UH Launches Pacific ICT Initiative

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Hurricane preparedness tips from Hawaii Red Cross

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Dashboard to track Hawaii innovation launched

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
Hawaii’s progress in fostering and capitalizing on innovation can now be tracked on a new interactive dashboard launched today. The “Hawaii Innovation Matters” dashboard was created through a partnership between UHERO and local coding bootcamp DevLeague, with support from the Hawaii Business Roundtable. UHERO said that innovation is the key to economic growth and prosperity, accounting for roughy half of the increase observed in U.S. gross domestic product. As a result, “it is important to be able to track our progress over time and to see how Hawaii stacks up against other states and localities.” [...]

UH leads $20 million study on water quality, policy

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
The National Science Foundation has awarded $20 million to the University of Hawaii to do a five-year, groundbreaking study of water sustainability issues through a collaboration called ‘Ike Wai. UH officials say the project will provide critical data and data models to water resource stakeholders. Increasing population, changing land use practices and issues relating to climate change are contributing to growing concerns over water quality and quantity in Hawaii. “Water really is life,” said UH President David Lassner. [...]

CoralBeat Wins First NASA App Challenge in Hawaii

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
The threat that climate change and human activity poses to the world’s coral reefs was the focus of the winning entry in Hawaii’s first NASA Space Apps Challenge event. CoralBeat won “Best Overall App” at the Honolulu competition, which was held at the Manoa Innovation Center from April 22-24. The diverse team included coders, scientists and science enthusiasts, and subject matter experts from NOAA and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. CoralBeat is an app focused on coral bleaching in Hawaii, with an interactive map that displays years of NASA satellite data depicting sea surface temperatures observed over the entire globe. An animation in the app shows how the ocean has warmed during the most recent El Niño event. [...]

Treat jellyfish stings with heat, not cold

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
When confronted with a jellyfish sting, people often reach for an ice pack for relief. But a new study out of the University of Hawaii has found that the opposite approach is more effective. A recent study by researchers at UH Mānoa, published this month in the journal Toxins, may finally put to rest the ongoing debate about whether to use cold or heat to treat jellyfish stings. Their systematic and critical review provides overwhelming evidence that clinical outcomes from all kinds of jellyfish stings are improved following treatment with hot packs or hot-water immersion. Jellyfish stings are a growing public health concern worldwide and are responsible for more deaths than shark attacks each year. [...]

April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) is encouraging the public to take tsunami preparedness into their own hands this April during Tsunami Awareness Month. Seventy years ago, on April 1, 1946, one of the deadliest tsunamis to ever hit Hawaii caused widespread devastation on all islands. Generated by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands, the massive tsunami took 159 lives and caused more than $26 million in damage. April was chosen as the month to honor and remember the lives lost in all tsunamis to hit the state. Due to Hawaii’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we are extremely vulnerable to the threat of tsunamis. Distantly generated tsunamis can reach Hawaii within several hours and are triggered by earthquakes that take place along the Ring of Fire, which circles the Pacific Rim. Locally generated tsunamis are caused by earthquakes or volcanic activity that occur in or near the Hawaiian Islands, and can make landfall in a matter of minutes. [...]

Contemporary island art featured in ‘Contact 2016’

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Report: Honolulu has 10th worst traffic in U.S.

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Hawaiian language poetry, writing competition launched

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
A new Hawaiian poetry and writing competition is now accepting entries. The first of its kind, “He Hookuku Mele a Moolelo” (Poetry and Short Story Competition), is open to people of all ages from around the world, and is aimed at increasing skill and proficiency in the Hawaiian language. The only requirements to compete are an Internet connection to submit contest entries and the ability to compose or write in olelo Hawaii, the Hawaiian language. “There are many places to learn Hawaiian now, but this kind of effort links up all the learners, and even the teachers, in a fun, “give it your very best” kind of competition. This contest will generate new poetry and short stories that the whole Hawaiian language community can enjoy.” says Dr. Puakea Nogelmeier, a professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, a multi-award-winning composer, and the executive director of Awaiaulu, Inc., the organization sponsoring the competition. [...]

Kids win latest Startup Weekend Honolulu

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Tech-Savvy Educator Named Windward Teacher of the Year

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

KeckWatch App Fuels Fans of Astronomy

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Solar Impulse Extends Hawaii Stay through April 2016

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
The solar powered airplane of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will stay in Hawaii until early spring 2016, despite early efforts to repair the batteries which overheated in the record breaking oceanic flight from Nagoya to Hawaii. Following the longest and most difficult leg of the round-the-world journey — which lasted five days and five nights (117 hours and 52 minutes) — Solar Impulse will undergo maintenance repairs on the batteries due to damages brought about by overheating. “After checking what happened, we came to the conclusion that we preferred to change these batteries before going further in the flight around the world,” said Borschberg in a special interview with Bytemarks Cafe on Hawaii Public Radio that will air later today. “And it’s not so simple, it’s not like changing the batteries of a car, it’s a bit more complex, so it will take more time.” [...]

Lawmakers commit to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
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. [...]

Astronomers Discover Three Earth-Like Planets

Hawaii Star Wire Comment
Extrasolar planets are being discovered by the hundreds, but are any of these newfound worlds really like Earth? A planetary system recently discovered by the Kepler spacecraft will help resolve this question. The system of three planets, each just larger than Earth, orbits a nearby star called EPIC 201367065. The three planets are 1.5-2 times the size of Earth, and the outermost planet orbits on the edge of the so-called “habitable zone,” where the temperature may be just right for liquid water, believed necessary to support life, on the planet’s surface. “We’ve learned in the past year that planets the size and temperature of Earth are common in our Milky Way galaxy,” explains University of Hawaii astronomer Andrew Howard. “We also discovered some Earth-size planets that appear to be made of the same materials as our Earth, mostly rock and iron.” [...]