Category Archives: Evolution

Throughout the Altcoin Evolution series, we have taken a closer look at the potential gains and pitfalls that will define the path forward for cryptocurrencies not named Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH).

The behemoths of the crypto market have clearly set themselves apart from the rest of the pack, and while they may be subject to these potential outcomes, its fair to say at least today that these cryptos have a completely different perspective than virtually any other crypto or blockchain project.

That being said, what can altcoins do to gain traction and become more competitive on a larger scale? Lets recap what weve covered throughout this series.

We highlighted a few projects, particularly around the booming NFT space, that have done this quite well. Sign contracts. Find partners. Make connections. As the broader crypto industry continues to assess what altcoins can provide to daily operations, there are sure to be consistent opportunities. Having a foot in the door when these situations arise is almost certainly beneficial.

Arguably the most compelling argument for the evolution of altcoins is to specialize one particular aspect (low gas fees for transactions, speed, etc.), but be capable in a variety of areas. Of course, projects are going to want to maximize value by having technical capabilities across the board that are ahead of the curve.

However, taking the technical and foundation aspects aside, what we honed in on most was the extras for altcoins the selling points that arent inherent to the blockchain technology being used on certain projects. This is why NFTs made for great examples. A majority of NFTs work off of Ethereum, which is known for having higher transaction costs. So how can projects find other selling points to grab ahold of? Thats what weve looked to address in the duration of Altcoin Evolution.

Related Reading | Crypto Has Arrived In Hollywood, And The Stars Are Loving It!

In Part I, we laid out the groundwork for the inherent challenges that crypto projects often face in the market. We went on to discuss those with more depth in the following three pieces in the series.

We started off with accessibility. With emerging exchanges and platforms, accessibility becomes an increased focal point for rising altcoins. Platforms like UniSwap and SushiSwap have increased accessibility for intermediate consumers. All the while, more widely-used platforms such as Coinbase have placed an emphasis on supporting more tokens. Of course, it takes technological fundamentals, a strong whitepaper, and great marketing even just to be considered for some of the more well-known exchanges and platforms.

By Part III of the series, we began to start scratching the surface of nailing down the importance of a digestible use case. This can often come as shifts in global activity come over time. For example, the economic impacts of COVID-19 are often cited as a growth driver for projects like Axie Infinity, which has taken a prominent position in the NFT marketplace. Axies have essentially formed internet economies that individuals in developing countries can utilize.

In our final discussion around challenges for emerging projects, we highlighted a number of different buckets that we often see some of the best altcoin sales pitches utilize. Some projects lean into more than one of these buckets: Partnerships & IP, Aggressive Interest Rates / Rewards, Decentralization, Versatility, and Low Cost.

Before we close the books on Altcoin Evolution, lets take a closer look at prime examples of each of these buckets that are executing today. Earlier in the series, we highlighted the OMI token and the associated ECOMI project, who have sealed NFT partnerships with companies like Marvel on their VeVe marketplace.

DeFi and CeFi companies like BlockFi, Nexo, and Celsius have been offering aggressive interest rates for storing tokens on their respective platforms; these firms have built massive enterprises simply off of loaning crypto and incentivizing crypto consumers to hold their tokens with these platforms, providing interest rates substantially more aggressive than what weve seen in traditional banking.

Decentralization is a core component of almost any crypto project although many projects can be significantly more centralized than others. However, the crypto community has long recognized the importance of decentralization. One example of this recognition is NFT marketplace Raribles recent move to a more decentralized format, implementing $RARE tokens and giving platform users a greater voice in the future of Rarible.

Versatility can often be seen in projects like Cardano or Polygon. Both respective projects flex the versatility muscle, working across a variety of spaces. Both projects have been building ecosystems around DeFi, smart contracts, NFTs, and a whole lot more.

Finally, the attribute of low cost can often draw in mass consumers. Dogecoin has often had major appeal from its cheap price relative to other tokens, and many mainstream Bitcoin critics have said that the high price of one BTC would dissuade new potential crypto consumers from buying in. While this can be positioned as a mental battle, it is still one that is present in todays crypto discussions, and there is an appeal to having a cheaper token for many emerging projects.

That closes the books on Altcoin Evolution. We appreciate you stopping by each week and look forward to our next altcoin-focused series.

Our team at NewsBTC provides a special thank you to Jerry Sena for his insight, feedback and contributions to this series.

Related Reading | Bittrex Global CEO Declares Dubai Will Gain Benefit From Cryptocurrency Market Expansion

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Altcoin Evolution - Part V: The Closing Recap - NewsBTC

The lepidosaur fossil was not just any lepidosaur, but the first member of this group that evolved away from the others. That puts it at the top of that lineage and provides key evidence of how lizards first evolved from more primitive reptiles. That kind of respect is shown in the name the scientists chose for it: Taytalura alcoberi, meaning father of the lizards in the Quechua and Kakn languages of the native Andean people of Argentina.

Taytalura is the earliest evolving lepidosaur, but it is not the oldest lepidosaur fossil ever found. That honor belongs to a 242 million-year-old squamate and a 234 million-year-old sphenodontian. That suggests an older Taytalura fossil may one day be found.

Regardless, the age discrepancy shows that these very early lepidosaurs lived side by side with squamates and sphenodontians, known as true lepidosaurs, for at least 10 million years during the Triassic period, a fact that was previously unknown.

The researchers used micro-CT scans of the three-dimensionally preserved head to analyze the fossil. It allowed them to compare this early lepidosaurian skull with later lepidosaur and other reptiles. The researchers, for instance, noticed that the skull of the first lepidosaurs looked substantially more like those of sphenodontians than squamates and that squamates represent a major deviation from the older skull patterns. They also found Taytalura teeth differed from those in any living or extinct group of lepidosaurs.

Another surprising finding involved where the fossil was discovered. Till now, almost all fossils of Triassic lepidosaurs have been found in Europe. This is the first early lepidosaur found in South America. It suggests lepidosaurs were able to migrate across the planet (which then was all still one supercontinent) very early in their evolutionary history.

That type of mileage is impressive for such a small creature. While its impossible to accurately estimate the total body length of this lizard-like reptile, the one-inch head suggests it likely could fit in the palm of a human hand. The creature most likely fed on insects from desert environments that it shared with some of the oldest dinosaurs in the planet, said Simes. [It] was most likely preyed upon by some of the first dinosaurs to walk on Earth, he said.

The researchers hope to explore older rocks in Argentina or other parts of South America and find older members of this lineage. The hope is to determine the exact time when the entire group originated, which will be critical in understanding the long evolutionary history of reptiles to help those that exist today.

Lepidosaurs survived across three out of the five big mass extinctions on Earths history during the last 260 million years, Simes said. By accurately reconstructing the long evolutionary history of lepidosaurs, we may be able to tell in much greater detail how they successfully survived and flourished across major environmental shifts in Earths past and how they may be impacted by modern human-induced climate change.

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Analysis of 231-million-year-old fossil sheds light on reptile evolution - Harvard Gazette

The past year has changed the way people buy and sell homes, with new buying and selling options gaining traction in the marketplace. In addition to the well-known iBuyers, these include a more recent category of companies such as EasyKnock, Homeward, Knock and Ribbon. The details of these programs vary, but one common denominator is dramatically increasing the consumers power as a homebuyerhence our preferred term for these companies, Power Buyers, coined by global real estate tech strategist Mike DelPrete.

zavvie facilitates thousands of agent requests for Power Buyer and iBuyer offers each month. Analyzing the offer flow, we are most impressed by two megatrends that have important implications for real estate practitioners:

1. Power Buyers are enjoying 2X to 10X growth this year by solving the biggest marketplace problem: lack of inventory. This makes it hard for potential sellers to buy a house, creating a chicken-and-egg scenario. Power Buyers solve this for sellers by helping them buy without a loan contingency before they sell.

We conducted a study of offers made by one of our Denver partner brokerages, revealing that buyers with a loan contingency needed to make an average of seven offers before going under contract, while buyers utilizing a Power Buyer program had a 1:1 offer-to-acceptance ratio. For sellers and buyers, power buyers are a game changer.

2. The iBuyers are making stronger offers than ever. In fact, on average, their offers came in at an impressive 104.1% of market value during the first half of the year. Anecdotal reports from brokers across the country confirm that iBuyers are often making offers above prices expected on the open market.

At the same time, iBuyer service fees dropped from 7.2% in 2020 to 5.1% at the end of Q2 2021. Moreover, their average concession for home repairs fell from 3.6% to 1.9%. Combined, thats 3.8 percentage points lower, equating to a 35% reduction in the consumers costs of selling to an iBuyer. That dramatic decrease brings the iBuyers fees in line with what sellers pay on the open market.

For agents, the takeaway is that iBuyers are making great offers, and these offers may be the best option for their clients. Agents who arent requesting these offers are missing outand arguably not fulfilling their fiduciary duty to sellers.

Modern brokerages arent standing idle. They are proactively getting out in front of these changes and co-opting the Power Buyers, iBuyers and other options for selling and buying. By adapting to the changes in the marketplace, theyre getting more deals done.

These trends and others are presented in more detail in our mid-year Seller Preferences Report at zavvie.com/seller-preferences.

Stefan Peterson is co-founder and chief data officer of zavvie, a technology company that is empowering the modern agent by making it easy to provide todays consumers all the selling options: iBuyers, bridge and open market. For more information, visit zavvie.com.

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The Next Evolution of iBuyers: 'Power Buyers' - RisMedia.com

The inspiring new documentary, "Citizen Ashe," which just premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, and will next screen at the Camden, ME film festival, is as elegant and as agile as the tennis great it profiles. Directors Rex Miller and Sam Pollard focus largely on Arthur Ashe's evolving political consciousness, which the athlete developed over the course of his life and career. The approach is astutebecause Ashe's iconic status as the first Black man to succeed in the very white world of tennis not only captures the heroic/role model image of Black athletes, but it punctures the myth of Black athletes being "all brawn and no brains."

The film shows that Ashe was extremely savvy and calculated in his efforts, not just to be the "Jackie Robinson of tennis," but also to speak out against racism and inequality only after he won top prizes and earned respect. There were risks with Ashe doing things "his way," ranging from being called an "Uncle Tom" for not speaking out like other Black athletes e.g., his contemporary Mohammad Ali but also health issues from internalizing all of the pressure to achieve in the face of racism. Ashe's behavior throughout his career had to be above reproach; he did not want to be ejected or shame the family name.

Miller and Pollard recall Ashe's sterling character through interviews with Ashe as well as talking head commentaries by tennis greats including John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, and Lenny Simpson; activists Andrew Young and Harry Edwards; and Ashe's wife Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and his younger brother Johnnie. The filmmakers also use photographs, home movie footage, and (perhaps unnecessary) reenactments to illustrate Ashe throughout his life.

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"Citizen Ashe" presents a condensed version of Ashe's history. He grew up in Richmond, VA, literally on a Blacks-only playground in the late 1950s. (His disciplinarian father was a caretaker for the playground, so the family's house was there.) He took up tennis eventually getting mentored by Dr. Walter Johnson, who ran a development program (Johnson also coached Althea Gibson) that paved the way for Ashe's career.

But as he was playing in events like the Davis Cup (he was the first Black man to do so), Ashe was reluctant to assert his activist nature and felt cowardice for his behavior not boycotting games or calling attention to racial discrimination. A montage seen early in the film shows various Black athletes speaking out or deliberately keeping silent effectively illustrating the tradition of protest in sports in general, and, more importantly, how these messages are not being fully heard.

Ashe eventually became a spokesperson for social change, and "Citizen Ashe" shows how he was especially motivated in 1968, the year Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, which is also the year Ashewon the U.S. Open. There are interesting episodes in the film that recount Ashe's support of Kennedy, as well as Nelson Mandela. Ashe's protesting apartheid in South Africa complicated his efforts to play in Johannesburg; he was repeatedly denied a visa before being allowed to enter the country to play, and not talk politics.

The film includes plenty of footage of Ashe playing tennis, including the South African games, but the best sequenceis his 1975 victory at Wimbledon against his rival Jimmy Connors. Ashe had never defeated Connors before this, and making matters worse, Connors filed a libel suit against Ashe in the days before their match. "Citizen Ashe" doesn't reveal that the suit was later dropped;however, the film does shows how Ashe, ever the consummate athlete, changed the way he played in order to beat Connors. It is truly thrilling to watch. What is more, hearing Ashe's brother Johnnie's emotional account of watching Arthur's achievement magnifies a noble sacrifice Johnnie described earlier that enabled Arthur, who was enlisted, to play tennis.

"Citizen Ashe" eventually shifts to its subject's third act, where he develops more sensitivity toward gender equality and meets his wife Jeanne. As he ages out of playing tennis, he coaches the Davis Cup team and 19-year-old John McEnroe. McEnroe's brash style clashes with Ashe's cool demeanor, but as Ashe observes, McEnroe had the "emotional freedom" to misbehave that was denied to him, a Black man. It is a very telling moment.

The documentary ends by addressing Ashe's health issues. He suffered a heart attack in his mid-30s, and developed toxoplasmosis, which lead to his AIDS diagnosis from a blood transfusion. Ashe was "forced to go public" with his status. But he championed AIDS awareness and was an activist for other causes, such as Haitian refugees.

"Citizen Ashe" may present a virtuous portrait of its subject, but the film shows Ashe was always a class act. What is more, his legacy continues. Tennis players including Coco Gauff and Venus and Serena Williams advocate for racial and social justice in sports and the world as do so many other athletes, including Colin Kaepernick, and LeBron James. Ashe's contributions to the sport, as recounted in this spry documentary, show how he left tennis better than it was when he started playing.

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"Citizen Ashe" gives a spry look at the evolution of a legendary tennis great on and off the court - Salon

Short spinning rods have played a vital role in the development of Midwest finesse bass fishing from the get-go.

Much of the genesis of this great piscatorial method and tools began at Ray Fincke's tackle shop on Southwest Boulevard in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, in the 1960s.

At the age of 16, Ray inherited the shop when his father, Louis, unexpectedly died in 1952. The tackle shop began in the 1930s in the office of his father's hardware store, and it catered primarily to fly fishermen.

In 1960, a serendipitous event occurred that has a magnificent effect on the angling world for the next 61 years, and it is likely to continue for many more years.

It began when Ray Fincke built and moved into a house next door to Drew Reese's family. What's more, Drew's father was the proprietor of an automobile dealership on Southwest Boulevard near Ray's tackle shop, and Ray's wife worked for Drew's father at the automobile dealership. At that time, Drew was 13 years old and joyously afflicted with fishing fever, and his father encouraged him to talk to Ray about fishing. After that initial conversation, Ray and Drew became devoted friends, and at the age of 13, Drew began tying flies for the tackle shop. Throughout his high-school years and until he graduated from the University of Kansas in 1969, Drew worked part-time at Fincke's shop.

From Ray, Drew learned a lot about the art and some of the science of making fishing rods especially spinning rods. This, of course, occurred many years before spinning rods began to play a significant role in the repertoire of the vast majority of black-bass anglers in the United States and Canada.

Drew's first fishing trip with Ray occurred in 1961. Ray took Drew and his father to fish for rainbow trout at Lake Tanyecomo's tailrace below Table Rock Lake's dam. Ray provided them with two very inexpensive buggy-whip spinning rods and Compac spinning reels that were spooled with four-pound-test monofilament line. To each of the lines, Ray affixed a split shot and a wooly-worm fly that Drew had created. To their delight and amazement, Drew and his father caught more than 100 trout, and Drew's lifetime passion for finesse fishing was lit. Then 10 years later, he used his Midwest finesse tactics to compete at the first BASS Master Classic at Lake Mead, Nevada, where he finished in seventh place, using six-pound-test line.

As the 1960s unfolded, the clientele at Ray's tackle shop expanded, and it became a gathering spot for all sorts of anglers. On Monday nights, it was a quasi-bass club before the advent of bass clubs and organizations like Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. It was where the great and late Chuck Woods, who created the Beetle, Beetle Spin, and Puddle Jumper, would often be fiddling with lures and try to create new ones. And Ray began creating an array of rods and selling tackle for the black-bass anglers to use.

Besides Drew Reese, all of those goings-on at Ray's shop in the 1960s also caught the attention of another high school and college student. It was Dwight Keefer, who eventually used one of Fincke's rods and some of Woods' lures to win the World Series of Sport Fishing at Long Lake, Wisconsin, in 1967. Keefer also competed in the BASS Master Classic at Percy Priest Reservoir, Tennessee, in 1972.

From the 1950s until his death on Mar. 21, 2011, Ray Fincke built and repaired scores of casting, fly, and spinning rods for area anglers. He was regularly lauded for his genius at rebuilding or restoring bamboo fly rods. His most renowned creation was a 5-foot, 4-inch finesse spinning rod that he called the Stinger. It was made from two blanks. One was a fiberglass blank that was 19 inches long. The other one was an ultra-light graphite blank that was four-feet, six inches long. To lengthen the rod and add more power to the butt section, Fincke slid the 19-inch piece of the fiberglass blank over the graphite blank and firmly glued the blanks together, and then he used wrapping thread to decoratively cover the union of the two blanks. The butt of the rod was fitted with a nine-inch cork handle. This rod sported five stainless steel guides: a No. 25, No. 16, No. 12, and No. 10. The tip was a No. 8 Carboloy.

Ultimately, Fincke's influence on finesse fishing expanded across the entire nation when he helped Gary Loomis design the 5-foot, 4-inch and 5-foot, 10-inch Classic Spin Jig rods in 1981 and 1982. In essence, these two rods were similar to Fincke's Stinger. They became the G. Loomis SJ 6400 and SJ 700 rods, which were described as possessing an extra-fast action with a magnum-light rod power. They were ideal rods for wielding small marabou or hair jigs, Beetles, Beetle Spins, and jig-worms.

Drew Reese became wedded to the SJ 6400 and SJ 700 in 1982, and across those many years of using those rods, he became one of the world's finest practitioner of Midwest finesse fishing, which he prefers to call light-line fishing.

Nowadays, Reese, who is 74 years old, lives in rural northeastern Kansas near the town of Rantoul. And except during the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, he has spent a lot of his days chasing smallmouth bass that abide in the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, Lake Erie, and Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas. Since 2011, he has played a role in persuading Z-Man Fishing Products to manufacture a jighead and several soft-plastic baits for Midwest finesse applications.

After Gary Loomis sold his company to Shimano in 1995, the availability of the SJ 6400 and SJ 700 rod blanks gradually came to an end. But it wasn't until the spring of 2021 that Drew began searching the Internet in hopes of finding similar rod blanks. But because the modern-day angling world is enamored (for some unenlightened or benighted reason) with long rods, it was a chore to find a blank that was less than 6 feet long.

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The History and Evolution of the "Tennessee Handle" for Bass Fishing Rods - Wired2Fish

Inkay and Malamar in Pokemon Go are two new Pokemon that are coming to the game soon, so of course people want to know how to catch and where to find Inkay, as well as how to evolve it into Malamar. The developers have already teased some of this stuff in the official announcement of the upcoming Psychic Spectacular event. However, it does still leave some stuff unclear. Thats where we come in with our Pokemon Go Inkay & Malamar Evolution How to Catch & Where to Find guide.

To evolve Inkay to Malamar in Pokemon Go, youll have to create some unique circumstances, according to the official blog post. The only clue it gives says Trainers who have journeyed through the Kalos region in Pokmon X and Pokmon Y may have an inkling as to what those circumstances might be! Well, in these games, Inkay evolved at level 30 if you had a Rare Candy and turned your 3DS upside down. So, while we cant say for certain, maybe youll have to gather like fifty Inkay Candies and turn your phone upside down to get Malamar. We dont know for sure yet, but well let you know as soon as we find out.

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Pokemon Go Inkay & Malamar Evolution - How to Catch & Where to Find - GosuNoob.com

I think one of my favorite things in the show comes from the reaction shots that you have from them when Jack is talking at the front of the classroom. Do you write those into the script? The cast is so big, I feel like you can't always get coverage of each of them reacting to whatever Jack is doing, but they all have such genuine reactions that are so funny. I was wondering how you pull that off in production.

It's a big discussion with each director, because I agree that a big, important part of the humor of the show is the look after the joke. We're always like any show, feeling like we're behind and racing. So there isn't a lot of picking up some reaction shots. What we'll do is each person, like a student, will have two lines in a big long classroom scene. At least once keep a camera on them all the way through the whole scene, even though they only have two lines. So you have Anthony at least just looking around, and you get a bunch of that.

Sometimes, if we're almost done with shooting in one direction towards the students, and if we have three cameras, I'll ask the director to just have the third camera just go around and get five seconds on everyone you can grab. So those ended up being like gold when you find them [in the editing room], because they aren't scripted, and I'm not even positive where we'll want them. It's in the edit that you realize this needs a little bit of a beat, or the editor found this great look from so-and-so, but it's never in the script, "Anthony rolls his eyes a little bit." That's all found in production in the edit. But they're so good at them that it really makes the show I think.

Yeah. Some of my biggest laughs have come from the reaction shots. They're hilarious.

Yeah. They're great.

Has the show gone in any directions that you didn't expect when you first conceived of it? I don't know necessarily how far you had planned out when the first season came along, but has it taken turns that you just leaned into? You're like, "Okay, yeah. Let's take this route now."

Definitely. Yeah. Speaking of the students, in my original concept of the show, it was supposed to be a high school show about the adults in a high school. None of those rols had shrunk, but the students have forced their way into almost equal weight as Helen and Durbin because they're so good. We have so much fun writing for them now. But I kind of pictured, there'd be a couple of students that speak, and that they'd say one or two jokes an episode, or not even jokes, they just say straight man lines to Jack. Then he'd go off on his missions and he'd talk to the other adults and all that.

To be honest, I think maybe I was worried about young actors pulling off comedy, and I've had tough experiences with that. These guys are just so good that it's grown to where we're like, "Guys, we don't have a Yuyao joke for this episode. And she's the 10th or 11th person to become a speaking member in the classroom, a former background actor. Now we're like, "We need a Yuyao joke this episode or the episode is just not complete." And if you told me that right after the pilot, that I'd be looking to serve around 10 or 11 students and making sure they all had a good two jokes every episode, it'd be crazy. But I'm really happy it's gone that way.

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AP Bio Creator Mike O'Brien Talks The Evolution Of Jack In Season 4 And More [Interview] - /FILM

As you'd probably expect, boxing gloves have a wide and varied history dating as far back as 1500 BC. Humans have fought in hand-to-hand combat since the dawn of time. Whether these early fights were real or for recreational purposes isn't known, but the accompanying boxing gloves have been crafted through generations and provide us with an invaluable insight into the ancient world.

Boxing gloves date back to Ancient Greece in 668 BC. The art of hand-to-hand combat sports such as boxing are a lot older than the gloves themselves, but these offered a solution for the bloody hands that boxers would endure after an Olympic-style fight. The first boxing gloves weren't actually gloves at all. They were more like hand wraps, made out of cheap fabrics. They would be wrapped around the hand and extended back to the wrist to provide extra support.

In later years, the foundations for what would become the knuckle duster were formed when concrete blocks or metal objects were secured underneath the wraps. These customised boxing gloves were not for the faint of heart. While they inflicted maximum damage to one's opponent, they were also very harmful to the wearer. Ancient Greek accounts tell stories of great fighters with metal clubs for hands. These fighters often lost their real hands in matches using the early knuckle duster style gloves. The repeated impact of using such a weapon had catastrophic effects on the bone and cartilage on the hands. In Roman times, these cultivated hand coverings were called Cletus and became popularised throughout the empire, with many differing variations.

The concept of defined rounds did not come into existence until the latter part of the 18th century, which is when boxing betting also took off. The fights that took place prior to this date would have been knockout matches, with no referee and a single finger gesture to signal defeat. While Ancient Greece is credited with inventing the earliest forms of boxing gloves, Asia and the Middle East also developed strong forms of fighting styles akin to boxing. The famed ancient Muay Thai fighting style in Thailand dates back to the Han dynasty, when Thai soldiers fought off an invasion from the Chinese. The soldiers of Siam, as Thailand was once called, were trained in two-sword combat. This ancient form of Muay Thai combat allowed its soldiers to fight swordless. The loss of a sword meant that they were able to use their hands, legs, knees, and elbows to continue fighting.

Boxing really took off during the eighteenth century where is precursor bare-knuckle fighting was seen as a poor man's sport. The leather boxing glove as we know it today wasn't introduced until 1773, when Jack Broughton invented it. Broughton takes his place in history as the father of boxing, although his gloves wouldnt be used in the ring until many years later. They were however used in training sessions and sparring until their use was finally recognised. It's interesting to note that boxing gloves were colloquially known as mufflers due to the relative lack of sound a landed punch makes when compared to bare knuckles.

Initially, boxing gloves were seen as effeminate objects and signalled weak opponents. It wasn't until the middle classes started to partake in the sport that the humble boxing glove finally took off. Esteemed gentlemen and those from the upper echelons of society didn't want to sustain the injuries associated with boxing, thus making Broughton's gloves an overnight hit.

The introduction of a set of rules to mandate boxing came into effect in London in 1865. The Marquess of Queensbury Rules set out for the first time the requirement to wear a form of padded glove. This was a welcome change for boxing athletes, who had until now been forced to fight bare-knuckle at the behest of the London Prize Ring Rules, which advocated for no padding of the fists. Without the Queensbury Rules, modern-day boxing may not exist as we know it. The reforms were a much-needed addition to a sport that has become over masculated in recent years.

Padding such as horsehair and cotton were added to give boxing gloves the much-needed weight required for the full-contact sport. The minimum proposed weight by this point was upwards of 5 oz. This meant that for the first time, boxers were fully padded and protected from severe facial injuries that they would otherwise have had no choice but to incur. The biggest change occurred in the 1960s when the internal padding was switched from horsehair to foam. The foam enabled the evolution of a much smaller and compact glove that offered the same levels of protection for the hands and face.

The United States Boxing Federation states that a professional boxing match must happen within a ring by opponents wearing gloves no lighter than 8-10 oz. This is a far cry from what boxing was like during the latter part of the eighteenth century. The rules are firmly in place to protect the participants of the sport and the humble boxing glove has, and is, playing a significant role in the future development of boxing.

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The Evolution of Boxing Gloves Throughout History - British Boxing News

Bruno Korea admits he wasnt ready during his first stint in the UFC.

Korea (12-3-1) got his first crack at the UFC on Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil where he was eliminated in the semifinals in 2015. In his UFC debut, Korea was submitted by Matheus Nicolau and subsequently released from the promotion.

Since then, the now 30-year-old has won five straight and will get a second opportunity at a UFC contract when he meets Carlos Vergara at Dana Whites Contender Series 38 on Tuesday.

Looking at my career, when I was first given the chance to fight in the worlds biggest organization, I was still a bit immature in the sport, Korea told MMA Junkie. After just four professional bouts, I was already in The Ultimate Fighter facing far more experienced opponents. It was a great experience. After I lost to Matheus Nicolau and got dropped by the UFC, I didnt get discouraged.

I kept on fighting, maturing, and improving both technically and mentally. The results speakfor themselves.Ivehadgood resultsin my last several fights. And now I have this opportunity at Contender Series. NowIma far better fighter than I was in 2015.Ivehad six years of evolution. Icantwait to show off my game.

He takes on Vergara (8-2-1), whos knocked out his past four opponents, but the taekwondo specialist is confident wherever the fight goes.

He appears to be a muay Thai specialist, Korea said. He likes to change bases. He likes to throw left kicks and has very good boxing. Ive studied him. I imagine our fight will be very active and take place everywhere on the feet, against the cage, and on the ground. Well exchange fire from every position. I believe Ill either knock him out or submit him.

He continued, Im30 now.This is supposed to be my peak. My plans for the future are toestablishmyself in the UFC, face top competition, and run my own academy. I hope tohave a shot atthe belt one day.Idlike to do the best I can for all the people who haveencouragedme.Idalso like to set a good example for all the kids who follow my career. I thinkImon the right path.

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DWCS 38's Bruno Korea excited to show off evolution in second shot at UFC contract - MMA Junkie

A new study suggests that the rise and fall of Earth's landscapes have also affected the evolution of animals, with birds and mammals in mountainous regions evolving quicker.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge suggest that the changes in the Earth's terrestrial surface over the last 3 million years have affected the evolution of animals, especially birds and mammals.

One particular mechanism at work is elevation being a significant driver of speciation, or the development of separate and new species, compared to other factors like temperature or long-term climate change.

Researchers presented their findings in the article "Global Topographic Uplift Has Elevated Speciation in Mammals and Birds Over the Last 3 Million Years," appearing in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal, September 2.

(Photo: Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)ARTHUR'S PASS, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 07: A Kea is seen in front of competitors taking part in the mountain running stage, which had to be held on the Plan B course due to river levels being too high for a safe crossing during the 2020 Kathmandu Coast to Coast Multisport event on February 07, 2020, in Arthurs Pass, New Zealand.

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Rising mountains and hills are some of the topographic changes that lead to "novel habitats and niches where new species evolve and diversify," according to the authors of the paper.

Cases in point include the kea, a large parrot endemic to the alpine regions of New Zealand, and the bighorn sheep found in the Rocky Mountains in the US. These are unique species that have evolved in mountainous regions.

"Often at the tops of mountains there are many more unique species that aren't found elsewhere," notes Dr. Andrew Tanentzap, senior author of the study and a member of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences,in a Daily Mail report.

"Whereas previously the formation of new species was thought to be driven by climate, we've found that elevation change has a greater effect at a global scale," he added.

Researchers additionally noted that increasing elevation had a more profound effect on birds and mammals. For birds, researchers suggest that it might be because they can fly across barriers to find mates in other places, which makes the effect on them more pronounced than in mammals.

Dr. Tanentzap explains that as altitude increases, the environment changes, citing the work of Victorian-era naturalist Alexander von Humboldt's maps. These dated illustrations show the changes in habitats with changing land levels.

Another factor that leads to speciation is that natural barriers emerge, preventing animals from interbreeding as the land rises.

In their new study, researchers used reconstructions of the Earth's changing surface elevations from the last 3 million years. They integrated it with climate change data over the same period, together with known locations of mammal and bird species.

Their work revealed that with the increase in land levels, average temperatures start to drop, and habitat complexity starts to increase.

There are even instances where elevation creates a barrier that effectively prevents interaction and interbreeding between populations, isolating them and leading them down different evolutionary tracks - a case often observed in mountain formations.

In the kea, for example, the temperature change also creates a change in timing and mating patterns, risking reproductive isolation from other populations of the same species in other locations.

A 2008 article from the Heredity journalexplains that reproductive isolation is an integral part of speciation, preventing two populations from interbreeding.

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Higher Is Faster: Study Reveals Effect of Altitude, Environment on Bird, Mammal Evolution Rate in High Regions - Science Times