Chemical Weed Killer Is Compatible With Sustainability Certification In Californias Wine Industry – Forbes

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Field of wild mustard in bloom at a vineyard in the spring, Sonoma Valley, California

After a recent post concerning sustainability, email arrived from people in and out of the wine business on the apparently thorny subject of glyphosate, the weed killer. Being neither expert on glyphosate nor on sustainability, a little research was in order.

In some vineyards crops are purposely allowed to flourish between rows, to crowd out certain weeds and to fix nitrogen in the soil. But other vineyards are treated differently; some use glyphosate, a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide, especially used against annual competing broadleaf weeds and grasses. Most know the weed killer by the trade name, Roundup. It kills weeds through foliage absorption when sprayed on the plants, which means it kills only plants which have already begun to grow and spread their leaves. Introduced by the chemical company Monsanto, Roundup has been available for agricultural crops since the 1970s; over that time, Monsanto has been a leader in developing genetically engineered agricultural crops which tolerate glyphosate spill off, but not grapevines.

The California Wine Institute (WI) made initial contact in a press release concerning the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), so when I asked for more information WI emailed that CSWA, approaches crop protection through the lens of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). An IPM approach combines biological, cultural, mechanical and chemical tools (minimally and only when needed) to minimize economic, environmental and human health risks when controlling pests, weeds and disease. IPM is the basis for both organic and sustainable approaches. WI also said it continues to monitor glyphosate and domestic and international activities.

In 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. Based on the WHO information, in 2018 the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) listed the herbicide as a probable carcinogen. Also that year, a jury in the state awarded $289 million to a man who claimed Roundup was the probable cause of his cancer, and that Monsanto did not warn him. In January 2019, France banned Roundup 360.

The WI glyphosate information web site quotes Carl Winter, Ph.D. Professor, Food Toxicology University of California at Davis: An adult would have to drink more than 140 glasses of wine a day over 70 years containing the highest glyphosate level measured to reach the level that CaliforniasOEHHA has identified as No Significant Risk Level (NSRL).

Winters quote does not address the possibility, if any, of toxic build up of daily glyphosate taken in from a variety of food sources. California had established a requirement to display glyphosate warning signs on products, but OEHHA apparently had determined the warning is not necessary on wine labels, because, as WI explains it, the level that might be found in wine, if any, is insignificant compared to the NSRL.

In February, 2019 a story broke claiming after testing 15 different types of beer and five different types of wine, U.S. researchers found glyphosate traces in 19 out of the 20 beverages tested. The wine brand Sutter Home measured the highest glyphosate residue in the study: 51 parts per billion (51 micrograms/liter). The organic wine from Argentina, Inkarri Estate tested at 5.2 parts per billion (5.2 micrograms/liter).

CSWA accepts glyphosate use as part of a sustainable viticultural program; its 3rd Edition Code Workbook Chapter 6, which covers Pest (and Weed) Management, includes in its introduction: IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks.

Sections 6-17 to 6-20 of the workbook cover weed management. Use of Roundup is mentioned under How To Kill More Weeds With Less Herbicide and Tips On Chemical Weed Control.

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Chemical Weed Killer Is Compatible With Sustainability Certification In Californias Wine Industry - Forbes

Has the chemistry Nobel prize really become the biology prize? – Chemistry World

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Not another chemistry Nobel going to biologists! How many times have you heard that complaint? But is there really anything in it?

Its sometimes said that the number of chemistry prizes awarded to work rooted in the life sciences at least nine of the prizes since 2000 simply shows how broad chemistry is: at the molecular scale, biology is chemistry. But does that argument stack up? A historian of chemistry and a mathematical chemist argue in a new paper that, not only have the chemistry Nobels indeed become more biological in recent decades, but also the prizes of that nature tend to reward work outside of the chemical mainstream, being much more closely tied to research in the life sciences itself. In effect, they say, the chemistry Nobels are being shared out between genuinely different disciplines.

The two researchers, Jeffrey Seeman of the University of Richmond in the US and Guillermo Restrepo of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, say that the chemistry Nobel has now mutated into what is effectively the Nobel prize in chemistry or life sciences. They call for this to be openly acknowledged, rather than disguised with a pretense that its all chemistry. Whats at stake here is not just a matter of justice about who gets the most prestigious of all scientific awards, but the de facto boundaries of chemistry as a discipline.

Seeman and Restrepo show that the proportion of chemistry Nobels awarded for achievements in the life sciences has grown fairly steadily from around one per decade in the early 20th century to four to five per decade since the 1980s.1 They quote geneticist Jan Lindsten and cell biologist Nils Ringertz, both of whom served on the the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine in the 1980s, who wrote that many chemistry laureates have made contributions which might equally well have been awarded a prize in physiology or medicine.

Chemistry Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann of Cornell University in the US, has previously viewed this trend as a call to our profession to embrace the far and influential reach of chemistry. But does it really reflect what chemistry is up to today?

No one can doubt that biochemistry has been a part of chemistry since its earliest days: Antoine Lavoisier studied respiration and fermentation, Justus von Liebig studied metabolism, and fermentation was central to the chemical understanding of enzyme catalysis. But might the disciplines have now gone their separate ways, with distinct communities, journals and spheres of influence? To answer that question, Seeman and Restrepo analysed the papers in two journals throughout 2007, chosen to be representative of mainstream chemistry and biochemistry: Angewandte Chemie International Edition and the American Chemical Societys Biochemistry. They looked at the citations made in papers in the two journals to those in other journals, and vice versa, to get a picture of the web of intellectual relationships.

We found that the chemistry journal has a flow of knowledge mainly with other chemistry journals and very little with life sciences journals, says Restrepo. The same for the biochemistry journal: it was by far more related to life science journals than to chemistry ones.

In other words, says Restrepo, there is a core community of chemistry, that we detected using bibliometric methods, which is not that related to its sibling biochemistry. The kinds of biologically oriented papers that garner chemistry Nobels arent really a part of the chemistry literature at all, he says the two fields belong to intellectual territories that are quite distant from each other. This, he and Seeman say, is the organic result of how scientific communities form and maintain themselves and presumably reflects an unspoken perception that the questions and goals of the communities are different.

The researchers used similar bibliometric analysis to look at the influence of chemistry Nobel laureates, and found that most awards are quite polarised, either being cited almost exclusively in the physical (typically chemical) or the life sciences.

Disciplinary divisions are built into the way the Nobel awards operate. They are awarded by the Nobel Foundation under the auspices of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Academy elects members each year who are assigned to one of 10 categories, such as physics, chemistry and the biosciences, and selects the Nobel committees from these members. It stands to reason, then, Restrepo says, that if the Academy elects more life scientists than chemists, and if the Nobel Committee for Chemistry becomes weighted more heavily in life scientists, then it is likely that more of the Nobel prizes in chemistry will be in the life sciences.

Seeman and Restrepo studied the disciplinary composition of the chemistry Nobel committees, and found a clear linear correlation between the proportion of awards in the life sciences per decade and the proportion of committee members from those backgrounds: both figures have increased steadily since the prizes began. In the last 70 years, the proportion of chemistry committee members from the life and biochemical sciences has been 4060%.

So what, if anything, is to be done? We are not suggesting that chemists should fight their own corner, but that they, and awarding institutions, should be aware of the territory of chemistry, its shape and reaches, says Restrepo.

Is the current structure of the Nobel prizes optimal for the future? the pair asks. The evidence is: certainly not. In a way, the Nobel Foundation and the Nobels prize-awarding bodies have produced a patchwork of change over the past several decades, a force-fit into the schema of Alfred Nobel. That strategy will not suffice forever.

With this in mind, they suggest several possible changes to the ways the Nobel awards operate. For example, it could include leading international representatives of the most active and most influential fields of chemistry in the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. The limit of three recipients each year could be relaxed to broaden the pool of laureates and the Foundation could publicly document the criteria and disciplinary boundaries for each of its prizes and for membership on the Nobel Committees.

Perhaps one of the suggestions they could easily implement is the use of bibliometric tools to keep track of the evolution of the disciplines and also as a tool to assist the selection of members of the committee, says Restrepo.

Robert Lefkowitz of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who won the 2012 chemistry Nobel with Brian Kobilka for work on G-protein coupled receptors, doesnt buy it. I think it is an unproductive argument based on definitions, he says.

He points out that most standard definitions of chemistry include biochemistry as a branch. Is there anything in Alfred Nobels will that says the different branches need to be equally rewarded? he asks. It simply says instead that the prize should go to those whose discoveries have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. If the Nobel committee decides that the greatest benefit has come disproportionately from biochemistry, and Lefkowtiz agrees that this has been so in recent years, then so be it. But I understand that these other chemists feel disenfranchised, he says. I would too.

In any event, he says, the choice is up to the Swedes, whereas Seeman and Restrepo seem to be saying that the prize is owned by all of us.

And while a common complaint is that the life sciences already have their own prize, Lefkowitz points out that it is actually a prize for physiology and medicine but when was the last time a physiologist or physician actually won it for work in those fields? Almost never, Lefkowitz says. It more often goes to biochemists than does the chemistry prize. Similar arguments rage in other disciplines too: some say particle physics is inordinately represented in the physics prize, for instance, while in the early 20th century the turf wars were more between phy
sics and chemistry as awards went to discoveries in radioactivity and atomic physics.

Seeman and Restrepo interacted extensively with members of the Nobel committee as they prepared their paper, in particular to clarify the procedures of the Nobel Foundation. They stress that the committee members were extremely responsive, cooperative and helpful. Protein chemist Gunnar von Heijne of Stockholm University, Sweden, current secretary of the chemistry Nobel committee, finds food for thought in the paper but doesnt think that the findings demand any more changes or soul-searching than are already happening.

It is certainly not true that the Nobel prize in chemistry has developed into a Nobel prize in life sciences, he says, speaking in a personal capacity. He thinks that the alleged intellectual separation of chemistry and biochemistry rests on circular reasoning: that biochemists tend to publish in pure biochemistry journals seems unsurprising, but doesnt in itself make biochemistry distinct from the rest of chemistry.

Von Heijne says that it is hard to implement changes to the Nobel Foundations procedures anyway. It is the statutes of the Nobel Foundation and, ultimately, the will of Alfred Nobel, that provide the basic framework for the Nobel prizes, [including] the prize areas. This basic framework cannot and probably should not be easily changed. He adds that the Nobel prizes rest on a finely tuned and slowly evolving system of rules and procedures, and major changes can easily create more problems than they solve.

On the suggestion that the Nobel committee should include the most active and influential scientists in each field, for example, he says that over the years that Ive served on the Nobel Committee, Ive become convinced that it is much easier for a rather close-knit group of scientists living in a far-off country to take the necessary detached view of the world of science that the responsibility of proposing Nobel prizes carries with it and to put in the months of work required every year than it would be for a committee of busy international high-flyers.

And increasing the number of laureates for a given prize would simply widen the arguments about where the cutoff lies, he says. In my own experience, the number of deserving individuals grows rapidly with the number of laureates included in a prize. There would be many more candidates of more or less equal merit to consider for a fourth slot than for the first, second or third slot.

While Restrepo says that one of the aims of the paper is to bring into the open some of the opacity of the Nobel prize process, von Heijne feels that too explicit and formulaic a selection process could create a straitjacket. If, for example, some formal and publicly stated definition of what counts as chemistry were to be drawn up, it would need to be constantly revised with every passing year indeed, it would be outdated even before it is decided. Von Heijne says that his own preference is to be inclusive and recognise the broad reach of chemistry in contemporary science and technology. Lefkowitz thinks that the chemistry Nobel actually has had some of the most creative and original committees in recent decades, for example making awards for work in microscopy or materials science. They surprise people year after year, he says.

So perhaps some fuzziness and secrecy is best after all. If the Nobel prizes were selected by algorithm, what would we have to argue about every October?

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Has the chemistry Nobel prize really become the biology prize? - Chemistry World

Chemical Plant Explosion in Spain Kills One and Prompts Order to Stay Inside – The New York Times

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MADRID An explosion and fire at a petrochemical factory in Catalonia on Tuesday killed at least one person and injured several more, prompting officials to block roads, suspend rail service and order nearby residents to stay inside.

The shock waves from the initial blast were felt several miles from the factory, the authorities said, and the one fatality was reported in a building damaged by tremors.

The blast occurred at about 7 p.m. at a factory housing the Iqoxe company on the outskirts of Tarragona, a city whose metropolitan area includes several hundred thousand people.

The factory is Spains only producer of ethylene oxide, which can be transformed into ethylene glycol, a chemical that is used to help manufacture a wide range of products, including antifreeze, packaging film, plastic bottles and polyester fibers for clothing.

The explosion was reported in a part of the plant that opened last year, after an investment of about 10 million euros, according to local news reports.

The authorities offered no immediate explanation for the explosion. Firefighters struggled throughout the night to battle the blaze, declaring it under control at about midnight.

The order to stay inside was lifted about three hours after the explosion. Quim Torra, the regional president of Catalonia, Spains northeastern region, told local reporters that no toxic agent had been detected in the air and that people should not fear for their health.

Two of the injured were being treated Tuesday night for burn injuries, and their condition was described as critical. Nine were injured in all, and one person was reported missing, emergency officials said.

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Chemical Plant Explosion in Spain Kills One and Prompts Order to Stay Inside - The New York Times

Local scientist creates handheld ‘chemistry lab’ – myfox8.com

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GREENSBORO, N.C. -- There is a concept in capitalism called creative destruction.

The idea is, as new technologies and techniques are invented, old ones fade way. The car put the buggy maker out of business but we were all better off for it. And it looks as if a scientist at UNC Greensboro may be doing the same thing to sections of the laboratory business.

Taylor Mabe is a nano-scientist at UNCG who, along with his teammates at the Joint Nanoscience Center in Greensboro, has created a device you can hold in your hand that is, pretty much replacing an entire chemistry lab.

For years now, if we took a sample of blood or some other fluid from a person, wed have to send it off in a refrigerated box to a lab somewhere and it would take several days before the lab separated the serum from the rest of the blood and tested for whats in the blood. Not anymore.

So thats the cool part, says Mabe, showing us the device. The surface is just a metal most of the time, its gold and we can tether any kind of biological molecule on that surface. What biological molecule you stick on that surface determines which disease we can test for. So they could do this right in the doctors office.

Or, more importantly, in the field. If an emergency medical technician comes up on someone in distress, this device will tell them immediately if its a peanut allergy, a drug overdose whatever.

But thats only half the story.

The other half excited Justin Streuli, who is the director of the North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center at UNCG. Its a grant that UNCG and North Carolina A&T earned that will allow the schools to take their students' and facultys work and see if it is commercially viable.

Youve got this hypothesis of, 'Ive got this business idea, I think people are going to pay for this product, says Streuli. Well, how do you test this hypothesis? Well, you go out there and talk to the customers and ask them, Is this really a problem thats going to get solved? Theyve never had this kind of opportunity at UNCG, NC A&T before. Its a first for Greensboro.

And perfect for bringing the work Mabe and his team have done.

Were getting very good feedback, weve won several awards, he says.

What this means for all of us is not just a new device that might save our lives, but perhaps a job if and when they can start a company to produce the product. If they do, Mabe wants it to be right here.

This is where I grew up, I definitely have plans to stay here, he says. Hopefully a kid from little, bitty Walnut Cove can have his dream come true.

See his dream in action in this edition of the Buckley Report.

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UWMadison chemist searches for ways to bioengineer proteins within cells – University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Andrew Buller, professor of chemistry at the University of WisconsinMadison, wants to add more building blocks to the bodys protein-making kit.

In nature, there exist 20 of these building blocks, called amino acids, which make up the proteins that perform the work required to sustain life. Buller says scientists can create more, allowing them to expand the ways in which cells build proteins.

Andrew Buller

You could think of this as having a Lego kit with just 20 different pieces, Buller says. What could you build if you had more? We build these new Lego bricks and then teach biological systems how to make them too.

Over the past two decades, scientists have been adding new amino acids to proteins, but it has required relying on organic chemists to first produce them in the lab. Buller is working to set up a system so that any molecular biologist can create the amino acids they want in a cell, using enzymes and an off-the-shelf chemical. This will make it easier and less expensive for biochemists to create the new molecules they want to use for research and medicine, he says.

People have wanted to do this for a long time, but there are a lot of barriers, Buller says. We are addressing one of the biggest, which is that its really expensive and it takes a lot of training in two different areas. If we can make it cheaper and so that you need one skill set instead of two, then everybody else is going to be able to use this technology.

This is the basis for Bullers recent $2.2 million 2019 National Institutes of Health Directors New Innovator Award, which is part of the agencys High-Risk, High-Reward program designed to support innovative research with the potential for substantial contributions to the field. By eliminating some of the pressure to find funding for these kinds of projects, they allow researchers time to work, discover and create.

Bullers group will repurpose how enzymes use vitamin B6, which is crucial for amino acid synthesis, to perform new types of reactions.

Now we get to focus on the science, Buller says, adding that the research could spawn methods of cheaper drug development. I think this is an important challenge for scientists to work on. We want to lower the barriers, both in terms of cost and difficulty, to make it easier to make new kinds of molecules.

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UWMadison chemist searches for ways to bioengineer proteins within cells - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Chemistry Dictionary, Terms & Definitions – Chemistry …

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Thank you for visiting! Our website is a free online chemistry dictionary containing over 1,800 chemistry terms and definitions.

Everyone is invited to use our website and chemistry dictionary to help further their knowledge, students and teachers alike. To start browsing the dictionary, choose a letter to list all the terms starting with that letter. You can also search our dictionary using the search box provided.

Our collection of chemistry terms and definitions cover all areas, including: general chemistry science, organic chemistry, inorganic, biological, physical, environmental and analytical chemistry. Students of all study levels use our site to find solutions and help for their problems, questions and projects.

We also maintain a list of helpful periodic tables. There you will find the best interactive periodic tables on the net, along with many different printable versions.

Our chemistry dictionary terms and definitions have been taken from various public domain, GNU and government sources. We have done our best to verify the accuracy and quote the correct sources. Please contact us if you feel any of our terms or definitions need to be updated or corrected in any way. We appreciate the feedback!

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Researchers Just Proved Crystals Can Bend, Flipping Chemistry on Its Head – ScienceAlert

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Researchers have shown that crystals can be so flexible they can be bent repeatedly and even tied up in knots, overhauling our current understanding of the structures, and challenging the very definition of a crystal.

As we learnt in school, crystals are brittle and inelastic - if you try to bend a crystal of rock salt or quartz, for example, it will break. But this new research shows that crystals can actually be made to bend, opening up a whole new class of materials that could revolutionise electronics and technology.

Scientists had previously made observations of crystals that could bend, but this is the first time researchers have examined the process at the atomic level, and determined that crystals really can be flexible while still retaining their traditional properties, flipping all current conventions around the structures on their head.

"Crystals are something we work with a lot they're typically grown in small blocks, are hard and brittle, and when struck or bent they crack or shatter," said one of the lead researchers, John McMurtrie, from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia.

"While it has previously been observed that some crystals could bend, this is the first study to examine the process in detail.We found that the crystals exhibit traditional characteristics of not only hard matter, but soft matter like nylon."

You can see the flexible crystal below:

QUT

Crystals are brittle because of the way their molecules are arranged - they're highly organised structures that are made up of infinitely repeating molecular components. That means no matter which way you look at a crystal structure, it will look the same.

It's this property that makes them so useful in a range of modern technologies, from smartphones to computers. But it also makes them hard, and easy to break or shatter, so they're not as useful in emerging technologies, such as flexible electronics and optical devices.

But this new research has shown that it's possible to grow elastic crystals that can be bent over and over again, before quickly restoring their original shape, just like nylon.

The team was able to grow these elastic crystalsabout the width of a fishing line and up to 5 cm long.

Most importantly, these flexible crystals still retained all the traditional properties of crystals we rely on in our technology - essentially making them a brand new type of material altogether.

"The crystals that we have prepared fall outside the limits of what have traditionally been considered to be hard and soft matter," the lead researcherswrite over at The Conversation.

The researchers grew their flexible crystal from a common metal compound known as copper (II) acetylacetonate. The compound was first made in the late 1800s, but changing the way the molecules were arranged within the crystal gave it new flexible properties.

Using X-rays generated by the Australian Synchrotron, the team was able to study the molecular arrangement of the crystals as they were bent, showing that the individual molecules reversibly rotated to give the material its elasticity.

"Under strain the molecules in the crystal reversibly rotate and reorganise to allow the compression and expansion required for elasticity and still maintain the integrity of the crystal structure," said Jack Clegg, who led the collaborating team from the University of Queensland.

Once they understood how it works, the researchers were able to show that crystals made from six other structurally similar metal compounds were also flexible.

"This is an exciting prospect given that there are millions of different types of crystals already known and many more yet to be discovered," said McMurtrie.

"Bending the crystal changes its optical and magnetic properties, and our next step is to explore these optical and magnetic responses with a view to identifying applications in new technologies."

Now that we know how these flexible crystals work, the next challenge will be trying to figure out what this means for our current definition of a crystal - or if we've in fact discovered a new type of material altogether.

"For example, the loss of symmetry when a crystal is bent or twisted means it is no longer strictly a crystal by traditional definitions," Clegg and McMurtriewrite for The Conversation.

The discovery could also have big implications for technology - more flexible crystals could lead to new hybrid and smart materials that responds to changes in their environment

"Flexible crystals like these could lead to new hybrid materials for numerous applications, from components of planes and spacecraft to parts of motion or pressure sensors and electronic devices," said Clegg.

The research has been published inNature Chemistry.

Queensland University of Technologyis a sponsor of ScienceAlert. Find out more abouttheir research.

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Researchers Just Proved Crystals Can Bend, Flipping Chemistry on Its Head - ScienceAlert

Sam Darnold, new USC receivers look to form chemistry after … – LA Daily News

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On a pivotal game-tying drive late in the third quarter of USCs 49-31 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday, the Trojans offense needed 17 yards for a first down.

So Sam Darnold found Deontay Burnett.

Burnett, who was lined up as the slot receiver, ran almost 15 yards along the right hash marks, draped by a defensive back, until he spotted an opening. Burnett said he then decided to alter his route, drifting over the middle of the field toward a slice of green grass. Darnold spotted him and delivered a throw.

The ball arrived a little low, but the junior receiver dove and scooped it up for a gain of 27 yards on third down. The adjustment on his route mirrored the one he made downfield in the final minutes of the Rose Bowl last January, snagging the tying touchdown.

Any time hes open, Darnold said, he knows when to slow down, knows when to speed up.

In USCs season opener, Darnold showed a continued chemistry with Burnett, who caught a game-high seven passes for 142 yards.

But he otherwise struggled to establish a similar rapport with a bevy of new targets.

Darnold, who completed 23 of 33 pass attempts for 289 yards, had four passes dropped and two more intercepted.

Two drops came on third down, one by redshirt freshman Tyler Vaughns when he was running a 10-yard out route in the first quarter and a second by redshirt junior Jalen Greene who was running a quick slant in the second quarter.

Vaughns was among four receivers to make their college debut Saturday, including freshman Joseph Lewis, as well as redshirt freshmen Velus Jones and Trevon Sidney. Greene, a former quarterback, made his first start at receiver.

USC had an almost entirely new cast of receivers in the wake of the departures of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Darreus Rogers.

We know theres going to be some growing pains, Coach Clay Helton said Sunday during a teleconference with reporters. Any time that youre dealing with young people, when theyre making their first starts and first experiences, some things are going to go good and some things are not going to go so well. Its a learning experience.

Helton remained complimentary of Darnold, though the third-year sophomore passer and preseason Heisman Trophy favorite was held without a touchdown toss for the first time since his first start at Utah last September. He pointed to Darnolds composure.

He really trusted the guys around him and spread the ball around, Helton said.

Ten players caught passes from Darnold.

Where I was really proud of him, Helton added, was just his poise and his calmness, not to get frustrated when things werent going absolutely perfect.

At times, Darnolds timing with his receivers looked off. One deep throw in the second quarter fell just out of the grasp of Velus Jones, who had run about 30 yards along the right hashmarks and remained a step ahead of a defensive back. But he couldnt catch up to the throw. In other moments, the absence of Smith-Schuster and Rogers was pronounced. Darnold lofted a pass along the sideline toward Greene in the first quarter. Greene tried to reach over the helmet of the defensive back to bring in the pass, but dropped it. It was almost reminiscent of a play Rogers made on a winning drive over Colorado last October, the sequence occurring at almost the identical spot on the Coliseum field.

But Darnold expected improvement in time. Its a new group.

Just continue to get experience in games and practice and well be fine, he said.

Burnett offered a similar assessment.

I feel like the chemistry is there with the receivers, Burnett said. It just takes reps. Everybody is going to step up. Everybody has to step up. Were in good shape.

Quick hits

Tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe was limited to mostly run blocking, Helton said, as he recovers from a sore hip flexor. Freshman safety Bubba Bolden has a bone bruise in his knee, an MRI showed. Safety Chris Hawkins is also day-to-day with an elbow sprain. USC opened as a 5-point favorite over Stanford.

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‘Mystery of Chemistry’ heads north – International Falls Journal

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Another free program will soon be offered through the Arrowhead Library System in the Borderland area.

Mad Science of Minnesota Mystery of Chemistry will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Northome Community Room on July 14.

The program will include an official mad scientist from Mad Science of Minnesota. Attendees will be able to watch as a series of experiments are conducted, including liquid changing into a rainbow of colors and the magic of Styrofoam melting.

The mad scientist will also mix up a gooey, foaming paste and an eerie, smoking genie in an ordinary water bottle. The event will be a fun and educational program for families and kids, said a press release.

Mad Science is the worlds leading science enrichment provider. Mad Science delivers unique hands-on science experiences for children that are as entertaining as they are educational. It encourages scientific literacy in children in an age when science is as vital as reading, writing and arithmetic.

For over 25 years, Mad Science has invested in research and development and continues to do so being the forefront of the industry, creating hands-on science programming for kids.

The Mystery of Chemistry program is most suitable for ages 4-12.

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Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses – San Francisco Chronicle

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By Peter Hartlaub

Martin Short and honoree Steve Martin walk the red carpet at the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award Gala honoring Martin at Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015 in Hollywood.

Martin Short and honoree Steve Martin walk the red carpet at the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award Gala honoring Martin at Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015 in Hollywood.

Steve Martin (left) plays George and Martin Short plays Franck the flamboyant and officious wedding planner in "Father of the Bride."

Steve Martin (left) plays George and Martin Short plays Franck the flamboyant and officious wedding planner in "Father of the Bride."

Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses

Steve Martin and Martin Short are associated with a lot of locations far outside the Bay Area: Canada, Los Angeles, Live from New York

But when asked to share any memories provincial to San Francisco, both comedy legends come up with a long and poignant formative story from the mid-1960s. Martin drove up from L.A. and slept in his Volkswagen van as an 18-year-old, performing some of his first paid gigs in North Beach. And San Francisco was the first U.S. city that Canada-born Short visited, at age 15.

My sister Nora was a nurse in San Francisco, and my mother and I went down, Short says. They snuck me into the hungry i (nightclub). We saw Joan Rivers opening for Carmen McRae. It was the most exciting thing to be in San Francisco in 1965 and going to these hip clubs.

Martin and Short will return in spirit, if not the city limits on their latest comedy tour; a two amigos variety show that arrives at the Concord Pavilion on Friday, Aug. 11.

The comedians talked about their friendship during a phone interview last month. The conversation was stilted at times, in part because Short was calling from Ontario, Canada, and Martin from Santa Barbara. But their chemistry comes through, even on a three-way conference call.

Their first appearances on Saturday Night Live were nearly a decade apart, and Shorts early comedy roots (including SCTV in Canada in 1982-83) didnt offer much crossover with Martin, who had by the early 1980s become a Hollywood star.

They met in the spring of 1985, when Short went to Martins house to pick up a script for Three Amigos, a 1986 feature film comedy with Chevy Chase.

Lets put it this way. Maybe three weeks into the movie, I felt like I had a new friend that I really liked, Martin says. I didnt know if he liked me, but I liked him.

They maintained their friendship, appearing together in the Father of the Bride movies in the 1990s, and after that during random red carpets, charity benefits and late-night talk show guest spots. But their careers were often in different spheres, with Short pursuing stage and television projects such as Primetime Glick, and Martin starring in movies and touring with the bluegrass band the Steep Canyon Rangers.

A 2011 conversation between Short and Martin at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal led to a tour, where the pair interviewed each other and took questions from the audience. Now their show has developed short gags, a video presentation, music and other random parts.

We just kept adding, Short says. The conversation ... certainly worked, and thats when we were reminded of our natural chemistry with each other. Then we just started adding bits and adding routines and adding ideas, and it just evolved into a kind of a hip variety show.

About 25 minutes of the two-hour show is musical, with Martin playing bluegrass, and Short showcasing one of his more underrated talents: his voice.

Martin says hes continually impressed with Short, who won a Tony Award for his work in the Neil Simon musical Little Me in 1999, and later played Leo Bloom in The Producers in Los Angeles.

I knew it, but I didnt know it, Martin says. Hes a terrific singer. I can only think of one other person whom I toured with, with the same kind of solidity, and that was Karen Carpenter.

Short and Martin have crossed the country several times together, but theyre eager to get the conversation back to San Francisco. Martin says San Francisco newspapers have always been good to me, mentioning a 1972 rave by Chronicle critic John Wasserman, when Martin was starting a career-boosting run at the Boarding House.

He was in San Francisco years before that, driving up as early as 1963.

I would drive up from L.A. to San Francisco, get the cheapest hotel possible, or live in my VW van, Martin says. I remember passing the Purple Onion (and hungry i). There would be Lenny Bruce playing there and Mort Sahl playing there, and whoever the Smothers Brothers playing there and the Kingston Trio.

Martin says one of his first paid comedy performances was at the Coffee Gallery in San Francisco, next door to former Beat Generation landmark Coffee and Confusion in North Beach. He offers a sober account of his performances there sometimes for a crowd of no one.

But with this pair, its never serious for long. Asked if these larger crowds on the Martin and Short tours shout out requests, the pair settle into a nice self-deprecating comic groove.

The show is very tight. Theres hardly any room for anyone to shout out anything. Were always talking, Martin says.

Particularly Bravo! Short quips.

Theres definitely no room for Bravo, Martin says.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub

Steve Martin and Martin Short: 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11. $37.50-$183. Concord Pavilion, 2000 Kirker Pass Road, Concord. (925) 676-8742. http://www.livenation.com

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Martin and Short bring their chemistry to the masses - San Francisco Chronicle

Kellyn Acosta: Chemistry solid in US squad despite new players – ESPN FC

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Kellyn Acosta reflects on his game-winning goal vs. Ghana, his desire to bag more, and his partnership with Dax McCarty.

Kellyn Acosta says the United States' team chemistry was "pretty high" after a 2-1 friendly win over Ghana on Saturday, in spite of a number of new faces being called in for the Gold Cup.

Acosta curled a free kick around the wall for his first international goal after debutant Dom Dwyer opened the scoring and the U.S. comfortably saw out the victory in East Hartford, Connecticut.

The friendly was the new-look U.S. squad's only test before the Gold Cup begins next weekend, but Acosta said the team was already coming together.

"I thought we stuck as a team," Acosta told ESPN after the game. "New faces, but our chemistry was pretty high. We got guys moving around for each other, working hard, battling. It was a great start to what's going to be a good tournament.

"I'm glad the guys battled and fought for 90-plus minutes and got the result that we wanted."

U.S. coach Bruce Arena put Acosta in as a holding midfielder alongside Dax McCarty, and the FC Dallas man had no complaints about playing with a new partner.

"I thought it went well," Acosta said. "Obviously it's definitely tough getting to know a new face, we kind of just jumped right in there, but overall I thought we had a good game. I thought there were times I went forward, he fell back and vice versa, so I thought for the first game plan, we did a pretty good job."

Acosta has recently become the American's go-to taker from free kick situations and delivered his first goal in his ninth international appearance.

"It was definitely a proud moment, a happy moment," he said. "I've been working hard for it and I was happy to put it away. Hopefully it's the first of many. I was glad just to get that first one under my belt so hopefully I can continue scoring. I mean, Gold Cup's approaching, big game next week and hopefully I can get a goal then as well.

"I saw the keeper kind of cheating a little bit. My first one, I tried to put it over the wall and he was kind of already over there, so that means second one, I just tried to put it low in the corner and hope for the best -- maybe a rebound or going straight in and fortunately enough it went straight in, so I'm happy with it."

Dwyer was also thrilled to score his first goal and was optimistic that the team chemistry would only improve before next week's opener against Panama in Nashville.

"It was a fantastic feeling," he said of his goal. "I was very happy to get out there and get the start. I just wanted to show myself well and make an impact. ...

"There's a lot of positives to take from the game. We're still getting to know each other as players. It's going take a bit of time, but I think we're jelling well.

"It's a real good group, they welcomed me in well and a few of the other new guys, so we're just excited to get going and hopefully we can win the tournament."

Follow @ESPNFC on Twitter to keep up with the latest football updates.

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Kellyn Acosta: Chemistry solid in US squad despite new players - ESPN FC

Modern Chemistry release new single ‘Tripping Over You’ – AltWire (press release) (blog)

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In anticipation of their debut LP, New Jersey rockers Modern Chemistry released their second single, Tripping Over You.

The single carries a heavy emotional weight, using slow, sad verses that build into a huge, powerful chorus.

This is one of my favorite songs weve ever made, vocalist/guitarist Joe Zorzi said in a press release. I actually wrote the chorus years ago. I always loved it, but never found the right place for it. I started working on the verses and prechorus of this song and all the sudden, it just fell together perfectly. I think Brendan (Hourican)s guitar work really stands out on this track, with the ambient drones throughout and that huge, spacey chorus lead.

The single comes in anticipation of their upcoming LP,Everything In Gold.Since forming in 2012, Modern Chemistry has self-released three EPs including 2016s Dreaming Adjacent,which was produced by Taking Back Sundays Adam Lazarra.Everything In Goldis also being self-released and will be available July 7. Preorders are available here.

Check out the music video for the first single from the upcoming LP:

Modern Chemistry is Joe Zorzi (Lead vocals/guitar), Brendan Hourican (guitar/backing vocals) and Jesse Slachman (drums/backing vocals). Catch them on tour this summer with Taking Back Sunday and Every Time I Die.

Writer of news and novels, album reviews and artist profiles. A seasoned concert photographer who has lost the ability to attend a concert without bringing a camera.

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Modern Chemistry release new single 'Tripping Over You' - AltWire (press release) (blog)

The chemistry behind fireworks: What makes them so magnificent … – wivb.com

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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) Science is hidden in everything around us. Getting close to the Fourth of July the science staring us all in the face will be fireworks!

Everyone has their favorite Fourth of July tradition, but fireworks usually tops most peoples list.

Claire Benedict, a little girl who loves fireworks told us, I like the finale because its my favorite part.

Her sister Emily Benedict told News 4, I like when the loud fireworks go on!

You hear the oohs and ahhhs and see the bright explosions but have you ever wondered what makes the fireworks so magnificent? Its a combination of science and innovation! Jason Benedict, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Buffalo, told News 4, Its basically this great combination of using high energy chemical reactions to put on a light show.

But how and why do they fly high into the air and what causes the light? Benedict said, Basically what it is, is were mixing together a series of high energy compounds that are going to create explosions. And some of those explosions are what propel your fireworks up into the air and then cause them to separate once they are up there.

The explanation of the colors these explosions exhibit has a different reasoning. He said, Were now using the energy from those reactions to super heat atoms. These hot atoms give off light and those are the colors you see in the firework.

Different elements give off different shades. Strontium, gives rise to a red color. Barium, gives rise to a green color. Copper, creates a blue color and sodium creates an orangish yellow color. Color isnt the only show stopping part to a show. Creating different shapes has become trendy. Benedict said, When I was a kid, at least, we didnt have smiley face fireworks, but this has to do with organizing stars within these shells and they can give rise to these interesting new patterns.

The color combinations and basic chemistry that creates fireworks will not change but that the possibilities are endless when it comes to making new and interesting designs into the future.

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The chemistry behind fireworks: What makes them so magnificent ... - wivb.com

Researchers find out how bromine fits into Venusian chemistry – Astrobiology Magazine (registration)

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This image shows night on Venus in infrared from orbiting Akatsuki. Credit: NASA

Bromine species, and hydrogen bromide (HBr) in particular, could play an important part in the photochemistry of the lower atmosphere of Venus. This conclusion was made by researchers from MIPT and the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences after comparing the data of Earth-based observations of Venus with the predictions of a photochemical model. The paper detailing their study was published in the journal Icarus.

Since the 1960s, numerous space probes have been sent to Venus. Because 17 out of 24 successful missions were launched by the Soviet Union, scientists dubbed it the Russian planet. Back in the middle of the 20th century, sci-fi writers imagined Venus as a habitable planet covered entirely by ocean, expecting that it would welcome future generations of earthlings. But the morning star had many surprises in store for its would-be colonists.

The first Soviet probes that attempted to land on Venus were crushed by immense pressures in the lower atmosphere before they could reach the surface of the planet. Eventually, it became clear that Venus has a unique atmosphere, which is very dense near the surface and harbors terrific winds at higher altitudes. They blow at many times the speed of the planets rotation. Venus generates a great deal of scientific interest by virtue of its being so unusual and largely unexplored. Recent studies like this one further our understanding of the inner workings of this highly complex world.

The temperature of the surface of Venus and its lower atmosphere is extremely high: 460 degrees Celsius at the surface, and atmospheric pressure on Venus is 93 times that on Earth. Under these extreme conditions, rather peculiar compounds are formed and released into Venusian atmosphere, such as hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride. The discovery of these species on Venus half a century ago was unexpected and surprising. That said, it would be reasonable to suppose then that hydrogen bromide the next hydrogen halide could also be found in Venusian atmosphere.

Vladimir Krasnopolsky and Denis Belyaev conducted their observations of Venus from one of the Mauna Kea observatories, which are leading astronomical research facilities based on the Big Island, Hawaii, at an elevation of 4.2 kilometers. The researchers used the 3-meter telescope of NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF), coupled with CSHELL, a high-resolution spectrograph with a spectral resolving power of about 40,000.

To search for hydrogen bromide on Venus, the researchers observed the strongest spectral lines of this molecular species, whose associated wave numbers are 2605.8 and 2606.2 units per centimeter, which corresponds to a wavelength of roughly 3.8 micrometers. By analyzing 101 spectra of Venus and searching for hydrogen bromide lines in them, the astrophysicists came to a conclusion that the abundance of this species relative to other molecules in the cloud tops, at an altitude of 70 kilometers above the planets surface, does not exceed one part per billion.

Retrieval of atmospheric parameters from spectroscopic data is far from trivial, says Vladimir Krasnopolsky, the head of the Laboratory of Applied Infrared Spectroscopy at MIPT. It is possible to infer the temperature of the atmosphere at a given altitude from spectral line profiles and widths. As for the abundance of a given molecule relative to other atmospheric species, it can be determined by comparing the intensity of its spectral line to the intensities of lines of other molecules whose concentrations are known.

In 2012, Krasnopolsky created a photochemical model incorporating numerous components of the atmosphere of Venus. His model has now been updated to include the main photochemical processes involving bromine. According to the updated model, hydrogen bromide is roughly 300 times less abundant at 70-80 kilometers above the surface than at 60 kilometers due to its depletion by photolysis and reactions with atomic hydrogen and oxygen. Reanalysis of the observational data yielded an upper limit of between 20 and 70 parts per billion of hydrogen bromide below 60 kilometers. The relative abundances of various bromine species at different altitudes are shown in the figure below.

Despite the estimated bromine abundance being so low, it could still be an important component of the atmosphere of Venus, says Denis Belyaev, a senior researcher at the Space Research Institute, RAS. Thermodynamic calculations based on the chemical kinetic model of Vladimir Krasnopolsky indicate that hydrogen bromide is the dominant bromine species in the lower atmosphere.

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Researchers find out how bromine fits into Venusian chemistry - Astrobiology Magazine (registration)

Chemistry is the key for Post 151 – Sentinel & Enterprise – Sentinel & Enterprise

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Leominster's Connor Wironen (6) is congratulated by teammates after hitting a home run during Thursday's win over Main South in Worcester. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / ASHLEY GREEN

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

LEOMINSTER -- Year in and year out, the Leominster American Legion Post 151 baseball team is one of the top dogs in Zone 4.

Leominster may not always have the best pound-for-pound talent, but there's something about Post 151 baseball that leads to outstanding team chemistry and success on the diamond.

A group all getting along all summer and working for the same championship goals, that's what Leominster Legion baseball is all about.

"The chemistry has been great since Day 1," Leominster manager Jeff Dedeian said. "We have 12 returning players, which helps, but our leaders are our older kids. They are not here to screw around. They are here to have fun and win. That's a key. Our young guys, as the games have gone on, have been better and better.

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

Historically, Leominster is always near the top of the ultra-tough Zone 4 standings and is considered one of the elite programs in the state.

"There's a long line of history through this Post," Leominster second baseman Brandon Lefebvre said. "It's great to be able to put (the uniform) on every day and come to the ballpark and be part of this long chain of history and adding onto the legacy.

"I think one through 18 can probably play three or four positions and it's good to have that versatility on the entire roster. We have a very deep bullpen with a lot of arms and a lot of fielders who can play anywhere."

Leominster's overall talent, depth and great team chemistry have been on display this summer.

Leominster's lone loss was a 5-2 defeat at Northboro on Wednesday.

"Our mentality is to just come to the ballpark every day and just have a blast," Leominster shortstop Cooper Bigelow said. "I think that's the biggest difference from last year to this year. We're all having fun and want to play baseball and play it well. Everything is falling into place."

It's certainly fun when you're winning.

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

Luckily, Post 151 has the horses on the mound to compete in each and every game.

The mound mastery has been orchestrated by Lucas Amico (2-0, 0.00 ERA), Connor Palma (4-0, 1.68 ERA), David Neuhaus (2-0, 3.68 ERA), Richie Sharp (3-0, 0.47 ERA) and Tyler Brandt (2-1, 2.75 ERA).

"Each guy has a shutout," said Dedeian, whose team ERA was a mind-boggling 1.67 headed into the weekend.

When these pitchers serve up a pitch down the heart of the plate, you can bet someone in the field is going all out to try to register the out. Leominster's defense behind the plate, in the infield and in the outfield has been exceptional.

"It's good to know they can miss spots and we'll field the ball behind them," Lefebvre said.

Sentinel and Enterprise staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

According to Dedeian, the deadly double-play combination of Bigelow and Lefebvre in the middle has been the true key to success on defense.

"They make all the plays, Cooper and Lefebvre," Dedeian said. "Twelve games in and Cooper hasn't made an error and B made two errors in the first game and he's been phenomenal since. Parker (Bigelow), when he's at third, has been huge for us. And our outfield has been good."

The chemistry in the middle has been developing for many years now, says Cooper Bigelow.

"We've been playing together since we were in the first year of Babe Ruth," he said. "Last year helped our chemistry and we kind of know what each other is going to do when the time comes."

Another bright spot has been the beastly hitting of St. Bernard's star Connor Wironen (2 HRs, 8 RBIs .310 BA). The smooth-swinging lefty hitter never gets cheated when he digs into the batters box and has had the knack of driving the ball out of the ballpark.

"Wironen's bat has been great," Dedeian said. "He's been a great addition. He brings a bit of energy to us."

Leominster was hitting a robust .314 as a team, while Lefebvre is putting together a monster summer with a .452 batting average and a team-high 19 RBIs.He also has six doubles, one triple and one dinger.

Cooper Bigelow is hitting .308 with a team-high 24 runs scored. Leominster outfielder Matt Baron has knocked in 10 runs and is hitting .297, while Sharp is hitting an impressive .462 with 9 RBIs. Catcher Rocco Pandiscio checks in with a .353 average, and Andrew Harrington is at .500 with 10 hits in 20 at-bats.

When you wear the orange and blue of Post 151, you are expected to act and play a certain way. It's called the right way to play baseball in Leominster.

"You have to carry yourself like you would at any place," Cooper Bigelow said. "Carry yourself with the mentality that you want to be the best, but also show people that we have class. Coach treats us all the same. If you don't run out of the box, he will sit you. That's how it is. You have to bust your butt all day long."

Everyone is expected to work hard and play hard. Everyone.

"Some people have shown up in different spots when we've needed them and picked someone up," Lefebvre said. "They come in and get the job done. It's great to have that in the lineup."

Added Dedeian: "We've got guys filling in voids and playing. We can only get better, if they want to get better."

Of course Leominster wants to get better. The players want to be the best team out there.

With this type of team chemistry, anything is possible for Post 151. Perhaps another appearance in the prestigious Elite 8 state tournament is attainable?

"It's definitely a goal and it's in our heads, but we're taking every game one step at a time, every pitch at a time and every single inning," Cooper Bigelow said.

Follow Chad Garner on Twitter @CGARNER23.

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Chemistry is the key for Post 151 - Sentinel & Enterprise - Sentinel & Enterprise

KB Home, China Petroleum & Chemical, SunPower, Tesco and Mitek Systems highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day – Yahoo Finance

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL March 5, 2020 Zacks Equity Research Shares of KB Home KBH as the Bull of the Day, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation SNP asthe Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on SunPower Corporation SPWR, Tesco PLC TSCDY and Mitek Systems, Inc. MITK.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

In case you havent noticed, interest rates are low. Very low. Historical lows, in fact. That makes buying a house a very attractive proposition. You can now guess what industry my Bull of the Day today is going to be in. This Bull of the Day is also a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). That means over the last few months, analysts all over Wall St. have been increasing their earnings estimates. That bullish behavior could be a sign of good things to come.

Im talking about Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) KB Home. KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. The company builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. It also offers financial services, such as insurance products and title services. It has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington.

The reason for the favorable Zack Rank lies in the series of estimate revisions coming in to the upside recently. Over the last 60 days, six analysts have increased their estimates for the current year, while two have followed suit for next year. The bullish sentiment has pushed up the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year from $3.46 to $3.70 while next years number is up from $3.81 to $4.04.

Whats more impressive is the EPS growth. Current year EPS growth is slated to come in at 29.82% year-over-year. Next years EPS growth is 9.19%. Thats coming on revenue growth of 14.35% this year and 6.96% next year.

Bear of the Day:

If you were going to put together two areas of the market which are complete duds, I bet that China and oil would be on that list. Oil prices have been in free fall since topping out over $64 at the start of the year, tumbling down to $47 during Wednesdays trade. Then, theres China. Not only have they taken a hit due to the trade war, but now they are taking a punch because of the coronavirus. Mix these two terrible parts of the market together and you get a stock or two that you should probably avoid. One of these stocks is todays Bear of the Day.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, an energy and chemical company, engages in oil and gas, and chemical operations in the People's Republic of China. It operates through five segments: Exploration and Production, Refining, Marketing and Distribution, Chemicals, and Corporate and Others. The company explores for and develops oil fields; produces crude oil and natural gas; processes and purifies crude oil; and manufactures and sells petroleum products.

China Petrol is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). The reason for the negative Zacks Rank is the series of earnings estimates coming in to the down side. Analysts have cut their earnings estimates for the current year and next year recently. Over the last sixty days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has come down from $6.92 to $6.75 while next years number is off from $6.75 down to $5.53. Given horrendous China PMI numbers, I expect these numbers will continue to get worse.

The Oil and Gas Integrated Emerging Markets industry ranks in the Bottom 24% of our Zacks Industry Rank. That doesnt bode well for the industry as a whole, however, there are two stocks within the industry which have favorable Zacks Ranks.

Additional content:

3 Stocks Under $10 to Buy as Coronavirus Fears Linger

The Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all quickly plummeted into a correction last week as the coronavirus spreads outside of China. Apple, Microsoft and others have all lowered their guidance based on negative impacts in both supply and demand in the worlds second-largest economy.

The novel coronavirus has continued to spread around the world and more cases are popping up in the U.S. Yet the market surged on Monday and popped again Wednesday, after Joe Bidens strong performance in Super Tuesday primaries.

Story continues

Plus, the Fed announced Tuesday that it cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point, to between 1% and 1.25%. The move is aimed to help provide a boost to the U.S. economy amid coronavirus worries. Plus, the 10-year U.S. Treasury note had already slipped to all-time lows below 1.0% and currently rests at 0.96%.

Clearly, market uncertainty will remain, and stocks are likely to stay somewhat volatile until there is some end in sight to the coronavirus and more companies update their outlooks.

With that said, investors should still be on the lookout for stocks to buy, or least add to their watchlists with interest rates so low and stocks down big from their recent highs.

Today, we are focusing on cheap stocks trading under $10 per share. Stocks trading under $10 can be more volatile than their pricier peers, but investors can still grab solid returns with the right low-priced stocks. So, lets dive into 3 that we found today

SunPower Corporation

Prior Close: $8.91 USD

SunPower designs, manufactures, and sells solar panels and systems to everyone from homeowners to businesses and utility customers. The San Jose, California-headquartered firm crushed our Q4 earnings estimates last month, with fiscal 2019 sales up 8%. SPWR also announced a proposed spin-off of Maxeon Solar and completed a successful capital raise and partial convertible bond retirement to further strengthen our balance sheet.

SPWR shares went on a tear last year, climbing from $7 a share in March to over $14 by July. The stock then fell, but it is up 26% in the last three months. Looking ahead, our Zacks estimates call for SunPowers fiscal 2020 sales to surge 13%, with 2021 projected to climb another 15% higher to $2.58 billion. Meanwhile, SunPowers adjusted 2020 earnings are projected to climb from a loss of -$0.29 a share to +$0.04 a share. Then its 2021 EPS figure is set to skyrocket over 800% to $0.37 a share.

SunPower is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) that sports an A grade for Momentum in our Style Scores system. The stock is also part of a highly ranked Zacks industry that includes Enphase Energy and SolarEdge. And Wall Street has been behind renewable energy stocks recently, including Tesla.

More broadly, the traditional oil and gas-heavy Energy space was theworst-performingsector of the S&P 500 over the last decade. And the U.S. Energy Information Administrationforecaststhat generation from non-hydropower renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, will grow by 15% in 2020.

Tesco PLC

Prior Close: $8.94 USD

Tesco is a UK multinational grocery and retail powerhouse. In November, Tesco became the first major British supermarket chain to offer a subscription customer loyalty program. Tescos Clubcard Plus is designed to help it fight off discount retail encroachment and management has been pleased with its early results. And the supermarket giant isclosing in on a dealto sell its stores in Asia for roughly $10 billion.

Shares of Tesco are up 9% in the last six months to easily top its industrys 8% decline. This run is part of a 33% climb over the past three years. TSCDY has also consistently traded at a discount compared to its industry over the last two years. And the companys 2.28% dividend yield tops U.S. giants Kroger, Walmart and Costco.

Tescos positive earnings estimate revision activity helps it hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) right now. TSCDY also holds an A grade for Value and a B for Growth to help it earn an overall A VGM grade. Looking ahead, the companys adjusted fiscal year e
arnings are projected to jump over 27% to $0.70 a share on the back of 13.5% sales growth.

Mitek Systems, Inc.

Prior Close: $8.64 USD

Mitek Systems utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to help financial institutions and other enterprises verify a users identity during digital transactions. Miteks solutions are embedded into the apps of over 6,500 organizations and used by more than 80 million consumers to perform tasks such as mobile check deposit. Mitek, topped our Q1 FY20 estimates at the end of January, driven by double-digit growth in mobile deposit and identity verification products.

Since the report, Miteks fiscal 2020 and 2021 earnings revisions have climbed to help it earn a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). MITK also sports an A grade for Growth and it has crushed our bottom-line estimates in the trailing four quarters by a 32% average. Mitek shares have surged 22% in the last three months and 180% in the last five years from under $4 a share to its current price point. And the stock still has plenty of room to run before it hits its 52-week highs of $13 a share.

Peeking ahead, the San Diego-based companys adjusted 2020 earnings are projected to surge 21.4% to $0.51 per share on 18.3% higher revenues. Then the companys sales and earnings are both expected to climb another 15% higher in 2021. And the mobile capture and digital identity verification firm could be poised to grow for years to come in our online and mobile-heavy economy.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumedthat any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein andis subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportChina Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SNP) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSunPower Corporation (SPWR) : Free Stock Analysis ReportKB Home (KBH) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTesco PLC (TSCDY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMitek Systems, Inc. (MITK) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.

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KB Home, China Petroleum & Chemical, SunPower, Tesco and Mitek Systems highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day - Yahoo Finance

Texas A&M chemistry professor recognized by American Chemical Society – Bryan-College Station Eagle

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Donald J. Darensbourg, distinguished professor of chemistry at Texas A&M University, is one of 65 named as 2017 fellows of the American Chemical Society.

The honor was created to recognize "outstanding achievements in chemistry and contributions to science, the profession and the society," officials said.

Darensbourg, who joined the university in 1982, is now the 14th member of the university's department of chemistry to be recognized as fellows of the society.

"I am delighted that Don has been recognized by the American Chemical Society for his important scientific and service contributions to the field," said Simon W. North, professor and head of the A&M Department of Chemistry in a statement. "This honor in consistent with his dedication to teaching and service, and the exceptional quality of his scholarly work."

Darensbourg and his peers will be honored Aug. 21 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

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Texas A&M chemistry professor recognized by American Chemical Society - Bryan-College Station Eagle

Chemistry improving as Dynamo begin second half of season – Chron.com

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Photo: Tim Warner/For The Chronicle

As the second half of the regular season begins Saturday with a game at Colorado, A.J. DeLaGarza (20) and the Dynamo are in a much better spot than they were when the season began.

As the second half of the regular season begins Saturday with a game at Colorado, A.J. DeLaGarza (20) and the Dynamo are in a much better spot than they were when the season began.

Chemistry improving as Dynamo begin second half of season

A.J. DeLaGarza came to the Dynamo with eight years of pro experience and three MLS Cup titles. He had played for ultra-successful coach Bruce Arena and with league legends David Beckham and Landon Donovan.

If any of the Dynamo's new players had a chance to start fast under first-year coach Wilmer Cabrera it was him. Unfortunately for DeLaGarza, it wasn't that easy.

The right back never had played in a 4-3-3 formation.

"This was a new system for a lot of people," DeLaGarza said this week. "Just knowing where my support and my cover is, is all different."

As the second half of the regular season begins Saturday with a game at Colorado, DeLaGarza and the Dynamo are in a much better spot than they were when the season began.

(Story continues below ... )

A last-place finish in 2016 forced a roster overhaul in the off-season. New players came from Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay, Los Angeles, Seattle, Rio Grande Valley FC, and the NCAA. They all were tasked with the challenge of meshing together in Cabrera's system.

It has taken six months, but Cabrera said the progress has been impressive.

"They are more bound to each other," he said. "They are more comfortable with each other. That is something you can feel every day when we practice."

Despite the newness, the team won early and often. Using an all-out attack that put pressure on opponents all over the field during home games, the Dynamo (7-6-4) sprinted to three wins in their first four games.

As they prepare to play their 18th of 34 regular season games, they remain undefeated at home and are tied for second place in the Western Conference.

Their road woes have been a big story. With a record of 0-6-2, they're still looking for their first win away from BBVA Compass Stadium. Recent road performances have been better, and had a linesman correctly raised his flag for offside in the dying moments of the road game against the LA Galaxy, they would not be winless on the road.

The improved performances prove to them they finally are ready to break through.

"It has been little steps, but consistent steps to improve, to adjust to each other as a team," Cabrera said. "(We have had) good mentality. The mentality has been getting stronger and stronger."

The consistent mentality has allowed the players to remain calm and positive during the low points. Despite their lacking number of road points, they're still in great position to challenge for one of the West's top two seeds.

DeLaGarza said that is significant because the team still believes it has a lot of improving to do compared to other teams whose players have been together longer than six months.

"We know quality is going to come," DeLaGarza said. "We are 17 games into playing with one another. It takes years of time together. Trying to put something together doesn't come overnight, so we are halfway through the season and we have to start ramping it up a little more."

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Chemistry improving as Dynamo begin second half of season - Chron.com

My Chemical Romance brings reunion tour to Oakland, Sacramento – East Bay Times

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The members of My Chemical Romance, the emo band whose T-shirts have never gone out of style with shoppers at Hot Topic, are reuniting for a big 2020 tour.

And the tour coming to the Bay Area.

My Chemical Romance is set to perform Oct. 6 at Oakland Arena.

Tickets go on sale Jan. 31. See http://www.mychemicalromance.com/tour for details.

Its the bands first U.S. tour in nine years.

The tour announcement was made in a 13-plus-minute creepy, horror movie-style video dubbed A summoning And, yes, that seems entirely fitting for this band.

Watch the video here:

The band is also set to perform at Sacramentos huge Aftershock Festival, which runs Oct. 9-11. My Chemical Romance headlines the festival on Oct. 10, while oh, yeah! Metallica headlines on both Oct. 9 and 11.

Read more about Aftershock festival here.

Billboard lists the tour dates as:

Sept. 9: Detroit, Mich. Little Caesars Arena

Sept. 11: St. Paul, Minn. Xcel Energy Center

Sept. 12: Chicago, Ill. Riot Fest

Sept. 14: Toronto, Ontario Scotiabank Arena

Sept. 15: Boston, Mass. TD Garden

Sept. 17: Brooklyn, N.Y. Barclays Center

Sept. 18: Philadelphia, Penn. Wells Fargo Center

Sept. 20: Atlanta, Ga. Music Midtown

Sept. 22: Newark, N.J. Prudential Center

Sept. 26: Sunrise, Fla. BB&T Center

Sept. 29: Houston, Tex. Toyota Center

Sept. 30: Dallas, Tex. American Airlines Center

Oct. 2: Denver, Col. Pepsi Center

Oct. 4: Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Dome

Oct. 6: Oakland, Cali. Oakland Arena

Oct. 8: Los Angeles, Cali. The Forum

Oct. 10: Sacramento, Cali. Aftershock Festival

Oct. 11: Las Vegas, Nev. T-Mobile Arena

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My Chemical Romance brings reunion tour to Oakland, Sacramento - East Bay Times

Extensive Chemical Safety Fraud Uncovered at German Testing Laboratory – Earth Island Journal

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Revelations have major implications for animal rights as well as public and environmental health.

Jonathan Latham

February 17, 2020

The case of an animal rights activist who infiltrated an independent German chemical testing laboratory has triggered the discovery of an apparently extensive chemical testing fraud.

LPT Hamburg, with around 175 employees, is one of the largest contract laboratories in Germany. It is a family owned private company. It prepares regulatory studies on behalf of the pharmaceutical and pesticide industries and has three locations: Mienenbttel in Lower Saxony, Neugraben in Hamburg and Wankendorf in Schleswig-Holstein.

An initial case of fraud was reported in 2019 by the German magazine FAKT, which worked with the animal rights organisations Cruelty Free International and SOKO-Tierschutz to expose the findings of the undercover employee. The disturbing irregularities they discovered included the death and replacement of animals without this being reported to authorities.

This distressing video from FAKT summarises the findings and was filmed at LPT.

But since the initial investigation by FAKT five former employees of LPT Hamburg have come forward with new information.

In interviews broadcast by FAKT in November of 2019, one employee told the magazine of testing fraud:

I not only experienced it, I did it myself. I forged documents; our studies. If the results did not meet expectations, I was asked to improve them. The data that did not fit in were marked so that I could enter it on the blank protocol the new values that were given to me. The new report was also marked with the old date and my signature

A second employee who came forward told FAKT:

These animals, especially in the high-dose group, actually had completely open skin - so it was the raw meat that was visible, miserable really miserable. [...] In fact, one animal died in the high-dose group and was replaced by another animal. Here, too, the tattoo number, which is in the chest area of the animal, was cut out of the dead animal and added to the organs of the replaced animal after the end of the study. So that it looks as if this animal had not died at all.

A third told FAKT that they had observed repeated falsification of studies and that they later reported this to the German authorities:

So, a few months after I left LPT, I contacted the responsible authorities here. And had an appointment. And in this appointment we discussed the LPT issue together. It was also about manipulation of data and of course about the fact that studies were so strongly influenced that it was not compatible with my conscience.

However, the employee never heard from the authority again.

These revelations have major implications for public and environmental health. They undermine the idea that testing by commercial laboratories is independent of the chemical industry, thereby challenging the validity of the entire system of toxicological evaluation of chemicals like pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These allegations echo previous cases of chemical testing fraud, such as the IBT scandal of the late 1970s, including the more recent realization that this fraud was covered up by the overseeing government agencies, such as the US EPA.

A further implication, according to a new report on the LPT case carried out by PAN Germany, Corporate Europe Observatory and Global 2000 of Austria, is that many of the studies supporting the EUs reapproval of glyphosate came from LPT.

According to the EUs reassessment of glyphosate, all industry-derived studies on genotoxicity concluded that glyphosate was safe, or nearly so. On the other hand, the majority of peer-reviewed studies concluded it was not. In its reauthorization process the EU agency which evaluated glyphosate concluded that the industry studies submitted were reliable and the peer-reviewed studies were not reliable. This designation cleared the way for reauthorization. At least 21 studies submitted by Monsanto supporting glyphosates reauthorization came from LPT.

The primary given reason why peer reviewed studies are deemed inadmissible by regulators is that they do not have the technical certification known as Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). GLP follows OECD guidelines which were adopted by the EU in 2004.

GLP has long been criticized as failing to guarantee high quality research (Elliott et al. 2016, Myers et al. 2009, Wagner and Michaels 2004). It has always been defended, however, on the basis that it prevented exactly this kind of fraud.

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Extensive Chemical Safety Fraud Uncovered at German Testing Laboratory - Earth Island Journal