Category Archives: Evolution

What does it mean to be a Ukrainian? In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we talk to three experts about the origins of Ukrainian nationalism, and how Ukrainian national identity is changing.

And we hear about a rare archive of Ukrainian dissident literature from the Soviet era, and why its now in danger.

History is central to understanding why the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened, and what might happen next. And in this episode, were exploring the history of Ukrainian national identity.

Dominique Arel, professor and holder of the chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa in Canada, explains how Ukrainian national identity started to emerge in the 19th century, when the territory that later became Ukraine was split between the Russian empire to the east and the Austro-Hungarian empire to the west.

Read more: A short history of Ukrainian nationalism and its tumultuous relationship with Russia

The birth of Ukrainian nationalism as a mass social movement really crystallised by the first world war, says Arel. It was far more developed in western Ukraine than in eastern Ukraine because in the Russian empire, Ukrainian nationalism was repressed and even the Ukrainian language was banned. Under the Soviet era, while Ukrainian nationalism was initially encouraged under Vladimir Lenin, it began to be seen as a nationalist resistance that needed to be wiped out, explains Arel.

When Ukraine became independent in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, anyone living on the territory had a right to citizenship. At that time, a little less than a quarter of the population identified as ethnically Russian and three-quarters as ethnically Ukrainian alongside minorities, including Crimean Tatars. But researchers point to shifts in those identities since then.

Volodymyr Kulyk is head research fellow at the Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He spoke to us from Kyiv. To be Ukrainian used to mean to be Ukrainian by descent to be a Ukrainian origin or in the Soviet official parlance to be of Ukrainian nationality, he says, explaining that nationality was primarily understood in ethnic, hereditary terms.

But now, Kulyk says its changing and more and more people are identifying as Ukrainian. That means that more and more people who used to be Russian or who used to be other ethnicities, start identifying as Ukrainians.

The Euromaidan protests of 2013-14 marked a turning point. Olga Onuch, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Manchester in the UK, has been part of a number of studies surveying Ukrainians about their views and identity, and their politics. She says theyve found that civic identity or state attachment was extremely strong amongst Ukrainians, across linguistic and across regions, and that it was increasing over time. As the conflict escalated, so did support for the Ukrainian state, says Onuch.

Her research is also tracking shifts in political attitudes. This was incremental at first, in the years following 2014, but after the election of the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in 2019, Onuch says there was a huge jump in support for Ukraine joining the EU and NATO, which she calls the Zelensky effect.

Our second story brings a personal perspective to some of this history. During the Soviet era, when Ukrainian language was repressed, it was dangerous to publish Ukrainian political and cultural texts within Ukraine. One man, Wolodymyr Mirko Pylyshenko, in the diaspora Ukrainian community in the US began collecting this dissident literature. His daughter, Katja Kolcio, an associate professor of dance and environmental studies at Wesleyan University in the US, tells the story of the archive and why its now in danger. (From 36 minutes)

And Moina Spooner, news editor for The Conversation in Nairobi, Kenya, recommends some analysis marking the two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. (From 48m)

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter @TC_Audio, on Instagram at theconversationdotcom or via email. You can also sign up to The Conversations free daily email here.

Newsclips in this episode are from Al Jazeera English, WION News, BBC News, Hromadske News , and France24 .

You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed, or find out how else to listen here.

Read the original here:

The history and evolution of Ukrainian national identity podcast - The Conversation

March 14, 2022

In 2013, a team of American and Hungarian astronomers discovered the largest known structure in the observable universe: a supercluster of galaxies they named the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall. The Great Wall is so wide that light would take 10 billion years to move across it.

To better understand how superclusters evolve, scientists need to understand the inner workings of the building blocks of superclustersgalaxy clusters, which are thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. For example, how is energy injected into the plasma that comprises galaxy clusters? How is this energy spread around to heat the entire enormous system?

This work opens a new, experimental path to address a long-standing astrophysical question: Why are the cores of galaxy clusters so hot, despite the copious amounts of radiation they emit?Petros Tzeferacos

An international team of scientists from the University of Rochester, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago was able to demonstrate in a laboratory setting for the first time how thermal conduction is suppressed in a plasmacausing galaxy clusters to be hotter than expectedby replicating conditions that are characteristic of the conditions that exist within galaxy clusters. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, provides insights into the complex physical processes at play within the building blocks of our universe.

This work opens a new, experimental path to address a long-standing astrophysical question: Why are the cores of galaxy clusters so hot, despite the copious amounts of radiation they emit? Accounting for this energy budget will help us understand how galaxy clusters evolve and how their large-scale structure is set up, says Petros Tzeferacos, an associate professor of physics and astronomy and a senior scientist at Rochesters Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). Tzeferacos is also the director of the Flash Center for Computational Science, which recently moved to Rochester from Chicago, and contributed to the experiments.

Most of the matter that makes up galaxy clusters is in the form of a plasmaa hot soup of free-moving electrons and ionsthat is threaded by magnetic fields and is in a turbulent state, moving in a random fashion much like smoke from a chimney. Scientists have previously studied galaxy clusters and the heat conduction in a plasma using observations and inputting data into theoretical models. However, they faced a difficult conundrum: the galaxy clusters in their simulations all appeared to be much hotter than scientists would expect, according to physical laws.

Until now, scientists had never been able to experimentally replicate the turbulent plasma that exists within galaxy clusters. To do so, the researchers used high-powered lasers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

In the experiments, laser beams were used to vaporize plastic foils and generate a turbulent and magnetized plasma, similar to the laser-driven experiments the team performed at the LLE to demonstrate the turbulent dynamo mechanismfor the first time.

The researchers found that the electrons in the plasma collide infrequently with each other and end up following the tangled magnetic field lines. This phenomenon suppresses heat conduction, giving rise to pockets of hot plasma that cannot escape, causing the cores of galaxy clusters to be much hotter than anticipated.

This work is an important stepping stone in understanding microscopic processes that occur in plasmas that are both magnetized and turbulent, says Gianluca Gregori, a professor of physics at the University of Oxford, who was the principal investigator in these experiments. The experimental findings are surprising, as they demonstrate that energy is transported in ways that are very different from what we would have expected from simple theories.

In order to design and interpret the laser experiments, the researchers used simulations developed at the Flash Center for Computational Science, using the multi-physics simulation code FLASH.

The FLASH simulations and our previous LLE experiments were key for untangling the physics at play in the turbulent, magnetized plasma, Tzeferacos says. The level of thermal transport suppression, however, was still beyond what we expected.

Further experiments will seek to better understand the microscopic mechanism that is ultimately responsible for the suppression of heat conduction that the researchers observed.

The research was funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the US DOE Office of Science Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the European Research Council (ERC), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The Discovery Science program of the US DOE NNSA provided the collaboration with access to the NIF. Compute time for the FLASH numerical simulations was provided by the US DOE ALCC and ERCAP programs and the LLE High Performance Computing group.

Tags: Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Flash Center for Computational Science, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Petros Tzeferacos

Category: Science & Technology

Originally posted here:

Tracing the evolution of galaxy clusters : NewsCenter - University of Rochester

Low belief in evolution is associated with a higher level of prejudice, racist attitudes, discriminatory behaviors toward LGBTQ+ people and minorities, and general hostility toward people perceived to belong to an out-group, researchers found using surveys collected across 46 countries.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, were based on data from the United States, 19 Eastern European countries, 25 Muslim countries, and Israel.

We found that disbelief in the theory that humans evolved from other animals was associated with prejudice, racist attitudes, and support for discriminatory behaviors towards human outgroups, particularly minorities (based on their racial, religious, or sexual identity). This correlation was generally small but was consistent across different countries and cultures, the research authors told IFLScience.

Importantly, although belief in human evolution was related to religiosity and political conservatism, the associations between belief in human evolution from animals and bigoted attitudes held also across various religious categories when controlling for measures of religiousness and political views, as well as other relevant variables (e.g. income, level of education, etc.). Findings were also found among non-dominant groups (religious and racial minorities).

Bigotry is unfortunately way too common in human culture, but the fact that we are animals might help to challenge that within ourselves and our societies. The work, led by graduate researcher Stylianos Syropoulos and Dr Uri Lifshin, suggests two hypotheses as to why that might be the case.

One is social identity theory, which places group identity at the center of how we define ourselves. So if we can accept our shared humanity and even our shared animality, we can expand our ingroup to embrace those who are different from us.

The other idea comes from terror management theory. Humans tend to deny our mortality, believing that we can survive death either literally or symbolically. Our cultures, religions, nations, the whole complex network of what makes our ingroups, shield us from these existential questions. So we like to hold onto those ingroups ideas. Challenges to that can open our eyes to our bigotries.

The theory of evolution has revolutionized more than our science. By connecting us to animals and the natural world at large, it has changed how humanity sees itself.

Classical social psychology suggests that finding our common humanity and seeing how our outgroups are also human, like us, is the way to reduce bigotry and dehumanization of outgroups. While this is true, this solution isnt perfect, because it still ignores the fact that we are in essence animals, the team explained to IFLScience.

So perhaps the key is to be able to acknowledge our shared animal origin that we are all animals, ingroup and outgroup alike, and thus be less depended on our cultural and national identities which might further attenuate intergroup differences, eventually reducing our proneness to prejudice and intergroup conflict.

While the theory of evolution has been used to challenge bigoted attitudes such as racism, misogyny, LGBTQphobia, it has also been used to perpetuate bigotry under the guise of science such as the eugenics movement. So just because someone knows that evolution is true, it doesnt mean they do not possess racist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist attitudes.

The team is working to see if simply increasing peoples belief in human evolution and our undeniable link to the animal world can help challenge bigotry across the board.

Read the rest here:

People Who Don't Believe In Evolution May Be More Prejudiced Against Minorities - IFLScience

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The biggest problem with gaming headsets these days is that they often can only connect to some, but not all, of your devices. Oftentimes gamers will have a couple of different headsets to meet their console, PC, and mobile device needs.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

The CIYCE Evolution is the latest gaming headset to hit Kickstarter and we were sent an advance review unit. Not only does it offer up some pretty decent sound, but it also has a hidden microphone and offers four different ways to connect. Read on for our full review!

NOTE: Our review unit was a pre-production unit. As such, while nearly final, there may be minor variations between what we reviewed and the final retail product.

The CIYCE Evolution gaming headset we reviewed has the following features and specifications (configurable when ordering):Driver diameter50mmLatency30ms (dongle mode)Surround sound7.1 VirtualImpedance32THD< 0.5%Sensitivity105 3dB at 1KHzSignal-to-noise ratio96dBFrequency20Hz 20KHzBatteryUp to 30 hours on a single chargeCharging timeLess than 1.5 hoursCharging cable length50 cm (~20)3.5mm cable length1.5m (~ 5)ConnectivityUSB dongle (A/C), Bluetooth, 3.5mmCompatibilityPC, Mac, PS4/5, Xbox One/S/X, Nintendo Switch, iPhone, AndroidDimensions203 x 194 x 87mmWeight< 300g

For the most part, wireless gaming headphones follow a pretty similar design with a few minor variations. The CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset is black in colour. The main headband is nicely padded and wrapped in a protein leather material. The front and back edges are nicely stitched. At each end of the headband is a solid black plastic piece with the CIYCE logo stamped into the outside and an L or R on the inside. The headband attaches to the earcups by way of a thin metal inverted y piece.

The earcups themselves are oval but moulded and designed to look like an alien head. As a result, the top is a bit flatter while the bottom chin, so to speak, is a bit more rounded and narrower. On both earcups, two eye LEDs are inset on either side of a slightly raised bump. At first, I wasnt sold on this visible line but it does add to the look and makes it easier to locate the center of the earcup for the touch controls. The touch control area is quite small and is centered near the bottom of the eyes more on that in the next section. The left earcup is where youll find the main microphone, 3.5mm audio jack, MFB, power/ANC LED indicator, volume buttons, and Bluetooth indicator LED. The right earcup houses the USB-C charging port, charging LED, and the call answer/hang up/game mode switch.

Attached to the headset are a pair of soft, padded, and super comfortable protein leather earmuffs. The leather wrapping offers better comfort and more soundproofing from the outside world. In addition, CICYE includes a pair of fabric earmuffs in case you prefer those. If you are wearing the headset for longer periods of time and notice your ears getting a bit warm and/or sweaty, you can swap to the more breathable fabric earmuffs easily.

One thing youll notice is that there is no boom microphone on the CIYCE Evolution. That is because the company opted for a hidden microphone on the bottom of the left earcup, which actually makes the design more versatile, especially if you plan on wearing and using it for calls while out in public. There is also another call mic hidden in one of the eyes on the same earcup. There are also four ANC mics, two on each earcup with one being centred towards the top of the outer shell and the other two on the inside of the earcup, located behind the earmuff.

Overall, the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset is a nicely designed, sleek-looking, and lightweight headset.

As mentioned earlier, there are four different ways to connect the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset to your devices. The easiest is with the dual-mode dongle. Small in size, there are two caps on it. Removing one cap will expose the smaller USB-C dongle. Placing this cap back in place and removing the other cap will expose the USB-A side, and also make the dongle slightly longer. NOTE, you do need to have the USB-C portion plugged into the USB-A portion if you are connecting the dongle to your computer via a USB-A port for it to work. You can also connect via Bluetooth or with the included 3.5mm audio cable.

The headset is turned on by holding the MFB button, which is indicated by the triangular play button. Once on, you can use this button to play/pause your current music track or quick press three times to switch between dongle and Bluetooth mode. The volume buttons allow you to control the volume on the headset, as well as skip between tracks. Tapping the left outer shell will toggle the LED light colours while tapping the right outer shell will toggle between two different ANC modes. Finally, holding the button on the right earcup down for two seconds or so will toggle between music and gaming mode.

The only issue I have with how easy the headset is to use is the small touch spots on the outer shells of the headset. These are used to toggle the ANC modes and LED lighting colours on the headset. They are a bit finicky and tricky, but once you found that sweet spot its not too bad.

I did try the headset on multiple devices including a desktop PC, laptop, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and my Pixel 5 Android smartphone. In each case, I had no issues with connecting or using the headset.

CIYCE has equipped the Evolution wireless gaming headset with pretty powerful 50mm drivers. The headset also features 7.1 virtual surround sound. With bigger drivers and virtual surround sound, one would expect decent sound and these headphones deliver. Not only do they get quite loud, but the sound levels are pretty balanced, with a bit of a skew to the bass end of things. Whether I was using them for gaming in games Call of Duty: Warzone, Forza Horizon 5, and Heroes of the Storm, or listening to music, the audio cues and sound were really good. Better, in fact, than I expected from such an affordably priced pair of headphones. Even better, the latency is low enough that it didnt affect my gameplay in more time-sensitive games like Warzone.

Being a gaming headset, however, it would be nice to have at least some presets to switch between different types of games like FPS, RPG, racing, or sports. It is nice that there is no software required for the headset, and given the fact it already has a button to toggle between music and game mode, it is conceivable this could be expanded to toggle between a few different game (or even music) equalizer settings.

When used with the dongle or in Bluetooth mode, I didnt have any issues with reception on the headset. It did start to cut out once I headed upstairs from my basement, but to be honest, youre going to be fairly close to your gaming setup while gaming. In Bluetooth mode, I was able to hit the usually 30 feet or so with walls in between the headset and my phone before it started to cut out. In an open area, I was able to get even further before it started to.

While the audio is clear, crisp, and nicely balanced, the microphone on our pre-production review unit was somewhat lacking. While it was still clear and crisp, people I was playing with mentioned that I was a bit quiet, as if the microphone was set to two-thirds volume. I found that I had to speak louder, which made me more audible to my teammates but wasnt optimal for people sitting in the same room as me trying to do other things.

I did mention this to CIYCE and they said that it was odd as that was an early issue with the headsets and that the newer review units, as well as the final consumer models, had been updated with a different Bluetooth chip and dongle setup. As it turns out, I wasnt the only one that experienced this issue and another reviewer posted a video comparing the two versions of the review units he looked at. You can check the clip below to hear the comparisons yourself. If it doesnt start at the proper mark, check out around 3:25 in, or click this link to view it on YouTube.

On that note, the score for this section reflects the microphone as I tested it, but the company assured me that the final versions customers will be receiving have the better microphone quality.

Theres almost nothing worse than having your wireless headset die in the middle of a match. CIYCE claims up to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge on the Evolution wireless gaming headset. During our testing, we were able to consistently get near this, allowing for multiple game sessions without having to recharge in between each one. Once they do run out, it takes about an hour-and-a-half to fully recharge them.

CIYCE is expected to retail the Evolution for US$120. Currently, you can back them starting at US$78, which is a pretty solid deal for such a comfortable and decent-sounding headset. You get a lot of the price, including the second set of earmuffs, and four different ways to connect to your devices.

This is an all-or-nothing Kickstarter with a rather modest US$5000 goal. It did just launch today and is anticipated to run for the next 30 days. The headsets are set to ship in May, so you wont have too long to wait if this crowdfunding campaign is successful.

As with any crowdfunding campaign, there is a risk of supporting them. Weve recently heard about several that weve written about that have failed or are having issues. Our reporting on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or other crowdfunding campaigns does not mean we support or are affiliated with them. Support at your own risk.

Whats included with the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset.

The outer and inner earcup on the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset.

The buttons on the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset.

The padded, protein leather wrapped headband on the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset.

The CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset has pretty minimal branding.

The CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset a comes with both protein leather and fabric earmuffs.

The dual-USB dongle included with the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset.

If youre looking for a versatile headset that will be suitable for your PC, console, and mobile gaming needs, the CIYCE Evolution wireless gaming headset is a pretty good bet if you dont mind backing a Kickstarter. Not only does it offer multiple connection options, it is lightweight, has great battery life, and is pretty affordable especially at the early bird pricing.

Last Updated on March 18, 2022.

CIYCE EvolutionUS$78+

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CIYCE Evolution review: A wireless gaming headset with decent sound and four ways to connect - Techaeris

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Mitogenomics provides new insights into the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of deep-sea sea stars (Asteroidea) | Scientific...

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The evolution of the manual wheelchair - Saipan Tribune

By: Jonathan Wall March 17, 2022

Smith's Titleist irons and wedges all feature a dark finish.

Getty Images

Fresh off a thrilling win at the Players Championship, Cameron Smith took time out to go through the Titleist gear that helped him secure the biggest paycheck of his career with GOLF.com. Smith discusses the Scotty Cameron putter that almost never was, why his Titleist TS2 7-wood isnt going anywhere, and sage gear advice for amateur golfers.

You can also catch the entire interview on this weeks Fully Equipped podcast.

Can you recall having a better week with the putter than the one you just produced at Sawgrass?

CAMERON SMITH: I think Ive had some weeks that have equaled it, but I may have not hit my irons so good. It kind of goes unnoticed, but when youre hitting it good and youre putting that good, obviously youre at the top end of the leaderboard, so its good to mix those two.

When youre having a good putting week, do you chalk it up to a thought when youre standing over the putt? Is it just confidence from seeing the ball go in?

SMITH: I think its just seeing the ball go in, obviously early in the week through the practice rounds. I think you kind of know how youre going to go on the greens. There are some tricky reads out there. I was just seeing a ton of plus going early in the week and I just felt really comfortable over the putter.

Youve been using a Scotty Cameron 009M for a little over a year now. But before that, you were using a mallet. What was the reason behind going back to a blade putter?

SMITH: I just like the shape of a blade putter a little bit better. I love the shape of that 009, but I loved the hosel on the mallet putter I was using (a 1.5 Teryllium). It had this nice little neck, and I just asked them to build one up with the 009 head. It just felt really good. I really feel confident releasing that putter for some reason.

When you have a successful putter like the one youre using, are you testing any other putters in the meantime, or is that not even up for discussion?

SMITH: It usually takes me a couple of bad putting months before I look into anything else. I have changed a few times over the course of my professional career, but like I said, I feel really confident with this one. It just flows nice.

You have an eclectic mix of stamps on your putter. Theres a Circle T, Scotty Dog, skulls, Cameron crown even a paint brush on the heel. Do you like to have a say in what gets stamped on the head, or do you let Scotty Cameron go to town on the design?

SMITH: I usually do have a say on whats get stamped on the head. But with this one I was like, You know what? Im probably not going to use it. So you guys just go to town. I received that and obviously fell in love with it, and thats the reason behind it.

So you actually didnt think this putter was going to have a shot when you first got it?

SMITH: No, not when I first got it, but when we were building it. Im like, I just dont think that neck is to work with that head because its such a wide head and its so much like mass out wide. I thought that it would almost have too much swing to it. Then I hit a few putts and I just fell in love with it.

I noticed the sidestamp on your ball faces forward and isnt used to line up the putt. How long have you been lining your ball up that way?

SMITH: Ive been doing that now for probably since an interview with Titleist in 2020. So probably a couple of years I havent used the line. I just line up the Titleist logo, make it look pretty I dont have a line on my putter either, just a [sight dot] so its just feel for me [when I putt].

Ive been told you might be one of the easiest guys to work with in terms of getting acclimated to new gear. You literally get something new and feel comfortable enough adding it to the bag right away. Would you say thats fairly accurate?

SMITH: Ive never been one to hesitate with the new equipment. I feel like the guys do a really good job. Obviously, theyre trying to make that product better and better, and I just feel really confident in what theyve built. Ive always been one to put it straight in the bag and kind of take it as it comes. And sometimes itll last forever, and sometimes it lasts a few weeks and then a little switch up. But it hasnt been too many of those.

Do you conduct most of your testing when youre on-site early in the week at a tournament or do you like to get your gear sent back to your place to test it on your own?

SMITH: Ill test it with the guys when Im on tour. Im there to play golf, and I feel like thats what Im swinging it my best is when Im out on Tour. So theres no reason for me to bring it back here and test it while Im working on my swing as well.

Is it fair to say youre not a gear tinkerer?

SMITH: Yeah, definitely not.

With the Masters coming up, I know some guys will alter their setup for a major. Do you make any adjustments to your setup as the season goes on or is it pretty much what youre starting the season with is what youre going to see in the bag come the Tour Championship?

SMITH: I like to keep things the same. The only thing Ill change, probably week to week, is the bounces on my lob wedge. I travel with three lob wedges all with different grinds and bounces. And that just kind of depends on how the course is set up or how its playing.

Smith relies on feel instead of the sidestamp line to help him lock-in on the perfect pace and line.

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What are the grinds on those lob wedges, and how long have you been traveling with three in the bag?

SMITH: I travel with a [Vokey SM9] 60 T-Grind with 4 or 5 degrees of bounce on it, and it has like a jeweled grind on it, I guess. And then I travel with an S-Grind thats got 10 degrees, and a K-Grind with 6 degrees of bounce. So theyre all very different. Its probably something that Ive been doing now for, I dont know, probably five or six years. I felt as though the courses over here vary so much that I was having to spend too much time changing my technique from week to week, so I went to [Vokey Tour rep Aaron Dill] and we sorted that out. Ive been rolling with that setup for five or six years.

You have the black finish on literally club and shaft in the bag. When did you get stuck on the black finish?

SMITH: As soon as the finish was available with the old AP2, I just fell in love with it. I love the way that it looked. I think it looks a lot cleaner and I think the club looks a lot smaller. I like a smaller-looking club. I dont want one to look real chunky, like a big shovel looking down on it. Ive been rolling with that finish for probably three generations.

A Titleist TS2 7-wood is the oldest club in your bag, which makes me wonder why you continue to roll with it. Whats your favorite feature about that particular club?

SMITH: I just love the shape of it and feel really comfortable with that. If I did have a favorite club in the bag thats probably it, to be honest. I feel like I can hit so many different shots with it. I can hit it so many different distances. Thats probably one that Ill hang on to I think for the rest of my career. It would take a lot to get that club out of my hands.

Im sure your mates who play golf pester you for tips and suggestions about their gear. Whats one tip youd give an average golfer to improve their equipment setup?

SMITH: I would say spend more time on the chipping green (laughs). I would say just go and get fitted. I think thats probably the best thing. You know, I still have my mates back home in Australia thatll buy clubs off the shelf and wonder why theyre, you know, theyre not any different to the last one. I keep telling them that they have to go and get fitted. Go and find a local guy and get it done right.

You were asked last what youd do with $15 million if you won the Tour Championship and your response was youd probably buy more fishing gear. So with an extra $3.6 million in the bank, are you planning a trip to the watersports store for more fishing equipment?

SMITH: I havent really thought about it. To be honest, I dont know what Im going to do with it. I feel like my fishing set up now is pretty handy. So yeah, well wait and see.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLFs affiliate companyTrueSpecGolf.For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

Jonathan Wall is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.coms Managing Editor for Equipment. Prior to joining the staff at the end of 2018, he spent 6 years covering equipment for the PGA Tour.

Continued here:

Cameron Smith Q&A: The evolution of a red-hot putter, sage gear advice and more - Golf.com

From the death of the suit during the pandemic to Harry Styles appearing on the cover of US Vogue in a dress, the conversations around masculinity and fashion appear to be contemporary, however a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum aims to link modern mens fashion to its storied past.

Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear, which opens on 19 March, will feature a host of contemporary fashion designers (Versace, Calvin Klein, Martine Rose) alongside historical examples of the way men dressed (from Bowie to Beau Brummell). There are more than 100 pieces which the curators hope will illustrate how glacial the trends around mens fashion actually are.

This show is not chronological, explained Claire Wilcox, one of the exhibitions co-curators. Weve juxtaposed the past with the present and tried to show the parallels in the way men have dressed.

The exhibition has been done in partnership with the fashion label Gucci. Since he began as the brands creative director in 2015, Alessandro Michele has been vocal about fashion becoming more gender neutral, detaching menswear from toxic masculinity. He writes in the introduction to the book that accompanies Fashioning Masculinities: In a patriarchal society, masculine gender identity is often moulded by violently toxic stereotypes Any possible reference to femininity is aggressively banned.

In the shadow of #MeToo and toxic masculinity, contemporary conversations around masculinity and fashion have shown no sign of slowing down. The exhibition attempts to show that men were always expressing their gender identities through their clothes.

Theres a contemporary question of visibility, but if you go back theres a history of [this in the] 19th, 18th and even 17th century, people were not gender conformists and instead they were expressing themselves through their clothes, said Rosalind McKever, Wilcoxs co-curator.

Wilcox added that by looking back, Fashioning Masculinities showed that male fashion has operated in a way that is liberating. A liberation which is still possible today.

As an expression of the multiple conversations taking place around mens fashion, the exhibition is split into sections. Undressed explores male body image, in part through discussions around underwear, and asks in the context of conversations about dad bods, himbos and plus-size male models what does an ideal male body look like in 2022?

By placing historical garments next to contemporary ones, we see that the type of body which might be considered fashionable changes continually, said Wilcox. And theres a number of ideals at any given time.

Featuring many famous two-pieces including Beatles mod-ish mop top suits, the second section, Redressed, looks at the past and future of the suit, while the section titled Overdressed looks at peacocking in mens fashion.

The final section features three gowns that went viral thanks to their wearers: Billy Porters tuxedo gown by Christian Siriano, which he wore at the Oscars in 2019, the Alessandro Michele for Gucci custom gown and tailored jacket worn by Harry Styles as the first solo male cover star of US Vogue in 2020, and the wedding dress worn by Bimini Bon-Boulash in the UK final of RuPauls Drag Race UK.

While recent mens trends such as crop tops or the revival of codpieces have been met with derision, Fashioning Masculinities will show that this too, is far from a new phenomenon. Fashion is always criticised anything new is regarded with suspicion, said Wilcox. Then it becomes part of the lexicon of fashion. Today, menswear has got such a wealth of fascinating history to draw on and nothing is out of bounds, whether thats a skirted garment or a crop top, but I dont see anything happening today that hasnt already happened in history.

Despite the scope of the Fashion Masculinities, the curators say they have only skimmed the surface of mens fashion. Its been impossible to reflect the whole of menswear in one show, said Wilcox. We hope this is the first of many.

Continued here:

Death of the suit: V&A exhibition explores evolution of menswear - The Guardian

Y&R spoilers show that Jack Abbott is devastated over the loss of his son Keemo and is desperate to bond with his granddaughter Allie but I, Sybil the Psychic, plan to look into his future to see whats in store for Jack and his familys new addition.

By examining the crystal ball, laying out the cards, and reading the tea leaves, I plan to predict whats coming up for Jack (Peter Bergman). But I make no promises because lets face it its not an exact science (and Im not really thattalented). Okay, Lets take a plunge into what the future may hold.

The crystal ball shows that it is time for Jack to make a sacrifice. An old way of thinking or doing must die in order to pave the way for something new to come in. Jack may need to approach his granddaughter Allie (Kelsey Wang) much differently than he did his son Keemo. He must show her that he is a different man now than he was when he learned of Keemo. Can he show that he has evolved and is better equipped to handle forging a new path? Can they build a family bond that is solid? Or is it too late? Lets see what the cards have to say.

Jack Abbott pulled the Hanged Man card, which suggests a period of transition. Old ways must die to make way for a new way of doing and seeing things. It signifies upheaval to pave the way for a new experience. Patterns must be broken to gain a new perspective.

The card hints that Jack may need to search within for answers. He can move forward only after careful consideration. His next steps will be seeds towards the future for both Jack and Allie so he must be sure-footed in his approach to the situation. The Abbott charm cannot be the fallback plan. Real emotional evolution must be shown. Can Jack offer Allie true substance as her grandfather? Will he release his old patterns for the greater good? Better yet, can he do right by Keemo after all these years by the way he supports Allie moving forward?

Only when Jack digs deep into his soul and finds his inner John Abbott (the late Jerry Douglas) can he create the family patriarch he craves to be. The Hanged man card suggests some sort of metamorphosis through breaking patterns. He needs to plan carefully to bring about a meaningful outcome. Will Jack be able to change his patterns for the greater good? Be the man he desires to be? Put anothers well-being before his own? The answer would be classified as a maybe.

In reading these tea leaves, I, Sybil the Psychic, spy an owl, which indicates a warning about moving into new ventures. Jack will need to really show growth and change for a positive outcome. He must do the work. It all rests on Jacks shoulders.

The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about whats coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest thats been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the shows history, click here.

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Sybil the Psychic Predicts Y&R Spoilers: The Evolution of Jack - Soap Hub