Category Archives: Evolution

From Hidden Backrooms to Storage Units, Foreign Domestic Workers and the Evolution of their Living Space

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Looking through interior images of houses, we often see grand bedrooms with an influx of natural lighting. We see inviting open-space living rooms, lush terraces, and kitchens with high-endequipment and refined finishes. But what we don't see is that behind these sleek walls are smallneglected bedroomswithout proper ventilation, natural lighting, or space to move around,dedicated to thosewhocater to the entire household.

The disparate spatialconfiguration and "colonial" approach to the living conditions of servants and foreign laborers have existed long before the rise of congested cities and micro-apartments. Household owners, or at least a good sum of them, have always felt that domestic workersneeded and deserved less space to reside in, not just in terms of spatial area, but in terms of necessary living conditions for a better, more comfortable life.

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As withmost historic architectures, not many clear photographs or construction plans have remained for us to know the accurate living conditions of domestic workers. However, movies and TV series have given us a sneak peek into their world and their relationship with the space they live and work in. Inhistoric films andTV shows, we often see them going up and down hidden staircases that lead to the kitchens, pantries, and stables, but rarely do we get access to how their quarters looked like and where were they located with respect to the rest of the bedrooms and facilities unless the storyline revolves around these workersspecifically.

During the 19th century, houses and palaces in European countries allocated "servant" quarters in the basement, an entire floor plan with rooms and services, away from the sight of residents and their visitors. Their bedrooms were put beneath their private staircases, which they used instead of the main staircase of the house. Since maids were expected to work invisibly, their quarters were often completely secluded and detached from the main residential areas. They also had their own entrance to the house, often through a small door below street level if it was a townhouse, or through a private back door in the courtyard if it was a country house. In addition to their bedrooms, the servant quarters included a servants hall, a common room where the staff ate, gathered, and performed small daily tasks, which included a long table and natural lighting from skylights or elevated windows.

Mid-19th century residential buildings in France allocated maid's rooms, called Chambres de Bonne, on the roof. The rooms were built without bathrooms, had a separate entrance, and covered a floor space of approximately 7 sqm, a number considered illegal in today's construction laws of residential spaces. However, these rooms are now being rented as temporary bedrooms for foreign travelers on a low budget.

In South Africa during the 1950s, lower-class Africans were enduring crises of residential shortage, poverty, and starvation, which forced women to work as live-in housekeepers and caregivers for middle-class families. These workers resided in a space called the "backroom", a small detached unit - averaging at 2.5 x 3 meters - located in the backyard alongside other service facilities. The units were constructed with brick and concrete floors and did not have a ceiling nor electricity. It is believed that backrooms were hidden behind trees and bushes in the backyard to avoid any physical or visual presence.

With respect tohigh-density suburbs with large apartment buildings, live-in domestic workers resided either in basements or on roofs. The rooms were built in a corridor-like layout and only had enough space for a bed and closet, forcing the workers to share a communal bathroom.In the case ofroof-placed rooms, workers were not permitted to use the elevator, so they accessed theirbedrooms through separate entrances and external staircases. Similar to backrooms, these units did not have a ceiling as well, which made it difficult for workers to sleep at night due to external light sources from the street, neighboring buildings, or the moon.

Fast forward to the 21st century where people are more aware of social injustice, the living conditions of foreign domestic workers have seen an unprecedented decline, depriving them ofbasic human rights. Instead of a private bedroom, some domestic workersare now sleeping on mattresses or foldable beds in laundry rooms, storage areas, or walk-in closets. Manyjustify this configuration as aresult ofcongested, high-priced cities with smaller-scale houses.

A survey conducted by the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) showed that 59% of live-in domestic workers had no privacy whatsoever. 20% had surveillance cameras installed in rooms, and 34% did not have access to private storage units. In some countries in the Far East of Asia, domestic workers were forced to live in bathrooms, closets, and even on balconies. Although their work contract initially stated that they would be provided with suitable accommodation upon arrival, that was rarely the case. The NGO Mission for Migrant Workers (MFMW) drew attention to the living conditions of domestic workers in some countries in the Far East of Asia, highlighting the importance of prompt reforms on international labor and construction laws.

The same living conditions are found in countries in the Middle East, where it is considered normal for a middle-to-upper class household to have a live-in domestic worker. Workers employed in an apartment are given, if they are lucky, a small private bedroom that does not exceed 10 sqm (some maids have been given a 5 sqm bedroom). These rooms are always accessed through the kitchen, away from the other bedrooms and bathrooms. In cases where the worker is not given a private bedroom, she sleeps on a mattress in the kitchen, the living room, or shares a bedroom with the youngest child of the house (the pronoun 'she' was used because only females work as live-in domestic workers in the Middle East).

While awareness of the discriminatory living conditions of live-in domestic workers has been raised in several countries around the world, no definitive laws have been put in placeyet. The problem could lie in the initial architectural layout of houses, the mindset of house owners, or the tenacious grasping of cultural norms.Is there truly a need for a live-in domestic worker if the house is not equipped to provide him/her with adequate living conditions? Is it a matter of "racialarchitecture" or a derogatory outlook on the type of work itself? Are house owners willing to dedicate aspaceof the house andtransform it intoa fully-equipped private bedroom and bathroom or do they expect the architect to do that for them beforehand?

This article is part of the ArchDaily Topic: Migration. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our monthly topics. As always, at ArchDaily, we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.

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From Hidden Backrooms to Storage Units, Foreign Domestic Workers and the Evolution of their Living Space - ArchDaily

Back in 2018, Kirby Smart presented at a coaching clinic and talked about defending modern college offenses. There probably isnt too much exceptional about Kirby Smart and UGA LBs Coach Glenn Schumann talking to a bunch of football coaches about defensive strategy in its own right, but this talk is exceptional in that it ended up on YouTube.

He starts by talking about his first years as the defensive coordinator at Alabama. From 2009-2013, Smarts defenses ranked in the top 10 nationally in total defense every season. Other than one year each, those Alabama defenses were in the top 10 in rushing and passing defense as well. In 2014, Smarts unit ranked 12th in total defense. While they were still ranked in the top 5 in scoring defense and rushing defense, the Tides passing defense had dropped down to 58th. Something was changing

Heres the measurable for the 2009 Alabama defense.

Yes, they are fast But mostly theyre immovable. At one point, Smart looks into the audience and speaks. Look at that Nose Guard right there 64, 316. Are you gonna block that guy? Are you gonna spend all night sitting up at the office when you could be with your kids figuring out how to block him, double team, move him? Or are you gonna say piss on that were fixing to find a way to run around him, throw the ball in space Its not the same kind of game. Its hard to find people to move those kind of guys.

I dont know if Kirby realized he was encapsulating why offensive football has evolved so quickly and uniformly over the last decade with one hypothetical question or not, but he nailed it. Lets look at Georgias defense in 2017.

The UGA defense in 2017 is significantly lighter, and that made it significantly faster than the units Smart ran in the early part of his Alabama tenure. Smaller linebackers play better in space. Smaller lineman can get down the line and cover screens.

Smart mentions that the coaches get weight reports on their players two times a week. In the summer of 2018, Jordan Davis went from 347 pounds to 320 in about two-and-a-half months. Heavy guys dont play for us. We need guys that can line up, play fast, be active, and run in space.

Smart mentions the 2014 CFP Semifinal between Ohio State and Alabama. The Crimson Tide started three lineman over 300 pounds in that game. After OSU put up 42 points on Alabama, Smart went and met with his counterpart in that game, Tom Herman. The Buckeyes didnt even try to block Alabama inside. They ran the ball sideline to sideline in an effort to wear out the bigger Alabama defenders and negate OSUs size advantage. All of those body blows eventually resulted in a knock out punch when OSU running back Ezekiel Elliott busted through the line for an 85-yard touchdown run that put the game out of reach. The big Alabama lineman were too tired by that point in the fourth quarter to keep contain.

Smarts defense to that point had been based on the opponents personnel. If an opposing coordinator felt they had more of an advantage against Alabamas four-man front than their three-man front they could just stay in certain personnel packages. Smart saw that as a problem.

In his three-man fronts, Smart needed bigger linebackers because they would have to take on the guards on every play. In the SEC, guards are often 300 pounds or more. The problem? Those big linebackers also had to go cover in space. Smart puts it bluntly. Youre not gonna cover Alvin Kamara with a 250 pound linebacker.

The spread was stressing Smarts defenses. The solution the? Georgias MINT front.

The Mint Front is still technically only three down lineman, but the Jack LB is up at the line of scrimmage. Some Jack LBs of the past include DAndre Walker, and Azeez Ojulari. The Jack can rush the passer, play the run, or get out and cover the running back on screens and pass routes. When talking about those three down lineman, Smart emphasizes butts.

He tells a story about going to the NFL Combine when he was coaching for the Miami Dolphins with Nick Saban. At the combine he told Smart to stick with Bill Belichick. Belichick liked to get behind the defensive lineman when they lined up to ran the 40-yard dash. Why? He wanted the biggest butts possible in the trenches. Butts take up space, and its easier for the linebackers to fill behind guys with big butts.

With the nose tackle in zero technique and the two down lineman in a 4I technique, the guards are occupied. Now UGA can bring rushers from anywhere they want, and the lineman are occupying all four inside rushing lanes. The run game cant gash the defense up the middle. Remember that Smart has gotten lighter and faster at the linebacker position. Those linebackers have the advantage filling around the outside lanes against the run.

Another change that Smart made on defense was they went from rushing four to rushing three in order to deal with modern quarterbacks who could run when everyone was covered. When the staff studied it, almost every QB run that was going for a first down was through big gaps up the middle.

UGA now has an aggressive spy on the quarterback. The inside linebacker is sitting in the middle of the field, and as soon as the QB gets pushed off his spot or a lane opens up, that linebacker can take off. This took away the wide open running lanes up the middle for quarterbacks, and it meant that if a QB was going to run they would have to go outside and beat the linebacker that is spying. Good luck beating a guy like Roquan Smith, Monty Rice or Nakobe Dean to the sideline. In addition to that, that three man rush can become a four man rush if the opportunity presents.

Think of a time when youve seen a QB gash Georgia up the middle or run a true QB draw against UGA since Smart took over. You cant.

It should be noted that this is why Kirby Smart has traditionally done really well against Dan Mullens offenses. Mullen and Smart have met 13 times since Mullen became the head coach at MSU in 2009. The first time Mullen put up more than 20 on Smart was this past year. That offense was totally different that the usual QB run based system that Mullen has been running since the days of Alex Smith, Chris Leak and Tim Tebow. He plans to go back to that system for 2021 because it fits the skill set of an athletic guy like Emory Jones. It should be closer to the offense we saw Mullen run with Nick Fitzgerald and Dak Prescott. I can promise you that nobody is happier to hear that than Kirby Smart.

One of the other effects of the Mint Front is that the alignment of the defensive lineman plays on the spreads reliance on the open B gap bubble found in most defenses. The B gap is the lane between the tackles and guards that naturally occurs against most four man defensive fronts. Think of the Oregon offenses of the Chip Kelly era. Know where a lot of those big holes were? The B gap.

It goes without saying that clogging the B gap is a must in modern college football. Nearly every FBS program has zone-read run concepts and RPOs that they run off of those concepts. Recognize this guy in the photo below? His name is Dan Mullen. Here he is as the offensive coordinator at Utah, diagraming his base run package and talking about the importance of those B gaps.

When Smart was at Alabama he helped to design the scheme that stopped Mullen and Urban Meyers spread offense that they ran during the Tim Tebow era at Florida. Any updates, variations and new packages added to Georgias scheme will make sure that those B gaps are accounted for.

A major emphasis for any defense is 3rd down, and thats no different for Smart. During the early Alabama years, Smart and Saban almost always brought five and six rushers on third downs. The logic was to get to the QB as quick as possible and force the ball out quick. The problem was that bringing those linebackers meant everything over the middle was open. Alabamas DBs played outside leverage technique (this means they were lined up to take away routes that broke towards the sideline) because they had safety help towards the middle of the field. In 2014, teams killed Alabama on slants, rubs, mesh routes and other in-breaking concepts on third downs.

An emphasis on third down defense has also been a hallmark of the Smart tenure at UGA. The Mint Front has allowed Georgia to run situational defenses that allow the linebackers to fill lanes and rush the passer when they can or drop into man coverage when they need to.

Its brilliant in its simplicity. On the play above, Georgia still only has three down lineman, but it gives a look like its going to bring six pass rushers. The backer who is a step off the line of scrimmage is responsible for dropping back and occupying the middle of the field. Those in-breaking routes are taken away. The LB at the top of the line can cover the RB on a route or take him on if he stays into block. Four rushers can turn into five, and if its a run play theres plenty of guys close to the line of scrimmage. Its smart football, and the rushers and coverage guys can be anywhere on any play. Heres the same scheme with a different alignment and a different linebacker dropping into the middle of the field.

These packages account for anything the offense can do. If the opposing RB stays in to block, the linebacker is going to get a one on one matchup against a back. Smart, Schumann and Lanning spend a lot of time trying to create those matchups. If we get the right guy in the building then he should win, says Schumann.

Smart was bringing five and six rushers to try and create that matchup at Alabama. If one of those rushers didnt get to the quarterback quickly it would result in massive plays for the offense. Now he gets that matchup while only giving up four defenders to the rush. The defenders in coverage arent alone on an island.

Georgia can run Cover 2, Cover 3, and anything else they want to off of these looks. Quarterbacks get used to seeing defenders near the line of scrimmage, but they never know who will be dropping, and if the coverage will be man or zone.

When we do bring everybody, it almost panics the quarterback because there is real pressure and there is real push, says Schumann9

As if its not hard enough on the oppositions quarterback, Georgia has also been very good at creating pressures by blitzing its defensive backs.

By now, Georgia has adapted its defense plenty, and Im sure we will see further tweaks after a full offseason and the addition of Will Muschamp to the staff. The high powered passing attacks has created the need for more packages that deploy five and six defensive backs, but the Mint Front is still a huge part of UGAs base defense.

What should make you excited if youre a Georgia fan is the way Smart and Schumanns presentation ended that day. The final slide featured a quote from Albert Einstein.

The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.

You can get Smart once, but chances are hes going to take away what you did successfully the next time you play his defense. The lack of ego and attachment to a system that Smart calls his own is commendable and somewhat rare in the coaching profession. If anyone can solve the type of offenses that Alabama and LSU fielded in 2019 and 2020, it is likely to be Kirby Smart.

If he happens to find some of those answers in time for the 2021 season, it could be the edge Georgia needs to end its national title drought.

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The Evolution of the Kirby Smart Defense: How The Mint Front Helped UGA Solve the Modern Spread - Dawg Sports

After taking a swing at a Negan origin story to end Season 10 of The Walking Dead, actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan knows fans still love to hate the ex-villain-turned-anti-hero. But the biggest Negan hater of them all is the widowed Maggie (Lauren Cohan), now calling a tattered Alexandria home sweet home after an undercover Negan helped Alpha (Samantha Morton) and the Whisperers burn down the Hilltop. As she fights for a future for her son Hershel Rhee (Kien Michael Spiller) the child that Negan's Lucille'd victim, Glenn (Steven Yeun), never got to meet Maggie must once again step up as a leader of a group that begrudgingly counts Negan as a member.

"I don't know if ['Here's Negan'] will ever sway the people that hate Negan. I think they're just always gonna hate Negan," Morgan said of the Season 10 prequel episode during The Walking Dead's Season 11 panel at virtual San Diego Comic-Con. "I think if there were people on the fence, that may have turned them a little bit, but I think the opportunity to do that and tell that story was exceedingly special."

Filming the episode mid-pandemic with wife Hilarie Burton Morgan, who played Negan's cancer-stricken wife Lucille, was "certainly one of the highlights of my time here on The Walking Dead, which has been many a moon now," added Morgan. "I didn't know that I would be here this long."

Negan spent most of Season 9 behind bars, serving a solitary life sentence commuted by Carol (Melissa McBride) when she freed him to assassinate Alpha and help end the Whisperer War in Season 10. In Season 11, Negan is a free man but persona non grata in the otherwise tight-knit group of survivors trying to rebuild their devastated community.

"I think there's definitely an evolution of Negan. But I would be hard-pressed to say that old Negan will ever disappear, I think that will always be a part of who he is," Morgan said. "But I think that at this point, he is trying everything he can to kind of fit in with this group of people. And I think he was doing okay until Maggie came back, and now it's a whole new ball game for him, and one that he's trying to figure out. But I think at a certain point, there's just too much tension between the two of them. So we'll see what happens."

The Final Season of The Walking Dead premieres August 15 on AMC+ and August 22 at 9/8c on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.

Excerpt from:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Teases Tension With Maggie and Negans Evolution in The Walking Dead Season 11 - ComicBook.com

The coming Olympics will showcase some of the most extraordinary human feats of strength, speed, and agility. As an archaeologist who focuses on the development of the human species over evolutionary history, its interesting to consider how and why we came to be so good at certain things, from javelin throwing to the 500-meter sprint. Much of what makes our bodies capable of athletic prowess comes from well before we were Homo sapiens.

Human athletic paleobiology is a branch of research that uses trained athletes to explore adaptations of the human body. These studies focus on metabolism and peak physical performance, limb biomechanics, and other aspects of human anatomy and physiology to get a sense of the types of activities that humans in the past might have been capable of performing.

Here is a short roundup of some things we humans can do that make for great sport, along with a quick look at where these skills come from and how long theyve been around.

The ancestors of modern humans have walked upright since around 4 million years ago, when members of the genus Australopithecus first started spending more time on the ground than in treetop habitats. Evolving to be bipedal changed a number of things about the human skeletal structure. Our pelvis is shorter and wider than that of other living primates. This is because we move by exerting force mostly through muscles in our butts and legs rather than along our backs and shoulders, as a knuckle-walking chimp would. Our lower femurs (the big bone in your thigh) develop a specific shape, called the bicondylar angle, as we learn to walk.

This allows us to stride in a rolling motion, transferring our weight smoothly from side to side as we go. If youve ever seen a gorilla or chimpanzee walk on two legs instead of four, youll notice that they have a much more waddling gait. Our smoother gait helps us walkand runmore efficiently.

Homo sapiens in particular, with longer legs and shorter Achilles tendons than some of our ancestors, seem particularly well-suited to running long distances. Researchers have suggested that early humans were able to hunt prey animals like antelope or zebra by repeatedly startling them into running long stretches in the midday heat, eventually running the animals to exhaustion.

In ancient times, running was likely used to push animals to exhaustion during hunting. akashi/Flickr

When we compare ourselves to other living primates, one of the most noticeable differences is a lack of body hairand the fact that we sweat. Thermoregulation, the bodys ability to maintain an ideal temperature, is critical for all mammals, but humans are unique in our capacity to sweat all over our bodies, creating evaporative cooling.

When did we lose all our hair and become sweaty, naked creatures? Counterintuitively, studies have shown that humans and chimps, our closest primate relatives, actually have roughly the same number of follicles over our bodies. Our hair is simply much shorter and finer.

So, what prompted the change from full fur to fine hair? Charles Darwin proposed that it was a sexually selected traitthat our distant female ancestors preferred, and mated with, less hairy males. However, the more likely scenario has more to do with environmental rather than sexual pressures. During our evolution in Africa, the move from forests to more open, hotter environments meant that the ability to keep cool contributed to survival in a big way.

Our sweaty selves can now compete in sporting events even in the heatalthough climate change might soon make most cities too hot to reasonably play host to Summer Olympics.

While the bottom half of our body has evolved away from an arboreal lifestyle, our upper body still retains traits that we inherited from tree-dwellers. Our glenohumeral joint, the ball-and-socket connection between our upper arm and scapula, allows us to swing our arms around in a full rotation. This is a very different type of mobility from that of quadruped animals that dont swing in treesa dog or cats front legs, for example, primarily swing back and forth and couldnt perform a butterfly swim stroke. We, on the other hand, can.

Our rotatable shoulder joint also allows us to throw overhand. The ability to throw accurately and forcefully appears to have originated at least 2 million years ago, with our ancestors Homo erectus. Recent research has also shown that Neanderthals might have thrown spears to hunt at a distance. The few known examples of Neanderthal spears were long thought to be used only for thrusting and close-in killing of prey, in part because when researchers tried to throw replicas, they didnt go far.

Recently, however, researchers put replicas into the hands of trained javelin throwers and were stunned to see the spears fly much farther and fastermore than 65 feet.

Today people can throw modern javelins farther than 90 meters. Penn State/Flickr

Human hands are unique in their dexterity, which has evolutionary roots as early as 2 million years ago. Evidence for this early development of hands like ours, with opposable thumbs and the ability to apply force in either a strong or delicate grasp, comes from a single metacarpal boneone of the bones that forms the palmfor a hominin found at a site in Kenya. This grip lets us do everything from grasping a pen to a golf club.

The evolution of our hands has included both biological and cultural selection for right- versus left-handed individuals. Both Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens populations seem to have had roughly the same ratio of right-handed to left-handed individuals as modern humans. (Today we are about 85 percent right-handed).

Researchers have suggested one explanation for this lies in the emphasis of cooperation in human communities (which favors everyone having the same handedness so they can share tools, for example) over competition (which favors difference, so a lefty can beat a right-hander in a fight). Some evidence for this theory comes from sport: A study of how many elite athletes are left-handed across different sports showed that the more competitive the sport, the greater the proportion of lefties.

Many species of animals play, but humans are the only species to play games involving organized rules and equipment. We not only play by throwing, kicking, or otherwise propelling balls of various materials, we sometimes do so with bats, sticks, or racquets.

The generally accepted theory for the evolutionary origins of play is that it allows children to learn actions and tasks that they will need to master as adults. In hunter-gatherer populations, games that help children develop accuracy, power, and hand-eye coordination are useful practice for hunting. There is plenty of archaeological evidence to suggest that children played with miniature versions of hunting tools or other tools of adult trades going back to at least 400,000 years ago.

Some of the earliest evidence for ballgames comes from ancient Egypt: The tomb of a child dating to around 2500 B.C. included a ball made from linen rags and string. In China, the sport of cuju, which was similar to modern soccer and played with a leather ball stuffed with feathers, is depicted in paintings and reportedly dates back to 2300 B.C.

The most famous ancient ballgame, though, has its origins in Mesoamerica. Ceramic figurines and murals dating to as early as 1700 B.C., and ball courts dating to approximately 1600 B.C., attest to a game that was a huge and complex part of Olmec, Aztec, and Maya society.

Modern players re-create a game of pok-ta-pok, originally played by the ancient Maya. Sputnik/Wikimedia Commons

More here:

Human athletic paleobiology - Five Ways Humans Evolved to be Athletes - SAPIENS

Maybe Ive been watching too much Ulster football of late but sitting in Croke Park yesterday for the Connacht final, where you might go 15 minutes without seeing so much of a tackle, is like watching football from a different era. It was a strange feeling and not that enjoyable. Theres such a difference, whether it be in tackling, intensity, the will to win.

It wasnt a good watch for Mayo in that first half, where they didnt bring anything to the table and fell well behind Galway. There was no co-ordination in their attacks and they played like a team of individuals. Galway had the chance to put them to bed, but even at the break, with a 2-5 to 0-6 lead, you werent entirely convinced theyd get over the line.

Mayo being Mayo, you always expect them to be able to up it a notch or two and they did that significantly. Galway withered, just like they did in the relegation play-off when they fell apart against Monaghan.

What wouldve pleased James Horan was the fact it wasnt the usual suspects like Paddy Durcan, Aidan OShea, or Lee Keegan; they built from the pairing of Matthew Ruane and Conor Loftus. They work well together and they gave Rob Hennelly options.

Whereas Mayo looked perplexed in the first half, they played with fluency in the second. Aidan OShea linked up their attacks, they got the scoreboard ticking, players were performing with more confidence. Simple things.

Maybe its a bit too simplistic to say Mayo looked fitter and the intense heat played a part, as did a deceptive wind that made kicking into the Hill 16 end that bit more difficult.

Paul Conroy, Matthew Tierney, Shane Walsh, and Damien Comer fell into a hole. Comer was having joy inside and although he is still only coming back following injury and doesnt have an awful lot of football under his belt, he couldve been used better.

Three frees in the second half was the sum total of their efforts. They lost that second half 2-8 to 0-3 and that tells a story in itself. When you consider Galway ended up relegated from Division 1 and then lost the provincial final the way they did, it means its been a poor season.

What will really frustrate their supporters was when they consider they were better than Monaghan for 65 minutes and ended up with nothing, they were in control against Mayo and ended up with nothing.

The heart and bottle of Galway will be questioned. Who are the leaders? Did they lose it on the line? Why are they fading?

The implosion wasnt a huge surprise. They didnt even force Mayo to make wholesale changes, tactically or in terms of personnel, to win the game.

Mayo exposed Galway and their win was comfortable. The benches were significant as the players that Mayo brought on added something, while Galways did not.

Eoghan McLaughlin, Kevin McLoughlin, and Jordan Flynn all did their bit to turn the tide.

Mayo have, outside of Dublin, more experience of Croke Park in recent years than anyone. Even though the face of their team is changing, they will continue to carry a threat. Theyve gone about their evolution quietly, almost under the radar, where the youngsters were introduced last year in empty stadiums far away from the excitement and expectation of MacHale Park or Croke Park.

There was no baptism of fire and they found their groove.

Cillian OConnors absence might be felt the further down the road we go and, interestingly, I found they missed him most from a defensive perspective against Galway.

Hes the type of player who can organise the shape of his forward line and Connor Gleeson, the Galway goalkeeper, was finding things a bit easier than expected. Once Mayo began to press, they began to get going. It bought some heat on Gleeson.

Assuming Dublin come through the Leinster final against Kildare, there will be another chapter in their rivalry against Mayo next month. Dublin have come out on top in the bulk of those clashes, but Mayo will never arrive at Croke Park thinking they dont have a chance. Its in their make-up.

Theyre well set up and will need to use the template from the second half yesterday to have any chance.

And of all the teams out there who might topple Dublin and I include Kerry in this for me, Mayo have the best chance.

Whether that will be enough to actually beat them is a different matter entirely but theyve a better chance than anybody.

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Oisn McConville: Mayo have gone about their evolution quietly, almost under the radar - Irish Examiner

KINGSTON, R.I. July 14, 2021 University of Rhode Island Professor Christopher Lane has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to spend six months at the University of Paris-Saclay in France to conduct research on the evolution of parasitism in marine organisms.

Lane is one of three URI professors to be awarded a Fulbright fellowship this year.

A professor of biological sciences, he chose to spend his sabbatical at the University of Paris because he has several research collaborations with scientists there, and it will provide him with access to state-of-the-art scientific instruments that will advance his research objectives.

Ive worked on the evolution of parasitism in seaweeds before, but this project is actually the reverse of that an organism that has gone from being a parasite to being a mutualist that lives within an organism without hurting it, which is pretty rare in nature, Lane said. Its in a group of more than 6,000 parasites, and this one has figured out how to move away from being a parasite.

Beginning in September, Lane will spend his time in France collecting the approximately 20 species of closely-related parasites that live together inside sea squirts in the intertidal zone. Using a connected series of instruments for selecting single-celled organisms and extracting their DNA, he will then isolate each species to learn how they interact with each other.

By the time I return to Rhode Island, I should have a much better understanding of how this community of organisms works as a whole, based on understanding what the individuals are doing, said Lane. They all have to work together because none of them produce all of the metabolites that an organism needs to live by itself.

This work is expected to lead to several research papers and new grant proposals for further research.

Symbioses are very common in nature, allowing organisms to live where they previously could not, Lane said. In this case, these organisms have changed lifestyles by working together. By understanding how symbioses allow for major evolutionary transitions, we can better predict how organisms might adapt to our changing world.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Established in 1946, the program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Read more:

URI scientist awarded Fulbright fellowship to conduct research on 'evolution of parasitism' in France - URI Today

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After a six-year hiatus that ended last year, the music duo Lore City is making music together once again, focused on sending out a message of oneness and putting positivity into the world.

The band is composed of Laura Williams and Eric Bessel, two Syracuse University alumni who graduated in 2005 and 2004, respectively. During the release of their third album last year, Alchemical Task, the band was also working on their latest LP Participation Mystique scheduled to drop on July 23.

The duo spoke with The Daily Orange ahead of the albums release to discuss how astrology and spirituality have influenced them, their musical evolution and advice for SU students hoping to pursue a career in music.

Below is the transcript from The D.O.s interview with Lore City, edited for brevity and clarity:

The D.O.: This is your fourth album together. How do you feel like the songs on Participation Mystique have evolved from the way your music was when you first started out?

Bessel: It was very much more straightforward rock and roll with electric guitars. We did have a drum machine because its just us two, so there was that electronic element, but it was very guitar-based, and the song structures were a bit more traditional.

Now we have just blown the lid off, and anything goes, and its very electronic (and) experimental in the sense that not all of our songs have classic song structures.

Weve most recently settled on something called the mellotron, which is the most wonderful instrument. We use digital mellotrons, and a lot of the sounds that weve brought in with this current album and the previous one, Alchemical Task, were cultivated from it.

Williams: Yeah, this mellotron Eric talks about has totally brought to life all these atmospheres and textures that I always wanted to make in music. The reason the mellotron is so cool is it samples real sounds, and these arent digital sounds that have been made by a computer. Its an actual harpsichord that was recorded, or when you play the four female voice choir, it was actually four voices in a room being recorded. So its just really magical.

The duo said this album, Participation Mystique, was heavily influenced by astrology and spirituality.Courtesy of Lore City Music

The D.O.: Is there a certain feeling that youre trying to provoke from listeners with this album, Participation Mystique?

EB: One of the magic things about the vinyl record in context of limitless playlists and CDs that can go on for 73 minutes, is (that) somewhere between 14 and 22 minutes, you stop, and you flip the record. You could have been lying on the floor listening to the music or hanging out with friends and talking and then the record stops and then you have to flip it over, and theres something kind of magic in that pause, so I appreciate that about the LP.

LW: I think one time I summarized our music as ballads for the soul searchers. Ive always been somebody that really likes music that makes you pensive or emotional or brings you to some realization about life. Music that isnt just something you put on in the background, but you really curate this playlist, and it really makes you feel something, and it makes you become this person that you want to be and do the thing that you want to do. It gives you this power.

The D.O.: You both mentioned how your visual arts studies have helped in a lot of different ways with your music. Is there any part of photography or visual arts that you feel has influenced your music or that youve applied to your creative process?

EB: I studied photography and got my B.F.A. in art photography at Syracuse, so I look at the medium itself as an additive process. Looking at a digital process of image-making, if you separate an image whether its in RGB format, CMYK or various other formats its a layered format, so by layering all of these different color layers together you get a whole.

I look at sound-making in a similar way in that youre layering different sounds together, which on their own can be very strong, but its the sum of their parts that create the whole.

LW: I went to Syracuse for video art, and I just immediately became fascinated by the soundtracks and the sounds I would make to go along with the images. So, when I was at Syracuse, I felt like nurturing that exploration between sound and image, especially with my professor Tom Sherman.

So yes, visual art completely inspired the sounds that I make. I think my biggest takeaway from Syracuse was that it just instilled this confidence in me, being in the art program, that Im just going to figure it out and make it happen.

Lore Citys Laura Williams said her time at SU gave her the confidence to stick through the creative process. Courtesy of Lore City Music

The D.O.: Is there anything that you both learned or experienced while you were at SU that has helped you as you put these albums together as independent artists?

EB: I remember I took a class my senior year, it was Professional Practice in Visual Arts. Basically, it was, youre going to be finishing school, so heres how you can plan out how to continue your artistic practice while juggling a day job, or a part time job or whatever it is as you transition from being a student to being in the working world.

For example, if were going to be doing a release and (its) in physical format, how much lead time do we need to be able to release a record? How does it differ when working with a label and a distributor, as weve done in the past, versus doing it ourselves?

Its just timelining, its planning, its maintaining and building relationships, its forming connections, its seeing that were one part in a larger thing and then also looking for opportunities to collaborate with others and help them along the way too.

The D.O.: Do you have any piece of advice youd like to give to current SU students hoping to also pursue a career in music?

LW: A long time ago, someone said to me when I was feeling stuck and just working a day job and just making songs in my bedroom, the most important thing is that you just keep making your work and no one can ever take your work away from you.

Sometimes things are going to line up and youll make money from (music), sometimes you might not, and you might always have a job in addition to that or maybe youre one of the people where everything aligns and you can just be an artist for a living.

But I say dont measure (your music) purely by financial success. Theres so much more to it, like your expression and connecting with people and other people finding it and putting meaningful messages into it. So just yeah, keep going.

EB: I would also like to add, the concept of success is totally subjective. One person could call success being featured on the radio, they could say success is getting signed to a record label or can also be pushing yourself to learn new instruments.

All these things could be measures of success, and also in the grand scheme of things, I mean there are years and years of music and creative ideas yet to come. Were in our late 30s, and we want to keep making this music for decades. What would Lore City sound like in like 20 years from now? We dont know, but we have some ideas.

Published on July 13, 2021 at 11:53 am

Contact Dakota: dcchambe@syr.edu

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2 SU alumni talk evolution of their band Lore City, bringing new album to life - The Daily Orange

DURING DEANDRE AYTON'S one-on-zero pre-draft workout with the Phoenix Suns, Igor Kokoskov, then the Suns' coach, concocted a surprise to test Ayton's reaction time.

Standing 10 or 15 feet from Ayton, and without warning, Kokoskov dropped a ball, and on its bounce back up, kicked it -- soccer-style -- as hard as he could at Ayton. Ayton reached out one of his giant hands and snagged it in midair.

"I just caught the ball and was like, 'What was that about?'" Ayton said, laughing.

Most witnesses remember Kokoskov firing a few more kicks at Ayton -- with the then-teenage big man either catching or saving all of them.

"He looked like Kasper Schmeichel," said Ryan McDonough, then the Suns' GM, referencing the star Danish goalkeeper.

The Suns put Ayton through more drills to test physical skills and endurance: snaring rebounds from above the square on the backboard, and shuttling back-and-forth between each block -- plucking a ball from the ground and dunking it each time.

The Suns' brain trust was aware before then that Ayton had tremendous ability: a rare combination of size, powerful explosion, and the right kind of softness -- magnet hands, a silky touch around the basket, and feet so nimble they seem to press into and then spring from the floor as if it were pliable grass and not hardwood.

Intel coming from the University of Arizona portrayed a positive spirit and willing worker eager to address weaknesses -- including uneven pick-and-roll defense.

For the Suns, Ayton was something of a lump of clay on both ends -- a prospect both exciting and fraught. Should the Suns make him a pick-and-pop center bombing 3s, or a screen-and-dive fiend? Should he facilitate from the elbows like Nikola Jokic? What if he stretched in every direction at once -- becoming decent at everything but great at nothing, failing to develop a foundational identity?

2 Related

Ayton has received a ton of deserved credit during this magical playoff run for subsuming any ambitions of all-around offensive stardom and embracing a less glamorous role that works for this roster. He is posting up less, shooting fewer long 2s, screening-and-diving more -- with more force. It is the right fit for a team with two elite pick-and-roll ball handlers -- Devin Booker and Chris Paul -- and four shooters around Ayton.

But the Suns would be nowhere close to the Finals without Ayton undergoing the same transformation on defense -- toggling between schemes, failing and learning, and finding a comfort zone that worked for everyone.

Phoenix has good defensive talent across the roster, and the ability to switch across three or four positions against some lineups. But if the keystone cracks, it all falls apart.

The Suns ranked sixth in points allowed per possession in the regular season. They are No. 3 in the playoffs. They are two wins from the title because of their defense as much as anything, and that is where it is because Ayton has improved more from his rookie season through his third year than almost any big man in recent memory.

Read the rest here:

Lowe: How Deandre Ayton's incredible evolution transformed the Suns - ESPN

Mounting evidence suggests that the decision among payers to cover diagnostic/screening services is primarily math-based. On one side of the equation, its understandable. The business case for paying up to $1,150 per person to screen individuals in their 40s in medical settings does not exist.

Unfortunately, paying out of pocket is often a nonstarter for most people: A recent Federal Reserve survey found that 40% of American adults lack available cash to cover a $400 emergency. Whats worse is that many lifestyle contributors to colorectal cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases like alcohol use, smoking and obesity are also associated with poverty.

Cancer is only one example, but there are others that highlight the health insurance industrys sometimes conservative approach to preventive care an approach that isnt always in alignment with guidelines set by groups such as the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association.

This puts the health industry, including payers, in a tricky position: Health plans recognize the benefit of preventive care and want to expand coverage. Yet the financial barriers to doing so are significant. In-person screenings are not cheap to administer for payers or employers, who are seeking new ways to cut benefit costs to offset financial losses of 2020.

There are also nonfinancial barriers to screening for patients. Many Americans dont have the time or resources to take leave from work to focus on preventive care. This became especially clear during the first six to nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a significant number of individuals avoided seeing a doctor out of fear of contracting the coronavirus even as their physical pain or discomfort increased.

The good news, for employers and health plans, is that a better option is emerging. Today, screening technology has advanced considerably, and there is an opportunity to nudge the needle on preventable chronic diseases, which account for the bulk of healthcare expenses.

In 2021, were seeing the expansion of state-of-the-art home testing kits that can gauge risk for multiple conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and multiple cancers. The best part: Screening tools are designed to be used in the comfort of a persons home.

Tests that allow individuals to collect biometric samples in the privacy of their own homes and enable individuals to measure cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood-glucose levels, for example have the potential to make a marked difference in many areas. Whats more, they can offer healthcare providers critical insights into major health changes, much in the same way that advances in home pregnancy tests enabled OB/GYNs to shift much of their focus to prenatal care decades ago.

Some of the benefits include:

Convenience. Consumers are more likely to undergo routine screening when the act of testing is hassle free especially if theyre young and healthy.

Safety. In the event of a widespread viral outbreak, such as COVID-19 or measles, home-based testing makes it possible to stay home.

Cost savings.The cost to administer home testing kits can range from $25 to $200 per person (depending on how comprehensive the kit is), far less expensive than medical facility screening.

Healthcare outcomes. The sooner an individual is aware of a burgeoning health problem, the faster he or she can seek treatment, and improve long-term outcomes.

Satisfaction. When employers and health plans demonstrate a vested interest in an individuals wellbeing, satisfaction and engagement rises. Businesses with highly engaged business units saw 41% reduction in absenteeism, per one 2019 Gallup study.

As organizations begin reopening offices and adapting work environments and benefits to post-pandemic norms, these are important benefits to consider. The more vested employers and health plans are in keeping everyone healthy before an emergency, the better off theyll be financially and the better off patients will be in terms of wellness.

The use of home-based testing solutions can disrupt the negative cycle of pricey screenings, delayed healthcare, and poor outcomes. With the right tools and information at our disposal, its possible for managed healthcare organizations, physicians, and nonphysician providers to work cohesively to narrow the care gaps of 2020, and help more Americans stay healthy, whether they choose to venture out or stay home.

Travis Rush is the CEO and co-founder of Reperio Health, a company that develops and markets home-based testing.

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The Evolution and Promise of Preventive Screenings at Home - Managed Healthcare Executive

The transition from unicellular to multicellular life was one of the most momentous events in the evolution of life. Estimated to have first occurred more than 1.5 billion years ago, the shift to multicellularity gave rise to increasingly complex life forms on Earth, from ancient algae-like organisms to dinosaurs to human beings. Still, many of the processes underlying this biological shift have remained unclear.

One theory posits that single-celled organisms evolved multicellularity through a specific series of adaptations. First, cells began adhering to each other, creating cell groups that have a higher survival rate, partly because it's harder for predators to kill a group of cells than a single cell. But this defensive adaptation comes at the price of a lowered reproduction rate; only through adaptations acquired over generations do cell groups become better at reproducing than single cells.

Tougher together

A new study published in Nature Communications put that theory to the test. The researchers divided ten strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green algae, into two groups. One group was subjected to a microscopic predator called Brachionus calyciflorus, a type of rotifer. The other group evolved without predators.

After six months, all the algae strains that faced the predator had evolved into cell groups. Meanwhile, only four of the 10 algae strains without predators evolved into groups. Surprisingly, this transition toward simple multicellularity occurred relatively quickly, over just 500 generations or six months. (The algae replicated about once every 9 hours.) The videos below show how the predator had a much harder time eating the cells when they grouped together.

RT feeding single cells http://www.youtube.com

RT feeding colony http://www.youtube.com

After cell groups boosted their defenses against predators, they were able to increase their reproductive rates. The researchers noted that these adaptations occurred on the genome level and were heritable, suggesting that with enough exposure to a selection pressure, like predation, the evolution toward multicellularity might be inevitable.

"The evolved cell groups had unique variants involved in keeping cells together after cell division, suggesting a consistent selective response on the genome level," the researchers wrote. "This fairly high degree of repeatability and the small number of generations suggest some degree of determinism for the phenotypic and genomic response in C. reinhardtii to predation pressure."

Division of labor

According to theory, once cell groups are established, cells can begin to serve specialized functions. This occurs through the differentiation of somatic and germ cells, with somatic cells being those that serve non-reproductive functions (predator avoidance, the ability to move and find resources, etc.) and germ cells being those that produce the next generation.

But this specialization process comes at a cost. The team's results showed that the shift toward multicellularity requires cell groups to first boost their survival rate, which lowers the groups' reproductive rates over the short-term. A few reasons for the lowered reproductive rate include lower resource uptake, restricted motility, and reduced photosynthetic rate.

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How evolution shifts from unicellular to multicellular life - Big Think