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From his eyes to his immune system, astronaut Scott Kelly’s body sometimes reacted strangely to nearly a year in orbit, at least compared to his Earth-bound identical twin — but newly published research shows nothing that would cancel even longer space treks, like to Mars.
The good news: Kelly largely bounced back after returning home, say scientists who released final results from NASA’s “twins study,” a never-before opportunity to track the biological consequences of spaceflight in genetic doubles.
It marks “the dawn of human genomics in space,” said Dr. Andrew Feinberg of Johns Hopkins University. He led one of 10 teams of researchers that scrutinized the twins’ health down to the molecular level before, during and after Kelly’s 340-day stay at the International Space Station.
More importantly, the study “represents more than one small step for mankind” by pointing out potential risks of longer-duration spaceflight that need study in more astronauts, said Markus Lobrich of Germany’s Darmstadt University and Penny Jeggo of the University of Sussex, who weren’t involved in the work.
The findings were published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, on some notable space anniversaries — when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space in 1961, and the first launch of the space shuttle in 1981.
KEY FINDINGS
NASA already knew some of the toll of space travel, such as bone loss that requires exercise to counter. This time, NASA-funded scientists looked for a gamut of physiologic and genomic changes that Scott Kelly experienced in space, comparing them to his DNA double on the ground, former astronaut Mark Kelly. Some results had been reported in February.
Possibly the weirdest finding had to do with something called telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes. Those tips gradually shorten as we get older, and are thought to be linked to age-related diseases including some cancers.
But in space, Scott Kelly’s telomeres got longer. “We were surprised,” said Colorado State University telomere expert Susan Bailey. She can’t explain it although it doesn’t mean Kelly got younger. Back on Earth, his telomeres mostly returned to preflight average although he did have more short telomeres than before.
Next, Kelly’s DNA wasn’t mutated in space but the activity of many of his genes — how they switch on and off — did change, especially in the last half of the voyage, which ended in March 2016.
Immune system genes especially were affected, putting it “almost on high alert as a way to try and understand this new environment,” said study co-author Christopher Mason, a Weill Cornell Medicine geneticist in New York.
Again, most gene expression returned to normal back home, but some of the immune-related genes were hyperactive six months later.
Other findings:
—Some changes in the structure of Kelly’s eye and thickening of his retina suggested that, like about 40% of astronauts, he experienced symptoms of “spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome.” It may be caused by fluids shifting in the absence of gravity.
—He experienced some chromosomal instability that might reflect radiation exposure in space.
—A flu shot given in space worked as well as one on Earth.
—Kelly aced cognitive tests in space but slowed down after his return, maybe as more things competed for his attention.
ULTRA LONG-DISTANCE TESTING
Researchers needed months’ worth of blood, urine and fecal samples, along with cognitive and physical tests and ultrasound scans. That meant getting creative: Some blood samples required analysis so rapidly that Kelly would time collection so the blood could travel on Russian Soyuz capsules carrying other astronauts back to Earth.
That wouldn’t be an option on a three-year trip to Mars. One of the study’s technological advances: Portable DNA-sequencing equipment that will let astronauts run some of their own genomic analyses on future missions, said Weill Cornell’s Mason.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Studying one pair of twins can’t prove risks of spaceflight, researchers cautioned. And longer missions, to the moon or Mars, will mean greater stress and radiation exposure.
Colorado State’s Bailey plans to study 10 additional astronauts on year-long missions, using the twin findings as a road map.
“We need to get outside of low-Earth orbit and we need for the astronauts to spend longer periods of time to really evaluate some of these health effects,” she said.
Source: NewsMax America

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and acting U.S. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt arrive to place a wreath at the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, U.S., January 21, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
April 11, 2019
By Valerie Volcovici
(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is set to confirm former energy lobbyist David Bernhardt as the next Interior Secretary on Thursday, even as coastal state senators from both parties raise concerns about his plans to vastly expand offshore drilling.
Bernhardt would replace former Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke as the head of the Interior Department, which manages federal and tribal lands and waters and is key to President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost domestic crude oil, natural gas and coal production.
He is expected to be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate over the objections of Democrats concerned that his former lobbying for industry means he will favor energy and minerals development over conservation.
Republican Senators including Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida have also raised concerns over the Interior Department’s looming five-year offshore drilling plan, which could expand drilling into new parts of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic. Coastal states like Florida are concerned about the impact of a spill on their tourism industries.
But in a sign that Bernhardt has assuaged some of those concerns in recent days, Rubio said on Twitter Wednesday evening he would vote for Berhardt’s confirmation.
“I am VERY confident that when all is said & done no oil drilling is coming to our coastline,” Rubio said.
Rubio and Scott had sent a letter to Bernhardt last month urging him to keep Florida protected from offshore drilling and honor a promise Zinke had made prior to his resignation that Florida would be exempted from the plan.
Scott did not comment on Bernhardt’s confirmation.
Democratic senators continued to urge that the Senate reject Bernhardt’s confirmation because of his close ties to some of the industries that the Interior Department would regulate.
Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, for example, asked the Department of Justice earlier this week to investigate whether Bernhardt was in violation of lobbying disclosure laws.
“Add these troubling allegations to the long list of reasons why the nomination of David Bernhardt should be stopped, or at minimum delayed, until the Senate and the American people get all of the facts,” said Wyden.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Source: OANN

Apr 10, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (3) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period of game one of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
April 11, 2019
Seth Jones’ power-play goal late in the third period capped a thrilling rally, as the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a three-goal deficit and stunned the host Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jones scored his second career playoff goal when he rang a shot off the crossbar with 5:55 to play. He took a slick pass from Artemi Panarin and roofed the power-play goal to complete a spree of four unanswered goals, three of which came in the third period.
Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist, and Nick Foligno and David Savard also tallied for the Blue Jackets, who lost all three regular-season meetings with the Lightning by a combined score of 17-3.
In matchup of the two top goaltenders in games won this season, Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots for the Lightning.
Tampa Bay, who won the Presidents’ Trophy and tied an NHL single-season record with 62 wins, led 3-0 after one period on goals by Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde.
The Lightning blitzed the Metropolitan Division club in the opening 20 minutes.
Tempers flared early when Tampa Bay’s Dan Girardi blindsided Brandon Dubinsky at 2:55 of the first period. The two fought in the neutral zone, and Columbus’ Scott Harrington grappled with Cedric Paquette, who ended up pinned to the ice by Harrington.
However, Tampa Bay struck first when Jones bobbled the puck at the blue line on the power play, and Killorn stole it, raced in on a breakaway and beat Bobrovsky for a short-handed goal at 4:12.
Bobrovsky’s weak pass around the boards from behind his goal allowed Erik Cernak to get off a long blast, and Cirelli, who scored 19 goals in his rookie season, flipped in the rebound at 11:01.
Gourde tipped in a shot from the slot by Mikhail Sergachev at 17:50 for the three-goal advantage.
Foligno started the rally, beating Vasilevskiy on the blocker side off a breakaway for his seventh playoff marker at 9:15 of the second period to trim the deficit to 3-1.
Savard’s wrister on a quick rush at 7:56 of the third period cut it to 3-2.
Dubinsky’s double-minor for high-sticking Paquette at 9:23 had the Blue Jackets playing defensively on the penalty kill, but Anderson tied it with a short-handed goal at 11:54, setting the stage for Jones’ winner.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN

Apr 9, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson speaks to the media before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
April 11, 2019
Count Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James among those who were stunned by team president Magic Johnson’s resignation on Tuesday night. But according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne on Wednesday, James still stands behind the organization and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss.
ESPN also reported that head coach Luke Walton participated in exit meetings with the players on Wednesday. Walton’s job security is in jeopardy after the Lakers (37-45) missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season despite the offseason signing of James to a four-year, $154 million deal.
James, 34, battled injuries and appeared in a career-low 55 games and averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in 2018-19.
–Following his meeting with Walton, James headed to New York, where he, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony watched Dwyane Wade play his final NBA game. The Miami Heat closed out the season against the Brooklyn Nets.
After a pregame video tribute to Wade, the retiring superstar went over and hugged each of his three friends. The four have been friends for years, their bond immortalized by a photo of James, Wade and Paul riding a banana boat together while on vacation in 2015. Anthony was not in the picture but was also on vacation with the group.
–Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has a torn left oblique and could miss the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Smart averaged 8.9 points, 4.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds this season for the Celtics, who will be the fourth seed in the East after posting a 49-33 regular-season record. Boston will open at home this weekend against the fifth-seeded Indiana Pacers. The physical guard is noted as one of the NBA’s top defenders.
Smart sustained the injury in a game against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, and he did not play in Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Washington.
–Anthony Davis acknowledged that despite his desire to leave New Orleans, he could begin the 2019-20 season with the Pelicans.
“I’m under contract still,” Davis said during an informal season-ending news conference. “I have a year left. Obviously it’s a possibility it could happen. I don’t have ill will toward anybody. I know that it’s a possibility that next year I could be here as well. So I can’t be mad if I’m here next year.”
Davis said his next step will be to see who emerges as the general manager for the Pelicans. Dell Demps was fired in February after his handling of the Davis situation, and Danny Ferry is the interim general manager.
–The Phoenix Suns have hired longtime NBA general manager Jeff Bower as their vice president of operations, Wojnarowski reported.
Bower, 57, was general manager of the then-New Orleans Hornets from October 2005 to July 2010, and he also served as the team’s head coach for most of the 2009-10 season after the firing of Byron Scott.
The Suns have been without a general manager since Ryan McDonough was fired a week before the start of the 2018-19 season.
–The Minnesota Timberwolves plan to offer interim coach Ryan Saunders a multiyear deal as early as this week, league sources told ESPN.
Saunders, 32, is the youngest head coach in the league. He took over when Tom Thibodeau was fired in early January and has earned the endorsement of his players, most notably from All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Timberwolves were 36-45 entering Wednesday night’s season finale at Denver, including a 17-24 mark under Saunders’ leadership. Saunders reportedly will receive a three-year deal with a team option on the final season.
–The Timberwolves also announced that guard Jeff Teague underwent successful debridement surgery Tuesday to clean out his left ankle. The team had no additional updates as to any recovery timetable.
Teague played in 42 games for the Minnesota this season, averaging 12.1 points and a career-best 8.2 assists in 30.1 minutes. The team shut him down for the season in mid-March.
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN

FILE PHOTO – Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison reacts during the APEC CEO Summit 2018 at the Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 17 November 2018. Fazry Ismail/Pool via REUTERS
April 10, 2019
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia will hold a general election on May 18, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday, firing the starting gun on a campaign expected to be fought over taxation, climate change and inequality.
Opinion polls show Morrison’s conservative coalition trailing the opposition Labor party after six years in power and two prime ministers topped by internal party ructions.
“Earlier this morning, I visited the governor-general here in Canberra and he accepted my advice for an election to be held on 18 May,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; editing by Darren Schuettler and Leslie Adler)
Source: OANN

FILE PHOTO – Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, March 20, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Taylor/via REUTERS
April 10, 2019
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the country’s governor general at his residence in the capital Canberra on Thursday, television networks reported, an indication that he may be about to call a general election.
Governor General Peter Cosgrove represents Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and his authorization is necessary to dissolve parliament and order a general election.
Term limits mean the poll must be held in May. Morrison’s center-right coalition is trailing the opposition Labor party in opinion polls, suggesting a landslide loss for the government.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; editing by Darren Schuettler and Sandra Maler)
Source: OANN

Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defense Gotabaya Rajapaksa listens during a news conference in Colombo January 24, 2013. The Sri Lankan military should be given more training opportunities by the United States, Rajapaksa said on Thursday according to local media. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte (SRI LANKA – Tags: HEADSHOT MILITARY POLITICS)
April 10, 2019
By Shihar Aneez
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who oversaw the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels under his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule a decade ago, is being sued in two cases in the United States for his alleged role in torture and murder, according to a lawyer and court documents.
Gotabaya, popular among many Sri Lankans for his role in winning a 26-year war that ended in 2009, has expressed interest in running for president in elections later this year.
Since the end of the war Gotabaya has been accused by rights groups of multiple crimes during the civil war, including extrajudicial killings. He has rejected the allegations.
Milinda Rajapaksha, Gotabaya’s spokesman, said the former defense secretary has yet to receive “any official document or notice” on the cases.
“We see this as pure political revenge, part of propaganda designed to tarnish his image by vested interests for their own political mileage,” Rajapaksha told Reuters, without elaborating.
The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld and human rights lawyer Scott Gilmore, filed a civil damages case in California this week against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor, Roy Samathanam.
The case alleges that Samathanam was detained in the capital Colombo in September 2007 by the Terrorism Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka police, who reported directly to Gotabaya, and was physically and psychologically tortured and forced to sign a false confession before being released in August 2010.
“Samathanam had no options left to seek justice in Sri Lanka or at the United Nations,” Gilmore told Reuters. “That’s why we brought the case in the United States when we found Gotabaya Rajapaksa returning to California.”
Gotabaya, a dual U.S.-Sri Lanka citizen, is planning to renounce his U.S. citizenship as required by Sri Lankan law to run for president, his close allies have told Reuters. His spokesman did not confirm this.
The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, was brought under the Torture Victim Protection Act, which gives torture victims legal redress in U.S. courts, Hausfeld said in a statement.
A statement from ITJP said that Gotabaya was formally served with notice of the case in a supermarket parking lot in Pasadena, California on Sunday after being tracked by private investigators.
In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages on April 4 in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father, documents seen by Reuters showed.
In her complaint, Ahimsa said that after the murder of her father in January 2009 Gotabaya and his allies obstructed her “efforts to seek justice in Sri Lanka by tampering with witnesses and engaging in a pattern of coercion and intimidation”.
Wickrematunga, an outspoken editor of The Sunday Leader newspaper, often clashed with politicians including Gotabaya.
(Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Alasdair Pal and Frances Kerry)
Source: OANN

FILE PHOTO: Apr 7, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head interim coach Ryan Saunders looks on during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
April 10, 2019
The Minnesota Timberwolves plan to offer interim coach Ryan Saunders a multiyear deal as early as this week, league sources told ESPN.
Saunders, 32, is the youngest head coach in the league. He took over when Tom Thibodeau was fired in early January and he has earned the endorsement of his players, most notably from All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Timberwolves are 36-45 entering Wednesday night’s season finale at Denver, including a 17-24 mark under Saunders’ leadership.
Saunders will reportedly receive a three-year deal with a team option on the final season.
Saunders had been an assistant coach with Minnesota since 2014, after serving as an assistant with the Washington Wizards from 2009-14.
Saunders’ father, Flip, was the head coach of the Timberwolves from 1995-2005 and again in 2014-15. Flip Saunders guided the team to eight straight playoff appearances.
ESPN also reported that Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor plans to retain general manager Scott Layden, who has been with the team since 2016.
On Wednesday, the team announced it was starting its search for a president of basketball operations, a position that has been vacant since Thibodeau’s dismissal.
“In the absence of Tom, I want to thank all who picked up his responsibilities this past year. This includes Interim Head Coach Ryan Saunders, General Manager Scott Layden and our entire basketball staff for their efforts leading our team through the 2018-19 season,” Taylor said in a statement. “They worked through a season with many injuries requiring many challenges in our player lineup. We are incredibly grateful to them for all of their hard work and commitment to the franchise.”
–Field Level Media
Source: OANN





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