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Articles by Michael Summers
Guest Column: Oregon doesn't have red tape; it has blue tap that needs to be cut - The Bulletin
They call it “red tape,” but in Oregon it sure feels blue: permits, fees, mandates, taxes and regulations piled so high that getting anything done feels like death by a thousand cuts. I hear that frustration constantly, in my business and across our communities. Build a house. Open a shop. Hire your first employee. Each step brings another layer of paperwork, expense, and delay.
What Would It Be Like to Live on an Ice Planet?
With basic science and imagination, we can hypothesize what life might develop on other planets You are in a long, dark tunnel walled with solid ice. The only light seems to be coming from a far-off volcanic vent that is spewing molten material from the planet’s interior into your tunnel. At your feet, you dimly spot a pipe leading toward the tunnel’s end. The air around it is warm and humid, and you see that it is squirting hot water to melt a clear path from the vent to the exit.
The Featured Artists Coalition announces a UK Artist Touring Fund
• Developed with the Musicians’ Union and Music Managers Forum, the UKAT Fund will act as a vehicle to distribute artist-allocated revenues collected by the recently-launched LIVE Trust • It will allow bands, solo artists and artists who perform as DJs to apply for financial support for grassroots shows • In doing so, it aims to boost artist development, audience engagement and sustain the wider live music supply chain • The UKAT Fund is also open to receive donations and commercial funding...
Marsha Swanson To Release New Single “Like An Angel”
Renowned singer-songwriter Marsha Swanson kicks off 2025 with the release of her latest single, “Like An Angel,” on January 31st, in celebration of the one-year anniversary of her critically acclaimed album Near Life Experience.
BBC and PBS MASTERPIECE acquire Anthony Horowitz murder-mystery Marble Hall Murders
Published: January 29, 2025 -- The BBC has acquired Marble Hall Murders, an adaptation of the third and final instalment in best-selling novelist Anthony Horowitz's Susan Ryeland series (https://amzn.to/42y7q4o). The follow-up from the acclaimed Moonflower Murders and Magpie Murders will be made by Eleventh Hour Films in association with Salt Films for PBS MASTERPIECE and the BBC. It is adapted by Anthony Horowitz and executive produced by Jill Green.
ITV COMMISSIONS THE HACK, WRITTEN BY JACK THORNE STARRING DAVID TENNANT, ROBERT CARYLE & TOBY JONES
Published: January 29, 2025 -- ITV has commissioned The Hack, a 7-part ITV Studios co-production with Stan, Australia about the phone hacking scandal written by BAFTA, Tony and Olivier award winning screenwriter, Jack Thorne, with David Tennant, Robert Carlyle and Toby Jones in leading roles and produced by the team from Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Channel 4 Announces New Sun-Soaked Dating Series, First Dates Beach Club
Published: January 27, 2025 -- Channel 4 has commissioned First Dates Beach Club, a new dating series from Twenty Twenty productions, the makers of BAFTA-winning series First Dates. The 8 part documentary series will put a fresh spin on the iconic dating show and is set to film in a glamorous Mediterranean beach location next summer. The commissioning news follows the success of last year’s First Dates 10th anniversary series, which achieved the highest streaming numbers the show has ever seen.
Official trailer revealed for third instalment of Sky Original drama Gangs of London, coming March
Published: January 29, 2025 -- Sky unveils the official trailer and all new imagery for the exhilarating third instalment of multi-BAFTA-winning Sky Original, Gangs of London. The new trailer released today reveals the next chapter of the Gangs of London saga.
BBC podcast Brown Girls Do It Too return for series six this Friday January 31
Published: January 29, 2025 -- Your favourite unfiltered podcast is back! Brown Girls Do It Too returns to BBC Sounds for its sixth series, and Poppy Jay and Rubina Pabani are bringing a whole new level of honest, hilarious, and thought-provoking conversation. The BBC Radio 5 Live commission is launching on Friday 31 January. This new series dives headfirst into the topics we all think about but don't always talk about. Think relationship sacrifices and are they really worth it?
Waterloo Road new series launch date confirmed at February 11
Waterloo Road (8x60’) will return to screens on Tuesday 11 February, with all episodes of the new series available on BBC iPlayer from 6am, and episode one airing on BBC One at 9pm that night. To celebrate the announcement, exclusive first-look images have been released teasing fans on what they can expect from the new series. This will be the fifth series of the beloved school drama since Waterloo Road’s revival in 2023.
Olivia Colman, Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones to read stories at the BBC 500 Words Grand Final
Published: January 29, 2025 -- The judges of the UK’s most successful children’s writing competition, BBC 500 Words met today at Buckingham Palace to deliberate the overall winners from almost 44,000 entries. Six winning stories will be read by celebrities at the grand final taking place at Buckingham Palace in February. Olivia Colman will read one of the winning stories, with best friends and McFly bandmates Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones reading another.
PARAMOUNT+ ANZ: YELLOWJACKETS SEASON THREE ARRIVES FEBRUARY 14
Published: January 23, 2025 -- Emmy®-Nominated Series To Premiere With Two Episodes Friday, 14 February Exclusively On Paramount+. Paramount+ today revealed the official trailer for the third season of the SHOWTIME® original Emmy®-nominated series, Yellowjackets. The two-episode season premiere debuts Friday, 14 February exclusively on Paramount+ in Australia.
The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan
Published: January 29, 2025 -- Experience a legendary saga of pride, passion and fierce competition that transcends the game. Watch iconic cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Shoaib Akhtar, Sunil Gavaskar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and more, as they come together and talk about The Greatest Rivalry that captivated millions. Watch The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan, out on 7th February, only on Netflix.
Awesomeness TV Lands the Rights to
LOS ANGELES - Jan. 29, 2025 - Awesomeness TV has acquired the rights to That Friend, the debut audiobook created by rising comedian Sabrina Brier. Set against the vibrant, Gen Z-driven energy of New York City, the upcoming series will follow a 20-something aspiring influencer as she navigates the chaos of building her podcast while balancing life with her three best friends, coping with a dwindling bank account, and chasing her dreams of making it big.
Beacon Audiobooks Releases “Cherry Blossoms In Winter” By Author Michael J. Summers
Manila, Philippines, 2003. Dane Chandler is visiting Manila on a writing assignment. Jack Pierce is a tough-talking Korean War veteran. When Jack asks Dane to join him for cards at the pension's cafe, Dane instinctively agrees, sensing the man's "command" presence. What unfolds will change their lives forever. Tokyo, Japan, 1949. Jack Pierce joined the army for honor and adventure, finding himself garrisoned at Camp Drake, Tokyo.
'Let's build something new' in the Oregon Senate
In Oregon, we know that nature requires balance. Politics shouldn't be any different. A balance of perspectives and challenging conventional wisdom has long been the secret ingredient to delivering progress in America. But in Salem, where Democrats are on the cusp of supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, balance is hard to come by. As a result, not much is getting done to solve Oregon's biggest issues.
24 murals around San Diego
Lookin’ good, San Diego. We all know that San Diego has a vibrant arts scene — and we’re not just talking about The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego or The San Diego Museum of Art. One of our all-time favorite galleries? America’s Finest City itself. San Diego is home to a number of meaningful murals and outdoor art exhibits. Today, we’re sharing where to find pieces that really paint a picture of our city. Liberty Station feels like a post card.
Where is Everybody in Our Universe?
The story is that it all started one day in 1950, when a group of prominent physicists— all veterans of the Manhattan Project—were walking to lunch at the Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos. They were discussing the spate of recent UFO sightings that had been claimed in the area, and the conversation turned to the topic of extraterrestrial civilizations. Out of the blue, Enrico Fermi (1901–54), a man well known for his ability to see to the heart of a problem, asked a simple question: Where is everybody?
5 things you can do to comply with changing combustible dust requirements
In the past six years, combustible dust incidents have caused an average of 31 explosions per year at manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and more than four times as many fires. Both OSHA and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have set standards intended to prevent these incidents, but even so, accidents occur.
Changing Combustible Dust Requirements: 5 Ways to Comply
Changing Combustible Dust Requirements: 5 Ways to Comply Combustible dust incidents have drawn OSHA and the NFPA’s attention. How can employers keep up with regulations and ensure worker and facility safety? In the past six years, combustible dust incidents have caused an average of 31 explosions per year at manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and more than four times as many fires.
Anthology traces 50 years in the life of Restoration Movement
The editors of “The Living Pulpit: Sermons that Illustrate Preaching in the Stone-Campbell Movement, 1968–2018” present this volume as a continuation of anthologies of preaching from the Stone-Campbell Movement that date back to 1868. That’s when W.T. Moore published a volume of sermons. Moore also edited the second volume in 1918. Hunter Beckelmyer published “The Vital Pulpit of the Christian Church” in 1969.
‘Chilling’ solution to Fermi paradox: Are intelligent life forms destined to destroy themselves?
If we compress the history of the universe into a single year, Earth and our solar system formed around Labor Day, and the development of science occupies no more than the past few seconds. It is extremely unlikely that no other beings would have developed science in the entire “year” before Homo sapiens showed up. So where are these other civilizations?
How Would Intelligent Aliens Behave?
James Trefil & Michael Summers, Smithsonian December 31, 2019 We all remember the nursery story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” We delight in telling our children and grandchildren about how Papa Bear's porridge was too hot, Mama Bear's porridge was too cold, but Baby Bear's porridge was juust right.
If Aliens Existed Elsewhere in the Universe, How Would They Behave?
We all remember the nursery story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” We delight in telling our children and grandchildren about how Papa Bear’s porridge was too hot, Mama Bear’s porridge was too cold, but Baby Bear’s porridge was juust right.
Finding the building blocks of life a billion miles beyond Pluto
Try for a moment to wrap your mind around the concept of “deep time.” That is, a time long ago when the dinosaurs lived, or when our planet came to be, about 4.5 billion years ago. So much has happened since that time that the Earth, Moon, sun and, in fact, our entire solar system has changed dramatically. How do we study such long-ago events? It is possible, but not easy. The challenge is to find objects that clue us in to what happened long ago in deep time.
SUMMERS: Are We Ready For An Armageddon-Level Asteroid?
12:00 PM 03/19/2019 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy The sky is not falling. Oh, we do (occasionally) we see meteors that are somewhat like small sand grains that hit the Earth’s upper atmosphere at such speeds that they burn up, producing the bright streaks known, erroneously, as “shooting stars.” Even more rarely a larger bit of space rock will survive that atmospheric encounter and make it to the surface of the Earth as a meteorite.
SUMMERS: NASA’s Center For Life Detection Is On The Hunt For Life In The Universe
Added by Debra Tash on March 3, 2019. Saved under Feature, Great Stories Tags: life, Michael Summers, NASA, Planetary Science and Astronomy ., space, The Daily Caller . Knowing if something is alive or not is easy. Right? Barking dogs and flying birds are alive. Rocks are not. Turtles and polar bears are alive. Water is not. And so on. The difficulty of knowing what is, and is not, alive comes about when we consider things that are close to the boundary between the two domains.
SUMMERS: NASA’s Center For Life Detection Is On The Hunt For Life In The Universe
2:30 PM 03/03/2019 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy Knowing if something is alive or not is easy. Right? Barking dogs and flying birds are alive. Rocks are not. Turtles and Polar Bears are alive. Water is not. And so on. The difficulty of knowing what is, and is not, alive comes about when we consider things that are close to the boundary between the two domains. For instance, a mold is alive, but it takes some patience to see it grow.
We've Found 3,989 Planets In Earth's Neighborhood - And The Number Is Rising
Added by Debra Tash on February 25, 2019. Saved under Feature, Great Stories Tags: Earth, Michael Summers, planets, Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy, space, The Daily Caller Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy The universe is awash in planets. As of this writing, there are 3,989 exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) that have been confirmed by astronomers. Several thousand more have been detected, but await confirmation.
We’ve Found 3,989 Planets In Earth’s Neighborhood - And The Number Is Rising
3:30 PM 02/24/2019 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy The universe is awash in planets. As of this writing, there are 3,989 exoplanets (planets outside of our solar system) that have been confirmed by astronomers. Several thousand more have been detected, but await confirmation. The online Exoplanet Encyclopedia keeps tabs of exoplanet discoveries, and it must be updated quite often. The number of planets known will likely be larger by the time you read this.
SUMMERS: What Happens Once People Land On Mars?
Added by Debra Tash on February 17, 2019. Saved under Feature, Great Stories Tags: exploration, Mars, Michael Summers, science, space, The Daily Caller NASA robotic missions to Mars have revealed a world with an amazingly complex history, including periods in which it was much warmer, with oceans, volcanoes, and was habitable for many types of simple Earth life. Even now, Mars still has abundant subsurface water and organic compounds.
SUMMERS: What Happens Once People Land On Mars?
2:57 PM 02/17/2019 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy NASA robotic missions to Mars have revealed a world with an amazingly complex history, including periods in which it was much warmer, with oceans, volcanoes, and was habitable for many types of simple Earth life. Even now, Mars still has abundant subsurface water and organic compounds.
Oamuamua: Comet Or Interstellar Craft? It’s Leaving Our Solar System Too Quickly To Find Out
5:00 PM 02/10/2019 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy Our solar system is made up of a huge diversity of objects. There are the nine traditional planets, dozens of moons and dwarf planets, millions of asteroids, and trillions of comets, all bound by gravity to our sun. But in spite of that diversity, all of these objects share a common origin four and a half billion years ago when the sun and planets formed.
On Jan. 1, Humanity Meets Ultima Thule - A Planetary Building Block
11:00 AM 12/22/2018 | Opinion Michael Summers | Professor of Planetary Science and Astronomy Those of us who study the ways that planets form and evolve often feel like we are investigating a crime scene. It’s not that planet formation is a crime! It’s simply that when we look at a planet now we are looking at the end product of four and a half billion years of changes, sometimes catastrophic, that modify the formation materials and sometimes mask the formation processes.
1 billion miles past Pluto, we might learn how planets form
On Jan. 1, 2019, NASA will set a record by reaching the most distant object ever visited by a robotic spacecraft. The New Horizons spacecraft will fly by dwarf planet 2014MU69 (MU69 for short), which lies 5 billion miles from Earth. That’s a billion miles farther than Pluto, which New Horizons visited in 2015. MU69 is unlike any other world that our technological surrogates have visited.
Squid Empire
The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods Narrated by: Emily Durante Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins 4.4 out of 5 stars 4.4 (162 ratings) Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts. You will get an email reminder before your trial ends. Your Plus plan is $7.95 a month after 30 day trial. Upgrade or cancel anytime. Buy for $17.49 Publisher's Summary Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs.
Turning our back on the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is one of humanity’s most phenomenal scientific and technical accomplishments. In addition to its role as a laboratory to study the effects of space on humans, it is a proving ground for revolutionary new industries such as space manufacturing and robotics. The ISS is also a symbol of our thirst for exploration, and it has inspired millions of students to pursue STEM careers.
Une première photo de l'atmosphère de Pluton
La planète naine Pluton passant devant le Soleil Photo : NASA Pluton réserve encore des surprises aux scientifiques. De nouvelles images inédites montrant des vapeurs dans l'atmosphère et des traces de mouvements de glaces d'azote et de méthane à la surface de la planète naine ont été diffusées par la NASA vendredi.
The work we did on Earth to get New Horizons to Pluto: a NASA scientist tells all
Science is hard and good science is harder—it takes persistence and tons of patience. When we began planning a mission to Pluto over 15 years ago, we knew it was going to be, as they say, a long haul. But we also knew it had a huge potential payoff. New Horizons would be the first closeup look at a world that we’d known about only distantly for 70 years. That kind of challenge is hard to pass by. And I didn’t. The first serious discussion of a mission to Pluto occurred in the late 1980s.
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