WINTER 2014 JANUARYVOL42

• A R C H I T E C T U R E• A R T S• D E S I G N• E N G I N E E R I N G• E N V I R O N M E N T• F A S H I O N• C I N E M A• P H O T O G R A P H Y• P U B L I C A T I O N S• S C I E N C E• S P O R T S• T R A V E L

H A V E A CREATIVE 2 0 1 4 FULL OF L O V E

E D I T O R I A LPetros VasiadisCreative DirectorChief EditorPublisher

CONTRIBUTORS

ALEXANDRA VELNIDOU•Service Design-Engineering-Management•Healthcare Experience Design•Social Innovation

NIKI SOROGAS•Web Developer•Radio Producer, Dj•Telecommunications Engineer

KONSTANTINOS LETSAS•Cardiologist•Electrophysiologist

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InsideVol.42

PHOTOGRAPHY Alex Antipin Kevin Krautgartner Pygmalion Kartzas

ENVIRONMENT World's Worst Polluted Places

SCIENCE Time Travel

TRAVEL Let's Go Florida

CINEMA Christina Noland

ARTS NIELLY FRANCOISE Jing Zhang Sergey Kostik Johnny Cobalto

ON-LINE PUBLICATIONS

ENGINEERING Jorge Jabor James di Marco Philipp Haban

DESIGN Thijs Smeets

SPORTS World Cup gold on bobsled

Atrial Fibrillation:Protect your self against strokeKonstatntinos P. Letsas, MD, PhD, FESCEvangelismos General Hospital of Athens, Greece

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sus-tained cardiac rhythm disorder in clinical practice. The preva-

lence of atrial fibrillation is globally increasing over time. In the United States, the number of patients with atrial fibril-lation was 2.1 million in 1997, but it increased to 2.3 million in 2001. It is estimated to in-crease to 5.6 million in 2050. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation significantly increases with an increase in age. Atrial fibrillation confers a sig-nificant risk for thromboembo-lism. A prothrombotic state has been described in atrial fibril-lation, and it contributes to the most common complication of thromboembolism. Atrial fibril-lation-related ischemic strokes are more likely to be massive, often fatal or associated with pronounced long-term disabil-ity and a high risk of recur-rence compared to strokes of other aetiologies. The probability of stroke incidence in patients

with atrial fibrillation is about 3-4%, and the risk of stroke in-creased by five times in all age groups. The percentage of strokes attributable to atrial fibrillation increases steeply from 1.5% at age 50 to 59 years to 23.5% at age 80 to 89 years. Many patients with atrial fibril-lation are asymptomatic and a presentation with a complica-tion associated with atrial fi-brillation (stroke) might be the first manifestation of the ar-rhythmia , when the disorder is first diagnosed.To classify the risk of stroke in patients with AF, several mod-els are currently utilized. Com-pared with the most commonly used CHADS2 score (C-conges-tive heart failure, H-hyperten-sion, A-age>75 years, D-diabe-tes mellitus, S-prior stroke/TIA), CHA2DS2-VASc is more inclusive of clinically relevant stroke risk factors (i.e., age 65-74, vascu-lar disease and female gen-der), performs at least as good as the CHADS2 in identifying high risk patients and is con-

sistently better in identifica-tion of truly low risk patients. Importantly, the CHA2DS2-VASc enables further refinement of stroke risk stratification in pa-tients with a CHADS2 score of 0-1, thus recruiting more pa-tients to be appropriately treat-ed with oral anticoagulation. A CHA2DS2-VASc score of 0 is truly low risk and no antithrombotic therapy is needed, whereas pa-tients with one or more stroke risk factors (CHA2DS2-VASc score of >_ 1) could be treated with oral anticoagulation, either with well controlled warfarin (therapeutic INR 2-3) or one of the new oral anticoagulation agents. Whether a patient with atrial fibrillation would benefit from oral an-ticoagulation strongly depends upon the individual absolute risks of stroke and bleeding. The HAS-BLED (uncontrolled Hy-pertension, Abnormal renal/liver function, Stroke, Bleeding histo-ry or predisposition, Labile INR, Elderly >65 years, Drugs/alcohol concomitantly) score has been proposed as a simple tool for bleeding risk assessment with better predictability as com-pared to other scores. A HAS-BLED score of >_ 3 indicates in-creased risk for bleeding, which per se should not be the reason to stop oral anticoagulation, but to consider correction of po-tentially reversible risk factors for bleeding (for example, un-controlled blood pressure, labile INRs, concomitant aspirin use).Clinical practice guidelines rec-ommend treatment with an oral anticoagulant for most patients with non-valvular atrial fibril-

lation who have more than a low risk of stroke. The ‘modern’ era of atrial fibrillation-related thromboprophylaxis has been characterized by substantial ef-forts to improve antithrombotic management. It has been clearly established that oral anticoag-ulation is the most effective treatment for the prevention of atrial fibrillation-related stroke. Vitamin K antagonists (warfa-rin) were the treatment of choice the last decades. Compared with placebo, vitamin K antagonists

Image:University

of Liverpool Faculty of

Health & Life Sciences

reduce stroke by 64% and all-cause mortality by 26%, whilst aspirin achieved only a non-significant 19% stroke risk re-duction. Oral anticoagulation has been associated with a 39% risk reduction compared with antiplatelet therapy, which pro-vides indirect evidence that an-tiplatelet therapy could be very modestly effective for stroke prevention. The new oral an-ticoagulant drugs can be di-vided into two broad categories: the oral direct thrombin inhibi-tors (dabigatran) and oral fac-tor Xa inhibitors (rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban). A recent meta-analysis showed that the new oral anticoagulants had a favourable risk-benefit profile, with significant reductions in stroke, intracranial haemorrhage, and mortality compared to war-farin, and with similar major bleeding, but increased gastro-intestinal bleeding. The efficacy of percutaneous closure of the left atrial ap-pendage has been shown to be non-inferior to that of warfa-rin therapy. Although there is a higher rate of adverse safety events in the intervention group than in the control group, events in the intervention group were mainly a result of periproce-dural complications. Closure of the left atrial appendage might provide an alternative strategy for stroke prophylaxis in pa-tients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation who can not receive oral anticogulation.

REFERENCES 1. Lip GY, Tse HF, Lane DA. Atri-al fibrillation. Lancet. 2012 Feb 18;379(9816):648-61.

2. Potpara TS, Lip GY. Novel oral an-ticoagulants in non-valvular atrial fibrillation. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol. 2013 Jun;26(2):115-29.

3. Kim CK, Jung S, Yoon BW. Practi-cal Issues to Prevent Stroke As-sociated with Non-valvular Atri-al Fibrillation. J Stroke. 2013 Sep;15(3):144-152.

4. Ruff CT, Giugliano RP, Braunwald E, Hoffman EB, Deenadayalu N, Ezekowitz MD, Camm AJ, Weitz JI, Lewis BS, Parkhomenko A, Ya-mashita T, Antman EM. Comparison of the efficacy and safety of new oral anticoagulants with warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis of randomised trials. Lancet. 2013 Dec 3. pii: S0140-6736(13)62343-0.

5. Camm AJ, Lip GY, De Caterina R, Savelieva I, Atar D, Hohnloser SH, Hindricks G, Kirchhof P; ESC Committee for Practice Guide-lines-CPG; Document Reviewers. 2012 focused update of the ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation: an update of the 2010 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation--developed with the special con-tribution of the European Heart Rhythm Association. Europace. 2012 Oct;14(10):1385-413.

Konstantinos LetsasMonodrome, Bad Krozingen 2008

Julia GaldoJUCO PhotoJUCO Photo represents the collaborative photographic work of Julia Galdo and Cody Cloud. They first met at The San Francisco Art Institue in 2002 where Cody received his MFA in photography and Julia her BFA. Their first projects together were actually class assignments. Team JUCO is based in Los Angeles, CA. They enjoy plants (on many levels), thrift stores (deeply) and the beach (when the time is right).

Painted BackdropsArt Direction, Photography

Personal shoot by JUCO - backgrounds hand painted by Julia Galdo and Cody CloudMake up by Nicole ServinModels - Eric F Johnson and Julia Bama with FORD

www.jucophoto.com

Sergey KostikTula, Russian FederationPixel arts vol.2Illustration, Digital Art, pixelart

https://www.behance.net/raynoa

Jing ZhangLondon, United KingdomJing is a Chinese illustrator /typographer /designer based in East London, the epicentre of hipsters, eccentricity, and of course creativity. With her clients mostly from advertising and publishing industry, she has been working in the creative field for over six years, from automotive to airlines, magazines to corporations. She commutes on her Raleigh bike everyday; works on her latest top model of iMac; always green tea over English cuppa. She considers herself as one of the most lucky people in the world, who make a living doing what she loves.

http://www.mazakii.com/2011/

Letter, letter, letter (Project forever ongoing)

The hardest thing, is not to create them, is to finish them. Absolutely a letter marathon. I am running out of patience... :(

CHRISTINA

NOLAND

CHRISTINA

NOLAND

Christina Noland studied acting in the prestigious Rose Bruford College , UK ( Alumni includes Gary Oldman etc) . She was born and has lived in Heil-delberg, Germany. She has also lived

in a number of other places as Paris, France, Thessaloniki, Greece and Los Angeles, USA. Noland is a qualified solicitor with an LLM in En-tertainment Law. She speaks English, French, German, Greek and has studied Latin and Ancient Greek. She is a professional dancer and an award-winning writer. She also currently works as a free lance casting director. Christina Noland is currently filming as the lead Eleni in the Iranian- Greek feature film "Where is god? " directed by Iranian filmmaker Morteza Ja-fari. Recently, she featured as ' The Dancer" in the feature film " The Final Pay Off" directed by Greek up and coming director Alexander Leontaritis, now en-tering festivals worldwide. The "Final Pay Off" won the Audience award in Cyprus International Film Festival and is playing in Korinthus Film Festival this week. Last year, she filmed as the lead in Greek-British short film "Ambrosia", a Wright Way Films production, in which film Christina was the associate producer. She also acted in British short film "Waiting" in which Chris-tina was "Lady in grey". The music for the short film " Waiting" was written by Oscar Nominee Darren Morze. This fall Christina filmed in Greek short film '6.7.' as Isidora. Furthermore in 2013, Christina was casting associ-ate for NYU scholar's Felipe Vara del Ray " This is Re-ality", a film also submitted to festivals around the globe. Last but not least, Christina has been acting in films in Greece and the UK, having featured in Padelis Vulgaris " Psihi Vathia" as "Prasini", a Village Films production and she has been an intern in casting next to one of the most prestigious casting directors in London, assisting in casting NBC's Robinson Crusoe etc. She has also directed a couple of short films, one of which is entering festivals world-wide called "The unanswered letters to A.C". At this moment, Christina is developing the Greek fea-ture "Live with passion. Live with me." in which she will be the lead "Electra". This is a feature written by her and will be directed by Greek up and coming director Michael Konidaris. She will also be acting in Martin Crimp's play " The Country" as "Rebecca" in Athens in 2014. In her spare time, she teaches acting and sings.

Christina is managed worldwide for film acting by Miles Anthony at www.marlowes.eu. Further info on her work can be found on: facebook (up to date) OR www.christinanoland.com (under reconstruction) Quotes: • There is no off position on the genious switch. • Live life to the fullest, doing things you love, regardless of the result. • Fame and fortune comes with loving oneself. • Be an actor, what else is there? Make movies. What else is there to do? Maybe sing...but thats about it! • Remain a child at heart, this will save your life.

Johnny CobaltoMilan, ItalyJohnny Cobalto (Paolo Guarnaccia for his parents) was born in Milan, Italy, in 1988. He always used to draw on everything he found around himself (he still prefere paper at all). He's graduated in graphic design at Brera's Academy and started to work as freelancer in the darkly advertising world. You can find him at johnnycobalto.tumblr.com or around the planet, lying down on a bench with an empanada.

https://www.behance.net/johnnycobalto

ILLUSTRATIONS'N'DRAFTS

Nielly FrancoiseFranceFrançoise Nielly's painting is expressive, exhibiting a brute force, a fascinating vital energy. Oil and knife combine tsculpt her images from a material that is , at the same time, biting and incisive, charnel and sensual. Whether she paints the human body or portraits, the artist takes a risk : her painting is sexual, her colors free, exuberant, surprising, even explosive, the cut of her knife incisive, her color pallet dazzling.

http://www.francoise-nielly.com/

JORGE JABOR Sao Paulo, Brazil

Audi PowerboatIndustrial Design

The Audi A30 powerboat is a new concept which injects automotive styling into the marine world. She was designed to fit the needs of a demanding customer; a customer who wants power and speed without sacrificing practicality and functionality, with a strong and reliable brand name behind it. The connection to the prestigious German auto manufacturer, Audi, is made through creative use of brand aesthetics and engineering values.

http://www.coroflot.com/jorgejabor

Born in Brescia (Italy) in 1976, James di Marco graduated with honours in scenography from Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Arts in 2001 and obtained two masters in Product Design from Milan Polytechnic in 2002-3. James di Marco’s inspiration mainly comes from the beauty of organic forms and structures. James’ abilities vary widely in Product Design (Furniture, Bathroom furnishing, Lighting Design, Jewelry Design, Fashion accessories) from the original concept right through to Product Engineering. One of his most representative designs ("Honey" heating furnishing - by Caleido) is permanently on exhibition at the "MAD" Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

http://www.jamesdimarco.it/

JAMES DI MARCOBrescia, Italy

"CAMELOT"Furniture Design, Industrial Design, Product Design

-bioethanol fireplace- design / engineering: James di Marco produced & distribuited by CALEIDO

http://www.philipp-haban.com/

WORK EXPERIENCEIndustrial Designer Icon Aircraft - Los Angeles, CA, USAAdvanced Exterior Design Intern Mercedes-Benz - GermanyDesign Intern Bang & Olufsen Automotive - DenmarkExterior Design Intern Daimler Trucks North America - USA

PHILIPP HABANLos Angeles, CA, USA

ICON Aircraft A5 Systems Layout ModelAutomotive Design, Industrial Design

Blacked-Out Wrap Design Makeover Concept.In order to show off the engineering that lies behind the sleek, fold-up exterior, the new skin echoes the technology underneath, with the important mechanical details rendered in satin titanium on top of the new matte black finish, with gloss black and red accents to highlight certain features.

THIJS SMEETSAmsterdam, Netherlands

Gispen Today chairFurniture Design, Interior Design, Product Design

Contemporary chair made from plywood and a polypropylene shell that has been cut through horizontally. This chair has been exhibited during the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2012. It received a recognition for Good Industrial Design (GIO 2012) in during the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.

Thijs Smeets (1979) founded his Amsterdam based Studio Smeets in 2007 after working for several design studio's in The Netherlands and New York. Educated as a designer and an engineer, his designs cover a broad spectrum of products: from furniture to consumer electronics, from in-flight tableware to sauna's. As a student he won his first design award for eyeglasses MaxMara runs in the collection up to this date. His biodegradable tableware for Hampi Products was awarded with the Toon van Tuijl Design Award at the Dutch Design Award Show in 2010. He received international acclaim

and got hundreds of publications for his ingenious reading light LiliLite. The collection of furniture he designed for Gispen Today was launched at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and got a recognition for Good Industrial Design during the Dutch Design Week in 2012. Designs by Thijs Smeets have been exhibited all over the world, from Seoul to Hamburg, from Amsterdam to New York. He works for multinationals like Rabobank, Unilever, Sara Lee and Nokia and for smaller, design minded companies. Millions of his products have been sold.

VISIONGood design doesn't just look beautiful. It is a synthesis of form and function. Designing a product is often like solving a complex puzzle with many different parameters like ergonomics, construction, technical attainability, cost price and of course aesthetics. Good design equals simplicity: optimizing all these aspects in one seemingly uncomplicated idea. Product users appreciate simplicity in design while they can’t really figure out why they like this product so much. Companies are becoming more and more aware

of the fact that the consumers are willing to pay for this, if you give them a great experience. Design, creativity and innovation are the key advantages companies in developed economies can have over the competition in developing economies. In the future it will probably be the only advantage they have left. As Harvard professor Robert Hayes said: 'Fifteen years ago companies competed on price. Today it's quality. Tomorrow it's design.' That is why good design is serious business.

http://www.studiosmeets.com/

Report Cites the World's Worst Polluted PlacesTop Ten Toxic Threats in 2013: Cleanup, Progress, and Ongoing Challenges

Nov. 4, 2013, New York, NY - Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland have published the 2013 report of the world's worst polluted places, The Top Ten Toxic Threats: Cleanup, Progress, and Ongoing Challenges. The report presents a new list of the top ten polluted places and

provides updates on sites previously published by Blacksmith and Green Cross. A range of pollution sources and contaminants are cited, including hexavalent chromium from tanneries and heavy metals released from smelting operations. The report estimates that sites like those listed in the top ten pose a health risk to more than 200 million people in low- and medium-income countries.Download the report at www.worstpolluted.orgSee photos at Blacksmith's Flickr page, or at www.worstpolluted.org

From Ten to ManyThe Top Ten Toxic Threats is the latest in a series of annual reports documenting global pollution issues. Many of the previous reports have listed pollution problems, rather than sites, based on their estimated impact on human health. The 2012 report for instance found that the disease burden of pollution is comparable in scope to that of more well-known public health threats, such as tuberculosis or malaria.This is the first list of polluted sites released by the two groups since 2007. In the intervening years, the report explains, much has been learned about pollution issues in low- and medium-income countries. Efforts made by country governments in particular have greatly expanded the existing knowledge of pollution issues. In addition, Blacksmith Institute has conducted more than 2,000 risk assessments at contaminated sites in 49 countries."In this year's report, we cite some of the most polluted places we've encountered. But it is important to point out that the problem is really much larger than these ten sites," says Richard Fuller, president of Blacksmith Institute. "We estimate that the health of more than 200 million people is at risk from pollution in the developing world."Progress Made, Much More Required The authors of the report explain that significant progress has been made at many of the original top ten sites. As a result, several of these have been removed from the list. New sites mentioned include Agbogbloshie, an e-waste processing site in Accra, Ghana, and Kalimantan, Indonesia, which has become contaminated with mercury resulting from small scale gold mining.

Report Cites the World's Worst Polluted PlacesTop Ten Toxic Threats in 2013: Cleanup, Progress, and Ongoing Challenges

About Green Cross SwitzerlandGreen Cross Switzerland facilitates overcoming consequential damages caused by industrial and military disasters and the cleanup of contaminated sites from the period of the Cold War. Central issues are the improvement of the living quality of people affected by chemical, radioactive and other types of contamination, as well as the promotion of a sustainable development in the spirit of cooperation instead of confrontation. This includes the involvement of all stakeholder groups affected by a problem.www.greencross.ch

About Blacksmith InstituteBlacksmith Institute is a New York based nonprofit that works to mitigate exposures at contaminated sites in low and medium income countries. To date, Blacksmith has carried out 50 such projects in 20 countries. www.blacksmithinstitute.org

Contactangela@blacksmithinstitute.orgmag@blacksmithinstitute.org +1 212 647 8330nathalie.gysi@greencross.ch +41 (0) 43 499 13 10

The World's Worst Polluted Places in 2013 (unranked)Agbogbloshie, GhanaChernobyl*, UkraineCitarum River, IndonesiaDzershinsk*, RussiaHazaribagh, BangladeshKabwe*, ZambiaKalimantan, IndonesiaMatanza Riachuelo, ArgentinaNiger River Delta, NigeriaNorilsk*, Russia

*included in the original 2006 or 2007 lists

WHAT ABOUT TIME TRAVEL Dr HAWKING?

ALL YOU NEED IS A WORMHOLE, THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER OR A ROCKET THAT GOES REALLY, REALLY FAST!

PHOTO: Image Editorhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/sets/

Hello. My name is Stephen Hawking. Physicist, cosmologist and something of a dreamer. Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free. Free to explore the

universe and ask the big questions, such as: is time travel possible? Can we open a portal to the past or find a shortcut to the future? Can we ultimately use the laws of nature to become masters of time itself?Time travel was once considered scientific heresy. I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a crank. But these days I'm not so cautious. In fact, I'm more like the people who built Stonehenge. I'm obsessed by time. If I had a time machine I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime or drop in on Galileo as he turned his telescope to the heavens. Perhaps I'd even travel to the end of the universe to find out how our whole cosmic story ends.To see how this might be possible, we need to look at time as physicists do - at the fourth dimension. It's not as hard as it sounds. Every attentive schoolchild knows that all physical objects, even me in my chair, exist in three dimensions. Everything has a width and a height and a length.But there is another kind of length, a length in time. While a human may survive for 80 years, the stones at Stonehenge, for instance, have stood around for thousands of years. And the solar system will last for billions of years. Everything has a length in time as well as space. Travelling in time means travelling through this fourth dimension.To see what that means, let's imagine we're doing a bit of normal, everyday car travel. Drive in a straight line and you're travelling in one dimension. Turn right or left and you add the second dimension. Drive up or down a twisty mountain road and that adds height, so that's travelling in all three dimensions. But how on Earth do we travel in time? How do we find a path through the fourth dimension?Let's indulge in a little science fiction for a moment. Time travel movies often feature a vast, energy-hungry machine. The machine creates a path through the fourth dimension, a tunnel through time. A time traveller, a brave, perhaps foolhardy individual, prepared for who knows what, steps into the time tunnel and emerges who knows when. The concept may be far-fetched, and the reality may be very different from this, but the idea itself is not so crazy.Physicists have been thinking about tunnels in time too, but we come at it from a different angle. We wonder if portals to the past or the future could ever be possible within the laws of nature. As it turns out, we think they are. What's more, we've

even given them a name: wormholes. The truth is that wormholes are all around us, only they're too small to see. Wormholes are very tiny. They occur in nooks and crannies in space and time. You might find it a tough concept, but stay with me.

A wormhole is a theoretical 'tunnel' or shortcut, predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity, that links two places in space-time - visualised above as the contours of a 3-D map, where negative energy pulls space and time into the mouth of a tunnel, emerging in another universe. They remain only hypothetical, as obviously nobody has ever seen one, but have been used in films as conduits for time travel - in Stargate (1994), for example, involving gated tunnels between universes, and in Time Bandits (1981), where their locations are shown on a celestial mapNothing is flat or solid. If you look closely enough at anything you'll find holes and wrinkles in it. It's a basic physical principle, and it even applies to time. Even something as smooth as a pool ball has tiny crevices, wrinkles and voids. Now it's easy to show that this is true in the first three dimensions. But trust me, it's also true of the fourth dimension. There are tiny crevices, wrinkles and voids in time. Down at the smallest of scales, smaller even than molecules, smaller than atoms, we get to a place called the quantum foam. This is where wormholes exist. Tiny tunnels or shortcuts through space and time constantly form, disappear, and reform within this quantum world. And they actually link two separate places and two different times.Unfortunately, these real-life time tunnels are just a billion-trillion-trillionths of a centimetre across. Way too small for a human to pass through - but here's where the notion of wormhole time machines is leading. Some scientists think it may be possible to capture a wormhole and enlarge it many trillions of times to make it big enough for a human or even a spaceship to enter.Given enough power and advanced technology, perhaps a giant wormhole could even be constructed in space. I'm not saying it can be done, but if it could be, it would be a truly remarkable device. One end could be here near Earth, and the other far, far away, near some distant planet.Theoretically, a time tunnel or wormhole could do even more than take us to other planets. If both ends were in the same place, and separated by time instead of distance, a ship could fly in and come out still near Earth, but in the distant past. Maybe dinosaurs would witness the ship coming in for a landing. The fastest manned vehicle in history was Apollo 10. It reached 25,000mph. But to travel in time we'll have to go more than 2,000 times faster

Now, I realise that thinking in four dimensions is not easy, and that wormholes are a tricky concept to wrap your head around, but hang in there. I've thought up a simple experiment that could reveal if human time travel through a wormhole is possible now, or even in the future. I like simple experiments, and champagne. So I've combined two of my favourite things to see if time travel from the future to the past is possible.Let's imagine I'm throwing a party, a welcome reception for future time travellers. But there's a twist. I'm not letting anyone know about it until after the party has happened. I've drawn up an invitation giving the exact coordinates in time and space. I am hoping copies of it, in one form or another, will be around for many thousands of years. Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information on the invitation and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party, proving that time travel will, one day, be possible.In the meantime, my time traveller guests should be arriving any moment now. Five, four, three, two, one. But as I say this, no one has arrived. What a shame. I was hoping at least a future Miss Universe was going to step through the door. So why didn't the experiment work? One of the reasons might be because of a well-known problem with time travel to the past, the problem of what we call paradoxes.Paradoxes are fun to think about. The most famous one is usually called the Grandfather paradox. I have a new, simpler version I call the Mad Scientist paradox.I don't like the way scientists in movies are often described as mad, but in this case, it's true. This chap is determined to create a paradox, even if it costs him his life. Imagine, somehow, he's built a wormhole, a time tunnel that stretches just one minute into the past. Through the wormhole, the scientist can see himself as he was one minute ago. But what if our scientist uses the wormhole to shoot his earlier self? He's now dead. So who fired the shot? It's a paradox. It just doesn't make sense. It's the sort of

situation that gives cosmologists nightmares.This kind of time machine would violate a fundamental rule that governs the entire universe - that causes happen before effects, and never the other way around. I believe things can't make themselves impossible. If they could then there'd be nothing to stop the whole universe from descending into chaos. So I think something will always happen that prevents the paradox. Somehow there must be a reason why our scientist will never find himself in a situation where he could shoot himself. And in this case, I'm sorry to say, the wormhole itself is the problem.In the end, I think a wormhole like this one can't exist. And the reason for that is feedback. If you've ever been to a rock gig, you'll probably recognise this screeching noise. It's feedback. What causes it is simple. Sound enters the microphone. It's transmitted along the wires, made louder by the amplifier, and comes out at the speakers. But if too much of the sound from the speakers goes back into the mic it goes around and around in a loop getting louder each time. If no one stops it, feedback can destroy the sound system.The same thing will happen with a wormhole, only with radiation instead of sound. As soon as the wormhole expands, natural radiation will enter it, and end up in a loop. The feedback will become so strong it destroys the wormhole. So although tiny wormholes do exist, and it may be possible to inflate one some day, it won't last long enough to be of use as a time machine. That's the real reason no one could come back in time to my party.Any kind of time travel to the past through wormholes or any other method is probably impossible, otherwise paradoxes would occur. So sadly, it looks like time travel to the past is never going to happen. A disappointment for dinosaur hunters and a relief for historians.But the story's not over yet. This doesn't make all time travel impossible. I do believe in time travel. Time travel to the future. Time flows like a river and it seems as if each of us is carried

relentlessly along by time's current. But time is like a river in another way. It flows at different speeds in different places and that is the key to travelling into the future. This idea was first proposed by Albert Einstein over 100 years ago. He realised that there should be places where time slows down, and others where time speeds up. He was absolutely right. And the proof is right above our heads. Up in space.This is the Global Positioning System, or GPS. A network of satellites is in orbit around Earth. The satellites make satellite navigation possible. But they also reveal that time runs faster in space than it does down on Earth. Inside each spacecraft is a very precise clock. But despite being so accurate, they all gain around a third of a billionth of a second every day. The system has to correct for the drift, otherwise that tiny difference would upset the whole system, causing every GPS device on Earth to go out by about six miles a day. You can just imagine the mayhem that that would cause.The problem doesn't lie with the clocks. They run fast because time itself runs faster in space than it does down below. And the reason for this extraordinary effect is the mass of the Earth. Einstein realised that matter drags on time and slows it down like the slow part of a river. The heavier the object, the more it drags on time. And this startling reality is what opens the door to the possibility of time travel to the future.Right in the centre of the Milky Way, 26,000 light years from us, lies the heaviest object in the galaxy. It is a supermassive black hole containing the mass of four million suns crushed down into a single point by its own gravity. The closer you get to the black hole, the stronger the gravity. Get really close and not even light can escape. A black hole like this one has a dramatic effect on time, slowing it down far more than anything else in the galaxy. That makes it a natural time machine.I like to imagine how a spaceship might be able to take advantage of this phenomenon, by orbiting it. If a space agency were controlling the mission from Earth they'd observe that each full orbit took 16 minutes. But for the brave people on

board, close to this massive object, time would be slowed down. And here the effect would be far more extreme than the gravitational pull of Earth. The crew's time would be slowed down by half. For every 16-minute orbit, they'd only experience eight minutes of time.

Around and around they'd go, experiencing just half the time of everyone far away from the black hole. The ship and its crew would be travelling through time. Imagine they circled the black hole for five of their years. Ten years would pass elsewhere. When they got home, everyone on Earth would have aged five years more than they had.So a supermassive black hole is a time machine. But of course, it's not exactly practical. It has advantages over wormholes in that it doesn't provoke paradoxes. Plus it won't destroy itself in a flash of feedback. But it's pretty dangerous. It's a long way away and it doesn't even take us very far into the future. Fortunately there is another way to travel in time. And this represents our last and best hope of building a real time machine.You just have to travel very, very fast. Much faster even than the speed required to avoid being sucked into a black hole. This is due to another strange fact about the universe. There's a cosmic speed limit, 186,000 miles per second, also known as the speed of light. Nothing can exceed that speed. It's one of the best established principles in science. Believe it or not, travelling at near the speed of light transports you to the future.To explain why, let's dream up a science-fiction transportation system. Imagine a track that goes right around Earth, a track for a superfast train. We're going to use this imaginary train to get as close as possible to the speed of light and see how it becomes a time machine. On board are passengers with a one-way ticket to the future. The train begins to accelerate, faster and faster. Soon it's circling the Earth over and over again.To approach the speed of light means circling the Earth pretty

fast. Seven times a second. But no matter how much power the train has, it can never quite reach the speed of light, since the laws of physics forbid it. Instead, let's say it gets close, just shy of that ultimate speed. Now something extraordinary happens. Time starts flowing slowly on board relative to the rest of the world, just like near the black hole, only more so. Everything on the train is in slow motion.This happens to protect the speed limit, and it's not hard to see why. Imagine a child running forwards up the train. Her forward speed is added to the speed of the train, so couldn't she break the speed limit simply by accident? The answer is no. The laws of nature prevent the possibility by slowing down time onboard.Now she can't run fast enough to break the limit. Time will always slow down just enough to protect the speed limit. And from that fact comes the possibility of travelling many years into the future.Imagine that the train left the station on January 1, 2050. It circles Earth over and over again for 100 years before finally coming to a halt on New Year's Day, 2150. The passengers will have only lived one week because time is slowed down that much inside the train. When they got out they'd find a very different world from the one they'd left. In one week they'd have travelled 100 years into the future. Of course, building a train that could reach such a speed is quite impossible. But we have built something very like the train at the world's largest particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.Deep underground, in a circular tunnel 16 miles long, is a stream of trillions of tiny particles. When the power is turned on they accelerate from zero to 60,000mph in a fraction of a second. Increase the power and the particles go faster and faster, until they're whizzing around the tunnel 11,000 times a second, which is almost the speed of light. But just like the train, they never quite reach that ultimate speed. They can only get to 99.99 per cent of the limit. When that happens, they too start to travel in time. We know this because of some extremely short-lived particles, called pi-mesons. Ordinarily, they disintegrate after just 25 billionths of a second. But when they are accelerated to near-light speed they last 30 times longer.It really is that simple. If we want to travel into the future, we just need to go fast. Really fast. And I think the only way we're ever likely to do that is by going into space. The fastest manned vehicle in history was Apollo 10. It reached 25,000mph. But to travel in time we'll have to go more than 2,000 times faster. And to do that we'd need a much bigger ship, a truly enormous machine. The ship would have to be big enough to carry a huge amount of fuel, enough to accelerate it to nearly the speed of light. Getting to just beneath the cosmic speed

limit would require six whole years at full power.The initial acceleration would be gentle because the ship would be so big and heavy. But gradually it would pick up speed and soon would be covering massive distances. In one week it would have reached the outer planets. After two years it would reach half-light speed and be far outside our solar system. Two years later it would be travelling at 90 per cent of the speed of light. Around 30 trillion miles away from Earth, and four years after launch, the ship would begin to travel in time. For every hour of time on the ship, two would pass on Earth. A similar situation to the spaceship that orbited the massive black hole.After another two years of full thrust the ship would reach its top speed, 99 per cent of the speed of light. At this speed, a single day on board is a whole year of Earth time. Our ship would be truly flying into the future. The slowing of time has another benefit. It means we could, in theory, travel extraordinary distances within one lifetime. A trip to the edge of the galaxy would take just 80 years. But the real wonder of our journey is that it reveals just how strange the universe is. It's a universe where time runs at different rates in different places. Where tiny wormholes exist all around us. And where, ultimately, we might use our understanding of physics to become true voyagers through the fourth dimension.

'Stephen Hawking's Universe' on Discovery Channel (HD)

SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

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Florida is a state in the southeast-ern region of the United States,

bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexi-co, to the north by Ala-bama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida. Florida is the 22nd most extensive, the 4th most populous, and the 8th most densely populat-ed of the 50 United States. The state capital is Tal-lahassee, the largest city is Jacksonville, and the largest metropolitan area is the Miami metropolitan area.Much of Florida is a pen-insula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Its geography is notable for a coastline, omnipres-ent water and the threat of hurricanes. Florida has the longest coastline in thecontiguous United States, encompassing ap-proximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), and is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the At-lantic Ocean. Much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized bysedimentary soil. The climate varies from sub-tropical in the north to tropical in the south. Some of its most iconic animals, such as the American al-

ligator, crocodile, Florida panther and the manatee, can be found in the Ever-glades National Park.Since the first European contact was made in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León - who named it La Florida ("Flow-ery Land") upon landing there during the Easter season, Pascua Florida - Florida was a challenge for the European colonial pow-ers before it gained state-hood in the United States in 1845. It was a principal location of the Seminole Wars against the Indians, and racial segregation af-ter the American Civil War. Today, it is distinguished by its large Hispanic com-munity, and high popula-tion growth, as well as its increasing environmen-tal concerns. Its economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and trans-portation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also known for its amusement parks, the production of oranges, and the Kennedy Space Center.Florida culture is a re-flection of influences and multiple inheritance; Native American, European Ameri-can, Hispanic and African American heritages can be found in the architecture and cuisine. Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Heming-way and Tennessee Wil-

liams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internation-ally known for golf, ten-nis, auto racing, and wa-ter sports.

HistoryMain article: History of FloridaSee also: Seminole WarsArchaeological research in-dicates that Florida was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians, the first human inhabitants of the Ameri-cas, perhaps as early as 14 thousand years ago. The region was continu-ously inhabited through the Archaic period (to about 2000 BC). After about 500 BC the previously rela-tively uniform Archaic cul-ture began to coalesce into distinctive local cultures.

Bernard Picart copper plate engraving of Florida Indians, Circa 1721 "Ceremo-nies and Religious Dress of all the People of the World"By the 16th century, the ear-liest time for which there is a historical record, ma-jor Native American groups included the Apalachee (of the Florida Panhandle), the Timucua (of north-ern and central Florida), the Ais (of the central Atlantic coast), the To-cobaga (of the Tam-pa Bay area), the Calu-sa (of southwest Florida) and the Tequesta (of the southeastern coast).

European arrival (1513)Florida was the first part of what is now the continental United States to be visited by Europeans. The earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. According to the "500TH Florida Discovery Council Round Table", on March 3, 1513, Ponce de Leon, organized and equipped three ships which be-gan an expedition (with a crew of 200, including women and free blacks), departing from Punta Aguada Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was the historic first gateway to the discovery of Florida, which opened the doors to the advanced settlement of the U.S. They intro-duced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language and more to Florida. [broken citation]Ponce de León spotted the penin-sula on April 2, 1513. According to his chroniclers, he named the re-gion La Florida ("flowery land") because it was then the Eas-ter Season, known in Span-ish as Pascua Florida (roughly "Flowery Easter"), and because the vegetation was in bloom. Juan Ponce de León may not have been the first European to reach Florida, however; reportedly, at least one indigenous tribesman whom he encountered in Flori-da in 1513 spoke Spanish. From 1513 onward, the land became known as La Florida. After 1630, and throughout the 18th cen-tury, Tegesta (after the Teques-ta tribe) was an alternate name of choice for the Florida penin-sula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer-Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de

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Laet's History of the New World.The horse, which the na-tives had eaten into extinc-tion 10,000 years ago, was reintroduced into North America with the European explorers and into Flori-da in 1538. As the animals were lost or stolen, they began to become feral.Over the following centu-ry, both the Spanish and French established set-tlements in Florida with

varying degrees of suc-cess. In 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano estab-lished a colony at pres-ent-day Pensacola, one of the first European at-tempts at settlement in the continental United States. It was abandoned by 1561 due to hurricanes, famine, and warring tribes, and the area was not re-inhabited until the 1690s.French Protestant Hu-guenots founded Fort

Caroline in modern-day Jacksonville in 1564. The following year, the Span-ish colony of St. Augus-tine (San Agustín) was es-tablished, and forces from there conquered Fort Caro-line that same year. The Spanish maintained tenu-ous control over the region by converting the local tribes, briefly with Jesu-its and later with Fran-ciscan friars.The area of Spanish Flor-

ida diminished with the establishment of English colonies to the north and French colonies to the west. The English weak-ened Spanish power in the area by supplying their Creek and Yamas-ee allies with firearms and urging them to raid the Timucuan and Apalachee client-tribes of the Span-ish. The English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to

the ground several times, while the citizens hid be-hind the walls of the Cas-tillo de San Marcos.Florida attracted numer-ous Africans and African Americans from the south-ern British colonies in North America who sought free-dom from slavery. Once in Florida, the Spanish Crown converted them to Roman Catholicism and gave them freedom. Those freed-men settled in a commu-

nity north of St. Augus-tine, called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first free black settlement of its kind in what became the United States. Many of those slaves were also wel-comed by Creek and Semi-nole Native Americans, who had established settle-ments in the region at the invitation of the Spanish government.Great Britain gained con-trol of Florida and other

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territory diplomatically in 1763 through the Peace of Paris following its defeat of France in the Seven Years' War, and exchanges with Spain of possessions. The British divided their new acquisitions into East Florida, with its capital at St. Augustine, and West Florida, with its capital at Pensacola.Britain tried to develop the Floridas through the im-portation of immigrants for labor, but this project ultimately failed. Spain re-ceived both Floridas af-ter Britain's defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Ver-sailles in 1783, continu-ing the division into East and West Florida. They of-fered land grants to any-one who settled in the col-onies, and many Americans moved to them.After settler attacks on In-dian towns, Seminole In-dians based in East Florida began raid-ing Georgia settlements, purportedly at the behest of the Spanish. The United States Army led increas-ingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory, in-cluding the 1817-1818 cam-paign against the Seminole Indians by Andrew Jack-son that became known as the First Seminole War. Following the war, the Unit-ed States effectively con-trolled East Florida.Spain cedes Florida to the

United States (1819)In 1819, by terms of the Ad-ams-Onís Treaty, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for $5 million and the American renunciation of any claims on Texas that they might have from the Louisiana Purchase. The free blacks and Indian slaves, Black Seminoles, living near St. Augustine, fled to Havana, Cuba to avoid coming un-der US control. Some Semi-nole also abandoned their settlements and moved further south. Hundreds of Black Seminoles and fugitive slaves escaped in the early nineteenth century from Cape Flori-da to The Bahamas, where they settled on Andros Is-land.In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed and as set-tlement increased, pressure grew on the United States government to remove the Indians from their lands in Florida. To the chagrin of Georgia landowners, the Seminoles harbored and integrated runaway blacks, known as the Black Semi-noles, and clashes between whites and Indians grew with the influx of new set-tlers. In 1832, the United States government signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing with some of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida

voluntarily. Many of the Seminoles left at this time, while those who remained prepared to defend their claims to the land. The U.S. Army arrived in 1835 to enforce the treaty under pressure from white set-tlers, and the Second Semi-nole War began at the end of the year with the Dade Massacre, when Seminoles ambushed and killed or mortally wounded all but one in a group of 110 Army troops, plus Major Dade and seven officers, marching from Fort Brooke (Tampa) to reinforce Fort King (Oc-ala).Between 900 and 1,500 Seminole Indian warriors employed guerrilla tactics against United States Army troops for seven years un-til 1842. The U.S. government is estimated to have spent between $20 million and $40 million on the war, at the time an astronomical sum. A total of approxi-mately 3,000 Seminole and 800 Black Seminole were removed to Indian Terri-tory; the US finally gave up its fight against the few hundred Seminole in Florida, who were deep in the Everglades and impos-sible to defeat or dislodge.On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of Amer-ica, although initially its population grew slowly. White settlers continued to encroach on lands used

by the Seminoles, and the United States government resolved to make anoth-er effort to move the re-maining Seminoles to the West. The Third Seminole War lasted from 1855 to 1858, and resulted in the removal of most of the remaining Seminoles. Even after three bloody wars, the U.S. Army failed to force all of the Seminole Indians in Florida to the West. Though most of the Seminoles were forcibly exiled to Creek lands west of the Mississippi, hun-dreds, including Seminole leader Aripeka (Sam Jones), remained in the Ever-glades and refused to leave. Their descendants remain there to this day and two tribes in Florida are federally recognized.White settlers began to establish cotton planta-tions in Florida, which re-quired numerous laborers, which they supplied by buying slaves in the do-mestic market. In the devel-opment of the Deep South, nearly one million African Americans were forced to move to the region through slavery. By 1860 Florida had only 140,424 people, of whom 44% were enslaved. There were fewer than 1000 free African Ameri-cans before the Civil War.

The beaches of Key Biscayne in Miami.Florida is a low per capita energy user. It is estimated that approximately 4% of energy in the state is gen-erated through renewable resources. Florida's energy production is 6% of the na-tion's total energy output, while total production of pollutants is lower, with figures of 5.6% for nitro-gen oxide, 5.1% for carbon dioxide, and 3.5% for sulfur dioxide.It is believed that signifi-cant petroleum resources are located off Florida's western coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but that region has been closed to explo-ration since 1981.Red tide has been an is-sue on the southwest coast of Florida, as well as oth-er areas. While there has been a great deal of con-jecture over the cause of the toxic algae bloom, there is no evidence that it is being caused by pollution or that there has been an increase in the duration or frequency of red tides.The Florida panther is close to extinction. A re-cord 23 were killed in 2009 predominately by auto-mobile collisions, leaving about 100 individuals in the wild. The Center for Biolog-ical Diversity and others have therefore called for a special protected area for the panther to be estab-lished. Manatees are also

dying at a rate higher than their reproduction.Prior to instituting con-trolled burns, the state for-ests and pastures burned for months during the dry season. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the state and federal government as-sumed control of burn-ing that largely prevented uncontrolled fires. In 2010, the state burned a record 2,600,000 acres (11,000 km2).The Atlantic beaches that are vital to the state's economy are being washed out to sea due to rising sea levels caused by climate change and the state is running out of accessible offshore sand reserves.

RecyclingThe recycling rate in Flor-ida is estimated at 28% in 2000. In 2008, The Energy, Climate Change, and Eco-nomic Security Act of 2008 set a goal of progressive-ly improving recycling to reach a 75 percent rate by the year 2020.It directs public entities (schools, state and local public agencies) to report the amount they recycle annually to their counties. Private businesses are en-couraged (but not mandat-ed) to report the amount they recycle to their coun-ties. Finally, the section directs DEP to create the Recycling Business As-sistance Center. Under the new law, each county must

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implement a recyclable materi-als recycling program that shall have a goal of recycling recy-clable solid waste by 40 percent by December 31, 2012, 50 percent by 2014, 60 percent by 2016, 70 percent by 2018, and 75 per-cent by 2020. The county with the highest recycling rate is Lee County with a 43% recycling rate as of 2008.

PopulationThe United States Census Bu-reau estimates that the popu-lation of Florida was 19,552,860 on July 1, 2013, a 2.7% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The population of Flor-ida in the 2010 census was 18,801,310. Florida was the sev-enth fastest-growing state in the U.S. in the 12-month peri-od ending July 1, 2012. In 2010, the center of population of Florida was located between Fort Meade and Frostproof. The cen-ter of population has moved less than five miles to the east and approximately one mile to the north between 1980 and 2010 and has been located in Polk Coun-ty since the 1960 census.About two-thirds of the popula-tion was born in another state, the second highest in the coun-try.In 2010, illegal immigrants con-stituted an estimated 5.7% of the population. This was the sixth highest percentage of any state in the country. There were an estimated 675,000 illegal immi-grants in the state in 2010.[90]There were 186,102 military retir-ees living in the state in 2008.

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Florida Capitol buildingsThe basic structure, duties, func-tion, and operations of the gov-ernment of the state of Florida are defined and established by the Florida Constitution, which establishes the basic law of the state and guarantees various rights and freedoms of the peo-ple. The state government con-sists of three separate branches: judicial, executive, and legisla-tive. The legislature enacts bills, which, if signed by the governor, become law.The Florida Legislature com-prises the Florida Senate, which has 40 members, and the Florida House of Representatives, which has 120 members. The current Governor of Florida is Rick Scott. The Florida Supreme Court con-sists of a Chief Justice and six Justices.Florida has 67 counties. Some reference materials may show only 66 because Duval Coun-ty is consolidated with the City of Jacksonville. There are 379 cities in Florida (out of 411) that report regularly to the Florida Department of Revenue, but there are other incorporated munici-palities that do not. The state government's primary source of revenue is sales tax. Florida does not impose a personal income tax. The primary revenue source for cities and counties is prop-erty tax.

ArchitectureWhile many houses and com-mercial buildings look similar to those elsewhere in the coun-try, the state has appropriated some unique styles in some sec-

tion of the state including Spanish revival, Flor-ida vernacular, and Mediterranean Revival Style.

EconomyIn the twentieth century, tourism, industry, con-struction, international banking, biomedical and life sciences, healthcare research, simulation train-ing, aerospace and defense, and commercial space travel have contributed to the state's economic development.[citation needed]

Agriculture and fishingAgriculture is the second largest industry in the state. Citrus fruit, especially oranges, are a major part of the economy, and Florida produces the majority of citrus fruit grown in the United States. In 2006, 67% of all citrus, 74% of oranges, 58% of tangerines, and 54% of grapefruit were grown in Florida. About 95% of commercial orange produc-tion in the state is destined for processing (mostly as orange juice, the official state beverage). Cit-rus cankercontinues to be an issue of concern. From 1997 to 2013, the growing of citrus trees has declined 25%, from 600,000 acres (240,000 ha) to 450,000 acres (180,000 ha). In 2013, the Coca-Cola

Company announced its intention to spend $2 bil-lion to raise an additional 25,000 acres (10,000 ha) of orange groves.Other products in-clude sugarcane, straw-berries, tomatoes and cel-ery. The state is the largest producer of sweet

corn and green beans for the country.The Everglades Agricultur-al Area is a major center for agriculture. The envi-ronmental impact of ag-riculture, especially water pollution, is a major issue in Florida today.In 2009, fishing was a $6

billion industry, employing 60,000 jobs for sports and commercial purposes.

MiningPhosphate mining, concen-trated in the Bone Valley, is the state's third-largest industry. The state produc-es about 75% of the phos-

phate required by farmers in the United States and 25% of the world supply, with about 95% used for agriculture (90% for fertil-izer and 5% for livestock feed supplements) and 5% used for other products.

IndustryAfter the watershed events of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the state of Florida began investing in eco-nomic development through the Office of Trade, Tourism, and Economic Development. Governor Jeb Bush real-ized that watershed events such as Andrew negatively impacted Florida's backbone industry of tourism severe-ly. The office was directed to target Medical/Bio-Sci-ences among others. Three years later, The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) announced it had chosen Florida for its newest ex-pansion. In 2003, TSRI an-nounced plans to estab-lish a major science center in Palm Beach, a 364,000 square feet (33,800 m2) fa-cility on 100 acres (40 ha),

which TSRI planned to oc-cupy in 2006.[187]At the same time that Scripps started operations in Florida, Tavistock Group, an investment firm that held 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of land immediately South East of Orlando Interna-tional Airport began for-mulating new possibilities for its land use after the decline in tourism to the state. Tavistock decided to use part of the land to establish a Bio-Sciences cluster. In 2005, the state of Florida along with Ta-vistock Group and the Uni-versity of Central Florida agreed that Tavistock would donate 50 acres (20 ha) and $12.5 Million (which the state would match for a total of $25 Million) to start the UCF College of Medicine and the Burnett School of Biomedi-cal Sciences. The UCF Col-lege of Medicine won ap-proval from the State Board of Governors in 2006. That decision was key to attract-ing Sanford-Burnham Med-ical Research Institute to Central Florida. Tavistock

then donated another 50 acres (20 ha) and $17.5 Mil-lion to Sanford-Burnham which allowed Sanford-Burnham's East Coast ex-pansion. In February and March 2007, Nemours and the The V/A(respectively) announced Lake Nona as the site of two new hospi-tals.[citation needed]Other prospective tenants of the Lake Nona Medical City included M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Univer-sity of Florida research center, and Valencia Com-munity College.[citation needed]It was determined in 2008 from a study done by Ar-duin, Laffer and Moore Econometrics that the Lake Nona Medical City cluster has in two years reached 80% of the Milken Num-bers which were based on the commitments made by the economic develop-ment statements. The study then released new projec-tions for the 10-year period which included 30,000 jobs created and a $7.6 Billion economic impact.

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TourismTourism makes up the largest sector of the state economy. Warm weather and hundreds of miles of beaches attract about 60 million visitors to the state every year. Florida was the top destination state in 2011. 42% of poll respondents living in the Northeast United States said they planned on vis-iting Florida over spring break.Amusement parks, espe-cially in the Orlando area, make up a significant por-tion of tourism. The Walt Disney World Resort is the largest vacation re-sort in the world, con-sisting of four theme parks and more than 20 hotels in Lake Buena Vis-ta, Florida; it, and Univer-sal Orlando Resort, Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, and

other major parks drive state tourism. Many beach towns are also popular tourist destinations, par-ticularly in the winter months. 23.2 million tour-ists visited Florida beach-es in 2000, spending $21.9 billion.[190]The public has a right to beach access under the public trust doctrine. However, some areas have access effectively blocked by private owners for a long distance.

EnergyFlorida ranked 42nd out of 50 states in total en-ergy consumption per capita in 2010, despite the heavy reliance on com-mercial and residential air conditioning. This includes coal, natural gas, petro-leum, and retail electricity sales.

EducationMain article: Education in FloridaFlorida's public primary and secondary schools are administered by the Flor-ida Department of Educa-tion.State University SystemThe State University System of Florida was founded in 1905, and is governed by the Florida Board of Governors. During the 2010 academic year, 312,216 students attended one of these member in-stitutions.

Private universitiesFlorida's first private uni-versity, Stetson Universi-ty, was founded in 1883. The Independent Colleges and Universities of Flori-da is an association of 28 private, educational insti-tutions in the state. This

Association reported that their member in-stitutions served over 121,000 students in the fall of 2006.

InfrastructureCommunication27% of Floridians exclu-sively own cell phones for communication; no landline. Nationally, fig-ures vary from 13-35%, with the higher percent-ages an indication of lower income.

TransportationMain article: Transpor-tation in FloridaThe Miami Metrorail is the state's only rapid transit system. About 15% of Miamians use public transit daily.

Public transitMiami's public transpor-tation is served by Mi-ami-Dade Transit that runs Metrorail, a heavy rail rapid transit sys-tem, Metromover, a peo-ple mover train system in Downtown Miami, and Metrobus, Miami's bus system. Metrorail runs throughoutMiami-Dade County and has two lines and 23 sta-tions connecting to Downtown Miami's Me-tromover and Tri-Rail. Metromover has three lines and 21 stations throughout Downtown Miami. Outside of Mi-

ami-Dade County, public transit in theMiami met-ropolitan area is served by Broward County Transit and Palm Tran; intercounty commuter rail service is provid-ed by Tri-Rail, with 18 stations including the region's three interna-tional airports.Orlando utilizes the LYNX bus system as well as a downtown bus service called LYM-MO, and has attempted to plan a local light rail service for years. A commuter rail ser-vice - SunRail - has been approved by all concerning counties and is in final plan-ning stages.Tampa and its sur-rounding area use the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Au-thority system ("HART"). In addition, downtown Tampa has continuous trolley services in the form of a heritage trol-ley powered by Tampa Electric Company. Pinel-las County and St. Pe-tersburg provide similar services through the Pi-nellas Suncoast Tran-sit Authority or "PSTA". The beaches of Pinel-las County also have a continuous trolley bus. Downtown St. Petersburg has a trolley system.Along with bus ser-vices, Jacksonville of-

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fers fixed routes oper-ated by the Jacksonville Transportation Author-ity (JTA). The Skyway is a people mover system lo-cated in Downtown Jack-sonville. Its two lines and eight stations connect theNorthbank, Southbank, and Lavilla districts. JTA is currently in the process of securing funding for an extension into Brook-lyn, a neighborhood just south of Lavilla.Miami International Air-port is the world's 10th-largest cargo airport, and the state's busiest airport.Major international air-ports in Florida which pro-cessed more than 15 million passengers each in 2010 are Miami Internation-

al Airport (35,698,025), Or-lando International Air-port (34,877,899), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Inter-national Airport(22,412,627) and Tampa International Airport (16,645,765).Secondary airports, with annual passenger traffic exceeding 5 million each in 2010, include South-west Florida Internation-al Airport (Fort Myers) (7,514,316), Palm Beach Inter-national Airport (West Palm Beach) (5,887,723), and Jack-sonville International Air-port (5,601,500).Florida's extensive coastline made it a perceived target during World War II, so the government built airstrips throughout the state; today, approximately 400 airports

are still in service. Accord-ing to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Florida has 131 public airports, and more than 700 private air-ports, airstrips, heliports, and seaplane bases.

SportsSee also: Florida Sports Hall of Fame and List of sports teams in FloridaFlorida has three NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams, and two NHL teams. Florida gained its first perma-nent major-league profes-sional sports team in 1966 when the American Foot-ball League added the Mi-ami Dolphins. The state of Florida has given profes-sional sports franchises

some subsidies in the form of tax breaks since 199.About half of all Major League Baseball teams conduct spring train-ing in the state, with teams informally organized into the "Grapefruit League". Throughout MLB history, other teams have held spring training in Florida.Golf, tennis, and auto racing are popular. NAS-CAR (headquartered in Daytona Beach) begins all three of its major Series in Florida at Daytona In-ternational Speedway, and ends all three Series in November at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The PGA of America is headquar-tered inPalm Beach Gar-dens while the LPGA is

headquartered in Daytona Beach.Minor league baseball, foot-ball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer and indoor foot-ball teams are based in Florida. Three of the Arena Football League's teams are in Florida.Florida's universities have a number of collegiate sport teams.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida

IMAGES: DeusXFlorida http://www.flickr.com/photos/8363028@N08/sets/

FLORID

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www.dimodamagazine.com

xpublishersAmsterdam, NetherlandsSince 2005 GUP Magazine is an active player in the field of international (art-)photography, spreading it’s love and inspiration for photography in general and art-photography in specific. GUP started as a print-publication but nowadays also actively communicates with its community through a clever HTML5 based web platform, as well as through social community sites like Facebook and Twitter. This social and daily updated platform even more inspires our readership about as good as everything concerning the photographic scope and is consulted worldwide by over 100 nationalities on a daily basis, which is still growing. With our network of literally hundreds of international renowned photographers we have become an authority on (art-)photography and reach tens of thousands photography lovers around the globe. Our printed version is currently available in 24 countries worldwide and, besides Europe, targets the American and Canadian as well as the Australian market.

www.x-publishers.com

GUP #023 - Pop RockAfter the last summer, when we had all visited a dozen European pop/rock festivals, we decided we should do a pop/rock themed issue. When startig this issue we were under no illusions that we could cover the whole spectrum of the genre in one magazine, so we had to make choices, harsh ones.

ON-LINEPUBLICATIONSTHAT READS U!

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The Word MagazineBrussels, BelgiumLaunched in January 2008, The Word is a luxury and lifestyle bimestrial publication. A fresh and heavy-hitting take on neighbourhood life and global style, its purpose is to present a different facet to our beloved little country Belgium, one which goes beyond chocolate, beer and the Manneken Pis whilst also reporting back on some of the most exciting global goings-on in the world of design, style and ideas.

www.thewordmagazine.be

Tinted MagazineCroatia

Showcasing another 10 great young artists. Enjoy!

The Russian IssueNeighbourhood: Soviet stories / Life: The face of Russia / Style: Under surveillance / Design: More is more is more / Culture: Comrades at sea / The Food Special

Kevin KrautgartnerDortmund, Germany

Kevin KrautgartnerDortmund, Germany Underground

Architecture, Digital Photography, Photography

The beauty of deserted subway stations

https://www.behance.net/kevinkrautgartnerbbf

Pygmalion Karatzas10

Pygmalion Karat-zas was born in Greece (1973), stud-ied architecture in Budapest (1991-94),

urban design in Edinburgh (1995-97), ecovillage design education at Findhorn (2006). Additional studies include bioclimatic analysis (Ecotect), generative/parametric design (Rhinoceros, Grasshopper). A self-taught photographer doing fine art and com-mercial photography, par-ticipating in photography groups since 2006. His work has been featured in some of the best online curated galleries and has been col-laborating with architectur-al e-zines like arcspace.com, e-architect.co.uk, greekarchi-tects.gr. Honored to be among ‘the grand & prestigious pho-tographers of 2013 featured with 121clicks.com’. Fascinated with all forms of human expression and cre-ativity artistically, socially and spiritually with an in-tegral approach as the over-

reaching conceptual frame-work. As such he experiments and explores various photo-graphic genres like architec-ture, landscape, street, long exposure, panoramic, travel, time lapse. His on-going re-search is towards an inte-gral approach to architec-ture, sustainability and art.

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About the photographic project:Joseph Rosa, chief curator at the US National Building Museum, once stated that photography has become the lens through which we ob-serve and analyze the evo-lution of architecture. The positive aspect of this real-ity is that architects and the public around the world can participate in this educa-tional process, on the other hand, the negative aspect is the trap of images dominat-ing over it’s core purpose: the actual experiencing of architecture. My work aims to inspire peo-ple to not only view archi-tecture as a two dimentional image representation but to motivate them to experience it more comprehensively. Long exposure photography and a fine art approach makes people slow down, observe buildings closer, do research and field survey, revisit lo-cations under different light and weather conditions, and by doing so enriching their understanding and aware-ness of the built environ-ment.Photography has always been as much about discovering the personal and transper-sonal vision of the artist as much as it has been about mastering the technical as-pects of each photographic genre. This collection is part of an integral / AQAL photo-graphic vision, studying and

exploring various styles and approaches to architectural photography, aiming to com-bine a respectful represen-tation of exterior realities and a meaningful expres-sion of our interiority, and to bridge fine art and com-mercial photography.

“What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not pe-ripheral. Become a light bulb in-stead of a laser beam. Striving for excellence usually entails the sacrifice of everything in the background for the sake of at-tending to the all-important fore-ground. Find the meaning of ev-erything around, instead of just what you are directly facing.”

- John Maeda, ‘The laws of simplicity’

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01 MAXXI museum, Rome, by architect Zaha Zadid

02 Palazzo della Civilta, Rome, by architects Guerrini & La Padula

03 Vitra Design Museum, Basel, by architect Frank Gehry

04 Vitrahaus, Basel, by architects Herzog & de Meuron

05 Commerzbank, Frankfurt, by architect Norman Foster

06 KFW westarkade, Frankfurt, by architects Sauerbruch & Hutton

07 360 apartments, Patra, by architects Divercity

08 Ag. Athanasios curch, Aigion, by architect Yiannis Anastasiou

09 Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha, by architect Arata Isozaki

10 Msheireb Enrichment Center, Doha, by architects Allies & Morrison

11 Burj Qatar tower, Doha, by architect Jean Nouvel

12 Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, by architect I.M. Pei

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ARCHITECTURE WEBSITE:http://www.karatzas-architects.com

PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE:http://karatzas.wix.com/photo

BOOK:http://www.blurb.com/b/4579579-m-o-r-p-h-o-g-e-n-e-s-i-s-v1-1

SOCIAL MEDIA:https://www.facebook.com/pygmalion.karatzas

ONLINE GALLERIES:https://www.behance.net/pygmalionkaratzashttp://1x.com/member/pygmalionhttp://www.artlimited.net/23821http://www.stark-magazine.com/member/pygmalionkaratzas/photoshttp://ndmagazine.net/photographer/pygmalion-karatzashttp://500px.com/PygmalionKaratzashttp://www.flickr.com/photos/pygmalionkhttps://plus.google.com/+PygmalionKaratzas

Alex AntipinSankt-Peterburg, Russian Federation

st-petrsburg@rjevkaPhotography, Urbanism

https://www.behance.net/mega_sbjct

IMAGES: Alex Antipin

IMAGES: Alex Antipin

IMAGES: Alex Antipin

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Team USA bobsled pilot Sgt. Shauna

Rohbock is back in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program for what may be her farewell tour on the World Cup circuit.Rohbock teamed with brakeman Valerie Fleming to win the women's gold medal Jan. 14 at the World Cup event in Igls, Austria, where the U.S. duo prevailed by .09 seconds over Germany's Anja Scheiderheinze and Christin Senkel."If you ask anybody what track the push is the most important on, they would all say Igls," Rohbock said. "And today I got beat by over a tenth [of a second] at the start. To win here after being beat by over a tenth is unheard of - it doesn't happen."Rohbock and Fleming are

competing this season in a sled designed by Ollie Brower, a former soapbox derby competitor, and Todd Hays, who won a silver medal in the four-man competition at the 2002 Olympic Games."He drove it last year and was doing really well until he ended up crashing and couldn't continue," Rohbock said in reference to the sled Hays was forced to retire from because of a career-ending head injury. "This year, I really wanted to drive it because they ended up testing it against my sled and it was definitely faster."Rohbock credits the change in sleds for her final-season surge."I'm driving the same lines I used to before but it goes on and off curves so smooth," she said. "It's just a whole different feeling in the sled - it's just so much smoother and

quieter. It's been pretty good on all the tracks."You have to look at the sled and be like 'Wow, they definitely have something here.'"Rohbock drove sleds designed by NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine for eight consecutive years before making the switch for her final season."I told Todd all summer long that I really wanted to drive his sled, but if this is going to be my last year, obviously I want to do well," Rohbock said. "Especially on this track here [in Igls], everything is like fine-tuning, the little things make you faster - but it's not going to be faster if I can't drive it."Rohbock made her competitive debut in Hays' sled in Lake Placid, N.Y., where "it was flying and I took second in one race and crashed in the other,"

WCAP Sgt. Rohbock strikes World Cup gold on bobsled

farewell tour 110118

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she said."I can't believe I crashed in Lake Placid," she said. "I've never had a problem in this curve. I crashed out of Turn 12. But if you asked me where would you crash at Placid? I would say [curves] 7-8 or 17-18. I would never say out of 12 - I can't believe

it happened."Rohbock said "you can speculate so many different things" that caused the crash "but obviously I want to say things that make me feel better."Bottom line, Rohbock felt the potential to go faster than ever before and anxiously

awaited heading to Europe for the second half of the World Cup schedule.After winning the season-opening World Cup silver medal at Whistler, B.C., and getting cancelled by a blizzard Dec. 10 in Park City, Utah, Rohbock and Fleming had two races

Michelle Rzepka tucks in behind U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsled pilot Sgt. Shauna Rohbock during their third heat of the Olympic women's bobsled event at the Whistler Sliding Centre. They finished sixth aboard USA I with a four-heat combined time of 3 minutes, 34.06 seconds. The Canadian duo of Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse won the gold medal in 3:32.28. Rohbock is considering retiring from the sport after the 2011 World Championships. (Photo by Tim Hipps, FMWRC Public Affairs)

in Lake Placid."I took second in the first race and we were probably going to end up second in the second race, but I ended up crashing," Rohbock said. "So I would have three seconds and one first."Rohbock struggled with a quadriceps injury to finish eighth at Calgary, the other stop on the 2010-2011 World Cup circuit. She has three World Cup events remaining, followed by the World Championships on Feb. 18-19 in Konigssee, Germany."The problem is my body is just so hammered right now," Rohbock said. "After the Vancouver Olympics, I almost retired. Actually, I was pretty much retired over the summer. Valerie and I both live in Park City and we went for a walk one night and I was like, 'Let's just retire.' And she said, 'OK, good, I'm there with you. That's fine with me.'"The next day their coach called and talked them into returning for another season."I knew I was going to struggle a little bit this year with the push because I'm just

done - my body needs the time out," Rohbock said. "I wish that I could come back next year because the World Championships are going to be in Lake Placid, and obviously the sled that I'm in is ridiculously fast in Lake Placid. It's fast everywhere, but it's extra fast in Lake Placid, so I would love to come back."But I just can't. It's frustrating for me and frustrating for my brakeman. Valerie and I have raced for seven or eight seasons and she's been an awesome brakeman over the years. I've had my ups and downs since 2006 with injuries and she's pushed me right along and done a great job."Rohbock says very little would have happened with her bobsledding career without the support of WCAP and the Army National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program. She served as a forerunner at the 2002 Olympics in Park City as a member of WCAP. A forerunner is a non-competing athlete who drives down the bobsled track prior to competitors to ensure the surface is ready.Rohbock was released from WCAP in 2003

because her unit was preparing to deploy. At the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, she teamed with Fleming to win a silver medal while representing the Army National Guard. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka and finished sixth at the Whistler Sliding Centre."I feel like the military programs are why you end up winning medals," Rohbock said. "Everybody wants to support you in your Olympic year. In your offseason, that's when nobody cares. WCAP carries you whether it's an Olympic year or non-Olympic year - they're there supporting you. At Torino, I have to say WCAP was a big part of that medal as well because without them I wouldn't have been able to be a brakeman and start my driving career and then move into this other program."The military programs have probably been the biggest part of my success. Without them, I don't feel like I would have been able to win any medals."Fleming is happy just to share a sled with Rohbock.

"I've been feeling great," said Fleming, 34. "It's been a never-ending string of injuries for Shauna over the last five to six years, which I know is frustrating for her. I always want to do better. ... I have all the confidence in the world in Shauna. Her driving ability is awesome, and she can make up time that we might be losing at the start."Rohbock could be the kind of athlete who gives her body a break while coaching for a season or two, then jumps back into a sled to prepare for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia."It's definitely possible," she said. "If people ask: 'Are you going to go to Sochi?' Well, today, I say no. But obviously I've seen [then WCAP Spc.] Jill Bakken, who won gold in Salt Lake and said 'I'm done,' then she came back for Torino. Todd Hays hung it up after Torino for two years, then came back [and made a run] for Whistler. There have been so many athletes who have done it: took a couple years off and then came back."I said in Park City that I was retiring," Rohbock added. "You

never know, but I do want to coach as well."At any rate, Rohbock has a coaching career to keep her near the track. For now, her primary goal is to remain healthy through the World Championships."I feel like every day I'm fighting with my body," she said. "This week I was pushing and my quad just got kind of tight. I didn't take a couple of the last training runs and had to get worked on. Next week, maybe I'm going to be a little bit smarter. Maybe I'll train one day, take a day off, train one day, take a day off, and then race."I just feel like I'm constantly fighting and it's so frustrating because I was such a durable athlete through my college years. Ever since 2006 when I got a bigger injury, then I never took time off, which was probably a mistake."Speaking of durability, Rohbock actually played two seasons of professional soccer for the WUSA's San Diego Spirit while bobsledding during the winters."I've been a little rough on my body, and I'm

dreading 40, that's the problem," she said with a laugh. "I think maybe when I'm done, my body will go: 'Ah, finally,' and then it will go back to normal."Once all is said and done, Rohbock hopes to be remembered as one of the best athletes in the history of USA Bobsledding."Of course, I'd like to be remembered as the best female driver of all times," she said with a smile. "When I came into the sport we broke every start record on every track, so I'd like to think that I revolutionized the sport for the drivers to become more athletic. ... Now it's kind of like the process - a brakeman becomes a driver."I'd like to think I was a pioneer of the sport."

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