Pokemon GO’s Eevee evolution update and future news – SlashGear

Now that Gen 2 of Pokemon GO has been released, Eevee is no longer the star of the game. Or at least that would be true if Gen 2 didnt include two more Eevee evolutions in Espeon and Umbreon but there we have it. While more powerful Pokemon exist, and easier-to-catch Pokemon exist, theres no more pervasive Pokemon base and evolution combo thats better captured the imagination of the masses that play Pokemon GO. Part of the reason why is in the seemingly random (but not actually random) nature of Eevees evolutionary forms.

At the beginning, there was Vaporeon, and Vaporeon was good. Too good to stay the same as it was at the start. Vaporeon dominated Pokemon Gyms throughout the Pokemon GO universe to the point that its powers were slightly nerfed. Vaporeon will never be as singularly powerful as it once was but it remains one of the most powerful Pokemon in the game.

Vaporeon can be gotten with a trick ONCE per player in Pokemon GO. Users can choose to evolve a single Pokemon into Vaporeon by naming that Pokemon a certain name. If the name is spelled incorrectly or theres a space before or after the name, this trick will not work. This trick also works with Jolteon and Flareon, the electric and fire-type Pokemon that evolve from Eevee.

Sparky turns into Jolteon Rainer turns into Vaporeon Pyro turns into Flareon

Of note: a non-named Eevee evolved without ever having been used as a Buddy Pokemon will never turn into Espeon or Umbreon. Only Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon can be evolved at random. Other than the first two names (shown in the next section), Espeon and Umbreon need Friendship (Buddy Friendship).

Additional names work to evolve Eevee into the other two evolutionary forms not included in Gen 1. These names work the same as the first three names, all of them coming from one Pokemon TV show or another anime for the lot. These names also require correct spelling and no spaces before or after the name before evolution.

Sakura turns into Espeon Tamao turns into Umbreon

While both Espeon and Umbreon are required to attain the entirety of the Pokedex, they do not (as yet) seem to trump the power of Vaporeon. Between the two of them, Espeon has the greatest potential. A perfect CP Umbreon can only reach 2052 while a perfect Espeon can reach a whopping 3000. Unfortunately that only counts for so much, as Espeons strengths lie in fighting bug, dark, and ghost types, which arent that common in Pokemon Gyms at the moment.

Vaporeon can reach a perfect CP of 3157, Jolteon can reach CP 2730, and Flareon believe it or not can reach 2904 CP. So while Flareon is often overlooked as a powerful Pokemon, it has large potential for placing high in a Pokemon Gym.

The original appearances of Espeon and Umbreon included a requirement of Friendship to evolve. In Pokemon GO, the equivalent of Friendship is carrying along (or walking along with) a Pokemon as a Pokemon Buddy. Through sheer force of will (and many trials and errors), the combination of Buddy Pokemon walking distance and evolution time has been uncovered.

Eevee Buddy Candy 5km per 1 Candy 5km = 3.1-miles 2x is 10km or 6.2-miles

Espeon requires that the user walk with Eevee as a Buddy Pokemon for two full cycles 6.2-miles to attain two Eevee Pokemon Candy. Once the second candy has been attained, that same Eevee should be evolved as a Buddy Pokemon. To attain Espeon, this Eevee should be evolved during the day.

The same distance and method is required to get Umbreon, save the tim of day. If this Pokemon is evolved as a buddy at night, itll instead turn into Umbreon. No naming is required to make these couple of evolutions happen. As far as weve been able to tell, this walking Buddy Pokemon trick works as many times as the user wishes to make it work, over and over again.

For more Pokemon action, have a peek at SlashGears @TeamPokemonGO Twitter portal. There lies an ever-growing trove of tips, code examinations, tips, and news of all sorts.

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Pokemon GO's Eevee evolution update and future news - SlashGear

Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists – Intellectual Property Watch

By Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch

It is still a long way to a new generation of open scientists, German open data researcher Christian Heise found out in his just-published PhD thesis. Heise not only investigated drivers and barriers for what he expects to be an evolution from open access to open science by theory and a survey of over 1100 scientists. He tried the concept open science the hard way, opening up the writing of his thesis paper on the net.

About the first open PhD thesis, see here.

Interested fellow researchers, friends and family were able to see how the research developed and the text grew. To explore this, Heise had to get a special permission from the university, Leuphana University in Lueneburg, Germany, because a PhD thesis usually has to fulfil certain criteria with regard to recency and originality. It took close to a year to solve the legal issues alone.

Heise had made sure that the work would be his own. Direct comments on the PhD thesis blog were not possible which in some way made additional innovative steps like collaboration directly on the text impossible. Challenges he faced during the process, according to his resume, were also technical as there was a lack of tools for handling evolving versions of such a large text, plus additional material like survey data and literature research. In the end, Heise changed to GitHub, a tool well-known by open source developers.

Additional qualifications (programming) and a bigger work-load made two of the barriers on the way towards becoming an open scientist. But Heise also stated that while a majority of scientists favor open access and faster time to market/public for their research, the scientific communication system had remained highly stable.

It was not only the big publishing houses pushing to keep their business models, but also a certain level of inertia in the scientific community that is causing the persistence.

A process to negotiate next steps in the development of open science following earlier processes on open access (see here and here) is needed, he said.

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Inertia Slows Evolution For Open Scientists - Intellectual Property Watch

Why did humans evolve big brains? We don’t know, but math can help – PBS NewsHour

Our brains have a finite capacity for processing information and for remembering, and the bigger the brain, the more oxygen and sugar it takes to maintain. Photo by psdesign1/via Adobe

Math may solve why people are such eggheads. A new model published Thursday in PLOS Computational Biology mathematically illustrates what led to the evolution of humans abnormally large brains.

Evolutionary biologists devised these equations to tease apart the relationship between human brain size and the cost of maintaining a large brain. Over the last few decades, the pace and stages of brain growth in humans have become clearer. From birth to preschool, our brains quadruple in size. Our brains reach 90 percent of their final size by six years old, and they continue to grow slowly through adolescence until stopping in our mid-20s.

The question is: Why?

Anthropologists have hypothesized made educated speculations about what factors in human evolution drive this pace. For example, newborns heavily rely on their families, so they can develop strong social bonds during their youth. As humans get older, we increasingly learn to be self-sufficient, use tools and learn of our environments. Scientists speculate both of these habits contribute to brain growth, but they dont know which of these factors or others have the greatest bearing. A standard mathematical model could provide clarity by quantitatively comparing hypotheses.

Anthropologists can plug in their hypotheses to the model, which then predicts brain size from birth to adulthood based on those numbers. If those numbers match what we know about the pace of human brain development, then the model supports the hypothesis.

With this model, you can obtain predictions for each of the hypotheses to see which hypothesis yields a better prediction, said evolutionary biologist Mauricio Gonzlez-Forero of Universit de Lausanne in France, who led the study.

The final model states that adult skill level equals adult brain mass times the cost of maintaining brain tissue divided by the cost of memory times a constant. Stated in laymens terms, this idea means as adult brain mass increases, so too does adult skill, assuming that the costs of maintaining the brain mass and memory stay constant.

These costs include eating a lot in order to maintain the brain. Brains make up 2 percent of our bodies, but consume 20 percent of our oxygen and sugars in our food to sustain the activity of billions of neurons. This mental gorging could have been a disadvantage for early humans thousands of years ago, because bigger diets, consisting of more calories, means having to spend more time hunting and foraging for food. If their evolving brains drained too much food and oxygen, then they might have been too tired to fend for themselves.

While there is debate among anthropologists, many believe that social interaction is a major factor in increasing brain size. Knowing people, communicating with them and maintaining relationships takes a lot of brainpower.

Gonzlez-Foreros model counters this narrative and asserts that humans gain more intelligence as they learn to use technology, which University of Wisconsin-Madison evolutionary anthropologist John Hawks describes as a controversial but revealing take on brain development.

Many anthropologists look at the pace of brain growth in terms of social interactions, he added, but this paper is saying maybe social relationships dont have anything to do with it. Its really neat to see such a cool, clear statement of that because it gives us a target.

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Why did humans evolve big brains? We don't know, but math can help - PBS NewsHour

Synthetic yeast chromosomes help probe mysteries of evolution … – Nature.com

Dennis Kunkel Microscopy/Science Photo Library

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used to make beer and bread.

Evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould once pondered what would happen if the cassette tape of life were rewound and played again. Synthetic biologists have tested one aspect of this notion by engineering chromosomes from scratch, sticking them into yeast and seeing whether the modified organisms can still function normally.

They do, according to seven papers published today in Science that describe the creation, testing and refining of five redesigned yeast chromosomes17. Together with a sixth previously synthesized chromosome8, they represent more than one-third of the genome of the bakers yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. An international consortium of more than 200 researchers that created the chromosomes expects to complete a fully synthetic yeast genome by the end of the year.

The work the team has already done could help to optimize the creation of microbes to pump out alcohol, drugs, fragrances and fuel. And it serves as a guide for future research on how genomes evolve and function.

The amazing thing here is that they are figuring out how to tweak the genome not just synthesize it through a design-build-test-learn cycle, says Jack Newman, co-founder of Amyris Biotechnologies in Emeryville, California. The approach is similar to one that computer scientists might take when trying to understand a computer code written a decade ago, he adds, although the task is much harder with genomes that have undergone millions of years of evolution. Yeast originated more than 50 million years ago, when the Saccharomyces lineage branched off from other fungi.

In 2010, geneticist Craig Venter and his team revealed9the first synthetic genome, a stripped-down version of the genetic code from a bacterial parasite, Mycoplasma mycoides. Four years later, a team led by Jef Boeke, a yeast geneticist at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, synthesized8 a chromosome from yeast, a more complex organism that is classified as a eukaryote a group that also includes plants, worms and people.

Venters goal was to realize the smallest genome needed to sustain life, but Boeke sought to explore fundamental questions about evolution, such as whether yeasts could have evolved through alternate routes. He turned the query into a hypothesis testable with synthetic biology: how much can you change a genome and still have a working organism?

To look for an answer, Boeke assigned each of S. cerevisiaes 16 chromosomes to teams of collaborators, spread across the United States, United Kingdom, China, Singapore and Australia. Each was to create a chromosome that was stable yet evolvable, and would keep yeast functioning as usual.

The teams used computer programs to design the codes of their respective chromosomes. They omitted some sequences found in naturally occurring yeast chromosomes, such as repetitive parts of the genome, in hopes of increasing the stability of the synthetic versions. And they endowed their creations with a mechanism that mimics the random variation that drives evolution. When this scrambling system is triggered, it can shuffle, duplicate and delete genes at random.

A team led by researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris documented2 dramatic structural changes in the nucleus of the synthetic yeast even as it continued to thrive, making proteins and reproducing. It seems like we can really kind of torture the genome in complicated ways and frequently the yeast shrugs its shoulders and grows like normal, Boeke says.

Some teams in the consortium invented techniques to rapidly identify errors in synthetic chromosomes3, 4. Another group, led researchers at Tianjin University in China, optimized techniques to remove bugs in the genetic sequences of the chromosomes, in one instance by using the gene-editing tool CRISPRCas95.

Considering that they synthesized 536,024 base pairs in that chromosome and only used CRISPR to mess around with 45 of them is kind of refreshing, says George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It makes you feel like maybe this is the next big thing.

Genome synthesis is unlikely to displace tools such as CRISPR, which allow scientists to add or subtract a limited number of genes in an organism, he says. But it may become the favoured method for applications that require complicated genetic changes. This includes engineering yeast and other microbes to produce fragrances and other materials; manufacturers that rely on such microbes could use synthetic genomes to make those organisms more resilient to harmful viruses, for example.

If you took those [microbe] strains offline and reprogrammed their code, then put them back in, the viruses would be so far out of touch they couldnt come back, Church says. It would be like going back to the Middle Ages and giving one country hydrogen bombs.

Several groups have launched efforts to synthesize genomes from species such as the bacterium Escherichia coli and from people. Boeke is confident that his consortium will create a fully synthetic yeast genome by the years end. The team has already created several additional chromosomes, and is debugging and testing them.

The groups latest results will encourage others to dream big, Church says: Theyve been able to induce radical changes in the code, so it emboldens you to be even more radical.

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Synthetic yeast chromosomes help probe mysteries of evolution ... - Nature.com

Pokmon GO’s Gen 2 Evolution Items Are Flat-Out Broken – Forbes

Pokmon GO's Gen 2 Evolution Items Are Flat-Out Broken
Forbes
There's unlucky, and there's designing a system so poorly that it has the potential to break players' spirits and sap their interest in the game. For me, that's been how Pokmon GO has handled its evolution items with the release of Gen 2. I have ...

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Pokmon GO's Gen 2 Evolution Items Are Flat-Out Broken - Forbes

Emma Watson’s feminist evolution is more relatable than you think – Mashable


Mashable
Emma Watson's feminist evolution is more relatable than you think
Mashable
Emma Watson is not the first high profile feminist to demonstrate an evolved view on feminism. Far from it. Her feminist evolution is actually a pretty common and universal aspect to being a feminist. So, why are we so quick to call feminist activists ...

and more »

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Emma Watson's feminist evolution is more relatable than you think - Mashable

The evolution of Michigan State basketball’s Miles Bridges – Detroit Free Press

Tom Izzo and players liked what they saw in MSU's 78-51 win over Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday, March 9 in Washington D.C. Video by Chris Solari, DFP.

Michigan State forward Miles Bridges celebrates after scoring against Penn State during MSU's 78-51 win in the Big Ten tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC.(Photo: Rob Carr, Getty Images)

WASHINGTON Miles Bridges ran through the tunnel in the Verizon Center, sprinting ahead of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

Hey! Izzo yelled, after MSUs 78-51 victory over Penn State on Thursday in the Big Ten tournament.

Bridges froze.

He thought he was in trouble.

He turned and sprinted back to Izzo.

Good job! Izzo beamed.

They slapped hands and shared a quick hug.

I thought he was going to yell at me; he was giving me a compliment for the first time, Bridges said, cracking a joke. He just said, Good job, keep these guys together.

Related:

Tom Izzo says no one asked Michigan State to flip games with Michigan

Izzo kept walking down the hallway and reached a group of reporters.

Still probably on the bubble, Izzo said, in jest.

The Spartans improved to 19-13, and there should be no doubt they are headed for the NCAA tournament after this win.

We are taking it one game at a time, Bridges said. It would have been a bad loss, if we lost. But we won.

Miles of growth

Before the game, Bridges was excited. This is his first college postseason.

He was jacked before the game started, Izzo said. This means a lot to Miles, as it does our other guys.

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But he calmed down after the first defensive stop. Defending and rebounding, thats all we needed to do to win, Bridges said. We wanted to take the fight to them. We didnt want to give in. We didnt want to give them room to breathe.

Bridges had another impressive, all-around stat line: 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, one steal and one turnover.

But this game was an example of how much he has grown as a player in ways that cant be measured by stats.

Hes starting to understand when he has a shot, where he needs to get to get a shot, assistant Mike Garland said. Hes starting to understand his advantages over his opponents, how they are playing him.

2017 Big Ten basketball tournament results, schedule

Early in the game, Bridges was far more concerned getting others involved than scoring.

He knows once Nick (Ward) gets going, it makes it easier for him, Garland said. He was trying to get him the ball, and he was doing it in an intelligent way. He wasnt forcing it. He picked his opportunities to get it in there, or when to take the shot or drive the ball. That shows a lot of growth.

Bridges is a humble superstar, a guy who might even be too nice, if thats possible. Hes just such a good kid, Izzo said.

I dont know. You can get on him, and he doesnt waver. A couple times he didnt rebound well enough. A couple times he wasnt ready to shoot. You dont have to say, Miles, will you please do this? Pamper him like a superstar. You can coach him, talk to him, tell him.

Now, lets go back to that scene in the tunnel.

Izzo told Bridges to keep this team together, to keep it focused, and that is a lesson that goes beyond this season.

Hes growing with his leadership, too, Izzo said. I told him its going to be very important for his present, his future, his long-time future. You know, I felt good how he played. ... Miles is a special guy.

The Spartans will play Minnesota, a team they have beaten twice this season.

We arent satisfied, Bridges said. They are one of the hottest teams. They got two great guards, and they explode at any minute. We have to have the same defensive mentality and rebounding mentality.

It was a smart answer, from a smart young player, who just keeps getting smarter.

Michigan State sophomores three-pointers, defense aid cause

Couch: MSU takes notable step in thumping Penn State

Lansing State Journal sports columnist Graham Couch and Detroit Free Press / LSJ MSU beat writer Chris Solari break down the Spartans' 78-51 win over Penn State and look ahead to Friday's Big Ten quarterfinal against Minnesota. Graham Couch / Lansing State Journal

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go tofreep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.

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The evolution of Michigan State basketball's Miles Bridges - Detroit Free Press

Baltusrol bunkers on No. 7 provide proof of power game evolution – Golfweek.com

Sometimes the evolution of the power game stares you right in the face. That was the case during last summers PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Clubs Lower Course in Springfield, N.J., when players at the 505-yard, par-4 seventh hole confronted three bunkers down the inside of the dogleg right hole.

Here was a golf course designed by A.W. Tillinghast in 1922, toughened by Robert Trent Jones for the 1954 U.S. Open, and in recent years revised and refined by Rees Jones over more than two decades of enhancements.

And all the evidence one needed for this lineage could be found down the right side of the seventh in the form of three yawning fairway bunkers, each one placed where the fairway turns by an architect intent on challenging elite players of the era he occupied.

The bunkers on No. 7 at Baltusrol

The first bunker in the serial formation of three was placed by Tillinghast with a carry of 235 yards from the current back tee. The second bunker, by Trent Jones, demands a carry of 265 yards to cover. The third, by Rees Jones, is 300 yards to clear. Note two qualifying points about this example: Tillinghasts original back tee was considerably shorter than the one they used in the 2016 PGA, meaning that the bunker carry in his day was closer to 200 yards. And all three bunkers were rebuilt by Jones, though in this case left exactly in place.

We wanted to respect the tradition of architecture at Baltusrol, said Rees Jones. We could have eliminated it or moved it, but thought it important to recognize its place in the evolution of the golf course.

Distance evolves. Back in the 1920s, when Tillinghast and Donald Ross were at their most productive and creative, drives carrying 200 yards were considered prodigious. This was an era of wooden shafts and golf balls that were often off center in their rotation. And swings were more arms-oriented, with the focus on hitting the center of a driver whose head was about 175 cubic centimeters compared to todays drivers of 460 cubic centimeters.

At the 1920 U.S. Open at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, long-hitting Ted Ray was considered a sensation for occasionally being able to fly the ball more than 275 yards and for driving the 320-yard, par-4 seventh hole twice during the U.S. Open. He birdied it all four rounds and won the title by one shot. He was the Jack Nicklaus of his day. Or John Daly. Or Tiger Woods.

Those pre-World War II turn points of 200 yards became 250 yards in the hands of Trent Jones who along the way lengthened and toughened such legendary championship layouts as Baltusrols Lower and Oakland

Hills Country Clubs South Course in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. At the same time he pushed fairway bunkers back and clustered them on the sides of the landing areas at lengths of 240-260 yards.

Pete Dye took those decisive points and in the 1980s pushed them back to 800 feet (267 yards). After watching Daly annihilate the turn points at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., during the 1991 PGA Championship, Dye went for 850 feet (283 yards). The whole industry followed, eventually adopting 300 yards.

Not that it proved enough for elite players. Today at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club, the set carry point for all fairway bunkers is 950 feet (317 yards) on level ground, adjusted a little shorter for uphill drives and a little longer for downhill drives.

All for good measure, as we know from PGA Tour statistics. Back in 1980, when the first comprehensive data set became available, the mean average measured drive on the PGA Tour was 256.7 yards and the longest driver (Dan Pohl) averaged 274.3 yards. In 2016, the mean average drive was 289.8 yards and the longest hitter (J.B. Holmes) averaged 314.5 yards.

Championship setups reflect this increase 12.9 percent on average drive and 14.7 percent on longest driver from 1980 to 2016. To take one example, the U.S. Open kept par 4s under 500 yards until 2006 at Winged Foots West Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., when the ninth hole measured 514 yards. Since then, par 4s exceeding 500 yards have become standard at U.S. Opens.

A strong case can be made, however, that the growth of distance and power in the game is largely confined to elite players and that its not relevant to everyday golfers, whose skills vary widely if not wildly.

Thats essentially the view of architect Tom Doak, whose iconoclastic views on golf strategy and course setup the past 30 years as both a writer and a designer helped usher in a new, alternative perspective that emphasizes the ground game and shot-making, not sheer power.

Turn points are the most overrated discussion in golf course design, Doak said. We took down the poles when we were doing Pacific Dunes (at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon). Were not building courses for touring pros, and when you watch people actually play golf, they are not there; they are 30 yards short or 20 yards right.

Besides, as he points out, even if you could get players from different tees to orient their drives to a common gathering point, theyre hitting very different clubs from there to the green. From 160 yards, its a 9-iron for a tour pro, a 5-iron for a mid-handicapper like myself and a 3-wood that wont even get there for the high-handicapper. So what you actually want to do is get the short hitter well past that point, not design from one point.

Doaks point is that simply designing for distance is self-defeating and only plays into the hands of the longest hitters. His own preference, one shared by a growing number of architects today, is to focus more on the short game, on angles and on interesting greens and surrounds.

Thats certainly been the case at recent U.S. Opens, such as Merion Golf Club, Pinehurst No. 2, Chambers Bay and Oakmont. For all the length of these courses, their main challenge has come in the form of diverse, sometimes maddening ground contours in and around the greens.

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Baltusrol bunkers on No. 7 provide proof of power game evolution - Golfweek.com

Are indoor farms the next step in the evolution of agriculture? – The Japan Times

Youve probably heard of farm-to-table, or even farm-to-fork, agricultural movements that emphasize the connection between producers and consumers. But what about factory farm-to-table?

Spread, a giant factory farm that grows lettuce in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, is just one of more than 200 plant factories in Japan capable of harvesting 20,000 heads of lettuce every day. Their lettuce, which includes frilly and pleated varieties, is grown in a totally sterile environment: Theres no soil or sunlight, no wind nor rain.

The rich, dark-brown soil in which produce has traditionally been grown is utterly alien inside the factory. Instead, the lettuce is grown hydroponically, in a nutrient-rich gelatinous substance. The vegetables grow in vertically stacked trays under LED lights timed to come on during the day and switch off at night.

The lettuce Spread grows in Kameoka which takes about 40 days from planting to harvest is packed into bags and shipped to over 2,000 supermarkets across the country. The product also makes it into airline meals, although the company wouldnt reveal which ones.

At a time when Asian countries are scrambling to deal with the surges and declines in population as well as the effects of climate change, factory farming is a burgeoning business. In Japan, for example, the number of farmers has dropped from a high of over 7 million in the 1970s to under 2 million, and today the average age of Japanese farmers is 67.

Spread, however, is about as far from the pastoral image of a vegetable farm you can imagine. While the facility, and even the concept, sounds futuristic, Spread has been growing lettuce in these conditions since 2006 at its Kameoka base.

This year, it will open another plant factory at Kansai Science City, on the borders of Kyoto, Nara and Osaka prefectures. Between the two factories the company will be able to produce 50,000 heads of lettuce each day.

What makes the new facility different is the level of automation: tasks such as raising seedlings, replanting and harvesting will be done by machines and guided by artificial intelligence, a move that will cut labor costs by 50 percent and boost profitability. In 2016, Spread was awarded a gold medal at the Edison Awards in recognition of its role in agricultural innovation.

On a recent tour of Spreads facility in Kameoka participants viewed the lettuce through an observation window, while factory manager Naohiro Oiwa communicated via telephone with a worker dressed head to toe in white protective clothing. When our products first appeared in supermarkets, plant factory-grown vegetables werent yet recognized by many people. Our sales staff had a very hard time selling them to retail stores, Oiwa said.

People wanted to know if vegetables grown without sunlight are safe to eat, he added. Spread has since assuaged some of those anxieties by emphasizing the safety of its growing environment and the quality of its crops.

It also helps that Spread can compete on cost: a bag of its lettuce sells for 198, a price the firm can maintain. Field-grown lettuce, by contrast, is subject to the vagaries of the weather, and therefore to fluctuations in price.

So-called vertical farms, such as Spreads facility in Kameoka, are also able to use water in an extremely efficient way. The company would not disclose, however, how much it spends on something that is essentially free to conventional farmers, sunlight, or, in Spreads case, LED lighting.

Spread spokeswoman Minako Ando said that the firms operations received a boost in the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake, which struck six years ago today. Amid widespread fears that traditionally grown produce could contain radioactive fallout, factory farming, which is mostly done indoors, suddenly looked like a safer option.

Its important to remember that, while Spread is at the vanguard of technological developments in farming, the history of agriculture has always been characterized by innovation in its tools.

Spread doesnt see its role as replacing farmers; it seeks to complement and support the agricultural industry as a whole, Oiwa said.

Along the way to profitability Spread started operating in the black in 2013 it has developed several patents and is now in talks with partners around the world to set up similar ventures.

With the know-how it has gathered from growing lettuce, Oiwa said, Spread could start mass-producing other vegetables, such as tomatoes, in giant plant factories in the years to come.

Michael Blodgett, an organic kale farmer in Wazuka, a picturesque tea-producing town in southern Kyoto Prefecture, echoes the notion that, when it comes to farming, innovation is nothing new. From that viewpoint, new and sustainable techniques for growing healthy vegetables are certainly welcome, Blodgett said.

He noted, however, that the type of farming he and his neighbors practice engenders a sense of community. Advice is solicited from older farmers, and at harvest time neighbors share what they bring in from the fields.

There is something special about planting seeds in the ground, taking care of the plants by weeding, watering, and love, Blodgett added.

In the near future it will increasingly be the charge of robots and AI systems to plant, weed, water and harvest the food that ends up on our table. Where exactly that leaves the farmers, or the land itself, remains to be seen.

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Are indoor farms the next step in the evolution of agriculture? - The Japan Times

Is it time for an update to evolutionary theory? – Science Weekly podcast – The Guardian

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On 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin published his seminal work On the Origin of Species, laying out what would later become the foundations of our understanding of evolution. Over 150 years later and many of Darwins ideas still underpin evolutionary theory. But a group of academics are beginning to challenge this with something they call the extended evolutionary synthesis. But is an update needed? And if so, why? More importantly, why have so many in the field branded the ideas of extended synthesis both unnecessary and counter-intuitive?

In search of answers, Nicola Davis speaks to one of key spokespeople for the extended synthesis theory, City College of New Yorks K.D. Irani professor of philosophy Massimo Pigluicci. We also hear about the potential similarities between learning theory and natural selection from the University of Southamptons Dr Richard Watson. Finally, evolutionary biologist Professor Joan Strassmann, the Charles Rebstock chair of biology at Washington University, St Louis, explains why she opposes this call for an update.

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Is it time for an update to evolutionary theory? - Science Weekly podcast - The Guardian

Optical evolution may have helped fish transition onto land – Science Recorder

While scientists have long been believed that the evolution of fins into limbs is the main reason organisms were first able to come out of the water and up onto land, a new study from researchers at Northwestern University suggests that better eyes may have been just as important.

All four-limbed vertebrates come from a group known as tetrapods. Tetrapods evolved from early fish that slowly came up out of the sea and onto land. However, they were not the first animals to make this transition. A wide range of invertebrates including arachnids, crustaceans, and insects accomplished this about 50 million years before our ancestors.

To explain this, the researchers have come up with the buenva vista theory, which states our early ancestors crawled onto land only after they evolved eyes that allowed them to see the numerous food sources existing out of the water.

Why did we come up onto land 385 million years ago? asked lead author Malcolm MacIver, professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University, in a statement. We are the first to think that vision might have something to do with it. We found a huge increase in visual capability in vertebrates just before the transition from water to land. Our hypothesis is that maybe it was seeing an unexploited cornucopia of food on land millipedes, centipedes, spiders and more that drove evolution to come up with limbs from fins.

The team came to this conclusion by looking at both the eye sockets and head length in 59 fossils dating back to the periods before, during, and after tetrapods evolved. They found that the average eye socket measured roughly 0.5 inches across before the shift and 1.4 inches after,New Atlasreports.

This is an important distinction because bigger eyes would have had no evolutionary advantage underwater. As a result, there must have been another reason the animals evolved that feature. Researchers tested this by running a number of simulations that showed larger eyes could see almost 70 times further through the air than they could in water.

In addition, eyes also moved up on the skull over time, placing them in an area where they see over the surface. This would have pushed natural selection in a way so the limbed animals that could access more food were favored.

Bigger eyes are almost worthless in water because vision is largely limited to whats directly in front of the animal, said study co-author Lars Schmitz, assistant professor of biology at the W.M. Keck Science Department. But larger eye size is very valuable when viewing through air. In evolution, it often comes down to a trade-off. Is it worth the metabolic toll to enlarge your eyes? Whats the point? Here we think the point was to be able to search out prey on land.

The team also found evidence that the transition onto land led to more developed brains. This is because, while fish have to react quickly as a result of their short visual range, better eyesight may have given land-dwelling tetrapods more ways to detect predators. Without having to spend as much time worrying about being hunted, they could have allocated more energy towards developing complex cognition.

The findingswerepublished in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Joseph Scalise is an experienced writer who has worked for many different online websites across many different mediums. While his background is mainly rooted in sports writing, he has also written and edited guides, ebooks, short stories and screenplays. In addition, he performs and writes poetry, and has won numerous contests. Joseph is a dedicated writer, sports lover and avid reader who covers all different topics, ranging from space exploration to his personal favorite science, microbiology.

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Optical evolution may have helped fish transition onto land - Science Recorder

Bont covered in glory in AFL Evolution game – AFL.com.au

Marcus Bontempelli, Chad Wingard and Isaac Heeney appear on the game cover

THE FANS have spoken and Western Bulldogs premiership prodigy Marcus Bontempelli will appear on the cover of the yet-to-be-released AFL Evolution video game.

Following a fan poll on AFL.com.au late last year, Dogs club champion Bontempelli received 23 per cent of the 128,000 votes cast by fans.

'The Bont' will be joined on the cover of AFL Evolution by Port Adelaide star Chad Wingard and Sydney youngster Isaac Heeney.

The front cover design was revealed on Thursday today by AFL licensee Tru Blu Entertainment, which is working on the production in conjunction with Wicked Witch Software.

AFL Evolution, which is scheduled to be released in the first half of the 2017 season, will be available on next-generation consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC Steam.

In December, the AFL's then commercial operations manager Darren Birch said: "AFL Evolution will deliver a unique experience for footy fans, taking them to the heart of the action in a virtual footy world."

As part of the formulation of AFL Evolution, players at all 18 clubs participated in photo shoots in which 24 cameras simultaneously photographed them to create highly detailed likenesses.

AFL Players' Association communications manager Rebecca Chitty said the players were thrilled to be involved in the project.

"This generation of AFL footballers grew up playing video games and this is an opportunity to feature in one thats sure to have footy fans highly engaged," Chitty said.

"Digital is an ever-evolving space and the players see this as just another way to grow the game by reaching out to new audiences and showcasing it on different platforms."

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Bont covered in glory in AFL Evolution game - AFL.com.au

VOTD: See the Evolution of 2D Animation from 1833 to 1990 – /FILM


/FILM
VOTD: See the Evolution of 2D Animation from 1833 to 1990
/FILM
Since motion picture cameras weren't invented until 1890s, the art of animation predates live-action filmmaking by nearly 60 years. With such a head start on motion pictures, it's incredible that it took until 1937 for animation to start getting the ...
This Mesmerising Video Shows The Evolution Of Animation Over A CenturyGizmodo Australia

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VOTD: See the Evolution of 2D Animation from 1833 to 1990 - /FILM

The evolution of CJ Cron – the hitter – Halo’s Heaven

During spring training this year, I noticed a different approach Cron was using when he walks up to the plate. At least I think its different since its hard to find much video of him from before a pitch is delivered. When Cron steps up to the plate, his legs are wide and he crouches down like hes doing a sideways deep knee bend before he comes back up to his ready stance. This got me thinking - what did Cron look like last year? How about in college? Or as a prospect? Enjoy this video journey into the evolution of C.J. Cron - the hitter.

Cron had a more narrow stance in the early days and seemed a little bit more rigid. He still had a pretty sweet swing and a lot of pop. There is a reason he was a #1 draft pick. He went to Orem in 2011 and slashed .308/.371/.629 with 13 home runs in just 34 games.

In 2012, Cron was leaning down a bit more but his stance didnt change all that much. He skipped over A ball and went right to A+ where he knocked out 27 home runs in 129 games. Rookie ball to A+ is a good jump and he seemed to handle it well.

By the time he reached AA ball and some more talented pitching, Cron looked more relaxed at the plate and opened up his stance a bit. His changes in approach at the plate from college to AA ball are pretty noticeable.

Cron had reasons to smile in his big league debut as he knocked in 3 hits and 2 RBIs during his May debut. Cron was pretty much here to stay at that point with just a few more short stints in Salt Lake. He was relaxed at the plate but still had a bit of over-eagerness.

Take a look at Crons body language here. He has a adjusted his approach at the plate at bit more and we probably wont see a lot more changes other than minor ones at this point. He looks really, really comfortable up there. Cron has 20-25 HR potential, though we havent seen it yet. Mostly because hes never had more than 116 games in one season. Crons AVG, OBP, and walks to K ratio have all improved over his 3 years in the majors. I guess the biggest question we will probably see answered this year is - has his evolution comes to its near peak - or will we see more out of him as a hitter in his age 27 season?

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The evolution of CJ Cron - the hitter - Halo's Heaven

BESE accepts updated content standards on evolution, climate change – bestofneworleans.com

This time around, the controversy over climate change was thrown in.

BESE created an 86-person volunteer committee to revise Louisiana science standards for the first time in 20 years. The committees plan would begin implementation during the 2018-2019 school year.

The standards proved a source of contentious debate among a score of witnesses particularly regarding the committees acceptance of evolution and climate change as scientific facts.

In accordance with the Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008, which allows public school teachers to use supplemental materials in the classroom that are critical of the evolutionary theories, several witnesses aired concerns about the new standards.

State Rep. Beryl Amadee, R-Houma, expressed fears of inherent bias toward evolution and climate change within the recommendations.

If you really embrace the idea that we teach the controversy, why isnt it reflected in the proposed standards? Why would you not want students to recognize other standards? Amadee asked.

Proponents of the renewed standards, however, staunchly defended the language in the original document.

Cathi Cox-Boniol, who led the standards committee, maintained the updated standards have fewer topics and more depth, which the committee believed would better expose Louisiana students to global institutionalized science.

We took everything else out of the equation and thought about the student, Cox-Boniol said, noting the committee members logged some 10,000 collective hours on the project.

Of the 86 volunteers on the committee, only one member dissented on presenting the standards package to BESEWade Warren, a biology professor at Louisiana College.

Warren said he was concerned about what he perceived as the standards apparent dogmatic presentation of Darwinian philosophy and exclusion of alternative theories.

He said he suggested adding the sentence results may differ depending on theory to one of the standards, which was rejected by fellow committee members.

The writers of the science standards did not include any of my suggested edits, Warren complained

William C. Deese, a chemistry professor at Louisiana Tech University, argued that introducing alternative theories into the science classroom would diminish students understanding of science as an institution. There is absolutely no controversy within institutionalized science about evolution and global warming, he said.

State Superintendent John White argued students deserve standards based on the latest scientific research and knowledge.

In developing Louisiana Student Standards for Science, Louisiana educators have set ambitious expectations for students who will soon be the leaders of our state and its economy, White said.

BESE approved the updated standards, with curriculum reviews set to launch as early as spring 2017. Field test assessments will be given in spring 2018.

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BESE accepts updated content standards on evolution, climate change - bestofneworleans.com

‘De-evolution Part III’ is a stunning conclusion to The Upbeats’ EP trilogy – Dancing Astronaut

The Upbeats are widelylooked upon as cornerstones of modern bass music. Their caliber of production may not be as influential as that ofNoisia, who have been able to single-handedly set trends and shape modern DnB with each passing album. Yet, The Upbeats have been at the forefront of the genre for over a decade, and show no signs of slowing their momentum. TheUpbeats havereleased over 15 albums and EPs combined, with each one further cementing their status as one of the best acts bass music has to offer.

Each of The Upbeatsalbums has offered listeners a genial experience, and a fresh perspective on the scope of their genre the hallmark of an act on top of its game. The groupslegendary collaboration with Noisia on theDead Limit EP is still regarded by many to be the best DnB releaseof 2015.

The Upbeats latest work, the De-evolution series (part one of which was initially released in April 2016), has been one of the main talking points in DnB over the pastyear, due to its ingenuity. The three-part series has finally come to its conclusion as the final six pieces of the puzzle are releasedon Vision Recordings.

Each EP has had its own unique story, taking listeners on a sonic journey throughout the various sub-genres of DnB, from serene, calming liquid, to the mind-numbing neurofunk sounds they have helped pioneer throughout their illustrious careers.

While parts one and two of the series are straight out of The Upbeats vast musical playbook, De-evolution Part IIIdeals mostly with a side of DnB not generally touched upon by the duo. Taking this factor into consideration, listening to the EP becomes a much more immersive and enjoyable experience. Thesongs on De-evolution Part IIIhavesplit personalities they can be looked upon simply as extremely well made DnB, but they also expose a much more fragile aspect. Close scrutiny reveals the finely balanced concoction of various sonic elements that definethe collection.

Eachsong in this EP is an individual masterpiece, and the entire collectioncomfortably stands head and shoulders above any other DnB release this year. De-evolutionPart IIIfalls perfectly into place with its two previous iterations, resulting in one of the New Zealanders best works yet.

The EP starts off in typical Upbeats fashion with Cauldron (Feat. Agressor Bunks). The hard-hitting neurofunk single is asensory assault, coercing listeners into a submissive trance. The trackssawing bass, growling synths, and ferocious drumsmake Cauldrona perfect selection for hardcore head-bangingthat provides an ideal foundation for the rest of the EP.

The next song Prism, shares very little common stylistic ground withthe aforementioned track. The energetic tempo of Cauldron is replaced with a thick, grimy tone in the second piece from the collection. Atmospheric vocals are scattered throughout Prism, which would be perfectly at home as a standalone Division recordings release. The impeccablydesigned bass growls, gurgles and splutters culminate in a fantastic tune, ably complemented by its subtlerelements.

If the prior two tracks provided a launch pad for the EP, Veiled and De-Evolution easily take the releaseto another level. Veiled, as previously mentioned, is easily one of the groupsbest liquid singles to date. Words can hardlydo justice to the feeling this masterstrokearouses in listeners.

De-evolution, named after the series itself, is the undoubtedly the climax of the three part project. With the titular track, The Upbeats have gone all out to create ajuggernaut that stands out above the rest of the songs on the EP. The song is a mix of two contrasting styles the first being The Upbeats signature ferocity, and the second being a showcase of their capabilities to manipulate more refined, subtler elements. The two contrasting halves of the song signify the recent change in the duosproduction technique and serve as tipping points in both the EP and The Upbeats careers.

The songs at the tail-end of the EP lean heavily towards the new, ambient style which defines the secondary portion of its eponymous track. A Place For You barely classifies as a traditional DnB song. It transcends genres, typified by the serene vocals and ethereal chord progressions. The final song, Streetlight has a starkly minimalist vibe when compared to other songson the EP a fact that it embraces with lachrymose beauty. Each component of the track mourns the ending of this gorgeous series and the track passes on this gloom to listeners with outstanding ease.

The De-evolution series has been unsurprisingly brilliant. The marathon venture is a brief reflection of The Upbeats storied voyage through the music industry. De-evolutionPart IIIis the perfect ending to this gargantuan project, undertaken by one of the staple acts of modern DnB. To fully appreciate the EP, it is imperative to look upon its insinuation, rather than just the music it encapsulates. The De-evolution series is groundbreaking, genre-defining and utterly spellbinding.

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'De-evolution Part III' is a stunning conclusion to The Upbeats' EP trilogy - Dancing Astronaut

Centerra Gold, Evolution Mining were lowest-cost gold producers in … – MINING.com

S&P Intelligence report ranked 19 top publicly-listed gold companies according to all-in-sustaining costs (AISC)

One of the effects of the hit the gold price took after soaring to $1,900 an ounce in September 2011, was a concentrated effort on the part of producers to cut costs.

For years big gold mining companies kept on spending, on exploration, salaries, and big acquisitions, confident that the good times would keep rolling with the ever-advancing gold price. Those companies were in for a rude awakening when shareholders dumped them in droves following the gold price retracement of 2012-15. Suddenlyacquisitions were put on hold, exploration spending dried up, and the mantra became: find ways to cut costs.

S&P Global Market Intelligence took a look at 19 publicly-listed, major gold companies in the last quarter of 2016, and found that for most of them, austerity continues to be key,especially with the gold price trending lower in Q4. Recall that gold bears were predicting that Donald Trump's plans for fiscal stimulus, including a $500 billion infrastructure spending program, would lead to strong U.S. economic expansion, ergo, higher interest rates the nemesis of gold.

According toSNL Metals & Mining database, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, the top 19 public gold companies produced gold at a weighted-average cost of US$868/oz, which is slightly lower than US$889/oz reported in the third quarter.

The lowest-cost producer, Centerra Gold (TSX:CG), mines gold at $586 an ounce, while the second-lowest in the group, ASX-listed Evolution Mining (ASX-EVN), produces at $674/oz. Barrick Gold(TSX, NYSE:ABX), the world's most valuable producer of the precious metal, was third on the list at $732 an ounce. Barrick's costs have dropped 12% in 2016, compared to 2015.

Topping the higher-cost end of the spectrum was Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY), which weighed in at$1,129/oz, followed byDetour Gold (TSX:DGF) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), which had AISCs of $1,124/oz and US$1,047/oz, respectively.

Some highlights fromSNL Metals & Mining:

According to Scott Perry, Centerra's CEO, the company's favorable cost performance during 2016 can be attributed to the higher mill production and lower unit costs at the company's flagship Kumtor mine, compared with the previous year.

The acquisition of an economic interest in the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine in Queensland in November 2016 improved [Evolution Mining's]quarterly production by adding 14,257 oz of gold at AISC of A$114/oz. The acquisition is expected to further revamp the group's asset portfolio and improve its cost profile.

[Barrick] continued to strengthen its balance sheet, cutting debt and executing business development initiatives throughout the year. Continuing the trend, the company recently announced that it was consolidating its main assets in Nevada and expects to reduce gold production costs at its operations by US$100/oz.

According to Harmony's CEO, Peter Steenkamp, the 14% increase in all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) can be attributed to the labor cost increase under a three-year wage deal and to the winter tariffs during the period.

Read the full report here

Related: 10 mines still makinggood money if the gold price falls 50%

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Centerra Gold, Evolution Mining were lowest-cost gold producers in ... - MINING.com

Evolution and aging – Plattsburgh Press Republican

PLATTSBURGH The true definition of aging, according toPlattsburgh State Associate Biology Professor Dr. Joel Parker,is determined by a populations overall mortality rate.

Humans develop as children, then the mortality rate flatlines in their 20s and 30s.

This age is as mortal as you are ever going to get," Parker shared inDeath and Darwin: Why Evolution Does Not Save Us From Agingat the firstScience@30City event of the season at the Champlain Wine Company in Plattsburgh.

Once a human sees his or her 30s, they begin the aging process, he later explained.

I dont think everyone knows that really, lecture attendee Dina Hurwitz said. They didnt even here, so I thought that was pretty interesting.

Parker, who was there to discussthe impacts genetics and evolution have on aging,began his talk by stumping the audience with questions about the aging process. He presented a time-lapsed photo of a child changing into a middle-aged and then elderly woman, asking the audience at which stage of the photos the aging process began.

Parker aScience@30Cityco-founder continued his talk by outlining the different elements of aging and the impact of studies perfected by Charles Darwin, such as natural selection. Parker said the selection process only works on the living.

Something is going to get you, he said of inevitable death; human civilization has moved the selective shadow, but evolution has not yet caught up.

He also demonstrated geologic time, or the clock analogy by creating a proportional timeline of Earths lifespan relative to the development of civilization. Of the 316 miles from the present day Champlain Wine Company to the beginning of time, Ellis Island humans only developed, relative to the timeline, a few blocks away on Oak Street.

Parker discussed various theories on aging and evolution as well, such as the free radical theory, which Parker claimed has ironically died, or been proven inaccurate, and the Telomere Theory of Aging, which explains the shortening and dividing of telomeres found in DNA.

I kicked this off with aging last year, and I think its something that happens to everybody, so it relates to people and so I thought it was a really good one, Parker said of the lecture.

Science@30City is a series of scientific lectures open to the local community; thisfirst lecture of the spring sessions attracted around two-dozen local residents and students of various ages.

The program began in fall 2015after Parker and friend and Champlain Wine Company co-owner Colin Read noticed a disconnect between the SUNY Plattsburgh campus and the city. Parker said these lectures are beneficial for both the college and surrounding area because it brings them together for real conversations in an off-campus environment.

The project turned into a collaborative effort between Parker, his wife, Karen, and Read and his wife, Natalie Peck.

Peck, who co-owns Champlain Wine Company, said the crowds have been more interested in listening to and speaking at the lectures since the series began.

As a part of our community focus at the Champlain Wine Company, its something that weve really been looking to do to bring not just people from the college but other experts in the area in and just talk about things that they know about for interested people."

IF YOU GO

Each lecture is free and open to the public. Sessions are held at 30 City Hall Place. Most sessions are on the first and third Monday of each month. All begin at 5:30 p.m.

The next four sessions this semester are:

Monday, March 20: Astronomy and Cosmology at 30 City with Herb Carpenter, lecturer in the School of Business and Economics.

Monday, April 3: Danger and Research in a Mexican Sulfur Cave, with Dr. Kathleen Lavoie, professor, biological sciences.

Monday, April 17: How the Sioux Holy Man Black Elk Taught the Science of Electromagnetism, with Jeff Cochran.

Monday, May 1: Dementia Caregiver Support in the North Country, with Dr. Richard Durant, director, Center for Neurobehavioral Health.

For more information, contact Dr. Joel Parker, associate professor of biology, at 564-5279 or joel.parker@plattsburgh.edu.

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Evolution and aging - Plattsburgh Press Republican

Dimple 2.0: Evolution of a bahu into a star campaigner – Hindustan Times

Dimple Yadav had a faltered entry in politics. Her first scripted speech in Lok Sabha was such a disaster that it went viral on YouTube as Dimple Yadavs hilarious mistakes in Parliament.

Dimple fumbled a dozen times, apparently for her inexperience in public speaking. BJP leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy, sitting behind her, chuckled but stood up to appreciate her and congratulate Mulayam Singh Yadavji for his bahus speech.

But thats history.

The 2017 assembly election is Uttar Pradesh has seen Dimple emerge as the star campaigner of Samajwadi Party. She has also commanded more spotlight than many seasoned leaders across political parties.

Now, she draws more crowd than me, more applause than me, her husband and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said. He is not exaggerating.

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Dimple, 39, wasnt just the top woman campaigner, leaving former CM and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati behind in election tours and rallies. She also took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and turned Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shahs metaphorical Kasab, an acronym for the Hindi pronunciation of Congress-SP-BSP, on its head.

Her version of Kasab, underlining peaceful coexistence, prevented Shah from using it often while Akhilesh borrowed it for his rallies.

Admirers say Dimple doesnt read out anymore. At every rally venue, she spoke eloquently and impromptu, using her hand gestures and eye movements to good effect.

Her evolution has not escaped YouTube, which is now flooded with videos that show her as a skilled politician, drawing cheers, claps and slogans such as Dimple bhabhi, jeet ki chabhi (Sister-in-law Dimple is the key to victory).

Dimple hasnt had the best of starts in politics. In 2009, she lost the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat, vacated by Akhilesh, to Congress Raj Babbar. But she won the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat, also vacated by Akhilesh, without a contest in 2012.

Today, she has virtually made the red SP cap a fashion statement after putting it on for the first time during the release of the party manifesto for 2017.

Dimple Rawat and Akhilesh Yadav met at a party in 1995 and love blossomed. This was shortly before Akhilesh left for Australia for higher technical studies. They married in November 1999.

Months after, Akhilesh won his first Lok Sabha election, a by-poll for the Kannauj seat. Dimple chose to be a genteel Yadav bahu as Akhileshs stature in the party rose.

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Till February 8, 2017, Dimple had campaigned only for herself first in Firozabad and then in Kannauj in 2012 and never addressed an election rally. She came out after Akhilesh won the family feud and overshadowed party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. She addressed about 55 rallies from the very first of the seven-phase polls.

Her first campaign for a party candidate, on February 8, was meticulously planned. Akhilesh made party MP Jaya Bachchan introduce Dimple at a rally for Anshu Rani Nishad, the partys candidate for Bah (Agra). Dimple took over after Bachchan said: Dimple is your daughter-in-law, and gift her victory.

Her campaign ended with a special appearance during Akhilesh-Rahul Gandhis joint rath yatra through the streets of Varanasi. She turned out to be the main crowd-puller, this quality attributed to her charisma and refined vocabulary.

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Dimple 2.0: Evolution of a bahu into a star campaigner - Hindustan Times