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NASA, Partners Conduct Fifth Asteroid Impact Exercise, Release Summary

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WASHINGTON, June 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — For the benefit of all, NASA released a summary Thursday of the fifth biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, in partnership with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State Office of Space Affairs, convened the tabletop exercise to inform and assess our ability as a nation to respond effectively to the threat of a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet.

Although there are no known significant asteroid impact threats for the foreseeable future, hypothetical exercises provide valuable insights by exploring the risks, response options, and opportunities for collaboration posed by varying scenarios, from minor regional damage with little warning to potential global catastrophes predicted years or even decades in the future.

“The uncertainties in these initial conditions for the exercise allowed participants to consider a particularly challenging set of circumstances,” said Lindley Johnson, planetary defense officer emeritus NASA Headquarters in Washington. “A large asteroid impact is potentially the only natural disaster humanity has the technology to predict years in advance and take action to prevent.”

During the exercise, participants considered potential national and global responses to a hypothetical scenario in which a never-before-detected asteroid was identified that had, according to initial calculations, a 72% chance of hitting Earth in approximately 14 years. The preliminary observations described in the exercise, however, were not sufficient to precisely determine the asteroid’s size, composition, and long-term trajectory. To complicate this year’s hypothetical scenario, essential follow-up observations would have to be delayed for at least seven months – a critical loss of time – as the asteroid passed behind the Sun as seen from Earth’s vantage point in space.

Conducting exercises enable government stakeholders to identify and resolve potential issues as part of preparation for any real-world situation. It was held in April at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and brought together nearly 100 representatives from across U.S. government agencies and, for the first time, international collaborators on planetary defense.

“Our mission is helping people before, during, and after disasters,” said Leviticus “L.A.” Lewis, FEMA detailee to NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. “We work across the country every day before disasters happen to help people and communities understand and prepare for possible risks. In the event of a potential asteroid impact, FEMA would be a leading player in interagency coordination.” 

This exercise was the first to use data from NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, the first in-space demonstration of a technology for defending Earth against potential asteroid impacts. The DART spacecraft, which impacted the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022, confirmed a kinetic impactor could change the trajectory of an asteroid. Applying this or any type of technology to an actual impact threat would require many years of advance planning.

To help ensure humanity will have the time needed to evaluate and respond to a potentially hazardous asteroid or comet, NASA continues the development of its NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor), an infrared space telescope designed specifically to expedite our ability to discover and characterize most of the potentially hazardous near-Earth objects many years before they could become an impact threat. The agency’s NEO Surveyor’s proposed launch date is set for June 2028.

NASA will publish a complete after-action report for the tabletop exercise later, which will include strengths and gaps identified from analysis of the response, other discussions during the exercise, and recommendations for improvement.

“These outcomes will help to shape future exercises and studies to ensure NASA and other government agencies continue improving planetary defense preparedness,” said Johnson.

NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office in 2016 to manage the agency’s ongoing planetary-defense efforts. Johns Hopkins APL managed the DART mission for NASA as a project of the agency’s Planetary Missions Program Office. 

To learn more about planetary defense at NASA, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-partners-conduct-fifth-asteroid-impact-exercise-release-summary-302178495.html

SOURCE NASA

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The Integrative Healthcare Symposium Announces 2025 Conference Program

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November 13, 2024

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Education sessions and panel discussions will educate, inspire and engage integrative healthcare practitioners

PORTLAND, Maine, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Integrative Healthcare Symposium, the premier east coast event for integrative and holistic healthcare practitioners, has announced its 2025 education program. The Symposium – celebrating its 20th anniversary – will take place February 20-22 at the Hilton Midtown in New York City.

“We are thrilled to again have so many of the leaders in the field coming to share their knowledge with us,” said Woodson Merrell, MD. “The event is a wonderful opportunity to gather as a community; for CME/CE-level education and inspiration.”

Education sessions will be available throughout all three days of the event and will be led by a diverse range of integrative healthcare experts and leaders. The program will focus on advancing the industry through timely discussions supported by scientific-based research, as well as cultivating the next generation of thought leaders.

“Over the last six months, our team has been facilitating conversations with our board members to ensure we’re providing education from a diverse group of experts,” said Caitlin Ewing, Symposium Conference Manager. “We have a lot of subspecialty topics this year; longevity, mind-body and lifestyle medicine are key focus areas, too. The goal is to provide advanced, actionable learnings for practitioners to implement into their practices immediately. Attendees will leave New York City feeling inspired and ready to propel the industry forward!”

The 2025 conference program will feature more than 40 sessions, including “An Evidence Based Program to Build Resilience and Well-Being Using Integrative Approaches,” led by Anjali Bhagra, MD, MBA; “The Gut-Brain Axis: Understanding Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction,” led by Adam Perlman, MD, MPH; and “Environmental Toxins and Mental Health: What Practitioners Can Share to Improve Outcomes,” led by Aly Cohen, MD, FACR. Additional speakers include JJ Virgin, CNS, BCHN, EP-C; Rudrani Banik, MD, IFMCP; William A. Seeds, MD; Kara Fitzgerald, ND, David Perlmutter, MD, FACN; and Eboni Cornish, MD.

“I am so excited to be chairing the 20th annual Integrative Healthcare Symposium this February in NYC,” said Woodson Merrell, MD. “We are thrilled to again have so many of the leaders in the field coming to share their knowledge with us. The event is a wonderful opportunity to gather as a community; for CME/CE-level education and inspiration.”

Continuing education credits will be available at the 2025 Symposium; detailed information will be shared in the new year. To view the current program, click here.

Register for the 2025 Symposium:
Early bird pricing is in effect through Thursday, December 5; click here to register.

Contact Information:

For questions about the education program, contact the Conference Team at conference@ihsymposium.com.For questions about attending, contact Attendee Relations Coordinator Emma Galeckas at egaleckas@divcom.com.For questions about exhibiting, contact Group Sales Manager Carmella Perrone at cperrone@divcom.com.For media inquiries, contact Sr. Marketing Manager Genae Salinas at gsalinas@divcom.com.

About the Integrative Healthcare Symposium
Founded in 2005, the Integrative Healthcare Symposium is the east coast’s premier event for integrative and holistic healthcare practitioners. Each year, the in-person event attracts hundreds of practitioners including medical, osteopathic, chiropractic and naturopathic doctors, registered nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered dieticians, nutritionists, massage therapists, health coaches, psychologists and more. With timely educational offerings led by industry experts, the opportunity to earn continuing education credits, meaningful peer connection and a dynamic exhibit hall, the Symposium is a must-attend event for integrative healthcare practitioners. For more information, visit http://www.ihsymposium.com.

Media Contact

Genae Salinas, Diversified Communications, 2078425647, gsalinas@divcom.com, https://www.ihsymposium.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/the-integrative-healthcare-symposium-announces-2025-conference-program-302304486.html

SOURCE Integrative Healthcare Symposium; Diversified Communications

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Ada Supports $500B Customer Service Labor Market with AI Agent Powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service

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November 13, 2024

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Ada’s generative AI Agent automates millions of customer service interactions for enterprises around the world, transforming support operations and reducing costs.

TORONTO, Nov. 13, 2024 /CNW/ – Ada, the AI-native customer service automation company, today announced that companies leveraging Ada’s AI Agent, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, have collectively saved over 2 million hours of human labor, showcasing the impact of generative AI on customer service efficiency. Ada’s customers with top performing AI Agents are automatically resolving over 80% of their customer service inquiries across multiple channels and in dozens of languages.

“We pride ourselves on building a product that achieves the best results for our customers,” says Mike Gozzo, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Ada. “With our improved capabilities over the past year and a half, we are seeing our customers apply Ada across more of their channels to include messaging, email, and phone support. Their trust in our product is bringing us that much closer to achieving 100% automated resolution rates and delivering on our mission of making customer service extraordinary for everyone.”

To further enhance cost savings and operational efficiency for its customers, Ada is pleased to announce its availability in Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This means it is even easier for enterprise companies to leverage Ada’s generative AI capabilities, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service LLMs. Microsoft customers can onboard Ada’s AI Agent onto their existing knowledge and customer data platforms to automatically resolve over 80% of complex customer service issues with minimal effort.

“The business value that Ada is providing enterprise customer service teams by harnessing the power of AI is truly transformative,” says Mike Gaal, Digital Native GM, Americas. “We are pleased that Ada continues to see value in Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and look forward to all that they accomplish with Microsoft Azure Marketplace.”

Onboarded with existing help center content and data, Ada’s AI Agent delivers immediate impact to enterprise customer service teams:

Rapid time to value: Automatically resolve over 80% of customer inquiries using your existing knowledge base, boosting efficiency from day one.Extensibility: Seamlessly connect Ada to your tech stack without coding and automate complex actions instantly.Ease of AI management: Refine and optimize your AI Agent’s performance with intuitive AI management tools that ensure continuous improvement.Scalability: Launch a single AI Agent across multiple channels—messaging, social media, in-app, email, and phone—in dozens of languages, providing consistent support anywhere your customers are.

Ada customer monday.com uses Ada’s AI Agent to automate customer service inquiries across messaging and email channels and has realized significant business impact with their deployments.

“monday.com‘s customer service operations have transformed since we brought Ada on board. Our AI Agent automatically resolves 50% of our customer service tickets, which has reduced our reliance on external support for ticket management and has allowed our team to tackle more strategic challenges,” said Ronen Partizky, monday.com‘s Senior Product Manager and CX Lead. “By deploying Ada, monday.com‘s in-house support team provides a higher quality of service, as they know our customers, products, and business best. We are investing our cost savings into strategic initiatives to expand our service offerings, so we can continue to provide the superior experience that our customers have come to expect from monday.com.”

On December 5th, Ada and Microsoft are co-hosting a digital event where Mike Gozzo, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Ada, and John Weigelt, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Canada, will share their 2025 predictions for generative AI in customer service. The registration link is available here.

For more information about how to onboard Ada to your suite of Microsoft products, visit Ada’s Azure Marketplace listing here.

About Ada
Ada is an AI-native customer service automation platform on a mission to make customer service extraordinary for everyone. Ada makes it easy for businesses to automatically resolve the greatest number of customer service conversations — across channels and languages — with the least amount of effort. Since 2016, Ada has powered more than 4 billion automated customer interactions for brands like Canva, Verizon, YETI, and Square. Born in Toronto, Ada serves companies and their customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.ada.cx.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ada-supports-500b-customer-service-labor-market-with-ai-agent-powered-by-microsoft-azure-openai-service-302304482.html

SOURCE Ada Support

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Bell Textron Selects Integris Composites as Armor Supplier for U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)

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November 13, 2024

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Integris Composites, Inc., a global leader in armor protection for the world’s elite military announces an agreement with Bell Textron Inc. to provide armor for the U.S. Army’s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft.

TYSONS CORNER, Va., Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Integris Composites, the global leader in armor protection for the world’s elite military units has been selected by Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, as a supplier of armor systems for the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA).

This tiltrotor aircraft is the U.S. Army’s selected platform for its FLRAA weapons system. It will provide advanced capability well beyond that of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with increased speed, range and payloads.

“We are grateful to be selected by Bell,” said Andrew Bonham, president of Integris Composites, Inc., the U.S. component of Integris Composites ─ which last year became the new name for TenCate Advanced Armour, continuing a quarter-century legacy as a resource for form, safety, dependability and survivability.

“All of us at Integris are extremely proud to be part of the team behind this innovative rotorcraft that is ushering in what will become the U.S. Army’s new long-range assault aircraft ensuring our nation’s warfighters have the decisive edge in any theater where they are operating,” Bonham continued.

“We are pleased to include Integris Composites on the team for its protective armor capabilities for the FLRAA,” said Ryan Ehinger, senior vice president and program director for FLRAA, Bell. “Bell and the FLRAA team are committed to delivering not just more speed and range to our soldiers, but more survivability and reliability as well,” Ehinger stated.

A Storied Legacy

“Integris becomes a part of the latest chapter in the storied legacy of utility aircraft, a lineage that traces its roots back to the iconic Vietnam-era ‘Huey’ (UH-1 Iroquois) and the present-day UH-60 Black Hawk, which has faithfully served as the Army’s Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft (UTTAS) since 1979,” said David Cordova, chief commercial officer for Integris, Inc.

“FLRAA is a marvel of engineering that promises to redefine the boundaries of speed, agility, operational versatility/survivability,” Cordova observed.

Advanced Armor from Integris on Land, Water and in the Air

“This is the latest armor contract for Integris in the airborne segment,” added Bonham. “It’s an exceptional achievement for both the Integris organization as well as commercial partners, such as the team at QinetiQ Group plc.”

Cordova said Integris is supporting several other aerospace companies. “We provide armored kits such as the H-125, MH-139 as well as the C-130J this last one, in partnership with QinetiQ. But Integris is also providing high-performance, lightweight, fit-for-purpose composite military armor on the ground and in the water as well as in the air,” said Cordova.

Integris is an engineering company and the manufacturer of composite armor for land vehicles, aircraft, naval craft, protection housing for optronics and other sensitive technology and personal protection gear. For more information go to: www.integriscomposites.com

Photo by Danazar-Creative Commons

Contact:
David Cordova, Chief Commercial Officer
Integris Composites, Inc.
david.cordova@integriscompositesus.com
+1 704 458 7796

Photos:
https://www.prlog.org/13047920

Press release distributed by PRLog

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bell-textron-selects-integris-composites-as-armor-supplier-for-us-armys-future-long-range-assault-aircraft-flraa-302304611.html

SOURCE Integris Composites

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