When Xiao-Long Lin started a master's/PhD combo program in the College of Life Sciences at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, in 2010, he was just hoping that the degree would help him land a job. But once he got a taste of identifying new insect species, there was no turning back.
He focused on cataloging diversity in nonbiting midges of the chironomid family. "I spent all my time collecting a lot of specimens in summer and in winter in one province," he recalls. "I love it. It's like an adventure to discover more species." All told, he collected thousands of specimens in China's Zhejiang province, comprising more than 300 species—38 of which were new to science.
Given the size of the chironomid family, though, perhaps those numbers should not be all that surprising. More than 6,000 chironomid species have been described so far, and "molecular evidence for so-called cryptic species—that is, look-alikes that actually are genetically separate—suggests at least a doubling or more," Peter Cranston, an honorary professor at Australian National University and emeritus professor at the University of California, Davis, writes in an email to The Scientist. Indeed, estimates range from 20,000 to 40,000 species total for this group. "Within the flies (Diptera), the family Chironomidae certainly is amongst the more diverse groups," says Cranston, who coauthored The Insects, a popular entomological textbook.
Lin wrapped up his work at Nankai University in 2013, but he wanted more. So he headed off to Norway to work with chironomid researchers Elisabeth Stur and Torbjørn Ekrem at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) University Museum in Trondheim. Over the past four years, he has continued to collect and characterize chironomid specimens, using a variety of trapping methods in the field. He took trips back to China and also collected around Norway, and he received specimens from other researchers who'd visited different parts of the world, including South America and South Africa. Chironomids are found worldwide, including in Antarctica, where they are the only native insects. "You have them literally everywhere," says Ekrem.
In his earlier work, Lin had characterized the midges he collected based on their physical characteristics. But morphological analyses are not always reliable, he says, as sometimes unexpected variation within a species can mislead even the most trained eyes. So at NTNU, Lin adopted DNA barcoding techniques that use genetic data, exploring established and new markers to more definitively delineate species boundaries in this group.
Chironomids' diversity and widespread range can be a valuable tool for monitoring the ecosystems that the insects are a part of. It's possible to "use species compositions in different environments to say something about the health of that ecosystem," says Ekrem. In fact, the European Union has requested that chironomid surveys be incorporated into assessments of water quality, Cranston notes.
In addition to monitoring today's ecosystems, researchers are also using chironomid diversity to recreate past environmental conditions, analyzing the fossil assemblages in core samples taken from various soils and sediments to estimate mean temperatures thousands of years ago, for example. And, of course, as researchers dig deeper into the past, they're only going to add to the impressive diversity of chironomids. "We haven't even mentioned the astonishing preservation of (and abundance of) chironomid adults in ambers, some of great age (100 million years old)," Cranston says.


It was exactly 65 years ago today on August 26, 1950 that Fencing Master, a film directed by Masahiro Makino from a screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, premiered in Japan. Released only a day after Kurosawa's own Rashomon, it was in fact already the fifth (and final) film written or co-written by Kurosawa to premiere in 1950. The other three Kurosawa penned films released in 1950 were Senkichi Taniguchi's Escape at Dawn, Kurosawa's own Scandal, and Isamu Kosugi's Tetsu of Jilba.
Kurosawa adapted Fencing Master (Tateshi Danpei) from a play of the same name, written by Kōen Hasegawa (1904-1977) and produced by the Shinkokugeki theatre group for a premiere in March 1949. Kurosawa wrote the screenplay on his own, reportedly facing some problems from the American Occupation censors who required the screenplay to be resubmitted twice before allowing it to be filmed.
The story, set in the late 1910s, centres on the titular Danpei Tateshi, a very typical Kurosawa hero in as much as he is headstrong, somewhat childlike and so concentrated on what he does that he fails to pay proper attention to the people close to him. Although called a fencing master, he is actually not working a martial arts instructor but a theatre choreographer who has made a name for himself by arranging swordfighting scenes. As he is getting older, he is finding himself out of demand with his formal style at a time when the tastes of directors and audiences are changing and calling for a more realistic and graphic approach to fighting scenes. Not only is the fencing master finding it difficult to adjust to these new requirements, but he is literally unable to grasp the meaning of the foreign term realism or understand what is meant by the "graphicality" of performance. The story is significant in being an early example of a concept that Kurosawa injected partly into Rashomon and would four years later explore more thoroughly in Seven Samurai: that of realism in the depiction of the chanbara (samurai film) genre.
Kurosawa's screenplay was filmed again in 1962, this time by Harumi Mizuho and in colour. While the original 1950 version has, to the best of my knowledge, never been made commercially available with English subtitles, the 1962 remake was released on DVD in 2007 by the Australian Madman Entertainment as part of their Kurosawa DVD set.
In 1955, Masahiro Makino directed what appears to be a sequel to Fencing Master, titled Such Is Life in English (Jinsei tombo gaeri in Japanese). The original play was also adapted for television twice, first in 1962 and then again in 1964, this time with the screnplay written by the original playwright Kōen Hasegawa himself.
For a full list of films that Kurosawa wrote, edited or co-directed for others, see here.
August, 1950: what a time to be a Kurosawa fan! As we have seen, three new stories by Kurosawa get released in the span of just two weeks: Tetsu of Jilba, Rashomon and Fencing Master. One of these would become one of the most celebrated films of all time. Stunning.
I would love to read a contemporary filmgoer's account of all this. There must, after all, have been people eagerly awaiting for this month when these films were first announced. And if they are anything like me, these people would have been feeling deflated after today, as I so often do after getting through something that I have been eagerly looking forward to for a while.
Fortunately the wait for the next ones wouldn't be too long: the Kurosawa and Senkichi Taniguchi penned Beyond Love and Hate (directed by Taniguchi and starring Toshirō Mifune) would come out in January 1951, and Kurosawa's own The Idiot would be released in May. And in June that same year you could also go to see Tatsuyasu Osone's The Den of Beasts, again filmed from a screenplay by Kurosawa.
This was a time when Kurosawa was everywhere. I count no less than 13 films with Kurosawa's input between March 1949 (The Quiet Duel) and June 1951 (The Den of Beasts), a time period of just a little over two years.
It is astonishing how productive the studios were in that time – when you look at the production time for a modern film there is such a huge difference. I know we have a somewhat distorted view as only the best films tend to survive and be watched today, but I do wonder whether the time spent on extended film production these days actually improves the quality.
Its a topic for another day I know, but I know a lot of people thought cheaper digital film making would result in far more films made, and more opportunities for young film makers, but instead it has meant that bigger budget films are simply shot more quickly and cheaply. Its hard to tell the quality difference between some TV and film these days (in terms of blocking, cinematography, etc). I wonder if Kurosawa was a young man today if he'd be in cinema or TV.
I would think that the extra time is actually not used to improve quality as much as it is used to improve marketability. Film launches are such a calculated business these days, with carefully selected dates and marketing campaigns that sometimes begin years before the release.
I'm astonished how few (quality) shoestring budget films we have gotten despite the availability of cheap digital cameras and means for practically free distribution (YouTube) and marketing (social media). The early 90s looked like such promising time with the up-and-coming young filmmakers who put out fairly thoughtful and experimental films. Then they all disappeared.
But then again, I have never realised my dream of shooting a low budget film, either. The furthest I got was in the winter of I think 1998 when my two man production team had to give up on the second day after our cheap VHS camera literally froze in -35 C weather, thus preventing my debut as a director, screenwriter, cameraman, actor and composer. I may still have the script somewhere. It was very much inspired by Kurosawa's Dreams and Bergman's The Seventh Seal. But far more pretentious.
Vili: But then again, I have never realised my dream of shooting a low budget film, either. The furthest I got was in the winter of I think 1998 when my two man production team had to give up on the second day after our cheap VHS camera literally froze in -35 C weather, thus preventing my debut as a director, screenwriter, cameraman, actor and composer. I may still have the script somewhere. It was very much inspired by Kurosawa's Dreams and Bergman's The Seventh Seal. But far more pretentious.
Now that does sound interesting!


text:
House approves national designation for Columbus Veterans Memorial and Museum
by: Andy Long
Posted: Nov 7, 2017 / 06:19 PM EST / Updated: Nov 7, 2017 / 06:19 PM EST
WASHINGTON (WCMH) – On Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives passed a bill that will officially designate the veterans' memorial in Columbus as the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.
The bill now heads to the Senate, where Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman are on board.
Republican Congressman Steve Stivers and Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty have been working to get the national designation for quite some time.
"I think it's a big deal and I'm excited that we've done it," said Stivers.
The project is designed to honor all veterans, no matter where they're from or when they served.
"It's going to actually honor the people who've served in the Revolutionary War, all the way through today," said Stivers.
Beatty said she's proud of the work that's gone into the project so far.
"This project shares with us bipartisan work can do," said Beatty.
The lawmakers say Ohio is the perfect place for the museum and memorial because it's within driving distance for millions of veterans.
"It's going to be a great opportunity to have not everything in DC, but have it out in the rest of the country," said Stivers.
The museum is currently under construction in Beatty's district.
"This museum will honor, connect, inspire and educate all Americans about the unified service and sacrifices of the nation's 40 million veterans," said Beatty.
The $75 million project is fully funded with private money and is set to open in summer of 2018.

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text:
Why some RBC clients wondered where their money was going
By Charles E. Scholl on April 15, 2022 Deposit Account
UPDATE: On Friday evening, several hours after this story was originally published, RBC issued a statement to CBC News indicating that it had resolved a technical issue involving certain automatic deposit electronic transfers and that funds were now in the customer accounts..
It was a surprising discovery for Tanya Shields on Friday morning.
The Fall River, Nova Scotia resident said she logged into her account at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) to pay some bills with money she received via wire transfer from customers of his small business.
But the money was not there.
"It was a bit alarming," Shields said.
She had received confirmation on Thursday evening that the money had been successfully transferred, so the fact that it was missing was a concern.
Shields even asked her husband to wire her some money to make sure everything was running smoothly. His deposit was successfully transferred.
"Which was more concerning than the money that wasn't there in the first place," she said.
Others with similar issues
Shields says she checked social media and the bank's website, but there was no information that resolved the issue she was having.
She knew that the banks were closed on Fridays and Mondays due to the Easter weekend and feared she would end up worrying about it for days.
CBC News has heard from other bank customers who have experienced similar issues.
Jeff Black of Halifax said $2,355.97 was automatically deposited by wire transfer into his RBC account on Thursday, but those funds were missing when he checked his account on Friday. (CBC News/Google Meet)
Jeff Black, a Halifax-based weapons engineering technician with the Royal Canadian Navy, says he logged into his RBC account on Friday morning and discovered that the $2,355.97 automatically deposited via wire transfers Thursday were missing.
The money was to be used to pay his property taxes and for necessary supplies before he went to sea for three weeks.
"It made me nervous at first, given that I received a lot of money yesterday, and then it all disappeared," he said.
It was a similar story for Christine Hunt, a controller and administrative employee in Newmarket, Ontario. She logged into her account to find missing money and her account overdrawn.
Christine Hunt of Newmarket, Ontario says her RBC account is missing $1,000. She says she called RBC to find the money and waited on the line for two hours before hanging up. (CBC News/Google Meet)
"I was completely freaked out because it's $1,000. Where did it go? And the fact that it doesn't even say it bounced. It's like it doesn't was ever produced," she said on Friday.
Hunt found the wire transfer confirmation email, but called RBC anyway to find the missing money. She says she waited two hours on the line before hanging up.
With her bank account in negative territory, she withdrew $200 from her line of credit to cover a prepayment. But she still has no answer as to when she will get the money back.
"I don't know what will happen. Are they going to charge me because I went into the red?" Hunt said. "The fact that it's not even listed as never filed – it's just blank – is so weird."
Hello Shelley, thank you for your message. We are currently having an issue with wire transfers, which is causing recently deposited transfers to no longer show up. We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible, and we appreciate your patience ^SB
—@RBC
Technical issue with wire transfers resolved: RBC
In a statement emailed to CBC News on Friday evening, RBC said it has "addressed the previously reported issue of account transfers and wire transfers involving automatic deposit recipients. Clients should now expect to see the funds reflected in their accounts".
The bank went on to say that it "will reimburse the small number of customers who may have incurred any fees or charges as a result of this technical issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank our customers for their patience while we work to resolve the issue."
Earlier today, RBC said it encountered a technical issue with some wire transfers.
"Automatic deposit e-transfers sent between Wednesday, April 13, midnight ET and Thursday, April 14, 11:30 p.m. ET, may not appear in customer accounts," reads the statement, posted on the banking app. RBC Mobile.
"E-Transfers sent outside of this timeframe are unaffected. We strive to post these entries and reflect accurate account balances as quickly as possible."
A spokesperson for Interac, Canada's leading money transfer network, said its service was "working normally" but was aware that one of its "partner financial institutions was experiencing an issue on their end. ".
On Friday evening, some customers, including Jeff Black, confirmed to CBC News that refunds had been issued.


Work productivity declines when people are uncomfortable. There are many surveys about it that require active control of external elements to make the most out of them. With the use of roller blinds, some of these elements can be properly adjusted to fit the needs of your employees.
Whilst the blinds have a far less direct impact compared to something, like an office chair or an office table with precision height adjustment, they still contribute to a good work environment. From light control, heat management and air flow control, it can help make work an easier burden.
Many work environment surveys point out to one thing: offices that have a view to the outside tend to have better productivity. People dislike being caged in a 7-square metre space. However, if they are behind clear plexiglass windows, although they can see the outside view, the sunlight may disturb them while working. So to compromise the situation, installing a roller blind is a must.
Having roller blinds to protect you from the sunlight can help in the progress of the work productivity. By pulling it down halfway, enough that your people can see what's going on outside and have the sun's rays blocked out, you're giving them both a comfortable work environment and a free view of what they are working for—a good life. You get to minimise the glare that tends to distract many office workers, especially in a bright and overcast day.
When it comes to heat management, these blinds are good for reducing the amount of heat that comes from the sun through the windows. Have you ever tried working on your computer with the sun blazing straight at you? It's not pleasant and you may wish to not be there anymore. People staying at their station even during the hot parts of the day allows for better productivity. To make them stay in their stations without being uncomfortable, install roller blinds in your office windows.