Renowned Canadian scientist Frank Plummer dies in Kenya, where he led HIV breakthroughs



World-renowned scientist Dr. Frank Plummer of Winnipeg has died.

Plummer, 67, was in Kenya, where he was a keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the University of Nairobi's collaborative centre for research and training in HIV/AIDS/STIs.

Dr. Larry Gelmon, who helped set up that meeting, said Plummer collapsed and was taken to hospital in Nairobi, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

No confirmed cause of death has yet been released.

Plummer was born and raised in Winnipeg, where he headed up Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory for several years.

He was also involved in an innovative research partnership between the University of Manitoba and the University of Nairobi, established before the world was very aware of HIV/AIDS.

"He helped to identify a lot of the key factors that are involved in HIV transmission in the early days," said Keith Fowke, a professor in the medical microbiology and infectious diseases department at the University of Manitoba.

Plummer was a mentor, she said, who helped set up and make the national laboratory in Winnipeg a world-class institution.

Plummer was at the helm of the lab during the SARS, influenza and H1N1 epidemics, as well as during the development of an Ebola vaccine.

Prior to his time at the lab, Plummer’s research shaped public health policy around the world.

Bruce McEwen, 81, Is Dead; Found Stress Can Alter the Brain

A neuroscientist, he showed how an unrelenting barrage of stress hormones can break down the body, leading to disease, depression, obesity and more.



It was a staple of medical thinking dating to the 1910s that stress was the body’s alarm system, switching on only when terrible things happened, often leaving a person with an either-or choice: fight or flight.

The neuroscientist Bruce S. McEwen trailblazed a new way of thinking about stress. Beginning in the 1960s, he redefined it as the body’s way of constantly monitoring daily challenges and adapting to them.

Dr. McEwen, who died on Jan. 2 at 81, described three forms of stress: good stress — a response to an immediate challenge with a burst of energy that focuses the mind; transient stress — a response to daily frustrations that resolve quickly; and chronic stress — a response to a toxic, unrelenting barrage of challenges that eventually breaks down the body.

It was Dr. McEwen’s research into chronic stress that proved groundbreaking. He and his research team at Rockefeller University in Manhattan discovered in 1968 that stress hormones had a profound effect on the brain.

Award-winning journalist Christie Blatchford dead at 68

Blatchford was best known for reporting and columns on criminal justice



Well-known national newspaper columnist Christie Blatchford has died at 68, according to the newspaper she worked for.

The Quebec-born Blatchford, who worked at the National Post, Globe and Mail and both the Toronto Sun and Star, was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in the fall of 2019.

A multiple-award winner, Blatchford wrote about a wide range of issues, but was best known for her columns on crime and Canada's justice system. She also worked as a war correspondent.

Blatchford was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame last November. Upon her induction, she told the Post why she was drawn to crime and war stories.

"It's usually about life and death, so that makes it something really important," she said.

"It's about processes that are important to the country, whether a military process or criminal court process, because we all depend on these f--king things to keep the balance. I don't give a f--k about a celebrity book or any kind of other story. I care about stories that tell us why the system matters, why things are worth protecting, why the rule of law is important."

Words of remembrance for Blatchford from colleagues and the people she covered as a journalist were quick to pour in on social media.

Heather Couper: Broadcaster and astronomer dies at 70



Broadcaster and astronomer Heather Couper has died at the age of 70.

Dr Couper appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter and The Sky At Night programmes, as well as presenting and producing acclaimed science documentaries.

She also hosted radio series including the BBC World Service's long-running Seeing Stars and BBC Radio 4's Cosmic Quest and Starwatch.

Her best friend and business partner, Nigel Henbest, said she had died on Wednesday after a short illness.

She had been a "charismatic... and passionate communicator of science", he said.

"She got people really excited about the Universe and about space - that was her love, her passion in life."

Lt. General Charles "Chuck" Pitman passed away this past Thursday at age 84. His career spanned over 40 years, including three combat tours in Vietnam. He also was involved in Operation Eagle Claw, the attempted rescue of the American hostages in Tehran in 1980. He commanded an Air Wing and was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Marine Corps Aviation. He earned the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. But for all his achievements in uniform, Pitman is better known for ignoring military protocol and breaking a bunch of regulations so he could save lives.

Don't ask permission, ask forgiveness.

That was the thought process of then, Lieutenant Colonel Pitman. On Jan. 7, 1973, Pitman was the commander of the Marine Air Reserve Training in Louisiana. Pitman had turned on the television to see a horrible scene unfolding. A gunman had taken position on top of a hotel and was shooting and killing police officers. The sniper had a full view of all on comers, and any attempt to enter the hotel was met with murderous gunfire.

Pitman didn't even think twice about asking permission to help. He grabbed another pilot and two crew members and jumped in a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter and headed toward New Orleans.

The incident Pitman was flying into actually started several days earlier on New Year's Eve. Mark Essex was a Navy vet who had been kicked out due to behavior issues. He had ended up in New Orleans, where he fell in with radical groups. One of those groups was the Black Panthers. Essex had grown angrier over time with what he perceived to be injustices he faced in the Navy and now as a civilian. After learning of a civil rights protest in which two students from Southern University were killed by police, Essex lost it.

He went to New Orleans police headquarters, where he shot and killed an African American cadet; shooting him from behind. He then fled and tried to break into a warehouse. When police arrived, unaware that he was linked to the shooting at HQ, Essex ambushed them, mortally wounding one. By the time backup arrived, he had vanished into the night.

On Jan. 7, Essex reappeared, and entered a Howard Johnson hotel in downtown New Orleans. As he made his way to the roof, he murdered a newlywed couple and the hotel's manager and assistant manager. He then set fires in several rooms and made his way to the roof.

Essex had set an ambush. The shooting and fires would draw first responders to the scene. Then he would carry out his horrible plan to kill more cops.

As the police and firefighters arrived, they attempted to enter the hotel. Essex killed three police officers and wounded several more. He was able to pin down anyone that attempted to move toward the hotel and was completely concealed from return fire by concrete barriers on the roof.

By this time, the TV cameras had shown up. Broadcasting over the airwaves, they told viewers of the horrible situation unfolding in downtown New Orleans.

One of the viewers was Lt. Colonel Pitman.

Pitman flew the CH-46 toward the hotel without any idea what he was actually going to do. He just knew he had to do something. When he arrived on site, Pitman located an empty parking lot next to the hotel. He landed, headed to the command center, and quickly became apprised of the situation. The cops on the scene sought his advice, and his years of service in Vietnam kicked in. Essex had the high ground, so Pittman would go higher.

He put several New Orleans police officers on the helicopter and took off. He started flying passes over the roof of the hotel, slowing down and turning so that the police could get a good shot. They could not. Essex would take shots at the aircraft from afar but would take cover the minute they closed in. Pitman noticed this and kept making passes to lure Essex into thinking this was his routine. Finally, after one pass, he turned immediately around and caught Essex in the open. The police in the helicopter unloaded on the sniper.

When all was said and done, Essex was found with over 200 rounds in his body.

Pitman was lauded as a hero by the police and citizens of New Orleans and just about everybody...except the United States Marine Corps.

It turns out that Pitman (kind of… sort of) violated a few rules and regulations when he took the helicopter. He wasn't allowed to use military personnel or aircraft for anything other than a rescue mission (like evacuating flood victims).

You would think that the Marine Corps would look at the badassery that Pitman just pulled off and call it a public relations coup. But, they didn't (of course) and started the process of a court-martial.

It was only due to the intervention of Democratic Congressman and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Edward Herbert that the issue was dropped.

Pitman would continue his amazing career, retiring in 1990 as a Lt. General.

Lt. General Pitman, rest easy, and Semper Fidelis.

:cry:

Larry Tesler: 1945–2020

"Parent Of GUIs, Slayer of Modes"

Larry got under my skin. I walked into a party in the Santa Cruz mountains (1987-ish?) and my then-wife said, “What the hell just happened?”

“What?”

“You stiffened up the moment we walked in. You and that guy over there are glaring daggers. Who is that?”

“Larry Tesler.”

At that point Larry and I had only interacted a bit around the OOPSLA conference. I was already in awe of him as one of the Smalltalk demi-gods from Xerox/PARC (I had practically memorized the Smalltalk issue of Byte Magazine). I knew he was at Apple, which I had just joined.

I’m still not sure what the tension was. I haven’t had that initial bristling reaction with anyone else who became a friend. Maybe we both saw ourselves as outsiders but wanted to be alpha dogs. Put two of those in a room and yeah sparks are going to fly.

A story (don’t know if this is true, but this is how it was told to me and it matches what else I know about Larry): the early Smalltalkers knew they needed a browser, a way to navigate, understand, and modify the code in the system. The core group went off to talk about it. Larry got pissed, just wrote a damn browser (the design of which, much to his disgust, persists today 45 years later), and showed it to them when they returned.

My path crossed Larry’s at Apple from 1987–1989. As head of research, Larry wrangled a bunch of bright folks figuring out where these computers we’d put on everybody’s desks were going to go next. As a late-20s geek, I had no respect for what managers did. Then Larry went on sabbatical.

Six weeks later he showed us the geological core sample browser he’d written. I was blown away. I coded all day, every day, and I couldn’t have done what he did. The beauty and utility of the system were obvious.

Bert Sutherland

Born May 10, 1936
Hastings, Nebraska, United States
Died February 18, 2020 (aged 83)

William Robert "Bert" Sutherland (May 10, 1936 – February 18, 2020),[1][2] older brother of Ivan Sutherland, was the longtime manager of three prominent research labs, including Sun Microsystems Laboratories (1992–1998), the Systems Science Laboratory at Xerox PARC (1975–1981), and the Computer Science Division of Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc. which helped develop the ARPANET.

In these roles, Sutherland participated in the creation of the personal computer, the technology of advanced microprocessors, the Smalltalk programming language, the Java programming language and the Internet.

Unlike traditional corporate research managers, Sutherland added individuals from fields like psychology, cognitive science, and anthropology to enhance the work of his technology staff. He also directed his scientists to take their research, like the Xerox Alto "personal" computer, outside of the lab to allow people to use it in a corporate setting and to observe their interaction with it.

In addition, Sutherland fostered a collaboration between the Caltech researchers developing techniques of very large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI) – his brother Ivan and Carver Mead – and Lynn Conway of his PARC staff. With PARC resources made available by Sutherland, Mead and Conway developed a textbook and university syllabus that helped expedite the development and distribution of a technology whose impact is now immeasurable.[3]

Sutherland said that a research lab is primarily a teaching institution, "teaching whatever is new so that the new can become familiar, old, and used widely."[4]

Sutherland received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his master's degree and Ph.D. from MIT; his thesis advisor was Claude Shannon. During his military service in the United States Navy, he was awarded the Legion of Merit as a Carrier ASW plane commander.

One of NASA’s greatest mathematicians, Katherine Johnson, has died



Katherine Johnson, a trailblazing mathematician best known for her contributions to NASA's human spaceflight program, and who gained fame later in life due to the movie Hidden Figures, died Monday. She was 101 years old.

"At NASA we will never forget her courage and leadership and the milestones we could not have reached without her," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. "We will continue building on her legacy and work tirelessly to increase opportunities for everyone who has something to contribute toward the ongoing work of raising the bar of human potential."

Born in rural West Virginia on August 26, 1918, Johnson showed an aptitude for mathematics early in life. “I counted everything," she said late in life of her formative years. "I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed… anything that could be counted, I did."

When West Virginia decided to integrate its graduate schools in 1939, Johnson and two male students were selected as the first black students to be offered spots at the state’s flagship school, West Virginia University. Katherine left her teaching job, and enrolled in the graduate math program.

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