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- Other Media Review
- Open Access
Evolution and the Media
Evolution: Education and Outreach volume 3, pages 236–240 (2010)
Journalists have been writing about evolution since Darwin first published the Origin of Species. Today, news about evolution comes in a dizzying diversity of venues. In this paper, I survey this diversity, observing its strengths and weaknesses for helping students learn about evolution.
“A Radical Reconstruction”
Evolution has been news from the start. On March 28, 1860, The New York Times ran a massive article on a newly published book called On the Origin of Species (Anonymous 1860). The article explained how the dominant explanation for life’s staggering diversity was the independent creation of every species on Earth. “Meanwhile,” the anonymous author wrote, “Mr. DARWIN, as the fruit of a quarter of a century of patient observation and experiment, throws out, in a book whose title has by this time become familiar to the reading public, a series of arguments and inferences so revolutionary as, if established, to necessitate a radical reconstruction of the fundamental doctrines of natural history.”
Today, some 150 years later, evolutionary biologists are continuing to reconstruct natural history, and journalists are still documenting that reconstruction. Each week brings a flood of new reports about some new insight into evolution. The stories range across the living world, from fossil dinosaurs to the emergence of new strains of viruses to clues embedded in the human genome. The New York Times continues to publish articles about evolution (some by yours truly), as do many other newspapers and magazines. But reports on evolution can also take many new forms that were inconceivable in Darwin's day. They can be television shows, blogs, podcasts, and tweets.
Teachers who want to bring their students up to date on the science evolutionary biology—and to get them excited about this fast-moving field—can select from an overwhelming variety of choices. That's fundamentally a good thing, but it has some downsides. There is a vast amount of information available on the Internet, but much of it is misleading or poorly written. It takes some work to make the best use of news about evolution. And to understand how to make the best use of it requires a little history on how the new media ecology evolved into its current form. (In this essay, I will only examine the coverage of evolutionary biology in the media, not the coverage of creationism or other social controversies that involve evolution. That is a worthy subject, but one that would require a lengthy treatment of its own.)
The Evolution of the Modern Science Writer
The journalistic coverage of evolution as we know it today began to take shape in the 1970s. Newspapers hired more and more reporters with a specialty in science, and those science writers began paying more attention to evolutionary biology. Boyce Rensberger, a science writer for The New York Times in the 1970s, for example, wrote a string of stories about evolution. A typical Rensberger article appeared on April 12, 1975, entitled “East Africa Fossils Suggest That Man Is a Million Years Older Than He Thinks.” In a 2,900-word account, Rensberger described the discovery a three-million-year-old fossil of a hitherto unknown species of hominid, Australopithecus afarensis (Rensberger 1975).
Four years later, the Times founded a weekly section dedicated to science—the first science section to ever run in an American newspaper. In the next few years, many other newspapers followed suit. Science magazines enjoyed a boom as well. Old standards like Scientific American were joined by start-ups such as Discover and Omni. All of these new publications gave special attention to evolution.
The reasons for this focus were complex, but one of the most important ones was that there was a lot of news about evolution for reporters to write. A. afarensis was not the only new fossil to capture the public’s attention in the 1970s. Dinosaurs, long considered sluggish and slumped, were receiving a makeover. The Yale paleontologist John Ostrom led a new reconstruction of dinosaurs as fast-running, warm-blooded creatures—an upgrade from Godzilla to Jurassic Park.
Geologists were also adding to evolution’s cinematic appeal. In the late 1970s Walter Alvarez of the University of California at Berkeley and his colleagues discovered clues that an asteroid smashed into Earth 65 million years ago (Alvarez 2009). It just so happened to have hit right at the end of the Cretaceous Period, a time of mass extinctions that claimed the dinosaurs that Ostrom was rehabilitating. Alvarez made a radical connection between the impact and the mass extinctions. Mass extinctions had long been thought to be stretched across millions years, as sea levels gradually rose or fell. Alvarez and his colleagues offered a vision of sudden disaster. The asteroid impact threw dust and rock high into the atmosphere, causing a global environmental catastrophe—darkness for months, acid rain, global warming, and more. In a geological flash, millions of species became extinct.
Alvarez was arguing for a catastrophic mode of evolution. To understand evolution 65 million years ago, we could not simply extrapolate back from the small, incremental changes natural selection produces today from one generation to the next. As a result, some scientists argued, the end-Cretaceous extinctions did not fit into the framework that had dominated evolutionary thought since the mid-1900s, known as the Modern Synthesis.
The Modern Synthesis—an integration of genetics, paleontology, ecology, and other branches of biology—explained life predominantly as the result of natural selection operating on small differences between individuals over vast periods of time. Challenges to the Modern Synthesis came from studies not just on mass extinctions, but on more tranquil periods of the fossil record. The paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould argued that the fossil record revealed a pattern of stasis and change, a pattern they dubbed punctuated equilibria (Gould 2007). Species remained stable for millions of years, with new species rapidly branching off in just thousands of years. Eldredge and Gould argued that this pattern of evolution allowed selection to take place not just between individuals, but perhaps also between species.
Science writers chronicled not only these challenges to the Modern Synthesis, but also the attempts by other scientists to expand its scope. In 1976, the British zoologist Richard Dawkins, building on the work in the 1960s of George Williams and William Hamilton, published The Selfish Gene (Dawkins 2006). Dawkins argued that evolution was best understood from a gene-centered perspective. The Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson undertook a similar project, interpreting a vast range of behaviors—from the selfless work of sterile worker bees to the bloodshed of human warfare—as strategies for genes to get themselves replicated. In 1975 he unveiled his synthesis in the book Sociobiology (Wilson 1975).
Gould and other scientists attacked these extensions of the Modern Synthesis, arguing that they ascribed far too much power to natural selection. Gould and Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin condemned sociobiology as promoting “just-so stories”—plausible-sounding tales of adaptation rather than carefully constructed and tested hypotheses (Gould & Lewontin 1979). Gould and Lewontin argued that evolutionary biologists had to consider many possible explanations beyond natural selection. A behavior of an animal, the shape of a shell, or any other feature of life might be strongly influenced by constraints, for example—constraints of history, development, and function.
Science writers were not the only ones who chronicled this debate. Some of the scientists themselves did, too. And some of them proved to be powerful writers, publishing hugely popular books and articles. Wilson won the Pulitzer Prize—twice—for his books. Dawkins's The Selfish Gene proved enormously successful, and has remained in print ever since. Stephen Jay Gould battled against the adaptationism of Dawkins and Wilson every month in the pages of Natural History, as well as in a string of books such as Wonderful Life. Gould passed away in 2002, but today Wilson and Dawkins continue to publish popular books on evolution. Dawkins's latest work, The Greatest Show on Earth, became a best-seller. And Dawkins, Wilson, and Gould have been joined by younger evolutionary biologists turned popular writers, such as Jared Diamond, Steven Pinker, and Frans de Waal.
The Great Transformation
While these writers published in the traditional venues of books, magazines, and newspapers, a few evolutionary biologists and evolution buffs started to experiment with a new medium: the Internet. They set up online discussion groups, such as talk.origins, where they could post comments about new advances in evolutionary biology, as well as the attempts of creationists to block the teaching of evolution in public schools. Later they posted long lists of frequently asked questions about evolution, such as, “If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?”
Talk.origins and other evolution discussion groups were founded at a time when few people outside of universities had even heard of the Internet. But as time passed, the number of Internet users grew exponentially. And along the way, systems for posting information online grew more sophisticated. Publishing systems emerged for creating online journals, complete with links, podcasts, photographs, videos, or whatever else a writer wanted to add. A number of veterans of the old evolution discussion groups started up their own journals—known first as web logs, and then, finally, as blogs (Goldstein 2009). Others followed their example, so that today, thanks to the Internet, far more biologists are regularly writing about evolution than ever before.
As blogs have bloomed, the older venues for news on evolution have struggled. A number of science magazines launched in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Omni and Science 80, eventually folded. Science coverage in newspapers began to get pinched in the 1990s. In 1989, 95 newspapers ran science sections. By 2006 that number had shrunk to just 34. Those shuttered science sections were the victims of an industry-wide blight. Newspapers were being squeezed for greater profits, even as their readerships declined. They offered their senior staff buyouts in order to reduce labor costs, and a number of the science writers who had been part of the field's first efflorescence left the business.
And then the Internet turned the news business inside out. The online classified web site Craigslist made classified ads in the print editions of newspapers as obsolete as horse-drawn carriages. Companies that might once have taken out full-page ads now poured much of their money into online advertising. They went there because readers had gone to the Internet first. What had once been the purview of die-hard web-lovers like the people at talk.origins became the place where hundreds of millions of people went to learn about many things, including science.
Paradoxically, even as the Internet sucked away much of the revenue of newspapers and magazines, it was driving more readers to them. The New York Times, for example, now has a daily circulation of about one million readers, but receives about 17 million unique visits a month at its web site (http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004016432 [Accessed November 7 2009]). The news on their site also radiates outward across the World Wide Web as people comment on it in blogs and forums.
These huge changes in readership are altering the way evolution and other branches of science are reported. The print edition of The New York Times still includes a science section every Tuesday, but it now offers may untraditional kinds of coverage of evolution. It hosts science blogs including “The Wild Side,” written by evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson. In 2009 it posted The Origin of Species in an online form, with annotations from some of the world’s leading evolutionary biologists. The New York Times now offers podcasts and even short videos about evolution. You almost have to remind yourself that it's still a newspaper.
The Darwinius Affair
For teachers looking for new ways to engage students in evolution, there’s an embarrassment of riches waiting to be explored. Twenty years ago, they had to search slowly through magazines and newspapers for interesting articles, head off to a Xerox machine, and run off a few dozen grainy copies. Now teachers can use Google to zip around the Internet's global library. It takes a few seconds to pull up a list of thousands of articles on Archaeopteryx, or Neanderthals, or balancing selection.
And teachers don't have to limit their searches to articles. Casey Dunn, an evolutionary biologist at Brown University, recently established a blog called Creaturecast about animal evolution. Among their posts, he and his co-bloggers regularly publish innovative videos. One episode explains how single-celled organisms made the evolutionary transition to multicellularity. The whole film is a stop-action animation of purple Play-doh. The Play-doh morphs into cells, which then join together into bodies (http://creaturecast.org/archives/410-creaturecast-episode-2 [Accessed November 7 2009]). The video is at once charming and surprisingly enlightening. And, most importantly, it was something no one would have predicted just a couple years ago.
But this new media ecology is also vulnerable to spectacular disasters. In May 2009, scientists unveiled a new fossil of a primate dubbed Darwinius masilae. The unveiling was unique in the annals of paleontology. At the American Museum of Natural History, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other luminaries gazed at the slab preserving a 47-million-year-old specimen (known as Ida, named after the daughter of one of the paleontologists who described the fossil). Minutes before the press conference commenced, the journal PLOS One electronically published a paper about the fossil (Franzen et al. 2009). Some of the paper’s authors, speaking at the press conference, described the fossil as the Holy Grail of paleontology and the lost ark of archeology.
The scientists were not the only ones to speak that morning. Nancy Dubuc, an executive at the History Channel said that the fossil “promised to change everything that we thought we understood about the origins of human life.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/may/19/ida-fossil-primate-media-us [Accessed November 7 2009]). Why was Dubuc there? Because the unveiling of Darwinius was actually a television phenomenon, years in the making.
Television producers had started putting together a big-budget show about Darwinius even as the scientists were analyzing the fossil and writing up their results. The documentary’s main message was also the chief argument in the PLOS One paper: Darwinius belonged to the lineage that led to monkeys, apes, and humans. As a result, it illuminated how our ancestors diverged from more distantly related primates, such as lemurs. As the air date for the documentary approached, the History Channel cranked up a massive publicity machine. A trade book was rushed into print. Ads appeared. YouTube videos spread like viruses. The History Channel set up an elaborate web site called “Revealing the Link.” It featured hyperbolic claims from the scientists, such as, “When our results are published, it will be just like an asteroid hitting the Earth.” (http://www.revealingthelink.com/ [Accessed November 10 2009]).
As press manipulation, the strategy worked well. Newspapers, magazines, and even television news programs ran stories about Darwinius on the day of its grand unveiling. Few of them would have ever considered covering the discovery of an Eocene primate, it's safe to say, without the elaborate publicity. Unfortunately, most reporters simply relayed hyperbolic quotes from their sources. They also demonstrated some deep misunderstandings about evolution. “Fossil is evolution's missing link,” announced The Sun (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2437749.ece [Accessed November 10 2009]), falling prey to the common misbelief that paleontologists could ever determine our direct ancestors. (In fact, paleontologists compare related species to determine the pattern by which new traits emerged in different lineages.)
Given the upheavals going on in the media these days, it's not surprising that the press were so swayed by the Darwinius publicity machine. The number of skilled science writers who can report a story like this one with the proper skepticism is dwindling. And all media organizations are racing to be the first to get news online.
Not all science writers took television channels as their authority on human evolution, however. A few veteran journalists tried to get their hands on the paper and show it to other experts on fossil primates to get their opinion on its importance. Seeking outside opinions from experts was all the more important because the Darwinius paper was published in PLOS One. Unlike most other scientific journals, PLOS One does not judge papers based on their scientific importance, but simply on their technical soundness. The journal's editors rely on discussion forums on its web site for an open, post-publication peer review to judge the merits of the paper (http://www.plosone.org/static/guidelines.action [Accessed November 7 2009]).
It’s unlikely that many reporters covering the story of Darwinius were familiar with the editorial policies of PLOS One. And the few science writers who tried to get hold of the paper and show it to experts were thwarted. Ann Gibbons, a correspondent for Science, finally got her hands on the paper the weekend before the press conference—but only after signing a non-disclosure agreement with the television company that produced the Darwinius documentary. Gibbons promised not to show the paper to anyone before the press conference (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2009/05/21/science-held-hostage/ [Accessed November 7 2009]).
As a result, the first giant wave of articles about Darwinius was based entirely on the press conference and claims from the scientists who had published the PLOS One paper. Eventually, Gibbons and a handful of other science writers were able to publish articles that offered a broad look at Darwinius, rather than the breathless press conference coverage that dominated the news. It turned out that just about all the other experts reporters contacted thought the fossil was impressive, but that the claims of its kinship with humans unjustified. “This hypothesis now lies well outside the scientific mainstream, and the discovery and description of Ida have done little to rehabilitate it,” wrote Christopher Beard of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the September 2009 issue of American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/pub/the-weakest-link [Accessed November 7 2009]).
In October 2009, five months after the Darwinius circus had folded its tents and moved on, paleontologists published an important new paper on early primate evolution (Seiffert et al. 2009). They described another early primate fossil, called Afradapis, and then compared its anatomy to Darwinius and a wide range of other primate fossils. Their analysis puts Darwinius on the branch that led to lemurs, not to us. The reaction from the press offered a stark contrast with the pandemonium that greeted Darwinius in May. Very few newspapers and other publications even mentioned the new study. Perhaps if there had been a big-budget documentary on Afradapis, things might have been different.
Teachers: Caveat Emptor
No teacher should expose students to The Sun's coverage of Darwinius, just as no teacher should expose students to deer ticks. Selecting popular stories about new developments in evolutionary biology requires great care. To develop that care, teachers should learn as much as possible about evolution, through textbooks and reliable online sites such as Understanding Evolution (http://evolution.berkeley.edu).They can also tap into the collective wisdom of the blogosphere. Evolution bloggers were quick to ask hard questions about the hype surrounding Darwinius and try to figure out its real significance. They can help teachers distinguish stories about truly important science from stories that are mere fluff.
Teachers must also bear in mind that some sites that claim to offer critiques of news on evolution are actually creationist outlets dedicated to undermining the teaching of evolution. Some of these sites are relatively obvious, such as Creation Safaris (http://creationsafaris.com), while others hide their creationism. A site called “All About Science” (http://www.allaboutscience.org) has a long page entitled “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.” It takes a bit of snooping around to discover that All About Science is produced by an outfit called AllAboutGod.com.
Finally, teachers should resist the rapid-fire allure of the Internet. Rather than leaping on an article the second it hits Google News, they would do well to give the science a little time to develop. After all, the scientific process does not actually run on the news cycle. One revolutionary breakthrough does not follow seconds after another, exploding like cannon fire. It takes time for scientists to gather data and present hypotheses, and for other scientists to look for ways to test those hypotheses. It would have been unwise to use Darwinius in May to help students understand evolution. By October, it became a teachable moment.
Alvarez WT. Rex and the crater of doom. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2009.
Anonymous (1860) “The Origin of Species.” The New York Times, March 28, 1860. PDF downloaded from http://www.nytimes.com
Dawkins R. The selfish gene. 30th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2006.
Franzen JL, Gingerich PD, Habersetzer J, Hurum JH, von Koenigswald W, Smith BH. Complete primate skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: morphology and paleobiology. PloS One. 2009;4(5):e5723. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005723.
Goldstein A. Blogging evolution. Evolution: Education and Outreach. 2009;2:548–59.
Gould SJ. Punctuated equilibrium. 1st ed. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 2007.
Gould SJ, Lewontin RC. The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B. 1979;205:581–98.
Rensberger B (1975). East Africa fossils suggest that man is a million years older than he thinks. New York Times. p 58
Seiffert ER, Perry JMG, Simons EL, Boyer DM. Convergent evolution of anthropoid-like adaptations in Eocene adapiform primates. Nature. 2009;461:7267: (October 22): 1118–1121.
Wilson EO. Sociobiology: the new synthesis. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1975.
I would like to thank Ann Gibbons, Boyce Rensberger, and Malcolm Ritter for sharing some of their experiences in writing about evolution.
About this article
Cite this article
Zimmer, C. Evolution and the Media. Evo Edu Outreach 3, 236–240 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-010-0212-6


Access to Justice
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- Reduce the criminalization of poverty and racial bias in anti-poverty programs, public institutions, work environments, and financial services
- Enforce due process and language access rights to guarantee every poor person their “day in court”
- Ensure adequate funding for legal services programs and that they will be fairly paid for their work by assisting local programs secure attorneys’ fees
- Increase access to civil legal representation.


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USA TV network is looking for the next country sensation!
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domain: geography


The Covid-19 pandemic has stretched UK health and social care like never before. To overcome this great collective challenge, the sector has turned to digital technologies to support the incredible efforts already being made by key workers.
Even before the pandemic began, there were those within health and social care making digital progress. The Cumbria and Lancashire Telestroke Network transformed patient care by providing a 24/7 stroke diagnosis service.
The service uses a highspeed fibre optic network to connect a specialist team of consultants with patients suspected of suffering a stroke, enabling rapid assessment to take place. This can reduce long-lasting side effects and save lives.
The last year has brought health and wellbeing to the forefront of all our minds – we spend less time commuting and have more time to focus on our physical and mental wellbeing. This trend has sparked huge growth in digital fitness and mindfulness apps in the private sector.
Virtual spin classes, online meditation, Joe Wicks workouts – digital health is now an everyday focus for people. The knock-on effect of this is a fitter, healthier and happier nation – which means less pressure on NHS services. And digital fitness is something the NHS has been quick to support.
Take the rapid adoption of the NHS-backed fitness app, ‘Couch to 5k’. The app is a running plan for beginners to help those who don’t exercise regularly take positive steps for their health and fitness. Between March and June 2020, the app was downloaded nearly one million times – a 92% increase compared to 2019.
This digital innovation is here to stay – from virtual consultations to enhanced digital collection of information. And it’s not only transforming the provision of health and social care for the nation. It’s boosting the UK economy, too.
We recently commissioned the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) to look at how the UK economy could benefit from continued investment in digital transformation; sustained progress of the type we’ve seen over last year.
We found that, across both the private and public sectors, Covid-driven digital change could increase GDP by £232bn, or 6.9%, by 2040.
And the health and social care sector has a significant role to play. Our research found that simply by continuing to invest in digital infrastructure projects in the sector, we could expect a £33bn boost to UK GDP over the same timeframe – an uplift of approximately 1%.
But to make sure we capture the opportunities ahead of us, we need to understand the innovations that are driving current transformations and how they will shape the long-term future of health and social care.
Virtual care in the real world
Our research found that the delivery of digital services is a key area of transformation. And this has certainly been seen in the rapid rise of virtual consultations across UK healthcare.
With person-to-person contact being restricted to reduce the spread of the virus, these services have boomed as an effective way for patients to receive clinical advice and diagnosis.
Some health practitioners have created entirely digital services that maintain levels of care and ensure patients with fewer digital skills aren’t left behind. Richmond Wellbeing Service, part of the East London NHS Foundation Trust, has repurposed its smaller clinical spaces as digital pods. Now, people can simply walk in, sit down, and be seen over a face-to-face video call by a clinician – with no technical know-how required and at no risk of transmitting Covid-19.
The face-to-face video pods have created better outcomes for patients than a phone call. And it is likely to continue. Dr Ben Wright, Lead Clinician at Richmond Wellbeing Service and Chief Clinical Digital Officer with East London NHS Foundation Trust believes that in the future “70% of mental health consultations will remain virtual and 20% will be delivered through digital pods.”
Meanwhile, other healthcare providers are using technologies to assist with training, increasing staff understanding of the challenges faced by their patients. Frontline workers in eye health, for instance, can use virtual reality headsets to walk in their patient’s shoes – experiencing the world as they do, first hand. From this, hospitals and health services can run situational training sessions that have the patient experience at their heart.
A lightning-fast network for the NHS
Covid-driven digital transformation hasn’t just been seen in innovative care solutions. It’s changed the very foundation that allows health and care sector technologies to be effective: its network.
The pandemic saw NHS Digital complete the biggest ever public-sector data-network migration, saving the NHS around £75m a year in the process. Today, the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) connects 12,000 sites belonging to 950 NHS, social care, private sector and local authority organisations.
HSCN provides faster connectivity that is crucial to delivering services in the digital age. And that means frontline workers can provide quicker, smarter care that improves patient outcomes.
Rob Harder, CTO for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, told us: “It’s given us 10 times more bandwidth at 20% less cost. More reliable connectivity for our clinical systems gives us capacity to share more information. The more information our clinicians can share when they are discussing complex patients gives them better ability to provide better patient care.”
Accelerating into the new everyday
These transformations are creating a revolutionised health and social care sector. But we haven’t yet realised the full potential of the progress we’ve seen – the £33bn opportunity that lies in wait in 2040.
To grasp this, we need to continue investing in digital solutions that will sustain acceleration into a new and better everyday. One that benefits the NHS, frontline caregivers, and patients across the UK.
Virgin Media Business is committed to claiming this future for everyone. We paved the way for delivery of HSCN with our Public Services Network (PSN). And we were one of the first organisations in the country to be awarded the PSN Compliance Certification CAS(T) 2-2-4. We’ve since achieved two-stage compliance for HSCN.
We partner with health and social care providers to put the right tools in their people’s hands, empowering them to treat and care for patients in the best way possible. And we make sure they have the right infrastructure to make that happen, quickly and securely.


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As you've heard by now, because you are on the internet, Nora Ephron died today. My first thought : She was 71? She looked pretty good for her age. The rest of my thoughts were about her work, though, so don't worry, I'm only 18% shallow.
I love love love Nora Ephron. "You've Got Mail" and "When Harry Met Sally...". have been my comfort movies for years. Movies I can say every line along with and still enjoy watching them.
I'm always in agony over whether Sally and Harry are really going to get together. Watch it; I know you'll love it. (Probably only Laura will get this reference.)
I've actually been thinking about Nora Ephron a lot lately, even before tonight's news. I've started work writing a romantic comedy the last couple months (I hereby solemnly swear not to become Always-Talk-About-Their-Screenplay Person, but it was relevant here, so don't hate me) and she's obviously one of the masters of the genre. One of very few, really; there are not many good romantic comedies out there, but when they are done right, they're the best (which is why I think it would be a good writing exercise to try to write one, but I digress...).
Ephron's characters are so true-to-life and relatable, but still so unique. And there is so much genuine laugh-out-loud humor all over the place. Not a ton of joke-y humor, but the (to me) more meaningful "funny because it's true" sort of humor. I could go into in-depth analysis mode here, but I've already read articles that do a better job of summing up what makes Ephron a great writer than I would in a blog post that I'm writing when I should be sleeping. So we'll just say Nora Ephron is terrific and a legend and will always be an inspiration to me. So thanks, Nora (since I know your disembodied spirit is totally reading this blog post).

domain: literature


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Masters of Horror
A drawing that became a dream. A dream that became reality.
A lonely girl's dream life merges into her real life.
MORE 80'S HORROR GOODNESS...
© 80's Horror Movies 2011 | This site and its content are for adult viewing. 18+ | All images and video belong to their original owners. |

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The resignation of the head of Dnipropetrovsk oblast Igor Kolomoisky has passed the maximum correctly, according to the former Deputy head of the Dnipropetrovsk leader, the people's Deputy Boris Filatov.
on Wednesday, the head of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree to relieve Kolomoisky as head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional state administration. Acting head of the region will be appointed by the head of Zaporizhzhya regional administration Valentin Reznichenko.
"head Dneproges petitioned about the Dismissal, the head of the met. The dismissal was held to the maximum correctly. All cases will be brought Valentina Reznichenko in maximum comfort mode ", - Filatov wrote on his page on the night of Wednesday.
He also confirmed that on the first day of the weekend will be a rally " for United Ukraine ", which will be heard the annual report of the team Kolomoisky. According to Filatov, at the rally will be attended by elected officials, leaders of the opinions of a large number of citizens, volunteers, volunteers and Reznichenko.
The relationship between Kolomoisky and the authorities of Ukraine escalated after the Verkhovna Rada on March 19, adopted amendments in the law on joint stock companies, which deprived him of his observations on the company " Ukrnafta ". In addition, differences arose in connection with the replacement of the leadership of the organization " Ukrtransnafta ". Until recently it was headed by Oleksandr Lazorko, who is considered close to Kolomoisky. But last Thursday the state as the sole shareholder of " Ukrtransnafta ", removed Lazorko from the powers of the Chairman of the Board.
then, accompanied by armed guards Kolomoisky came to office organization, to stand up for Lazorko, where he had a conflict with media professionals. After this incident Poroshenko reprimanded Kolomoisky for the nonobservance of the instructions in profetica

domain: news


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domain: design


It was a busy week for transportation in Puget Sound and Washington. Here’s a rundown of some of the week’s biggest transportation-related developments.
Federal Way slated to be home to next OMF
On Thursday, Sound Transit’s System Expansion Committee recommended a site in Federal Way as the preferred alternative for the Operations and Maintenance Facility South (OMFS) project. The decision could avert significant delays to light rail expansions to West Seattle and Tacoma and limit displacements of residents, businesses, and institutions. The selected preferred alternative site is located near South 336th Street on about 59 acres. A competing site nearby is considered to be more impactful with displacements but in a similar price range whereas as a site in Kent could increase project costs by $600 million to $1.1 billion and delay light rail expansion projects by two-and-a-half to five years.
During Thursday’s meeting, Chair Claudia Balducci explained her assessment and reasoning for recommending the Federal Way site. “We definitely don’t have an easy site to select here; we have three site alternatives — each of them have unique pros and cons, but I will say one of them does have fewer related concerns and impacts,” she said. “I am recommending that we identify the South 336th Street alternative site as the preferred alternative…[because it]…balances our aggressive system expansion needs to open the light rail extensions to Tacoma and West Seattle while minimizing business and residential displacement impacts.”
The full board still has to sign off on the site as the preferred alternative later this week and the agency will need to complete the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) next year. The other two sites would still be evaluated as alternatives, but the South 336th Street appears all but sure to be selected as the final site for the project. A decision next year to proceed with a project there would still need approval from the board after the FEIS is issued. If approved, the OMFS could open in 2029 — three years ahead of the Tacoma Dome and West Seattle Link Extensions.
Liias takes reins of the state Senate Transportation Committee
Also on Thursday, Senator Marko Liias (D-Everett) has been tapped as the new Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, a key decision-making body in the Washington State Legislature. He succeeds former Senator Steve Hobbs (D-Lake Stevens), who recently left to become the new Secretary of State.
“It is an honor that my colleagues trust me with this responsibility and have selected me for this position,” Liias said in a statement. “As we face dramatic changes to transportation revenue and mobility options, this is our moment to write a visionary, equitable, climate-focused transportation package that invests in our shared priorities while respecting our real and unique local needs.”
Liias edged out fellow Democrats Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) and Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) who had been vying for the committee role. In so far as Saldana is concerned, that outcome is somewhat surprising given that she has served as Vice Chair on the committee for about four years. Normally holding that position would be considered a stepping stone for promotion to a Chair vacancy. Why she was passed over remains unclear, but Liias was Vice Chair of the House Transportation Committee from 2008 to 2014.
While in the state legislature, Liias has largely been a progressive voice and an ardent supporter of safe, equitable, and sustainable transportation policy. With the committee moving under his control, expectations will surely have risen for better legislation around walking, rolling, biking, and transit. A key task will be passage of new legislation for transportation projects and revenues. His predecessor repeatedly failed to do so and alienated potential allies with transportation policies that were out of step with climate and equity. Liias now has the opportunity to fix that.
New Sound Transit 4 legislation prefiled
On Friday, Senator Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) prefiled a regional transit bill for the upcoming 2022 state legislative session. The bill would grant Sound Transit new authorization, in collaboration with local communities, to establish “enhanced service zones” that could fund additional high capacity transit projects, effectively allowing for a Sound Transit 4 program. It also addresses governance concerns that Pedersen had about a similar bill filed earlier this year in the House by Representative David Hackney (D-Seattle).
Cities and towns within the Sound Transit taxing district could form these enhanced service zones, provided that a zone’s area at least covers the full extent of a municipality. To encourage coordination, the bill would also allow other adjacent cities, towns, and unincorporated areas to form a larger enhanced service zone or allow layering of enhanced service zones (e.g., Seattle and all of urban King County, inclusive of Seattle).
Communities wanting to form enhanced service zones would need to first work with Sound Transit to develop a project list. Once established, the agency would put the project list and a corresponding revenue funding measure to a public vote, which would only need a simple majority to pass. Revenue options include an annual 1.5% motor vehicle excise tax and a commercial parking tax with no statutory rate limit. And in Seattle, the legislation would specifically require light rail and similar rail fixed guideway systems to be constructed entirely grade-separated.
The bill so far has just one co-sponsor: Senator Marko Liias. But having the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee onboard is generally a positive sign that it will get airtime. Being that 2022 is a short legislative session (60 days), however, compresses things and complicates the path of newly-introduced legislation, especially when that legislation isn’t considered an emergency.
Missing Link appealed yet again
The long-awaited multi-use trail connector for the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard, dubbed the “Missing Link,” could be in trouble again. On Friday, David Kroman of The Seattle Times reported that the adversarial, local industrial and maritime community had filed a fresh appeal in superior court. The latest filing contends that the project doesn’t comply with permitting requirements and ostensibly would create new unsafe conditions among other contrived arguments.
The latest lawsuit comes just one month after the Seattle Department of Transportation made changes to the project, reducing the trail width and cutting back on other elements. In doing this, the department revised the project enough that it should avoid the need of full environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act. However, the appellants are poised to argue otherwise in court.
For years, the project has been tied up in one court battle after another by industry interests over spurious, bad faith arguments. But adjudicators have consistently sided with the appellants and confoundingly moved the goalposts. What happens in court is anyone’s guess, but the department has said that the revised project schedule factored in the possibility of an appeal process. The project is slated to begin construction somewhere between late 2022 or early 2023 and take seven months to complete.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.


The Big Lesson I Learned After Buying My Kid His First Cell Phone
I bought my son his first cell phone. How kids reacted to it — and how I reacted to their comments — taught me a big lesson.
Like many, I’ve taken the infamous walk of shame. It usually started with beer, followed by shots of something, and ended with less than epic decision-making. The next morning, shame shuffling to the Waffle House, Walgreens, and home.
I went to college for eight years, and I took many hikes — shame, guilt, and disgust. It was always my bad, and I’m responsible for my saunters into self-destructive emotional landmines. Sadly, I’m also to blame for my son’s first walk of shame after I bought him his first cell phone.
I thought owning a phone was a privilege. A perk that a child got because an employed parent used part of their paycheck to buy a thoughtful gift for their offspring. I didn’t realize that owning a phone is a birthright.
This story was submitted by a Fatherly reader. Opinions expressed in the story do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Fatherly as a publication. The fact that we’re printing the story does, however, reflect a belief that it is an interesting and worthwhile read
pornMark Shatz is a single-dad, psychologist, and author of Comedy Writing Secrets (3rd ed). His favorite pastime is watching his teenage son outsmart “proven” parenting techniques.
This article was originally published on


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Girls basketball: MVP Casey Foley leads the pack as Ardsley wins Hank Roth Classic; more results
After a one-year hiatus, Ardsley has returned to Class A and is wasting no time in making its presence known.
The Panthers used clutch free-throw shooting and defense to top class foe Eastchester, 55-38, in the championship game of the Hank Roth Classic at Ardsley on Sunday after snow delayed the finale Saturday.
Junior captain Casey Foley scored 19 points en route to tournament MVP honors. Foley was one of four Panthers to score in double figures, joining volleyball teammate Nicolina Chenard (11), fellow captain Cassidy Wooten (10) and Isabella DePasquale (10).
“She worked incredibly hard this offseason,” Panthers coach Michael Pollio said of Foley. “She’s a very positive, vocal leader. She’s found ways to bring the team together.”
Ardsley held the Eagles to just one point in the third quarter and were 23 of 30 from the charity stripe in the tournament, which was named after the school’s athletic director three years ago. Eastchester, which sank just eight free throws, was led by Olivia Heffernan, who scored 15 points.
The consolation game between Ursuline B and Somers was postponed after the Tuskers could not find travel arrangements. The game will be rescheduled at a later date, which has not been determined yet.
Best of the rest:Mairead Hynes scored 25 points and was named tournament MVP after leading Mahopac to a 60-47 win over Panas in the Panthers’ host tournament. … Gabilis Castillo scored 14 points for Maria Regina in a 44-42 win over Notre Dame Academy of Staten Island. Courtney Knox scored 19 points for John Jay in a 54-25 win at Putnam Valley.


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Butler Health System FasterCare provides urgent care with the focus on you and your busy lifestyle. Whether it’s during the day, in the evening or on the weekend, we’re here when you need us with fast, effective treatment from compassionate professionals who really care about you.
Effective treatment for colds, coughs, sore throats, the flu, bronchitis and other common illnesses to help you feel better fast.More
Expert care for sprains, strains, lacerations, burns, simple fractures and other minor injuries to help you heal quickly.More
For your best defense against the flu and its effects, flu shots are available every day at every FasterCare location.More
Walk-in physical exams for patients of all ages for children’s sports, driver’s permits, work requirements and other needs.More
For your convenience, FasterCare stocks an assortment of commonly prescribed prescription medications at each of our locations.More

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You are such a tease!LOL But I must admit I can't wait to see what all the cloak and dagger is about!
Oh, you big tease! What ever could it be?
Ok...I am really curious about this now..... It is killing me..... >"<What is it?? What is it??What is it?? What is it??What is it?? What is it??What is it?? What is it??What is it?? What is it??
I love stitchery and this looks like a stitchery design to me. Looking forward to the big reveal.
If it's the embroidered piece you're teasing us with,,,it looks gorgeous and yes, I'll take it:)Cindy F./TX
You are keeping us in "stitches" wondering what it is.
Very intriguing! It looks like it is going to be super pretty.
I am intrigued. You are so naughty! :)
You are such a tease !
I love the little 'peep' with the pretty blue heart. I NEED to see it all now!
You're so sneaky :-)
Post a Comment


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Robbie and Bobby have an indestructible friendship--which is the best kind of friendship for a robot and a boy to have! They utilize the scientifically-proven buddy system to weather the slings and arrows of life: bee-bearded pirates, ice cream demons, Edgar Allen Poe, and anthropomorphic roaches. Robbie and Bobby is usually a gag-a-day comic, but sometimes our duo embark on adventurous story arcs. The first strip was originally published in 2003. Visit the archives at robbieandbobby.com to read nearly 1,000 strips that have been drawn since.
Robbie and Bobby
Big Nate chronicles the humor and misadventures of 11-year-old Nate Wright: sixth-grade renaissance man, aspiring cartoonist, self-described genius, and the all-time record holder for most detentions in school history. Nate and his friends are also the stars of a bestselling book series.
The most beloved comic strip in history is an American cultural icon.
Kevin Fagan's lighthearted family strip chronicles the zany mishaps of the Drabble family, including donut-eating father Ralph, faithful yet frazzled wife, June (aka "Honeybunch"), goofball college student Norman, smart younger brother Patrick and precocious little sister Penny.
A fantastic saga of adventure both high and low, of forbidden passion and iambic pentameter, of fays, fools, organists, demons, accordions, heaven, hell and Shakespeare, Pibgorn follows the whims and flights of its eponymous fairy heroine as she plies her conviction that there must be more to life than depositing dew drops on dandelions and sleeping under mushrooms.
WuMo celebrates life's absurdity, holding up a fun-house mirror to our modern world and everyone who lives in it. Populated by crazy beavers, disgruntled office workers, feuding couples, gangster rappers and pool-playing unicorns, WuMo has grown from an underground sensation to an instant classic.
Wulff & Morgenthaler
Created by Brad Anderson, the classic comic canine has delighted newspaper readers since 1954. Marm lives with the Winslows, who have what it takes to run with the Big Dog, usually with a minimum of destruction. Sunday strips feature letters from readers about their pets.
Since 1987, readers have adored the remarkably quiet adventures of Jim as recorded in his daily journal. His work has been collected in several books, including the bestselling "I Went To College and it was okay." Jim's day-to-day meta-observations are penned with little more than stick figures, scribbles, and a few words, but his minimalism speaks volumes.
Packed with humor and heart, Jump Start is a modern family comic strip with a classic feel. At the core of the Jump Start family is Joe Cobb, a big-city cop, and his wife, Marcy, a nurse in a bustling Philadelphia hospital. Their jobs are easy compared to the challenge of raising four kids.
Cartoon quotes from inspirational folks! Zen Pencils is an exciting and unique new comic that takes inspirational and famous quotes and adapts them into cartoon stories. From icons like Einstein, Gandhi and Twain to modern-day philosophers, comedians and writers - their words are turned into heartwarming stories by cartoonist Gavin Aung Than. Be inspired, motivated, educated and laugh as you read famous words as never before! This comic updates on Mondays. Visit the official website here.
Gavin Aung Than

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Inferno vs Gabriela
They don’t come much more exciting than this! Two incredibly beautiful and skilled talents engaging in a fast paced encounter on the MWC mats!
And boy is it a spicy encounter! Immediately, gorgeous Gabriella slaps away exquisite Inferno’s offer of a pre-match handshake and that really sets the tone for the whole contest.
If there are to be no polite formalities, they go straight to the action and start battling all over the mats each jostling for the dominant position in a frantic opening few minutes.
There is plenty of skill and plenty of determination on show as they fight out of holds and then apply their own. The breathless action sees them both enjoy success with vicious head locks that neither really wanted to tap out too!


Review for Fradella's Collision Center - Chalmette
Ricky M. on 10/31/2012
Ricky said he's a repeat customer and he knew the vehicle would be fixed correctly. They did a great job and his vehicle was returned earlier than expected.
Service Date: 10/26/2012
Review Created: 10/31/2012
This review was collected via phone interview by Customer Research Inc.


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Auckland City Oaks Serviced Apartments Hotel is quality affordable accommodation that is located in the heart of Auckland's beautiful CBD. You are within a short walking distance of Sky City Casino and Tower, Queen Street and the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour.
We have a mixture of studio, 1 and 2 bedroom family apartments that are all equipped with full kitchens, laundry and high speed internet access. We have rooms that are suitable for any budgets and in the process have been endorsed by QualMark as being of a 4.5 Star Standard. Further, all our rooms come with air-conditioning and double glazing that offers the perfect nights sleep

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A very common complaint that parents have these days is that their children are not eating healthy food. This is a big issue when you look at the food that the children are eating. Chemical and fat-filled junk.
If you want your little ones to be interested in something other than fish sticks and macaroni with cheese, then it is time for some drastic measures. It is about helping them realize the real value of healthy food schooling. You may be surprised how well your children take to new foods when you use the right techniques.
Image Source: Google
Even a single spoonful of green beans can be overwhelming to a small child. Instead of overwhelming them with a new meal, place one or two pieces of food on your plates. There is no need to force your children to eat an entire bowl of lima beans.
They include many foods but in small portions. Kids like to be loved. While you do not need to invest in special containers, you can certainly serve food in small portions. Try to keep many different foods in small muffin cups or in ramekins.
Your child may not normally touch when frozen. Children love things like peas and carrots and even green beans. After the school snack tries to add something to your front portion and then enjoy eating icy nuggets crispy.
The whole idea that you shouldn't play with your food is ridiculous. Making healthy food fun will encourage your children to try new things. For example, turn a banana into a sea monster with carrot pieces for the eyes, a fungus of sunflower seeds and a backbone of toothed banana chips.

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Hi Christine, yesterday was great, definitely improving and tried to remember as much as could. Managed to front crawl for the entire 900m (150 swim to start line and 740m race). Definitely a noticeable improvement.
Just wanted to add that your teaching method is EXCELLENT. I really enjoy our sessions, you are an amazing teacher. Dan (September 18)
I just wanted to thank you for such a wonderful session yesterday. I
cannot describe the deep joy it gave me to learn so much in such a
short time and feel I now have the grounding to swim properly.
Completely enthused, I have ordered fins and board and am looking
forward to getting in the water again.
It could have been quite daunting for a 60+ woman to unlearn bad
habits and taken on new ones, but you are a very good teacher and made
it all very comfortable for me.
Thanks again and I will come back for a refresher.
Sue (October 18)
Swim Technique Days
Dear Christine and Sophie,
I just wanted to drop you a line to say thank you for such an enlightening and informative course! I felt really comfortable throughout even though I was a complete novice and feel I have definitely learnt the technique to enable me to progress with my freestyle swim. I’ve hit the pool and no longer feel like a fish out of water so I will be back next spring for some more coaching.
Natalie (October 2018)
Just want to say thank you for a great day, I really enjoyed it and your professionalism shone through. I’m looking forward to working on all the stroke technique improvements you suggested and then, hopefully, have a go at one of your intermediate courses next year. I want to get back to the times I was swimming in 2012 first!
I’ll be recommending SleekerSwim to everyone :).
It was great meeting Sophie, too.
Swim Technique Course
Thank you so much for the Swim technique day, I really enjoyed the day & have lots to work on over the winter. I would thoroughly recommend the course for anyone looking to improve their swim technique. Michael Skaife.
Swim Technique Course
Hi Christine Many Thanks for the coaching and the constructive analysis of my current swimming technique, I thoroughly enjoyed the day on Sunday. Also the video clip and explanation of strengths and faults and more importantly the hints to improve are really great for me to focus on ironing out over the winter months in the pool. I will post a positive like and comment on facebook also write a testimonial for you. I think along the coaching, the post course feedback also the value for money is excellent. I will certainly recommend you to my swimming colleagues. In the new year once I have started to iron out some of the current faults I may request some further analysis/coaching before we move into the new season. Once again thank you. Ray Boggiano
Swim Technique Course
I arrived at the course on 22nd January 2012 as a breast stroke swimmer not able to swim even a couple of lengths front crawl without feeling exhausted and ended the day feeling I’d made huge progress in my crawl technique. The way you broke down all the elements of the stroke so that I could see exactly where I was going wrong was fantastic. The feedback on the videos of everyone in the group was a great way to learn and I think you have the balance of theory and practice in the pool just right. I also enjoyed the supportive atmosphere you created. I’ve been practising what I’ve learnt and although I need to work on my stamina, I now feel confident that I’ll be able to achieve my goal of swimming one mile front crawl in the Great North Swim in June. Thank you so much! Kate
Windermere Guided Swim – August 2015
Dear Christine and Sophie,
Just a note to thank you both for the mega swim. I was so very well taken care of by you both and you are both such super positive, inspiring people. This is us setting from fell foot by Archie.
With much gratitude
From Andy Tomkins
Open Water 1-2-1 – guided swim October 2015
A delayed email to say a huge thank you for being such a brilliant guide for my lake swim last Friday. You were so professional and encouraging, I am so thankful and really can’t recommend you enough to my fellow swimmers!
Thank you again.
Coaching with Christine,
When I approached Christine about coaching my aims were to improve my times over Olympic distance and race a couple of qualifiers. I had never worked with a structured training plan before and tended to base my training on the weather. I had been racing for about 5 years and decided that instead of having a gym membership I would try being coached. The program stated off by finding my current fitness levels in all disciplines and then building a program around these. Amazingly during our first few months together I went from swimming 6.34 for 400m to 6.04 and that was 2000m in to a set, something I couldn’t believe I had achieved. It wasn’t only my swimming that improved massively. I broke the 50minute mark on a 10km at the end of an Olympic distance race for the first time and took nearly 2 minutes of my 10mile time trial PB.
Christine fitted my program around my really hectic job and was amazingly tuned in to how I was feeling, knowing that if my communication with her vanished that I was tired and the plan needed adjusting. The 1-2-1 sessions really helped with my running and introduced me to running drills for the first time and my swim times speak for themselves. Breaking my foot in November was a bit of a problem during our time working together but Christine was even able to coach around this switching the focus to my swimming and core stability. Before I started working with Christine I didn’t realise that being coached would not only improve my performance in all 3 triathlon disciplines but I also would also gain a friend and training partner. I can’t speak highly enough of Christine as a coach and if it’s something you may be interested in Christine is definantly the right person to speak to.
Emily B, Kendal.
Really enjoyed tonights session. Doubly so because I’ve just been going through my numbers (isn’t data great!) and comparing them over the year. Back in June after quite a lot of swimming in the first half of the year and an open water mile in Coniston (34min) I did a CSS test, logging 400@9:00 and 200@4:26 for a CSS of 2:17 (and I’m not sure the 9mins was accurate either). I recall I was pretty disappointed and losing mojo fast.Taking the 400TT I did the other day at 7:51 and assuming a subsequent 200 time of 3:55 which I’d do easily; those times give me a modified CSS of 1:58. A 19 sec improvement, which on reflection is just fantastic in such a short space of time.
I did wonder after the TT whether I’d really be able to swim 1500 at 1:58 pace without a pull buoy, and tonight conveniently gave me the opportunity to try! I know the middle two intervals were a little slower but I definitely believe if I’d set my bleep correctly I could have done 4 sub 8min 400’s. Aside from the absolute improvement in times, the confidence boost this has given me, knowing that I can do significant distances, unaided in the pool at a decent and consistent pace (and without needing CPR at the end) is massive.
So time once again to say top job, and a skip full of thanks for getting me so far in only 4 months to boot. And winter training has barely begun.
Awesome! Martyn Newby Bridge, Lake District.
Christine coached me remotely for 6 months from the beginning of 2013 to prepare me for the Celtman Extreme Scottish Triathlon. Much of my training took place in an outdoor pool in the heat, dust and humidity of the Arabian Peninsula – quite unlike Scotland! Christine was always on hand to coach my swimming and was responsive and flexible to my changing environment and the challenges it presented (nutrition changes, weather changes thwarting training, and jet lag). I highly recommend Christine as a coach – her professionalism, encouragement and support helped me achieve my triathlon goal. Thank you.” Anne-Marie, July 2013
1-2-1 Swim Coaching
Thank you very much. The swim did feel really good, so thank you very much for what you have done. That’s the first time I’ve got out of the swim somewhere near the front and not felt totally shattered. Really looking forward to the Triathlon. Rob Abraham – Lake District
Swim Technique Course
Just wanted to send you a special thank you and congratulations on a really fantastic course. I’ve been trying to improve my swimming for years and I learned more on your day than I have for years. The programme was excellent, Nicki’s coaching FANTASTIC, and the follow up exceptional. For the first time ever I’ve ‘got’ what people mean when they talk about swimming over a barrel and finally understood breathing and rotation. My first try out in the pool felt amazing (by the second I was worrying about losing the learning! – but that’s life). And, just to add to your feedback Christine, I have twigged that what I need to focus on now is getting some power out of what my hands are doing when they are in the water. So a GREAT BIG THANK YOU – Kate – County Durham
Open Water Group session & 1-2-1’s Open water.
Just a short note to “thank you” for the time spent during both group sessions and 1-2-1’s over the last couple of weeks. You have transformed my swimming technique and restred my open water swimming confidence completely. I’m amazed at the changes, I have made o my stroke in such a short space of time and found your swim drills extremelt useful both in the pool and in the open water. Thank you and see you again soon. Gary (Cheshire)
The swim went very well thanks, it was a lovely day for it. I did the 500m so I could compare it to my previous swim. Thanks to your lessons I managed to knock about 3 minutes off my previous time & think I could do a bit better still. Matt (Kendal)

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Shell ornaments with a nautical theme will be at the Marketplace
Bespoke stationery made using antique woodcuts and carvings.
Jewelry will be featured at the Marketplace.
The vendor Marketplace at the upcoming Branford Garden Club Flower Show, promises to be a vibrant artisan fair, to hear its organizer Anda Weyher tell it.
The Marketplace will fill the gymnasium at the Joe Trapasso Community House with color this weekend, featuring some two dozen vendors.
At The Marketplace, Weyher said, shoppers will see “many one-of-a-kind items to keep or gift. There’s something very special in finding a one-of-a-kind item, often most beloved and memorable.”
Among the distinctive items featured are flower-themed miniature stained glass villages; pillow covers made from exquisite textiles from Vietnam; decorative hand-painted oyster shells with local shore themes; and stationery with delicate botanical designs from antique woodcuts and engravings.
Pottery, handmade jewelry from local artisans, wearable art in metal and fiber, floral pashmina scarves blooming with color and coastal home accessories from Branford boutiques add to the mix.
Weyher has enjoyed her search for unique vendors to fill the Marketplace. She spent weeks curating the show.
“When I travel just about anywhere I delight in finding artisanal offerings not available from Amazon or chain stores whose merchandise has no ties to local or regional tradespeople,” Weyher said.
And the vendors reflect her personal style as well, she said.
Weyher had worked in wholesale for a decade for Ralph Lauren womenswear and had also owned her own children’s clothing shop for 25 years in New Canaan where she showcased brands with a “classic point of view with a twist” and with the “best European and American vendors represented.”
“The Marketplace will showcase a mix of bohemian, classic and nautical treasures with naturally, an emphasis on garden-related themes,” Weyher said.
• Fleurissant Newport, Newport, RI, Patricia Coleman with her custom ikat purses totes and accessories
• Sally Ann Endleman, Milford, handmade pottery and jewelry
• Heavens to Betsy! Betsy Goodenough, Ridgefield, unique stationery products
• Blue Point Designs, Sharon Rutledge, Milford, handcrafted oyster shells: ornaments and home décor
• JC Artglass, Jayne Crowley, Branford, stained and fused glass: Garden motifs
• Metalfiber, Mary Wolff, Cheshire, wearable art in both metal and fiber in the form of clothing and jewelry.
• Branford Cultural & Arts Alliance, Frank Carrano, Branford, decorative painted doors by local artists
• Terry Bogan, Branford, watercolor paintings and note cards
• Branford Garden Club, Donna Doyle, Branford, Branford Garden Club notecards
• Cynthia Prahovic, Branford, unique accessories
• Michelle Hatch, Branford, multi-media collage art, hot/cold therapy wraps
• Pam’s Pashminas, Pam Kubbins, Wellesley, MA, Scarves inspired by nature
• Fleur DeLise Jewelry, Lois Delise, Branford, handmade unique jewelry designs inspired by natural elements
• Gracious Gifts and Home, Elaine Johnson, Branford, CT, artisan-made gift shop items
• Seaside Home and Gifts, Heather Smiarowski, Branford, Stony Creek seaside gift boutique selections
• Trinkets to Treasures, Branford, handmade beaded jewelry, including kumihimo designs and wrap bracelets
• Lorraine Lapman, Branford, custom aprons
• Pat Ballaro, Branford, garden plates, wind chimes, jeweled floral images
• Julia Wyant, Art Connections, Branford, fine art photography: botanical images
• J Beads, Jonathan Hunt, Branford, small batch handcrafted bead bracelets
• Neckers Farms, Ryan Griffith, Branford, Branford honey products
• Taleo Handmade, Sally Strasser, Branford, handwoven and natural indigo textiles
• Dawn Reis-Melillo, West Haven, handmade jewelry
The event runs 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 at the Joe Trapasso Community House.


text: carried out a multicenter, open-label, noninferiority, randomized managed trial to determine whether rituximab will be noninferior to steroids in preserving finish disease remission in (not challenging) SDNS in children, and demonstrated that rituximab was noninferior to steroids for the treating childhood SDNS . The full total results of main case series, retrospective cohort studies and clinical trials, including our recent work  and a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial completed in Korea  recently, of rituximab for complicated FRNS/SDNS are summarized in Table?2. Table?2 Case series, retrospective cohort research and clinical studies of rituximab for complicated FRNS/SDNS nephrotic syndrome, mycophenolate mofetil. before decade have got reported the potency of rituximab for challenging FRNS/SDNS  and refractory SRNS  as described in Desk?1. Within this review we describe research on the usage of rituximab to take care of nephrotic symptoms in kids, including our Nelarabine (Arranon) latest work, upgrading our prior review  with postmarketing outcomes, and discuss the basic safety and efficiency of rituximab in sufferers with this disease. Table?1 Explanations of difficult FRNS/SDNS and refractory SRNS relapsing nephrotic symptoms frequently, steroid-dependent nephrotic symptoms, steroid-resistant nephrotic symptoms Systems of action of rituximab The pathogenesis of nephrotic symptoms remains uncertain. A lot more than 40?years back, nephrotic syndrome was hypothesized to be always a Nelarabine (Arranon) disorder of T cell function  primarily. B cells stimulate T cell activation, mediate antibody-independent autoimmune harm, and exhibit costimulatory cytokines and substances, preserving T cell activation in autoimmune illnesses. Rituximab treatment network marketing leads to B cell depletion due to B cell apoptosis, antibody-dependent mobile Nelarabine (Arranon) phagocytosis or cytotoxicity, suppressing connections between B T and cells cells, which might prevent relapses in sufferers with nephrotic symptoms. Regulatory T cell (Treg) function continues to be reported to become impaired in sufferers with minimal transformation nephrotic symptoms, and Treg cells have already been discovered to induce remission in nephrotic symptoms [15, 16]. Rituximab may improve the amount and function of Treg cells  as Rabbit Polyclonal to IgG a result, recommending that rituximab maintenance of remission in sufferers with nephrotic symptoms is because of the recovery of Treg cell function. Nevertheless, nephrotic symptoms could be due to B cell-derived elements in fact, including B cell autoantibodies and cytokines. Acid solution sphingomyelinase-like phosphodiesterase 3b (SMPDL-3b) is important in the transformation of sphingomyelin to ceramide by acidity sphingomyelinase (ASMase) and its own levels are low in renal biopsy specimens from sufferers with repeated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). Furthermore, decreased SMPDL-3b appearance is connected with an elevated susceptibility of podocytes to damage after contact with sera from these sufferers. Rituximab continues to be reported to bind to SMPDL-3b over the cell surface area of podocytes straight, modulate the experience of ASMase and regulate the era of ceramide, stabilizing podocyte structure and function and stopping recurrent FSGS  thereby. Further research are had a need to clarify whether rituximab provides similar systems of actions in challenging FRNS/SDNS and refractory SRNS. Rituximab treatment for repeated nephrotic symptoms after renal transplantation Rituximab treatment for sufferers with repeated nephrotic symptoms and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) after renal transplantation was proven to stimulate long-term remission of both nephrotic symptoms and PTLD . On the other hand, rituximab didn’t improve nephrotic symptoms in renal transplant sufferers with repeated FSGS . Associates from the International Pediatric Nephrology Nelarabine (Arranon) Association had been asked to retrospectively comprehensive a questionnaire explaining the usage of rituximab within their center; for the reason that study 60?% of sufferers with post-transplant recurrence of nephrotic symptoms had an excellent preliminary response to rituximab . A reply was observed in 81?% from the pediatric situations reported in the books when compared with 50?% of adult sufferers . A organized review revealed a youthful age group at transplant and regular serum albumin level at recurrence may anticipate response . Rituximab treatment for refractory steroid-resistant nephrotic symptoms Bagga et al. reported, for the very first time, that rituximab was effective for refractory SRNS. Within this survey, rituximab treatment of five kids with refractory SRNS induced comprehensive remission in three sufferers and incomplete remission in two . Additionally, rituximab induced complete remission in two kids with refractory FSGS and SRNS . These findings, and also other reported situations, recommended that rituximab as a highly effective therapy for a few sufferers with refractory SRNS [21, 26, 27]. An open-label, randomized trial of 31 kids with refractory SRNS likened replies in 16 kids who received calcineurin inhibitors, prednisolone, and two infusions of.


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Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme catalyzing the crosslinking between Gln and Lys residues and involved in various pathophysiological events. Besides this crosslinking activity, TG2 functions as a deamidase, GTPase, isopeptidase, adapter/scaffold, protein disulfide isomerase, and kinase. It also plays a role in the regulation of hypusination and serotonylation.
Transglutaminases (TGase) are multifunctional enzymes and constitute a family of eight isozymes designated as blood coagulation factor XIII and TG1–7. In this family, TG2 is widely distributed and involved in multiple biological processes. It catalyzes a Ca 2+ -dependent acyl transfer reaction between the γ-carboxamide group of glutamine present in a particular sequence and either primary amines, such as polyamines and histamine, or the ε-amino group of a lysine residue, intra- or inter-molecularly. Water replaces the amine donor substrates, leading to the deamidation of glutamine. In addition, TG2 and factor XIIIa exhibit a Ca 2+ -dependent isopeptidase activity and can hydrolyze the isopeptide bond, at least under test tube conditions. TG2 exerts additional enzymatic activities that do not require Ca 2 + , i.e., it hydrolyzes ATP and GTP to mediate signal transduction through G-protein-coupled receptors, protein disulfide isomerases, and protein kinases, as well as interacts with several proteins as an adhesion or scaffold protein  ( Figure 1 ).
TG2 is ubiquitously distributed inside (in the nucleus, cytoplasm, plasma membrane, and mitochondria) and outside the cell, where it appears in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and exosome . In mammals, TG2 is detected across the body, including the blood, extracellular spaces, and intracellular compartments of nearly all tissues. It is involved in cell death, growth, and differentiation as well as tissue repair by tissue remodeling/wound healing and ECM assembly . In this article, we focus on the role of TG2 in cell death, macrophage activation, and tissue repair processes, which are involved in several pathogeneses, including tissue injury, inflammation, and fibrosis. This review aims to summarize the recent knowledge on the mechanisms activated by TG2 to regulate cell death/survival and fibrosis in the tissue repair process.
When cells are exposed to increased intracellular Ca 2+ concentrations (>700–800 nM) in response to certain stimuli, including injury and inflammation signals, TG2 structural conformation is dramatically altered and changes from a closed to an opened form that exerts crosslinking and transamidase activities . In the appropriate redox condition, a TG2 intermediate thioester is formed through the attack of an acyl donor (γ-carboxamide group of a protein glutamine residue) by the nucleophilic active thiolate (cysteine residue at the active site of TG2), with release of ammonia. Then, the thiolate is restored via the nucleophilic attack of an acyl acceptor (ε-amino group of a protein lysine residue), leading to the formation of a covalent intra- or inter-molecular N ε -(γ-glutamyl)lysine isopeptide bond, which is resistant to degradation . It has been suggested that the isopeptide bond contributes to the stabilization of the ECM and the prevention of the release of the intracellular content from apoptotic cells into the extracellular milieu. A similar reaction also occurs through the incorporation of primary amines and polyamines into the γ-carboxamide group of a protein glutamine residue.
If the aforementioned intermediate thioester bond is attacked by a water molecule as the acyl acceptor, a deamidation reaction occurs, in which the site-specific acyl-donor glutamine is converted to a glutamate residue . For many years, the deamination reaction was believed to occur as a side reaction of the absence of primary amines or at low pH, when amine availability was limited. In these conditions, water would play a role owing to its abundance . However, site-specific deamidations of heat shock protein  and βB2/3-crystallines  have been reported, suggesting that the substrate affinity for TG2 and the reaction conditions influence the propensity toward deamidation or transamidation .
The reversible crosslinking of α2-plasmin inhibitor to fibrinogen and fibrin by factor XIIIa was reported and is potentially involved in the regulation of fibrinolytic processes . Biochemical studies demonstrated that TG2 also exhibits an isopeptidase activity targeting N ε -(γ-glutamyl)lysine . Therefore, an unknown regulatory system of TG2 might exist to separately switch on or off the transamidase and isopeptidase activities. Specific TG2 mutants, which exhibit deficient transamidase (W332F) and isopeptidase (W278F) activities, have been identified . Further research might help elucidate the role of the TG2 isopeptidase activity in physiological and pathological processes.
TG2 was reported to demonstrate a protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) activity, which has been implicated in mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis . TG2 also exerts an intrinsic serine/threonine kinase activity to phosphorylate insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 , p53 tumor suppressor protein , histones H1–4 , and retinoblastoma (Rb) protein . Furthermore, TG2 affects hypusine metabolism, regulating the activity of eukaryotic initiation factor 5A and cell proliferation . Recently, TG2 was reported to serotonylate histone H3 trimethylated lysine 4 (H3K4me3)-marked nucleosomes, controlling the recruitment of transcription factors, including TFIID .
TGM2 gene expression is regulated by various cellular events, including apoptotic stimuli , viral infection , endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress , hypoxia/ischemia , inflammation , tissue remodeling , and cancer . It is mediated by several related factors and cytokines, such as retinoids , lipopolysaccharides , transforming growth factor (TGF)-β/bone morphogenetic protein 4 , nuclear factor-κ B (NF-κB) , glucocorticoids , interleukin (IL)-1 , IL-6 , hypoxia-inducible factor-1 , tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α , and epidermal growth factor (EGF) . Retinoic acid is a well-known inducer of TG2 expression and promotes the cellular differentiation of neutrophil granulocytes  and neuroblastoma cells  through the heterodimer retinoid acid receptor (RAR)/retinoid X receptor (RXR) and transcription factor Sp1 . TG2 expression is upregulated in cancer cells resistant to chemotherapy or with high metastatic potential. TGM2 promoter contains response elements to inflammation and hypoxia, which are greatly elevated in the environment surrounding malignant tumors, leading to an increased expression of TG2 . Ischemia also promotes TG2 expression . In addition, n-Myc and c-Myc contribute to the regulation of TG2 expression by recruiting histone deacetylase 1 protein to the TGM2 promoter in cancer cells . Interestingly, the antiproliferative effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors in cancer cells are impaired by the induction of TG2 mRNA and protein expression, suggesting that TG2 is involved in the resistance of cancer cells . Since the half-life of TG2 is about 10 h in colorectal cancer HT29 cells, the sustained protein synthesis of TG2 is necessary for cancer proliferation and resistance to anticancer drugs such as histone deacetylase inhibitors . TG2 influences TGF-β activation and signaling, whereas TGF-β1 was reported to promote and suppress TG2 expression . TG2 expression is increased by several cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-κB, in many cell types, including human hepatoblastoma cells  and macrophages . AF4/FMR2 family member 1, known as a central scaffolding protein of super elongation complex, was recently reported to contribute to TG2 expression after being recruited to the TGM2 promoter in mouse adipocytes .
Human and murine TGM2 promoters are well characterized and contain various response elements for retinoic acid (−1731 bp and −1720 bp), glucocorticoids (−1399 bp), NF-κB (−1338 bp), IL-6 (−1190 bp) , TGF-β1 (−900 bp), estrogens (−656 bp) , activator protein-2 (AP-2, −634 bp), AP-1 (−183 bp), hypoxia (−367 bp), and nuclear factor-1 (+4 bp, +12 bp) , as well as motif regions, such as CAAT box (−96 bp), TATA box (−29 bp), and GC box, for Sp1 binding (−54 bp, −43 bp, +59 bp, +65 bp) . Figure 2 A presents the regulatory elements previously reported for the human TGM2 promoter. In addition, TG2 expression is directly downregulated by micro-RNA 19, which is responsible for the increased invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer cells . In addition, enhancer RNA molecules of TG2 expression were identified to regulate the recruitment of the transcriptional repressor CTCF in the intergenic region of thymocytes treated with retinoids and TGF-β to induce their death . Furthermore, a recent review summarized the various potential binding sites of transcription factors and single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the TGM2 promoter using information obtained from the public database of chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing . Finally, several splicing variants of TGM2 exhibit different regulatory properties and catalytic activities, affecting the global TG2 activity . Therefore, TGM2 gene expression is regulated by multiple signaling pathways involved in physiological and pathological events, although these functional roles have not been fully elucidated.
A few studies have focused on the regulation of TG2 activity compared with the number of investigations on its transcriptional regulation. Ca 2+ and GTP are known as a competitive activator and a suppressor of TG2 transamidase activity, respectively. Ca 2+ binding alters TG2 structural conformation by moving the β-barrel domains 3 and 4 away from the catalytic domain 2, opening the active center and facilitating access to the substrate. TG2 appears to be inactive in cells in the absence of stress (~100 nM free cytoplasmic [Ca 2+ ]). In addition, a free cytoplasmic GTP concentration higher than 100 μM is required to maintain the closed GTP-bound conformation of TG2, which inhibits its transamidase activity .
The conditions in the extracellular space are suitable for TG2 activation as Ca 2 + and GTP are present at high and low levels, respectively. However, a highly oxidative state was reported to keep TG2 in the inactive state in the absence of stress due to the formation of disulfide bonds as a posttranslational modification , which was reversed by thioredoxin-mediated reduction . Furthermore, extracellular TG2 can be negatively regulated by S-nitrosylation, indicating that nitric oxide is also a potent inhibitor of TG2 activation and might be involved in age-related vascular stiffness . TG2 acetylation was also reported to suppress its activity in vitro . Finally, TG2 is stabilized by SUMOylation, which inhibits TG2 ubiquitination, leading to enhanced protein levels and activity .
The TG2 transamidase activity contributes to the wound healing process and fibrosis. The reaction products form an N ε -(γ-glutamyl)lysine isopeptide bond resulting from the crosslinking. This is an important step for the maturation and stabilization of ECM components, such as collagens, exacerbating scarring and fibrosis in various tissues, including the liver , kidney , lung , and heart . The other enzymatic crosslinker, lysyl oxidase (LOX), has also been reported to contribute to collagen stabilization. LOX oxidizes certain lysine residues in collagen to produce aldehydes, which react to form covalent bonds and stabilize molecules within the collagen fibers . Impaired crosslinking by LOX results in weak collagen fibers and fragile collagenous tissue . In the remodeling of fibroblast-populated collagen lattices, TG2 predominantly contributes to the Ca 2+ -dependent early entrenchment (initial remodeling) by crosslinking of the extant matrix, whereas LOX implicates Ca 2+ -independent contractility at later times . These results suggest that, in fibrosis, TG2 is involved in early ECM remodeling, while LOX contributes to subsequent modification.
Aside from the direct ECM stabilization, the TG2 transamidase activity appears to play a significant role in the fixation and activation of the profibrotic cytokine TGF-β. TGF-β is released in a latent form and converted to an active one. Enhanced TG2 activity is required for TGF-β activation from the latency binding complex as it promotes crosslinking of the large latent TGF-β binding protein to fibronectin or other ECM components on the cell surface . The secretion of TG2 into the ECM is important for its function in TGF-β activation. The secretion mechanisms are unclear, as TG2 lacks the signal peptide necessary for ER targeting and the classical protein secretion mechanism through the ER–Golgi system. Moreover, no Golgi-associated protein modification, such as glycosylation, has been evidenced for TG2 . Recent studies demonstrated that TG2 interacts with the heparan sulfate chains of proteoglycans, forms a complex with fibronectin, and interacts with integrins and heparan sulfate proteoglycans in the ECM to promote cell adhesion and spreading . The interaction between TG2 and the heparan sulfate chains of cell surface syndecans is a potential mechanism implicated in the pathophysiological role of TG2, including in fibrosis .
As previously described, we demonstrated that nuclear TG2 inactivated Sp1 by crosslinking, leading to reduced expression of c-Met and consequently activation of hepatic apoptosis in a hepatic injury mouse model and in patients with alcoholic steatohepatitis . TG2-mediated reduction of c-Met expression might be involved in the impaired hepatocyte regeneration observed in patients with alcoholic liver diseases . Furthermore, hepatocyte-specific c-Met-deficient mice demonstrated more extensive liver cell damages and fibrosis, indicating that the induction of nuclear TG2/crosslinked Sp1 /downregulated c-Met axis accompanied liver fibrosis. In agreement with our findings, TG2 nuclear accumulation and crosslinked Sp1 were observed in the fibrotic area of patients with alcoholic steatohepatitis .
However, TG2-deficient mice demonstrated no alteration of the fibrosis levels in the liver after treatment with CCl4 or thioacetamide . This contradictory result might be due to discrepancies in the method used to target the TGM2 gene, in the mouse background, and in the disease model. We obtained similar results using TG2-deficient mice. Indeed, liver fibrosis induced by bile duct ligation was not inhibited in these mice , although these mice presented a significant reduction of fibrosis induction in other fibrosis models, such as kidney fibrosis induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction  and lung fibrosis resulting from bleomycin treatment . Interestingly, TG2 or pan-TGase inhibitors, including competitive or reversible/irreversible inhibitors, have been demonstrated to be consistently protective in several fibrosis models, including liver fibrosis induced by both CCl4 and bile duct ligation .


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Just when I thought that McDonald’s might actually be taking a step in the right direction with their new Fruit and Maple Oatmeal, I read a pretty harrowing account of what was actually going on at the Golden Arches. OK, “harrowing” might be a little extreme… but you gotta know, I really, really love oatmeal.
Turns out, according to my main man Mark Bittman, that Mickey D’s automatically adds cream to the oatmeal, along with copious amounts of sugar and “11 weird ingredients you would never keep in your kitchen.” Really? Oats don’t need all that- they just need a little love, baby!
Now, I’m not exactly innocent in keeping oatmeal as pure and healthy as it can be, either. The recipe I’m about to show you does use one of my favorite ingredients, which is dubiously marketed as a “breakfast spread”: Nutella. But we’re only using one teaspoon for two servings… so that makes it okay, right?
This has been my tried and true oatmeal combination for about four years, since I started working after graduating college and needed a quick, go-to meal to get me going for the day. The dried cranberries that stud this luscious, creamy oatmeal not only add color, but some really nice tart flavor, and of course, the Nutella provides a deep chocolate hazelnut undertone in each bite. This is starting to sound more like a fine wine, huh?
Oatmeal with Nutella and Dried Cranberries
- 1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking kind)
- 2 cups water
- pinch salt
- cinnamon sugar to taste
- 1 tsp Nutella
- handful dried cranberries
1) Boil the water in a pot over high heat. When boiling, add the oats and a few shakes of the salt shaker, and stir to get everything incorporated. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
2) When most of the water has been absorbed, add cinnamon sugar to taste, Nutella, and dried cranberries. Stir again to melt the Nutella and get it incorporated with the oats.
3) Serve and enjoy!
Now, wasn’t that easy? …I’m lovin’ it!
Happy Eating 🙂


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REEcycle is the first company to profitably reclaim neodymium and dysprosium, two critical rare earth elements necessary for a low carbon economy. Neodymium and dysprosium are essential for manufacturing more productive electric motors and more efficient wind turbines, reducing our dependence on coal, oil and natural gas to produce electricity.
REEcycle is the first company ever to profitably reclaim two critical rare earth elements, neodymium and dysprosium, from discarded electronics. REEcycle’s disruptive, patented process is the solution to recycling neodymium and dysprosium. This innovative process has been long sought after by manufacturers including Siemens, Hitachi and Honda Motors for clean energy applications.
Neodymium and dysprosium are used to manufacture neo-magnets, which are indispensable for personal electronics and critical for efficiencies in green technologies. Electric motors are up to 50 percent more productive when using neo-magnets, reducing electricity demand. Wind turbines using neo-magnets are 20 percent more efficient, decreasing our dependence on coal, oil and natural gas used to produce electricity.
REEcycle first purchases disposed of neo-magnets from electronics recycling companies. These neo-magnets are then passed through REEcycle’s patented process, extracting a mixture of neodymium and dysprosium locked inside. This revolutionary technology results in minimal waste and requires a heat level of just 212°F, making it significantly less expensive than other processes. After these elements are extracted, they are then sold to REEcycle's customers.
By recovering the critical rare earth elements, neodymium and dysprosium, REEcycle reduces U.S. dependence on an unreliable foreign supply and creates the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon economy.
REEcycle is the winner of the Caltech First Look West Competition.

domain: economics


Bile juice is only released by the gallbladder to aid in food digestion. However, bile keeps building up in the gallbladder and is not released when the stomach is empty. According to Dr. Akshay Anand, a professor in the KGMU surgery department, bile juice sediment can turn into a stone if people begin to frequently remain on an empty stomach.
Gallbladder stones can develop in people who regularly go more than eight hours between meals, according to experts at the 48th annual conference of the UP Association of Surgeons, which was held on Friday and was hosted by KGMU.
They claimed that people, especially young people, keep themselves busy at work and forget to eat at regular intervals because of a busy lifestyle. In addition, many obese people start skipping meals in an effort to lose weight quickly, which sometimes aids in the development of Gallstones.
At least 500 delegates from all over the nation will be attending the three-day conference. Dr. Akshay Anand, a professor in the KGMU surgery department, stated that the gallbladder only releases bile juice for the purpose of food digestion. However, he added, “When someone remains empty stomach bile keeps collecting in the gallbladder and doesn’t get released. If people start remaining on an empty stomach frequently, the sediment in bile juice forms a stone.
In addition to blood infections and obesity, the mineral-rich soil of India is another factor contributing to the prevalence of these stones, according to the expert. Around 13% of people suffer from this issue, which is why the surgical gastroenterology department alone performs 1200–1500 gallbladder stone surgeries annually.
He added that laparoscopic surgery is typically used to remove gallbladder stones. However, staying awake for a prolonged period of time on an empty stomach increases the risk of developing bile stones, according to Dr. S. D. Maurya, a laparoscopic surgeon from Agra. “During sleep, metabolic rate slows down, and bile also keeps on releasing at a slower pace for digestion of dinner,” he said.
Earlier, the entire lymphatic tissue of the neck had to be removed when a patient had head and neck cancer, according to Prof. Abhinav Sonkar, head of the surgery department at KGMU. However, modern radical neck dissection techniques only remove the cancer-affected portion of the neck. It helps make the postoperative quality of life after neck dissection better.