NEW YORK (AP) — One of the musicals at the heart of the cancelled TV show "Smash" will get another life.
The nightclub 54 Below said Tuesday it will present two world-premiere concert performances of "Hit List" on Dec. 9 featuring some of the stars from the series, including Jeremy Jordan and Krysta Rodriguez.
On "Smash," the musical "Hit List" was a gritty, low-tech off-Broadway show that became a theater community darling and later competed with the glitzy Broadway-bound musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe called "Bombshell."
Tickets are $55 plus a $25 food and beverage minimum.
"Hit List" songs were written by Drew Gasparini, Joe Iconis, Andrew McMahon, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and Lucie Silvas.
"Smash" was cancelled this summer after two seasons.
UK collaboration to test biological control of mosquitoes
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
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Contact: Katie Pratt katie.pratt@uky.edu 859-257-8774 University of Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2013) Entomologists in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment have developed a new control method for mosquitoes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently granted a permit to begin field trials.
The biological control method targets the Asian tiger mosquito; it is the first of its kind in the nation.
"The mosquito has been labeled as one of the most important invasive species in the world," said Stephen Dobson, professor in the UK Department of Entomology. "The traditional ways that we control mosquitoes don't work against this mosquito."
A native of Southeast Asia, the Asian tiger mosquito now exists throughout the United States, with particularly heavy populations in the Southeast. Kentucky has had the mosquito since the 1990s, and it is currently in every county in the state. In a separate, unrelated study conducted by fellow UK entomologist Grayson Brown, Asian tiger mosquitoes were responsible for 90 to 95 percent of the bites on test subjects in Lexington during the 2013 summer.
Asian tiger mosquitoes are an important vector of canine heartworm and transmit the virus Chikungunya, which produces similar symptoms as dengue fever. While there has not been a Chikungunya epidemic in the United States, introductions have caused epidemics in Europe, India and elsewhere. Scientists are concerned about it invading the United States, similar to the West Nile virus invasion in 1999.
Dobson developed the technology to move the bacterium Wolbachia between mosquito species. Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium found in the majority of insects.
The new biological control method is based on releasing Wolbachia-infected males in a targeted area. Unlike their female counterparts, male mosquitoes do not bite or transmit disease. The males mate with females and render the females sterile.
Dobson began testing the biological control's effectiveness in small laboratory cages and progressed to greenhouses, releasing more infected male mosquitoes each time.
"In laboratory and greenhouse conditions, we can eliminate a population in just over eight weeks," Dobson said.
The technology is being field tested through a collaboration between UK and MosquitoMate, a small, start-up company in Lexington. MosquitoMate is led by Jimmy Mains, a former student in Dobson's laboratory whose doctoral research focused on Wolbachia's ability to control Asian tiger mosquitoes in laboratory and greenhouse settings.
"It's exciting to participate as this technology progresses from an idea developed at the University of Kentucky, through laboratory trials and now to a real-world application," Mains said.
Mosquito populations peaked before the researchers received the EPA permit this summer. Therefore their initial work this past summer in Lexington was limited to small-scale trials, examining male mating and flight distance in the field. This information will help guide early work next year, when researchers hope to see significant impacts on Asian tiger mosquito populations in Lexington.
While the biological control method may help cut down on the number of insecticide applications, it won't completely replace insecticides.
"Insecticides can still be used for a quick knock down once a mosquito population is already high, but the biological Wolbachia approach started early in the season can serve to keep the population low, prevent a population explosion or even eliminate a population," Dobson said.
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UK collaboration to test biological control of mosquitoes
Public release date: 14-Oct-2013 [
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| Share
]
Contact: Katie Pratt katie.pratt@uky.edu 859-257-8774 University of Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2013) Entomologists in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment have developed a new control method for mosquitoes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently granted a permit to begin field trials.
The biological control method targets the Asian tiger mosquito; it is the first of its kind in the nation.
"The mosquito has been labeled as one of the most important invasive species in the world," said Stephen Dobson, professor in the UK Department of Entomology. "The traditional ways that we control mosquitoes don't work against this mosquito."
A native of Southeast Asia, the Asian tiger mosquito now exists throughout the United States, with particularly heavy populations in the Southeast. Kentucky has had the mosquito since the 1990s, and it is currently in every county in the state. In a separate, unrelated study conducted by fellow UK entomologist Grayson Brown, Asian tiger mosquitoes were responsible for 90 to 95 percent of the bites on test subjects in Lexington during the 2013 summer.
Asian tiger mosquitoes are an important vector of canine heartworm and transmit the virus Chikungunya, which produces similar symptoms as dengue fever. While there has not been a Chikungunya epidemic in the United States, introductions have caused epidemics in Europe, India and elsewhere. Scientists are concerned about it invading the United States, similar to the West Nile virus invasion in 1999.
Dobson developed the technology to move the bacterium Wolbachia between mosquito species. Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacterium found in the majority of insects.
The new biological control method is based on releasing Wolbachia-infected males in a targeted area. Unlike their female counterparts, male mosquitoes do not bite or transmit disease. The males mate with females and render the females sterile.
Dobson began testing the biological control's effectiveness in small laboratory cages and progressed to greenhouses, releasing more infected male mosquitoes each time.
"In laboratory and greenhouse conditions, we can eliminate a population in just over eight weeks," Dobson said.
The technology is being field tested through a collaboration between UK and MosquitoMate, a small, start-up company in Lexington. MosquitoMate is led by Jimmy Mains, a former student in Dobson's laboratory whose doctoral research focused on Wolbachia's ability to control Asian tiger mosquitoes in laboratory and greenhouse settings.
"It's exciting to participate as this technology progresses from an idea developed at the University of Kentucky, through laboratory trials and now to a real-world application," Mains said.
Mosquito populations peaked before the researchers received the EPA permit this summer. Therefore their initial work this past summer in Lexington was limited to small-scale trials, examining male mating and flight distance in the field. This information will help guide early work next year, when researchers hope to see significant impacts on Asian tiger mosquito populations in Lexington.
While the biological control method may help cut down on the number of insecticide applications, it won't completely replace insecticides.
"Insecticides can still be used for a quick knock down once a mosquito population is already high, but the biological Wolbachia approach started early in the season can serve to keep the population low, prevent a population explosion or even eliminate a population," Dobson said.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
RTL, Germany's number one commercial channel, has thrown its weight behind Rising Star, a new singing competition format from Israeli's Keshet International which is one of the hottest shows to debut at TV confab MIPCOM this week. RTL has picked up rights for Rising Star and will do a local-language version of the format.
The deal is the biggest so far for Rising Star, which has also sold to France's M6 (a subsidiary of RTL parent company RTL Group) and Russia's Rossiya 1.
The German version could also see the first ratings show-down between Rising Star and The Voice, which airs on RTL competitor ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany. RTL airs the German version of Idols, called DSDS.
In Israel, The Voice airs on Keshet's Channel 2, the network that commissioned Rising Star from Tedy Productions.
Rising Star features the live singing competitions and celebrity judges familiar to viewers of The Voice, American Idol or The X Factor. The twist with Rising Star is live voting: viewers vote for their favorite contestants via a Rising Star app and the votes are tallied live on air.
Voting is integrated directly into the drama of the show. Contestants sing facing a floor-to-ceiling curtain of video screens. As the votes come in, images of the viewers, culled from their Facebook pages, appear on the screens and the vote total is shown with a rising bar. If the yes votes exceed 70 percent, the video curtain rises and the contestant finishes their song in front of the judges and studio audience.
"Rising Star has all the elements of a classic music talent show, but it bringing the well-known genre to a new level,” said RTL programming head Frank Hoffmann. “The interactivity makes it more exciting and more emotional both for the candidates and for the viewers,” Hoffmann added, saying the show represented an "unprecedented” degree of social media integration in a live TV event.
Rising Star debuted in Israel last month where it has been a huge hit on both first and second screens. Channel 2 posted a market share of up to 49 percent during the show's broadcast and recorded more than 2.3 million second screen votes. The total population of Israel is just 8 million.
FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, U.S singer Liza Minnelli performs at the Royal Festival Hall in London. A spokesman for the 67-year-old entertainer said she performed with a broken wrist at a benefit concert Monday night, Oct. 14, 2013, in New York. Minnelli broke her wrist in three places while rehearsing at home Sunday night. (Photo by Jonathan Short/Invision/AP, file)
FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, U.S singer Liza Minnelli performs at the Royal Festival Hall in London. A spokesman for the 67-year-old entertainer said she performed with a broken wrist at a benefit concert Monday night, Oct. 14, 2013, in New York. Minnelli broke her wrist in three places while rehearsing at home Sunday night. (Photo by Jonathan Short/Invision/AP, file)
The show went on for Liza Minnelli.
A spokesman for the 67-year-old entertainer said she performed Monday night with a broken wrist at a benefit concert in New York.
Minnelli broke her wrist in three places while rehearsing at home Sunday.
The "Cabaret" star performed with her sister, Lorna Luft. The event marked their first performance together in 20 years since their duet at the 1993 Tony Awards.
Minnelli returned to the hospital for further treatment immediately after the performance at the jazz club Birdland benefiting the Women's Health Initiative and the Dr. Philomena McAndrew Fund of Tower Cancer Research Foundation.
Sporting some daring haircolor, Demi Lovato promoted her new album, Demi, in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Monday (October 14).
Rocking a black graphic t-shirt, ripped black jeans, and a black leather jacket, the 21-year-old songstress showed off her long blue locks while posing for pics.
On Thursday, the "Heart Attack" singer was in Mexico City for Glamour magazine's 15th anniversary party.
Sharing some kind words from Eva Longoria, Demi retweeted, "A selfie of me and @ddlovato in Mexico at Glamour awards! Demi you inspire me!!! "
A couple of unpleasant and deeply dismaying things have happened in the science blogosphere in the past 36 hours or so. I’m posting on it, along with a growing number of other science bloggers, in order to stand in solidarity with a fellow blogger and to ensure her voice is not silenced. (If you’d like to catch up to the full story, try the Twitter hashtag #standingwithdnlee, or read this search string here. It will take a while.)
Disclosure up front: This situation involves the blog network of the magazine Scientific American, where I am a columnist and contributing editor (which is magazine jargon indicating, more or less, that they pay me a set amount of money for a certain number of columns per year). I respect the Scientific American name and feel as privileged to be associated it as I do to be here at Wired — but in this case I think the magazine has made a mistake, and I hope they reverse course.
That said, here’s what’s going on.
One of the bloggers at the SciAm network is Danielle N. Lee, Ph.D., a biologist who also writes about increasing science’s engagement with women and people of color. (Here’s her blog, The Urban Scientist — but as we’ll get to, there is something missing from that page.) On Thursday, Dr. Lee received an email from someone who represented himself as the blog editor at Biology-Online.org, which is a blog platform and aggregator, and a partner site with SciAm. The editor asked if Dr. Lee would be interested in contributing to their site. After some Q and A back and forth regarding whether this was work for pay or for free, and after hearing that there was no compensation, Dr. Lee responded:
Thank you very much for your reply.
But I will have to decline your offer.
Have a great day.
According to emails which Dr. Lee screengrabbed, here was the editor’s response:
Because we don’t pay for blog entries?
Are you an urban scientist or an urban whore?
I want to just let that sink in for a minute. A professional was asked to work for no compensation. She declined politely. And was called a whore.
Now, let’s be clear: Lots of us get asked to work for free lots of the time. I probably get approached at least once a week. (For clarity: I do not blog for free at Wired; we are on contract and paid.) Sometimes we say yes, if the opportunity is right; sometimes we decline if we are overworked already or if the non-monetary compensation being offered is not aligned with whatever else we want or need to do.
But — do I really need to say this? — we are the best judges of what we can and can’t manage. We are always within our rights to say no. And we never deserve vile language because we have not matched someone else’s expectations.
So that’s the first thing that happened. Here is the second: At her SciAm blog, Dr. Lee wrote a post about the email encounter, the insult, and her completely reasonable woundedness. She said in part:
It wasn’t just that he called me a whore – he juxtaposed it against my professional being: Are you urban scientist or an urban whore? Completely dismissing me as a scientist, a science communicator (whom he sought for my particular expertise), and someone who could offer something meaningful to his brand.What? Now, I’m so immoral and wrong to inquire about compensation? Plus, it was obvious to me that I was supposed to be honored by the request.
So let’s just unpack what happened. According to Dr. Lee, the only notice she received that her post was considered inappropriate was its vanishing from the blog site. SciAm did not communicate with her about it other than by the tweet above. And SciAm said nothing about the uncalled-for abuse of one of their bloggers by one of their partnership representatives.
It is worth adding here that other bloggers on the SciAm network have protested that there have never been any standards elucidated or curbs indicated on what they can write. (Small sample: NerdyChristie, KateClancy, Krystal D’Costa.) And as many other bloggers (including Maggie Koerth-Baker, Josh Witten, David Wescott, Tony Martin) pointed out, who does science, and what barriers they encounter as they try, is an integral part of the conduct of science.
As I’ve been watching over the course of the afternoon, this just keeps blowing up bigger. It has been covered by Buzzfeed, is being discussed at Metafilter — and on Twitter, tweets under the #standingwithdnlee tag are appearing in other languages, which is a pretty good indication of how widely the news is spreading. While part of that reaction, I hope, is outrage on behalf of Dr. Lee, I suspect part as well is disappointment with SciAm — a magazine that supports citizen science and getting women into science and engineering, and, manifestly, has a female editor-in-chief.
So I’m going to hope that SciAm reverses course on this. By the testimony of their other bloggers, plus the guidance those bloggers say they were given, SciAm had no justification for taking down that post. If they felt Dr. Lee’s account was inaccurate, they should have said so. If they found her language inappropriate, the better response would have been to flag the post in some manner, obscuring it with an image or temporarily replacing it with a notice — instead of creating the appearance of censorship by disappearing it entirely — while they communicated with Dr. Lee and worked with her to bring her post under whatever their standards are.
And while and even before they did that, they should have censured their partner, and made it clear that they do not support a scientist, a professional woman, any woman being called a whore ever — let alone by a representative of a site with which SciAm has a relationship.
What’s happened instead, to this point, is that SciAm has silenced a blogger, implicitly criticized her, and explicitly not criticized a partner representative who abused one of their own people. These are not smart or moral actions, and they do not reflect well on a storied and respected brand. I think that SciAm can still make this right. I hope they do.
For a culture as prevalent as it is, nerds have never really gotten their due. It's usually all glasses and acne and high-waisted pants left over from "Family Matters" and "Revenge of the Nerds." In a lot of ways, pop culture hasn't updated its image of the ultra geeky in decades. That's why "Zero Charisma" […]Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/10/08/zero-charisma-directors/ Related Topics: Sarin gasdave chappelleJason HeywardSnowdenUltron
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