SEPTEMBER 7th 3-4 for kids and 4-5 for adults! PUEO is hosting an event for kids and adults. We still have space for 4-5 pm on the 7th for any adults (teachers, etc.) that would like to learn how to run the portable planetarium that you can borrow from Gemini. RSVP your spot for the 4-5 pm slot. We also might have some space for the kids show from 3-4, so contact us if you want to join in! You can also learn more about the program here: http://tinyurl.com/zsym78f ... read more
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER The Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Building a giant telescope atop Mauna Kea will come with educational opportunities that Hawaii shouldn’t close the door to, the president of a Native Hawaiian group that supports the project said. Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities President Keahi Warfield told a Waikiki hotel banquet room filled with members of the Rotary Club of Honolulu Tuesday that he believes there’s a “silent majority” of the public who support the Thirty Meter Telescope. The $1.4 billion telescope has divided the Native Hawaiian community, with many opponents saying it will desecrate sacred land. The state Supreme Court invalidated the project’s permit last year and ordered a new contested case hearing. Warfield’s group, whose acronym PUEO means Hawaiian owl, is allowed to participate in the upcoming hearing. The nonprofit organization’s board consists of Native Hawaiian elders, Warfield said. “Many people have come forward to thank us for exposing a view that they were afraid to voice,” said a bullet point in a presentation Warfield showed the Rotary Club. Many don’t feel safe expressing support for the telescope, he said. Intense protests on the Big Island mountain prompted a halt in construction. Telescope officials have said they want a permit in place by the end of the year or early next year in order to resume construction in 2018. Meanwhile, telescope officials are looking for possible alternate sites in case it can’t be built in Hawaii. A young girl told Warfield she no longer wants to grow up to be a scientist because of the debate, which has pitted family members against each other, Warfield... read more
There was a crowd of over 50 people who showed their support for building the TMT yesterday in Hilo. Each person had their own reasons from creating jobs to enthusiasm over scientific discoveries. Richard Ha was there talking to people and there was a lot of friendly motorists who waved and honked in support. Other PUEO leaders were busy with their educational programs and getting ready for today’s hearing that is getting underway at 10:00 am. But they were there in spirit and more PEUO shirts were passed out. Hearing Underway Today It’s great to see the community come out and support efforts to get the TMT built, but we also have a lot of work to do to make sure the educational opportunities stay here in Hawaii and that we can insure that Hawaiian cultural is a key part of that education. Today Judge Amano is going to start going through the motions filed from the 20 parties involved in the case hearing from 10am to 1 pm in the Hilo YMCA. There are several motions filed against allowing PUEO to participate in the process and over 170 documents and filings in process. For a full list of the filings visit the DLNR website and select the “Document Library”. Between the recent polling results of and responses to our sign waving event we are confident we are on the right track and doing what is best for our childrens’ and grand childrens’ futures.... read more
Update: The polling done by Ward Research was done for n=404 respondents, maximum margin of error of +/- 4.9% at 95% confidence level. The sample chart shown below of Caucasian, Hawaiian and Japanese only total 299 because there were other ethnicities not shown the chart purely for simplicity reasons. Those excluded 105 respondents excluded: Chinese, 1%; Filipino, 9%; Mixed, 9%; Other, 4%; and refused to identify, 3%. The results of a new scientific poll show that Hawai‘i Island residents support the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. The public opinion poll conducted in July 2016 by Ward Research Inc. shows that 60% of Hawai‘i Island’s residents support moving ahead with construction of the TMT project, with 31% opposed. In a previous scientific poll taken in October 2015, 59% of Hawai‘i Island’s residents supported moving ahead with TMT construction, while 39% were opposed to it. “It was important for us to understand how Hawai‘i Island residents feel about the project, and the latest poll results demonstrate that opposition to TMT on Hawai‘i Island is decreasing,” said TMT Executive Director Ed Stone. “That’s significant and we are most grateful that the community’s support of the project remains high. The findings also show that the general public on Hawai‘i Island understands the benefits TMT will bring in terms of Hawaii’s economy and education, both of which are very important to TMT.” The poll’s key findings: 89% of Hawai‘i Island residents agree there should be a way for science and Hawaiian culture to co-exist on Maunakea 76% of Hawai‘i Island residents agree that TMT will help create good paying jobs and... read more
National media coverage of the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (“TMT”) has consistently reported that Native Hawaiians are against its construction. We from Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities, Inc. (“PUEO”) strongly disagree with these claims. Latest polling on Oahu shows not only a majority of voters support the TMT project, but support from Native Hawaiians has grown into a majority. PUEO is buoyed by the news of poll numbers conducted by Ward Research for the Star Advertiser showing 76% support for TMT with 57% of Native Hawaiians in favor. As we have stated, PUEO hopes to bring a vision of clarity and unity to the process through the perpetuation of unique educational opportunities for our children. We believe that our voice of inclusiveness is getting heard in our communities, and that moving forward with aloha, and integrating culture and science are in the best interests for Hawai`i’s future. PUEO is a Native Hawaiian led non-profit dedicated to enhancing and creating educational opportunities for Hawaii’s youth and their communities. PUEO’s focus on bridging traditional knowledge and scientific opportunities are specific to Hawaii and Hawaiian Culture. In addition to the restoration of the voyaging canoe, Hokualakai, we also provide opportunities for kids to engage in hands-on, inter-disciplinary learning environments. Our intent is based on a unifying vision of Hawaiian language, culture, science, technology and exploration. PUEO seeks to provide and enhance the opportunities for our children to continue the Hawaiian tradition and culture of exploration and learning to all members of our communities. PUEO recognizes the importance of Hawaii’s children to seek knowledge from all sources in order to survive and... read more
Normally this space on our site is for information related to discoveries from Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, but the successful orbit (click on this article’s title to see the animation) of Jupiter by Juno effects everyone on the planet. Jupiter is one of the first planets to form in our system and what is inside this planet that almost became a sun is a mystery. We are hopeful Juno can unlock some of the deep secrets of how our planets formed and how a gas planet like Jupiter works. Follow along on NASA’s page all about the Juno Mission.... read more
From West Hawaii Today “So, what are you doing this summer?” is one of the most commonly asked questions students are asked when walking out of their final exams. But instead of replying with a casual shrug of the shoulders, Hawaii residents Nicole Tabac, Kyle Mauri and Daryl Albano had the unique opportunity to proudly say, “I’m a Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Akamai intern.” While these students are akamai by every stretch of the word, they are among 30 college students interning in STEM related organizations throughout the Big Island and Maui as a part of the Akamai Internship Program. The program’s mission is to provide college students the opportunity to gain work experience at an observatory, company or technical facility in Hawaii for seven weeks. It has had tremendous success, with an 81 percent retention rate of students staying on the STEM pathway in college and beyond. The program includes housing, travel fees and a stipend to interns. Such is possible through generous funding from sponsors such as Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory and The Air Force Office of Scientific Research based in Arlington, VA. Yet, unlike other similar internships, the program has a variety of sites and jobs available for each student based on their aptitudes and interests. The list includes more than 50 different fields of STEM ranging from biology to computer programming. Students are placed with a project and mentor that best suits their interests, according to Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope’s outreach program manager, Mary Beth Laychak. “You want to make sure the intern, mentor and project are all very well aligned,” she said. “And that’s something that Lisa... read more
Astronomers at The University of Nottingham have released spectacular new infrared images of the distant Universe, providing the deepest view ever obtained over a large area of sky. The team, led by Omar Almaini, Professor of Astrophysics in the School of Physics and Astronomy, is presenting their results at the National Astronomy Meeting taking place this week at the University’s Jubilee Campus. The final data release from the Ultra-Deep Survey (UDS) maps an area four times the size of the full Moon to unprecedented depth. Over 250,000 galaxies have been detected, including several hundred observed within the first billion years after the Big Bang. Astronomers around the world will use the new images to study the early stages of galaxy formation and evolution. The release of the final UDS images represents the culmination of a project that began taking data in 2005. The scientists used the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Hawaii to observe the same patch of sky repeatedly, building up more than 1000 hours of exposure time. Observing in the infrared is vital for studying the distant Universe, as ordinary starlight is “redshifted” to longer wavelengths due to the cosmological expansion of the Universe. Because of the finite speed of light, the most distant galaxies are also observed very far back in time. Professor Almaini said: “With the UDS we can study distant galaxies in large numbers, and observe how they evolved at different stages in the history of the Universe. We see most of the galaxies in our image as they were billions of years before the Earth was formed.” The UDS is the deepest... read more
Latest From the Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) For the last 20 years the giant planets known as hot Jupiters have presented astronomers with a puzzle. How did they settle into orbits 100 times closer to their host stars than our own Jupiter is to the Sun? An international team of astronomers has announced this week1 the discovery of a newborn hot Jupiter, orbiting an infant sun — only 2 million years old, the stellar equivalent of a week-old human baby. The discovery that hot Jupiters can already be present at such an early stage of star-planet formation represents a major step forward in our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve. Alternative artist view of V830 Tau and the newborn giant planet like the one recently discovered. Infant stars are very active making the detection of planets around them challenging. Image was created by student artist from Hawaii. (credit Michael Ho) For this discovery, the team monitored a 2 million-year-old infant star called V830 Tau, located in the Taurus stellar nursery, some 430 light-years away. Over the 1.5 months of the campaign, a regular 4.9-day “wobble” in the velocity of the host star revealed a giant planet almost as massive as Jupiter, orbiting its host star at a distance of only one-twentieth that of the Sun to the Earth distance. “Our discovery demonstrates for the first time that such bodies can be generated at very early stages of planetary formation, and likely play a central role in shaping the overall architecture of planetary systems” explains Jean-François Donati, CNRS astronomer at IRAP / OMP2 and lead author of... read more
By TOM CALLIS Hawaii Tribune-Herald University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Science and Technology Building was about as quiet as could be expected Wednesday given the summer break. That’s except for two rooms on the second floor where nearly 30 students were busy at work solving problems related to renewable energy and optics. And this was just the one-week preparatory course. The students from across Hawaii next will spend seven weeks at telescopes or technology businesses in the state working with mentors and gaining some valuable real-world experience. It’s all part of the Akamai Internship Program that for 14 years has acted as a launching pad for aspiring scientists and engineers in Hawaii. Akamai director Lisa Hunter estimates 81 percent of the 328 students who have come through the program have jobs in science and technology fields or are continuing their education. But despite its track record, Hunter said the program could face significant cutbacks. Since 2009, she said the program’s largest contributor has been the TMT International Observatory, the nonprofit organization behind the Thirty Meter Telescope, a controversial $1.4 billion project proposed for Mauna Kea. If the next-generation observatory, which has faced strong opposition from some Native Hawaiians who consider the mountain sacred, moves elsewhere, the program stands to be one of the most impacted. “When TMT started contributing money, that pretty much rescued us from having almost no interns on the Big Island,” Hunter said. “That was a big relief for us.” The $150,000 a year that TMT contributes makes up a third of the program’s funding. Additional funding sources include the Hawaii Community Foundation, Air Force Office... read more
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