Sincedawn of civilization, humans have always expressed love, feelings and emotionalpain coming from the heart and basic feeling or intuition coming from thegut. Hence the expressions broken heart,gut feeling, etc. has been used in describing emotions. Rationalists andscientists have scoffed at these expressions saying they are only metaphors, butrecent researches suggest that they may have scientific explanations.

Itseems both heart and gut have a mind of their own and besides communicatingwith the brain about their activities they might also be helping in braindevelopment, reducing depression and just increasing the level of well-being ofa person and happiness.

The GutMind

On an averagea brain has nearly 100 billion neurons and is the seat of all our thinking [6].The gut (digestive system of the body) has close to 500 million nerve cells and100 million neurons and is almost the size of a cats brain [1]. Not only does thegut talk with the brain chemically (by releasing chemicals which are thentaken to the brain by blood) but also by sending electrical signals via the vagusnerve. Vagus nerve is one of the longest nerves inside the body whose centralpurpose is to relay the information and status of internal organs like gut andheart to the brain [5] and vice versa. It is a communication highway for allinternal organs. It starts from the head and after going through all the organsends near anus.

Most ofthe gut neurons are used in the daily grind of digestion [2]. Gut system is anextremely complex chemical processing machine which breaks down the food,absorbs nutrients and moves the waste down (via muscular contraction) towards anusfor expelling it. Thus the autonomous nervous system of gut allows it to workindependently of the brain.

Neverthelessrecent researches have revealed that there is a tremendous amount ofinformation flow from the gut to the brain via the vagus nerve and this flow ismostly one sided almost all of it is from the gut to the brain and not theother way around [2]. This is how itshould be since gut works continuously whether we are aware of it or not.

Thereverse interaction (from the brain to the gut) is when we get hunger pangs andthe brain tells the body to get food or when something goes wrong in the gutlike pain or diarrhea, necessitating medicines for its cure. Sometimes thesesignals go haywire. For example even if there are hunger pangs the brainoverrules the gut and this leads to Anorexia!

Recentscientific evidence also suggests that a big part of our emotions are probablyinfluenced by the chemicals and nerves in the gut. For example 95% of bodys Serotonin is foundin the gut [2]. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter which is a wellknown contributor towards feelings of well being. Sometimes it is also called ahappiness hormone.

Similarly researches have found that a bacteria-free gut in early childhood leads to adults with less anxiety and general cheerfulness. Interestingly the effect of early childhood gut bacteria has the maximum impact on the developing brain and peters off by the age of 2-3 years just when the brain expansion also starts slowing down. Recently scientists have also discovered that the genesis of Parkinsons Disease is in gut [7]. Keeping gut clean and healthy produces a healthy brain.

Apparentlythe ancients knew something about the gut-brain connection. Hence the colon cleaning process of Ayurveda (includingenema etc.) or gut wrenching exercises of Nauliin Hath Yoga help in cleaning the gut thereby increasing the feeling ofwellness. Similarly the yogic exerciseof Mayur Asana,where the body is balanced on the navel and this pressure on itstimulates the vagus nerve, helps improve the brain-gut connection.

Thereare also many instances of people experiencing extrasensory perception (ESP) orclairvoyance after colon cleansing has taken place. One of the reasons for thiscould be that a clean gut frees its neurons to help the brain increase itsprocessing power. This extra neural power may help the brain process moreinformation and help it in Samadhi orSanyam. In nature every process hasmultiple uses. Though the gut neurons are used most of the time for gutactivity, they also interact with the brain via the vagus nerve.

InPatanjali Yoga gut occupies the center of body-universe! It says that by Sanyam on navel (Nabhi,gut etc.), a yogi gains the knowledge of the constituents of the body!

The HeartMind

Heartis one of the most important organs of the human body. Life starts when itstarts beating (21 days after conception) and ends (clinical death) when itstops. Heart has nearly 2 billion muscle cells and 40,000 neurons. The heart neuronsare very few in number compared to those in the brain (100 billion) or gut (0.1billion). Nevertheless these neurons transmit hearts signals and its conditionto the brain.

Theheart-mind interaction takes place both by electrical signals (via the vagusand the spinal chord nerves) and through chemicals (heart is an endocrine glandalso).

Recentstudies have shown that heart sends signals to the brain that are not onlyunderstood by it but also obeyed. Scientists have discovered neural pathwaysand mechanisms whereby input from heart to brain inhibits or facilitates brainselectrical activity just like what gut is capable of doing. Thus both gut and heart mind help in overallthought process and creating well-being.

Besidesthe electrical signaling, heart is also an endocrine gland releasing peptides whichhelp in blood pressure modulation and improving the functioning of kidneys [3].These peptides also stimulate the pituitary gland thereby helping it to releasehormones like oxytocin commonly referred to as love or bonding hormone.Oxytocin also helps in increasing the well being of a person. This could be thebasis of saying that happy feelings emanate from the heart!

Neverthelessthe point of interest is the rhythm patterns of the heart which result when twobillion muscle cells are triggered by AV and SA nodes which are like electricalswitches. These nodes which are inside the heart send electrical signals to theheart muscles for contraction and are one of the most important organs of theheart. When they do not function properly the electrical signals to the musclesgo haywire and the heart starts to flutter. A pacemaker attached to these nodesstreamlines the signals and can restore the proper working of the heart.

Thespeed of heartbeat or its contraction changes depending upon our emotions. Forexample when we are aroused either by passion or anger then the heart speeds upand in more quiet times or in meditation it slows down. This electrical inputto the AV and SA nodes from the brain comes via the vagus nerve and isreflected in the ECG patterns of the heart.

Pranayamaor breathing exercises can stimulate the vagus nerve and this could have a verybeneficial effect both on the heart and gut. Similarly the chanting of mantrasor deep throat singing as practised by Buddhist Lamas also stimulates the vagusnerve. It has been shown that this stimulation helps in reducing blood pressureand improves the rhythm patterns of the heart. The neural information from boththese activities facilitates the cortical function and the effect is heightenedmental clarity, improved decision making and increased creativity.

Similarlythe stimulation of the vagus nerve helps the gut to perform better and improvesthe cleaning process of the colon. For example the ancient Indian custom ofapplying pressure on cheeks by fists while sitting on toilet seat helps in thebowel movement. The pressure on cheeks stimulates the vagus nerve since itsbranches pass through the face. This could also be the basis of childrenscheek pinching by adults!

Recentlyscientists have also discovered that heart is involved in the processing anddecoding of intuitive information [4]. Tests done on the subjects showed thatthe heart appeared to receive the intuitive information before the brain. This could be the basis of saying Follow youheart and you will never go wrong.

Thisbrain/heart interaction was also known to the ancients. In Patanjali yoga it is written that by Sanyam on the heart a yogi acquires thecomplete knowledge and contents of his mind.

Thus in order to produce deep thought which helps in producing happiness and improving the well-being of a person [6], it is necessary that the gut and heart brains work together with the main brain. When all of them work together harmoniously then it creates a healthy body and a powerful mind.

Suggested Readings

Link:
How three minds of the body Brain, heart and gut, work together for producing Happiness - Thrive Global

John Berry Published 12:43 p.m. CT Feb. 6, 2020

John Berry(Photo: TLA Outdoors)

Wednesday morning, I woke up to the sound of the sump pump in my basement going off.

I immediately knew it was still raining. It rained all day Tuesdayand will rain all day (Wednesday). I went out to the garage to check on my two feral cats, Blackie and Maggie. They were curled up in their bed and showed no interest in going outside.

There was water standing in my side yard. My wife, Lori, said she was tired of the constant rain. My sister, Ernestine, sent me a message on my iPhone asking if it would ever quit raining.I dont know.

River guides dont mind the heavy rain so much. The reason is we have the best rain gear money can buy. We start with good rubber footwear. If it is really rainy, I wear knee-high muck boots. If it is lightly raining, I will wear L. L. Bean rubber low quarter shoes.

For the lower body, the garment of choice is bib rain pants. They keep your lower body dry even when your rain jacket is open. A pair of waders is a good substitute.

A good rain jacket is a must have. A hood, tight fitting cuffs and plenty of pockets (mine has nine) are necessities. I bought mine a size too large to fit over a couple of warm fleece layers.A ball cap with a long bill is nice to keep the rain off of your glasses.

The main thing that guides worry about is the water clarity on days like this. When we get heavy rain, a lot of sediment is washed into the river making it muddy. I saw photos of the Buffalo on Tuesday on Facebook that showed it was the color of chocolate milk. I assumed Crooked Creek was the same.

In fact, every creek emptying into the White and North Fork riversis running muddy. When we get conditions like this, the common wisdom is to go upstream until we find clean water. That means the water in the catch-and-release section below Bull Shoals Dam is still clean because there is just one creek emptying into the river on the Marion County side. Fortunately this section has been closed from Nov.1 to Jan.31 to accommodate the brown trout spawn. It has only been open for a few days, and there are still plenty of large trout there now.

The other thing that guides worry about is the rain water accumulating in the boat. In a heavy rain, the water can quickly rise to ankle deep or higher. This could be very uncomfortable for clients with low quarter shoes, and the additional water makes the boat heavier and less maneuverable.

I carry a water bailer in my boat so I can quickly toss the accumulated rain water out. One of my fellow guides has an automatic electric bilge pump in his boat. It makes a lot of sense to me.

Despite this, I am beginning to get concerned. If I did not already own a White River Jon boat, I would begin to build an ark.

John Berry is a fly-fishing guide in Cotter and has fished our local streams for more than 35 years. He can be reached at 435-2169 or http://www.berrybrothersguides.com.

Read the rest here:
River guides don't mind the rain - The Baxter Bulletin

What does it take to divert someone away from prejudice and toward greater acceptance of others in order to build support for progressive causes? Deep canvassing, a relatively new technique, is showing promise and is backed by rigorous testing from researchers and activists in the field.

One such activist is David Topping, who decided, along with other LGBTQ activists and allies, to try deep canvassing in Massachusetts in 2018, when transgender rights were on the ballot.

Massachusetts voters could choose to keep or throw out a law that banned discrimination based on gender identity. Topping, whos nonbinary, and others, went door to door. If they met a voter who wanted to get rid of the law, they wouldnt call them out for prejudice. Instead, they did something more radical: They listened, nonjudgmentally, and began a conversation.

Its not easy to confront people whose votes would seek to hurt you, and then try to change their minds. I came out two years ago now, and one of the hardest things for me has been talking with folks who dont understand [gender identity], and not immediately writing someone off because they dont immediately get it, Topping says.

Topping calls this giving them grace. Its a powerful idea: Giving grace ... means being able to hear someone say something that can be hurtful, and trying to think about how to have a real conversation and connect with them.

Massachusetts voters chose to protect trans rights, and Topping believes deep canvassing helped. This tactic is the only thing that has been proven to work on nondiscrimination, so without it we wouldnt have been able to win, they say.

Giving grace. Listening to a political opponents concerns. Finding common humanity. In 2020, these seem like radical propositions. But when it comes to changing minds, they work.

New research tells us changing minds with deep canvassing is not impossible; its just very hard. The payoffs are small and incremental, but they are real.

A 2016 study in Science proved it was possible. And now, a new peer-reviewed study a series of three placebo-controlled field experiments soon to be published in American Political Science Review replicates the findings and gives us new insights into the conditions for lasting opinion change and reductions in prejudice.

The new research shows that if you want to change someones mind, you need to have patience with them, ask them to reflect on their life, and listen. Its not about calling people out or labeling them fill-in-the-blank-phobic. Which makes it feel like a big departure from a lot of the current political dialogue.

I think in todays world, many communities have a call-out culture, says David Broockman, a UC Berkeley political scientist who has run these experiments with Josh Kalla, a political scientist at Yale University. Twitter is obviously full of the notion that what we should do is condemn those who disagree with us. What we can now say experimentally, the key to the success of these conversations is doing the exact opposite of that.

Over the past few years, deep canvassing has been adopted by some progressive activist groups looking to not only change minds when it comes to policies on immigration and LGBTQ rights, but also to reduce prejudice toward these groups.

In 2016, Broockman and Kalla showed that a 10-minute deep canvass conversation could reduce transgender prejudice for at least three months (you might recall this study was a redo of a previous experiment, from a separate team of researchers, which was retracted due to falsified data).

Topping and dozens of other canvassers were a part of that 2016 effort. It was an important study: Not only has social science found very few strategies that work, in experiments, to change minds on issues of prejudice, but even fewer tests of those strategies have occurred in the real world.

Typically, the conversations begin with the canvasser asking the voter for their opinion on a topic, like abortion access, immigration, or LGBTQ rights. Canvassers (who may or may not be members of the impacted community) listen nonjudgmentally. They dont say if they are pleased or hurt by the response. They are supposed to appear genuinely interested in hearing the subject ruminate on the question, as Broockman and Kallas latest study instructions read.

The canvassers then ask if the voters know anyone in the affected community, and ask if they relate to the persons story. If they dont, and even if they do, theyre asked a question like, When was a time someone showed you compassion when you really needed it? to get them to reflect on their experience when they might have felt something similar to the people in the marginalized community.

The canvassers also share their own stories: about being an immigrant, about being a member of the LGBTQ community, or about just knowing people who are. (You can read the full deep canvassing script here on page 47.)

Its a type of conversation thats closer to what a psychotherapist might have with a patient than a typical political argument. (One clinical therapist I showed it to said it sounded a bit like motivational interviewing, a technique used to help clients work through ambivalent feelings.) Its not about listing facts or calling people out on their prejudicial views. Its about sharing and listening, all the while nudging people to be analytical and think about their shared humanity with marginalized groups.

Its also quite a departure from standard political canvassing. Typically, in a political canvass, an activist might list a bunch of facts or statistics about why the voter should support their cause. Not so with deep canvassing.

Instead of pelting voters with facts, we ask open-ended questions and then we listen, Dave Fleischer, the LGBTQ rights organizer who developed the technique, told me in 2016. And then we continue to ask open-ended questions based on what they just told us. The idea is that people learn lessons more durably when they come to the conclusion themselves, not when someone bitch-slaps you with a statistic, Fleischer said. It is stories, not facts, that are most compelling to people when theyre changing their minds.

Heres a 2015 video example of deep canvassing. Its of a real voter and a canvasser from the Leadership Lab, a program of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which spearheaded this canvassing method after losing the 2008 Proposition 8 ballot initiative in California. The woman in the video starts off ambivalent on transgender issues. But through deep canvassing, the activist is able to turn her around.

Specifically, the canvasser asks the voter to recall a time when he or she was discriminated against. Toward the end of the conversation, the canvasser nudges the voter into thinking about how that experience can relate to the plight of transgender people. The idea is that people learn lessons more durably when they come to the conclusions on their own.

In the video above, notice how the voter starts to come around on the issue when the canvasser asks if shes ever been on the receiving end of discrimination. She talks about being picked on at work and feeling different. He responds by telling his story of being discriminated against for being gay. Its a real heart-to-heart between strangers.

And in that moment, he points out that a transgender nondiscrimination law would help people who feel discriminated against at school or work.

Oh, okay, that makes a lot of sense, she says.

The video ends like this. I would totally vote in favor, the woman says of a transgender protection law. Its only right. Let a person be who they are.

In the new study, Kalla and Broockman put deep canvassing through a more rigorous test. Namely: Its larger, and it targets more issues, both trans rights and policies protective of undocumented immigrants.

The new research also tries to identify the secret ingredient that makes deep canvassing work, and whether versions of it that occur over the phone or through video prompts can be useful as well. (These methods may make it easier to scale up in a bigger campaign.)

The first of the three experiments was pretty much a replication of the 2016 study, but on the topic of rights for undocumented immigrants.

In it, canvassers in three areas central Tennessee; Fresno, California; and Orange County, California went door to door and interacted with 2,374 voters in these communities during the runup to the 2018 midterm elections.

All three places are experiencing demographic change, with a growing and diversifying population of immigrant residents, says Kim Serrano, the messaging research project manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center. Tennessee and the Central Valley have been the sites of large-scale workplace raids by ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] in recent years, she says, and various cities in Orange County have attempted to opt out of the California Values Act. Thats a state law that limits the collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.

The experiment, like all the ones in the study, was run a bit like a drug trial: The voters were randomly assigned (before the canvassers even knocked on their doors) to receive either the full deep canvassing conversation treatment, a watered-down version where the voters and canvassers dont exchange personal stories, or a placebo condition, where voters were engaged in a conversation that had nothing to do with immigration. The voters were followed up with by survey one week, one month, and several months after being contacted by the canvassers.

After the canvassing, 29 percent of the people in the placebo condition said they strongly supported policies inclusive of undocumented immigrants. In the full-conversation condition, 33 percent were in support. The effect was durable, too: Three to six months after the conversation, voters who shared their feelings with canvassers in this manner also reported less prejudice toward undocumented immigrants.

The watered-down intervention without the two-way exchange didnt move anyone to support undocumented immigrants. Thats a new finding.

Now we can show experimentally that when you take away the two-way nature of the conversation, the effects go away, Broockman says. Its this nonjudgmental exchanging of narratives that Broockman and Kalla think is the key ingredient in how deep canvassing works.

Keep in mind the media environment the canvassers were working in. Immigration particularly that of asylum seekers loomed over the 2018 elections. In the runup, conservative news outlets were blaring headlines about a scary immigrant caravan marching north through Mexico to the US southern border. President Trump called it an invasion, apparently hoping that by raising xenophobic, dehumanizing fears about nonwhite immigrants, as he had in 2016, hed help his party win seats in Congress.

In this graph, Broockman and Kalla break down how the canvassing moved the needle on particular questions: whether the government should provide attorneys for undocumented immigrants in legal proceedings; whether the US should grant legal status to people who were brought to the US illegally as children; whether they support deporting all undocumented immigrants; and whether undocumented immigrants should live in fear of daily deportation.

Broockman points out that this graph shows the impacts of deep canvassing among all people who came to the door to answer the canvassers questions. It includes those who immediately shut the door in the canvassers face. The numbers get a bit bigger when you just focus on people who actually entered into the conversation, he says. Among those who started the conversation, there was a 7 percentage point increase for granting legal status to people brought to the US as children, he says, for example.

This is not just a story of pushing on an open door and taking people who are already Democrats and they just needed a small push, Broockman adds. Even as Trump was talking about the caravan, we see that Republicans in our study are moving.

And like the 2016 study, Broockman and Kalla found it didnt matter who the canvassers were: They could be members of the impacted communities, or just allies. Both types of canvassers could instigate change.

The two other experiments in the study targeted transphobia. In these, researchers included conditions to see whether the conversations could work if conducted over the phone (they did, but it was slightly less effective). In another condition, the canvassers didnt share their own story, but instead played a video of someone experiencing prejudice and then based the conversation around that. That also worked.

Its worth noting that some of the results were less strong than those Broockman and Kalla reported in their 2016 paper.

The impacts these conversations had on feelings of prejudice, Broockman admits, are about a third as strong. When working with new groups, new staff, on a new issue and at bigger scale, I think its natural to expect smaller effects, he says. (Its hard, he adds, to directly compare the two papers, though, since the 2016 effort focused a bit more on combating prejudice, and this one more so on policy.)

Emile Bruneau, a neuroscientist who studies intergroup conflict at the University of Pennsylvania and was not involved in the canvassing experiments, tells me in an email it is so promising to see an intervention, any intervention, that has a lasting effect on big social issues.

Whats missing here, she says, is a theoretical understanding for why the change is occurring. Without that theoretical understanding, its difficult to generalize and use the approach in other settings, Bruneau says.

It does seem as though the two-way nature of the conversations is essential for the canvassing technique to work. But why? Broockman and Kalla arent completely sure. Their main hypothesis is that it works because its not threatening. People are resistant to changing their mind during an argument, the hypothesis goes, because it threatens their self-image. Sharing narratives gets around that: The persuasion happens because in talking about themselves, the voters realize a more tolerant attitude is consistent with their self-image.

Broockman says they didnt set out to find the exact mechanism. That is just not what we are trying to do here, he says. Social science experiments are usually conducted on college campuses, in a lab, in contrived scenarios. Theres plenty of work that offers some possible mechanisms by which opinions change. But this work isnt about that. One way you could think about our study is as an effort to try to ... use the insights of lab studies in real-world settings, he says.

(Also worth noting: Deep canvassing has only been tested with progressive causes. Could it be used to wage conservative culture wars? Possibly. Or for issues like the acceptance of genetically modified foods? Thats not known.)

Theres also the question: Is it worth the effort?

The truth is, theres not much out there in scientific literature on what can change a voters mind.

In 2018, Kalla and Broockman published a meta-analysis of 49 experiments that were designed to test whether voters are persuadable by conventional means: phone calls, television ads, traditional canvassing, and so on. In aggregate, it turns out these tactics dont work at all.

The effects of most efforts to change peoples minds on an issue, if successful at all, tend to fade over time. The impact of television ads, in particular, can fade in just a week. Deep canvassing, it appears from the research, has an effect that can last for several months.

These deep conversations, I suspect, may be more cost-effective in the long run because the impacts are durable, Serrano says.

And while the effects may be small, only moving opinion a handful of percentage points among those canvassed may be worth it, too. Im a campaign person; youd do anything for 3.5 points, says Fran Hutchins, the deputy director of the Equality Federation who worked on deep canvassing efforts reported in the new study. Think of any of our recent elections nobody is winning these things by 10 or 20 points. It always comes down to just a few points.

Theres a smaller finding nestled in Broockman and Kallas new paper, one that might not make headlines but is worth thinking about.

In the experiment on immigration, Broockman and Kalla found that 78 percent of all the people who came to the door when the canvasser rang ended up staying for the entire conversation. And 75 percent of the people who start the conversations with the canvassers share a story about their own lives.

Those basic numbers tell you something about just how willing most Americans are to have an open conversation with a stranger about these ostensibly divisive issues, Broockman says.

Its a reminder that our political opponents arent always as rigid or ideologically severe as they appear in our minds. In his work, Bruneau finds that political partisans have a skewed view of how they think their opponents think of them. Which is to say: Republicans assume Democrats dislike them more than they actually do, and vice versa. And its this meta-perception, Bruneau finds, that then fuels ongoing conflict and dehumanization.

The activists and scientists I spoke to for this story all agree that you cant change everyones minds.

Topping says, in their experience, deep canvassing works best on people who might be concerned about an issue like transgender people in bathrooms but have never really talked through their feelings. Thats likely a lot of people.

In the age of Trump, theres a compelling push to call things what they are. When we see racist behavior, we should call it racist and not be euphemistic by calling it racially charged. Arguably, theres a time and place for calling people out, particularly when it comes to powerful, influential people. But maybe not when it comes to our neighbors.

Broockman says this research can at least lend ordinary people a new script when dealing with people in their lives who hold prejudicial opinions. Thats refreshing and useful. These conversations arent arguments. In a way, they may be a form of public therapy for all sides involved.

This kind of conversation helps me talk to family members who arent totally there yet on accepting their identity, Topping says. It has taught me patience, and taught me to see people from the most positive view that I can.

View post:
How to talk someone out of bigotry with deep canvassing - Vox.com

Eleven of the team's 38 wrestlers are engineers By Will DiGrande 23 hours ago

Sophomore Anthony Artalona is just one of Penn's 11 wrestlers in the Engineering school.

Studying engineering at a school like Penn is no easy feat by itself, but a select group of wrestlers somehow makes it work every year along with their time on the mat.

Penn wrestling has historically been closely tied to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, with a significant number of team members drawn to the rigorous yet well-renowned programs it offers.

Presently, the Red and Blue have 11 engineers out of a roster of 38, a much greater fraction than most other Penn teams. These student-athletes are not limited to a certain year either, with four freshmen, three sophomores, and four seniors including Adam Kirsh, in a dual-degree program with Wharton comprising wrestling's engineering contingent.

Some of the most talented members of the team happen to be among this group, including sophomore Anthony Artalona, who just last week was ranked No. 13 for the 157-pound weight class in the NCAA Division I Coaches Panel.

"The main part of balancing it is just enjoying the work," Artalona said. "I don't mind working many hours in the week to finish the work I need to do because I enjoy it."

Other engineers who have seen notable recent success for the Red and Blue are freshman Jake Stefanowicz and sophomore Jake Hendricks, each of whom picked up wins in Penn's most recent set of dual matches.

Brothers and teammates Carl and Neil Antrassian, a senior and sophomore, respectively, are also engineers on the team and bring a unique bond that helps bring the whole group closer.

"When I was a freshman, other members of the team were able to help me with my classes, so it's really great to have teammates that you can rely on to help," Neil said.

"It's nice to have people around you doing the hard stuff, too," Artalona agreed. "When you're working extra hard, you know they are as well, so it's nice to know you're not the only one."

The Penn wrestling-engineering connection is by no means a recent one. Program greats such as Class of 1999 graduate Andrei Rodzianko in a dual-degree program with Wharton and Class of 2002 graduate Rick Springman were also engineering students during their undergraduate careers.

In addition to being Penn's first-ever title winner at the Midlands Championship and an NCAA All-American, Rodzianko also received the Dr. Harry Fields Award for academic achievement in three of his four years, showcasing his dominance both inside and out of the classroom.

Springman will likewise be remembered for his success on and off the mat, as he captured an EIWA title in 2000 while also contributing to the Philadelphia spoken word scene during his time at Penn.

The tradition has continued to the present day, where the wrestling mat still remains a special place on campus for the tight-knit group bound by their academic passion.

Get our newsletter, Dear Penn, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.

But like all other student-athletes, how wrestling engineers balance their priorities all comes down to being organized with their schedules.

"One thing our coach stresses when we're freshmen and new to Penn is being efficient with your time," Neil said. "We don't have as much free time as other students because we have to come in here, watch film, and be on the road a lot, so you really have to make your time count."

While many aspects of the Penn wrestling roster have changed over the years including the 2005 departure of coach Roger Reina before he returned three years ago the consistent and impactful engineering class won't likely be shrinking anytime soon.

Go here to read the rest:
The connection between Penn wrestling and engineering is one that runs decades deep - The Daily Pennsylvanian

Kneron, the AI startup working to make home devices more secure, has raised $73 million in a Series A fundraising round led by Horizons Ventures, an early backer of DeepMind and Siri.

The US-Taiwanese company gained fame in December 2019 after its researchers found they were easily able to fool facial recognition scanners on payment devices and at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam with printed masks.

The company designs edge AI chips that keep customer data off the cloud, using algorithms to process information on-device, improving security and efficiency when performing tasks like voice or facial recognition.

Edge AI is a term for on-device AI, and the technology is becoming increasingly popular. According to market research firm Million Insights, the edge AI industry is set to be worth $3.24 billion by 2025. And Apple acquired edge AI company Xnor.ai earlier in January.

As well as Horizons, backers of Kneron's Series A round include Alibaba's Entrepreneurs Fund, Sequoia Capital and Qualcomm.

Albert Liu, founder and CEO, said "We are excited to continue our journey with partners like Horizons Ventures who share our passion and dedication towards our mission to enable AI on any device [and] democratize AI."

Jonathan Tam, an investor with Horizons Ventures, said: "We are excited to see Kneron's AI software and hardware solutions integrating into partner products that are shipping worldwide."

He added: "We expect to see a surge in demand for on-device AI compute going forward, and Kneron is perfectly positioned to equip these devices with highly efficient AI capabilities without sacrificing power."

Check out the pitch deck Kneron used to bring on investors below:

Go here to see the original:
This AI startup went viral after fooling airport facial recognition with printed masks. Here's the pitch deck it used to raise $73 million from...