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Tag: Bantam youth
Youth Tackle Championship 2016 Results
The day started with the Gold Tyke Matchup between the undefeated Golden Dogs hosting the Graiders. These two teams had great matchups during the season where we saw the Graiders continuously improve every game they played. As has been the case all year the Golden Dogs took an early lead with the shifty fast feet of Nate Sinclair finding his way through the crowd and breaking away for a long TD run. After Aden Dionne's sure-footed kicked convert the Golden Dogs were in the lead 8 – 0.
But the Graiders came back very quickly driving down the field capped by a Yannick Madigan rushing TD. The convert was missed and the Graiders trailed 8 – 6. The defense held off the powerful Golden offense with some great tackling by Cole Bottoms-Cau and Zonna Osas and after yielding some field position the Graiders got the ball back in their own end. Another long drive saw Seth Hamilton break tackles and finally break away to give the Graiders the lead. After Corbin Jones' successful kicked convert the lead was 14 – 8 Graiders at half time.
The second half featured some very tough defense by both teams with great tackling emerging from the game play. But sure enough Even Drinkwalter broke a tackle and found a seam to race for a TD to tie the game for the Golden Dogs. The defenses were very tough holding off the opponents for much of the second half, until the Graiders got stopped at the Golden's 25 yard line decided to punt the ball and it sailed over the heads of Gold's defenders, into the endzone and through the end line for a tie breaking single point. That point proved to be the eventual winner, but late in the game Corbin Jones extended the lead to 21 – 14 with a break away run of his own.
In Game 2 the Bantam Silver Championship saw the Graiders play the Golden Dogs in a game that displayed the successfull teachings of the Bulldogs advanced tackling techniques. Over the last couple of years the Bulldogs have set out to be leaders in teaching safe and effective blocking and tackling. Our summer programs saw almost zero concussions from player to player contact and tackling effectiveness was hugely improved. These teaching transferred to our fall program and this game demonstrated how effective tackling can be as exciting as lots of scoring.
Carter Tomlinson pounded the Grey offensive line forcing the offense to hurry and ensuring that mistakes would happen. Nathaniel Major, of the Gold team, had a huge defensive impact with an interception, forced fumble, batted ball, relentless quarterback pressure and tackle after tackle. Not to be outdone Caedan Carriere of the Grey team scored a quarterback sack, hit crushing tackles and made an offensive catch pulling a pile for extra yards. Ethan Estabrooks on the Gold team was playing quarterback, for an injured Owen Webb, and did an excellent job throwing the ball and handing it off after only two games at the signal caller's position.
The Golden Dogs and Graiders fought to a 0 – 0 score with 1 play left in the game with the Graiders sitting on the Golden's 15 yard line. The Graiders Tyler Mullan, their normal kicker was not in the game but Aiden Burke stepped up and kicked the convert to give his Graiders the 4 – 0 win. What a terrific game and finish that was.
Game 3 was the Tyke Silver Championship where the Black K-9s took on the Arctic Wolves. Both teams improved as the season progressed with the Black K-9s winning both the regular season games. But The Arctic Wolves Evan Wells was a secret weapon in hiding. When the coaches tried him as a ball carrier he improved quickly and suddenly found some success and became a very effective ball carrier. The game opened with the Black k-9s scoring first as Tommy Pipe took a counter play 60 yards to score his first TD ever!
The Arctic Wolves came back and despite a number of stops, the Black K-9s simply could not contain Evan Wells consistently and he scored 4 TDs. Despite some receoptions by Ethan Duquette and KJ Ferriera for the Black K-9s and some strong running by Erron Beachey, the Arctic defense kept them out of the endzone for the rest of the game. Arctic Wolves' Angus Smith scored a TD as well in what turned out to the a 32 – 6 Arctic Wolves win.
Finally, in the Gold Bantam Championship matchup the Black K-9s found themselves in a game against the Arctic Wolves undefeated team. The Bantam division was very competitive and despite the Arctic Wolves undefeated season, it took overtime for them to earn their spot in the Gold Championship as the Graiders fought to a 16 – 16 tie in the semi-finals. It took overtime and a narrowly missed convert for Arctic to prevail in the 22 – 24 win.
The Black K-9s continued to improve and found some success with the screen game and kickoff return late in the season and it certainly showed in this game. In the opening drive the Arctic Wolves drove down the field and from the 20-yard line Jay-C Janveau took a pass from Alistair Bridges and scored. After also kicking the convert the Arctic Wolves were up 8 – 0.
The lead was short-lived as the Black K-9s ran some early trickery on the return seeing the ball get lateralled twice finally ending up in Xander Bagnell's hand, where he was able to break tackles and race up the side line to score for the K-9s. Riley Brunet kicked the convert to tie the game at 8. Both teams realized that this was winnable by either team.
Later in the first half, after some defensive stops by both teams the Arctic Wolves hit paydirt again with a well-played pass by Bridges as he was being tackled, to Jay-C Janveau again finding the endzone. Up 16 – 8 the Arctic Wolves kicked off short and was recovered by Sierra Joseph to snuff out their onside attempt. The Black K-9s took advantage of the good field position and drove down the field to the 30 yard line. On 2nd down after some tough running by Martin Primeau on the outside, Ashton Gravelle took a counter play 30 yards to score the tying TD.
The Arctic Wolves were not done yet as they scored yet again before the half to move ahead 24 – 16. On the last play of the half, it looked like Bagnell was going to score again for the K-9s but was tackled at the 20-yard line. The second half featured some good stingy defensive play as the only points managed, for the most part, was a very important field goal by Arctic's Jaxon Sheppard to put his team up 28 – 16. However, the Black K-9s were not finished and late in the game they put together a thrilling drive capped by a 40-yard pass and run by Bagnell where he broke several tackles to finally break free to score. With the score now 28 – 24 the Black K-9s chose to ask Riley Brunet to kick an onside kickoff.
He kicked the perfect onside kick the was very difficult to catch and it bounced off an Arctic returner recovered by a couple of Black k-9 players.
The Black K-9s drove down the field and ran out of time with 1 play left in the game with the ball on the 9-yard line. The choice was to attempt the field goal to tie the game and give everyone an exciting overtime to decide the winner. But as the kick went up, it hooked just inches wide of the uprights and the game ended in a 28 – 24 win for the Arctic Wolves.
All games were super exciting to watch and play as we saw heartbreaking moments mixed with exciting moments throughout the day. The kids got a great experience this year and it was refreshing to see so many smiles and happy faces.
Thank you, everyone, for a great 2016 BYTFL season and we look forward to seeing all of you in 2017!
Bantam youth Championship PeeWee Playoffs Youth League
2016 Youth League Playoff – Bantam Semi Finals
The Bulldog Youth League Bantam playoffs begin at Omischl Sports Complex on October Monday, the 17th.
At The Bantam Grey team will look to become the immovable object to the White's unstoppable force in the first game at 6:45pm. The White team has been on a rampage but undefeated teams can become complacent and Grey will be there to take them down if they are.
In the Black and Gold team meet in the late game at 8:30pm. These two teams have traded wins in the regular season but now this is to move on to the championship match. Gold with it rampaging defense and reworked offense battle the all-around refined skills of the Black team.
Bantam youth Youth League
2016 Youth League Week 6
The Bulldog Youth League players are back under the lights at Omischl Sports Complex for the regular season finals. Yes, there is still one makeup game to be played in the Bantam Youth division – stay tuned for details.
Our first game kicks off at 6:00 and will see the Peewee Grey will host the Peewee White team. White has been working hard in practice and are hungry for a victory. Grey wants to make a bid for a high seed in the post-season and earn another "w".
The 6:45 game will see the top dog in the Bantam youth division attempt to hold onto a perfect regular season. The always tough Grey team wants to spoil their flawless record and move up in the ranks.
PeeWee Black and Gold will face off in the 7:40pm game. The Gold try to hold on to the top spot as the Black team wants to topple the leaders and push up in the ranks.
In the main event of the evening, the Bantam Black will take on the Bantam Gold with kick off at 8:30. The Bantam division is swelling with talent and both Black and Gold are stacked teams. Both Black and Gold are good on both sides of the ball making this a great headliner and a high profile match to cap off our regular season.
Bantam youth PeeWee Youth League
The Bulldog Youth League players are back under the lights at Omischl Sports Complex.
Our first game kicks off at 6:00 and will see the Peewee White look to kick-start their season with a victory over the powerhouse PeeWee Gold.
Reminder team photos for gold and white will be at 5:45 just prior to the pee wee game. Be sure to be on time so you don't miss out!
The 6:45 game will see the Bantam Youth league leaders, the White team, try to stave off the hungry number two seed, the Gold team. This will be a clash between two juggernauts.
PeeWee Black and Grey mix it up at 7:40pm to see who is going to move up the standings. This is a crucial match for both teams.
In the main event of the evening, the Bantam Black will take on the Bantam Grey to start accent in the rankings. These are stacked teams that just need to get some traction to make a push in the final half of the season.
This is must see North Bay Football.


The lodgepole pine breeding and orchard program is one of the largest in British Columbia. The program's main focus is the interior variety of lodgepole pine found east of the Coastal Mountains. Nearly half of all trees planted annually in B.C. are lodgepole pine with about 30 percent resulting from seed orchards.
Several small programs service lower-priority areas. In B.C., there are 26 seed orchards producing seed for lodgepole pine with enhanced growth properties and one orchard that produces trees that are resistant to western gall rust.
The lodgepole pine breeding program started in the 1970s with the establishment of one of the largest and most famous common garden studies in the world, known as the Illingworth Trials. Testing of trees for seed orchard production started in the 1980s.
The primary intention of the program was to produce fast-growing trees while maintaining good wood quality, proper tree form and adequate levels of genetic variation for natural processes to deal with uncertain future challenges.
Government research scientists beside a 15-year-old lodgepole pine forward selection for the Prince George selection unit.


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El senyor de Ballantrae  (títol original en anglès: The Master of Ballantrae) és una pel·lícula estatunidenco-britànica dirigida per William Keighley el 1953, amb Errol Flynn i Roger Livesey. Ha estat doblada al català.

Argument
Escòcia al . El narrador explica que el 1745, Carles Eduard Estuard torna a Escòcia i demana ajuda per prendre el tron al rei Jordi II del Regne Unit de la casa de Hannover i restaurar-hi la casa Estuard.

Jamie Durrisdeer és l'hereu del senyoriu de Ballantrae. Fidel als Estuard, aficionat a baralles i aventures galants, Jamie s'ajunta a les tropes rebels escoceses i participa en els combats contra els anglesos. Però, victoriosos, aquests ocupen aviat el país. Buscat per les noves autoritats, Jamie és denunciat per Jessie, una amant gelosa. S'escapa per poc als seus perseguidors i, ferit, s'ha d'amagar en el maquis. Tanmateix, més que dolor físic, Jamie pateix pensant que és el seu germà, Henry, qui l'hauria venut als anglesos per prendre-li el senyoriu i la seva promesa Allison ... Aconsegueix fugir amb l'ajuda del seu amic Burke, un coronel irlandès.

Després de diverses aventures que els porten a tractar amb pirates, prenen possessió d'un galió espanyol i tornen rics a Escòcia. A Ballantrae, troben els anglesos i són detinguts. Amb l'ajuda de Henry i de Jessie, que ha reconegut la seva traïció, aconsegueixen fugir. Jamie dona al seu germà una part de les joies espanyoles, li deixa el senyoriu i se'n va cap a Amèrica amb el coronel Burke i Allison.

Repartiment
 Errol Flynn: Jamie Durrisdeer
 Roger Livesey: coronel Francis Burke
 Anthony Steel: Henry Durrisdeer
 Beatrice Campbell: lady Alison
 Yvonne Furneaux: Jessie Brown
 Felix Aylmer: lord Durrisdeer
 Mervyn Johns: MacKellar
 Charles Goldner: Mendoza
 Ralph Truman: major Clarendon
 Francis de Wolff: Matthew Bull
 Jacques Berthier: Arnaud
 Moultrie Kelsall: Capità MacCauley
 Gillian Lynne: Marianne

Al voltant de la pel·lícula
 Aquesta pel·lícula ha estat rodada en part al castell d'Eilean Donan (Escòcia), en part a Cornualles, i en part al port de Palerm a Sicília.

Bibliografia
 Monthly Film Bulletin, Número 235
 Sight and Sound, octubre-desembre 1953

Referències

Enllaços externs
 Fitxa del film  al lloc del British Film Institute

Pel·lícules d'aventures del Regne Unit
Pel·lícules d'aventures dels Estats Units
Pel·lícules del 1953 doblades al català
Pel·lícules del Regne Unit de la dècada del 1950
Pel·lícules dels Estats Units del 1953
Pel·lícules basades en novel·les

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


All things considered, I'd argue the 2017 New York International Auto Show turned out to be pretty decent. The list of debuts ended up including stuff that's fast, stuff that's fancy, and a few things that are actually kinda weird. Nevertheless, a few of the automakers in attendance didn't really bring their A-game for 2017, including BMW. You see, the only new stuff propped up at the Bimmer booth this year was a couple sets of upgraded wheels.
That said, they are pretty nice wheels. First up are large multi-spoke rollers finished in silver and fitted to a BMW M4 Convertible. The silver color is nicely complemented by the drop-top's Yas Marina Blue exterior, filling the flared fenders with purpose. Get them as part of the optional Competition Package.
Then there are dark, split five-spoke wheels shown on a scorching Austin Yellow M3. Finished in black, these rollers look awesome alongside the dark-colored trim on the sporty four-door, and come offered in a variety of sizes between 19 and 20 inches in diameter. The Bavarians call them 763M, and they come direct from the brand's M tuning division.
Traditionally, BMW likes to flood each and every car show with a deluge of special editions and performance parts. Of course, we can't help but give them crap for throwing some new wheels and trim on a car and expecting us to get all hot and bothered about it, but it's still a bit odd to see BMW put in such little effort for this year's New York show.
What's wrong, BMW? Run out of colors to paint the next limited edition i8?


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Wild card round NFL picks
For the gambling enthusiasts, here are my wild card round NFL picks. To note, the team logos indicate who I think will win the game, not cover the spread. At the end of the picks, I'll note a few teams that I like based on the spread — with all The Deflator" than the Bills.
Thirty active NFL quarterbacks have started at least one playoff game. Only 11 won their first playoff start. That would be an overall record of, you know, 11-19, or a winning percentage of 0.367.
• Guys who won their first playoff starts: Blake Bortles, Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, Jimmy Garoppolo, Case Keenum, Patrick Mahomes, Marcus Mariota, Baker Mayfield, Ben Roethlisberger, Ryan Tannehill, and Russell Wilson.
• Guys who lost their first playoff starts: Josh Allen, Teddy Bridgewater, Kirk Cousins, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, Jared Goff, Taylor Heinicke, Brian Hoyer, Lamar Jackson, A.J. McCarron, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford, Tyrod Taylor, Mitchell Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, and Carson Wentz.
Quarterbacks making this first playoff starts this postseason include Joe Burrow, Derek Carr, Jalen Hurts, Mac Jones, and Kyler Murray.
Is that just trivia? I lean toward thinking it's not, and that players can be legitimately affected by the pressure of a first playoff game start.
MORE: Final Eagles-Buccaneers injury report, with analysis | NFL wild card picks: Rounding up the experts' predictions for Eagles vs. Bucs
Eagles at Buccaneers (-8.5): The Bucs lost Chris Godwin for the season with a torn ACL, and I think we've all seen the Antonio Brown incident by now, which led to his release. Without Godwin and Brown, the Bucs' offense isn't quite as loaded as it was a few weeks ago, but they're still plenty capable of putting a lot of points on the scoreboard. They employ the best player in the history of the NFL in Tom Brady, an outstanding offensive line, a true star receiver in Mike Evans, a tight end in Rob Gronkowski who has played with Brady for a hundred years, and a solid rushing attack.
Defensively, they have disruptive players littered throughout their roster, Like Shaq Barrett, Devin White, Vita Vea, Antoine Winfield Jr., and if he's able to play on Sunday, Lavonte David. The reigning Super Bowl champs remain an extremely talented team, and one that went 7-1 at home in 2021.
The Eagles have the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL, led by Jalen Hurts and a committee approach at running back. Assuming Nick Sirianni doesn't forget that, the Birds should at least be competitive in this game. But ultimately, at some point Hurts is going to have to make plays with his arm, which could prove to be difficult for quarterback with below average accuracy on a rainy, windy day.
49ers at Cowboys (-3): The 49ers' trio of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle are outstanding running after the catch. Samuel leads NFL wide receivers with 10.0 yards after catch per reception. Aiyuk ranks eighth, at 6.2. Kittle is fifth among tight ends, with 6.3. A year ago, he was first among tight ends, at 6.2.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have the No. 1 defense in the NFL this season by DVOA, but one area where they have struggled is getting receivers on the ground after the catch. During the 2021 regular season, they gave up 2275 yards after the catch, fourth-worst in the NFL.
Of the potential first-round opponents the Cowboys could have faced, I think this was their worst possible draw, matchup-wise.
Steelers at Chiefs (-12.5): The Chiefs are the best team in the NFL heading into the postseason, in my opinion, while the Steelers are arguably the worst team in the tournament.
Cardinals at Rams (-4): Six of the NFC playoffs teams — the Packers, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Rams, 49ers, and Eagles — all had 4-1 records in their final five regular season games. The Cardinals went 1-4, which included a 30-12 loss to the Lions. It's impossible to trust them right now.
First-round byes: Packers, Titans.
MORE: Wentz the latest reminder not to trade for an Eagles QB | Eagles vs. Buccaneers: Predictions, betting odds and more for wild card playoff matchup | NFL Wild Card Odds: Five bets we like for Eagles vs. Bucs
• Picks against the spread: Bills (-4), Eagles (+8.5), 49ers (+3).
• Eagles picks: 12-5
• 2021 season, straight up: 169-102-1 (0.623)
• 2021 season, ATS: 41-38-1 (0.519)
• 2020 season, straight up: 169-81-1 (0.675)
• 2017 season, straight up: 181-86 (0.678)
• 2016 season, ATS: 41-34 (0.547)
• Last 7 years, ATS: 292-242-13 (0.546)
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Categories United State Tags eagles, News, nfl, nfl picks, philadelphia, sidelines Post navigation
Texas Bishop: New Jersey's Pro-Abortion Governor 'Not a Good Catholic'
Newborn baby found dead in duffel bag near fire station in Near North neighborhood, police say

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It presents a sharp taste of an anise and a final elegant with the typical note of liquorice stick. In the mouth it is a harmonious balance between the aniseed and liquorice notes. Founded in 1830, Berger was one of the creators of the freshest symbols of Provencal culture.
Taste is subtle and elegant.


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14 Things That Happened 30 Years Ago You've Forgotten All About
By	Tiffany White	 August 19, 2016
Think you're a connoisseur of all things '80s? Well you'll be surprised how much you don't remember — like when the Super Bowl Halftime Show was shot entirely in 3D or that time everyone wore knitted everything.
Want to learn more? Click through the gallery to see some surprising things from 30 years ago you had no idea you forgot about.
14 of Your Favorite 80s TV Child Stars–Then and Now
See Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and Sheena Easton Now, Plus More 80s Pop Stars You Wished Were Your Friends
Bananarama were the original Spice Girls.
Before "Wannabe" there was "Cruel Summer." Their music was just as catchy, and their singing voices were just as amateurish.
Telemaster Flash
Gettty Images
For "small" cameras, nothing was cooler than the Telemaster Flash.
These cameras were popular through the '80s for their compact size.
Whitney Houston Model
Before pop stardom, Whitney Houston was a teen model.
She appeared frequently in the pages of Seventeen magazine.
The Brady Bunch Spinoff
The Brady Bunch had a spinoff show.
Back in 1981, seven years after the original Brady Bunch went off the air, the show got a spinoff called The Brady Brides, which followed the lives of Jane and Marsha Brady. The success of the spinoff resulted in another spinoff in the '90s called The Bradys.
80s Knitwear
Everyone was nuts about knitwear.
Knit sweaters, knit coats, knit pants — literally everything.
Before Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker was just an '80s actress with a lot of hair
While Sarah appeared in a ton of shows in the '80s, this picture is from when she starred in the mid-'80s miniseries, A Year in the Life.
Barbie and the Rockers/Jem and the Holograms
Barbie blatantly copied Jem by releasing their own line of "rocker" dolls.
Mattel's "Barbie and the Rockers" was a line of funkier-looking Barbies released in the mid-'80s to compete with the rising popularity of Hasbro's "Jem and the Holograms." Mattel won; Hasbro lost.
1989 Super Bowl Halftime Show
The 1989 Super Bowl Halftime Show was shot entirely in 3D.
Not only that, but the iconic (and probably weirdest) halftime show also featured the "world's largest card trick" and an Elvis impersonator named Elvis Presto.
(And yes, we know this isn't quite 30 years ago, but it's close!)
Michael Jackson Caption EO
Michael Jackson starred in a 3D science fiction film that played exclusively at theme parks.
Caption EO was an intergalactic extravaganza that was produced by George Lucas, directed by Francis Coppola, and featured Anjelica Huston. The film returned to Disney Parks in 2010 in a tribute to Michael's death.
Seiko Wristwatch TV
All the hippest, richest nerds owned a Seiko Wristwatch TV.
Although the display was small and grainy, it was released a full 32 years before the Apple iWatch!
David Letterman 1986
David Letterman once taped a whole show where the camera rotated 360 degrees.
On December 9, 1986, Letterman opened his show by introducing "the 360° image rotation television program," an experiment where the show's picture rotated 15 degrees every 15 minutes.
Battle of the Network Stars
Network stars competed in an annual Olympics of their own.
Battle of the Network Stars was a show that had stars from NBC, ABC, and CBS compete in sporting events. The show aired from 1976 to 1988.
Ghostbusters animated series
The animated spinoff of Ghostbusters premiered.
The series ran from 1986 to 1991.
Elton John pink hair
Elton John's hair used to look like this.
Although, let's be honest, this is pretty hard to forget.
Jane Seymour Shares Her Keys to Embracing Vibrant Energy
Kate Middleton Has a Refreshing and Healthy Favorite Lunch
Ralph Macchio Has the Cutest Story About Meeting His Wife When He Was 15
Mae West's Secret to Youthful Skin Was Surprisingly Simple
She used a budget-friendly moisturizer years before it became trendy.
It's Dolly Parton's 75th Birthday and Tennessee Is Getting a Statue in Her Honor
We can't think of a more fitting tribute to the country queen.
29 Photos of Betty White Over the Years in Honor of Her 99th Birthday
Happy birthday to the queen of the silver screen!
Naomi Watts Reveals Her Lessons in Life and Love
John Travolta Makes Heartwarming Pledge to Olivia Newton-John Amid Her Third Battle With Breast Cancer
What Happens If You Give Up Alcohol for a Month?
How Long Do Christmas Leftovers Last?
The Relatable Reason Prince Philip Prefers Eating Without Queen Elizabeth
The Real Reason Dolly Parton Never Had Any Kids of Her Own
Jada Pinkett Smith Looks Half Her Age Thanks to a $5 Drugstore Product


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Shiney Knows What These Bacteria Love
A biotechnologist at Shoolini University in Solan, Himachal Pradesh
WHO? Shiney Hangloo, 30
WHAT? Biotechnologist
WHERE? Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh
Reported by Aashima Dogra
I met Shiney during the Him Science Congress that was taking place at a hotel in hilly Dharamshala. It was a two-day meetup of scientists mainly from the Him or Himalayan region including Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Uttarakhand and surrounding areas like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. Since the second day was dedicated solely to an award ceremony, all the academic proceedings had to be packed into the first day. At least three sessions ran simultaneously at one time, each five meters away from the other.
One of the talks on the main stage. Picture via Him Science Asociation's facebook page
At the basement hall, the venue for the panel discussions, a hundred scientists sat surrounding a central stage on yellow bowed chairs. A Brazilian scientist who had been flown down as the special guest talked about her work in organic chemistry. It was a mixed audience, men and women in equal proportion and even a handful of foreigners. I could see a sea of nodding heads, sprinkled with the colourful confetti of dupattas, jackets and other formal finery the female scientists adorned with north Indian flair.
In a smaller room, a retired scientist was pleading younger researchers to bring back scientific focus to water quality, in a flash talk. Another scientist ran through her newly updated census of moth species endemic to Delhi. With a mothy taste in my mouth, I joined the lunch queue for some tandoori roti and mattar paneer. As we finished eating, I observed that the poster presentation was beginning to gather steam at the back of the hall.
Shiney was one of the 10 PhD students presenting a summary of their theses using a scientific poster. Like her peers, she stood in front of her poster and answered question after question about the work she had done in the past four years. She was one of the few who had completed all her experimental work and now was busy writing her scientific saga or as some like to call it – a PhD. thesis. A familiar word, 'lipase', stuck out of her poster. She agreed to do a more in-depth interview so we moved our conversation into the now vacant flash talk room.
Bacteria hunter
"The first thing I did was isolate some bacteria from the waste of the paint industry. Since a lot of oils are used for the manufacture of paint, the probability of finding bacteria that break down oils is very high. I screened 31 isolates (bacterial types) and selected the five which had the best lipase activity."
Shiney's research work is focused on bacteria which have the special ability to produce the wonder enzyme Lipase. Lipase-mediated chemical reactions are necessary to break down the long and hardy chemical structure of oily compounds. Lipases have many applications in the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries, and as Shiney's work shows, is also useful in the breakdown of pollutants released by industries. Of course, it is also secreted in our digestive system to metabolise fat.
Lipase makes it possible to break down the rigid long chains that make up fats and oils. This type of breakdown reaction is called hydrolysis. Producing this enzyme is time-consuming synthetically, so the Biotechnology industry has taken up the task of 'harvesting' these from prokaryotes (simple one-celled animals) like bacteria. But there are many kinds of lipase enzymes, each with different abilities. This is where Shiney's work starts.
It is said that a PhD is a complete and thorough study of a single topic the scholar's choice. At the end of it, he or she knows everything about that topic. Shiney seemed to have accomplished that. She has dug out of her laboratory everything there is to know about bacteria that synthesise lipase enzymes.
Zones of Hydrolysis on Tributaryn
After picking up samples from treated waste that came from a paint factory, she took them straight into her laboratory in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The first biotech methodology that Shiney used was DNA sequencing, to identify what bacteria these were.
"I compared the sequences to a database of bacterial genomes and found these bacteria to be different species of the Pseudomonas and Aeromonas genus. They are named SH2, SH3 and so on…"
Now that she knew what they were, Shiney had to find out how fast and how well these bacteria are able to break down oils. For one of the tests, she grew the bacteria one-by-one in petri plates filled with a medium that was rich in tributyrin and 2-napthyl acetate. Once the bacterial colonies developed, she started to see clear zones or 'hydrolysis zones' around the bacterial colonies. The milky medium (nutrients on which bacteria were grown) turned clear wherever the lipase was active.The more the bacterial colony ate, the bigger the zones became.
Zones of Hydrolysis on 2-naphtyl acetate visible around every colony. Picture via Shoney Hangloo's experimental work
She also tested the bacteria's lipase activity on plates with industrial detergents Tween 20 and Tween 80. If kept unchecked these chemicals can be toxic to our environment and to public health.
Once she was sure these bacteria were producing active lipase, it was time to assess and compare the lipase activity of each of the bacterial types with quantitative tests. For this, chemical compounds that needed breakdown were carefully chosen to reflect – literally – the amount of lipase activity.
"The most commonly used method to do this is the hydrolysis of 'p-nitrophenyl palmatate'. PNPP hydrolysis to PNP in a lipase reaction. The product that is formed is yellow in colour and its absorbance was measured in a spectrophotometer at 410 nanometers."
Absorbance is the measure of the optical density of a coloured liquid. This indicates how dense the liquid is, based how much light it absorbs. A device that measures this, called spectrophotometer, is a must-have in chemical laboratories. "When light passes through any coloured compound, it absorbs some light depending upon the intensity of its own colour. So the more colour that is seen, the more compound there should be. On the basis of this, you can measure how much product is formed in the lipase reaction."
A game of travelling hats
Seven isolates of Pseudomonas lipase bacteria collected and cultured by Shiney
Out of the 31 bacterial types she screened, Shiney chose five with the best lipase activity. For anyone to continue working with these isolates, she had to ascertain how to best grow these bacteria. Shiney solved this puzzle by metaphorically flipping many hats on the bacteria to find the best fit for each.
"To find the best medium for the bacteria to grow on, chemical parameters that go into each medium were optimised. Different carbon sources were used. A lot of trial and error was used to grow the bacteria in minimal salt medium supplemented with different carbon source like glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose were done. Different isolates show different optimum carbon sources. For example, SH2, SH8 and SH13 showed optimum activity in lactose, while SH12 showed the best activity in fructose."
"Similarly, different nitrogen sources for the medium were also optimised… there are so many options like yeast extract, tryptone, peptone and ammonium chloride. Peptone was optimum for SH2, SH13 and SH17 and yeast extract for SH8."
"Physical parameters required in for the best medium were tested at different temperatures and different pH. I found that isolates would grow differently at different temperatures from 25 degrees to 60 degrees. All isolates showed optimum activity at 37 degrees. Similarly, out of pH 4-12, 7 was found to be best for all isolates."
The depth of her PhD work covers many other questions about these bacteria. Some of them are: Which detergents can they tolerate? Which solvent works best for each of them? What inhibitors can arrest their lipase activity? How much activity does each inhibit
I don't care, I can go anywhere
It was her interest in genetics that brought Shiney from her hometown in Jammu to Pune University to study Biotechnology.
In Pune, during B.Sc and M.Sc, she started to find the subject "a little tough". This made Shiney reconsider her decision to pursue such a hard subject. At that time, the inspiration to stay on the path came from her father, who originally wanted her to do engineering.
Beyond the bump of self-doubt, Shiney stood confidently, determined to meet the challenges of being a biotech researcher head-on. The family was aware that such a career choice is not so lucrative. Again, her father declared his support for her work and egged her on to the PhD.
Now, her experiments are done and Shiney is busy writing up her thesis, bringing all the evidence she has gathered together. The satisfaction of this phase is accompanied by other responsibilities in her personal life. "My parents held on to the marriage requests while my work was in full swing but now that it is done, the pressure is on." Shiney hopes to be married soon to a partner who, like her family, will support her scientific career.
"I don't mind. I can go anywhere. After my PhD, I want to go into some industry. And later, if I get a chance, I would like to go abroad. I am open to working with a government institute where there is scientific work is going on. But it does take some time to get that kind of a job, so an industry job will be quicker."
"I'm surely not interested in teaching. I don't like teaching," she tells me honestly, ruling out a professorship at a university. "One has to put in so much work and study hours as a researcher anyway," that teaching would be quite an additional baggage, according to Shiney.
In her eyes, there seem to be more women in research than men. "At my university, more women are doing PhD. than men. Maybe because women have more patience, that's why research suits them. Or maybe because men want money faster. so they don't have so much patience for research work. I have found very few men do PhD."
And then suddenly she remembered that the poster presentation was still underway and no one was manning her poster. "I will email you," she said as she rushed out.
By aashima | Published on Aug 15, 2016 in Science
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Is honesty pleasant?
April 30, 2021 ContradictionsdeceptionR. A. Absalom
Proverbs says an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. That means it's quite pleasant, right? But Job (who knows a thing or two about pain) says the opposite: Honest words are quite painful.
Continue reading Is honesty pleasant? →
The Story of the Twelve Explorers—
You Didn't Tell Us There Would Be Giants
April 21, 2021 Bible storiescanaanites, failure, food, genocide, god, hypocrisy, injustice, israelites, moses, murder, overreaction, punishment, rebellion, reputation, warR. A. Absalom
Moses sent twelve men to explore the land of Canaan, which God had promised to give to the Israelites, to see what the land and the people there were like. The men found that the land was very good, but it was inhabited by Anakites. To show how good the land was, they brought back a cluster of grapes too big for one person to carry.
The men reported that the land was very good, but it was inhabited by big, strong Anakites in big, strong cities.1 Two of the explorers, Joshua and Caleb, thought the Israelites should go and take that good land for themselves. But the rest of the explorers said they couldn't do that, because the people there were too big and strong.
When the Israelites heard this, they said it would be better to die in the wilderness than to try to take over that land. They decided to try to kill Moses and go back to Egypt. When the untemptable God heard their plans, he was tempted to kill all the Israelites except Moses and his descendants.
But Moses reminded God, again, that killing all his people would be bad for his reputation. Everyone would think God was incapable of bringing his people to the promised land. When the all-knowing, never-changing, all-good God heard this, he changed his mind and decided not to kill everybody, again.
Continue reading The Story of the Twelve Explorers—
You Didn't Tell Us There Would Be Giants →
Should people offer God things they got for free?
April 12, 2021 Contradictionsmoney, sacrificeR. A. Absalom
One time, when David was trying to get God to stop killing thousands of innocent people to punish David for obeying God, David decided he had to make God a sacrifice. When someone offered to give David some free oxen to sacrifice, David said that wouldn't work. It wouldn't be right to offer God something that cost him nothing. That wouldn't be a real sacrifice at all! So he paid for the oxen and then sacrificed them, and God accepted his offering and stopped killing innocent people.
But what about that other time, when Abraham had just passed God's test by showing how easily he could be convinced to murder his own children? In that story, God provided Abraham with a free ram, just so he could offer it right back to God. Here God certainly doesn't seem to have a problem with people giving him things that cost them nothing. Instead, he's actively encouraging it.
And when Joshua had the Israelites destroy the city of Jericho, he said God wanted them to plunder all its people's valuables and put them in God's treasury. The Israelites certainly didn't pay for those stolen goods, but apparently God wanted to have them anyway. As long as you're giving him valuable stuff, God doesn't seem to care how you got it.
Continue reading Should people offer God things they got for free? →
Mundane miracles
April 4, 2021 Flawed conceptscreation, death, destruction, healing, miracles, prophecy, resurrection, transformation, weatherR. A. Absalom
A miracle is a supposed event that is contrary to the laws of nature.1 The idea is that an event like that can only be explained as the work of a supernatural being like God. But what if it turns out that an apparently miraculous event can actually be explained in terms of ordinary natural phenomena? It may still be amazing, and it may be useful… But there's no reason to think it's a true miracle in that case, and it's not very strong evidence of anything supernatural.
How many of the miracles reported in the Bible (supposing the stories aren't entirely made up) have possible natural explanations?2
There are a lot of prophecies in the Bible. A lot of them have turned out to be false. A lot of them fail to specify a deadline for fulfillment, making it impossible to tell whether they're false. Some of them seem suspiciously like they were written after the fact. Some of them predict events that are nothing out of the ordinary. Some of them are so vague that it's no surprise that something happened that could be considered to fit the description. Some of them have only been fulfilled because people who knew about the predictions fulfilled them on purpose. And a lot of the passages that are considered prophecies weren't even meant to be predictions at all. That doesn't leave very many actual impressive predictions, if any.
Jesus and other prophets in the Bible are said to have been able to read minds and demonstrate inexplicable knowledge of other people's pasts. It's surprisingly easy to give the impression that you have abilities like that. When people want to believe that you're psychic, they will perceive your readings as amazingly accurate no matter what you say. They'll do most of the work for you, interpreting whatever you say as something meaningful and accurate. And they'll ignore everything you get wrong.
Creation, destruction, and transformation
There's one miracle that the Bible actually admits was faked: Joseph and his steward secretly put Joseph's brothers' money back in their sacks, after the brothers had spent it. Then Joseph and his steward lied to the brothers, and let them think God had created some new money and put it in their sacks. How many other fake miracles are there that the Bible isn't telling us are fake?
What's up with that burning bush Moses found that wouldn't burn up, before he started hearing God talking to him? Maybe it was some kind of Acacia. They can be easily flammable and slow to burn up, and they can even trigger religious experiences.
Moses and Aaron tried to prove that God had sent them by turning a staff into a snake. But the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing. So either they were prophets of God too, or that trick doesn't prove anything. I've heard it's possible to do the stick-to-snake trick by holding an Egyptian Cobra and applying pressure near its head. That makes it go stiff and motionless so it looks like an inanimate stick, until you put it down.
The Bible says during the first of the ten plagues of Egypt, the water turned into undrinkable blood and killed everything in it. That sounds a lot like a phenomenon known as a red tide, where a certain kind of algae causes water to turn red and toxic. That could explain some of the other plagues, as well. Frogs flee from the unhealthy water and die, bugs get out of control because of the lack of frogs, bugs spread disease among the people and livestock, etc. And the remaining plagues could be explained by food poisoning and a volcano.
The collapse of Jericho could have been the result of a convenient earthquake that the Israelites later took credit for causing.
Why did the Philistines keep finding the idol of Dagon fallen over in the morning, bowing down toward the ark of the covenant, and eventually broken to pieces? Might one of the Israelites have snuck in and vandalized the idol during the night? It wouldn't be the first time.
How could a crowd of over 5000 people eat and be satisfied if Jesus's disciples only had five loaves of bread and two fish to offer them? Well, it never says nobody brought their own food. And why wouldn't they?
Some branches of Christianity consider the Eucharist ritual to be a miracle. They believe the bread and wine actually turn into the body and blood of Jesus… which just happen to be completely indistinguishable from ordinary bread and wine for some reason. Least impressive miracle ever! No explanation needed.
Continue reading Mundane miracles →