President Donald Trump meets for the first time Monday with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and personal chemistry as much as policy could determine the direction of future relations.

The leaders of the world's two largest democracies will convene at the White House. They will look to expand ties on defense and fighting terrorism, but strains are likely on trade.

Trump has so far focused on outreach to China, India's strategic rival, as he looks to Beijing to rein in nuclear-armed North Korea. But Washington and New Delhi share concerns about China's rise as a military power that has underpinned increasingly close relations in the past decade.

The Trump administration says it wants to provide India the kind of defense technology it does to the closest U.S. allies. In a concrete indication of that, the U.S. is set to offer a $2 billion sale of U.S.-made unarmed drones to help in surveillance of the Indian Ocean.

Although Modi's two-day Washington visit, which began Sunday, is lower key than his previous three trips to the U.S. since he took office in 2014, there will be plenty opportunity for face time with Trump.

After their talks, Modi and Trump will make statements in the Rose Garden. Modi will also have dinner with the president and first lady the first dinner Trump has hosted for a foreign dignitary at the White House, although he has hosted the leaders of Japan and China at his resort in Florida.

Before he goes to the White House, Modi will meet separately on Monday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Trump and Modi share a populist streak and a knack for social media, but their economic nationalist agendas could clash. While Trump champions the idea of "America First" and wants to stop the migration of jobs overseas, Modi has his own drive to boost manufacturing at home, dubbed "Make in India."

India is among the nations singled out by the Trump administration for their trade surpluses with the U.S., and it is also reviewing a visa program used heavily by skilled Indian workers.

Both sides want better market access. U.S. is seeking stronger Indian protection of intellectual property rights, reductions in tariffs and narrowing of the $30 billion trade deficit. India has its own concerns, including over regulatory barriers faced by its producers of generic medicinal drugs.

Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Wilson Center, predicted that Wednesday's summit would be a "no-frills, let's get acquainted affair" whose outcomes, from their body language to the post-meeting joint statement, will offer clues about the future of U.S.-India relations.

"For Trump, the personal is political," said Atman Trivedi, an Asia specialist at Hills & Company consultancy.

On fighting terrorism, Kugelman said the two leaders have a similar worldview that "it needs to be destroyed wherever it rears its murderous head."

Modi will be hoping that as well as tackling the Islamic State, Trump will step up pressure on militant groups based in Pakistan accused of launching attacks on India. He'll also want to learn about the administration strategy to stabilize Afghanistan, where India has committed $3 billion in aid since 2001.

Climate change could be a contentious issue. New Delhi was irked by Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris accord, and his claim that India had made its participation contingent on receiving billions in foreign aid. India denies that and says it will continue to be part of the accord, regardless of U.S. participation.

Follow this link:
Personal chemistry key as Trump meets India Prime Minister for first time - Chicago Tribune

Ive spent years arguing with people about team chemistry. You know the battle lines on all of that now: people who talk a lot about team chemistry tend to attribute winning or losing to good or bad chemistry, respectively. I tend to think that characterizing chemistry is a retroactive exercise in which teams that win are happy and then cite their happiness as the reason and vice versa. Jim Leyland agrees with me, for what its worth, so Im pretty happy with my take.

Not that Ill claim a monopoly on wisdom here. Ive never played on a professional baseball team. I dont know what its like to try to prepare to play baseball while surrounded by jackwagons who dont get along with anyone. I cant imagine that makes life easier. Indeed, based on the testimony of players I have spoken to, I will grant thatthere is at least some intangible yet real benefitif everyone is happy an gelling. I dismiss team chemistry arguments for the most part, but if I ran a team Id at least try to get rid of bad seeds if their bad seeding was not outweighed by seriously outstanding on-the-field play. You want your workers happy, folks.

All of which makes me wonder what the heck to do about this passage from Ken Rosenthals latest column. Its about the reeling San Francisco Giants. They have all kinds of issues their offense is putrid, their pitching isnt much better and theyve been without their ace most of the year but today Rosenthal looks at their team chemistry. Its a quiet and subdued clubhouse, he notes, and it has a lot of people wondering if something is wrong there. What could it be?

Sandoval, who was an often noisy and boisterous presence during his time with the club, departed as a free agent after that season. Pence has suffered a number of injuries in recent years and declined offensively, making it difficult for him to be as vocal as he was in the past. Some with the Giants muse that the team even misses Angel Pagan, who created an odd sort of unity because most of the players disliked him.

Read that last sentence again. And then go on with your talk about how team chemistry is a legitimate explanatory concept regarding what makes teams win or lose as opposed to a post-hoc rationalization of it.

Not that its not a good article overall. Theres some interesting stuff about the Giants bullpen culture. And, of course, we now know why no one signed Pagan last winter.

View original post here:
The Giants chemistry is suffering because a guy they all hated is gone - Yahoo Sports

The Nationals bullpen is a tire fire. Theyre about to add another tire. Per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Washington is about to sign free agent reliever Francisco Rodriguez.

K-Rod was released by the Tigers last week after posting an ERA of 7.82 over 28 appearances this season. He has a 1.658 WHIP, is allowing 11.9 hits per nine innings and is posting his highest walk rate in five years. Also worth noting: the Detroit Friggin Tigers decided that he was not good enough to be in their bullpen.

So, yeah, good luck with that Washington.

Ive spent years arguing with people about team chemistry. You know the battle lines on all of that now: people who talk a lot about team chemistry tend to attribute winning or losing to good or bad chemistry, respectively. I tend to think that characterizing chemistry is a retroactive exercise in which teams that win are happy and then cite their happiness as the reason and vice versa. Jim Leyland agrees with me, for what its worth, so Im pretty happy with my take.

Not that Ill claim a monopoly on wisdom here. Ive never played on a professional baseball team. I dont know what its like to try to prepare to play baseball while surrounded by jackwagons who dont get along with anyone. I cant imagine that makes life easier. Indeed, based on the testimony of players I have spoken to, I will grant thatthere is at least some intangible yet real benefitif everyone is happy an gelling. I dismiss team chemistry arguments for the most part, but if I ran a team Id at least try to get rid of bad seeds if their bad seeding was not outweighed by seriously outstanding on-the-field play. You want your workers happy, folks.

All of which makes me wonder what the heck to do about this passage from Ken Rosenthals latest column. Its about the reeling San Francisco Giants. They have all kinds of issues their offense is putrid, their pitching isnt much better and theyve been without their ace most of the year but today Rosenthal looks at their team chemistry. Its a quiet and subdued clubhouse, he notes, and it has a lot of people wondering if something is wrong there. What could it be?

Sandoval, who was an often noisy and boisterous presence during his time with the club, departed as a free agent after that season. Pence has suffered a number of injuries in recent years and declined offensively, making it difficult for him to be as vocal as he was in the past. Some with the Giants muse that the team even misses Angel Pagan, who created an odd sort of unity because most of the players disliked him.

Read that last sentence again. And then go on with your talk about how team chemistry is a legitimate explanatory concept regarding what makes teams win or lose as opposed to a post-hoc rationalization of it.

Not that its not a good article overall. Theres some interesting stuff about the Giants bullpen culture. And, of course, we now know why no one signed Pagan last winter.

Giants ace Madison Bumgarner tossed three no-hit innings yesterday in his first minor league rehab start with the Giants Arizona Rookie League team. He struck out two and walked a guy, while sitting in the 88-91 m.p.h. range on his fastball.

Bumgarner, who is coming back from a sprained left AC joint in his shoulder suffered in a dirt bike accident in April, will return to San Francisco to throw a bullpen session and then go back on the road for more rehab games. Thats a lot of traveling, but the Giants obviously want to monitor his progress. At the moment hes expected to build up his strength for the next several weeks and, hopefully, return to the Giants rotation some time after the All-Star break.

Of course, there shouldnt be too much of a rush. The Giants have lost five in a row and 12 of 13 and currently sit in last place, 24.5 games behind the Dodgers. At this point Bumgarner rushing to rejoin the Giants is like an Australian soldier getting a wound dressed to hurry back to the Gallipoli Campaign.

Originally posted here:
The Nats are going to sign Francisco Rodriguez for some reason - HardballTalk (blog)

By Emma Lockhart | Cronkite News Thursday, June 22, 2017

WASHINGTON You might not know which chemical element in the Hope Diamond has the largest molecular mass, but an eighth-grader from Scottsdale does.

Isaiah Hazelwood faced that and other questions faced earlier this week when he squared off against other middle school students from around the country as part of the You be the Chemist National Challenge in Washington.

The lanky 13-year-old whos in the eighth grade at Basis Scottsdale won the state competition in February to advance to the nationals on Monday, competing against 41 other students representing 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

The competition drew a total of 55,000 students at the local and state levels, according to a prepared statement from Dwayne Sattler, executive director of the Chemical Education Foundation, which sponsored the contest.

Students like Isaiah, who are excited about particular subject areas, certainly dive a little bit deeper and our teachers help work with them to foster that excitement, Basis Scottsdale Principal Kristen Jordison said by phone this week.

Between rounds, Isaiah spoke quietly and looked away during interviews until the conversation turned to chemistry. Then, he lit up.

Im excited about chemistry because it just tells us so much about how the world works and how we work, Isaiah said Monday.

The competition, sponsored by the Chemical Educational Foundation, featured four rounds of competition, with students eliminated in each round.

But unlike the more familiar spelling and geography bees, where individual students face the glare of the spotlight as they try to answer a question, the chemistry students remain seated on stage where they all saw the same question at once. Giant screens projected timed multiple-choice questions that the students answered using individual clickers.

-Cronkite News video by Emma Lockhart

All 42 students started in the first, preliminary round in a Washington hotel ballroom with the students in seated rows on the stage as educators, organizers, sponsors and others watched from round tables in the audience.

Im excited about the having completed the preliminary rounds however the questions are a bit harder than I expected, Isaiah said after one of the early rounds. Im not all that certain Ill get into a top four spot.

The questions, some of which were at the level of an AP class, were a challenge even for some teachers.

They are tough questions, said Kaitlyn Mandigo, a BASIS Scottsdale chemistry teacher who was in Washington for the competition. As a person with a chemistry degree, there were some that I really had to pause and think about.

Isaiah was able to survive and advance to the second round with 14 other students but did not make the next cut, down to four finalists.

Miss USA Kara McCullough, who has a bachelors degree in chemistry, spoke at the event and awarded the winning prize which included a calculator as well as a trophy to eventual champion, Anantahn Sadagopan, 13, from Massachusetts. He also won a $12,000 scholarship.

But for Isaiah, there was more to the trip than winning. And chemistry, surprisingly.

Coming here I was excited to see all of the monuments and memorials in D.C., he said this week. We may be staying here a few extra days to catch up on all of the memorials and monuments and buildings.

Original post:
Chemical attraction: Scottsdale teen in national chemistry competition - Cronkite News

Listen to this story here

New Hanover County Commissioners adopted a resolution Monday calling on Chemours to stop production of GenX. Brunswick County Commissioners adopted a resolution the same day -- asking Chemours to stop the discharge of the GenX chemical into the Cape Fear River. Thats largely because there is still a lot about GenX that we dont know. Its all about chemistry. Which means for many of us, it can be somewhat difficult to grasp.

As a scientist, I rely on data, to inform my approaches, and my evaluations, and I dont have the data yet.

Dr. Susanne Brander is a toxicologist at UNC Wilmington.

She says to understand GenX, one needs to look at its predecessor.

And so the only way to have an idea of what could be expected from exposure to a chemical like that is to look at what is known about a similar chemical, and there has been a lot of talk about how GenX was the replacement for another chemical known as C8, also known as Perfluorooctanoic acid. A PFOA.

C8 is a confirmed carcinogen. Its been linked to a wide range of diseases and cancers. Thats why GenX was developed. C8 is a long chain of carbonfluorine bonds. In GenX chemists added an oxygen atom to the middle of the chain. The thinking was this would make the compound less persistent, and it would pass through the body more quickly.

Dr. Phillippe Grandjean is with the Harvard University School of Public Health, and also chair of Environmental Health at the University of Southern Denmark.

We know that they appear to have a short half-life meaning they are eliminated very rapidly. But the fact of the matter is yes they do leave the bloodstream, but that is because they are accumulated in the body, the liver the kidneys the lungs, and so just because some of them appear to disappear from the blood rapidly, that may not indicate that they have disappeared from the body as a whole.

He says GenX is easily absorbed.

So if you drink contaminated water these compounds will rapidly move into your bloodstream and be circulated so that they can reach all the organs of the body. We also know that these compounds can cause liver cancer, in rodents.

Its when the GenX molecule attaches to other cells, that health issues can arise, albeit years down the road. Dr. Larry Cahoon is with UNC Wilmington.

This is a molecule, GenX and its congeners, that is going to tend to bind to cell membranes including some of the receptors that normally would bind with the hormone molecules or some of the other signaling molecules.

And, Cahoon says, they are resilient.

These compounds dont break down. Biologically they are not broken down. Once they are loose in the environment, they are loose in the environment and thats it. You are not going to get rid of them, these compounds are persistent as they possibly could be.

Again, Dr. Grandjean.

So this is very parallel to what we knew about PFOA, C8, in the 1990s, and my concern is that if these new GenX compounds if they have properties, I would be concerned that there might be additional toxic effects.

The levels of GenX in the Cape Fear River remain a mystery. This week the states Department of Environmental Quality began a series of tests at 13 locations between the Chemours facility, and Wilmington. Those results should be available in a few weeks.

Go here to read the rest:
GenX: A Question Of Chemistry - WHQR

As for Wang herself, she said she genuinely enjoyed working in the sciences, but still felt her fate lay elsewhere. I like research, but I realized that someone else could be doing that research, with my writing I felt like I could be the only one doing that, she said.

In addition to the books humor, reviewers have noted Wangs choice to keep her narrator nameless. Wang explained that the decision to do so was a deliberate one. When I think of a name it is very specific to the character and I didnt want that to happen, Wang said. Would I name her something Chinese or something American? I didnt want to deal with that.

Juggling multiple identities is something Wang has a bit of experience in. Born in China, she and her family moved to Australia when she was 7 and later moved to Canada and then eventually to the United States. When I write characters that are not open, its because Im not necessarily that open in terms of opening up to new people, Wang said. I made her like that in that she is just very lonely. And when you are lonely, you are not used to telling people how you feel.

Wang added that she has been a bit taken aback at how mean many readers and reviewers said they thought her narrators parents were. Noting that while her books fictional parents did have high standards and did not always understand their daughter (especially as she waffled in regards to her studies), they were not uncaring.

When you are an immigrant parent, Do I want to make my child happy? is not a question you always ask, Wang said. Its I need to feed her. I need to put a roof over her head. I need to make sure she has health insurance. My point is not to vilify them.

That view of family also shaped how Wang developed her narrators journey and subsequent contrariness. Its not the traditional rebel story. Its not like Im going to go travel to find myself or I am going to join a band.' Because everyone I know rebels quietly, she said. Its not F**k you, parents. Im just going to leave the country.' Its doing really tiny things. Because first, my parents would kill me if I did that and also, how am I going to get health insurance if I do that?

Follow NBC Asian America from

Originally posted here:
Weike Wang Combines Humor, Science, and Depression in Debut Novel 'Chemistry,' - NBCNews.com