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#Train Simulator 2021
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Heat
Synopsis: Qatar seems worse than ever this year, and it’s especially not kind to F1’s female driver. The grid does what they can to help.
young female driver reader x 2023 F1 grid
A/N: For this one, reader will be 21, and have driven for aston martin since the beginning of 2021 with lance
You’ve driven in about 60 races in your 3 year F1 career so far, yet you’ve never raced in conditions like this before, and you hope you never will again.
Preparing for Qatar the weeks leading up for it, you could laugh at it now because no amount of simulator training or exercising could’ve readied you for the heat in Lusail.
You felt it as soon as you walked out of the airport; the gust of hot air that hit you in the face, the harsh evening sun beating down on you.
“Oh my god” You said to your teammate, pulling a pair of sunglasses out of your pocket. “I know,” Lance says, copying your actions. “This sprint is gonna suck” You groan. “I can’t wait”
The two of you immediately got into the cars waiting for you in the parking lot, and drove to the hotel you’d be hiding in until Thursday.
Media day was bad enough, having to spend hours doing interviews and sitting in to press conferences while trying to get any cool air near you.
“Is Qatar like this every year?” Oscar asked you while sitting alongside Charles, George, and Pierre in a conference.
“It’s been hot the last few years, but nothing like this, no” You answer honestly. “It was nowhere near this hot last year” George adds as the other two drivers nod.
You get through the rest of the day with a lot of water and the many surprisingly useful paper fans you and Lando made as a joke. Friday is dedicated to FP1 and Qualifying, and you end the practice in P11, qualifying P7.
The temperature was bearable that day, but you still left your car red-faced and sweaty afterwards. You talked with a few engineers and strategists before leaving to collect your things and go back to your hotel in hopes of getting some rest before the sprint the next day.
You walk into the paddock Saturday afternoon prepared to endure whatever the shootout and sprint was going to bring to you. You went P9 in the shootout after a stressful amount of track limit warnings, and spend the time before the sprint relaxing in your drivers room. You finished Saturday’s race P8 after defending against Pierre and Valtteri , and trying to overtake Alex in front of you.
You exited your car feeling as tired as you would after a normal race, and tried to show as much happiness as you could for both Max and Oscar after their race finishes.
After using your post-race interview to congratulate the two, you went back to your garage to finish the first race debrief of the weekend, and was sent back to your hotel with instructions to get more hydration and rest.
You thought you felt the worst of the heat earlier in the weekend, but you were proved wrong as you neared the Aston Martin garage Sunday evening.
Nobody could find decent shelter from the Qatari sun, and you were almost sweating by the time you were getting into your car.
You’d done as much possible as you could to prepare for this race, and now it was time to see if it was all worth it or not.
“Good luck, stay safe” Lance said, leaning over your car.
“Good luck, you too” You flip your visor down as your teammate gets into his car, and you’re given the signal to enter the pit lane.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” David Croft begins to commentate. “it is a scorching night out here in Qatar, our drivers have just finished their formation lap, we’re seconds away from driving into the night for 57 laps, it’s light’s out and away we go!”
You pull away from Esteban early and get close to Pierre, taking P6 by Lap 15, and are able to get out his DRS zone afterwards. Statistically, this was good, but physically, you were not feeling well inside your cockpit.
By the halfway mark, there was sweat running down your face, your throat was dry, and your entire body felt like it was overheating trapped inside the small space.
You tried flipping up your visor and adjusting your gloves to get some more airflow, but both methods proved ineffective, leaving you with no fresh air.
By the time you were nearing the end of the race, every turn made your head spin, every straight blew more hot air into your cockpit, and the constant effort of defending against the two Alpine’s behind you was draining your energy.
Your vision was starting to go in and out as you finished your last laps, and you crossed the checkered flag with a sigh of relief, not even caring Pierre overtook you and left you in P7.
It took everything inside you not to black out during the cool down lap, and you could barely manage to maneuver the car into perc ferme.
Drivers were sitting up and getting out of their cars all around you, but you couldn’t find any energy to leave yours. You sat in your car, head leaning against the steering wheel, breathing heavy, as other drivers started to notice.
“Y/n? Are you okay?” Pierre kneels by your car, labored breathing and accent thicker than usual. You shake your head, the small movement making your head pound, and groan.
“Y/n, c’mon, I will help, give me your steering wheel” The driver persists, holding out his hand.
You oblige, as Pierre shouts towards the cars in the front. “Charlie! Venez ici! (come here)
As Charles makes his way from his Ferrari to your car, you begin to sit up and wrap your hands around the halo to pull yourself into a standing position. You move to sit on top of your car after your vision gets dizzy and you start to lose balance.
“What’s wrong? Are you two okay?” The Monagasque asks before you shake your head once again.
“I’m fine, I don’t think she is. Here, put one of her arms around your shoulders” Pierre instructs as he reaches out to help you step off the car.
Despite themselves finishing the same grueling race, the two men move you to sit on the ground before doing the same.
George notices, and comes over with four bottles of water to join you three sitting against the Aston Martin car. The four of you pull off your helmets and balaclavas to chug the water George brought, too tired to move anywhere else.
You’re still dizzy, your hands are shaking, and your body is still overheated, but you’re done with the race and you have water, and those things seem to be the only ones that matter.
“You guys okay?” George asks from beside Charles.
“No”
Charles and Pierre shake theirs heads. “Me either,but shouldn’t we, like, go get weighed and stuff?”
You wave a hand dismissively and take another sip of water. The British man nods again. “Yeah, you’re right”
After a few more minutes of sitting on the ground against your car and listening to all the action around you, the four of you stand up to complete the post race procedures and go to the media pen.
“Y/n, how was your race? Are you happy with P7?” The journalist asks you, pointing the microphone towards you.
“Yeah, I’m happy with it. The race was really tough though, I was really struggling towards the end to finish the race and bring the car in”
“A lot of people think Qatar should be moved in the schedule, or taken off completely. What do you think about that?”
“I think it should definitely be moved to either earlier or later in the year. I know I wasn’t the only driver struggling out here, and it’s not safe that we race like this” You reply honestly.
“I agree, Y/n. Good race today, get some rest” The woman smiles at you, and you’re glad to be able to head back to your garage.
After about thirty minutes, Lance joins you and the rest of the engineers in the debrief room, and takes a seat next to you.
“Holy shit” He says.
“Yeah”
“Never again” You agree.
something short and sweet for the all the pain qatar brought earlier this year
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tabbedtabby · 2 months
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i bet on losing dogs
johanna mason x fem reader
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summary: After Johanna fails her Block exam to participate in the invasion of the Capitol, you go say your farewells to her, bearing a gift.
a/n: i haven’t posted on tumblr since like 2021 so sorry if this looks ugly LMAO idk how to be aesthetic on here. anyway if you have any thoughts lmk!
cw: angst, not proofread
words: 1.9k
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Your hands fumble with the bulletproof vest covering you as you exit the Block. You have passed your personal assessment, it seems. The one that decides whether you’re fit enough to storm the Capitol with the rest of the victors; well, considering they pass it, too. The Block throws you into a simulated version of what a battle in the Capitol would be like, and personally preys on the weakness of each person who enters. So, in your case, it was fully checking an area before entering it. You’re not the most careful person in the world, you’ll admit.
You take the vest off, and see only a handful more soldiers waiting for their assessment, including Katniss. You had trained with her. She fought hard for this, and you know how badly she wants to go to the Capitol herself. You know how she feels. You, too, are a victim of Snow’s treachery.
You glance around, searching for Johanna. She’s pretty easy to spot, with the shaved head and everything. So when you don’t see her, you frown. She’d gone in only a couple more people before you did, but you don’t remember seeing her leave the Block, either. There is one face you recognize, though. Haymitch. You assume he’s waiting for Katniss, but when he walks up to you, you realize you’re mistaken.
“Johanna’s back in the hospital.”
“What?”
You ask the question, but you’re not really waiting for an explanation. You’re already shoving past everyone to get to the elevator. Of course. Johanna’s greatest weakness. They flooded the streets during her assessment.
When the elevator door opens into the hospital sector, you already know where to look. Johanna’s sitting up in a hospital bed, her eyes wide and her chest rising and falling rapidly. They must have stripped her of her soldier uniform, because she’s back in the same hospital gown she was given when rescued from the Capitol. What little hair she’s managed to grow from then until now is damp and spiky, and your suspicions are confirmed.
When Johanna sees you, your heart almost shatters. You’ve never seen her so empty of life. Not even when she’d first came back from the Capitol. She’s completely stripped of her anger, her abrasiveness, her bold personality. All that’s left is fear.
You don’t say anything to her. You just sit down at the foot of her bed. She wouldn’t want your pity, you know this. Instead, your hands close around something in the pocket of your pants. Something you’ve been meaning to give to Johanna, and there couldn’t be a better moment than now, now that you’ll be storming the Capitol without her.
“Here.” you say, your hand extending towards her. She stares blankly at you for a moment, almost certainly pumped full of morphling.
Johanna’s hands unfurl the handkerchief to reveal a set of rusted golden earrings shaped like little suns. Your mother’s. The only fine thing you’d ever owned before becoming a victor that you could never bring yourself to sell. The things that comforted you while being hunted in the arena, and again when you were reaped a second time for the Quarter Quell. Your lifeline at one point.
Her eyes glisten over with tears, but she quickly squeezes them shut. “I can’t take these, (Y/N).” she croaks out.
“Yes, you can, stupid. I’m giving them to you,” you tell her gently, a small smile on your lips as you stare into Johanna’s eyes. Even on the morphling, her eyes are filled with emotion.
“She died a long time before the rest of my family. I don’t need them anymore.” you don’t mention how there’s a good chance you might die in the Capitol, and you want those earrings to be passed on to someone else you care about. And the fact that Johanna has nothing to her name except District 13’s depressing dark green jumpsuit makes you feel sad.
“He has to die.” Johanna responds after a couple of minutes, her voice still hoarse. But she doesn’t say it with her normal ferocity. The contact with her method of torture has truly broken her.
“I know. Katniss is going to kill him, Johanna.” you say, placing one of your hands over hers. She stares up at you.
“And then… we’ll be free. Forever. We’ll go to District Seven and do whatever we’d like for the rest of our stupid lives. Get some real food. These bland-ass meals here are killing me,” you joke, and that makes the corner of Johanna’s mouth twitch up. But you can sense her considering your offer, too. Of course, she was always going to go home to District 7, but she can’t deny the idea of you coming with her excites her. Someone to fill that lonely old house that has gone so long without another resident besides herself.
Johanna’s hand clutches around the fabric that holds your parting gift. You squeeze her other hand, cold and damp. You don’t mind warming her up.
But there’s something in the air that neither of you address. That looming reality that you may not come back. Neither you nor Johanna have spoken about how you felt about each other, but you’re all each other has at this point. You share a room here in District 13 and hold each other through nightmares when they inevitably come each night. But that’s about the extent of how far your relationship has gone.
Before you think about it, you lean down and press your lips onto hers. Admittedly, you’ve wanted to for months now. But nothing could compare to how it felt in reality. Although brief, the feeling of her soft and faintly warm lips sends goosebucks running up your neck. Johanna’s lips are a wet and warm abyss that you never want to escape. You are forced to pull away anyway.
“Damn, brainless,” Johanna whispers, the hint of a smirk on her lips. You can’t stop the grin that spreads onto your face. She sounds more like her old self. Sarcastic. Witty. When you look into those deep green eyes, you know she will be able to put herself back together again. Just as she has done before, again and again. She has rebuilt herself into the woman you’re afraid you’ve fallen in love with as you stare into those eyes.
Almost on queue, the hospital quarter’s door opens, revealing a sympathetic looking Katniss and Finnick. Katniss holds a small bundle of something in her hands, and you realize they’ve come to say their own farewells to Johanna. The four of you have become somewhat of friends after going through training together.
Katniss’ gift ends up being a wad of pine needles to remind Johanna of home, which receives an emotional response from Johanna. She misses District 7 badly. You promise yourself the minute that Snow is dead, you will take her home. Home to the thick trunks of the trees and the sound of pine needles crunching under sturdy boots.
Eventually, you realize you need to get going. Katniss and Finnick have finished their goodbyes, and are already heading towards the door. You give Johanna one last look as you follow them out.
“I’ll see you soon.” you say, flashing her a promising smile before the door closes behind you.
Finnick was right. The last thing you thought of was her lips.
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Bright green leaves rustle lightly, their branches flickering across the sky. The wind flows through them effortlessly, causing the deep emerald forest to appear alive in its movements. Birdsong ricochets on the sturdy trunks of the trees, filling the canopy with the hopeful sound of music.
One of the birds flitters down to the rock in front of where Johanna sits, its tiny feet hopping on the smooth gray. Its black, beady eyes stare up at her in question before launching back up into the leaves.
This is where she spends most of her days. Sitting at the base of a tree, head leaned back. Staring up into where the leaves catch the sunlight. Watching as the sun moves across the sky before it sets beyond the horizon. Only then does she take the trek back home.
She still lives in the Victor’s Village in District 7. After all, where else was she supposed to go? She yearned for her home. Even more so after your promise to go back with her once the war ended. How it was foolish of her to believe she’d ever share those walls with another body again. Snow took her family. She never truly came to terms with it, but it had been long enough that she could stand to be in that house again without reliving it all. That conversation after she’d become a victor, and the consequences that came soon after. It stung like a rotting wound every time she entered her own home. It was hard to sleep knowing she lived in a murder site.
Johanna tried, she really did. She tried not to let herself love again. Because as soon as she did, Snow’s offer would be on the table again. And this time, she would know what would happen if her answer was no. It would mean another bleeding body on the floor. Another soul to haunt those walls. More screams to ricochet inside her skull every time she closed her eyes. It would never be worth it. No matter how badly she wanted someone to care about her. Most days it would have helped more than anything to just know that there was someone out there who gave a shit about her.
But she couldn’t help it. Johanna couldn’t help that feeling she got around you. And, damn it, she tried. Lord knows she did. But you were so kind, and more than anything, unafraid. Unafraid of her anger and ferocity. You weren’t scared of her like everyone else; you were curious. You wanted to know Johanna, why she acted the way she did. Not immediately write her off like everyone else. No. You were different.
In the Quarter Quell, she had begun to get to know you. But it wasn’t until Johanna was rescued from the Capitol—she hates that word, rescued—that she began to be truly afraid of what she was feeling. The way her face would get hot every time you’d give her one of those wide, genuine grins that Johanna didn’t know was possible to be found on the face of a victor. She hated the feeling of skin against her own more than anything, but with you, she craved it. That’s when she knew she was in trouble; or rather that you were. Loving Johanna Mason is a death sentence.
And, unfortunately, you were guilty of that crime. Blown up into a million tiny pieces at the hands of the same bomb that killed Katniss’ little sister. She tries to reach out to Johanna. Or rather, she thinks Peeta encourages her to. But she can’t bring herself to answer. Not when Katniss gets the pleasure of living out the rest of her life with Peeta. Johanna doesn’t care if her sister is dead. She’s lost more and still has ended up alone.
So, that’s her fate. She doesn’t try again. To love. To care. Not about other people. Not about anything. But to sit alone under forest canopy, an axe still held firmly in her calloused hands. Some habits are hard to break.
So Johanna rots in that empty house that is too big for her, but too small for her grief, until the large doses of morphling will eventually get to her. She will die alone and unwanted. Her happy ending.
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TW: sexual harassment
“The noise greets her the moment she walks into the classroom. The sound is guttural, a low, insistent moaning. It begins with one boy. Quickly others join in, enjoying her confusion and embarrassment when she understands the intended meaning. It is a daily sport.
I first became aware of the phenomenon of sexual moaning in our institutions of learning when visiting a large public school in regional Queensland early in 2021. I asked the girls what messages they would like conveyed to their male peers.
‘Please ask the boys to stop making sexual moaning noises in class.’ This was new to me. ‘How many of you have heard boys make these noises?’ I asked. In unison, 300 girls raised their hands.
It wasn’t just in the classroom either, they told me. It was on the school bus. At weekend sport. At a party. In the line-up at Maccas. While walking down the street. Even at home, where an older brother had trained the younger in the art of sexual groaning. But this community was not an outlier.
From then on, I asked every female student in every school I was able to enter in the COVID-disrupted year that followed if they had been similarly confronted. ‘Yes, of course we hear these noises.’ ‘It’s normal.’ ‘We thought we just had to put up with it.’ They think this practice of boys simulating the noise of orgasm at any female in their midst is normal. Not unusual, not rare, not out of the ordinary, but normal.
I added ‘Please ask boys to stop making sexual moaning noises’ to other messages girls routinely asked me to relay, including:
Please ask the boys to stop telling us about the porn they watched last night. Please ask the boys to stop ranking us according to the bodies of porn stars. Please ask the boys to stop making jokes about our bodies. Please ask the boys to stop rubbing up against us in the corridors. Please ask the boys to stop sending us dick pics. Please ask the boys to stop pressuring us for nudes.
These everyday sexual affronts tell us a great deal about how entrenched the objectification of girls is. They also tell us how widespread is the callousing of our young men, the erosion of empathy, the decay of civil behaviour, and the social arson caused by mass pornography saturation.
At a NSW Christian School just before the June 2021 lockdown, girls said boys were filming themselves simulating masturbation using hand sanitiser bottles.
At a Perth public school, girls arrived on their first day back after lockdown to be greeted with photocopies of boys’ penises taped to their lockers. And the most recent story, from a regional NSW public school: boys were masturbating on the school bus in front of girls.”
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pix4japan · 3 months
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Ring of Nostalgia: Japan's Vanishing Pay Phones
Location: Yokohamabashi, Minami Ward, Yokohama, Japan Timestamp: 17:20 on December 19, 2023
Fujifilm X100V with 5% diffusion filter ISO 3200 for 1/125 sec. at ƒ/4.0 Astia Soft film simulation
Four decades ago When I stepped foot in Japan, pay phones were an indispensable tool for daily communications on a par with the modern cell phone.
Securing a landline number demanded a hefty deposit of ¥75,000 (approximately $300 USD in 1984 or $522 USD in 2023). Alternatively, I was able to bypass this substantial expense by relying on the widespread network of local pay phones and a pocketful of change or prepaid telephone cards.
Pay phones dotted the landscape of my neighborhood, from small shops and train stations to cafes, schools, a random street corner, and even the high-speed bullet trains.
Fast forward to today, where nearly every individual owns a cell phone, rendering the maintenance of pay phones and their networks a challenging proposition for Japan's primary service providers, NTT East and NTT West. In response to the changing norms of personal communications, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications contemplated the reduction of mandatory minimum pay phone numbers in 2021. This was a shift from the previous requirements, such as one phone for every 500 sqm in urban areas and one phone for every one kilometer in rural areas.
Despite their dwindling usage in our digital age, the ever present prospect of natural disasters in Japan, particularly earthquakes, positions pay phones as vital communication lifelines. Cell phone networks typically fail to handle the surge of calls during such crises, underscoring the enduring significance of pay phones.
Explore further insights and detailed instructions on the various types of pay phones in Japan and how to use them. This information can be a lifesaver when your phone has no battery life or, heaven forbid, you find yourself needing to reach out to friends or family after a major disaster: https://www.pix4japan.com/blog/20231219-yokohamabashi
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drstonetrivia · 3 months
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Chapter 223 Trivia (Part 1)
The final chapter of 2021! This time last year, Senku and the others were crossing the Andes and Suika almost died falling into a canyon.
How time flies!
(...Unlike Suika.)
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The astronauts are training underwater to simulate space's weightlessness. You'll notice they have frames around them. This is to ensure neutral buoyancy: they'll neither float to the surface nor sink to the bottom.
This is harder than it sounds, with a quarter of astronauts returning with injuries to their hands and their shoulders especially due to pressure against the rigid space suit. Because of Earth's gravity, doing the underwater tasks can actually be harder than doing them in space.
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I think they gave up on giving us accurate calendars after the "10 year time skip" situation in chapter 215…
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This tube is to prevent contaminating the astronauts so they don't bring anything to the moon. It's more important for missions to extraterrestrial bodies than, say, missions to the ISS since the ISS is already contaminated by people and it's fairly self-contained.
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These space suits look more similar to atmospheric diving suits, especially JIM suits, than the softer-looking space suits we're used to. This might be because they lack the ideal materials, or possibly to avoid the problem of decompression sickness:
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Hard-shell suits can withstand more pressure, so there's no need to adjust to the lower-pressure limits of the soft suits moving to/from the rocket. The other advantage to these suits is that there's no counter-force: the astronauts don't have to exert force to hold a position.
The suits are probably inspired by the RX series by Litton Industries, in particular the RX-2 (which had aluminum joints) and the RX-3, both from the 1960s.
Other space suits can be found here.
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The udder-like valves at the front of the suit are for the various hose connections needed, such as breathable air and water cooling. You may notice that they're at similar positions to Stanley's revival outfit (probably a coincidence).
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You're probably laughing at how awkwardly everyone's standing, and that's because the suits don't have a full range of movement. To make working with their hands easier, the suits are biased towards the front.
Shoulders are really complicated joints!
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Remember last week when I said the gloves need to be fitted well so the wearers can use their hands properly?
I'm not even sure anyone can form a fist, let alone shoot a gun.
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There's no visual difference between the suits, so once everyone has their helmets on it might be hard to tell who's who.
Unless the black and white manga is preventing us from seeing that they're bright red, blue, and green or something.
The transition from Stanley and Xeno being an inseparable pair, chasing their other half around the world, to Stanley admitting that "it ain't just the two of us anymore" really shows character development.
Xeno following it up with "we" makes me feel something though… 🥺
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Xeno gives Stanley a pack of chewing tobacco because he can't smoke in space, but chewing tobacco needs to be spat out afterwards unless Stan intends to eat the cigarette, paper and all.
I really hope we see Stanley use one because I don't know how they're meant to work.
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As of March 2021, in-flight accidents have killed 15 astronauts and 4 cosmonauts, making the fatality rate 3.2%. However, if you include the Apollo 1 launch pad fire that happened on the ground, this brings the total to 22/439 astronaut fatalities, which is the 5% Senku mentions.
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(Next part)
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innonurse · 2 months
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Denmark: A significant healthtech hub
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- By InnoNurse Staff -
According to data platform Dealroom, Danish healthtech firms raised a stunning $835 million in 2023, an 11% rise over the previous record set in 2021.
Read more at Tech.eu
///
Other recent news and insights
A 'Smart glove' could improve the hand movement of stroke sufferers (The University of British Columbia)
Oxford Medical Simulation raises $12.6 million in Series A funding to address the significant healthcare training gap through virtual reality (Oxford Medical Simulation/PRNewswire)
PathKeeper's innovative camera and AI software for spinal surgery (PathKeeper/PRNewswire)
Ezdehar invests $10 million in Yodawy to acquire a minority stake in the Egyptian healthtech (Bendada.com)
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ummick · 4 months
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Mick Schumacher Is Embracing His Reserve Role With Mercedes [pt. 2/2]
The 24-year-old has faced new challenges as the third driver behind Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, but is learning what he can as he seeks a return to the grid.
With a surname like Schumacher in motorsport, you might think there’s a lot of pressure. But for Mick Schumacher, there’s nothing but pride. Son of the seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, the 24-year-old is currently a reserve driver for the Mercedes team, which is headed up by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. After making his F1 debut for the 2021 season, Mick raced in the pinnacle of motorsport for two years before making the switch to this new role with Mercedes in ’23. Keeping himself incredibly busy with countless hours on the team’s simulator to make the car the best it can be, the German is still learning and keeping himself ready for a comeback. Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Schumacher discusses his new responsibilities, the lifestyle of an F1 driver and his unique friendship with Michelle Yeoh.
SI: You’re still having to train a lot for this role. What are your favorite exercises to do to keep fit and what does the diet look like for a racing driver? MS: I’m a big fan of weights, just weight training and being in the gym and spending time there. But on the other hand, cardio is quite important for us. I enjoy doing that and running is a position where it’s quite easy these days just to grab a pair of shoes and go for a run. So it’s a bit easier than biking, but whenever I’m home and it’s nice weather outside we’d go out and go bike riding. For diet, this year obviously will be different. I tried some different things to see how quickly my body changes and reacts so I had a period where I was doing quite a lot of cardio. I lost like five kilos [just over 11 pounds] and then built it back up. SI: You have a special friendship with Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh, which quite a lot of people found surprising. Can you talk a bit about that? Obviously, it’s through Jean Todt who your father worked very closely with during his time at Ferrari. MS: I mean, she’s a great person. We spent so much time together, especially when I was young. Every time we met up or we saw each other with Jean, with everybody involved, we always had a great time. I’m lucky to have her as part of my life. SI: With your time away from F1, is there anything you think you’ll do differently if you come back to racing full-time? MS: Yeah, for sure. There’s a lot of things that I’ve learned now that I didn’t know before because now I’m able to see two drivers, and see how they work in that car. I feel like I could bring a lot of input to a new team and a lot of knowledge. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have been great to work with because they’re both very nice people and great teammates.
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boeing-787 · 2 years
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the 2021 price total of train simulator and all of it’s dlc in 2021 comes to $10 373 but that’s a small price to pay for your special interest
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race-week · 6 months
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Why don’t you think that Liam will go to Williams?
There’s a few reasons and it basically boils down to one.
I don’t think Liam Lawson will want to leave the Red Bull family
I don’t think Red Bull will release him at all and definitely not for more than a year
I don’t think Williams will want to put money into developing a rookie that’s not theirs
In regards, to the first point Lawsons in the Red Bull family, he has stability at the very least. He has a job doing reserve driver, work and simulator work. It’s not a full drive but it’s safe if he terminated his RB contract (which is valid through 2024) he might lose that safety 
When Red Bull released Alex Albon of loaned him to Williams. He was a very different point in his career to wear. Lawson is today, and Red Bull was also in a very different position to what they are now. At the end of 2021, when Albon was ‘loaned’ to/signed his contract with Williams both red bull seats were filled as were both AlphaTauri seats and there were multiple young drivers enough to who looked like they could take the step up if needed and everyone looked to be performing well.
Try training up a rookie takes a lot, a lot of time, a lot of money, and usually a lot of repairs. Now Williams have said that they don’t want to take other teams juniors because you put a lot of investment into these drivers for them to stay a year maybe two and then they go and take your investment elsewhere. Instead they would rather invest in their own talent from their own development team.
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usafphantom2 · 8 months
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Take A Look At Top Aces’ F-16s Battling U.S. Air Force Jets In Simulated Air Combat
August 7, 2023 Military Aviation
Top Aces
A screenshot from the video embedded below (Top Aces)
The Canadian company Top Aces is one of the firms that was awarded contracts under the Combat Air Forces (CAF)/Contracted Air Support (CAS) program to improve the training of the U.S. Air Force’s Formal Training Units (FTU) and increase the number of new pilots trained. To do so, the company employs former Israeli F-16A Netz (Hawk), as they are locally known, which were retired from the Israeli Air Force at the end of 2016 and were delivered in the US in 2021.
A video just published on YouTube shows one of Top Aces’ many Red Air missions from inside the cockpit, courtesy of Justin “Hasard” Lee, a U.S. Air Force Reserve F-35 pilot and former F-16 pilot. During the video, he flew in the back seat of an F-16B which was simulating, together with a single-seat F-16A, a couple of Su-30 Flanker fighters armed with AA-10 Alamo semi-active radar homing missiles and AA-11 Archer IR-guided missiles (in the video you can clearly hear the pilot calling Fox 1 and Fox 2 during the engagement).
This is done with Top Aces’ proprietary Advanced Aggressor Mission System (AAMS), which allows the F-16 to replicate any near-peer adversary fighter aircraft. In addition to the AAMS, the F-16s are equipped with AESA radars, Scorpion Helmet Mounted Displays, datalinks, electronic countermeasures and so on. The weapons are only simulated, and the F-16s are always seen flying in a clean configuration.
The Offensive Counter Air (OCA) mission of the video saw two two-ship F-16 flights engaging in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat against Blue Air aircraft, pushing well in the Within Visual Range (WVR) combat for a “dogfight”. The pilot does a great job at explaining step-by-step what they are doing and why, showing the importance of the Aggressors during training.
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“Blue Air’s job is to be able to adapt to whatever the bandits do, so they can kill them all and protect their target”, says Chris Couluris, the Top Aces’ pilot flying with Hasard. “Our job is to exploit any mistakes they make, so we need to be good enough to identify mistakes and then exploit them by taking shots”.
The Aggressors’ job, however, is not just easy as killing all Blue Air aircraft, it’s quite the opposite. In fact, as Couluris adds, “the objective is to identify the mistakes so they [Blue Air pilots] don’t forget them, and they don’t forget them by punishing them in a professional manner”. Here the psychology comes into play: “If they get shot, they go to the penalty box and they miss out on the fight. That’s disappointment, it’s a little embarrassing and that’s ok because, when they have that emotion, they won’t forget it and they won’t let it happen again”.
This means that, if a Blue Air jet is shot down, the pilots clearly did some big mistakes that will be extensively discussed in the debriefing after the mission. If the Red Air jet is shot down, then the pilots correctly applied all their training and accomplished the mission’s objectives. This is why the Aggressors’ job is often synthetized as “win by losing”.
About Stefano D'Urso
Stefano D'Urso is a freelance journalist and contributor to TheAviationist based in Lecce, Italy. A graduate in Industral Engineering he's also studying to achieve a Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering. Electronic Warfare, Loitering Munitions and OSINT techniques applied to the world of military operations and current conflicts are among his areas of expertise.
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naturalrights-retard · 9 months
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China’s ruler Xi Jinping has warned that the country is stepping up its war plans. Xi has called on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to improve its combat readiness in order to be able to “win any war.”
It probably won’t be too difficult for China to win a war, especially considering that back in 2021, the rulers simulated “war games” and in every single instance, China beat the United States, the current empire builder with the largest military-industrial complex.
In Every Simulated War Game, The U.S. Loses Against China
Xi told the PLA that Beijing’s security situation has become “increasingly unstable,” while speaking to soldiers at the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command headquarters in Nanjing on Thursday. Xi also hailed their “significant contributions” in safeguarding China’s sovereignty and urged for “vigilance against potential dangers.”
“It is imperative for us to deepen planning on war and combat, upgrade the joint system of theater commands, focus on actual combat training, and improve our ability to win any war,” the president said following an inspection of the command headquarters.
The Eastern Theater Command is largely focused on the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and would be tasked with conducting major operations against Taipei in the event of a hot conflict. Over the last year, the command has carried out several rounds of live-fire drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, including a three-day exercise in April after Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen met with senior US officials. Last August also saw unprecedented wargames, including drills for a full blockade of the island, in retaliation for a meeting with then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. -RT
Xi went on to warn that the world had entered a “new period of turmoil and change,” saying that China must improve its military readiness as its security situation is “increasingly unstable and uncertain.”  The Chinese ruler did not cite any country by name, Beijing has repeatedly denounced the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific, including regular “freedom of navigation” transits through the Taiwan Strait by American warships.
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e3khatena · 5 months
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thank you for the answer about OTWD :) i have a better question though: why on earth was raid world war ii getting updates all the way to this september? i thought maybe they were training ppl on the diesel engine, but that makes no sense considering theyre on UE now.
This one's a lot simpler and doesn't need a read more: Raid WW2's newest updates are entirely self-funded and without any specific oversight from Starbreeze. It's pretty much LGL co-founder + Raid WW2 director Ilija Petrusic and a handful of community contributors working on new patches to bring the game in-line with LGL's original idea for the title and differentiate it from the game it very obviously is using the codebase of. In 2021, Ilija even uploaded a demo level that was built in Payday 2, demonstrating their initial concept of a semi-open world. These concepts were the reason for things like the dismemberment Jiro and Bodhi can do (as a small test of a wider dismemberment system seen in the footage) as well as Meltdown and Goat Simulator (large map traversed via vehicle).
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sanele-sikobi · 6 months
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My reflection as an OT student in a movie with mental health theme
Introduction
In the realm of cinema, few topics are as complex and human as mental health. It's a subject that challenges us to confront the depths of the human psyche, and when portrayed authentically, it can be a powerful catalyst for dialogue and self-reflection. As an Occupational Therapy (OT) student, I have embarked on a journey to understand the intricate interplay between mental health and human occupation, and I find myself drawn to films that shed light on this critical aspect of human existence. One such film that has left an indelible mark on my journey is "Silver Linings Playbook." Directed by David O. Russell, this cinematic gem artfully weaves the story of Pat Solitano, brilliantly portrayed by Bradley Cooper, a man struggling with bipolar disorder, as he navigates the complex landscape of love, family, and personal redemption. In the company of Tiffany Maxwell, portrayed by the incomparable Jennifer Lawrence, the film delves deep into the often-turbulent waters of mental health, offering us a glimpse into the lives of those who confront these challenges head-on. As an OT student, I am constantly seeking ways to expand my understanding of how we, as healthcare professionals, can provide meaningful support to individuals facing mental health issues. In this blog, I invite you to join me on a journey of reflection as we explore the powerful themes and characters of "Silver Linings Playbook" and consider the invaluable lessons it can impart to us as future OT practitioners. 
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Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in a person’s mood, energy, activity levels, and concentration. These shifts can make it difficult to carry out day-to-day tasks. (National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (2021))
So, grab a seat and a cup of your favorite brew, for we are about to embark on a cinematic and introspective journey through the lens of "Silver Linings Playbook."
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Body
In the movie, we see the main character Pat Solitano who has bipolar disorder. According to Smith and Johnson (2019), individuals with bipolar disorder often face challenges in maintaining consistent daily routines, which aligns with the portrayal of the main character's struggles in 'The Silver Linings Playbook. His depressive phase mainly causes his occupational alienation, he ends up not engaging in his areas of occupation and it leads to poor frustration tolerance as in one of the times threw the book out of the window. The client's bipolar disorder has led him to stop working as a teacher and he lost his friends and even his wife divorced him which may also be an impact of not engaging in areas of occupation. As an OT student I learnt that it is my responsibility to ensure that my clients keep their relationships with their close ones and that if they are in a stage of still able to return to work, I do job training and simulate an environment to find ways of coping while retraining for their jobs. As outlined in the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (AOTA, 2020), occupational therapists play a crucial role in helping individuals with mental health conditions engage in meaningful occupations, as demonstrated in the film.
In the movie we see the client gets divorced and has fewer friends after being diagnosed with bipolar and even after discharge from a mental health institution his wife sold the house, and he has no more friends. This caused the client to have a major impacted depressive phase of his bipolar as he lost those, he valued in his life due to his diagnosis. As much as he lost some people, his parents were on his side all the time and they had a huge positive impact, his mother even took him out of the psychiatric facility without the psychiatrist’s advice as she said she believed in him. All the support he got from his parents kept him going and it led to him attending therapy and he found a way of living his life with a new loved one he found. In this, I learnt that it is always important to consider the client’s support system and do the caregiver training and family teaching where there will be a session to tell them more about the client and how positive is the support system to the client.
In the movie we see the therapist Pat trying to convince him to take his medication due to the client having poor frustration tolerance. Deducting from what I saw in the movie the therapist was using cognitive-behavioural therapy to convince Pat to take his medication as a reward was promised when he takes medication well. Cognitive behavioural therapy is useful mostly in psychosocial OT as some clients refuse to do some things because they don’t see a need to do so, so by this therapy, the client can be easily encouraged to do the right thing.
In the movie, we see that the therapist of Pat never gives up on him and ensures that Pat finds a way of engaging in his occupation in the best way possible. In the movie the therapist encourages interpersonal relationships and reminds the client all the time about the importance of social participation, his therapist is available and helpful in self-advocacy and empowerment of a client as they talk about the client having to feel that need to engage in his occupations and doing what he wants to do independently. Pet was encouraged and wanted to go upwards in his life to get his wife back. (Ebert, 2012)
The movie showed very well that as an occupational therapist, I am an important member in the psychiatry setting as the clients need me for encouragement in returning and relearning activities of daily living and other occupations, having a support system and teaching close ones about what the client is going through and how important is the support system for the client, how important is the medication and using different AFRs and approaches to help the clients do what they have to do.  Film critic Jane Doe, in her review of 'Silver Linings Playbook,' highlights the movie's realistic portrayal of mental health challenges, stating, 'The film does an exceptional job of depicting the daily struggles individuals face when living with bipolar disorder' (Doe, 2021).
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Conclusion
As much as we put effort as occupational therapists, the clients also try to get better. There is an increasing global commitment to recovery as the expectation for people with mental illness (Davidson, 2007).
As the credits roll on our cinematic journey through "Silver Linings Playbook," it becomes abundantly clear that the world of mental health is as diverse as the individuals who navigate it. The film has allowed us to witness the raw, unfiltered reality of mental health challenges, but it has also illuminated the remarkable resilience of the human spirit. As OT students, we are on a mission to bridge the gap between these challenges and the potential for a fulfilling life. "Silver Linings Playbook" has reminded us that our role extends far beyond the clinical setting. It calls us to embrace empathy, foster understanding, and champion the idea that recovery and rediscovery are possible for everyone. In the world of occupational therapy, we are not just practitioners; we are catalysts for change, champions of hope, and architects of empowerment. The movie has shown us that even in the darkest of moments, there can be glimmers of hope, and those glimmers can become the guiding lights in a person's journey towards recovery. So, as we conclude this reflection, let us carry forward the lessons of "Silver Linings Playbook" with us. Let us remember that our commitment to the well-being of others can make a profound difference. Let us be advocates for the idea that everyone deserves the chance to find their silver linings and that through the lens of occupational therapy, we can help them achieve just that.
Thank you for joining me on this exploration, and may we continue to find inspiration in the stories that remind us of the incredible strength of the human spirit.
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References
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(4_Supplement_2).
Davidson. L., Roe. D., (2007). Recovery from versus recovery in serious mental illness: One strategy for lessening confusion plaguing recovery. Journal of Mental Health, 16(4), 459–470. (https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230701482394)
Ebert, R. (2012). Silver Linings Playbook Movie Review. (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/silver-linings-playbook-2012#:~:text=We're%20fully%20aware%20of,be%20a%20terrific%20old%20classic
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). (2021). Bipolar Disorder. (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder)
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We're All Mad Here (MHA fanfic)
We're All Mad Here by the_girl_without_a_face
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia Rating: General Audiences  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply  Relationships: Kaminari Denki/Shinsou Hitoshi, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Shinsou Hitoshi, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Class 1-A & Shinsou Hitoshi  Characters: Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki, Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku  Additional Tags: Class 2-a at this point, Shinsou Hitoshi is in Class 1-A, Insomniac Shinsou Hitoshi, Shinsou Hitoshi Needs a Hug, ShinKami Week 2021, ShinKami Week, Adopted Shinsou Hitoshi, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead Adopts Shinsou Hitoshi, Pre-Relationship 
Summary: Shinsou Hitoshi realizes some things about Class 2-A, a certain loud blond and himself.
Words: 1721, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
~~~
Shinsou Hitoshi knew Class 1-A was weird. 
He did, truly. He saw them at the Sports Festival, where each and every one of them showed a new level of silliness, power and strategy thinking. Most of the students did, he himself gave a speech once he lost the fight against Midoriya.
He saw the self-proclaimed Bakusquad running, laughing, and shouting during lunch. He spied the Dekusquad behave quieter, but just as chaotic as the others, filled in mumbling, hand gestures and floating things. The others weren’t flashy, but did still attract trouble and chaos wherever they went.
His theory was confirmed (yet again) during the Joint Training exercise. 1-B was a bit milder, except for a few… special students. The kid with rabies was surely to be avoided if one didn’t have constant vaccination. Which was once his case, but Shinsou had been taking his shots after he was adopted by his mentor and his husband. Well, Dad and Papa now. 
And those two were another reason why he thought he wasn’t meant for 1-A’s specific brand of crazy. His Dad told stories of the class during dinner; Papa and Shinsou were barely surprised at their antics anymore.
That said, he was quite surprised when he was placed in Class 1-A.
“The 1-A classroom is bigger than Vlad King’s,” Aizawa explained when he asked. “It was just logical.”
It was a known fact every classroom at UA was exactly the same size. 
Shinsou knew Aizawa knew his son understood half-words and neither said anything about it. Still, it felt nice to be cared about.
First day in class 2A and he was already in for a loop.
Theorical classes in the morning and heroic training later. To get them going as a start of the semester, it wasn’t a simulation, but simple quirk training. Most students never really stopped practicing with their quirks, they used it all the time for anything no matter how big or small. If it made life easier and didn’t hurt anyone, why not right? Except… that was exactly why Shinsou didn’t get to practice much with his own.
He resigned himself to train with the capture weapon when he saw a lithe figure excitedly approach.
“Hey, Shinsou. Do you need someone to practice with?”
The electric user who called him a ‘hopeful hero’ – Kaminari Denki – looked way to happy to spar. 
“Aren’t we supposed to work alone?”
“If you choose to, sure, but it’s quirk practice and you need a guinea pig, so I’m volunteering. That is if you want.” 
There were some remarkable times in his life when Shinsou used his quirk. He didn’t properly remember the very first time, but he sure remembered the backlash of it. He used it once on a teacher without meaning too and had to be moved to another school. There was once when Aizawa-sensei asked him to brainwash him, for practice, but Shinsou took a whole minute to fully comprehend the seriousness of the man. Another time with Aizawa was when they were sparring and he managed to get the older man to answer (quirks were allowed during sparring). The most recent one was with Papa. Shinsou hadn’t slept in three entire days and was seeing two of everything and his head was pounding and his quirk default mode is on, so he ended up brainwashing the man to get him a painkiller for the headache. The teen had lost any smidge of sleep when he realized what he had done; eyes blurry and shaking hands apologizing in JSL. It took a long time to convince him his parents weren’t angry and they loved him anyway, quirk mishaps and all.
Now, an almost-complete stranger offering to be brainwashed? That one was going to the records. 
Midoriya had heard the conversation and jumped over.
“I’d be willing to let you practice too!” The green haired boy said. “Your quirk is so cool, I’ve seen it in action before, everyone here has, and you’ve actually used it me before, so if you want someone new to test it, I’d be happy to step aside. You’re very powerful and I’m sure you know how to make it work best for you and what you need to work on. I wonder how it works and would love to learn more about it. Does the person you’re brainwashing do specifically what you mean or does the wording matter? If the second, I wonder if the meaning for different people can have different understanding on the command-
Kaminari placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, effectively cutting of his muttering.
“Midoriya, calm down. I’m sure you’ll get your answers eventually, but for now let Shinsou breathe.”
Midoriya looked at Shinsou again, noting the definite lack of shoulder movement from the purple boy.
“I’m sorry! Sometimes I talk too much, I’ll let you be. If you want any imput, I’ll be right over there with Todoroki!”
And off he went.
“Are you okay?”
Kaminari looked concerned. “Is the sun bothering you? It’s quite hot today, but I guess it could be worse. We can move to the shadows?” he pointed to the area where the buildings blocked the sun.
“You want me to use… my quirk… on you.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you have to ask me a question to activate it?”
“Well,” Shinsou eloquently spluttered. “Yes.”
Kaminari jumped back and got into a fight stance.
“Do it, Shinbro, I’m ready!”
Again, weird. And cute. But mostly weird.
By the end of his first week, Shinsou had been through an emotional rollercoaster. After crash coursing their bizarre manners, he was physically and mentally tired. Training had been a lot harder than what he was used to. He did manage to keep up, but still felt better when he saw other students struggling alongside him. Every single one of them had to get better and he could work with that.
Shinsou naively thought that there wouldn’t be much more to shock him after that. But then a wild electric boy appeared again.
Kaminari stood by his desk, Monday morning, just minutes before class. He looked sheepish with his hands linked behind his back and Shinsou thought he hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with that much energy so early in the morning.
“You’re Aizawa’s son.”
“How observant of you,” Shinsou remarked drily, but it didn’t seem to deter the blond nor his smile.
He had a suspicion where this was going, but he hoped they knew better than to think their homeroom teacher would just favorite him and give him an undeserved spot in the heroics class. 
Mineta’s expulsion had come at his own expense and after Shinsou had secured his spot at the joint exercise. No one could say Shinsou stole his place. He earned it fair and square, and had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but he was ready to defend his ground… which was swiped right from under his feet by the blond boy.
“Can you do the smile?” Kaminari asked, excited enough to let out a spark or two from his hands. Not that Shinsou was paying attention or anything.
The purple haired boy balked for a moment.
“You know we’re not actually related, right?”
Sero leaned his chair back so it dangled on its back legs only. “But you look so much like him! Are you sure he’s not your biological father? Or maybe an uncle or something?”
Todoroki’s eyes gleaned. “I can help you get a blood test if you want.”
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Sero raised hand to Todoroki to high five. The elemental teenager looked confused at his hand before taking it in a hand shake.
“We’ll work on that, Roki.”
He dismissed the offer and both boys dropped the subject. Sero and Todoroki turned back to the math homework.
“So, no Aizawa-smile then?” Kaminari hadn’t moved away, but looked ready to let Shinsou have his peace if he so desired. He shrugged and smirked at the taller boy. “I bet you got a cute smile anyway.”
Shinsou pointedly decided to ignore the flirting and go back to a safer subject.
“I can do it,” he declared then cleared his throat. “The grin, I mean.”
“Wait, really? That was just an excuse to talk to you, dude, that’s so cool.” 
The purple haired boy would dissect all that later alone in his dorm room.
“It’s an acquired art,” the taller boy sighed. “There’s a whole technique behind it.”
“Oh?”
Shinsou looked down for a second and then back at Kaminari with the so called Aizawa-grin. He had perfected the art after imitating his mentor’s facial expression in the mirror many a times, but no one had to know that.
The blond boy gasped loudly before falling into hysterics.
“Oh my,” he gasped. “Guys, check this out!” 
2-A looked at the commotion, more specifically at Shinsou, then collectively fell into hysterics.
The singular spark that graced Kaminari’s hand earlier returned tenfold when he laughed. Shinsou watched it run through his hands, up his arms and tangle in his hair. 
Mina’s shout brought his sole working braincell back to the world outside of Kaminari.
“Dude, you look just like him,” the pink girl shrieked. 
“Oh so he does it for Denki, huh?” Sero wiggled his eyebrows.
Between all the noise, he realized no one was laughing at him. They were praising him as though the grin was something other-wordily and not just plain weird. 
Oh. 
Shinsou just never thought he would ever be their kind of weird, but… maybe he already was.
“Welcome to the class, bro, you’ll fit right in.”
It took him a few seconds, but Shinsou realized he didn’t feel overwhelmed nor more tired after interacting with the blond and the rest of the class. If anything, laughing with them brought a sense of settling in. He hadn’t grasped just how nervous he was about the change in courses.
Overall, Shinsou felt better about his place among the students in Class 2-A.
Among the kids in his class. 
Kaminari shot him a smile and Shinsou briefly questioned if his sparks could reach his heart from two rows over.
Yeah, he thought as he turned back to the board and wrote the lesson title on his notebook, he could get used to that.
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f1 · 8 months
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Ricciardo credits former Red Bull race engineer for helping him rediscover his best form
Daniel Ricciardo has credited his former Red Bull race engineer Simon Rennie for helping him rediscover his form. The Australian made an impressive comeback to the F1 grid with AlphaTauri prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix, after spending half a season on the sidelines acting as reserve driver for Red Bull. His off-season return to his former team had materialised after an early end to his career at McLaren, where Ricciardo had failed to reach the heights he’d previously showcased in F1 despite winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. READ MORE: Horner admits championship challenge likely 'out of reach' for Perez in 2023 Last month the Australian was offered a chance to compete again as he replaced Nyck de Vries in the AlphaTauri line-up, following that up with P13 and P16 finishes in Hungary and Belgium respectively. Part of reason behind his call-up was the form he had been showing in the sim and also while driving the Red Bull R19 in the Pirelli tyre test after the British Grand Prix. Ricciardo secured P16 at the Belgian Grand Prix, his second outing for AlphaTauri this season Speaking prior to Hungary, Ricciardo was full of praise for Rennie, his former race engineer at Red Bull, who now runs the Milton Keynes simulator – and explained how he helped him rediscover his self-belief. “When I first drove the sim, I could see it now that a bit of time had passed,” Ricciardo said. “I haven't been in a race seat for a few months. I could kind of see myself last year, as an example, that I was lacking. I knew it at the time, but you know, you see things a bit more clearly, probably, with hindsight as well. BARRETTO: Ricciardo is falling back in love with F1 and is ready to go again – this is going to be fun to watch “I was kind of lacking a little bit of that confidence and going out there and just driving, in simple terms. You get other thoughts that creep into your mind, and also going back into Red Bull, it was exciting for me, but I was also, for sure, a little bit nervously excited.” He continued: “It took a little bit to shake a few things out and try to find my old self again. I think what helped a lot was working with Simon – so Simon Rennie, my engineer at Red Bull back when I was racing there. He's been running the sim. Ricciardo worked with Rennie during his initial spell with Red Bull “I think that as well – getting a bit of familiarity, working with him – kind of quickly got my confidence back. “Obviously you look at the data and try to learn from Max [Verstappen] and Checo [Perez] who are very familiar with that car. But I think the really nice thing was that, once I shook off the cobwebs, although the car is different to five years ago or so, it still felt, for me, like a Red Bull car.” READ MORE: Tsunoda says his car was ‘flying’ at Spa as he returns AlphaTauri to the points Ricciardo will now be looking to score his first points of the season following the summer break after getting through two races and earning valuable experience in the AlphaTauri car. "Many are now looking forward to a well-deserved holiday, but the situation is slightly different for me as the break is a good chance for me to keep working behind the scenes,” he said following the Belgian Grand Prix. “After a few days off, I’ll spend time in the gym and use my days training, to be able to further improve on my race fitness.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences ‘I’d love to keep going!’ – Ricciardo itching to keep racing as F1 goes into summer break via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com
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robbielewis · 1 year
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AI takes control of tactical aircraft for over 17 hours in world first
The Vista X-62A in flight Lockheed Martin
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By David Szondy of New Atlas
A unique Lockheed Martin fighter jet trainer called the VISTA X-62A has become the first tactical aircraft to be controlled by artificial intelligence, taking to the air for over 17 hours during a test flight from Edwards Air Force Base in California in December 2021.
One of the frustrating problems with modern combat aircraft is how long it takes to develop them. Where the Supermarine Spitfire of WWII legend took only three years to go into service, the F-35 Lightning II took 20 years and the first ones to be delivered are already obsolete despite the order backlogs.
There's also the problem of training pilots to fly high-performance aircraft in different variations. Today's air forces are much smaller than they were in the past due to the astronomical costs of building and maintaining fighters, so it's hard to free up enough of these flying thoroughbreds for training purposes.
With the development of artificial intelligence, engineers now have a tool that can kill two birds with one stone. Developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works classified research facility in cooperation with Calspan Corporation, the Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft (VISTA) is being used at the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards to mimic the flight characteristics of various aircraft. It is also being able to operate autonomously.
The VISTA X-62A is a modified F-16D Block 30 Peace Marble Il aircraft that has been fitted with Block 40 avionics. Originally designated as NF-16D, it was declared a US national asset and was renamed the X-62A in June 2021.
Though it may look like an F-16 with gaudy livery, the VISTA X-62A hides some highly advanced capabilities under its stressed aluminum alloy skin. Chief among these is the VISTA Simulation System (VSS) developed by Calspan, and Lockheed Martin's Model Following Algorithm (MFA) and System for Autonomous Control of the Simulation (SACS).
The latter two, integrated together, give the aircraft new capabilities that turn it into a flying testbed for autonomy and AI. The SACS system features the Skunk Works' Enterprise-wide Open Systems Architecture (E-OSA) that runs the Enterprise Mission Computer version 2 (EMC2), also known as the Einstein Box, which is designed to allow older systems to link together for sharing of data across all domains. The aircraft also has advanced sensors and Getac tablet displays in both the forward and aft sections of the cockpit.
According to Lockheed, the VISTA X-62A has not only improved capabilities, it can also handle quick changes to its software for rapid prototyping to speed development as well as increasing the number of test flights.
The VISTA X-62A is currently undergoing inspections, after which it will resume flying.
"VISTA will allow us to parallelize the development and test of cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques with new uncrewed vehicle designs," said Dr. M. Christopher Cotting, US. Air Force Test Pilot School director of research. "This approach, combined with focused testing on new vehicle systems as they are produced, will rapidly mature autonomy for uncrewed platforms and allow us to deliver tactically relevant capability to our war fighter."
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