My oldest is trying out for volley ball and I believe he told me basketball this morning just because he feels like playing on the team.

Odds Are, Your Sport-Playing Child Isn’t Going Pro. Now What?


By KJ Dell'Antonia
September 8, 2015 5:45 am September 8, 2015 5:45 am 60 Comments


Parents investing large amounts of time and money in their athletic offspring with the belief that they’re nurturing a possible professional player should take note: Odds are, you’re wrong.

But you’re not alone. An astonishing 26 percent of parents with high-school-age children who play sports hope their child will become a professional athlete one day, according to a recent poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The percentages are even greater among less-educated and lower-income parents: 44 percent of parents with a high school education or less and 39 percent of parents with a household income of less than $50,000 a year are dreaming of the bigs and the majors for their kids.

Those parents are deluding themselves, and possibly cheating their children out of other opportunities if they are demanding a single-minded approach to the game. The National Collegiate Athletic Association puts the real odds right up front on its website, and they’re nowhere near one in four. For baseball, only a little more than half of 1 percent of high school players who go on to play in college will be drafted by Major League Baseball (0.6 percent), and even of those, most will not ever play in the majors — only about 17 percent of draft picks play in even a single big league game. That means only about 1 in 1,000 baseball players who play in high school ever gets a chance in make it big — and the odds of becoming a real star are even smaller.

And that’s baseball. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the odds of going from high school play and then college to become a professional baseball player are higher than those in football, men’s or women’s basketball, or men’s soccer. (The percentages for men’s ice hockey are similar to those for baseball.) Of that 26 percent of hopeful baseball parents, to stick to that example, about 98 percent will be disappointed.

Those fond parental illusions would be fine if sports were free and childhood endless. We could chase all the dreams we wanted to if the pursuit didn’t take limited resources away from other things. Consider the impact of a sports season on the budget of a family with an annual income under $50,000: Club fees can run several thousand dollars even before you add the uniforms, equipment, travel expenses and additional coaching, camps and year-round leagues considered necessary for real “success.” Consider, too, the time. A child focusing on a single sport will spend thousands of hours on it by the time he graduates high school — hours that necessarily aren’t spent on exploring other options or learning new skills.

There are many excellent reasons for children (for everyone) to play sports. In that same survey, parents reported that playing a sport improved their child’s health, discipline and ability to get along with others. And the adults surveyed who participate in sports offer an even better reason to get out on the field or the ice: They enjoy it.

Which is exactly why children should play — for the fun of it. That is not to say that every game has to be fun, or that a child should blow off practices, let the team down, or quit midway through a season. We can take fun seriously. But fun should be why children play. Not for the college application. Not for a maybe-college-scholarship: The percentage of high school players who go on to play in college for most sports is less than 10 percent for both men and women across all divisions (ice hockey and lacrosse are exceptions: slightly more than 10 percent of male ice hockey players and male and female lacrosse players and a surprising 23 percent of girls who play ice hockey in high school go on to college play).

The percentages of high school players who later play on Division 1 teams are smaller, and the percentages of students who receive athletic scholarships smaller still. Mark Hyman, author of “The Most Expensive Game in Town,” puts the number at about 3 percent — of all college players. (Others estimate it to be even lower). That’s not 3 percent of athletes in a given sport. It’s 3 percent of the athletes who go on to play in college, already a much smaller number of the players you’re looking at on the high school field. For baseball (using the N.C.A.A.’s player numbers to run the numbers) that would be 999 scholarships. And the average amount of a Division 1 athletic scholarship? That’s $13,821 for men; $14,660 for women. Most scholarships aren’t four-year scholarships, either, but renew (or not) every year.

As students and families sign up for sports this fall and winter, we should be asking: if you knew this was just for fun, would you still do it? Would you do this much of it? Would you do it differently?

Because if you wouldn’t — or more important your child wouldn’t — then it’s time to put some or all of those hours and dollars into something else.

Read more about youth sports on Motherlode: Lackeys of Youth Soccer, That ‘Arrogant’ Sport; What Happened to Recreational Sports?; The Crazy, Intense Schedule of Competitive Youth Soccer? Bring It On; How Not to Be ‘That’ Sports Parent and What Do Baseball Players Want Parents to Do During the Game? Nothing.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/news/150910-homo-naledi-discovery-vin

Here is a video and more articles about the find.

New Firefly Rocket Engine Passes Big Test, Will Launch Small Satellites

by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | September 10, 2015 03:13pm ET


Texas-based Firefly Space Systems, which aims to launch small satellites, has tested its first rocket engine.
Credit: Firefly Space Systems

A company that aims to launch small satellites to orbit has successfully tested its first rocket engine.

Texas-based Firefly Space Systems, which is developing rockets dedicated to getting small spacecraft aloft, has conducted a ground test of its Firefly Rocket Engine Research 1 (FRE-R1), company officials announced today (Sept. 10).

"The successful testing of our first engine represents a quantum step in the technical maturation of our company," Firefly co-founder and CEO Thomas Markusic said in a statement. "We have demonstrated that our core engine design can reliably start, stop and operate at a steady state without combustion instabilities."



FRE-R1 is a pathfinder for the engines that will power Firefly Alpha, a two-stage small-satellite launcher the company is developing. FRE-R1 operates using liquid oxygen and a refined form of kerosene known as RP-1, but the basic engine design can accommodate methane instead of RP-1, if desired, Firefly representatives said.

The first stage of Firefly Alpha will incorporate 12 "aerospike" engines arrayed in a ring pattern. Aerospike engines — which are wedge-shaped, without the familiar bell-shaped rocket nozzle — use aerodynamic principles to increase efficiency across the broad range of pressures experienced during flight, Firefly representatives said.

These 12 "FRE-2" engines will provide a total of 125,000 pound-feet of thrust. Firefly Alpha's upper stage, by contrast, will contain a single "FRE-1" engine that generates 7,000 pound-feet of thrust, company representatives said. (The FRE-1 and FRE-2 engines are variants on the same basic thruster design.)

"Upcoming engine tests will emphasize performance tuning and longer duration 'mission duty cycle' runs," Firefly representatives wrote in the statement. "The first hot-fire tests of the FRE-2 aerospike engine are expected to take place in early 2016."

Tiny satellites are playing a larger and larger role in spaceflight and space science, with some "cubesats" even scheduled to head to Mars, the moon and other deep-space destinations in the next few years.

Today, such bantam craft must usually hitch rides on large rockets as secondary payloads, but Firefly hopes to change things by offering a dedicated small-sat launcher that provides efficient and relatively low-cost access to space.

Tracking a monarch's epic journey


Alison Langley

By Alison Langley, Niagara Falls Review

Thursday, September 10, 2015 4:08:05 EDT PM

The Niagara Parks Butterfly conservatory will host Majestic Monarchs on Saturday Sept. 12, 2015, to raise awareness of the plight of the Monarch butterfly. The event will help track the Monarch's epic voyage to a winter roosting site in the Sierre Madre mountains of Mexico.

Thousands of monarch butterflies will soon migrate from their Ontario summer home to a winter roosting site in the Sierre Madre mountains of Mexico.

Many will not survive the arduous 3,000 kilometre trip.

In addition to avoiding being eaten by predators or falling victim to sudden changes in temperature and weather, the insects main challenge in completing their journey is habitat loss.

"A lot of their natural habitat - wildflowers and nectar sources and larvae host plants - are disappearing," said Mandin Tomlinson, an entomology technician at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory.

"A lot of the natural lands are being converted into agriculture."

The use of chemicals in agriculture is also a threat to the delicate butterflies.

"Just like with bees, the use of chemicals can really effect butterfly populations."

To help track the monarch's epic voyage, the butterfly conservatory is giving residents an opportunity to become citizen scientists.

The conservatory will host Majestic Monarchs on Saturday to raise awareness of the plight of the Monarchs.

A number of butterflies will be tagged with tiny stickers featuring a code number.

The insects will then be released into the Botanical Gardens to begin their migration and their progress will be monitored by Monarch Watch, an organization out of the University of Kansas.

This is the eighth year the conservatory has participated in the Monarch Watch program.

The event includes displays and demonstrations that will focus on the unique stages of a butterfly's life as they transform from caterpillars into chrysalis and later Monarchs.

Guests can also check out the new Legacy Prairie Garden, a combination of different ecosystems designed to attract butterflies and other pollinators.

"It's all native habitat," explained Charles Hunter, superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, School of Horticulture and the conservatory.

"It is only two years old and it's already flourishing," he said.

The garden features more than 100 plants and flowers, including tallgrass, alvar and milkweed.

What

Majestic Monarchs

Where

Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory

When

Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

www.niagaraparks.com, www.monarchwatch.com

I am guessing retorted meaning Autism ? My youngest is high functioning since he received help early he is doing very well. There was an article that read that parents with children with mild Autism which is a blanket term who work with their kids properly lesson the symptoms of the Autism.

There are several causes of reasons why kids may be delayed some catch up some don't. It seems that early intervention is key. In my oldest cause what was thought to be ADD was central auditory processing disorder so not everything as it seems and kids get misdiagnosed. I think that parents worry to a child being delayed does not mean they are not smart they just learn differently.

Thank you

Your right there is a lot of paper work involved and a lot of the time it feels like I am sitting in an avalanche of frustration.

I put so much fight in for my oldest and you are also correct even though my oldest is on an IEP program it is another fight to keep him on it.

I have joined support groups that helped with my 12 year old also with his tutoring. This is a good group http://ldaniagara.org/

My five year old had a community living worker advocate for him and also went to the children's center for extra help. Now that he is in school life is another story.

Your right about melt downs my youngest used to get them often but not so much as before thank goodness.

Watching my kids struggle is hard but they also learn empathy of others struggling and when they can help. Helping others is important agreed.

http://www.livescience.com/topics/robots/

Here is a link with more robot news




Here is an article on bug robots


Bug Bots! These Insect-Inspired Robots Can Jump on Water

by Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | August 03, 2015 02:05pm ET




Water Strider-Inspired Robot




An insect, known as a water strider, next to robots that were inspired by the water-hopping creatures.
Credit: Seoul National University
View full size image


Swarms of robots inspired by water-hopping insects could one day be used for surveillance, search-and-rescue missions and environmental monitoring, researchers say.

More than 1,200 species of animals have evolved the ability to walk on water. These include tiny creatures such as insects and spiders, and larger beasts such as reptiles, birds and even mammals.

Whereas relatively big animals, such as the so-called "Jesus lizard," must slap water with enough force and speed to keep their heavy bodies from going under, insects called water striders are small enough for their weight to be almost entirely supported by the surface tension of water — the same phenomenon that makes water droplets bead up. In 2003, scientists created the first robots that mimic the water strider, which is capable of floating on top of, and skating across, the surface of water. [The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]








But until now, one water-strider feat that researchers could not explain or copy was how the insects can jump from the surface of water, leaping just as high off water as they can off solid ground. For instance, water striders collected from streams and ponds in Seoul, South Korea, with bodies a half-inch (1.3 centimeters) long can jump more than 3 inches (8 cm) high on average, co-lead study author Je-Sung Koh, a roboticist at Seoul National University and Harvard University, told Live Science.

Now, scientists have solved the mystery of how these insects accomplish these amazing leaps, and the researchers have built a robot capable of such jumps.

"We have revealed the secret of jumping on water using robotics technology," co-senior study author Kyu-Jin Cho, director of the Bio robotics Laboratory at Seoul National University, told Live Science. "Natural organisms give a lot of inspiration to engineers."

Using high-speed cameras, the researchers analyzed water striders jumping on water. They noticed that the insects' long, super waterproof legs accelerated gradually, so that the surface of the water did not retreat too quickly and lose contact with the legs. Using a theoretical model of a flexible cylinder floating on top of liquid, the scientists found that the maximum force the water striders' legs exerted was always just below the maximum force that water's surface tension could withstand.

The scientists also found that water striders swept their legs inward to maximize the amount of time they could push against the surface of the water, maximizing the overall force for their leaps. Moreover, the shape of the tips of their legs were curved to adapt to the dimples that formed on the water's surface when the legs pushed downward, thereby maximizing the surface tension the legs experienced.

Next, the scientists developed lightweight robots made of glass-fiber-reinforced composite materials that, in total, weighed only 68 milligrams (0.002 ounces) — a little more than the weight of three adult houseflies. Using a jumping mechanism inspired by fleas, the robot could leap about 5.5 inches (14 cm) off the surface of the water — about the length of its body and 10 times its body's height.

"Our small robot can jump on water without breaking the water surface, and can jump on water as high as jumping on land," Cho said.

The researchers cautioned that, so far, the robot can jump only once, and it lands randomly. In the far future, the scientists want to build a robot that can not only jump repeatedly and land in a controlled manner, but also carry electronics, sensors and batteries.

"This would be an extremely difficult task, since the weight of the body has to be really lightweight for it to jump on water," Cho said. "It would be great to add a swimming behavior as well."

The scientists detailed their findings in the July 31 issue of the journal Science.

Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Your doing a great job a pat on the back :) Your daughter is going to make a great adult but I hope she is enjoying being 16 it will fly past in a blink of an eye.

The school gives me a hard time with my youngest as well. I know what you mean absolutely. Sticking up for my kids constantly has led to the teachers not liking me very much ..oh well.

Ok.. Flying to the Caribbean it is then.

The kids and I went to the beach off and on over the summer. Spent a few days bowling as well.

Carnival cruise ship fire leaves guests stranded on Caribbean island





Greg Roumeliotis, Reuters

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 2:09:27 EDT PM




ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands - About 4,500 passengers and crew were stranded in the U.S. Virgin Islands for a second day after an engine fire on board a cruise ship operated by Carnival Corp.

The company said on Tuesday that a team of experts, including representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard, had boarded the Carnival Liberty to assess damage to the engine area. There were no injuries to guests or crew.

Passengers and crew were told to evacuate onshore on Monday after thick black smoke was seen rising from the ship while it was docked in St. Thomas, a Reuters reporter on board the vessel said. Staff distributed water and snacks in the port.

The fire was extinguished by the ship's automated suppression system, Carnival said. The cause has yet to be determined and the company has yet to inform passengers of its plans beyond Tuesday.

The Carnival Liberty set sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Sunday with 3,346 guests and 1,150 crew on board, Carnival said. It was a day into a week-long Caribbean cruise when the fire broke out.

Passengers were transferred to nearby hotels, where movies were screened and a buffet was served before returning to spend the night on the ship. On Tuesday, every passenger was offered $150 credit to spend on board and free transportation into town.

The U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement that marine safety investigators were on the scene in St. Thomas to assess damage and to determine the cause of the fire.

Engine room fires have disrupted other cruises in recent years. In 2013, the Carnival Triumph was rendered out of service, leaving about 4,000 people adrift in the Gulf of Mexico without power or adequate sanitation.

Later that year, a fire aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd ship forced it to dock at Freeport in the Bahamas.

In 2010, an engine fire crippled the Carnival Splendor's propulsion system and knocked out most of its power off the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Interesting I have found this information as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis

Happy Birthday Have a Great Day :)

Getting my oldest who is 12 on an IEP was a night mare. At first the school said that he was ADD their is a questionnaire that the school does then one is sent for home.

A doctor follows up on the results he was put on medication that did not change anything. So I had him tested for Central Auditory Processing disorder he has that not ADD. Good by meds hello IEP eventually they even gave him a lap top because my 12 year had occupational therapy to help with his printing. The reason he was able to get occupational therapy is because I new someone who talked to a person that worked with schools.

Even though my 12 year old is on an IEP program I still had to get him a tutor geared to teach him for his needs in order for him to do well in school. So yes it is a constant battle.



I went at things at a different angle for my five year old the Early Years Center recommended that I get a Community Living worker

The community living worker was great she worked with my five year old as well as my daycare for about two years he also went to the Children's Centre until he was ready for school. He is now in SK and doing pretty good he is supposed to be monitored by the schools resource teacher but I am not holding my breath.

Nicely done :)

Your daughter sounds like she is very intelligent. My five year old son is pretty good at giving the teachers a run for there money he is really good at convincing people to believe him about pretty much everything. I think he will make a good lawyer or politician lol

I am lazy when it comes to editing articles ..sorry :)

I speak just English. Another reason to learn more languages is most jobs require a person to be at least able to speak French as well.

Canada
August 18, 2015 7:19 pm Updated: August 19, 2015 12:08 am
Study finds mental well-being of children top priority for Canadian parents

Christina Crop_LOW_WB By Christina Stevens
Senior Reporter Global News





TORONTO — A survey of about 1,000 families with children aged eight to 12 years old found that Canadian parents put their child’s mental well-being first.





Global News
Of the group surveyed, 42 per cent of parents ranked mental well-being ahead of emotional (35 per cent), physical (16 per cent) and social (seven per cent) well-being.

Companies Committed to Kids, a non-profit group, backed the study.

“It seems parents are getting the message,” said Debra Peplar, who authored the study.


“They need to be concerned about how their children are functioning and how they are coping with stress in their lives.”

Just 21 per cent of parents surveyed rated their child’s mental well-being as excellent, while 27 percent of kids gave it the same grade.

There were also gender differences. Parents of girls rated them higher in key areas, such as perseverance, managing stress and coping with the ups and downs of daily life.

Whether they have a son or daughter — half of the parents surveyed say they’d like more support in mental well-being.

“Specifically, tips, tools, strategies, links to experts and help in how to open up the discussion on tough topics,” said Bev Deeth, President of Companies Committed to Kids.

“There is a right way to have these kinds of conversations and that is being open, being non-judgmental and being a really good listener,” added Peplar.

Parents Global News spoke to agreed their child’s mental well-being is a priority.

Marion Mason said her eight-year-old son Russell is confident and outgoing in most situations, but he’s not a huge fan of change and can be anxious in new situations.

But the support of family and friends helps him through, as well as conversations about his feelings and concerns.

“We have a lot of those kinds of chats,” said Mason. Chats she is more than happy to have.

© Shaw Media, 2015