A diva and a superhero are one of 2018’s most unlikely pairings, and yet, it works.
Celine Dion, Queen of Soaring Ballads, released the music video for “Ashes,” a song on the soundtrack to the upcoming superhero film Deadpool 2, on Thursday.
Though the visual would be excellent with Dion all by herself, Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds in the films, also makes a cameo in the video, somehow nearly upstaging the veteran vocalist’s moving ballad with his, er, mesmerizing dance technique.
Marvel Entertainment / Sony Music
The emotional song showcases Deapool walking onstage, dramatically facing the camera.
Marvel Entertainment / Sony Music
There are moments when he saunters about in heels as Dion sings beautifully in the background.
Marvel Entertainment / Sony Music
He even demonstrates some ballet-esque moves, and like, it’s not too bad for someone who is presumably a novice at this.
Marvel Entertainment / Sony Music
And of course, there’s Dion in a big flowing gown, moving in synch with Deadpool.
In a piece for Biofuels Digest, BIO’s Executive Vice President, Industrial & Environmental Section, Brent Erickson (@BErickson_BIO) shares BIO’s 2018 “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” report, which documents the contribution that over 100 companies are making to grow the biobased economy.
The 2018 report is your guide to understanding the landscape of the biobased economy, from small startups to large brand manufacturers, and the perfect resource for partnering with the hundreds of industrial biotech companies that will be at the 2018 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Philadelphia, July 16-19.
The biobased economy encompasses the entire value chain of sustainable manufacturing – from the supply of renewable or waste feedstock, through biotech platforms, to production and use of biobased fuels and products. BIO is a global leader in advocating policies that support commercialization of emerging renewable chemical technologies and companies. We recently published our new 2018 report, “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy,” to document the contribution that over 100 companies are making to the growth of the biobased economy value chain.
The latest edition of BIO’s industry directory illustrates the rapid expansion of renewable chemical platforms and applications around the world. “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” profiles companies located in 16 countries – from small startups to large brand manufacturers – that are commercializing renewable chemical applications. The new, one-of-a-kind publication highlights the location and commercial stage of these renewable chemical makers, succinctly describing each company’s technology, products, potential markets, partnerships, and funding. We invite everyone interested in the industry to click here to download a free copy.
In capturing a snapshot of the industry’s status today, the directory also provides a glimpse of the potential for the future. Renewable chemical technologies are expanding from the biobased plastics and biofuels currently on the market to the development of nutritional food additives, cosmetic and personal care ingredients, and new materials and fabrics. A promising area for the future is biological pest control and crop growth stimulants, which will bring the biobased economy full circle by improving the renewability of feedstocks. The biobased economy continues to generate new ideas and products.
The rapid evolution of the biobased economy poses a difficult task in estimating its size and contribution to overall domestic production. BIO estimates that on a global scale, the value of biofuels, renewable chemicals and polymers, enzymes, biobased materials and the agricultural inputs are worth $355.28 billion. Our estimate is drawn from industry studies and analyses that supplement official government statistics with industry surveys. Official government statistics by themselves rarely separate renewable chemical manufacturing from the petroleum industry. BIO’s new industry directory shows how some traditional chemical manufacturers are partnering with technology companies on renewable chemical projects.
The growth of renewable chemicals is strongest in certain manufacturing sectors. TEConomy Partners – a research, analysis and strategy consultancy based in Ohio – estimates that renewable chemicals generate 16 percent of the economic activity in some important sectors of the U.S. organic chemical manufacturing industry. The company also estimates that biobased materials contribute 24 percent of the economic value of the acetate fiber market. Those percentages are more substantial than many existing industry studies calculate.
“Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy” offers a view of where biobased innovation in the chemical sector is taking place. The partnerships that are building the biobased economy are key. Most – if not all – of the companies in the new directory have attended, presented or engaged in partnering meetings at the annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology. The annual conference is a great opportunity to explore opportunities in the rapidly growing biobased economy. This year, it returns to Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center July 16 – 19.
BIO will continue to champion policies that help renewable chemical companies build the biobased economy. We will also continue to provide the industry the best opportunities for partnering and business development through our annual conferences. We hope our new directory, “Renewable Chemical Platforms Building the Biobased Economy,” will provide companies and their business partners a new tool to use and share and to further those important efforts.
Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) and Apptio, Inc. (NASDAQ:APTI) are the two most active stocks in the Biotechnology industry based on today’s trading volumes. Investor interest in the two stocks is clearly very high, but which is the better investment? To answer this question, we will compare the …
Sustainability is a major food trend this year – it continues to enter our conversations, whether we’re talking about reducing food waste and plastic use or producing food in more earth conscious ways. People are asking more questions than ever before about the origins of food and its impact – not only on themselves but also on the world around them.
Yet, the environmental benefits of GMOs and how they check many boxes for sustainability has largely been missing from these conversations. Contrary to misconceptions, GMOs DO help protect the environment in more ways than most think.
To help spread the word about the environmental benefits of GMOs and encourage people to #RethinkEarthConscious foods, GMO Answers compiled a few big (well, billboard size) shareable suggestions based on common environmental questions asked on the GMO Answers website in a post called, Should GMOs Make You Rethink ‘Earth Conscious’ Foods? Yes.
Put simply, GMOs have given farmers the ability to do more with less. They are also helping us solve major food challenges like citrus-greening disease, which is threatening an estimated 80% Florida’s citrus groves, and banana wilt virus in East Africa. Solving these issues on the farms where they start means local farmers can continue to make a living and provide enough orange juice and bananas to fill breakfast tables across the world.
So, the next time you’re engaging in conversations about sustainable foods – remember that GMOs are one tool in the modern farmer’s tool box that can benefit us all and the environment in many ways. Check out the GMO Answers website to read the entire post about GMOs, the environment, sustainability, and Earth Day!
On Sunday night, 60 Minutes ran a captivating segment on the promise and possibilities of CRISPR – the revolutionary, cutting-edge technology used to delete, insert, or repair DNA in humans. “There are about six thousand or more diseases that are caused by faulty genes. The hope is that we will be able to address most, if not all of them,” Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute told 60 Minutes. Catch the full segment here.
To learn more about genome editing and its potential to produce transformative breakthroughs in both human health and agriculture, head over to our new issue page. We provide important resources and background materials to better understand these groundbreaking innovations and what is needed to ensure the policy and regulatory environments are keeping pace with the scientific advances happening in labs across the nation.
When you’re including images on your website, you want them to draw attention at first sight. One of the things that can bring your image to life is using patterns that emphasize the colors that are being used within the image itself. Not only will it emphasize your image’s colors, it will also take your design up a notch.
Further down this post, you’ll be able to download 7 different patterns for free and use them on any of your designs without restrictions.
Let’s get to it!
Preview
Download This Tutorial’s Files
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How to Emphasize Your Image’s Colors Using Patterns (Download 7 Free Patterns!)
The pattern image files that you can find in the downloaded folder contain transparent patterns and a white background
We’ll choose two colors from our image & apply them to our image’s gradient background (the gradient background show up through the patterns)
We’ll start off by going through the general steps of the design
Afterwards, we’ll play around with the product image’s & pattern image’s custom margin to change the pattern placement (top right, bottom right & top left)
General Steps
Add a New Section
Background Color
Start by adding a new section and using ‘#ffffff’ as its background color.
Custom Padding
We want to create some space at the top and bottom of our section. That’s why we’ll add ‘150px’ to the top and bottom padding options within the Spacing subcategory.
Add a New Row to Section
Column Structure
Once you’ve applied the previous steps to your section, go ahead and add a row with the following column structure:
Add Pattern Image Module to Column 1
Gradient Background
Now you can start adding the various modules. We’ll start with column 1 by adding an Image Module. Upload whichever one of the downloaded patterns you want to use. Then, choose the two colors from your product image that you want to use within your pattern as well. Once you do, open the Background subcategory of your Image Module and use these two colors to create a gradient background:
Color 1: #ebe2e3
Color 2: #94bce0
Sizing
Move on to the Design tab of this Image Module and use ‘60%’ for the width.
Add Product Image Module to Column 1
Image Alignment
Right below the pattern Image Module, add another Image Module for your product image. The first thing you’ll need to do, after uploading your image, is disabling the ‘Always Center Image on Mobile’ option within the Alignment subcategory.
Sizing
Open the Sizing subcategory next and use ‘80%’ for the Width.
Box Shadow
Lastly, enable the first box shadow option without modifying its default settings.
Add Title Text Module to Column 2
Background Color
We have all the modules we need in the first column so let’s move on to the second. There, the first thing we’ll need is a title Text Module with ‘#94bce0’ as its background color.
Text Settings
Go to the Design tab and apply the following text settings to this Text Module next:
Text Font Weight: Ultra Bold
Text Size: 52px
Text Color: #ffffff
Text Line Height: 1em
Text Orientation: Center
Sizing
Continue by opening the Sizing subcategory and applying the following settings to it:
Width: 83%
Module Alignment: Left
Custom Padding
To create some extra space at the top and bottom, we’ll also apply the following custom padding:
Top: 30px
Bottom: 30px
Border
Lastly, we’ll create rounded corners for the top left and top right by adding ’20px’.
Add Description Text Module to Column 2
Text Settings
Right below the title Text Module, go ahead and add a description Text Module using the following text settings:
Text Size: 17px
Text Color: #6b8ea5
Add Button Module to Column 2
Button Settings
The last module in this column is a Button Module containing the following button settings:
Use Custom Styles for Button: Yes
Button Text Color: #6b8ea5
Button Background Color: #ebe2e3
Button Border Width: 0px
Font Weight: Bold
Font Style: Uppercase
Show Button Icon: Yes
Button Icon Placement: Left
Only Show Icon on Hover for Button: No
Custom Padding
We’ll create some space on the left and right by adding the following custom padding as well:
Right: 30px
Left: 50px
Temporary Result
Up until this point, we’ve reached the following result:
Now, depending on where you want your pattern to show up:
Top Right
Bottom Right
Top Left
You can apply different custom margin values to both the pattern image and product image. In the next part of this post, we’ll go through all three possibilities and how to set them up.
Top Right Pattern Position
Pattern Image Module Custom Margin
If you want your image to show up on the top right, add the following custom margin to your pattern Image Module:
Left Margin: 250px (Desktop, Tablet & Phone)
Product Image Module Custom Margin
Then, open the product Image Module and apply the following custom margin to it:
Top Margin: -240px (Desktop), -220px (Tablet), -100px (Phone)
Bottom Right Pattern Position
Pattern Image Module Custom Margin
To make the pattern Image Module appear on the bottom right, open the pattern Image Module and apply the following custom margin to it:
Top Margin: 200px (Desktop), 0px (Tablet & Phone)
Left Margin: 330px (Desktop & Tablet), 200px (Phone)
Product Image Module Custom Margin
Open the product Image Module next, and add the following custom margin values:
Now, the last pattern position needs the following custom margin:
Left Margin: -100px (Desktop, Tablet & Phone)
Product Image Module Custom Margin
Lastly, open the product Image Module and use the following custom margin:
Top Margin: -250px (Desktop), -230px (Tablet), -150px (Phone)
Preview
Now that we’ve gone through all the steps, let’s take a final look at the result.
Final Thoughts
Highlighting your images with patterns can really help you enhance the overall look and feel of your design. In this post, we’ve shared 7 different patterns which you download for free and use without restrictions. We’ve also shown you how to add these to your design using Divi’s built-in options. If you have any questions or suggestions, make sure you leave a comment in the comment section below!
It’s hard to change your views when you are passionate about something, explains Devang Mehta for Massive. For scientists working on climate change, vaccines, evolution, and GMOs, this tendency of significant sections of the public to resist facts that run counter to their existing beliefs can be extremely frustrating.
This is why environmentalist Mark Lynas’ new book, Seeds of Science: Why we got it so wrong on GMOs, is such a welcome read: it gives us a peek into the process of changing one’s dearly held opinions, from someone who did so very publicly.
Lynas is perhaps most famous for getting up at the 2013 Oxford Farming Conference (an annual farming conference in the UK that first started in 1936) and giving a speech beginning, “For the record, here and upfront, I apologize for having spent several years ripping up GM crops… I now regret it completely.” Five years on, in his new book, Lynas walks us through this remarkable conversion with disarming, and sometimes brutal, honesty.
The book begins in 1999, with a post-midnight skulk around in a testing site of GM maize somewhere in eastern England. Lynas and a dozen other British activists, dressed in black and improbably armed with machetes and other “sharp tools,” are slashing the “living pollution” that is GM maize, when they’re rudely interrupted by the police.
Over the 250-odd pages that follow, Lynas introduces us to an eclectic cast of characters, including Vandana Shiva (the face of the anti-GMO movement), George Monbiot (the famed Guardian columnist, and an old anti-GMO comrade-in-arms), Paul Kingsnorth (a Man Booker long-listed novelist, who in the book, doubles as Lynas’ antithesis), Professor Marc Van Montagu (one of the inventors of GM technology), Dr. Leena Tripathi (a Kenyan scientist working on bananas), and Grace Rehema (a Tanzanian cassava farmer). He deftly uses his personal and professional relationships with these figures to narrate the story, first of how he came to repudiate his former allies and their beliefs, and then to describe his activities in the five years since.
As someone working in the field, I opened the book expecting to be bored by a repetition of often stale arguments and stories. After all, how much could Lynas really add in a debate that’s been raging for more than 30 years? Color me surprised!
Overall this is a book I wish could be found and read in every classroom and every university library. It’s an honest and thorough accounting of the science, issues, and emotions involved in the GMO debate, as well as the impact that perceptions of the technology in Europe have in poorer parts of the world. Mark Lynas accurately dissects the differences in thinking between scientists and activists that have stymied any agreement on GMOs for the last 20 years.
However, as I read the last, and possibly most anodyne, paragraph of Seeds of Science, I found myself, much like the author, caught between two worldviews, with more questions than answers about the future of GMOs - a technology that I’m still hoping reaches those who need it the most.
Whether you’re writing a marketing report with a firm 500 word limit, or are just curious if your blog post hits your editor’s 1,000-word minimum requirement, the word count tool in Google Docs can come in handy.
It’s a simple tool to ensure your content is an appropriate length. You can use it for more than just total word count, too — you can also measure how many words you have within a section, how many characters you have, and your page count.
To learn how to use word count in a Google doc, or to get a firmer understanding on what it offers, read on.
How to See Word Count in Google Docs
1. At the top of your Google Doc, click “Tools” and then select “Word Count”.
2. Here, you can see how many pages you have in your Doc (three), how many total words you have (777), how many characters you have (4992), and how many characters, excluding spaces, you have (4204). Characters are individual letters (“hey” is one word, but three characters), and typically only matters if a job or school application requires a character limit, rather than a word limit.
3. Next, let’s see how you can check the word count in a specific section. First, highlight the paragraph or section you want to measure. Below, I chose to highlight my third paragraph to get word count information on just that paragraph.
4. With a paragraph or section highlighted, click “Tools” and then “Word Count”. As you can see below, the Word Count now tells me how many words my third paragraph has compared to the entire Doc (59 out of 776), which page it’s on (1), and how many characters it has compared to the entire piece (400). This is useful if you need to cut down on word count for a specific section of your Doc.
There is also a shortcut to find your word count — click “command + Shift + C,” and it’ll pop right up.
Now, you’re equipped to measure the word count, character count, or page length of your Doc, which helps you hit word-limit or page-limit requirements. Word count is also an important tool to use when choosing your audience: 1,000 words is good for a blog audience, but 10,000 might be better as an e-book … or short novel.
DNA defines who we are. And like anything else, sometimes there are mistakes – mutations in genes that can cause life-lasting conditions. But what if broken genes could be repaired? How many patients could we help in the years ahead? This is the promise and possibility of human genome editing.
While DNA modification techniques have existed for decades, recent developments in genome editing technologies have provided scientists and researchers with far more precise and efficient tools than ever before. As a result, 2017 marked the first genome editing clinical trials in humans initiated in the United States which are targeting a metabolic disorder known as Hunter Syndrome. And research is currently underway on clinical applications of genome editing technologies to treat genetic disorders like sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, congenital blindness, hemophilia, amyloidosis, and lysosomal storage disorders.
As we look beyond human health, these products can be applied to animal and plant DNA, as well as many organisms that are used in basic biological research. Applications in agriculture and animal health have the potential to deliver major advances to help feed the world.
