Marcia France:Associate Dean of the College /John T. Herwick, M.D. Professor of Chemistry. She becomes Associate Provost on July 1.

Courses: Organic Chemistry I and II, Advanced Organic Chemistry, Science of Cooking in Italy

Little-known fun fact: Ive played flute in Carnegie Hall, and Ive worked with two Nobel laureates.

Challenge yourself. Take advantage of all the opportunities W&L has to offer. When theres a speaker on campus, go and fully engage. Think of a question you could ask, and then ask it. Study abroad. Go to a country youve never been to before, learn a new language, and engage with the people. Pursue activities that interest you, on campus and in your community. Sit down with your friends and talk about something thats happened in the world recently.

Your research involves green chemistry. What is that?My research focuses on developing better methodologies for carrying out organic transformations. In particular, I am interested in developing greener reactions that would result in more efficient chemical syntheses that produce less waste. The research could help produce various types of pharmaceutical compounds in a more environmentally friendly way. Recently, I have been thinking about moving my scholarship in a completely different direction related to my longstanding interest in the science of cooking, focusing on the intersection of the science, history and culture of food. Many food production traditions and methodologies developed over generations because they worked to create a product people enjoyed, without the practitioners understanding the underlying science. Yet, when examined closely, many of these practices make sense from a scientific viewpoint.

Your Science of Cooking course is your favorite class to teach. What do you love about it?I also love teaching organic chemistry, dont get me wrong. Its what I was trained to do, and that is my passion, but the Science of Cooking class gives me a chance to explore something completely different and work with non-major students. Im meeting students I would never have met otherwise. And Im not going to lie; we go to Italy! And we eat really well! I would probably enjoy organic chemistry even more if I did that in Italy, too. When you teach abroad, you get to interact with the students, outside as well as inside the classroom. I love that part. And every time we go, I learn something new, too.

You helped start the W&L-University of St Andrews exchange program, which allows science and pre-med students to study in Scotland and receive W&L credit. What prompted you to start this?It goes back to my love of being abroad. As an undergraduate, I never had the chance to study abroad, although I really wanted to. Its so difficult for science students to find opportunities to do that. Very few science majors have the ability to take a complex, upper-level science course in a foreign language, so it often restricts them to English-speaking countries. The U.K. and most other English-speaking countries approach chemistry education very differently in terms of class sequencing, so theres no one-to-one correspondence between a class you would have in the states and a class you would have over there. Another issue is that a lot of American med schools wont accept credits for pre-med core courses from abroad. I wanted to find a way to let my students have the opportunity that I wasnt able to have. Thats why I really wanted to be involved in creating that program. W&L now has this built-in, tailor-made program for our science students. Its definitely something thats unique.

What is the coolest activity youve done with a class?One of the students in my 2016 Spring Term class took the initiative (months in advance) to book a reservation at Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. Although not officially part of the course, most of the class chose to go. We enjoyed one of the most amazing meals of my life a nine-course tasting menu in our own private room. Chef Massimo Bottura came out a couple times and had a fairly long conversation with us. A month later, the restaurant was named number one in the world!

A hallmark of a W&L education is the close interactions between faculty and students. How have you seen this in action?One thing is just having students over for dinner. I dont know that that happens at a lot of other universities. The former program coordinator [from IES Siena, our partner organization] for my 2015 Spring Term class was recently at W&L to give a couple talks. We took that as an opportunity to have a class reunion at my house, complete with lasagna prepared with our cooking instructors recipe. The classroom you can get that at any school. But, as I walk around the lab teaching, I chat with the students about their classes, what theyre doing that weekend, or what sports teams theyre on. I know them as people, not just as students.

What do W&L students bring to the classroom?The idea of the liberal arts. Some of the most creative ideas emerge from taking the way something is done or conceptualized in one field and applying it in another. Thats the strength of the liberal arts. At W&L, there is this convergence of really bright students who are interested in so many different things. They bring so many perspectives. We have the diversity of an organic chemistry student who is double-majoring in economics. Some of my students are passionate about music and some are athletic stars. Its a unique environment where students combine so many of their interests in the classroom.

As associate dean of the College, part of your job is connecting students to national fellowships and mentoring them through the entire application process. What advice do you have for students looking at fellowship opportunities?Take full advantage of your W&L education. That starts on day one. You want to be cultivating the types of qualities that will make you a good applicant. I once heard someone say that its not about being a Rhodes Scholar, its about being the kind of person who could win a Rhodes scholarship. So challenge yourself. Take advantage of all the opportunities W&L has to offer. When theres a speaker on campus, go and fully engage. Think of a question you could ask, and then ask it. Study abroad. Go to a country youve never been to before, learn a new language, and engage with the people. Pursue activities that interest you, on campus and in your community. Sit down with your friends and talk about something thats happened in the world recently. W&L is great for the well-rounded student whos involved in many different things. But find where your passion is and work on the focus as well, developing intellectually in a small area as well as some of those broader areas. Start that early and keep working on it. Then start that application process early, because you can always tell a last-minute application.

Why is Midnight Breakfast your favorite W&L tradition?Its just so much fun, and a huge stress relief for students. Its finals week. Theyve been studying heavily for exams, and then they come through the dining hall late at night, and professors and staff are there serving them smoothies and waffles. I love being out there and serving them. I always want to be assigned to a station where I get to interact with the students. Even if its 11:30 at night, those smiles on their faces when I hand them a smoothie is totally worth it. Theyre really grateful, and I think they find it so fun to have professors and deans out there serving them in this role reversal. Its this nice study break that they really deserve. Even if its the middle of finals, everybodys happy to be at Midnight Breakfast.

When did you play in Carnegie Hall?Ive played the flute since fourth grade. While getting my masters, I played in the Yale band, which performed in Carnegie Hall. We also marched in the first George Bushs inaugural parade. Then, of course, Ive had the opportunity to travel all over the world with the W&L Wind Ensemble: Japan, China, Egypt, Russia, Costa Rica all kinds of cool places. < /p>

Do you have a favorite place to travel?There are two places that are most near and dear to my heart because Ive spent so much time in them. Definitely St Andrews, because I spent a sabbatical and several summers there. Its almost become like a second home. Ive also spent five months collectively in Siena, Italy. Ive gone from being a tourist to having a sense of belonging. I have friends I look forward to seeing whenever I go back to St Andrews or Italy, so those are two places that I love.

Do you speak any other languages?I speak French fairly well. As an undergraduate, I lived in a French-speaking house for four years, and then I did a sabbatical in 2011 in Paris. Ive really been trying to keep up my French. Here at W&L, I try to go to the French table in the dining hall as often as I can. I did take two years of Japanese at W&L. I also took two years of German in college. And Ive been working on Italian on my own for the Science of Cooking class.

Read more:
Marcia France on Chemistry, Cooking and Culture - Washington and Lee University News Office

Kym Johnson (now Herjavec) is returning to the Dancing with the Stars floor after marrying former celebrity partner, Robert Herjavec. According to People.comanother Dancing with the Stars love connection might be in the works for the upcoming season. Apparently the chemistry between fan-favorite professional Sharna and her new celebrity partner, Bonner Bolton, a former professional bull rider and current model, is intense and obvious.

Dancing with the Stars Season 24 Cast: Mr. T, Charo, Simone Biles and More>>>

"I showed up in skinny jeans and Louboutins and was very unprepared for the situation I was in," Burgess said describing their first meeting on Bolton's ranch. "All of a sudden, Bonner is walking towards me with his horse and his cowboy hat down -- I couldn't see his face. I was like: 'Okay, where am I?!' It was sunset -- it looked amazing."

"I looked up and saw her and I was a little bit speechless, I have to say," Bolton added. "Obviously, everyone is telling me how great of a partner I have, but I think it's pretty easy to see -- she's not hard on the eyes!"

Sharna went on to say about Bonner, "Instantly I was excited to work with him and be able to tell his story, which is one of my favorite things to do on the show. I'm excited about this one."

Sharna came incredibly close to winning season 23 of Dancing with the Stars with partner James Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe was probably equally as unknown as Bonner before Dancing with the Stars so Sharna has a history of taking nobodies and making them into legitmate stars.This supposed chemistry doesn't mean that Sharna will walk away with the Mirrorball Trophy she deserves, but it's best not to count her out just yet.

But what do you think? Could Sharna and Bonner be the next DWTS romance? What do you think of the cast? Who are you rooting for before the season begins?

(Image courtesy of ABC)

Go here to see the original:
Dancing with the Stars - BuddyTV (blog)

Lowly's "Heba"(Photo: Bella Union)

If there can be too many cooks in the kitchen, it stands to reason there can be too many musicians in the studio.

Danish quintet Lowly has a little too much going with the new Heba, the young bands debut since coming together in 2014 after meeting at a music academy in Aarhus, Denmark.

The five members Nanna Schannong (vocals, guitar), Soffie Viemose (vocals, laptop), Kasper Staub (synthesizers), Thomas Lund (bass, Moog) and Steffen Lundtoft (drums, percussion) obviously take themselves seriously as they indulge in their soundscapes, and their electronic-based arrangements often result in beguiling atmosphere.

But the formlessness can be irritating with continuity in short supply, and too often Lowly sounds more like a collection of five one-person acts than a congruous five-person band. As a result, the track Word feels like a theatrical jumble, the group seems both frenetic and bored on Prepare the Lake, and the fractured Mornings sounds like someone is playing an old-school video game during a sci-fi movie while an irregular beat rumbles in the background.

Yet Schannong and Viemose are alluringly poised and disconnected vocalists, and the layered instrumentation often dovetails into something both offbeat and special. Obscure lines such as, Could someone save the baby? (Deer Eyes) pop out on a foundation of vibrating bass and, Im the only one to witness your downfall (Still Life) bend around rubbery electronic nuance.

Also, aimlessness periodically suits Lowly, whether its the jazz-flavored Pommerate suspended in space, Look at the Sun adrift on a sea of gurgling electro-pop or Cait #2 simply floating in focused ambience.

So ultimately Heba is even more dreamlike than most music labeled as dreamy: Its surreal and alternately comforting and confusing and much of it is hard to remember, which might be just as well.

Read or Share this story: http://knoxne.ws/2m5nmrD

Here is the original post:
Music review: Lowly's chemistry goes awry on 'Heba' - Knoxville News Sentinel

Building stronger links

Our president, Sir John Holman, says: "Chemists and chemistry make a massive contribution to our nations wellbeing, and we need people with the right skills so our economy can flourish in the future.

"Further Education Colleges play such an important role in preparing people for a future in chemistry whether thats by giving them the technical skills to work in industry or by preparing them for further study at university.

"Were pleased to sign this agreement, which forms part of our commitment to building stronger links with the further education sector, and we look forward to working together to give chemistry students the best possible start in their careers."

Dr Helen West, Head of Science and Access within the Faculty of STEAM at Cambridge Regional College said: "This is a marvellous opportunity to consolidate the excellent work that is done at CRC by staff and students alike, and on apprenticeship schemes in particular.

"Our chemistry lecturer, Ursula Lowe, was the first recipient of the national STEM Excellence Award for teaching in Further Education last year and recognises the importance of practical skills in chemistry. We work with a broad range of companies in and around Cambridge and we look forward very much to welcoming new ones to look around our facilities."

The college has full-time apprenticeships and day-release courses in Science, as well as more advanced courses for 19+ learners, including popular Access to Science programmes and HNC/HND in Biological Sciences for Industry. The focus of all of them is to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to work in science-based industries or to enable progression to an undergraduate degree or further professional qualifications in science-related areas.

Past students have gone on to universities across the country to study subjects from biochemistry and environmental science, to nursing and archaeology. Apprenticeships in the health and bioscience industries are a popular career option and students also go straight into jobs in the industry.

Link:
Preparing students for a future in chemistry - Royal Society of Chemistry

Science Daily

How humans bond: The brain chemistry revealed Science Daily PET uses a small amount of radioactive chemical plus dye (called a tracer) injected into the bloodstream along with a camera and a computer to produce multidimensional images to show the distribution of a specific neurotransmitter, such as dopamine or ...

Continue reading here:
How humans bond: The brain chemistry revealed - Science Daily

Slide: 1 / of 1. Caption: AFP/Getty Images

Lets say you find yourself in the airport in Kuala Lumpur. A stranger approaches with a spray bottle and a fistful of money and points to a man who looks more than a bit like the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. Must be a coincidence, you think.

The stranger explains that shed like you to star in a hilarious prank TV show that asks ordinary citizens to spray random people with water for the lulz. Whats the risk, right? Right?

Wrong. Congratulations. You just got punkd into becoming an international assassin. It was strangers on a train in a terminal.

In all seriousness, if its true that Siti Aisyah, the woman suspected of killing Kim Jong-nam by spraying him in the face with an unknown substance, didnt know what she was doing, could she have known better? How would anyone have known better?

Science is how. But in the world of chemistry, distinguishing water from weapon can be a lot trickier than youd think.

So what do you do, really? The first tool available to the responsible prankster or citizen scientist is eyeballs. Give that spray bottle a close look. Is it a clear or translucent one, or is it opaque and heavy-duty? Plenty of potentially harmful chemicals have to be shielded from light to avoid photochemical reactions. Corrosive materialslike fluoroantimonic acid need to be stored in something even tougher, like Teflon.

But a clear bottle containing clear liquid doesnt mean youre, well, in the clear. Some really nasty substances, like sulfuric acid (which probably wouldnt kill someone even at high concentrations, really, if you just spritzed a persons face with it) and cyanide solutions, look pretty watery. Some chemicals are more viscous or syrupy than water, says Gabriele Ludewig, a toxicologist at the University of Iowa. Theoretically, with something like sulfuric acid, which has a higher viscosity than water, youd be able to swirl your pranking bottle and see adhesion forces drawing the liquid together into rivulets and dropletslike those wine legs your oenophile friend wont shut up about. If your chemical is in a dilute solution, though, youre pretty much out of luck.

Eyes failing you, you might turn to your nose. Dont! Many harmful chemicals are odorless, especially in solution, and the risk is just too great. Its not good to smell these things, says Nien-hui Ge, an analytical chemist at the University of California Irvine. It could harm your respiratory tract badly. Plus, the vapors of some chemicals, like nitric acid, can blind you. So thats out.

Dont taste it, although this was once a thing. Fifty, 100 years ago, chemists would describe substances by color, smell, and taste, Ludewig says. But nowadays were a little more careful. And no one knows what most of this stuff tastes like, anyway. Everybody knows a polonium solution is toxic, so no chemist with a sense of self-preservation is going to lick it for the sake of science. That should go double if youre suspicious of the mysterious prank show producer in front of you. I would never want to taste it myself, Ge says. Even if you get just a little bit of something like cyanide dissolved in water, it will kill you.

Absorption through the more callused hand is very inefficient compared to mucus membranes. Gabriele Ludewig, University of Iowa toxicologist

Well, prankster-assassin, youre out of applicable senses. Time to head to the lab. An environmental toxicologistwho, not even kidding, didnt want to be named for fear of causing an international incidentoffered this advice: The first thing I would do is treat it like its definitely not water, and get it under a hood (the chemistry kind of hood, a box that contains potentially harmful vapornot the car kind or the Mark Zuckerberg kind).

From there, the tools of scientific world are your potential poison-identifying oyster. A litmus test will show you whether its acidic, basic, or neutral (hint: water should be a neutral pH 7). A good place to start. And then you go for the good old gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and its sloshier cousin, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Those analytical methods break substances into their constituent molecules and identify them, so thatll often tell you what youre dealing with beyond reasonable doubt.

Theres even a portable version,so youve got no excuse not to add it to your packing list next time your flights connect through Kuala Lumpur.

Go here to read the rest:
How to Avoid Getting Tricked into Assassinating Someone - WIRED

Even if you havent seen the 1996 cult comedy Kingpin about bowling and redemption, you can probably imagine Bill Murrays indelible character Ernie (Big Ern) McCracken: With sweat on his brow and a comb-over flapping comically in the breeze, Murray stands at the top of the lane, gripping his beloved ball. He whips the crowd into a frenzy as he holds it alofta transparent ball with a single red rose encapsulated in the centerthen hooks it down the lane, scoring a crucial strike in the tournament final.

Although many pro bowlers cherish Murrays over-the-top performance, they might have a few bones to pick about the technical aspects of this scene. It would have to be extreme conditions on the lane for a ball like that to come into play, says professional bowler Kelly Kulick. Typically, pro bowlers use this type of smooth-surfaced ball when they just want to pick off one or two pins remaining at the end of the lane to score a spare. To knock all 10 pins down and secure a strike as Murray did, savvy bowlers typically use something else entirely: balls that have an asymmetric weight block in the center and that are coated with a porous polyurethane shell.

Ancient Egyptians, who invented a crude form of the game, would certainly be impressed by todays bowling balls, which are a big improvement over their stone predecessors. In fact, the sophisticated materials science slipped into modern balls has helped improve player performance, says Danny Speranza, senior director of equipment specifications and certifications at the U.S. Bowling Congress, the sports national governing organization. Between 1910 and 1980, only one out of about 3,000 bowlers registered with USBC could score a perfect gamethats getting a strike 12 times in a row. By 2007, that figure had increased to one out of about 30.

Costing anywhere from around $50 to $250 depending on its design, a modern bowling ball typically contains three parts: an inner core, an outer filler core, and a shell, which is called the coverstock in bowling lingo.

The exact materials that go into making each part of the ball are considered proprietary technologies that are closely guarded, says Victor Marion, director of R&D for Utah-based manufacturer Storm Products. In general, though, the inner core is made of powdered metal oxides such as calcium or iron oxide mixed with a resin and catalyst to harden the mixture. This is the heaviest part of the ball, and its shapewhether symmetric like a sphere or asymmetric like a lightbulbinfluences how the ball rotates down the lane.

The outer core is light, yet rigid, containing substances such as polyester or glass beads, also mixed with a resin. Manufacturers use this part of the bowling ball to fine-tune its final weight. Heavy 7-kg bowling balls are quite dense, but balls weighing 4.5 kg or less have such a low density that they can float in water.

And dont let the outer layer of the ball fool you with its bright, swirled colorsand sometimes delightful smell (Storm Products impregnates its coverstock with fragrances such as birthday cake). The outer shell of the ball is not ornamental; it seriously influences the balls motion as it hurtles down the lane, Speranza says.

The shell is all about generating friction with the lane, Storms Marion explains. Thats where a lot of the magic happens.

When a bowler releases a ball, it skids down the lane through a thin layer of mineral oil. About two-thirds of the way down an 18-meter lane, the ball enters a nonlubricated zone. There, it gains traction like tire treads on a road. At this point, depending on what type of spin the bowler applied to the ball during its release, the ball can really begin to curve, or hook, across the lane to make the pins scatter.

Lane conditionsthe amount and pattern of the oil applied to the lanecan vary widely from bowling alley to bowling alley. And the conditions can change over the course of a game or tournament as balls soak up or spread around the oil on the lane. Recalling the tire tread analogy, Marion explains that some days youre driving in California and its a sunny day, and some days youve got six feet of snow and you need every bit of traction you can get. On those so-called sunny days, when lane conditions are fair, bowlers dont need a ball that creates a lot of friction with the lane, but on the snowy days, they might want something with a more porous, and therefore rougher, outer shella ball with some studded snow tires, so to speak. Good bowlers know which ball matches up best for a particular game, Speranza says. If theyre going to a tournament, pros can take six to eight different balls with them.

Kulick says that for professionals who bowl full-time, that number can even go higher. Shes been known to ship 10 balls and carry five others with her when traveling to tournaments.

Usually, bowlers will start out with the most aggressive ball in their bagthe one with the highest friction, Kulick adds. Then theyll keep adjusting which ball they use depending on where the ball starts to hook as it rolls down the lane.

The most basic of outer shells on a bowling ball is made of polyester. This type of plastic covering is rigid and has low friction, and you use it when you want to throw straight, like when you need to topple just one or two pins to pick up a spare, Speranza says. Balls with a polyurethane shell, on the other hand, experience higher friction with the lane. To make these rough yet pliant shells, which are useful for knocking down many pins at once, manufacturers mix isocyanates and polyols. If they want to make an even higher friction ball with a so-called reactive resin shell, they add proprietary ingredients such as plasticizers to a urethane base layer to create a multitude of cross-links in the polymer strands, giving the balls coating more porosity and roughness.

These high-friction reactive resin balls were favorites among pro bowlers for nailing strikesat least until recently. According to Speranza, one of the biggest changes in the sport in the past 10 years is that some pro bowlers now throw the ball with a two-handed release rather than a one-handed release. One celebrity bowler, Jason (Belmo) Belmonte had great success with the technique in tournaments and popularized it.

When you throw a ball with two hands, you can put more spin on it and therefore get more hook, Speranza explains. Two-handed bowlers have discovered that they dont often need super high-friction balls. They dont want to over-hook the ball on the lane and send it into the gutter, so theyre increasingly taking a step backward to balls with a less sophisticated urethane shell.

If all this strategizing among pro bowlers sounds complicated, for ball manufacturers, its even more so. Theyre subject to the rules and regulations of USBC. To level the playing field and make sure that none of the nearly 46 million bowling participants in the U.S. has an unfair advantage because of overly engineered equipment, the organization sets limitations on parameters such as the coefficient of friction and surface roughness of a bowling balls outer layer.

Its amazing how complicated it is to get the right level of performance in a ball and still be within specifications, says Marion, who formulates new ball designs for Storm each year. To get the chemistry just right, he adds, its like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.

Whats even more complicated? Bowling a tournament-winning strike with an ostentatious rose-decorated ball not really designed for the task. Big Ern was even more of a phenom than the crowd suspected.

UPDATE: This article was modified on February 21, 2017 to refresh its information and data.

See the article here:
What's in a bowling ball, and how does its chemistry help topple pins? - Chemical & Engineering News (subscription)

SANTA CLARA -- 49ers CEOJed York was in a good moodFriday afternoon. He was sarcastic, funny and a bit self-deprecating during a 20-minute surprise interview session with reporters on hand for the final 49ers access period before the teamleavesto play Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

Its easy to find a smile with the 49ers doing so well. They dominated the regular season, rolled through the NFC playoffs and are now set to play the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 2 for the NFL title.

Just because the sun is now shining, it doesn't mean York has forgotten recent days with rainclouds overhead.

I try to think every day about banners flying over the stadium asking for me to step down from the team, York said with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Thats always my favorite experience. No, Im just focused on what we have to do. ... I am happy for our fans. Being in the Super Bowl seven years ago doesn't feel that long, except for the deep valley we went into in between.

The 49ers now have a chance to do something great. They can add a sixth Lombardi Trophy to their collection with one more win this season.

They can do so right after emerging from a dark era that included two disappointing seasons to start the Kyle Shanahan-John Lynch regime. York expected that when he gave his head coach and general managersix-year contracts. Looking back, York is glad he decided to offer such long-term deals. He wanted stability after several seasons of turmoil.

I think Im still paying, like, three coaches, York said with a smile. I thought, 'If were going to pay them, we might as well pay the same one for six years. Seems like a good idea to me.' It was clear that [Shanahan and I] had the vision and sync. I know that it was a six-year deal but, to me, it was two years of fixing what we needed to fix and then this was Year Oneof a four-year deal. It was important knowing that Kyle is someone that I can work with and John is someone I can work with to get through the tough stuff.

The tough stuff. 49ers fans know all about that after suffering through some terrible seasons after the Jim Harbaugh era ended. York evoked Shawshank Redemption when describing the journey through bad times to reach this good one. The description was both apt and dead-on accurate.

I made an Andy Dufresne reference earlier. Everybody wants to get to the beach at the end [of "Shawshank Redemption"], but no one wants to go through what he went through to get to the beach, York said. We had to get through that. Kyle and John were guys I knew could help us get through that. I wanted to send a message to our fans and our team that these guys are here. Not that we knew we werent going to win games, but it was unlikely that we were going to win from Day Oneand win the Super Bowl right away.

I didnt want people to wonder in Year Threeif they were on the hot seat. No. Its a six-year deal. Weve walked into this thing together and were going to build this thing the right way. We didnt make every right trade or draft pick. We didnt sign the right free agents all the time, but its the culmination of everything we do. We want to build the right team. You have to have a long-term vision and, when you can make those long-term decisions the right way without worrying and trying to shortcut it, then you give yourself a chance.

[RELATED:York hopes 49ers in position to receive White House invite]

York kept working through mistakes in both personnel and executive/coaching decisions, but didnt losesight of his goals trying to dig the 49ers out of a hole. He used more movies to describe how he was mentally able to get through it without shaken confidence.

My philosophies are pretty simple. "The Godfather,""Bull Durham"and "Major League"make up my philosophy on life. And maybe Shawshanka little bit. But it goes back to Crash Davis talking to Nuke LaLoosh. Youre going to get lit up when youre in the pros. You have to remain cocky. You have to remain confident. You cant let them get you down. Its hard to not let outside noise affect you, but you have to block it out. I think our team has done a great job blocking out the noise and I hope Ive done thesmall [things] to help them focus on the task at hand.

See the rest here:
Why Sherm believes chemistry will help 49ers in Super Bowl - NBCSports.com

This week kicked off with Musics Biggest Night in bittersweet fashion, as basketball legend Kobe Bryant unexpectedly died in a helicopter crash hours before the Grammys on Sunday. Stars paid tribute on the Grammys stage (including a touching performance by host Alicia Keys with BoyzII Men) as well as on social media, which carried into the week as the world mourned Bryants tragic loss.

Fortunately, several exciting things occurred to lift spirits throughout the week. To name a few, Justin Bieber revealed his album title and release date, BTS delivered their first performance of "Black Swan," and My Chemical Romance finally announced their highly anticipated reunion tour.

Take a look at the biggest music moments of the week below.

Lizzo, Demi Lovato, Billie Eilish & more made waves at the Grammys

After Lizzo appropriately kicked things off by starting her show-opening performance of Cuz I Love You and Truth Hurts yelling, This is for Kobe!, the Mamba Mentality was certainly alive on the Grammy stage. Fiery performances from the likes of Ariana Grande and Tyler, the Creator were matched by big wins (particularly by the history-making Billie Eilish) as well as a powerful (and emotional) return from Demi Lovato, who received star-studded praise for her vulnerable performance of her new song Anyone.

Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Bad Bunny & more remembered Kobe Bryant in heartfelt ways

Artists continued to honor Kobe in the days after his death, with Justin Timberlakes reminiscent post and Rihannas adorable picture of Bryant and his daughter, Gianna (who also died in the crash) tugging at the heartstrings. Bad Bunny paid tribute with a new song titled 6 Rings, and several stars joined the petition to have the NBA logo changed to Kobes image.

Roddy Ricch continued his Billboard Hot 100 reign

No one can stop Roddy Ricch, as his hit The Box topped the Hot 100 for the third week in a row. Though no one has been able to beat him out since he took over, Eminems Juice WRLD collaboration Godzilla came close with a debut at No. 3; Ems surprise LP Music to Be Murdered By debuted atop the Billboard 200.

Miley Cyrus celebrated her dads Grammy wins

Miley Cyrus couldnt be at the Grammys to congratulate her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, on his two wins for his Lil Nas X collaboration Old Town Road, so she took to social media to do so --and also to jokingly berate the pair for not telling her about the stain on her shirt in the photo with them. Shortly after, she hinted at why she was absent at this year'sGrammys, captioning a clip of her lighting up a blunt on the VMAstage & we wonder why Im not invited to award shows anymore .

Justin Bieber announced his album title and release date

Beliebers got the news theyve been eagerly awaiting on Tuesday (Jan. 28), when Justin Bieber revealed that his new album, titled Changes, will be out on Feb. 14. Along with the announcement, Bieber shared a new track called Get Me, a collaboration with Kehlani, who will be joining Bieber on his 2020 tour. It was a Bieber-filled week all around, as the first two episodes of his YouTube docuseries, Justin Bieber: Seasons, premiered (four are available to Premium members).

Anuel AA debuted a new do & fans had a lot to say about it

The reggaeton/trap star took fans by surprise when he shared a video on Instagram revealing a new buzzcut, shaving off his signature bangs. He was already asking for God to grow his hair back in the silly video, but some fans were onboard with the new look (and some were not).

BTS debuted Black Swan on Corden

The ARMY has been loving Black Swan since BTS released the new track on Jan. 17, so of course they were stoked when the K-pop phenoms performed it live for the first time. BTS brought the track to The Late Late Show With James Corden, where they also talked with Corden about their Grammy performance with Lil Nas X and their forthcoming album Map of the Soul: 7.

My Chemical Romance (finally) announced a reunion tour

Emo kids dreams finally came true on Wednesday (Jan. 29), when My Chemical Romance stopped being cryptic and announced a full-on reunion tour. After the international summer dates they previously announced, the rock band will hit North America, playing 18 dates in September and October.

Adam Lambert celebrated his birthday with a new song announcement

The Superpower singer decided to give fans a gift for his 38th birthday on Wednesday (Jan. 29), as he revealed that his next single will arrive Feb. 4. Titled Roses, the song features legendary guitarist Nile Rodgersand marks Lamberts first release since dropping his Velvet: Side A EP in September.

Lil Nas X had an amazing clapback to a fellow rappers homophobic comment

Down South Georgia Boys rapper Pastor Troy was seemingly trying to start something when he posted a photo of Lil Nas Xs neon-pink leather Grammys getup along with a homophobic tirade against the Panini rapper. But Lil Nas X was seemingly not fazed by the hate, and instead came back with perhaps the best response he couldve had: damn i look good in that pic on god.

Billie Eilish was announced as an Oscars performer

Just days after adding five-time Grammy winner to her rsum, Billie Eilish added Oscars performer to her insane list of accomplishments. Though its unclear what Eilish will be singing, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is billing it as "a special performance."

Kevin Parker revealed his big pop dreams

After years of fronting psych-rock group Tame Impala, Kevin Parker sat down with Billboard to discuss his desire to now be one of pops most in-demand songwriters/producers. Its the yin to the yang of psychedelic rock --writing a catchy, sugary pop song thats like, three minutes long, he said. I want to be a Max Martin. Read the full cover story here.

Lil Wayne, Kesha & more released new music

Several highly anticipated albums arrived as January came to a close on Friday (Jan. 31): Lil Wayne, Kesha and Meghan Trainoreach dropped their first LPs in years, and Louis Tomlinson released his debut album, Walls. On top of full sets, Dua Lipa unveiled a power-packing new song Physical and Taylor Swift delivered Only the Young, which is featured in her documentary, Miss Americana, that premiered on Netflix onFriday. Check out Billboards full rundown of this weeks new music here!

Read the original post:
My Chemical Romance's Reunion Tour & More of the Week's Best Music Moments - Billboard

A team of archaeologists and health scientists has found that lead poisoning could have afflicted city dwellers in Londinium, the Roman settlement on the site of modern London, during the Roman occupation of ancient Britain.1 The levels of lead they found in Londinium Roman bones were so high that they would have exceeded limits considered toxic.

Environmental health scientist Sean Scott of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues found that lead levels in bones taken from three cemeteries in Londinium may be more than 70 times higher than those in remains from pre-Roman Iron Age Britain. And an analysis of the lead isotope composition fits with that seen previously in Roman-age lead pollution in Britain. The researchers say that the lead levels are high enough to have had a possible effect on health, perhaps even reducing birth rates.

Lead pollution during Roman times has been demonstrated previously,2 but generally has been associated with lead mining. It hasnt been clear whether serious lead pollution could have afflicted ordinary citizens in Roman urban settlements.

The researchers used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to measure the amount of lead, as well as a host of metallic trace elements, in the bone samples. The pre-Roman samples came from burial sites in Hampshire and Yorkshire.

The Roman samples have lead concentrations ranging from 8g/g to 123g/g, with a median value of 26.5g/g whereas those of the pre-Roman samples are generally no greater than 0.5g/g.

There are several possible sources of this lead. The Romans made extensive use of lead plumbing in their settlements but theres not much evidence of it in Londinium. However, they also used lead to made drinking vessels, and even added lead acetate, made by reacting lead with grape juice, to foods as a sweetener sugar of lead.

Its well known that urban areas tend to concentrate pollution today, and Scott says that it is possible that something similar could have happened in ancient urban areas. He adds that there was no single source of lead pollution, but rather widespread and probably numerous societal practices that led to the high levels of exposure. The researchers anticipate that similar levels of lead might have been common in cities throughout the Roman Empire.

This isnt the first time high lead levels have been found in people within the Roman Empire relatively high lead levels have been reported in tooth-enamel.3,4 The health consequences are still a matter of speculation though. From their findings, Scott and colleagues estimate that most citizens of Londinium would have had blood lead levels above the threshold designated as toxic by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. This, they say, could have decreased sperm counts and led to premature or stillbirths. Some researchers have even suggested that lead poisoning contributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire, although this is a controversial idea.

However, archaeologist Janet Montgomery of the University of Durham in the UK, who has previously studied lead levels in Roman teeth, cautions against being too hasty to accept the new results. She says that bone is well known to absorb lead and other metals from the soil, so it is hard to rule out post-burial contamination. For the same reason, she is wary of using trace-element measurements to gauge the extent of such alteration. Also, she adds, you do not know if the lead you are measuring [in bone] has accumulated from fairly low level exposure over a long time, or derives from one period of high exposure many years in the past, or something in between.

1 S R Scott et al, Archaeometry, 2019, DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12513

2 J R McConnell et al, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 2018, 115, 5726 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1721818115)

3 J Montgomery et al, J. Roman Archaeol., Suppl., 2010, 78, 199 ISBN-13: 978-1-887829-78-6

4 G D Kamenov and B L Gulson, Sci. Tot. Environ. 2014, 490, 861 (DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.085)

Continue reading here:
Londinium Romans' blood lead levels so high they may have lowered birth rates - Chemistry World

My Chemical Romance have uploaded a short cryptic video to their social media channels which could point to a UK tour announcement.

The 10-second clip shows a series of graphics and symbols and in the midst of them is a Union Flag. The new post comes a week after the band showed a hooded figure along with the Union Flag emoji on their Twitter account.

Hungry for information about what the new clip might be, fans have discovered that some of the symbols used are from the Theban Alphabet and they point to the word June.

Could this be a UK tour, a one-off show, a UK single exclusive? Well just have to wait and see.

My Chemical Romance returned to the stage for the first time in seven years last month, with a 20-song set at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles, California.

Their next confirmed show will take place at Download Australia on March 20-21, before they head on to New Zealand on March 25, and end up at Download Japan on March 29.

The New Zealand date will be with special guestsJimmy Eat World, who will also be joining My Chemical Romance at the top of the Download Australia bill, alongsideDeftonesandClutch. The band will be joined on the Download Japan bill by Jimmy Eat World,The OffspringandEvanescence.

View post:
My Chemical Romance: Are they about to announce a UK tour? - Louder

Swamp Fox coaches say there are some positives to take away from the 2017 Ashley Ridge Football Spring Practice.

Ashley Ridge recently wrapped up its Spring Practice with its annual Spring Game at the high school, an event that provides coaches one last chance to evaluate players going into the summer break.

We learned as a staff that we have a bunch of guys that are hardworking and play for each other, Ashley Ridge coach Kenny Walker said. Team chemistry is a goal for us and I think that we are off to a good start.

Graduation left the team with some key holes to fill. The Swamp Foxes lost their two leading rushers from last season and their leading receiver.

However, the team stands to return two quarterbacks with varsity experience, some receivers who have been in the fire and some other experienced varsity lettermen.

Rising seniors Matthew Duncan and Bryce Bryan are expected to return after seeing time behind center last season. Duncan led the team in passing, completing 87 passes for 922 yards and seven touchdowns. Bryan completed 13 of 23 pass attempts for 108 yards. Between them, they threw only two interceptions.

Bryan also has experience at other skills positions, which is something the Swamp Fox coaches like in a player.

Another goal was for us to establish some good depth and we have used the spring to work guys on both sides of the ball or at (multiple) positions on the side of the ball they are on already, Walker said. We feel that it will help us throughout the grinding season.

Rising senior JJ McAfee stands to return at the receiver position after making 23 receptions last season.

Graduation didnt hit the Swamp Fox defense as hard.

Ashley Ridge stands to return four of its top five tacklers from last season. Rising seniors J Mitchum, Owen Trephan and Nijay Hill and rising junior Ben Mitchum combined for just less than 300 tackles last season. Ben Mitchum and Trephan are linemen while J Mitchum is a linebacker and Hill a defensive back. Hombre Kennedy also stands to return to the defensive backfield after breaking up five passes and intercepting three last season.

Linebackers Darius Smith and Aveyuan Dennis and DB Rodney Oldham are among the other athletes who stand to return to the Swamp Fox defense after making considerable contributions last season.

The Ashley Ridge skills players will hone their skills this summer during passing camps and competitions. Ashley Ridge will host Fort Dorchester for a passing camp at 11:15 a.m. June 6 and host Summerville for a camp at 11 a.m. June 22.

The Swamp Foxes will send squads to the 7 on 7 competition at University of South Carolina June 9 as well as to camps at 6 p.m. June 8 at Fort Dorchester and at noon June 29 at Summerville.

Read this article:
Swamp Foxes working on chemistry - Journalscene.com

Wonder Woman begins on the paradisiacal island home of the Amazons, a mythical tribe of warrior women sent to Earth to protect humans from their basest impulses. When World War I spills onto the islands shores, the films titular heroine, Diana (Gal Gadot), leaves its relative safety to help American spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) deliver a German laboratory notebook to British intelligence. That notebook, stolen from a German chemist nicknamed Dr. Poison, contains the Germans newest superweapon: Its a formula for a new kind of gas, mustard gas, Diana explains, translating the notebook for Britains military leaders. Hydrogen-based instead of sulfur.

Gas masks would be useless against hydrogen! gasps one of those leaders. Even in a film that includes a magical island created by Zeus himself, these details about the gas are so strangely specific that they deserve a little fact-checking. Chemically speaking, does this formula make any sense?

Not really. First off, mustard gas is such a horrible, terrifying weapon, it doesnt need to be made more potent. But if you were a chemist bent on raining destruction on the Allied forces, you wouldnt do it by replacing the sulfur atom in mustard gas with a hydrogen atom. Youd know that sulfur is the linchpin holding together this poisonous molecule.

Its got a bat-like structure, explains Raychelle Burks, a chemistry professor at St. Edwards University in Texas. Sulfurs smack in the middle, and then youve got two bat wings that come out and theyre kind of crinkly cut. Both of those bat wings are made up of two carbon atoms and capped with a chlorine. The four carbon atoms each sprout two little tufts of hydrogen fuzz, for a total of eight hydrogen atoms.

Although there is a villain in a human form, the race against time is a chemistry one.

So, mustard gas also known as sulfur mustard has plenty of hydrogen already. And an additional hydrogen couldnt replace sulfur, because hydrogen only likes to bond to one other atom at a time. Unlike sulfur, hydrogen doesnt have enough spare hands to hold on to both bat wings.

Still, Burks says, the film does get the prominent role of chemistry in WWI right. Although there is a villain in a human form, the race against time is a chemistry one, she says. In that way, they did capture World War I as being a chemists war.

The real-life Dr. Poison was a German chemist named Fritz Haber. He won the Nobel Prize for the breakthrough that made the large-scale production of fertilizer possible. He also spearheaded Germanys chemical weapons program, and presided over the first successful use of a chemical weapon during World War I: not mustard gas, but chlorine. With the help of the wind, the Germans wafted chlorine gas across the Allies trenches on a spring day in 1915 and killed more than 1,100 soldiers, writes Sarah Everts in Chemical & Engineering News.

This experiment in chemical warfare sparked an arms race that earned World War I the moniker The Chemists War, despite an international ban on chemical weapons. Everts quotes German officer Rudolf Binding, who wrote: I am not pleased with the idea of poisoning men. Of course, the entire world will rage about it at first and then imitate us.

Each new chemical agent was met with a more sophisticated countermeasure

Binding was right. A twisted call-and-response ensued where each new chemical agent was met with a more sophisticated countermeasure. (Among the earliest defenses against chlorine gas were urine-soaked handkerchiefs; the ammonia in urine could render the chlorine relatively harmless.)

But when the Germans first weaponized mustard gas in 1917, it presented a new challenge. Contrary to its name, mustard gas does not actually have any mustard in it. (Its named for its mustard-like odor.) Nor is it a gas. Soon known as the king of the battle gases, mustard gas is actually an oily liquid that can pass through leather, rubber, and most textiles, Everts writes.

This image contains sensitive or violent content

Tap to display

Artillery shells filled with mustard gas rained tiny droplets onto the battlefield that didnt need to be inhaled to inflict mass casualties. They soaked into the soldiers uniforms and covered their skin, causing a delayed reaction. Hours after exposure, soldiers would start to vomit, and their skin would burn. Huge blisters would form, and, if they inhaled the mustard gas, the lining of their lungs sloughed off. Many went at least temporarily blind. Both recovery and death were slow and agonizing. And the oil persisted on soldiers bodies and in the environment, where mortars could kick up residual mustard gas that had settled onto the soil months before.

Wonder Woman doesnt show the gruesome effects of the hydrogen-based mustard gas on people. Instead, we see it shriveling a gas mask (which isnt how mustard gas works), cracking glass (it cant), and exploding in an airplane, which goes up like a chemical-tainted Hindenburg. It seemed like the filmmakers wanted to make the gas more flammable, Burks speculates, and people might equate hydrogen with flames. Like Can we have a chimera? And the answer is No. You cannot.

You dont need to be the big, scary monster. No, this is scarier than that.

Still, the film captures the aftermath and horror of chemical weapons in a scene where the Germans bomb a village with artillery shells containing the fictionally souped-up mustard gas. An orange mist floats low over the ground as Diana walks through to find scattered bodies. The thing that caused that devastation? A tiny molecule you cant fight with your fists, or with weapons. Once that creeping mist catches you, its too late. Bigger is not scarier, Burks says. You dont need to be the big, scary monster. No, this is scarier than that. And its a teeny, teeny molecule.

Wonder Woman is a superhero movie, so it doesnt give anything away to say that Diana beats the bad guy in the end. But knowing that chemical weapons continue to be used even today touches that victory with a sense of futility, which the filmmakers seem to have intended. After all, humans will continue to dream up new, horrific ways of hurting one another. But Wonder Woman gives us a chance to escape to an imaginary world where theres someone or something out there, trying to stop us.

Original post:
Wonder Woman's chemical weapon makes no scientific sense, but it evokes real and horrifying history - The Verge

Gupta, T., Burke, K.A., Mehta, A., Greenbowe, T.J. (2015). Impact of guided-inquiry-based instruction with writing and reflection emphasis on chemistry students critical thinking abilities. Journal of Chemical Education , 92(1), 3238.

Augspurger, A.E., Stender, A.S., Marchulk, K., Greenbowe, T.J., Fang, N. (2014). Dark field microscopy for analytical laboratory courses. Journal of Chemical Education, 91(6), 908-910.

DeWane, M. L. and Greenbowe, T. J. Reading Guide and Sample AP Chemistry Test Questions for N. Tros Chemistry (3rd Edition). Pearson Education, Inc.: Upper Saddle River, NJ. (2014).

AP Chemistry Guided Inquiry Activities for the Classroom: Curriculum Module. (2013). M.L. DeWane & T.J. Greenbowe (Eds.). The College Board: New York, NY.

DeWane, M. L. and Greenbowe, T. J. (2013). Acid-base neutralization reactions, In AP Chemistry Guided Inquiry Activities for the Classroom: Curriculum Module. M.L. DeWane & T.J. Greenbowe (Eds.). The College Board: New York, NY.

Greenbowe, T.J.; Gelder, John I.; Abraham, M.R. (2012). Computer Simulations and Animations for Electrolysis. Pearson Education, Inc.: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

http://genchem1.chem.okstate.edu/CCLIEMD09/BCE_2012.html

Parham, T., Cervato, C., Gallus, W., Larsen, M., Hobbs, J., and Greenbowe, T. (2011). Are movies and popular media driving students poor understanding of volcanic processes? Journal of College Science Teaching, 41(1), 14-19.

Mehta, A. and Greenbowe, T.J. (2011). A Shoebox Polarimeter: An Inexpensive Analytical Tool for Teachers and Students. J. Chem. Educ., 88(8), 11941197.

Parham, T.L.; Cervato, C.; Gallus, W.A.; Larsen, M.; Hobbs, J.; Stelling, P.; Greenbowe, T.J.; Gupta, T.; Knox, J.A.; Gill, T.E. (2010). The InVEST Volcanic Concept Survey: Exploring Student Understanding About Volcanoes. Journal of Geoscience Education, 58 (3), 177-187.

Chemists Guide to Effective Teaching Volume II. (2008). N. Pienta, T. Greenbowe, M. Copper (Eds.). Pearson/Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Liu, Han-Chin; Andre, T.; Greenbowe, T.J. (2008). Impact of Learner's Prior Knowledge on Their Use of Chemistry Computer Simulations: a Case Study. Journal of Science Education and Technology (17), 466-482.

Schroeder, J.D, and Greenbowe, T.J. (2008). Implementing POGIL in the Lecture and the Science Writing Heuristic in the Laboratory: Student Perceptions and Performance in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry. Chemical Education Research and Practice (9), 149-156.

Rudd, II, J.A.; Greenbowe, T.J.; Hand, B.M. (2007). Using the Science Writing Heuristic to Improve Students Understanding of General Equilibrium. Journal of Chemical Education, 84(12), 2007-2012.

Continued here:
Thomas Greenbowe | Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

The students in the lead couples roles in Line Mountains production of Oklahoma this year didnt have to pretend too much when it came to acting like they liked each other.

Weve been friends since third grade, said senior Sam Ferster, who played Curly, the lead character along with Laurey, played by senior Tori Duffy. Weve participated in musicals and marching band together for quite a while now. Weve become pretty good friends.

Its not their first time in lead roles or playing a couple.

For example, last year, they played Cinderella and the Prince in Line Mountains production of Cinderella.

But it was in eighth grade when they began working closely together in their school productions. Thats when Tori played Annie in Annie. and Sam played Daddy Warbucks.

I knew their senior year they needed to grow, said director Dana Brown. And with so much experience, I knew that putting them together would be no problem, because they would take on the job.

Tori said working together as the lead couple in Oklahoma felt natural.

Sam and I have a very playful, teasing friendship, which you can see in Curly and Laureys relationship as well.

I think they both knew they were going to have to go on a personal level to be able to create that love between Curly and Laurey, said director Dana Brown. Their friendship off stage helped with that, but also making sure they were prepared, even before they came onto stage. They did their homework, read their script and made sure they were ready to portray all the different sides of Curly and Laurey together.

Sam said he especially enjoyed the songs Oh What a Beautiful Morning and Surry With a Fringe on Top in the beginning scene songs on which he got to interact with Tori.

Sam is wonderful to work with, and I am blessed that he has been my opposite for all these years, as well as one of my best friends, Tori said.

Taking on the roles

Sam described the character of Curly as a bit cocky, but For the most part, he was a gentleman.

And aside from having naturally curly hair that he let grow longer than usual for this role, thats the part he said he related to the most.

His characteristics are sort of like how I am in real life, he said. I didnt have to prepare a whole lot.

Brown agrees.

For example, Curly, she said, is a cow man who is a little full of himself, and was going to make sure that he got the girl.

While Sam is very humble in everything he does, she said, he wants to make sure he achieves all the goals that he has. It wasnt hard at all he knew what he wanted in the musical.

Tori said she auditioned for Laurey and was excited to play her.

She is a character unlike any I have ever played, and I was excited to take on this role, she said.

Tori said she recognized Laurey as your stereotypical farm girl, but also very independent and relies on only herself for her happiness.

When things begin to change and she develops feelings for Curly, she becomes uneasy and almost pushes him away, she said

Brown said the character of Laurey is a little hard to understand sometimes. She doesnt know if she wants to be with Curly, or let him walk out of her life. Tori was very capable of bringing both of those sides of Laurey onto the stage.

Looking ahead

Sam plans to attend Potomac State College in West Virginia for an associates degree in sustainable agriculture entrepreneurship. Hes considering either joining chorus or doing some theater there. But since he has siblings still attending Line Mountain, he said he expecting to be back to help in future years.

Tori plans to attend Kent State University in Ohio to major in zoology, with a pre-vet track. She also plans to continue making theatre a part of her life.

Read more from the original source:
#ValleyMusicals: Friendship helps Line Mountain couple's chemistry - Sunbury Daily Item

UPDATED: Fri., May 19, 2017, 3:04 p.m.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill honored 20 years of marriage through a musical journey of romance where obvious chemistry and unmatched talent were on display.

The country superstars brought their 2017 Soul2Soul World Tour to to a nearly packed Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Thursday night and their instant connection as they sang the beginning of the 1997 power ballad Its Your Love characterized the night. The first lines of the song were almost entirely drowned out by cheers: Its your love / It just does something to me / Sends a shock right through me / I cant get enough.

Hills impressive vocal and physical stamina were evident throughout her solo portion of the set list. She immediately stole the show with her soaring, easy high notes and stage presence when she sang her 2006 song The Lucky One.

McGraw joined his wife again to sing his cheeky 1995 hit about a new love I Like It, I Love It and the dedicated fans sang every word. Their vocal runs were expertly executed and the harmonies were as in synch as the couples chemistry as they sang to each other.

Hill mentioned that she got her start singing in church and the gospel soul in her voice was indisputable. Her most memorable numbers of the night included her 1998 hit This Kiss and 1993 cover of Piece of My Heart, a song made popular by Janis Joplin.

McGraw emerged from the depths of the stage like the couple did at the beginning of the show to sing Angry all the Time, a song about the ways love can fall apart. Though his stage presence paled in comparison to his spouses dancing and connection to her music, the rich twang and familiar, even tone of his voice did not disappoint.

Later, he sang a snippet of Bruce Springsteens Hungry Heart, which showcased the voice that catapulted him to country superstardom and left fans cheering for more.

His performance of the 2015 hit Humble and Kind featured a tenderness and warmth that left much of the audience in tears. A touching photo and video slideshow featuring universal human emotions worn by those of difference races, genders, ages, religious traditions and occupations accompanied the performance.

The stars selected clothing from two very different closets McGraw donned a simple black shirt, slacks and a black cowboy hat while Hill switched between three sparkly dresses; their outfits perfectly echoed Hills strong femininity and McGraws laidback swagger.

Near the end of the show, the two drew close to their fans when Hill sang Mississippi Girl and McGraw sang Something Like That while weaving through the arenas many rows and grabbing hands. As the stars waved goodbye to the audience and the band and backup vocalists showcased their talents one last time, the audience chanted for an encore.

The fans asked and received a knockout performance.

McGraw and Hill sang their 2007 duet I Need You as they sat on a platform that rose high above the stage much like their voices rose to the occasion of singing the ballad with little instrumental accompaniment. It was an uninhibited and sensitive display of vocal ability and emotion.

The finale blew out of the water all of the performances that had come before, and made for a night the fans would remember long after their ear-shattering shouts ceased.

See the article here:
Concert review: Hill and McGraw thrill fans with their chemistry ... - The Spokesman-Review

Cornerback DJ Hayden will likely compete at both inside and outside cornerback for the Detroit Lions in 2017.(Photo: AP Photo)

Allen Park Chemistry is huge to the success of an NFL secondary, a unit which must be able to quickly communicate and adjust on the fly. The Detroit Lions are returning their entire starting group next season, and new addition, cornerback D.J. Hayden, has a jump start on building the important relationships with his defensive back mates.

Hayden, who officially signed with the Lions on Saturday, worked out with new teammates Darius Slay and Glover Quin during the 2016 offseason and hopes to do so again this year.

Yeah, I talked to both of them, Hayden said. Thats something Im definitely interested in, so we can get our chemistry down. Were a team now. For us to get our chemistry down, it would be great for the team, so we can win some games this year.

Quin, who calls Houston home when not in Detroit, has been known to host teammates for workouts during the offseason. At some point, he got connectedwith Hayden, the area native who also starred for the University of Houston.

A first-round pick in 2013, the same year Slay was selected by the Lions in the second round, the 5-foot-11 Hayden never lived up to his draft status in four years with the Oakland Raiders. But last season, a move inside to cover the slot seemed to get the best out of the fourth-year pro.

Hayden doesnt know how the Lions plan to use him, but hes open to any role in the defensive backfield or on special teams.

Im a fast-twitch guy, Hayden said. Im not the tallest corner in the league, but I feel like I can matchup with any receiver. I can run with anybody. I just want to make plays, work hard and make plays.

Its expected that Hayden will compete with both Nevin Lawson and Quandre Diggs for a starting job.

Moving on to the future, I plan on playing to my max potential, Hayden said.

Follow this link:
New Lions CB Hayden has jump start on building chemistry - The Detroit News

Thursday's episode featured a sneaky Blossom-Cooper showdown that got the entire town searching for Polly Cooper. But possibly even more amusing, Archie (KJ Apa) and Veronica (Camila Mendes) are starting to catch onto Betty (Lili Reinhart) and Jugheads (Cole Sprouse) flirty vibes, which triggered a jealous Archie.

TooFabs Madison Brodsky talked to KJ Apa about Betty and Jugheads flaming relationship, working on set with TV dad Luke Perry and who he thinks actually killed Jason Blossom.

I think Lili and Cole have a lot of good chemistry on-screen and I think it works very well for their characters, Apa told TooFab.

The CW

I dont think so. I think that is just a representation of whatever happened between the two of them before the first episode with that mysterious conflict that lies between their friendship.

As Archie, I think he wants what he cant have and its kind of a weird thing because they totally switched on who likes who. I think he really does show that he likes Betty, but the whole ironic triangle thing is coming back and youll really see it coming in effect soon. As myself, I think Lili and Cole have a lot of good chemistry that you can see on screen and I think it works very well for their characters.

I think they genuinely like each other and I think they are finding something with each other that they can latch onto.

I think you can expect that Jughead will continue to deal with a lot of things from his family to his dad to the murder and youll see that it becomes too much for him so it will spiral into something that shows some amazing acting from Cole and then Jughead eventually breaks.

The CW

I actually wasnt surprised. I knew it. I remember going up to our writer one day and asking, Was it this person? and he looked at me and didnt say anything and laughed so I knew I was right."

Read more:
'Riverdale' Star KJ Apa on Betty and Jughead's 'Good Chemistry,' TV Dad Luke Perry And Who Killed Jason Blossom - TooFab

YourObserver.com

Lakewood Ranch basketball tasked with redeveloping chemistry YourObserver.com They have been the core of the team for two seasons so Schiller's challenge for next season will be creating the same chemistry among the players who will have to fill their roles. The good news for Lakewood Ranch is next year's team will include Evan ...

Excerpt from:
Lakewood Ranch basketball tasked with redeveloping chemistry - YourObserver.com

Science Daily

The prototype of a chemical computer detects a sphere -- ScienceDaily Science Daily Chemical computers are becoming ever more of a reality. It turns out that after an appropriate teaching procedure even a relatively simple chemical system can ... and more »

See the rest here:
The prototype of a chemical computer detects a sphere -- ScienceDaily - Science Daily