journal.
The researchers showed that shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan. Shorter men were also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less cancer.
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Winners named in school attendance video contest
Winners of a video contest to discourage school truancy were announced yesterday. The “Be Pono – Be in School” video contest
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