Daily Archives: August 18, 2017

Native St. Louisan Jonathan Losos is a Harvard University biology professor and director of Losos Laboratory at the university. He recently wrote the book Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance and the Future of Evolution.

The book follows researchers across the world who are using experimental evolutionary science to learn more about our role in the natural world.

On Thursdays St. Louis on the Air, Losos joined host Don Marsh to discuss the science behind evolution and whats changing in todays world.

The scientific evidence that evolution has occurred is overwhelming, Losos said. We have ample evidence in the fossil record that documents one species changing to another. We can see that evolution happening today, before our eyes, and we can do experiments on evolution and see it occur.

On the day-to-day, Losos said scientists are able to see environmental pressures that spur natural selection and evolution, giving the example of antibiotic-resistant microbes. In humans, its not so palpable.

One could argue humans arent evolving so much anymore, Losos said. The reason for that is that for evolution by natural selection to occur, individuals with particular genetic variants must leave more offspring in the next generation. For example, if individuals with blue eyes produce more offspring, that would lead to evolution. But the way our culture has come to be, the link between physical characteristic and reproductive success is weak. Human evolution isnt happening so much anymore.

Listen to the full discussion about evolution and how it impacts the world we live in today here:

Harvard biologist Jonathan Losos discusses evolutionary biology and what it means in today's world with St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh.

Related Event

What: St. Louis County Library Presents Jonathan Losos When: Thursday, August 17 at 7:00 p.m. Where: St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis MO. 63131 More information.

St. Louis on the Airbrings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air hostDon Marshand producersMary Edwards,Alex HeuerandKelly Moffittgive you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

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Harvard biologist, St. Louisan Jonathan Losos discusses evolution we see in the world today - St. Louis Public Radio

Vegas lawyers confidents laws will follow pot evolution Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Just over two years after filling out tens of thousands of sheets of paperwork for their medical marijuana licenses, Nevada weed entrepreneurs didn't have it as bad this time around, according to lawyers in the new recreational industry. While first ... and more »

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Vegas lawyers confidents laws will follow pot evolution - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Gone are the days of pro wrestling's biggest boom in the late 1990s when WWE, long the standard bearer in sports entertainment, faced legitimate opposition from rival WCW.

Westling has steadily evolved since those days and is currently in the midst of an entirely new renaissance of sorts. While WWE isn't in direct competition with one promotion from a financial standpoint, the quality of wrestling outside the walls of WWE is as critically strong as it has ever been in terms athleticism and performance.

It would seem one can look no further than New Japan Pro-Wrestling and its incredible month-long G1 Climax tournament (which wrapped last weekend with arguably its best showing in history) for WWE's best competitor from a critical standpoint. NJPW's hard-hitting and realistic style has rapidly gained fans in America, helped by July's "G1 Special in USA" card in Long Beach, California, the first independently promoted NJPW card in the United States.

But WWE executive and 14-time world champion Paul "Triple H" Levesque sings a much different tune. Appearing as a guest this week on CBS Sports' "In This Corner Podcast," Levesque had a much different idea about which competitor WWE's main roster needs to pay the most attention to.

"When you say, 'What's the No. 2 promotion?' and 'WWE doesn't have a promotion knocking on its door and pushing them,' Raw and SmackDown do," Levesque said. "Raw and SmackDown have a promotion right on their tail pushing them to do more. That promotion is going to run a show on Saturday night at the Barclays Center, and it's called NXT."

Levesque, 48, who has served as a patriarch for WWE's developmental third brand, was referring to Saturday's NXT TakeOver III card from Brooklyn, New York, one day before SummerSlam invades the Barclays Center for the third straight year.

"[NXT] is going to set a bar, and the main roster is going to have to step up to that bar. And trust me, those are all people that are coming from NXT, and now the kids here are pushing them to do the same thing that they pushed the people in front of them to do," he continued.

To illustrate his point, Levesque referenced a story from 2015 when Sasha Banks and Bayley put on a match-of-the-year contender during the first NXT TakeOver in Brooklyn and Seth Rollins, just 24 hours before his SummerSlam match with John Cena, watched from the front row.

"[Rollins] came backstage and said he had dust in his eyes -- and it wasn't dust, it was tears," Levesque said. "He looked at me and said, 'I'm going to be up all night trying to think how I surpass that. Oh my God. Like, I was totally relaxed about tomorrow and now I'm not going to sleep all night because I'm the main event on the main roster of SummerSlam and I've got to beat that.'

"If that's not the ultimate compliment of what takes place at NXT, I don't know what is. And if you're looking for the promotion that pushes WWE, it's NXT."

While Levesque's stance regarding NXT is understandable, it's easy to see the influence NJPW's rapidly growing success in recent years has had on the entire business. WWE has certainly taken notice and has made headlines by acquiring top NJPW stars like Finn Balor, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

Still, Levesque wouldn't go as far as saying that the success of NJPW or any other promotion has challenged or forced WWE's hand when it comes to adapting in any way.

"I don't think anyone forces anyone to make adjustments, I think it's just that the world changes," Levesque said. "What people will accept changes? What people will like changes?

"People's styles that I bring in, I'm not trying to change these performers, I'm trying to give them a platform and then take them on that platform and make the biggest, global star you can make. Whether that goes on to NXT and then on to SmackDown or Raw, whatever that is. A lot of these kids, I want them to be headlining WrestleMania."

When asked whether matches like the stiff and MMA-inspired NXT bout from two weeks between Aleister Black and NJPW alumni Kyle O'Reilly were specific examples of WWE actively adopting Japan's "strong style" and making it their own, Levesque saw it differently. It's not the influence of any competing promotion as much as its the influence of specific performers WWE has been able to acquire.

"I think in anything, the way games are played, it's the way talent change the game [by] the way they play it," Levesque said. "Because Kyle O'Reilly brings a different style, that's not a style he brought in from a promotion. That's Kyle. Aleister Black brings in a style from someplace else. That's not a promotional style, that's him. Even Nakamura, you can say 'strong style,' but to be quite honest, is there anything like Nakamura? Is there anyone else doing what Nakamura is going? No, it's Nakamura.

"I can look at 20 other people in that same organization or in many of those places and think, 'I really don't care about them.' It's not because they are not great it's just they don't bring that game to the table. Nakamura does, Kyle does, Aleister does, Drew McIntyre does. And the game changes based around the players. No different than in the 90s -- [Steve] Austin, myself, [The] Rock, [Under]taker, Shawn Michaels. All those players changed the game and changed what the style was."

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Triple H dishes on WWE's main competitor, whether NJPW has forced an evolution - CBSSports.com

TVAndMovies

I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of, Nathalie Emmanuel told BuzzFeed News. (Warning: Spoilers all over the damn place.)

Posted on August 17, 2017, 20:23 GMT

Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) in Season 7 of Game of Thrones.

Nathalie Emmanuel was a fan of Game of Thrones long before she joined the cast in Season 3 as Missandei, a trusted adviser to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). As fate would have it, after two seasons of faithfully watching the HBO series along with other fans, she saw the listing for a nonwhite actress, playing age 18 to 24, and immediately jumped at the chance.

I phoned my agent and she was like, Ive already got you an audition, Emmanuel told BuzzFeed News. The actor knew little about her characters arc besides the fact that she would appear in a few episodes in Season 3 of the HBO original series, with the possibility but no guarantee of returning in future seasons. Emmanuel was also drawn to the role because of Missandeis relationship with Daenerys, also known as Daenerys Stormborn, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons, and Breaker of Chains, among other names.

When I first had the audition, they just gave us one scene to prepare, so I didnt know much about Missandei. But what I did know was shed been through a lot and was a very strong individual, Emmanuel said.

When viewers first meet Missandei in the first episode of Season 3, she was a slave to Kraznys mo Nakloz (Dan Hildebrand) in Astapor. Kraznys is a slave trader and a Good Master someone who rules over the three cities that make up the appropriately named Slavers Bay. We learn later that she was born on the island of Naath in the Summer Sea, and was removed from her home at a young age before she began her life of servitude. Fluent in 19 languages, Missandei acted as an interpreter between Kraznys and Daenerys when Daenerys visited Astapor. While the slave master was rude and condescending to Daenerys, Missandei diplomatically as Emmanuel described it translated his words so as to not offend Khaleesi.

After reaching an agreement to trade one of Daeneryss dragons for his 8,000 Unsullied soldiers and Missandei, the Queen of Dragons spoke to Kraznys in his own language of Low Valyrian and revealed that she understood his insults the whole time Missandei was translating for him. She then orders the Unsullied to attack the Good Masters and kill all of the slave owners and their soldiers. Daenerys and the Unsullied leave Astapor, and Missandei joins her new queen on a journey to reign over Westeros. After freely serving Daenerys and assisting her with handmaiden-like tasks, Missandei eventually earns her place as one of Daeneryss trusted advisers.

Shes gone from enslaved object and a piece of property to this free-thinking, free-feeling person with emotions, opinions, and authority. And in a way, assertiveness."

Emmanuel thinks of Missandeis current role as a significant shift and major achievement, considering where she started. Aside from being Daeneryss adviser, shes a member of her small council, the most trusted people within the queens inner circle.

Shes gone from enslaved object and a piece of property to this free-thinking, free-feeling person with emotions, opinions, and authority. And in a way, assertiveness, Emmanuel said.

Missandei and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) have a brief moment alone in Season 7.

Missandei and Daeneryss friendship has become one of the hallmark relationships on the show. She spends most of her days with Daenerys the two powerful women existing in a world dominated by men.

Missandei had seen this woman free people and show her incredible humanity to people. Missandei believed in her and wanted to support her, Emmanuel said. But then in return, Daenerys has this person who knows this world and understands these people, and she obviously seeks her advisement and her expertise on it. As a result, theyve got this pretty great team.

Missandei and Daenerys's relationship extend beyond the politics of Westeros its deeply personal. In Season 7, Episode 4, The Spoils of War, Missandei had a moment alone with Daenerys and asked if she'd heard from the Unsullied after they were ordered to storm Casterly Rock. Daenerys picked up on Missandeis sense of urgency about Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson), an Unsullied soldier Missandei has developed a strong affection for. In fact, the two had a romantic encounter before Grey Worm left for Casterly Rock. When asked by Daenerys what happened between them, Missandei coyly replied, Many things. Daenerys replies, Many things? and the two smirk at each other, leaving the obvious unsaid.

Its not uncommon on Game of Thrones for advisers to develop strong bonds with the kings and queens they serve, but Missandei and Daeneryss relationship is still a unique one; the two can go from discussing war policy to matters of the heart, according to Emmanuel.

The story is mostly about this war and this journey that were on with these characters, and so I think these very real moments between Missandei and Daenerys are lovely to see because it reminds us that theyre really just human beings, she said. They all have crushes, and its an aside from the official business.

Their characters' friendship on the show reflects a genuine relationship in real life, according to Emmanuel. The cast members have built an authentic bond off set and hang out outside of work, which often results in chatting and drinking tea. Bless her heart, she works so hard, Emmanuel said of her Emilia Clarke. Shes up and puts in work a long time before I am even waking up.

Missandei and Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) kiss in Season 7.

Missandeis relationship with Grey Worm who is also a part of Daeneryss small council is another window into her characters evolution. Grey Worm, like Missandei, has been loyal to Daenerys since her usurping of Astapor, and has risen through the ranks to become the leader of the Unsullied forces. The pairs relationship is based on their mutual understanding of where they both come from and what theyve survived, from enslavement and abuse to gaining freedom and power.

They found themselves in the middle of this new world, and theyve almost helped each other through it, Emmanuel said.

The feelings between Grey Worm and Missandei came to a head in Season 7, Episode 2, titled Stormborn. When Daenerys sent the Unsullied soldiers to overtake Casterly Rock and fight the Lannisters, Grey Worm was forced to leave Missandei behind in Dragonstone where she and Daenerys awaited Jon Snows arrival and plotted their next moves toward Westeros. In a vulnerable moment, before Grey Worm left, the two are physically intimate.

From what I imagine about Missandeis sexual experiences as a woman and a slave, they would not have been consensual or what she wanted, she said. So, this is her first time being touched and embraced by a man who cared about her, who loved her, and who she felt the same way about.

After it appeared in the July 23 episode of Game of Thrones, Missandei and Grey Worms sex scene was at the center of the conversation around the show. It was well-received by critics and was considered a big deal. Emmanuel thinks a lot of people reacted so positively to Missandei and Grey Worms sex scene because viewers have watched their relationship build for a long time. Often, a lot of the sex scenes are about gratification, stealing moments with each other, and with certain people it happens in the brothels or its been rape, Emmanuel explained. Thats been very brutal. The only exception Emmanuel could think of is Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and Ygrittes (Rose Leslie) cave moment in Season 3, which, like Missandei and Grey Worm, involved trust and consent.

As a member of the Unsullied, Grey Worm was castrated, leaving him especially vulnerable with Missandei. That factor alone made this moment incredibly important to him. She wasnt concerned with what was there or what wasnt there, essentially. She was like, I love this man, I want to see him in his entirety, and love him just as he is, Emmanuel explained.

She knows where he comes from, she knows what happened to him, she said.

Missandei and Daenerys when they first meet in Season 3.

There arent many actors of color who appear on Game of Thrones in significant roles, and the HBO show has received backlash for its predominantly white cast and lack of diversity. Daenerys has even been at the center of this criticism, with people calling her a white savior for emancipating slaves and helping people of color. In Season 3, Episode 10, there was an especially controversial image of Khaleesi being lifted up in a large crowd of Yunkai people who were worshipping the woman who liberated them. The shot shows Daenerys (white, blonde, and wearing a light blue dress) lying on top of a sea of nonwhite people, repeating the word mysah (mother) over and over again in gratitude.

Emmanuel thinks her role as a woman of color on GoT is crucial and she's grateful that the writers on the show gave Missandei an interesting and important storyline. When it comes to diversity on television overall, however, the actor believes there are still many strides to be made in the name of progress. Hopefully in the future when we have shows on this kind of level, we can see more and more characters of diversity and actors from different backgrounds being included, she said. Im hopeful for that, and am willing to work and push toward that.

"Hopefully in the future when we have shows on this kind of level, we can see more and more characters of diversity."

While she personally will always want to discuss representation on television and film, Emmanuel believes its a conversation everyone needs to have.

I feel like its a question thats often posed to people of color and actually the conversation is for everybody the people who are making shows, writing, and casting on every level, she said. Maybe one day Ill be in those rooms and making my own things and I can influence that more myself. Its a conversation that I enjoy having and will always have, but I do think that its a conversation that needs to be had with everybody at every level.

As far as Missandeis experience as a person of color with power in Westeros, Emmanuel thinks you can relate that back to real life.

Missandei is very aware that shes in new territory with new people and probably people that are racially different from her, she said. That can often be a huge shock to your system when youve been growing up in one place with people who look like you, and then all of a sudden youre thrown into this world where youre one of a few. And then especially also being a woman, theres no doubt shes felt a little trepidation about that.

Despite the fact that shes an outsider in the predominantly white and fictional land of Westeros, Emmanuel thinks her character still holds her her own agency and power.

In Season 7, Episode 4, when Jon Snow and Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) were visiting Dragonstone at Daeneryss invitation, the men asked Missandei why she still serves Daenerys even though shes freed from slavery and servitude. Missandei replied that shes free to serve who she wants, and that she genuinely believes in Khaleesi. Jon Snow then asked what would theoretically happen if Missandei wanted to return to her home, to which she said, Then she would give me a ship and wish me good fortune. Missandeis power lies in her own choice to stay loyal to Daenerys, and whatever role she is given if Daenerys does become queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

They believe in this woman and this queen based on her actions not based on anything else, Emmanuel said. Thats the world that I want to live in one day, one thats based purely on your actions and who you are, not based on your gender, race, sexual orientation, or gender identification, and its about what you are as a person who you are as a person.

With Season 7 drawing to a close on Aug. 27 and only one final season to follow thereafter, viewers anxiously watch each week to see what will happen to the people of Westeros. Emmanuel is one of the millions of people watching GoT on Sundays, and like the shows fans, shes watching these episodes for the very first time.

Weve read scripts a year ago and maybe have an idea of whats happening. I know my own storyline, but even with that, it was such a long time ago, she said. Its hard to know how its going to unveil on screen. And no matter what you think it might look like or feel like to watch it, it exceeds all of your expectations, ever.

Missandeis fate, much like everyone else's on Game of Thrones, is currently unknown. Emmanuel said she isnt sure whats in store for her character, but that shes happy to be a part of Season 8.

"I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of."

She is smart. I feel like when things get more dangerous, itll be a chance for Missandei to show what shes really made of, Emmanuel said. Shes got the bravery to get to this point, so maybe well see a bit more of that bravery.

As for the prospect of Missandei enduring a less positive outcome, Emmanuel said shes made her peace with that being an option for her character. After seven seasons fans of Game of Thrones are aware that death is always a possibility, especially as the plot thickens and tensions rise between the Lannisters, Starks, Daenerys Targaryen, and the White Walkers. If Missandei does die in the midst of the impending action, Emmanuel said she wants people to feel a lot of things.

I want her death to be an epic moment that people remember.

Krystie Yandoli is an entertainment editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

Contact Krystie Lee Yandoli at krystie.yandoli@buzzfeed.com.

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The Evolution Of Missandei As One Of The Most Important Game Of Thrones Characters - BuzzFeed News

Thursday's meeting of the Boulder Planning Board was a big moment for the future of the city's east edge.

Before the board were proposals for two separate developments along east Arapahoe Avenue, which together would bring 566 rental housing units to the evolving corridor.

The first proposal a plan to redevelop the Eastpointe Apartments at 1550 Eisenhower Drive won the board's approval, in a 5-1 vote that will be final barring an intervention and subsequent reversal by the City Council.

Should that decision stand, the existing Eastpointe complex, which features 140 relatively inexpensive units in aging buildings, will be razed. The 7-acre site will be redeveloped with 226 units with rents, developer Aimco said, that will range from about $1,500 for studios to "the high $3,000s" for three-bedroom units.

High as those figures might be, the immense wealth in the Boulder area means that, according to calculations of area median incomes, Eastpointe's units would qualify as "middle-income."

The future Eastpointe is set to have a 254-space underground parking garage, plus ample bike parking.

Following the Eastpointe vote was a hearing on the concept plan for a development proposal at what's become known at the Waterview site a location that's proven vexing to developers who've tried and failed to build there in recent years.

At Waterview, across 14 acres at 5801 and 5847 Arapahoe Ave., Zocalo Community Development seeks to put up 11 buildings, in which they'd put 340 units and 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

Those units would range from roughly $1,000 for studios to $1,300 for two-bedrooms, the developers said, while the market-rate units would range from $1,250 to $2,450.

In presentations to the board on Thursday, the developers of the respective sites made similar appeals: Their projects, they said, will provide sorely-needed housing largely at middle-income rates along a major transit corridor and burgeoning job center. Pedestrian-oriented designs with an eye on green space will appeal to residents and passersby, they both argued.

"This," said Eastpointe developer Patti Shwayder, "is going to be transformational to the community."

Eastpointe is only one project, and the Waterview plans are likely months away from even going up for possible approval. But these two plans, if realized, would bring many hundreds of new residents to a corridor that includes single-family neighborhoods, minimal commercial options and a lot of industrial and office space.

While Aimco and Zocalo focused on what their projects can do to fill needs, Eastpointe and Waterview could also help usher in or at least accelerate a period of substantial change along east Arapahoe Avenue in terms of transportation options, housing density and mixed-use development.

But not all are thrilled with the changes that these two projects represent.

The public-hearing portion of Waterview did not begin until late Thursday night, but previous comments submitted to the city indicate strong concerns about the project's potential impact on traffic and transportation safety, as well as the presence of wetlands on the site.

"This is a very low-density area and to put a high-density project on this site does not fit," said Mary Beth Vellequette, who lives nearby. "We are very concerned about the number of cars on Arapahoe; there's already difficulty getting out of our subdivision as it is."

The Planning Board was only giving feedback on Waterview, as opposed to voting, but comments by some members suggested the site's flood risk could be a hurdle for the project, as could the fact that the developers aim to insert hundreds of new residents into an area with a presently undefined character.

Meanwhile, at Eastpointe, the concerns lean more toward the issue of affordability.

Aimco, like all developers, must satisfy the city's inclusionary housing requirement as part of its approval; it plans, as of now, to satisfy that by paying cash in lieu of developing affordable units on- or off-site.

While those Planning Board members generally offered high praise for the project's design, the fact that the new Eastpointe will attract greater wealth than the current one has is troubling to some. That includes members of the City Council who called up the project when it was still in the concept phase, and specifically requested Aimco prioritize a diversity of housing types at a diversity of price points.

"I think we have to strive harder for on-site affordability," lamented Planning Board member Crystal Gray, who cast the lone vote against the project.

"There's a certain sense of regret that we know there will probably be higher rents in the new development," member David Ensign said. "It does make us take a little pause to think about how we are meeting our affordable housing goals."

And board Chairman John Putnam added: "I am disappointed that at least one of the (four residential) buildings wasn't designated for a housing authority."

But the Planning Board and City Council can't require that under the city's current rules, which allow every developer the option to simply give the city cash or land, if they don't want to build on-site affordable housing.

"I think as we look forward, we have to look at this," Putnam said, "because we're going to have more of our housing stock turning over."

Alex Burness: 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness

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East Boulder evolution in focus as Eastpointe redevelopment wins approval - Boulder Daily Camera