Olympic volleyball star April Ross serves inspiration to Girls Inc. in Costa Mesa

Luke Money of the LA Times caught the crowd of about 40 elementary school girls gasped when April Ross stood up — and not just because they were in the presence of an Olympian.

“I was taller than most of the boys in school,” the Costa Mesa resident said with a laugh as the girls cast astonished glances at her 6-foot-1 frame.

Her height and reach come in handy for Ross — a world-class beach volleyball player with golden aspirations for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

As Ross told the group of youngsters Wednesday afternoon at Girls Inc. of Orange County in Costa Mesa, she wasn’t always one of the top athletes in her sport.

Shea Chappell, 4, places a flower crown on April Ross during the Olympic medalist’s visit to Girls Inc. of Orange County in Costa Mesa.

Before she won a silver medal in beach volleyball at the 2012 Olympic Games in London or was a national champion at USC or starred at Newport Harbor High School, Ross was a young girl struggling to pick up the sport.

“When I started playing volleyball, I was the worst person on the team, and I’m not lying,” she said. “I was really bad. I couldn’t serve the ball over the net. I didn’t think I had a future in volleyball at all, but I loved the sport and I just loved playing.”

It took countless hours of hard work and more than a little determination for Ross, now 33, to reach her place as one of the shining stars of the sand.

That’s the message she hopes the young participants at Girls Inc. took away from her visit.

“As long as you work hard and you never give up and you keep working through those challenges, you’re going to grow and you’re going to learn and you’re always going to get better,” Ross said.

Ross visited Girls Inc. as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee‘s Team for Tomorrow program, which gives athletes a vehicle to spread Olympic values of respect, friendship and excellence.

The mission of Girls Inc. is to inspire girls to be “strong, smart and bold.” That resonates with Ross, as did the chance to speak to youngsters in her hometown.

Olympic beach volleyball silver medalist April Ross visits with youngsters at Girls Inc. of Orange County in Costa Mesa on Wednesday to talk about the importance of perseverance and a healthy and active lifestyle.

“One of the biggest callings for me is playing an active part in young girls’ lives and having an impact there and being a good influence,” Ross said. “I just want young girls to be confident and strong and bold, and that’s exactly their mission. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.”

For Olivia Rogers, 10, Ross’ visit was a prime opportunity to pick up some pointers.

“I like volleyball a lot,” Olivia said. “I play with a couple of other people.”

Olivia said she’s been working to hone her serve and, after hearing about how hard Ross worked to develop her skills, she’s going to keep at it.

Ross also spoke to the girls about the importance of eating healthy and being active. The group put some of those lessons in practice Wednesday by shooting basketballs, jumping rope, twirling hoops and, of course, playing a little volleyball.

“She’s a celebrity to the girls, which is amazing,” said Ashley Cashdollar, volunteer coordinator for Girls Inc. of Orange County. “She’s coming in, bringing her silver medal with her, and the girls get to see that and now they’re thinking, ‘Oh, I can do that one day.'”

Cashdollar thinks Ross’ personal story also resonated with the kids…READ MORE

What Poverty Does to the Young Brain

What Poverty Does to the Young Brain

The brain’s foundation, frame, and walls are built in the womb. As an embryo grows into a fetus, some of its dividing cells turn into neurons, arranging themselves into layers and forming the first synapses, the organ’s electrical wiring. Four or five months into gestation, the brain’s outermost layer, the cerebral cortex, begins to develop its characteristic wrinkles, which deepen further after birth. It isn’t until a child’s infant and toddler years that the structures underlying higher-level cognition—will power, emotional self-control, decision-making—begin to flourish; some of them continue to be fine-tuned throughout adolescence and into the first decade of adulthood.

Pat Levitt, a developmental neuroscientist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has spent much of his career studying the setbacks and accidents that can make this construction process go awry. In the nineteen-nineties, during the media panic over “crack babies,” he was among…READ MORE.

Flint water crisis: Michigan officials ignored EPA warnings about toxicity

Flint water crisis: Michigan officials ignored EPA warnings about toxicity

‘We all let the people of Flint down,’ authorities tells Congress in hearing that also highlights flawed water testing practices that persist in other major US cities

The Environmental Protection Agency warned of an unfolding toxic water crisis in Flint but was “met with resistance” by Michigan authorities, a fiery congressional hearing into the city’s public health disaster has heard.

Expert advice was dismissed, prompting Michigan’s government to issue an apology to the people of Flint at the hearing for sidelining people who raised concerns over dangerous levels of lead in in the city’s water.

Congress was also told that flawed water testing practices, now eliminated in Flint, are happening unchecked across the US, risking a much wider…READ MORE.

Biodegradable Rice-sized brain implant

Dissolvable brain implant the size of a grain of rice invented by scientists

Biodegradable device which measures temperature and blood pressure could be used to monitor a patient’s recovery

The device could be implanted into the brain without the need to remove it once its job is done Corbis.

A surgical implant no bigger than a grain of rice which measures a patient’s temperature and blood pressure for several days before dissolving harmlessly in body fluids has been invented by scientists.

The biodegradable device could be implanted into the brain or other vital organs to monitor a patient’s medical recovery without the need for cumbersome wires or operations to remove the implant once its job is done, the researchers said.

Tests carried out on laboratory animals shows…READ MORE.

Not Enough Sleep May Help Alzheimer’s Take Hold

In recent years, scientists have made small steps towards understanding the relationship between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. Now, researchers from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland may soon illuminate the connection—they are launching the first experiment of its kind that will study a key process in the brains of sleeping humans, as NPR reports.

Disrupted sleep patterns have long been a common complaint for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, sometimes decades before they develop cognitive problems or noticeable memory loss. The reason, researchers have discovered, is likely the buildup of beta amyloid plaque, a sticky amalgamation of proteins that collects in synapses and is characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. A number of studies published in the last five years have found that people (and mice) with disrupted sleep patterns had more beta amyloid plaque in their brains.

Researchers are starting to get a sense for why this is the case—sleep maysweep toxins from the brain, preventing beta amyloid from collecting in synapses. But scientists are still not sure….Read More.

Solar, Wind, Hydro and Nuclear energy in China

Solar, Wind, Hydro and Nuclear energy in China
China ended 2015 with about 120 GW of wind power, 43 GW of solar, and 320 GW of hydro power.

In 2014, China’s wind power generation capacity reached 114.6 GW, and generated 153.4 TWh of electricity.  20 GW of wind would generate about 27 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year.  15 GW of solar would generate about 15 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year.  As of October 2015, China plans to install 150 GW of solar power by 2020.

At mid-2015 there were 25 nuclear generating units in commercial operation in China, with total installed capacity at 23.6 GW. China added 6 more nuclear reactors in the latter half of 2015 with 6.1 GW (45-50 TWh) of power. China’s 2015 nuclear reactors operating for a full year should generate about 210-240 TWh.

China become the world’s largest electricity consumer, passing the United States in 2011. In 2014, it generated 5583TWh, 25% more electricity than the US.

China’s electricity consumption reached 465.8 terawatt hours (TWh) in Nov of 2015, up 0.6% compared to the same period last year, according to statistics released by the National Energy Administration.

In the first eleven months of this year, the country consumed…READ MORE