Category Archives: Evolution

Terry Sexton Segerberg 10:27 a.m. ET March 20, 2017

Terry Sexton Segerberg(Photo: Provided)

Terry Sexton Segerberg is the chief executive officer of Cincinnati-based Mesa Industries.

As a young woman, I worked for a major fine china manufacturer. At first, I wanted to be valued as both a person and a woman. I took great pride when I accomplished something that was unusual for a woman. Over time my attitude or perhaps my approach changed. I no longer wanted to have my gender a part of my strategic thinking. I wanted to be judged for what I contributed. When I walked the production floor it was no longer important to me to be viewed as a female. I had earned my place.

Now when I hear the word feminist I cringe. I feel a huge disconnect. I was a feminist. I wasnt angry or aggressive. I simply chose to prove to each person and challenge that as a woman I was capable. Yes, I took on roles and challenges that women didnt traditionally do. I was one of the first women to be allowed to join the Rotary club and later one of the first female club presidents. Yes, it was hard sometimes to be the only woman in meetings. Sometimes men walked out of meetings because I was there. But I was determined to prove the doubters wrong through the quality of my work. I never used anger. I never asked for an opportunity that I wasnt qualified for.

There were quite a few inappropriate remarks and efforts to minimalize me. Oddly, some of the loudest offending voices were women. Some were hyper critical of me and often resisted sharing information with me because I was a female manager in a male role. Nonetheless at 20 years old, if someone attempted to disrespect me, I stood my ground. Privately I shook but never where I could be seen. Big girls dont cry.

Some young women today have changed the dialog. They have lost their direction. They are angry because they think womens equal rights are essentially non-existent. I say the issue has become more complex as sexual harassment and maternity leave became unforeseen factors. I agree that altering the workplace to accommodate for these issues is a challenge that must be addressed. Nonetheless, we arent owed anything simply because we are female. It is incredibly easier because of women like my mother and me. Where we faced opportunities completely blocked to us; these same opportunities today are nothing special.

Those angry voices want to change the rules. They feel that they must play like the boys. I have seen an increase in crudeness in language and behavior from women. In doing this they quit being women.

The female perspective is different from the male. We all know this. By dampening that voice because a woman feels like she needs to behave like a man, she has devalued her contributions. And far worse, she has devalued herself.

Proof of the value of the female perspective are the vast opportunities for women today. Just slightly over half of American workers are women. Almost 52 percenthold professional-level jobs. While they dont hold an equally impressive number of upper echelon positions that number is improving. Change happens best through evolution, not revolution.

Men are used to having working spouses. Therefore; they are more accepting of working side by side with female co-workers. Daycares are plentiful. Companies have begun to realize the importance of offering benefit programs that support families as a huge plus in attracting top talent.

Yes, there are still disparities. As a female CEO in a male-dominated industry, I am often the only woman at professional events. Yes, there is strong evidence that women dont get paid at the same rate for the same job. Yes, it is amazingly challenging to be both a mother and a full-time employee.

And yet we have made progress at becoming equals in every aspect of life. Our mere presence as a majority in the workforce has required the rules to change.

So perhaps, I have come full circle. Today I am proud to be a woman who has accomplished things other women havent. I have seen the world change. Is it perfect and equal? No. But because of how far we have come, the rest of the path is clear.

Going forward women can set the agenda. We can take the topic of reproductive issues out of the discussions. We are far more than a pair of ovaries. It is up to each of us to set our reproductive rights. Not politicians and not our employers. We are smart, educated people who can contribute highly intuitive and valuable skills and talent to todays workforce. We must not be distracted by those angry voices but rather encouraged by those have succeeded. Candace McGraw CEO of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. Shakila Ahmad President of the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati. These are accomplished women!

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Change happens best through evolution, not revolution - Cincinnati.com

March 20, 2017 by Lori Dajose A side view of the lamprey gut, showing many large serotonergic neurons (green) sitting on the side of the gut. These gut neurons are matured and developed. Credit: Bronner laboratory

Lamprey are slimy, parasitic eel-like fish, one of only two existing species of vertebrates that have no jaw. While many would be repulsed by these creatures, lamprey are exciting to biologists because they are so primitive, retaining many characteristics similar to their ancient ancestors and thus offering answers to some of life's biggest evolutionary questions. Now, by studying the lamprey, Caltech researchers have discovered an unexpected mechanism for the evolution of the neurons of the peripheral nervous systemnerves outside of the brain and spinal cord.

The work was done in the laboratory of Marianne Bronner, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech, and appears in a paper in the March 20 online issue of Nature.

For over a decade, the Bronner group has studied lamprey because of the unique insights they offer into the evolution of vertebrates, and particularly the evolution of new structures like jaws. Her laboratory at Caltech maintains one of the very few laboratory populations of lamprey in the world.

Bronner was especially interested in how the lamprey compares with other vertebrates in the evolution of its gut neurons. These neurons control the movement of muscles for digestion and manage other aspects of gut physiology, such as secretion and water balance.

"We were interested in the origins of lamprey gut neurons because in other vertebrates they arise from a particular embryonic cell type, called neural crest cells," says Stephen Green, postdoctoral scholar in biology and biological engineering and co-first author on the paper. "We knew that lamprey have many kinds of neural crest cells, but we knew little about which cells give rise to gut neurons."

Neural crest cells are a type of stem cell; during vertebrate embryonic development, they eventually differentiate into specialized cells such as those that make facial skeleton cells or those that create pigment cells. In particular, a population called vagal neural crest cells are known to become the gut neurons. But Bronner and her team noticed that while mature lamprey have gut neurons like other vertebrates, lamprey embryos lack these vagal cells.

"Adult lamprey have gut neurons, but we were unable to find the vagal precursor cells," says Bronner. "So, where do the gut neurons come from?"

To find out, the team drew inspiration from studies of mice that, due to a mutation, lack vagal neural crest cells. The mice do, however, have a small number of gut neurons from an unexpected sourcecells called Schwann cell precursors (SCPs). SCPs exist along nerves that run from the spine to various parts of the body. These cells are known to develop into Schwann cells, which form a protective barrier around the nerves.

Bronner and her team fluorescently tagged these cells in lamprey embryos and found that, during development, the cells migrated from the spine toward the gut. Sure enough, some of these SCPs developed into gut neurons.

"Our findings suggest that gut neurons in ancient vertebrates may have come predominantly from SCPs, and that these original gut neurons were later outnumbered by neurons that arose from vagal neural crest cells," says Green. "Lamprey have relatively simple guts, with no looping and few total neurons. We speculate that vagal neural crest cells might be essential for the more complicated guts of higher vertebrates like mice and humans."

The paper is titled "Ancient evolutionary origin of vertebrate enteric neurons from trunk-derived neural crest."

Explore further: Possible link to evolutionary development of the neural crest found in sea squirt tadpole

More information: Stephen A. Green et al, Ancient evolutionary origin of vertebrate enteric neurons from trunk-derived neural crest, Nature (2017). DOI: 10.1038/nature21679

(Phys.org)A team of researchers affiliated with New York and Dalhousie Universities, in the U.S. and Canada respectively, has found a possible intermediate cell type that might help understand the evolutionary process ...

A discovery, several years in the making, by a University at Buffalo research team has proven that adult skin cells can be converted into neural crest cells (a type of stem cell) without any genetic modification, and that ...

Fish, unlike humans, can regenerate nerve connections and recover normal mobility following an injury to their spinal cord. Now, University of Missouri researchers have discovered how the sea lamprey, an eel-like fish, regrows ...

When our noses pick up a scent, whether the aroma of a sweet rose or the sweat of a stranger at the gym, two types of sensory neurons are at work in sensing that odor or pheromone. These sensory neurons are particularly interesting ...

Neuroscientists of the universities of Cologne and Montreal have discovered neural mechanisms that control the termination of locomotion. In a study, which was published in the journal Cell Reports, they have identified 'stop ...

Caltech scientists have converted cells of the lower-body region into facial tissue that makes cartilage, in new experiments using bird embryos. The researchers discovered a "gene circuit," composed of just three genes, that ...

Pop quiz: Are crocodiles more closely related to lizards or to birds? The answer may surprise you. Although traditional taxonomy classifies birds separately, they are actually closely related to crocodilians, sharing such ...

A promising vaccine target for the most deadly type of malaria has had its molecular structure solved by Institute researchers, helping in the quest to develop new antimalarial therapies.

New research supports the creation of more marine reserves in the world's oceans because, the authors say, fish can evolve to be more cautious and stay away from fishing nets.

A species of unicellular ciliate has found a special trick to make use of the cellular machinery in seemingly impossible ways. Researchers at the University of Bern have for the first time described a mechanism in detail ...

Trees and other plants, from towering redwoods to diminutive daisies, are nature's hydraulic pumps. They are constantly pulling water up from their roots to the topmost leaves, and pumping sugars produced by their leaves ...

A 20-year demographic study of a large chimpanzee community in Uganda's Kibale National Park has revealed that, under the right ecological conditions, our close primate relatives can lead surprisingly long lives in the wild.

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Parasitic fish offer evolutionary insights - Phys.Org

Strategic planning, maps to future features, and other long-term structured thoughts are great ways to set clear goals and visions on what is our future product. However, planning too much might take away from free-thinking associated with the natural evolution of our product. So, what is the right intersection of planning and evolution?

Technologically, we are right at the tipping point of another burst in scientific advancements; AI, the internet of things (IoT), and the integration of biology with electronic circuitry are just three examples of advancements that might surpass Moore's law of technological advancements. However, until these are fully implemented into our daily lives, we continue to suffer from a limitation on Moore's law. Since we have seen the growth of the computer age, it seems that our latest inventions are mostly gradual improvements of how we pre-form tasks and what technology we use to pre-form it. Fin-tech firms especially have only suggested new improved methods of pre-forming human tasks. Such technologies as RPA, P2P payments and insurance, and Robo Advising are great for incremental advancements but have yet to come up with a revolutionary product.

In my opinion, this stasis is mainly due to the mundane nature of our financial world. Not since the invention of the first derivative instrument in old agricultural weighted France has any real meaningful financial advancement occurred. Money being transferred from one place to another, new loan types, and globalization have advanced our financial systems, but they basically still pre-form the same tasks and move funds from one entity to another.

So, should we plan or not? Should we trust that the future will raise new ideas from customer feedback, or should we plan to what we think the market needs? In my opinion, it should be a combination of both. The creation of a long-term vision is crucial for the advancement of a product, but should be balanced with allowing our Eco-System to define an evolutionary path for our plan goals. This method will allow our brilliant employees to vet all proposed paths to our truePTS solution, even those that were not thought of at first.

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The Intersection of My Big Plans and Evolution - Finextra (blog)

The new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, says carbon dioxide is not a primary cause of climate change despite a clear scientific consensus that it is.

Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, goes even further: He says climate change isnt happening at all, and he once held up a snowball in Congress to prove that global warming isnt real.

But a recent survey showed that most Americans, and most Connecticut residents, accept climate change as a fact. Seventy percent of Americans over 25, and 72 percent of Connecticut residents, agreed with the proposition that global warming is happening.

And if climate change is controversial among todays adults, its likely to be much less controversial among tomorrows: Climate change and similarly controversial topics like evolution are taught as the accepted scientific consensus in Connecticut biology and environmental classes.

And while not every student accepts or should accept the scientific consensus without question, educators say theres seldom much contention in class.

John LaRosa, chair of the science department at Danbury High School, said he hasnt had a student challenge evolution or the reality of climate change since he started at the high school 12 years ago.

Even if they dont believe it, they want to see what science has to offer on the subject, he said.

LaRosa compared studying climate change in science classes to taking a religion course that includes learning about religions different from your own; merely studying one doesnt mean youre required to believe in it, he said.

The state is in the midst of converting school science curriculum to the Next Generation Science Standards, an inquiry-based program created by several states, the National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Under the standards, teachers will increase the number of lessons on climate change and related environmental topics.

Evolution, meanwhile, is typically covered in biology classes.

Evolution is not taught as a controversial topic, because its not considered controversial in that discipline, said Newtown Assistant Superintendent Jean Evans Davila.

The Advanced Placement biology curriculum, in use at many schools, is designed according to the standards of the College Board. Its course outline lists four Big Ideas, the first of which is that evolution explains the diversity and unity of life.

Evolution is one of the cornerstones of biology, said Scott Werkhoven, the science department chair at Shepaug Valley School. Its one of the central themes that explains how life arose to what we have today and how things are related.

Ive seen that students are receptive to being presented with evidence they were not aware of, he added. Its up to the student, though, to come up with their beliefs.

But if the existence of climate change is widely accepted, its cause is more controversial.

A nationwide study recently published by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication showed that while 70 percent of adults 25 and older accept it as fact, just 59 percent believe its caused mostly by human activity.

Kim Gallo, principal of Shepaug Valley School in Region 12, said students are encouraged to review scientific literature from multiple viewpoints and to examine data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Students use that information to arrive at their own conclusions but are expected to defend those conclusions with facts.

Students also discuss alternative fuel sources and weigh benefits against costs to see which remedies for climate change make sense to pursue, Gallo added.

In Newtown, teachers discuss the carbon cycle, the natural and human influences on climate change and use the Paris Climate agreement as a way to illustrate how countries can come together to create solutions for global problems. They also focus on how to interpret data, such as correlation and causation.

Theyre thinking as scientists when they approach it, Evans Devila said.

Last year, she said, students did a case study on climate change, researching the issue from scientific, sociological and economic standpoints.

Evas Devila said teachers also have to adhere to state or national standards, which can put boundaries on classroom discussions for certain topics.

This is standards-based age of education, she said.

Like many school districts in the area, Easton, Redding and Region 9 focus on the scientific method more than the political or religious aspects of the issues, said Superintendent Thomas McMorran.

McMorran said educators have to be careful about giving time for expression of viewpoints that conflict with scientific consensus. Students are free to believe what they want, he said, but school programs need to be based in science and religious belief ultimately has no place in the discussion.

The duty of any science program is to teach kids the scientific method of inquiry, he said. When we erode our respect for that process, we are denying the students the benefit of being able to employ critical thinking and make science-based decisions.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345

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Connecticut schools tackle climate change and evolution - Danbury News Times

Some hardline myths about Iran never seem to die. One myth especially pertinent to U.S. policy is that revolutionary regime change in Iran is a significant possibility in the near future and that with a bit more of a push from the outside, the Islamic Republic will collapse and be replaced by something much more to our liking. This illusion was prevalent in much of the George W. Bush administration, which accordingly adhered to a policy of refusing to deal with Iran and instead of trying to isolate it and to inflict economic pain through sanctions. Several years of lack of results in the face of ever-increasing sanctions demonstrated the fecklessness of that policy. The sanctions became useful only when the next U.S. administration began to negotiate with Iran and sanctions were used as a bargaining chip to conclude an agreement that blocks all possible paths to an Iranian nuclear weapon.

The myth often is connected to a faith in exile groups as instruments for quick transition to a completely different type of regime. Many of those hoping for regime change in Iran look in this way to the Mujahedin-e Khalq, a cult-cum-terrorist group that actually has almost no popular support within Iran. Some of the same people had placed a similar faith in Iraqi exile Ahmed Chalabi, whose qualities as a huckster more than as someone who could father a new Iraqi republic became increasingly apparent after the U.S. invasion of 2003.

Today there evidently is another expression of the old myth about Iran, with talk about regime change, among Trump loyalists at the White House and National Security Council staff. According to these individuals, increased pressure and kicks from the outside can bring about positive results in Iran, rather than, as expert analysis both inside and outside the national security bureaucracy explains, merely eliciting hostile responses from a firmly implanted Islamic Republic. It is unclear whether holding of the myth represents genuine misbelief or instead is a rationalization covering other reasons the holders want to maintain Iran as a perpetually isolated bte noire. Either way, the myth leads to damaging and ineffective U.S. policy.

Iran is not at all close to any political upheaval that could be described as a new revolution or a counter-revolution, even with more pressure and pushes from the outside. Iranian politics certainly exhibits plenty of disagreement and controversy, with the possibility of significant policy change coming out of that political competition. Despite the substantial defects in the Iranian political system, there is a political robustness missing from, say, the Arab monarchies on the other side of the Persian Gulf. But most Iranians do not have an appetite for making a new revolution.

Both the regime and the people in Iran have demonstrated an ability to withstand hardship much greater than what U.S. sanctions can inflict. They did so during the extremely costly eight-year Iran-Iraq War, which Iran doggedly continued for some time even after Saddamwho started the warbegan seeking an armistice. Certainly if pressure or punishment from an outside power is involved, both the regime and the people exhibit determined resistance.

There already has been much evolution in the direction and nature of the Islamic Republic during its nearly four decades of existence, although probably not as much as there would have been without the ostracism. The large majority of Iranians today were born since the revolution. Hijabs have inched above hairlines, and domestic life has become looser and freer. Especially for the female half of the population, looking across the Gulf does not instill any ideas about better alternatives.

More important for U.S. and Western interests has been the evolution in Irans external policies. Any hopes within the regime in the immediate aftermath of the revolution for like-minded revolutions elsewhere in the region have long ago been dispelled, as the realization sunk in that such revolutions were unlikely and that Irans system would survive anyway. The most obvious form of Iranian state-conducted international terrorisma campaign of assassinating exiled dissidentseffectively ended years ago, partly because of the regime's desire to have normal and fruitful relations with Europe.

Further evolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its policies in the years ahead will correlate directly with the extent to which it has normal political and economic interaction with the rest of the world. Isolation and punishment would strengthen Iranian hardliners arguments that there is neither a possibility of, nor a payoff to be expected from, such interaction. Bolstering of the hardline position in turn would mean diminished prospects for further liberalizing political change in Iran. Conversely, increased commerce, foreign investment, and the economic development that go with them would strengthen the political position of those favoring normality in foreign relations, would increase the Iranian stake in even more peaceful normality, would loosen the grip of those in Iran whose economic and political power depend on isolation, and would increase Iranian exposure to ideas and examples of still more change.

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Evolution, Not a New Revolution, in Iran | The National Interest Blog - The National Interest Online (blog)

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Conspiracy Theories Emerge About Pokmon GO's Elusive Gen 2 ... - Forbes

Free Press sports writers Jeff Seidel and Mark Snyder discuss Sunday's matchup between Michigan and Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Video by Mark Snyder, DFP.

Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein on the bench during the second half of U-M's 92-91 win over Oklahoma State on Friday, March 17, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the NCAA tournament.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP)Buy Photo

INDIANAPOLIS The player introductions already had started, but Michigan coach John Beilein continued coaching like crazy.

On Friday afternoon, Beilein drew up a play on a white clipboard and showed it to his team, even though some of his players already were being announced.

Nothing unusual about that. Thats typical Beilein, being hyper-attentive to details. He tries to use every last second to prepare, almost oblivious that life exists outside that huddle. This is a guy who wouldnt realize its his birthday, if you didnt tell him.

Then came the surprise.

Beilein did something totally out of character on Friday. He turned around and faced the crowd in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. He flipped his clipboard around, held it up and showed it to his son, Patrick, who was sitting in the stands behind the bench.

It looked like a bunch of scribbles on a white board, but Patrick Beilein recognized it immediately.

He was showing me the first play that they were going to run, Patrick Beilein said this morning.

Let's meet Louisville, Michigan's opponent in the second round of the 2017 NCAA tournament Sunday, March, 19. Wochit

If there is anything that can symbolize how much John Beilein has changed, it was that moment before the Wolverines beat Oklahoma State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Beilein is more relaxed. More aware that life exists off the court. Hes, dare I say, more comfortable?

I think he was just showing it to be fun, Patrick Beilein said. I think that shows how loose he is. He never would have done that in the past. He would be so zoned in. Now, hes still really coaching hard, but hes having fun doing it.

Hold on folks, cause this is about to get seriously fun.

Related:

Took a minute, but plane crash has John Beilein appreciating life

Michigan's John Beilein's blueprint for NCAA openers: Prepare and rest

Sunday, Michigan will play Louisville in a game that features all kinds of plot lines. There have been so many memorable games between Cardinals coach Rick Pitino and Beilein.

The 2013national championship game, when Pitino's Cardinals won, 82-76. The 2005 regional final when Beilein was coaching at West Virginia; another nail-biter that Pitino won.

It's the games coaches never forget.

But even more than the history, there's a story of fathers and their sons.

Pitino's son Richard coaches at Minnesota, a team the Wolverines beat last Saturday in a Big Ten tournament semifinal.

Im sure he is getting a scouting report from his son, John Beilein said.

Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein talks with reporters before practicing for their first round NCAA tournament game against Oklahoma State on Thursday March 16, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP)

Just as John Beilein is getting help from his son, Patrick, who is the coach at Le Moyne College.

As Michigan played Oklahoma State on Friday, Patrick shouted out a couple of play suggestions from the stands. John Beilein used them in the game, and they worked.

It was something I saw on the D, the way they were playing, Patrick Beilein said. They had run it one time in the first half and scored off it. I just didnt understand why he wasnt going back to it. It was something that was so wide open. When they did the run the play, I was like, that shot better go in.

It did.

After the Wolverines scored on a play that Patrick Beilein had suggested John Beilein turned around and looked into the stands.

I looked back at you, but you didnt make eye contact, John Beilein said to his son late Friday night.

I was focusing on the D, dad, Patrick Beilein said.

Patrick Beilein is staying in a hotel room, which is connected to his fathers room in Indianapolis.

Related:

Michigan vs. Louisville scouting report: Who has the edge?

Michigan-Louisville revives memories of 2013 championship loss

Late Friday night, they met for about an hour and talked about the victory over Oklahoma State and Sunday's matchup against Louisville.

He kind of gave me the quick game plan of Louisville, what they are looking for, Patrick Beilein said. Weve had some great battles with Louisville.

Minnesota runs a similar offense to the Cardinals. Which figures: Like father like son, right?

Similar sets, Patrick Beilein said. But not all. Its very similar concepts.

Patrick Beilein went into pure coach-speak, sounding like his father by rattling off several things the Wolverines will have to do to beat Louisville.

They are going to have to make shots over length, Patrick Beilein said. If you can defend a couple of actions, you have to limit them to one possession. They are very long and athletic. When they do shoot it, you cant allow second chance opportunities.

As I said: Like father, like son.

On the other side of this story is Rick Pitino. He saw Michigan play earlier this season in Minnesota, when he was visiting his son.

I was actually at the Michigan-Minnesota game live where Minnesota won in overtime, Rick Pitino said. Their power forward, center, two-guard, whatever they call him, made a shot from 15 feet behind the line to put it into overtime as if it was a layup. So I happen to know Michigan very well.

Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein on the bench against Oklahoma State during the first half of U-M's 92-91 win Friday, March 17, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the NCAA tournament.(Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, DFP)

Yes, his son Richard has given him a scouting report about Michigan and is said to be on his way to Indy.

He gave me his thoughts on the game, Rick Pitino said. Since the time I've seen them, they've gotten a lot more confident and a lot better. And I think it really stems from the play of their point guard.

Michigan has been on a tremendous run, winning 11 of their past 13 games. The whole team has evolved.

Just as Beilein has evolved and changed. You can see it during games when he smiles. Or during the post-game celebrations, when he gets into water fights with his players. Now, hes taking water in with him into the locker roomand hes dousing them, just as they douse him.

Hes very relaxed, Patrick Beilein said. Ive seen him smile more, over these last few days, whether it was a FaceTime with him after he won the Big Ten tournament championship, until I got to Indy. Hes very relaxed. Hes smiling. He was always so uptight, no matter how many games hes coached at this level, whether its an NCAA game or an exhibition. He takes every one of them serious. Ive seen a change in him, being relaxed, just enjoying the moment.

Maybe, some of it is a byproduct of the plane crash. Maybe.

But there is no question he is more emotional, whether its his voice cracking during pregame speeches or in his smiles after the games, his shirt drenched with water.

Clearly, hes more loose and appreciative.

And he's having as much fun as his team.

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

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The evolution (and relaxation) of Michigan coach John Beilein - Detroit Free Press

As the scraps of life's memories printed photos, newspaper clippings, ticket stubs increasingly become less tangible and more electronic, a longtime hobby has evolved to keep up, with scrapbooking moving into the digital realm.

At its most basic, scrapbooking is as simple as it sounds: assembling scraps of one's life into a book.

But as those scraps printed photos, newspaper clippings, ticket stubs increasingly become less tangible and more electronic, a longtime hobby has evolved to keep up.

For as long as the materials have existed, people have compiled things they wanted to remember.

It's been going on for decades and centuries, I should say. Back to the cave people, documenting their stuff on the walls, said Joanne Coleman, a scrapbooking consultant and instructor.

Since then, of course, modern photography, upgrades in papers, color, tools and other small machines and in the 20th century the Internet have expanded scrapbookers ability to record and preserve history in myriad new ways but some people still stick to the original.

Coleman, as a consultant with scrapbooking company Close to My Heart, teaches classes, sells supplies and frequents crops, scrapbooking get-togethers in which participants bring their photos, their materials and their stories for a day of all-out crafting.

Crops are social events that are more about having fun and relationships, said Coleman, who attends larger crops and hosts them at her home. It is about home and sharing family memories.

Attendees range from teens to grandparents with their children and its not just for women.

There are a handful of men, and there are actually men that are consultants with the company, Coleman said. Sometimes it's a husband and wife that come together, and that gives them something to do together.

The materials also change with the times.

Scrapbooking follows home and fashion trends, she said. All the major companies go to the trade shows to keep up with the new colors, new stripes or chevrons and the new trends.

Local craft stores also offer all the supplies scrapbookers need, some with occasional classes. Pam McVay at Panama Citys Hobby Lobby said though the hobby has been changing over the years, it is not dying.

Yearly planners have become popular now, she said. They decorate and embellish them in the same way as their scrapbooks. They bling them up and personalize them.

For others, digital scrapbooking is a simpler way to file away memories. Marion Ginn of Gulf Breeze is a prolific producer of photo books through digital scrapbooking tool Picaboo. In recent years, she has compiled a monthly book on the Santa Rosa Womans Club's activities, her Winnebago clubs escapades and her family life.

What I do is I take pictures galore, and if we go to a district meeting or something, I'll save the program and a copy of the nametags, special things like that, and I'll scam them onto my computer, Ginn said.

From there, Picaboo makes it simple, offering hundreds of layouts, backgrounds, colors, crops, fonts, stickers and more. For Ginn, the end result is a book multiple sizes are available though the site also offers prints, cards and other personalized items.

You can pretty much do whatever you want on that site, she said. You can make your photo the background of the whole page, you can make it a photo on the page, you can stretch them, make them larger or darker ... It's really user-friendly, and they've got a lot of options that you don't have if you use Walmart or Walgreens.

From there, its just a matter of printing and waiting for the mail to arrive.

Ginn has become so adept with the site, she even went back and made a photo book for each year of her marriage to husband Leo all 52 of them.

She shares her results with the people in her clubs and her family. One recently won her first place in digital scrapbooking at a Crestview arts and crafts fair.

The other thingI like about it is once you've done it, you can share an online version of it, so if someone wanted to order it, they could or if they just want to look at it, they can, she said.

Coleman acknowledged digital options are the right fit for some people but still prefers the old-fashioned way, saying the hobby is all about the people, and that is what will keep it viable into the future.

Kids are online now, she said. They are doing digital photo books online. But they are starting to want more hands-on experiences. Early teens are really enjoying scrapbooking more and more. As they get older, that will continue.

Diana McQuagge is hoping to instill the hobby in her granddaughter. Emily, 8, scrapbooks with McQuagge when she comes to visit.

Shes got Grandmas table half full of coupon book scrapbooking supplies, McQuagge said. We went to a store and got her supplies to do a little book. But shes got her own ideas and she wanted to make a coupon book.

Emily has decorated each page and has multiple categories for all her coupons.

For Coleman, those kinds of interactions are priceless.

The grandmas teaching the grandchildren, that's giving them some together time, she said. I really like seeing that because to me, it's more about the connections and the people sharing their family history with each other and documenting, because we're so into the digital age that this is a fun way to tell about your family and keep those stories going.

The News Herald's Steph Nusbaum contributed to this story.

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Scrapbooking: The evolution of a hobby - The News Herald

1. The 21st century will be dominated by algorithms, says Yuval Harari. That makes algorithm arguably the single most important concept in our world.

2. Hes almost right. Natural algorithms have ruled every century with life in it. He means unnatural algorithms (which have been called "weaponized math") now matter.

3. Daniel Dennett says, Darwin discovered the fundamental algorithm of evolution. Of course Darwin couldnt have seen natural selection as algorithmic, but technomorphic analogies to our unnatural computers mean were beginning to recognize algorithmic forces.

4. For instance, Gregory Chaitin says, the origin of life is really the origin of software, and DNA is multibillion-year-old software.

5. Algorithms are sequences of step-by-step instructions for complex processes (like recipes, or software). They describe how dumber sub-steps compose complex tasks.

6. Evolutions survival-of-the-fittest algorithm is very loosely survive, replicate with variation, repeat.

7. Out of that dumb process-logic arises all the intelligence and complexity of all living systems. Including what Dennett calls competence without comprehension.

8. Consider termite castles that look like a monumental Gaud church. Termites collectively have the competence to build complex castles without comprehending what theyre doing. Smart-seeming higher-level competence and complexity are caused by following dumb lower-level steps.

9. Here, its worth noting that evolution exists in a different way than gravity (they differ ontologically). Both cause changes in the world, but forces like gravity operate directly via intrinsic physical properties (having simple algebraic relationships), but evolution is a complex algorithmic force (that emerges and operates indirectly, systemically).

10. Algorithmic forces exist and exert their powers in systemic and relational ways; theyre not driven by isolatable and intrinsic traits. They require sequential steps, and are built from iterative if-then-else logic.

11. Another way to say this is that algo-forces are driven by richer information processes than physical forces. In physics a few isolatable numeric variables (like electric charge) capture the relevant phenomena. But abstract (imagined) attributes like fitness in biology cant be measured (and dont exist) in isolation from their context.

12. Evolutions natural algorithm ran for ~4 billion years to generate us. But Hararis human-generated unnatural algorithms (the kinetic logic built into our culture and technology) are now shaping the biosphere (see the anthropocene era).

13. That puts us in the termite role. Were building complex higher-level collective structures that we neither intend nor understand. (Thats why were facing a global marshmallow test, and why mindless market algorithms make musical toilets while people starve.)

14. Evolution and economics are both driven by algo-forces. Theyre both in the productivity selection business, but the currently dominant profit-maximization algorithm often isnt prudent (or survivable).

--

IllustrationbyJulia Suits,The New Yorkercartoonist & author ofThe Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions

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The 21st Century's Most Important Idea... & Older Natural Algorithmic Forces - Big Think

The modern human skull and walking on two legs evolved together, according to a newly published study from the University of Texas at Austin and Stony Brook University. The findings have the potential to solve one of the most fascinating mysteries of human evolution.

A key feature of the human skull can be used to detect the development of bipedalism (walking on two legs) in humans, according to the study published in the latest edition of the Journal of Human Evolution. This connection has long been highly controversial among biologists and archaeologists.

The earliest humans climbed trees and walked on the ground, offering them flexibility of movement and the ability to evade predators. It is widely held that between 6 and 3 million years ago the gradual transition began from climbing trees to walking upright the majority of the time. This switch to exclusively walking on two legs inevitably coincided with significant physical changes, such as longer legs. Homo erectus, around 1.9 millions years ago, had leg and thigh bones very close to those of modern humans, evolved for walking on two legs over long distances.

Humans differ from other primates in that the foramen magnum, the large hole at the base of the skull which the spinal cord passes through, is shifted forward. Many scientists argue that this is down to the evolution of bipedalism the head needing to be balanced directly on top of the spine to aid walking. This connection between the foramen magnum and bipedalism is far from universally accepted, however.

In 1925, Raymond Dart first questioned the connection in his description of Taung child, a 2.8 million-year-old fossil skull of the extinct South African species Australopithecus africanus. Last year, a study by Kent State University biological anthropologist Aidan Ruth further questioned the connection between walking on two legs and the forward shifted foramen magnum.

Gabrielle Russo, an assistant professor at Stony Brook University, and UT Austin anthropologist Chris Kirk have provided convincing evidence in their new study that the forward shifted foramen magnum is not just a feature of humans and their fossil relatives, but bipedal mammals more generally.

This question of how bipedalism influences skull anatomy keeps coming up partly because its difficult to test the various hypotheses if you only focus on primates, Kirk said in a press release. However, when you look at the full range of diversity across mammals, the evidence is compelling that bipedalism and a forward-shifted foramen magnum go hand-in-hand.

Their groundbreaking study sampled the largest number of mammal species to date, as well as deploying new methods to measure aspects of foramen magnum anatomy.

By comparing the position and location of the foramen magnum in 77 mammal species, from primates to rodents, Russo and Kirk make their case that bipedal mammals have a more forward-positioned foramen magnum than even their most closely related quadrupedal relatives.

Weve now shown that the foramen magnum is forward-shifted across multiple bipedal mammalian clades using multiple metrics from the skull, which I think is convincing evidence that were capturing a real phenomenon, Russo said.

Establishing the link between bipedalism and the foramen magnums position is hugely significant. The connection could allow archaeologists to determine much more accurately whether extinct fossil hominids walked on two feet like modern humans, or on four like modern great apes. The specific measurements offered by the study could be applied to future research to provide a map of the evolution of bipedalism. Other researchers should feel confident in making use of our data to interpret the human fossil record, Russo concluded.

Image shows comparison of the positioning of the foramen magnum in a bipedal springhare (left) and its closest quadrupedal relative, the scaly-tailed squirrel (right). Image credit: Russo and Kirk, Journal of Human Evolution

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Walking On Two Legs Changed Evolution of Human Skulls - New Historian