Creator Mike Flanagan returns to Netflix with his passion project.

Mohammadjavad Eslamian is in the middle of the process to patent this invention with the University of Houston. | Courtesy of Mohammadjavad Eslamian

A team of UH researchers has made a major scientific breakthrough with the development of a new device called an electrochemical actuator.

These devices, which transform electrical energy into mechanical energy, have the potential to be useful in a variety of projects, according to the author of the original paper that detailed the team’s discoveries, Mohammadjavad Eslamian.

“Electrochemical actuators have numerous potential applications such as soft robotics, artificial muscles and bioelectronics,” Eslamian said. 

These particular actuators are notable since the research team was able to vastly improve the speed at which they operate, something that hampered the effectiveness of previous actuators.

“Our proposed actuator provides impressive actuation performances including low power consumption per strain percentage, fast response, and prolonged actuation stability,” Eslamian said. 

This increased speed and efficiency is accomplished via the utilization of microactuators which allow for the development of implantable neural microbes. 

“These movable microbes may potentially enhance neural signal recordings that are adversely affected either by damaged tissue or neuron displacement,” Eslamian said.

This could potentially allow for some revolutionary changes in how our body can utilize implanted technology, but they aren’t completely without risk.

Since inserting microbes into live brain tissue is challenging, the actuators are set to be put through a rigorous testing process. 

“There are some precautions required to be considered prior to implantation of microbes into the brain tissue,” Eslamian said. “In fact, applications for neural electrodes are not standardized; therefore the insertion method, the device stiffness, and geometry should be adjusted as needed.”

news@thedailycougar.com

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“UH researcher innovates a new electrochemical actuator” was originally posted on The Cougar

Diego De Jesus

Computer Science professors and students alike now attend classes in the recently completed Carole and Marcus Weinstein Computer Sciences Center for the 2021 fall semester and beyond. 

It’s an upgrade for the Computer Science Department, who went from conducting classes in the Berry Sciences building to having its own building near the Becker Business Building and the Intramural Field. 

Due to the increased number of Computer Science majors at Florida Southern, the program was spread out throughout different buildings on campus for social distancing purposes last year. The number of Computer Science majors at FSC has nearly tripled since 2016, according to the Department Chair of Computer Science, Dr. Christian Roberson. 

Roberson’s research focus is artificial intelligence, specifically in AI application in solving games and AI players for games. 

“We are really excited for the new space. It will give us room to continue to grow the program and have the space to provide students with more hands-on learning opportunities and chances to get involved in undergraduate research,” Dr. Roberson stated. “The building process has taken several years, but the bulk of the actual construction has taken place over the last 12 months. Construction is complete but they are still making various small adjustments to the building.” 

The new building includes new fashioned high-tech classrooms close to the faculty offices, including an AI or Robotics research lab, a cyber range, an auditorium, a maker space and conference rooms. There’s one lounge area where the Computer Science Clubs get together to play board games. All of this is lined with white LED lights throughout the building. 

Anselmis Columna gave his input being a junior Computer Science major as well as his perspective on the building’s recent construction.

“It’s a fantastic addition. It was highly necessary since the growth of the department. We would’ve had troubled housing classes since the growing number of new majors,” Columna said. “It’s a hundred percent a fantastic addition. Especially since Dr. Lewis was only hired a year ago, that’s more proof of my major’s expansion. As well as different labs with different concentrations. It was definitely necessary.”

In the midst of all of this expansion and growth for the Computer Science Department, it also received a $250,000 grant by SunTrust, now known as the Truist Foundation, to further the cybersecurity concentration and train students in new innovative ways to provide better services in cybersecurity globally. 

Roberson commented on the past, current, and future uses of the grant toward the Computer Science Department. 

“Part of the grant was for the development of cybersecurity technology in the new building, including a cyber range for students to use to develop their skills,” Roberson discussed. “Another part of the funding was to support initiatives for cybersecurity including equipment for labs and research, student travel for cybersecurity conferences and events, and other student needs for cybersecurity.” 

The grant’s goal is to expand the cybersecurity concentration which “touched on all sorts of areas in Computer Science.” Specifically computer equipment like Arduinos and Raspberry Pis have been purchased for cybersecurity courses. 

To bring more individuals experienced in the field, the grant will also pay for summoned speakers to share their knowledge on cybersecurity along with supporting events such as “capture the flag competitions” and “cybersecurity conferences.” 

The new building is home to an increasingly popular pretzel stand called Fresh Twist from Pretzelmaker, where customers can order an assortment of pretzel products and watch trained employees knead the dough behind a glass panel. 

On its opening day, Sept. 7, Fresh Twist had a line spiraling past three full rows of line dividers with students waiting to order. 

Columna commented on his first time eating from Pretzelmaker. 

“I had the eight piece mini dogs once. My friend actually ordered another eight piece mini-dogs but he had class, he said I could have them so I got sixteen. They were good. I’m a really big bread dude,” Columna said. “It was a long wait but it’s a new store and they have to figure stuff out.” 

The post New computer science building gives students new opportunities appeared first on The Southern Newspaper.

The Eagles said goodbye to head coach Chad Lunsford Monday after a poor start to the season, and now with an interim named, the search is on for a new head coach.

The last time the Eagles were without a head coach, Lunsford emerged as the top candidate following his 2-4 record as the interim; however, after a regime that saw a gradual decrease in success, the program may look outside of Statesboro for a replacement.

It is never too early to look around the country for candidates, so here are three of The George-Anne’s picks for head coach.

Dell McGee, Georgia running backs coach: McGee was the Eagles’ running backs coach during the 2014 and 2015 seasons and served as the interim head coach following Willie Fritz’ departure for Tulane. As the interim, McGee led the Eagles to their first FBS bowl win and as a high level recruiter with previous knowledge of the program, his transition would presumably happen pretty smoothly.

Ivin Jasper, Navy quarterbacks coach: Jasper served as the quarterbacks and fullbacks coach for GS from 1999-2001 and helped the Eagles win two FCS national championships. Jasper knows the expectations of Eagle fans and has proven to be extremely successful at all of his previous stops.

Brian Bohannon, Kennesaw State head coach: If the Eagles look towards someone with head coaching experience, Bohannon may be the best candidate available. A former wide receiver and defensive backs coach at Georgia Southern, Bohannon has become an extremely successful head coach at Kennesaw State. Under Bohannon, the Owls have made three FCS Playoffs and finished within the top-20 in four straight seasons.

Three more unrealistic, but intriguing picks: Kendal Briles, Arkansas offensive coordinator; Rhett Lashlee, Miami offensive coordinator; Tommy Rees, Notre Dame offensive coordinator

The post Three potential candidates to replace Chad Lunsford appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

Student Government Association (SGA) adopted an amendment in favor of adding new members to their Finance and Vacancy Committee. 

These amendments were adopted on Wednesday, August 25 during their weekly meeting in the Sunflower Ballroom of the Overman Student Center. 

Chief of Operations Sydney Martinez is the head of the finance committee for the Student Government Association. The finance committee oversees the allocations process, and reviews and approves club, organization, department, and committee finance requests. Martinez did not have enough people on that committee yet to move forward with the allocations process. To solve this problem, SGA adopted an amendment to add members to the committee. 

The vacancy committee also had this problem with need for additional members. The vacancy committee oversees applications for new senators, and interviews applicants. The process for filling vacanies on this committee was the same as the finance committee

The allocations process is experienced by campus organizations at Pittsburg State University. The process will be coming up later this semester. Similar to a reimbursement process, the finance committee will first look at their allocations handbook, which will be passed and sent out to all of the student organizations so that they can also apply for those allocations. Those organizations will fill out paperwork that asks for funding from SGA. The organization will then be scored, and an amount of money will then be transferred into their on-campus account. 

Students with concerns that they would like to voice to Student Government Association should stop by their office (111 Overman Student Center) or by phone (620-235-4810). Concerns can also be submitted online under their tab on Pitt State’s website (pittstate.edu).

The Colorado State women’s tennis team opened up the season by making a trip to the United States Air Force Academy for the Bedford Cup from Sept. 23-26. After having many of their games canceled last year due to COVID-19, the team proved CSU is still competitive. Our Colorado State women showed all their competitors […]

Sustainability is becoming more of a necessity as global climate change rears its head, and members of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maine, Associate Professor Cindy Isenhour and post-doctoral researcher Brie Berry, discussed how they think one solution lies with reuse at a lecture titled, “Digging for Buried Treasure: Hidden Gems in Maine’s Reuse Markets,” on Sept. 20. 

Reuse is defined by the repeated use of an object as signified through a change of ownership. This is different from recycling, which breaks the component down and uses labor and energy to create something new. The research team, which is composed of Isenhour, Berry, four graduate students and 11 undergraduate students, among others, have been working for five years, hoping to explore not only the environmental aspects of reuse, but also the social and economic benefits and costs to increased policy surrounding reuse programs. They found that reuse has less economic costs associated with it and estimated that strong reuse programs could bring waste down by 25%. Reuse can increase resilience against climate change, while also building social capital and overall trust in our communities.

 After a brief introduction and land acknowledgement from Linda Silka, a senior fellow of the George J. Mitchell Center, the lecture began with Isenhour exploring the difficulties they faced in measuring the economic and social impact of reuse. Reuse’s economic output is measured through productivist logics, the idea that organizational growth is reliant on measurable productivity, but this discounts the costs associated with distributive labor and the cost of the object itself. 

When looking at reuse at the national level, Isenhour estimated that the total revenue in used merchandise stores alone is almost $17 billion. Because of the productivist logics and the lack of data surrounding reuse on the personal sector, like Facebook Marketplace or just sharing used goods between friends and family, this is a low estimate and the researchers believe that the potential economic gain could be even higher. 

There were also some trends that appeared when looking at the national level: rural states were more likely to participate in extensive reuse programs as well as women with young children, those with higher levels of education and communities with higher unemployment rates and industrial diversification. The belief going into this study was that economically depressed communities would utilize reuse programs more than wealthier ones, but the research team was surprised to find that income and economic outcome had no real significant impact on the levels of reuse in various communities.

Berry then took over to discuss state level analysis as well as community studies. The study found that $726 million was a conservative estimate of the cost benefit of reuse programs in the state of Maine, though most of that number comes from formal businesses. However, they found the most benefit was in the form of community growth and engagement.

That isn’t to say that communities don’t face some struggles when it comes to reuse programs. While the study showed, through interviews, that reuse programs build trust and connection in communities, the problem lies with the lack of young people involved. The majority of reuse businesses are volunteer based, and the study shows that most of those volunteers are people aged 50 to 80. The work is hard, often having to lift and sort through heavy objects for hours, and older people are having a difficult time doing it. Without adequate policy support and community engagement, these volunteer groups will soon cease to exist. The research team thinks the future of reuse, and the many benefits it brings to our economy, community growth and environmental resilience, lies with younger generations going out and getting involved. 

If you would like to know more about this study, please visit the teams website at https://umaine.edu/reuse/.

Junior middle blocker Rachel Tullos rises above the net during UH volleyball’s 3-0 sweep of Wichita State on Sunday. | Katrina Kujawa/The Cougar

Houston volleyball swept Wichita State 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Fertitta Center, improving to 11-3 on the season.

UH got off to a 5-2 lead in the first set before Wichita State made a comeback with an attack and then a block to inch closer to a tie. A kill by senior outside hitter Kennedy Warren pushed the Cougars ahead 10-7.

The rest of set one was a close with UH narrowly holding onto a lead throughout.

A serve by senior libero Torie Frederick and a fail attack error by Wichita State helped Houston lead in the bottom of the set 20-13.

A late comeback push by Wichita State fell short as UH the set won set one 25-20.

Junior outside hitter Abbie Jackson led the set with eight kills and sophomore libero Kate Georgiades led with four digs.

UH came out with a slim lead in the top of set two 10-9. The Cougars used a 9-2 run to break away from the Shockers, cruising to a 25-18 set two victory. 

In set three, UH jumped out in front 14-10 thanks to kills by Jackson and digs Georgiades.

UH extended its lead to 21-14 before splitting the next eight points to secure a 25-18 set three victory and a 3-0 sweep of the Shockers.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“UH volleyball sweeps Wichita State to improve to 11-3” was originally posted on The Cougar

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ is poorly adapted flop

Universal Pictures/Courtesy

Grade: 1.0/5.0

Content warning: suicide, mental health issues

Following the stage show’s six Tony Award wins in 2017 — including best musical — all eyes were once on “Dear Evan Hansen,” seen as the future of contemporary musical theater. It has since fallen from grace; the anxiously anticipated film adaptation of “Dear Evan Hansen” entirely misses the mark, serving up a cringeworthy film that makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

The story revolves around high schooler Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), who suffers from social anxiety as he struggles to understand himself and those around him. When his mother (Julianne Moore) insists he writes a letter to himself to encourage him to be more outgoing, school outcast Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan) takes it, leaving it in his pocket when he commits suicide soon after. After his death, Connor’s family, including his mother Cynthia (Amy Adams), stepfather Larry (Danny Pino) and Evan’s longtime crush Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), reach out to him. Soon after, Evan is caught in a web of lies as he is mistaken for one of Connor’s best friends, helping the Murphy family process their grief and see how far he would go just to be accepted somewhere. 

The biggest failure of “Dear Evan Hansen” revolves around the titular character’s unshakably dislikeable nature, as Ben Platt, now 28, is entirely unbelievable as a high school student. Occupying the title role, Platt’s Evan becomes even more hateable as part of his relationship with Zoe, as Dever’s earnest portrayal of a grieving high school girl makes any of his advances toward her come across as creepy and unsettling. 

In trying to have Evan own up to his mistakes and wanting him to become someone the audience comes to love, the movie’s central focus becomes the preservation of the likeability of Platt’s character, so much so that it produces the opposite effect. Any changes made for the film in an attempt to curtail the pushback against Evan’s actions (a common response to the stage version) ultimately feel suffocating, as the audience can never escape Evan’s point of view.

For a film billed as a champion of mental health awareness for teens, “Dear Evan Hansen” comes with a plot devoid of actual meaning. While the depiction of teenagers struggling with their mental health is so central to its plot, it is often done in a stigmatizing, offensive and out-of-touch way. 

Characters across the board are shells of what they once were in the stage version; Alana (Amandla Stenberg), once a representation of self-centered, performative activism in the digital age, is dulled down to depict the average academically high-achieving teenager secretly living with mental illness. Evan’s closest confidante in the musical, Jared (Nik Dodani) is also a significantly less integral character to the film, as he appears in the first third of the movie, sings his song and is never seen again. These hollow characters — combined with an increasingly muddled plot — make viewers feel every minute of the film’s 137-minute run time. That is to say, it truly goes on “For Forever.”

As its one saving grace, the movie’s songs are incredibly well done, even if they contextually make less sense in the film, as the vocal prowess of the cast is surprisingly better than other movie musicals of similar quality. 

“Dear Evan Hansen” is a poorly executed attempt at Oscar bait, hoping to replicate the Broadway production’s Tony Award sweep in 2018 with similar flair. Unfortunately, not all shows can transcend the medium in which they were produced. It seems as if the story of “Dear Evan Hansen” is simply not meant for a film format — its absurd storyline and musical numbers can’t escape the inherent campiness of live theater. 

Contact Caitlin Keller at ckeller@dailycal.org. Tweet her at @caitlinkeller20.

The Daily Californian