Daily Archives: August 29, 2022

The city of Tyler will continue the extension of the Legacy Trail in fiscal year 2022-23.

Phase II of the project will add 2.2 miles of trail, according to the city 1.7 miles of shared-use path and .5 miles of sidewalks.

The extension will be paid for by the Half Cent Sales Tax Fund program for 2022-23.

City Traffic Engineer Cameron Williams said the new portion of the Legacy Trail will extend from Stewart Park to Peete Elementary School. It will travel up through W.E. Winters Park.

The master plan for Legacy Trail has a goal of taking trail users all the way from south Tyler near Toll 49 in Flint up to the Rose Garden. Phase II of the project is only a small portion of the whole, Williams said.

It will take more than a few years, but this is just another piece of the puzzle, he said.

The first phase of the trailopened in July 2019. This portion is 4.5 miles of 10-foot wide concrete paths on the eastern and western side of Old Jacksonville Highway. The trail begins in the Flint area and goes up to the Three Lakes and Grande area, Williamssaid.

The Legacy Trail provides community members a better quality of life and offers a different mode of travel.

Improving that quality of life of Tyler is one of the focuses of the Legacy Trail project giving people different options so you don't have to ride your vehicle all over town, Williamssaid. You can get from one place to another and get outside and enjoy the fresh air and the pretty surroundings that we have here in Tyler.

The city is working with a consultant to survey the area and create a design plan for the new portion of the trail. This study is estimated to cost $354,000 and be completed by February 2023, according to the city.

The design portion of the project is fully funded by the city's Half Cent Sales Tax program, Williams said.

Construction of the trail is anticipated to cost $3.5 million and is expected to be completed in fall 2023.

Eighty percent of the project will be federally funded through a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation through the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program. The remaining cost plus any overruns will be paid for by the city.

Along with the Legacy Trail project, numerous other projects are included in The Half Cent Sales Tax annual work plan. The public has until Oct. 17 to offer comments on the plan.

Residents can provide comments on the work plan by calling (903) 531-1126, by mail to City of Tyler, Half-Cent Sales Tax Manager, 511 W. Locust St., Tyler, TX 75710 or online at tinyurl.com/2s4bu54z .

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Extension of Legacy Trail in Tyler to continue - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Donna Krug is the District Director and Family and Consumer Science Agent for K-State Research and Extension Cottonwood District.

The past10 days havebeena whirlwind of activity. Our Program Development Committee met to welcome Monique, our new Family and Community Wellness agent in the Hays office. Conversation was lively as we planned forsomeissue-basedprogramming in the months ahead.Then three days onour K-Statecampus participating in an agent update reinforced the important work we doin Extensionrelated to health and wellness in our communities.

We have all heard ita lot.The pandemic changed the way we do business. A hiring freeze with K-State Research and Extensionwas liftedlate last year so many of the open Family and Community Wellness positions have been filled.There was good energy among the newhiresat our conferenceand I loved it.I found out that many of them have an interest in some of the things I ampassionateabout. As my Extension career winds down and I retire early next year,I have a full schedule of classes and workshops to lead.

The fermentation workshop I mentioned in last weeks column now has a waiting list, so I am hoping to offer another session later this fall.Severalcolleagues at K-State asked if I wouldprovide a train the trainer workshop for them to learn about fermentation so that is also in the works.

Then there is the signature program I have enjoyed teaching since Iwas trainedin 2012; Stay Strong Stay Healthy. This eight-week programis designedto help older adults improve their strength,flexibility,and balance. When our class starts the last week of September,wellbe missing Reta Brack, who passed away this summer. Reta sat in the front row of every SSSH class I led, and likemanyof the other participants, enjoyed the socialization as much as the exercises.To register for the last Stay Strong Stay Healthy workshop that I will be leading, you will want to call our office to reserve your spot. The cost is $20 and class sizeislimited.

I will be leading a one-hour Medicare Update at our Great Bend activity center on October 12th. As more people become eligible for Medicare it isa good timeto review the basic parts of Medicare. My husband John, and I will also beproviding appointments during open enrollment (October 15 December 7) to help people review their prescription drug plan in either the Great Bend or Hays offices.

Besidesthe face-to-faceprogramsthat Extension iswell-known for,watch our CottonwoodDistrict website andFacebook page for messages and links to on-line learning resources that you cantake advantage whenever you havea fewspare moments.

Who would have guessed that when my Extension career started in Barton County in July 1989 (and I typed my column on a typewriter) that I would be talking about websites,internet links, and Zoom meetingsin 2022? Whilea lothas changed technology wise, a lot remains the same.K-State Research and Extensionand the Cottonwood Districtstill want to be your go-to source forresearch-basedinformation tohelp improve your life!

Donna Krug is the District Director and Family and Consumer Science Agent for K-State Research and Extension Cottonwood District. You may reach her at (620)792-1910 or[emailprotected]

See the article here:

KRUG: Extension learning opportunities around the corner - Hays Post

Kenneth Williams August 28, 2022 12:18 pm

Half-Life 2 is still a hallmark in gaming and VR fans will be able to experience the classic from an entirely new perspective.

A new page advertising an official VR mod for Half-Life 2 has gone live on the Steam store. The product advertises the complete Half-Life 2 experience translated to virtual reality, including vehicles and the gravity gun. However, this new feature is not being made by Valve. Heres more info on the exciting VR release and why Valve chose not to produce it in-house.

With this mod, players will be able to go through the entire campaign of Half-Life 2 in VR as Gordon Freeman. Melee weapons like the crowbar are easy to translate to VR, but the iconic physics systems of the game may be more difficult. The mod is currently set for a September 16 release date, though players will need to own the normal version of Half-Life 2 in order to play it in VR.

Assuming it runs on SteamVR, any headset capable of connecting to Steam will be able to run it. That includes Valves own Vive and Index as well as rival companies hardware.

The mod is being developed and published by the Source VR Mod Team. Despite its official-sounding name, the team is actually a collective of Valve fans working to transfer classic titles to virtual reality. The Steam page did not mention if they plan to tackle any of Half-Life 2s DLCs or spinoffs. If the base game is a success, its easy to imagine other installments getting similar treatment.

Once the Half-Life 2 VR mod launches on September 16, gamers will be able to download the Half-Life 2 VR mod directly from the Steam store.

Unlike most mods, which are distributed through third-party websites and clients, Valve is giving the VR version of its beloved classic its own Steam page. As for distribution, players will be able to download it the same as any other workshop content. The store page also indicates that it could work as a separate download. Either way, its best to have Half-Life 2 and SteamVR already installed when September 16 rolls around.

It may seem strange that Valve is outsourcing an official version of Half-Life 2 in VR, but its actually par for the course with the developer.

Project Mesa is a massive remake of the original Half-Life with updated graphics and massive gameplay changes. Some downloadable content for the Portal series was also made by the community. Theres also the poorly received standalone game Hunt Down The Freeman, but the system has clearly gotten better in recent years.

As an extension of this philosophy, Valve also outsources its cosmetic creations to game communities. Both Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 have workshops where players vote on skins made by fans that can eventually be added to the game. A VR mod for one of its most iconic titles is a stretch, but with Valve approving it, this will likely be a high-quality release.

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Half-Life 2 VR is coming, here's how you can get it - Win.gg

Further proof that Dean Kamen, who supports United Therapeutics, and Dr. Rothblatt, are kindred spirits, is Rothblatts work on developing a solar-powered helicopter. The idea came to her when she realized the considerable carbon footprint of transporting organs for transplant. The Unisphere, United Therapeutics office in Silver Springs, is net-zero carbon.

United Therapeutics quests to both save and prolong life fall into two categories: genetically modified pig organs and the printing of human organs.

Pig heart valves have been used in surgery for a number of years but United Therapeutics performed the first genetically-modified pig heart transplant to 57-year-old David Bennett in January. The patient, who fully knew this was a last-ditch effort to save his life, lived six weeks.

A compliment to this is the life extension of over 250 people through lung transplants. These lungs were from deceased humans, essentially bio waste as they were in compromised condition, and were sent to the Mayo Clinic to be cleaned and brought back to life before transplant.

The second effort is the printing of human organs.

A June 6 press release from the public benefit company read: In partnership with 3D Systems Corporation, it [United Therapeutics] has produced the worlds most complex 3D printed object-a human lung scaffold-and demonstrated it at the LIFE ITSELF conference in San Diego.

The entire printed lung, which Rothblatt showed during a CNN Health interview at the conference, has 4,000 kilometers of pulmonary capillaries and eight billion cells.

There are 106,000 people on the organ transplant list. Living donors provide 6,000 organs a year, while deceased donors provide 8,000. Every day 17 people die waiting for a transplant, and that is with approximately one-half of all Americans registered as organ donors.

Originally posted here:

Transplant technology: United Therapeutics 3D-printing of human organs focused on every breath you take - Manchester Ink Link

The greatest female athlete of all timecheck that: perhaps the greatest athlete of all timehas been thinking a lot about the reason shes vowed to hang up her racket for good.

Olympia doesnt like when I play tennis, Serena Williams says plainly about her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. When Williams told Olympia, who turns 5 on Sept. 1, that she was soon to be done with the life that made her an inspiration to millions, Olympias reply was as joyful as her mothers celebrations after so many Grand Slam wins: a fist-pumping Yes!

That kind of makes me sad, says Williams, leaning forward in her chair in the library of a New York City hotel. And brings anxiety to my heart. No kid understands their parents absence. But Williams has spent the last few years of her incomparable career tormented by what shes been sacrificing in order to keep going. Its hard to completely commit, says Williams, when your flesh and blood is saying, Aw.

Photograph by Paola Kudacki for TIME

Olympia would also like to be a big sister. One day in August, she blew on a dandelion, wishing for a baby sister. This is what I have to deal with, on a daily, Williams says, with the commiseration familiar to all parents of young kids. And yet choosing this path requires a calculus that superstar fathers dont have to make. Tom Brady, father of three, can retire and unretire at 44; LeBron James, father of three, can sign a two-year, $97.1 million contract extension at 37. It comes to a point where women sometimes have to make different choices than men, if they want to raise a family, says Williams, who turns 41 in late September. Its just black and white. You make a choice or you dont.

Biology may have forced her hand, but Williams insists shes at peace with her decision. There is no anger, she says. Im ready for the transition. Shes thought about whats next, without knowing how it will feel. Williams will re-direct her curiosity and drive into her investment firm, Serena Ventures. Shell kindle her spiritual life. Shell evolve as a mom. I think Im good at it, she says of parenthood. But I want to explore if I can be great at it.

Greatness is something she knows well. No tennis player, male or female, has won more major championships in the Open Erathe period starting in 1968 when the Grand Slam tournaments allowed professionalsthan Serena Williams. (Australias Margaret Court owns the all-time record, with 24 Grand Slams.) Williams earned 10 of those 23 titles after the age of 30, a time when most players retire or plummet in the rankings. But for all that Williams accomplished on the court, its what she has meant off the court that makes her the most consequential athlete of the 21st century, full stop. She, along with older sister Venus, took over a country-club sport with resistance to a pair of Black sisters from Compton, Calif., baked into its DNA. She helped change behavioral expectations for female athletes, and by extension women in all workplaces, by exuding power and passionand bringing her full selfto her hard-court office. She rewrote the book on body image. When pundits, racists, and no small number of idiots slurred her physical appearance or laughed her off as masculine, she doubled down on photo shoots and flexes.

Her very being sparked a multitude of crucial conversations. In 2018, her run to the Wimbledon finalmonths after Olympias delivery led to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism and hematoma that required multiple surgeriesinspired millions of moms. But that chatter shifted, in an instant. On a September afternoon, a male umpire penalized Williams at a key moment in the U.S. Open final, for a verbal outburst. She argued that men got away with much worse. Serena lost to Naomi Osaka, and the fallout prompted debates about decorum, fair play, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, letter of the law, spirit of the law, and unconscious biases.

All from a Serena Williams tennis match.

Osaka, who has since won three more Grand Slams, never would have picked up a tennis racket if it werent for Williams. I remember as a kid watching in awe, and I was so happy to be seeing a strong Black woman on my screen, she tells TIME. Even though she is retiring, her legacy definitely lives on through Coco [Gauff], Sloane [Stephens], Madison [Keys], and other women of color at the top of their game. Serena is unequivocally the best athlete ever. Forget female athlete, I mean athlete. No one else has changed her sport as much as she did and against all odds.

When informed of Osakas comment during our late-August conversation in New York, Williams demurs when the talk turns to being the GOAT. That is, up to a point.

I dont know any other person that has won a Grand Slam or a championship in the NBA or anything else nine weeks pregnant, she says. She laughs, a habit when she wants to make a serious point. A two-week event. That tournament, I relied on my brain. An athlete isnt just about what an animal you are physically, like a specimen. Its using everything. Your mind, your body, everything. And doing that for 20 years. And doing it against people that come against you and play the best game of their life. Every single time.

You can come to your own conclusion after that.

The Williams sisters backstory is filled with tales of their competitive exploits. There was a rage, a burning desire that Ive never seen in two little girls, ever, says Rick Macci, one of Venus and Serenas earliest coaches. And I havent seen to this day.

Richard Williams genius was that while many tennis dads suffocate their children, he nurtured their talent while encouraging them to be kids. On rainy days at Maccis Florida training facility, theyd study in his office. Richard kept them off the junior circuit, on the advice of absolutely no one. After they faced Hall of Fame legends Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals in an exhibition doubles match, Macci heard both sisters complimenting their own performances. He turned around. Venus, 11, and Serena, 10, were talking to a doll.

Richard Williams with daughters Serena, right, and Venus in 1991 in Compton, Calif.

Paul HarrisOnline USA/Getty Images

Childlike curiosity intact, the sisters went on to learn multiple languages and diversify their interests. Serena has dabbled in finance, fashion, acting, and film production; shes on track to be the first female athlete to become a billionaire. Early in her career, she faced criticism for moonlighting outside of tennis. She was supposedly unfocused, distracted. She again rewrote the rules. Expanding her palette prevented the burnout that previously plagued so many players. No woman has won more big matches in her later years.

Williams conquered her first major, the 1999 U.S. Open, at 17. It really was a different mentality of tennis, says Chris Evert, the 18-time major champion. Go for everything. When youre under pressure, youre more aggressive. Serena and Venus wore braids with beads in those early years on tour. Even this seemingly small fashion choice carried meaning. The tennis world was not accustomed to seeing Black girls show up adorned in styles reflecting their African American cultural heritage, as opposed to wearing styles that blended in, says Tera Hunter, a professor of African American studies at Princeton University.

Serena raisesthe 1999 U.S. Open championship trophy, her first major win. Shewas 17

Ron C. AngleGetty Images

Around this time, Williams met Kelly Rowland, of the pop supergroup Destinys Child, after a concert. She invited Rowland to come to a match. Im going to be really good, Serena vowed. As soon as she said that, I was struck by her, says Rowland. She remembers sitting in Serenas box during a match when she was down a set. You feel an energy shift, says Rowland. Somethings about to happen. Its watching her get upset, like we do as people, and then understanding she had to calm herself down. It was her having this controlled kind of space she had made for herself. And then it was about her dominating. And it was so unapologetic. It wasnt anything she had to say. It was like, Im about to take back whats mine. I needed that at that moment. It fed me.

It wasnt just women who were taking cues from the Williams sisters. An aspiring young race-car driver named Lewis Hamilton tuned in to Venus and Serenas matches from a public housing complex north of London. They were the two most inspiring sports figures for me, Hamilton tells TIME. Especially growing up in my sport, where Im the only person of color, seeing these two prominent figures, also the only people of color, really gave me a lot of confidence that I can do something similar. Its not impossible. Hamilton, winner of seven Formula One titlestied for the most in historyhas also bonded with Serena. She carries a small microphone in her handbag when they go out, for impromptu karaoke.

Over a quarter-century on tour, Williams has had her share of downturns. She suffered knee, ankle, shoulder, foot, hamstring, and Achilles injuries. She grieved the death of older sister Yetunde Price, who was killed in a 2003 shooting, in a case of mistaken identity. She was vilified at the 2009 U.S. Open for threatening a lineswoman after a foot-fault call. Williams apologized. And then she won two more Slams the next year.

In February 2011, Williams was supposed to fly from Los Angeles to New York City, before going off to London for a fashion show. She canceled plans at the last minute, choosing to hang out with Venus instead. That night, she checked into a hospital with breathing difficulties: she suffered a pulmonary embolism and had blood clotting in her lungs. If she had been stuck on a cross-country flight, Williams believes she more than likely would have died. She thought shed never play tennis again. Ten more Grand Slams followed.

When Williams found out she was pregnant right before the 2017 Australian Open, she played on with little hesitation. Athletes understand their bodies a million times better than the rest of us, says her husband Alexis Ohanian, the venture-capital investor who co-founded Reddit. Even though the doctor was like, Youve got to take it easy, 100 heat, yadda, yadda, yadda, Serena said, I got this. As long as she was confident, I was confident. Serena told her husband that she didnt drop a set the entire tournament because she knew it was best to get off the court quickly, for the babys sake. The victory broke Steffi Grafs Open Era record for major titles.

Beating Maria Sharapova for Olympic Gold in 2012 at Wimbledonwhere she won seven singles titles

MediaNews Group/Bay Area New/Getty Images

Serena beat Venus at the 2017 Aussie Open, for an Open-Era record 23 majors. She won while pregnant

Clive BrunskillGetty Images

Read more: Serena Williams Opens Up About Her Complicated Comeback, Motherhood and Making Time to Be Selfish

Allyson Felix was among those watching. The Olympic gold medalist discovered she was pregnant the next year, in 2018; she continued training and competing. Like Williams, Felix had a life-threatening delivery of her daughter: after developing preeclampsia. Felix watched as Williams grinded her way back, ascending to the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in the year after Olympia was born. Felix charted a similar path. At the Tokyo Olympics, at 35, Felix won bronze in the 400-m and a relay gold to become the most decorated female Olympic track-and-field athlete in history, and pass Carl Lewis for the most Olympic track-and-field medals won by an American. I was heavily influenced by her experience and the comeback, says Felix. Heres the ultimate example that it can be done.

As her career extended, Williams publicly embraced causes she had long valued privately. In 2015, she again played at Indian Wells, the prominent Southern California tournament she had boycotted since 2001 after feeling an undercurrent of racist jeering. (Fans were angry that Venus pulled out of a semifinal against Serena with an injury; they were convinced that Richard had engineered that outcome.) As part of her return, Williams helped raise money for the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to racial justice and fighting mass incarceration. Serenas not just taking punches, she punches back, says Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza. Shes showing us that its important to belong to yourself. And ultimately, that is a motto that I hold, and I know thats one that she lives.

Rowland gets emotional when asked to try to describe her friends influence on the world. For a young Black girl, to have survived the spaces where she wasnt welcomed, she stood with pride, says Rowland. She represented for all of us, when we couldnt do it. She made it OK. Claim your space. Even when theyre calling you words youd never answer to. You cant hear it. Dont hear it. Im sure that was a very scary place to be. But to do it, and youre the first to do it, the way you do it, with our own unique way, with style and with grace and unapologetic of your greatness, Rowland says, choking back tears. That took some f-cking guts.

Its been too long a road for Williams to shy away from what shes done. She owns it. Deservedly. Unapologetically. And its rooted in what she knows she and her sister have meant to the sport that they both shaped and were shaped by. We changed the game of tennis, Williams says. We changed how people play, period. People never attacked. People never took balls early. People never served like this. People never had to play so hard to beat two Black girls from Compton.

Off the court, shes helped transform beauty standardsoften in the face of crass scrutiny and racist tropes. A lot of people feel theyre not pretty or theyre not cute enough because their skin is dark, she says. But she insists she never felt that way, despite all the shots directed her way. I think people could feel my confidence, because I was always told, You look great. Be Black and be proud. There were too few prominent examples in mainstream sports before Venus and Serenaand few who won so regularly and defiantly. Giving them that confidence, that motivation, is something that has literally never been done, says Williams. You dont let the world decide beauty. And me being thicker or whatever, I mean, curves are popular now. Butts are popular. Im trying to lose mine, and people are trying to get mine.

Sharing a moment with daughter Olympia in 2020, after winning a tournament in Auckland

Hannah PetersGetty Images

Knowing insight delivered in a self-deprecating package is a Williams signature. But press a little and she states plainly what she believes her legacy is. Confidence and self-belief, Williams says. And teaching other Black kids, in particular Black girls, they can do it too. She lists the current top Black players on the pro tourlike Osaka and Gauff and Stephenswho represent the emergent generation. No one has ever been able to tell such an inspiring, authentic story, she says. You live through my mistakes. You live through my ups, you live through my downs. The surgeries, and the comebacks. And its also a tale of never letting anyone write your story. A lot of people can relate to that. Always be authentically you. Own who you are. And love you. Its a big tale of self-love.

Read more: Serena Williams: 100 Women of the Year

She laughs. In her final days as a pro tennis player, she also shed some tears. She bawled while working on her Aug. 9 Vogue essay announcing her imminent farewell. Walking away from the game youve spent your life mastering is complicated. And its not to say she wont decide to pick up a racket again one day. But her next chapter isnt about finding 5 oclock somewhere. Serena Ventures has invested in more than a dozen companies now worth more than $1 billion, including Master-Class, Impossible Foods, and Tonal. Nearly 80% of the companies in the firms portfolio were founded by women or people of color. Its not that Ive lost my passion for tennis, Williams says. I just get more love and more joy out of what I do in the VC space.

But expanding her family is paramount. I cant imagine my life without my sisters, she says. When I look at Olympia, Im really not performing at my peak, by not trying harder to give her that sibling. Coming from a big family, and coming from five, theres nothing better.

As Williams prepped for the U.S. Open, she felt her game finally coming along after such a long layoff. Before Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round, Williams hadnt played in a year because of a hamstring injury. The progress is bittersweet. I can see my improvement, and Im like, Dang, Ill be good in January, she says. Once the Australian Open comes along, she might pine for another trip down under. Im already thinking that, Williams says. But would she go? Im not doing that, she insists.

So this is it. One last dance in New York City. One final message to millions. Thank you so much, she says. I am so overwhelmed. Its just been an incredible, incredible ride, and Im so happy that you guys are on it with me. Williams stops, nods, brings her hands together, in the blessed position. And I love you.

With reporting by Mariah Espada and Julia Zorthian

Styled by Kesha McLeod; hair by Dhairius; make-up by Nadia Tayeh

More Must-Read Stories From TIME

Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com.

Excerpt from:

Serena Williams Interview on Leaving Tennis and Her Legacy - TIME

As the planet heats up, many marine plants and animals are moving locations to keep pace with their preferred temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, this means species are setting up home further south.

This shift alters what we see when we go snorkelling, and when and where we catch our seafood. Crucially, it also changes sensitive marine ecosystems.

But its not always easy for scientists to know exactly whats happening below the oceans surface. To help tackle this, we examined tens of thousands of photographs taken by Australian fishers and divers submitted to citizen science programs over the last decade.

They revealed climate change is already disrupting the structure and function of our marine ecosystems sometimes in ways previously unknown to marine scientists.

Warming over the Pacific Ocean has strengthened the East Australian Current over the past several decades, as the below-right animation shows. This has caused waters off Southeast Australia to warm at almost four times the global average.

There is already irrefutable evidence climate change is causing marine species to move. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for conservation, fisheries management and human health.

For example, if fish susceptible to carrying toxins start turning up where you go fishing, youd want to know. And if an endangered species moves somewhere new, we need to know so we can protect it.

But the sheer scale of the Australian coastline means scientists cant monitor changes in all areas. Thats where the public can help.

Fishers, snorkelers and divers often routinely visit the same place over time. Many develop strong knowledge of species found in a given area.

When a new or unusual species appears in their patch, these members of the public can excel at detecting it. So our project set out to tap into this invaluable community knowledge.

Read more: Climate-driven species on the move are changing (almost) everything

The Redmap citizen science project began in Tasmania in 2009 and went national in 2012. It invites the public to share sightings of marine species uncommon in their area.

Redmap stands for Range Extension Database and Mapping project. Redmap members use their local knowledge to help monitor Australias vast coastline. When something unusual for a given location is spotted, fishers and divers can upload a photo with location and size information.

The photos are then verified by a network of almost 100 marine scientists around Australia. Single observations cannot tell us much. But over time, the data can be used to map which species may be extending their range further south.

The project is supported by the University of Tasmanias Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, together with other Australian universities and a range of Commonwealth and state-government bodies.

Read more: Warming oceans are changing Australia's fishing industry

We also examined data from two other national marine citizen science programs: Reef Life Survey and iNaturalist Australasian Fishes Project. The resulting dataset encompassed ten years of photographed species observations made by almost 500 fishers, divers, snorkelers, spearfishers and beachcombers.

The citizen scientists recorded 77 species further south than where they lived a decade ago. Many were observed at their new location over multiple years and even in cooler months.

For example, spearfisher Derrick Cruz got a surprise in 2015 when he saw a coral trout swimming through a temperate kelp forest in his local waters off Sydney, much further south than hed seen before. He submitted the below photo to Redmap, which was then verified by a scientist.

Citizen scientists using Redmap were also the first to spot the gloomy octopus off Tasmania in 2012. Subsequent genetic studies confirmed the species rapid extension into Tasmanian waters.

Similarly, solo eastern rock lobsters have been turning up in Tasmania for some time. But Redmap sightings recorded dozens of individuals living together in a den, which had not been observed previously.

Other species recorded by citizen scientists moving south include the spine-cheek clownfish, Moorish idol and tiger sharks.

Using the citizen science data, we produced a report outlining the assessment methods underpinning our study. Weve also produced detailed state-based report cards for Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales, where coastal waters are warming much faster than the global average.

We also generated a map of the species shifts this revealed, and a downloadable poster summarising the findings. This allows the public including those who contributed data to see at a glance how climate change is affecting our oceans.

Citizen science has benefits beyond helping us understand changes in natural systems. Projects such as Redmap open up a community conversation about the impacts of climate change in Australias marine environment - using the publics own knowledge and photos.

Our research suggests this method engages the community and helps get people involved in documenting and understanding the problems facing our oceans and coasts.

A better understanding by both scientists and the public will help ensure healthy ecosystems, strong conservation and thriving fisheries in future.

Read more: How you can help scientists track how marine life reacts to climate change

Read more:

Thousands of photos captured by everyday Australians reveal the secrets of our marine life as oceans warm - The Conversation

ALEJANDRO VARELA is a writer based in New York. His work has appeared in The Point, Boston Review, Harpers, The Rumpus, Joyland, The Brooklyn Rail, The Offing, Blunderbuss, Southampton Review, and The New Republic, among other venues, and has received honorable mention from Glimmer Train Press. He is a 2019 Jerome Fellow in Literature, a former resident in the Lower Manhattan Cultural Councils 201718 Workspace program, and a 2017 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Nonfiction. Varela was an associate editor at Apogee Journal from 2015 to 2020. His graduate studies were in public health. His debut novel, The Town of Babylon, was published by Astra House in March 2022, and his second book, The People Who Report More Stress, is forthcoming from Astra House in 2023.

In The Town of Babylon, we meet Andrs, a public health professor who returns home to care for his ailing father. Reeling from his husbands recent infidelity and with nothing else to do, Andrs decides to attend his 20-year high school reunion. There, he is forced to confront old wounds, the harsh legacy of homophobia, and the choices hes been forced to make to secure a better life for himself. Publishers Weekly called The Town of Babylon a dazzling debut and an incandescent bildungsroman.

Varela took some time to chat with me about issues of mental health, the myth of meritocracy, and the importance of dismantling systems of oppression.

ALEJANDRO VARELA: This is a twofold answer. On the one hand, this novel came out of necessity. No one wanted my short story collection. Do you have a novel? Could you make these stories a novel? I heard this from several editors. At some point, I gave in and wrote the novel. Thats the unromantic response. The other take is that Id been wanting to write about Roseto, a town in Pennsylvania. Its a place with a storied public health history that had a tremendous impact on me in graduate school. Understanding the health of that tightly knit community and its resilience in the face of a common enemy had become almost allegorical in my understanding of how hierarchies negatively affect health. I wanted to tell a story about that, and I carried around that idea for years. The novel gave me the opportunity to write it.

Andrs, the main narrator, is incisive and unsparing about the people and places of his youth, but hes also witty and humorous. How did you go about striking such a wide tonal balance?

In part, I share the style of communication with Andrs, which is to say, I try to find the right balance between tones. Having grown up in an environment defined by its precarity, Ive learned how to read a room. I think I know when to pump the brakes and when to cut loose almost never. I learned at an early age that there must be give and take or you risk anger and retribution. I write thinking, How much can my reader stomach? How much is too much? Is this too heavy? Should I undercut with some humor?

In addition to exposing readers to a well-rounded and complex cast of characters, The Town of Babylon also features a great deal of social commentary on race, class, and homophobia, to name just a few issues. Yet this social commentary never feels forced or heavy. Can you tell us how you manage to achieve this?

I knew if I was too dogmatic, Id lose my reader. Im grateful to hear that it didnt feel forced or heavy. In fact, I think I have lost readers because of my protagonists political piousness and, at times, condescension. That was a choice on my part. I feel an urgency to tell the stories that Im telling. They are an extension of my public health work, which was primarily advocacy. I knew that Andrss internal soliloquizing might happen too frequently and would go on for too long, but I chose to write a political, public healththemed novel, and I knew I couldnt be half-assed about it. And yet, I cut plenty of commentary from the manuscript, some of which was heavy-handed even for me, but some of which my editor highlighted. You were certainly spared!

Readers and critics are often quick to draw similarities between queer POC writers and their characters. In a piece you published in Lit Hub called When People Assume Your Fiction Is About Your Life, you wrote, Maybe, then, what rubs me the wrong way isnt the assumption that I am my own protagonist, but instead its implication of artistic laziness. Why do you think this so often happens to us queer POC writers, and how can we counter this assumption?

The biggest assumption of them all is that were writing veiled autobiographies and that one experience stands in for the experience of an entire [insert oppressed group here]. This has everything to do with exposure. The average reader isnt familiar with the diversity of in this case the queer, class-jumping, Latine/x experience. Consequently, the focus turns almost exclusively to the demographic elements of the story and its protagonists and their congruity with the writer. As an example, straight, cisgender white men dont get too many How much of this is autobiographical? questions. Not as often as we do. The diversity of that particular perspective has been tread often David Copperfield, Jay Gatsby, Rabbit Angstrom, etc. The reader and reviewer can then focus on the story, the writing, the merits of the political positions, etc., instead of wondering if thats how white people are and live.

But readers havent yet seen enough of us to take our identities for granted. This is further complicated by the fact that drama sells. Im telling a story thats captivating. Its realist fiction, but it magnifies and dials up reality for the purposes of entertainment. The consequence is that our underexplored lives are now conflated with the extremes of storytelling. Certainly, discrimination and marginalization are stressful and traumatic, but life isnt a work of fiction. There is also an expectation that, when we write stories, well stay in a particular lane. Andrss politicking, for example, has been off-putting to some readers I hate to say it, but mostly white readers and editors because theyre uncomfortable with a queer mestizo reading (read: criticizing) their country and society. If Andrs were white European if he were named Andrew, lets say his dogma would be his virtue, his endearing quirk. In fact, the joy of post-publication has been to hear feedback from other POC and queer POC readers who related very strongly with Andrss political lens.

Youve published many short stories and essays. In what ways was writing a novel different? What artistic surprises did you encounter throughout the writing of The Town of Babylon?

My short stories typically live in my mind until theyre complete, at which point I race over to my laptop and type away furiously. If I am unable to complete a first draft in one sitting, I reread and edit what Ive already written before I continue writing. Thats how I wrote for several years. But the novel was different. Although I wrote quickly it took me 13 weeks: three weeks in the spring and 10 in the winter of 201920 I did it without a roadmap. I had a general idea of the story I wanted to tell, but primarily I had settings, protagonists, arcs, and themes in mind. And once I began writing, I never looked back, beginning each day exactly where Id left off the previous day. I had a lot of fun making it up as I went along. Of course, Id think about the storylines and their trajectories when I wasnt writing, but nothing was definitive until I typed it. This way of writing was simultaneously frightening What if it doesnt come together? What if I forget where I am going? and liberating I could go in any direction I want and for as long as I want. But freedom, too, came with fears What if I go too far out and cant reel the story back in?

What were some challenges you faced while writing your novel?

I didnt know if I could trust my instincts. At one point, Id written sections where the narrators (first-person Andrs and the omniscient third person) conversed with each other. It was a way for me to question the idea of a singular truth, as well as to highlight the humor of a writer who splits himself up into various points of view, all of which are ultimately him me. In the end, I cut it because I feared it was too confusing, a sentiment that my editor corroborated. Ultimately, I made the right decision, but the uncertainty was something that appeared throughout the writing process and was much more pronounced than in my short-story writing.

Another challenge while working on this novel and everything, really was writing outside of my own experience. I am largely at ease in the experience of cisgender mestizo men from working- and middle-class backgrounds, which is my experience. Im also comfortable writing from the perspective of a white man because it is the universal one of our society. I have been indoctrinated we all have. But writing any oppressed experience that isnt my own, including women, gives me a great deal of anxiety. I do a lot of gut checks and overthinking. Primarily, I fear contributing to the marginalization. I fear writing incomplete experiences that shrivel up into stereotypes or trauma porn. Id like to give myself more credit than that, but the truth is I am as much a product of our racist patriarchal society as anyone else, so I have to remain vigilant. For example, Simone is a Black woman with schizophrenia. Was it my place to explore that experience, and if it was, could I do it without reducing her to mere tropes? Could I present mental illness in a way that was just and accurate? Did I owe Simone particular care because of the ways Black women are regularly disrespected in art and society? Ive heard people argue that this degree of scrutiny can blunt creativity. I suspect this is true if these arent concerns for the writer. Overcoming the usual tribulations of this craft on top of overcoming a lack of empathy could interfere with ones creativity. In that regard, I feel lucky that empathy and solidarity are important values and ways of living for me.

You have a background in public health. How did this influence the writing of your novel?

This book is the novelization of my public health passions, primarily the research on the negative effects of hierarchy. I concocted a town based on Roseto and my own hometown, but on some level I was trying to communicate that a society without social capital that is, a sense of community and belonging for all of its members will suffer. The buffers and coping mechanisms that come from social trust and bonding are life-extending as well as lifesaving. My protagonists are victims of capitalism and the atomization of society that prioritizes competition and success over health and happiness. The town itself is a community of battalions who have mistaken differences for barriers barriers that have been erected, upheld, and manipulated by economic policies since at least World War II. What happens in that town happens all over this country, in all towns where we organize ourselves hierarchically.

What do you hope readers take away after finishing The Town of Babylon?

Very specifically:

I think our very large and varied community is in the mainstream for sure, but of course, I worry about who under our umbrella isnt getting attention and space. Our alphabet soup of identities is diverse enough to allow for the re-creation of the same systems that didnt allow us to participate openly in the first place. As a former public health researcher, Id be remiss if I didnt say that we should look at the data. Are all the letters and colors within LGBTQIA+ being represented equitably? Do we see lesbian and trans writers of color on our shelves as often as we see gay writers? What about intersex writers? Queer writers with disabilities? How about Black and Indigenous writers? They exist and some get attention, but what are the proportions? Inevitably, someone tweets a bar graph showing us that white men are far overrepresented and that weve been focusing on a few marginalized writers at the expense of the truth. Our collective advocacy should recognize these inequities and make noise until all of us are represented equally in this industry.

Id also like to draw some attention to the Q in our community. I hope the future of publishing includes radical and progressive voices from our community. There is still something subversive in presenting LGBTQIA+ lives and perspectives in literature, but its important that we use our platforms to question the oppressive systems that have kept us and our loud, proud voices out of the industry. Our future depends on whether there are editors and publishers willing to publish writers of conscience. In that regard, I was lucky to find a home with Danny Vazquez and Astra House.

Can you tell us a little about what you are working on next?

Im editing the manuscript of the story collection that comes out in spring 2023 (also from Astra House). Its called The People Who Report More Stress. If Babylon is about not being able to go home, Stress is about not being at peace wherever you land. Apart from that, Im editing a few stories that wont be included in the collection, as well as an essay about reparations that will appear soon in Reparations Daily, an essay about the gay best friends role in supporting abortion rights, and an essay recounting my fathers experience meeting Gabriel Garca Mrquez might you know of a home for it? And then I can get to work on the next novel, which is my Bernard Kincaid novel about the faux progressivism of an overly gentrified Brooklyn. No one is safe in that story.

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Empathy and Solidarity: On Alejandro Varela's The Town of Babylon - lareviewofbooks