We are experiencing an evolution of commerce.

Over the past three years, the pandemic, associated lockdowns, and economic impacts have changed our routines time and again, creating an inflection point for consumers, employees and grocers alike. This disruption resulted in consumers and employees redefining and reconsidering their relationships with companies they once relied on, creating an opening for new brands and an existential need for grocery retailers to reinvigorate current relationships. In addition, the rise of Gen Zs expectations, purchasing power and role in the workforce makes evolving to meet the modern customer a must. Additionally, recent advancements in point-of-sale (POS) solutions and fulfillment systems are providing new ways to address the needs of modern consumers while reducing the strain on front-line workers.

[Read more: "Consumers Weigh In on Most Trustworthy Grocers, Brands"]

To effectively capitalize on this moment, as well as moments to come, grocery retailers need to become learning organizations, expanding their ability to analyze and interpret current experiences while anticipating future trends. To drive ongoing success, youll need a learning agenda at the organization and team levels, a holistic view of operations across existing functional siloes, and insight into existing gaps and opportunities.

While many parts of your business are critical for continued evolution, the following four areas require that you fundamentally disrupt or advance current operations: customer experience, front-line employee engagement, POS technology and supply chain planning.

Consumer buying habits and expectations have fundamentally changed. Consumer loyalty is waning, and what once resulted in delight is now a minimum requirement. Over the past year, 71% of consumers worldwide have switched brands at least once.

Speed and convenience are the top-line demands, but thats just the beginning. While contactless delivery and curbside service gave companies an advantage in winning hearts and minds during the early days of the pandemic, these services quickly became basic expectations, with the average consumer using curbside pickup at least three times per month well after business returned to normal.

Its time to raise the stakes to meet rising expectations. Consumers want engaging, frictionless shopping experiences that meet them where they are and ideally transport them to a better place, all while delivering convenience and sustainability. Nearly half of online adults in the United States agree that they want different delivery options to suit their needs. Methods and avenues for service delivery are evolving, too. More than 70% of consumers surveyed say that they appreciate the convenience of instantly purchasing products while browsing social media.

Consumers are increasingly exerting their buying power to reward companies that address their expectations and desires. Zeroing in on your customers real needs takes communication, information, experimentation and the courage to do things differently. For grocery retailers, this includes everything from the footprint and layout of brick-and-mortar stores to innovative, future-focused technology.

For example, a large regional grocery chain in Texas reimagined its brick-and-mortar model, adding built-in convenience everywhere you look. New stores include large, covered parking areas designated for quick curbside pickup, powered by the stores mobile app. In addition, the chain has added full in-store restaurants, complete with multilane drive-thru service.

While biometric identification, QR-enabled payments and smart carts are still early in their adoption and use, Amazon is primed to sell its Dashcart technology and has successfully piloted it in select Whole Foods Market stores. Meanwhile, Sams Club has doubled down on its mobile experience, allowing shoppers to skip the line by using their smartphones to scan and pay for purchases throughout the store. These frictionless, ultra-convenient models are poised to shape the in-store experience of tomorrow, helping grocers optimize labor while enhancing the customer experience.

The pandemic prompted front-line workers to re-evaluate their relationship with their jobs as they looked for more stability, safety, value and purpose in their day-to-day lives. Grocery workers were particularly affected because of the truly essential nature of their roles and the personal risk they took to continue doing their work. Now that most hazard-pay programs have expired, many grocery employees are looking for more.

As a result, 80% of food retailers say that they face hiring challenges that are negatively affecting their businesses.In 2022, the turnover rate for all hourly in-store positions was 75.8%, up from 68% in 2021. The turnover rate for store managers and assistant store managers was 17.7% and 29.2%, respectively, up from 14.6% and 22% in 2021.

Employees across the board are demanding more and backing their demands with real consequences when employers dont meet their needs. With record low unemployment and a reduced workforce, the best workers are selective and open to switching jobs for stronger compensation or better work-life balance. Recent high-profile unionization efforts have also inspired conversations about collective action. Rather than setting out to fight unionization, retailers should be proactive about meeting the holistic and material needs of their employees well before they reach the point of pushing back.

To retain employees and encourage them to be brand ambassadors, you need to create and sustain a meaningful value equation for your workforce. This means taking a good look at your compensation, culture, expectations and technology.

For example, compensation packages should include material benefits and paid leave in addition to competitive pay. The amount and type of work employees are expected to do should be reasonable, allowing them to produce consistent and impactful results. Modern technology can help your employees see their work becoming more manageable over time. Rather than fearing technology, todays workers are crying out for advancements that can help lighten their loads. All of this needs to happen within a deliberate culture, one of empowerment and mutual respect where employees are valued, have options for professional-learning and growth opportunities, and feel supported by frictionless processes.

One St. Louis-based grocery chain is embracing change by following the ridesharing model, empowering employees to build their own schedules and receive notifications about open shifts through a mobile app. This provides workers with new levels of flexibility and choice, helping the store remain relevant as an employer to an evolving workforce.

Its a well-accepted adage that employee satisfaction and customer experience go hand in hand, especially in service industries like grocery retail. Engaged front-line workers give the best service, create low-friction work environments and foster other happy employees. Whats more, socially conscious consumers have taken a renewed interest in working conditions and workers rights, opting to support brands with a reputation for treating their people well.

The POS system is the lifeblood of the grocery business, connecting customers, employees and management; gathering essential data; and tying in gas rewards, loyalty programs, customer apps, digital coupons, and more. Investing in modern POS technology and other integrated systems is another critical way to empower front-line workers and enhance your customer experience.

Historically, companies have been slow to invest in POS upgrades or replacements, waiting until the pain from antiquated systems is impossible to ignore. Grocery retailers should invest and upgrade proactively, not just to guard against potential failure, but also to enable modern integrations, increase functionality, and create a more robust experience for your consumers and team. This is a trend thats gaining steam, as more than 55% of retailers plan to replace their POS software in the next three years, and about 30% plan to replace it within one year. For POS hardware alone, that number jumps to nearly 60% within the next three years, and 22% within one year.

A seamless and frictionless transaction can make or break a customers experience. Leaders need to get out on the shop floor to gather feedback from employees with direct experience and personally observe the pain points, inefficiencies and missed opportunities created by current systems.

While an efficient and user-friendly POS is essential for brick-and-mortar operations, its no less important in e-commerce. The right systems can capture essential data about customer behavior and satisfaction, parse it to provide valuable insights, and offer an online purchasing experience thats convenient, functional and enjoyable for the customer.

Its an exciting time to explore new POS technologies. The pandemic sparked a surge of innovation, offering more features, streamlined user experiences and a host of data collection tools.

Like POS, supply chain and fulfillment were once considered back-end. When business is running smoothly, customers never even think about the concept of the supply chain. Consumer anxiety has grown, however, after experiencing recent and memorable shortages of items that we used to take for granted. Today, supply chain is a new household buzzword as continued disruptions and shipping delays lead to rising frustrations. While pandemic-era shortages are behind us for now, supply chain issues are a continued reality in grocery stores, with sporadic shortages occurring across categories.

Its essential to meet customers where they are, with the product they want, when they need it. Right now, 46% of consumers will move to a competitor if their usual brand is out of stock. Also, 45% of consumers wish they had more information about their in-transit orders.This starts with supply chain planning, accurately predicting demand and understanding the implications of each decision made to get your product into the consumers hands.

While delivery has flourished, the path to efficient and profitable shipping in the grocery sector has been challenged by cold-chain logistics and variable product sizes and weights. To make shipping more feasible, some grocers are piloting micro-fulfillment centers, often within existing stores, that leverage automation in the last mile of grocery supply chains. This test-and-learn approach allows grocers to make informed decisions on how to scale the channel based on the interplay among operational efficiency, customer experience and overall economics.

Just like POS technologies, supply chain systems have historically been entrenched and slow to change. Many small companies, and even some large ones, still use Excel as their only management tool. In fact, 67% of supply chain managers use Excel. Meanwhile, only 6% of companies have full visibility into their supply chain, and 69% dont have any visibility at all.

This lack of visibility and efficiency reached a breaking point during the pandemic, prompting many executives to consider investing in tech that they had previously dismissed as a nice-to-have. An updated, tech-enabled supply chain environment does more than make customers happy it also provides valuable data and organization that can vastly improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enable mindful adjustments based on real-time and historical data.

Each of these issues is vast, complex and interrelated, which can initially seem overwhelming. While these topics are complex, theres also an element of simplicity in each one. To make meaningful changes, its helpful to start by revisiting and updating your foundational value proposition: What is your brand promise? Who is your customer (now), and what do they want? What do you need to do (differently) to meet them where they are? What do your employees need to thrive? How do you measure and celebrate success?

Developing a learning agenda in regard to these questions will help you capitalize on the evolution of commerce.

As markets find a new normal, we are at an inflection point that presents opportunities for business leaders to adapt and evolve. Ad-hoc, incremental adjustments made to maintain existing operations will no longer carry the day. To grow your business, you must commit to enhancing consumer and employee experiences with your brand. This goes beyond attraction and engagement to focus on serving employees and customers at every stage of their journey.

Read more:
How Grocery Retailers Can Learn to Thrive in the Face of Change - Progressive Grocer

The life of the exceptionally gifted and important Yankton Sioux writer, musician, and activist Zitkala-a proved a bicultural journey that would defy her times and gender.

It would stand to reason, given the deep-rooted bias against her race and her sex, that a Sioux Indian girl born into late-Victorian, predominantly white America might have little to no chance for growth and fame. Nonetheless, against all odds, the woman who called herself Zitkala-a grew to become a teacher, a widely read author, a concert violinist and classical composer, co-founder and president of the National Council of American Indians, and a world-recognized advocate and lobbyist for the rights of both women and Native Americans.

The year of Zitkala-as birth, 1876, was significant, representing as it did the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the United States. It also marked the Native Americans last great victory over the nations military, when the troops of Lt. Col. and presidential hopeful George Armstrong Custer were soundly defeated by a combined force of Sioux, Arapaho, and Northern Cheyenne warriors.

Gertrude Kasebier, 1898

For the American Indians, it was the victory that heralded their imminent subjugation. Isolated instances aside, their resistance that had impeded Anglo-Americas expansive drive to the Pacific Ocean had been neutralized. It now became a time of forced assimilation, in which, under the mantle of civilizing the savage, tribal cultures were being systematically demolished. One way in which this was achieved was through the reeducation of Native American children in government-sponsored, Christian-run boarding schools.

This was the world that the child named Gertrude Simmons inherited. She was born on South Dakotas Yankton Agency, to a Sioux mother and a white father. The Yanktonai had signed a treaty with the federal government in 1858, and although they had avoided the bloody resistance that had resulted in the subjection of other regional tribes, life on the reservation was harsh.

Gertrudes father had earlier abandoned the family, leaving her traditional upbringing in the hands of her mother and the tribe. She learned beadwork at her mothers knee and was weaned on the folktales and origin stories that would later appear in her books. I was as free as the wind that blew my hair, she later wrote, and no less spirited than the bounding deer.

When Gertrude was 8, Quaker missionaries came to the reservation seeking children to enroll in Whites Manual Labor Institute, their federally funded Indian boarding school in Wabash, Indiana. Such schools represented a national program to systematically remove children from their tribal environment, in order to assimilate them into white society. Some of Gertrudes friends had already been given permission to go, and for the child, it was an easy sell. Gertrude begged her reluctant mother, who warned her, Don't believe a word they say! Their words are sweet, but, my child, their deeds are bitter. You will cry for me, but they will not even soothe you. She finally relented, and Gertrude boarded the train that would take her far from her mother, and farther still from her tribal identity.

The school, she later recalled, bound my individuality like a mummy for burial. As did nearly all the other Indian boarding schools, it ran on the principles and objectives of Richard Henry Pratt, a former military man who had founded the Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania five years earlier. Looked upon as the model for all such institutions, the Carlisle School operated on Pratts personal philosophy: Kill the Indian, save the Man. All traces of tribal influence were to be eradicated. Drawn from various tribes and thrown together, the students were forbidden to wear their native garb or speak in their own tongue, which was especially difficult for Gertrude, who spoke no English. They were prohibited from communicating with their families and from maintaining a belief in the Great Spirit.

Conversion to Christianity was mandatory, as was the cutting of the students hair. As she later wrote, Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards! Although Gertrude tried to hide under a bed, she was dragged out, tied to a chair, and forced to endure the shame of a shearing, her long, flowing hair cut close to the scalp at the nape of her neck.

Anonymous, 1898

The training that the uniformed children received was designed to prepare them for nothing beyond jobs as handymen, laborers, maids, and housekeepers. The treatment was harsh, and corporal punishment was a common recourse for slow or recalcitrant students. The mortality rate among Indian children in the schools was staggering, due to malnutrition, poor living conditions, disease, and often simply despair. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, Gertrude recalled, as my own mother used to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder. In an article for Atlantic Monthly several years later, she wrote, Like a slender tree, I had been uprooted from my mother, nature, and god. Now a cold bare pole, I seemed to be planted in a strange earth, trembling with fear and distrust. Often I wept in secret.

As did tens of thousands of other Native American students, Gertrude became a child who straddled two worlds, belonging in neither. It was an ambivalence that would haunt her throughout her life, eventually destroying her relationship with her mother and distancing her from her tribe. In a 1913 letter to a friend she complained, I seem to be in spiritual unrest. I hate this eternal tug of war between wild and becoming civilized. The transition is an endless evolution, that keeps me in a continual purgatory.

Over the next three years, Gertrude became relatively fluent in spoken and written English. Returning home, she discovered that she no longer felt a visceral connection to her mothers traditional lifestyle. Nor was her mother inclined to tolerate this child of two cultures. During this time, she wrote in a 1900 article for the Atlantic Monthly, I seemed to hang in the heart of chaos . My mother had never gone inside a school house and so she was not capable of comforting her daughter who could read and write. Even nature seemed to have no place for me.

After four years on the reservation, she returned to Whites Institute to complete her education. She then entered the Quaker-run Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, where she excelled as a poet, essayist, and orator. Her debating skills won her several prizes, and a number of her works were published in the college newspaper.

However, her ambivalence toward assimilation was evident in her work. In 1896, as a representative of Earlham College, she delivered an award-winning speech titled Side by Side, at the 22nd Indiana State Oratorical Contest. In it, Gertrude spoke movingly about the Indians right to seek vengeance for the wrongs inflicted on him and his way of life: The white mans bullet decimates his tribe and drives him from his home. What if he fought? ... Do you wonder still that in his breast he should brood revenge? In the same speech, with equal intensity, she stressed her desire to see her people become a part of the American mainstream: We come from mountain fastnesses, from cheerless plains, from far-off low-wooded streams, seeking the White Mans ways seeking the Sovereigns crown that we may stand side by side with you in ascribing royal honor to our nations flag. America, I love thee. Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.

An extended illness prevented Gertrude from graduating, and she left Earlham following her sixth trimester. Fearing a confrontation with her mother, she chose not to return to the reservation. Instead, Gertrudenow a slender, striking woman of 21decided to teach Indian children and took a job as an instructor at the Carlisle School. This was the institute founded by the same Richard Henry Pratt whose solution to the Indian problem was total acculturation. The schools narrative judged all that was Christian and white as good, and all the attributes that marked indigenous peoples as constituting heathenism, writes Tadeusz Lewandowski in his biography of her, Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkala-a. It was a philosophy that Gertrude would soon come to reject.

During this time I seemed to hang in the heart of chaos, beyond the touch or voice of human aid ... My mother had never gone inside of a school house and so she was not capable of comforting her daughter who could read and write. Even nature seemed to have no place for me. I was neither a wee girl nor a tall one; neither a wild Indian nor a tame one. This deplorable situation was the effect of my brief course in the East.

She had begun to play the violin at Carlisle and showed a true talent for the instrument. On her spring break in 1899, she traveled to New York City to further her studies. It was around this time that she met Gertrude Kasebier, the most noted female photographer of her era. The two became fast friends, and Kasebier and her colleague, Joseph Keileywho was captivated by the young writers delicate beautytook a series of romantically posed photographs, featuring the young author in both modern and tribal dress. The prints sold in 1900 for an impressive $1,000 apiece, a value of over $33,000 today.

Traveling to Boston, Gertrude engaged a highly renowned violin instructor from the New England Conservatory of Music. Something of a prodigy, she attained a proficiency that would one day see her perform at the White House for President and Mrs. McKinley.

Gertrudes writing flourished as well. She had begun to write both autobiographical articles and tales derived from her tribal culture. In 1900, three of her pieces were published in the Atlantic Monthly: Impressions of an Indian Childhood, The School Days of an Indian Girl, and An Indian Teacher Among Indians. In addition to telling her story in beautifully wrought text, each work was a clear-cut, searing indictment of both the Indian boarding school system and the Palefaces treatment of the American Indian in general.

She also created a Lakota nom de plume, for the first time signing her articles Zitkala-a, meaning Red Bird. Her work was widely applauded, and Gertrude found herself the darling of the Boston literary circle. Harpers Bazar praised her beauty and many talents in its Persons Who Interest Us column, and The Outlook featured her as well.

Both magazines, however, missed the point of her writings, tending to focus instead on her progress from barbarism to civilization. Before becoming civilized, wrote Harpers, she was a veritable little savage, running wild over the prairies.

Joseph Turner Keiley, 1898

Not surprisingly, Richard Henry Pratt was furious. Viewing his young teacher as both wrongheaded and ungrateful for the opportunity he had given her, he publicly denounced both her and her writings. Nor was he alone in his criticism. Many of Carlisles teachers looked at her as misguided at best, and libelous at worst. As Zitkala-a, however, Gertrude Simmons had found her voice as the spokesperson for her people. There would be no going back.

Honoring an earlier commitment, Gertrude temporarily returned to Carlisle to participate as solo violinist and orator in the 53-piece school bands tour of the Northeast. The tour was an unqualified success, with Gertrudes violin playing and recitation from Longfellows Song of Hiawatha the featured event. She held every ear, read one newspaper review, and the recourse frequently to handkerchiefs told how great an effect she was exerting over her audience.

Eventually tiring of her life among the Boston literati, Gertrude returned to the Yankton Reservation in the early 1900s, where she met and wed Raymond T. Bonnin, an Indian Bureau employee of mixed Yankton and Anglo ancestry. The two followed his job to the Uinta and Ouray Reservation in Utah, where they spent the next several years. Here, she bore her only child, a son. After the publication of her 1901 book Old Indian Legends and a few pieces for Harpers Magazine and the Atlantic Monthly, including the provocative Why I Am a Pagan, she temporarily shelved her writing to work as a teacher and organizer of womens community programs.

A few years later, Gertrude awakened her muse, resumed her writing, and collaborated with Mormon music teacher William Hanson in the creation of the well-received Sun Dance Opera. Framing the work around Sioux songs, religion, and oral history, she used her violin to transcribe traditional pieces, in a work that was both eerie and hypnotic.

Ironically, despite her long-professed aversion to organized religion, Gertrude converted to Catholicism. She also launched an anti-peyote campaign, in direct opposition to the Utes use of the drug for religious purposes. Citing its degrading qualities, she lectured at temperance and womens rights meetings across the Midwest.

In 1914, the increasingly politicized Gertrude joined the Washington, D.C.-based Society of American Indians, a recently founded organizationthe first national American Indian right organization run by and for American Indiansthat promoted Indian self-determination and assimilation. She and Raymond moved to D.C., and Gertrude became the societys secretary and chronicler. Within a few years, however, lack of public interest and internal dissensionmuch fomented by Gertrude herselffractured the organization. She left the society, and in 1921the same year that saw the publication of her American Indian Storiespartnered with the General Federation of Womens Clubs (GFWC) to found the National Indian Welfare Committee. Shortly thereafter, she embarked on a GFWC-sponsored nationwide speaking tour on behalf of Indian citizenship, which would not be secured until 1924, when President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act.

Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's! In my anguish I moaned for my mother; but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder.

By now, the Yankton Sioux writer and activist who had become known as Zitkala-a had found her home in the realm of national politics. Her writings and presentations were becoming increasingly aggressive, as she made the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) her special target, and Indian rights her primary cause.

In 1924, not content with working from behind the pen or the lectern, Gertrudealong with two other activiststraveled to Oklahoma under the dual auspices of the GFWC and the Indian Rights Association, to investigate the outrages being perpetrated against the Osage. The tribe had found oil under the states hardscrabble ground, and many tribal members had become rich overnight. Corrupt white local courts immediately assigned the wealthy Osages guardiansparasites who systematically victimized them. Some whites married into Indian families just to claim their wealth. And what they couldnt steal by guile they acquired through murder.

The result of the investigation was an extensive paper, coauthored by Gertrude and titled Oklahomas Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized TribesLegalized Robbery. It was a scathing, gut-wrenching expos, and the trios goal was to use it to force a congressional hearing. It worked, but not in the way they were hoping. The committee whitewashed the whole affair, discounting the treatise and unofficially declaring a vendetta against members of government who had supported the effort.

That same year, however, a bright note helped to lessen her disappointment: Congress finally passed the law granting Indian citizenship. It was a cause for which Gertrude had fought hard, and she was justifiably proud. As she succinctly wrote on a personal list of annual accomplishments, Helped get Act through Congress granting citizenship to all Indians.

In 1926, Gertrude created her own nonprofit pan-Indian organization, the National Council of American Indians, with husband Raymond as secretary-treasurer. The two drove thousands of miles, visiting countless reservations in their effort to unite Americas tribes in common cause. She wrote a regular newsletter and appeared before Congress with well-documented accounts of the abysmal living conditions and historic wrongs suffered by her people.

Unfortunately, over the next several years, political dissension among the leading Indigenous groups played a significant role in lessening their overall impact, and although Congress passed the groundbreaking Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, Gertrude was ultimately disappointed in the results of her decades-long efforts. In a letter to a friend the following year, she wrote, [T]hough it took a lifetime, the achievements are scarcely visible!!!

Gertrude was plagued by a variety of ailments throughout her adult life. On January 25, 1938, she fell into a coma, and unexpectedly died of what were diagnosed as kidney disease and cardiac dilation. The autopsy merely listed her as Gertrude Bonnin from South DakotaHousewife. Raymond died less than four years later; owing to his earlier military service, he and Gertrude share a tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery. Under Raymonds name, the inscription reads:

His Wife / Gertrude Simmons Bonnin / Zitkala-a of the Sioux Indians / 18761938.

Ultimately, Gertrude Simmons Bonninthe half-Sioux poet-activist who renamed herself Zitkala-awas a study in contradictions. She represented her people and fought for Native American rights, while working hard to establish herself in the Paleface society that she often railed against. The author of a heartfelt piece titled Why I Am a Pagan, she embraced various Christian sects during her 61 years, including Catholicism, and was given a Mormon funeral. She fought hard for the preservation of Indigenous customs yet waged a bitter campaign, alongside her former adversary, Richard Henry Pratt, against the traditional tribal use of peyote. She disparaged the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding-school methods of educating and assimilating Indian children but sent her only child to a strict Catholic school. A lifelong advocate for her people, she nevertheless found it impossible, once she had been exposed to an Anglo education, to live among them. And while touting the need for maintaining the sanctity of Indian traditions, she allowed herself, in the words of editor Dr. P. Jane Hafen, to pander to sentimental, colonial images, at various times falsely claiming to be Sitting Bulls granddaughter.

She spent her life in balance between two worlds, using the language of one to translate the needs of another, author Dexter Fisher asserts. She was in a truly liminal position, always on the threshold of two worlds but never fully entering either.

Considered within the context of her gender- and racially restrictive era, however, Gertrude Simmons Bonnins accomplishments were truly remarkable, and all achieved while straddling a lifelong rail between two cultures that were alternately demanding and unforgiving. She was instrumental in attaining universal suffrage for Americas Indians, andwhile helming a powerful organization that she herself had institutedin exposing corruption and ineptitude at the highest levels of government.

I was not wholly conscious of myself, but was more keenly alive to the fire within. It was as if I were the activity, and my hands and feet were only experiments for my spirit to work upon.

As Zitkala-a, she wrote movingly and lovingly of the history, lore and suffering of her people, soaring, as Red Bird, above the restraints of the times and the two worlds that bound her.

Gertrude Kasebier, c. 1898 / National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute

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The Flight Of Red Bird: The Life And Work Of Zitkala-a - Cowboys & Indians Magazine

Dietrich Stephan, PhDNeuBase Peptilogics

Nature is the ultimate inspiration for innovators, including those who would emulate biology to realize applications in the life sciences. Indeed, some of the most intrepid innovators are those who emulate biology to help them design medicines. One such innovator is Dietrich Stephan, PhD, the CEO and founder of NeuBase Therapeutics and the chairman of the board at Peptilogics. He is a big believer in learning from nature to replace lost functions.

The parts of the human machine have evolved over millennia through trial and error, Stephan says. Who are we to deviate from that and create suboptimal solutions? In biomimicry, Im fascinated by the starting point, which must be the natural molecule, [as well as everything that follows and contributes to] a very conscious decision of what to change and why.

Just as the best repair strategy for cars is to use parts from an original equipment manufacturer, the best drug design strategy is to avoid corrupting the evolution that has gone into refining natural molecules. Pursuing this drug design strategy requires an understanding of exactly how all the molecular parts work together. In the absence of such precise insights, drug designers commonly opt for the next best strategy: throwing a random assortment of molecules at the body to find stopgap remedies.

Antibodies that bind to pathogens or malignant cells. Viral envelops that deliver mRNA to specified targets. These are outstanding examples of biomimicry in therapeutic design. Its interesting, Stephan declares, to see where we start and where we end with these new modalities, and whether they all vector toward the natural human machinery or not.

At Peptilogics, we are making short, naturally occurring, synthetic peptides, Stephan points out. We have created a deep learning platform that can quickly make massive scales of peptides to see how we can rescue function with these naturally occurring parts. Were training the machine to learn from nature to predict function, and to help us create a replacement part made of the same substance as the original part.

A different approach is followed at NeuBase. The company intends to drug the human genome by taking inspiration from the double helix itself. Using DNAs inherent self-complementarity as the basis for drug design, NeuBase engineers in accessory properties for therapeutic effect. Stephan says, You need to turn those dials carefully to make sure you dont mess with the core activity you need.

The most common criticism that confronted Peptilogics drugs at the outstart was the natural degradation of synthetic peptides in circulation. We were concerned, Stephan recalls, but empirically we saw that when these peptides are in circulation, they associate with other circulating proteins and peptides and stabilize. We have shown half-lives of seven hours in circulation with short, naturally occurring synthetic peptides. They survive long enough to function.

Classically, the approach adopted to prevent peptidase-mediated degradation has been to replace natural levorotatory building blocks in peptides with dextrorotatory stereoisomers.

We have not had to engineer in any alternative amino acids or other chemical modifications to stabilize peptides, Stephan asserts. Other naturally occurring therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies and enzyme replacements, dont use substituted amino acids to stabilize them. There is a world where you can use natural amino acids in therapeutics and take advantage of the bodys own way of processing them.

Nucleic acidbased therapeutics are a different story. RNA and DNA are not meant to exist outside cells, so it raises a red flag if they course through the circulation. As an industry, we have had to go to great lengths to protect mRNAs until they get into the cytoplasm where they can be translated, Stephan points out. As a DNA-mimetic company, one of the properties we had to engineer in is stability against exo- and endonucleases. We had to use a composite chemical structure that is not recognized by nucleases.

Nanoparticle-mediated cross-kingdom intercellular communication is pervasive in nature, including among species that have cohabitated within humans over millions of years. Senda Biosciences, a preclinical company and an offshoot of a Flagship Pioneering enterprise, is the first to access the chemical addressing code of natural nanoparticles to enable programming to the cell (in contrast to within the cell programing that genome editing enables), thereby unlocking the ability to comprehensively program medicines.

Senda has compiled 75,000 molecular components from natural nanoparticles into an atlas that is poised to complement, if not replace, state-of-the-art synthetic lipid nanoparticlemediated drug delivery. We are building on existing technology and bringing a new component to the natural programming language, says Guillaume Pfefer, PhD, CEO at Senda and CEO Partner at Flagship Pioneering.

Utilizing the natural programing language of information molecules like DNA, mRNA, siRNA, gene editors, and coating peptides that act within cells to regulate function, was the first step toward programable medicines. Too few of these abundant information molecules have been translated into medicines, Pfefer observes. We are sitting on part of the equation for programmable medicines, but we have not solved the equation yet.

Whereas understanding the genetic code enabled its reprogramming within cells, a crucial piece of the puzzle is sending information-carrying molecules to their destinations. The problem is, we dont know how to send the right molecule to the right cell, Pfefer admits. We have solved the issue of programming within the cell, but we have not solved programing the message to the cell. If we solve both, we can comprehensively program medicines.

To find a solution to the latter problem, Sendas team probed the natural messengers that allow intercellular communication across species in the six kingdoms of lifeprotists, bacteria, fungi, archaea, animals, and plants. Everywhere in nature, including within us, you see intercellular cross-kingdom communication, which involves nano-sized particles that are coded chemically to direct communication to specific cells, to dose cells safely and repeatedly, Pfefer emphasizes. Doesnt that ring like something we would like to use for medicine?

Natural nanoparticles are composed of lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and other diverse molecules with species-specific structural and functional features. This rich compositional diversity allows for varied functions of natural nanoparticles, Pfefer elaborates. It acts as a rich reservoir from which we can mine components for our Senda Atlas.

Therapeutic information molecules like mRNA can be stabilized within nanoparticles and activated once the assembly penetrates targeted cells. Combining components in its atlas, Senda is creating nanoparticles to drive specific outcomes such as tissue or cell tropism, increased potency, or the ability to repeat doses.

The ability to program precisely depends on the ability to program comprehensively. You will not expect parts of a sports car to come in pieces that miraculously assemble for a fine performance, Pfefer explains. Similarly, these information molecules act very precisely. They need to be combined in a very comprehensive way with programmable nanoparticles. So, we have created an mRNA engine tapping into the natural programing language of genetic codes.

With the development of SendRNAs that combine RNA and nanoparticle components, Sendas technology already exceeds the performance of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 in preclinical models. We not only generate protection against the disease in this model, but we also cut viral transmission for the very first time, Pfefer claims. This is because SendRNAs generate both systemic and mucosal immune responses. The technology can optimize and program nanoparticles with an mRNA encoding for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The technology is also surpassing gene editing efficacies in preclinical models, including the ability to dose repeatedly that has historically limited the safety of gene therapies.

By exploring how plants inject toxic nanoparticles into invasive pathogens and convey solar energy into human cells through diet, and how commensal and pathogenic bacteria transport DNA into human cells to replicate and survive, one appreciates how nature has bridged communication gaps between living kingdoms, and indeed between the living and nonliving worlds.

We can transfect mRNA into circulating immune cells in a nonhuman primate at double-digit levels, Pfefer says. Senda has been able to activate B and T lymphocytes within germinal centers of lymph nodes using SendRNAs at a level that is five-log higher than what other products have achieved in a similar modelwith up to 60% less mRNA. Currently, the company is exploring applications in vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, and treatments for local gastrointestinal infections via oral administration that limits systemic exposure.

To find the right nanoparticle composition for targeted messaging, Senda is exploiting artificial intelligence. The platform uses 20 different combinations of nanoparticles, at present, to optimize SendRNAs for specific outcomes, such as delivery to the spleen with no liver expression.

Our platform has demonstrated the ability to program SendRNA medicines that can access historically difficult-to-reach organs such as the lung and pancreas, Pfefer declares. We can even program Senda nanoparticles to reach the brain via the intranasal route.

Small-molecule peptidomimetics can at times be a better therapeutic option than a synthetic replica of a natural peptide. Small-molecule anti-infectives that mimic natural antimicrobial peptides are being designed by Maxwell Biosciences. These anti-infectives, which are called Claromers, represent a way to cope with the global rise in resistance against antibiotics and antivirals. Claromers can target specific membrane vulnerabilities in a range of viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens.

The companys lead candidate, a Claromer that mimics the function of human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (LL-37), treats chronic rhinosinusitisa severe and chronic sinus infection caused by combinations of fungi and bacteria. Preclinical in vitro data shows that LL-37 is effective against all chronic rhinosinusitisrelated pathogens reported to date.

LL-37 is expressed everywhere in the body, especially in mucosal tissues, says Joshua McClure, Maxwells founder and CEO. It serves as the first antimicrobial barrier that the innate immune system offers against all pathogens coming in through the air, food, or water. McClure came across this peptide serendipitously when he discovered that members of his family lacked LL-37 and had an increased susceptibility to rare infections.

Although changes in lifestyle can boost LL-37, the adoption of such modifications is extremely difficult. Thats where pharmaceuticals come in, McClure observes. Everyone with a depressed immune system needs anti-infectives. What if we could come up with an armored small molecule that would mimic this peptide, without its weaknesses? Many pathogens release enzymes that break down LL-37.

Fortuitously, Annelise Barron, PhD, a scientist at Stanford University, had already developed and patented a small-molecule mimic of LL-37. McClure brought her on board as scientific co-founder at Maxwell, and they spent the next seven years in pre-IND studies.

Since COVID-19, this LL-37-mimicking small molecule has received abundant attention and funding. Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases led by Anthony S. Fauci, MD, did a Syrian hamster study and demonstrated the compounds pan-coronavirus and pan-influenza efficacy. Other laboratories have shown that several enveloped viruses are vulnerable to LL-37.

McClure has confidence in the small-molecule mimics of peptides because they can avoid being degraded by proteases. This ability helps keep dosages low, reducing risks and facilitating regulatory approvals. Weve hung the functional side chains from the nitrogen on the backbone instead of the carbon, McClure points out. So, the proteases dont even recognize it.

If we think about the design of medicines in broad terms, we are more likely to accept that all medicinesinorganic small compounds, organic biomolecules, composite agents, and so onmimic nature in some fashion, even if we are unsure of how, exactly, the medicines mechanistic paths should be mapped.

Nonetheless, Peptilogics Stephan suggests, It might be worth thinking about what a biomimic isnt and considering the effects on the biomimics function.

In any case, observes Maxwells McClure, biomimicry is the future for anti-infectives in biotech. Antibiotics are dead, he declares. With machine learning, youll see a lot of peptidomimetics.

Biomimetics requires an ability to observe nature and move beyond awe to integrate natural designs into therapeutic agents. Done well, the approach may be our best shot at circumventing existing roadblocks of biocompatibility, adverse reactions, toxicity, and long-term efficacy in therapeutic design. Ultimately, Sendas Pfefer emphasizes, its all about survival.

Read the rest here:
Biomimetic Technology: A Natural in Therapeutics Design - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

The first of two Ioniq 6 sedans tested by PerformanceDrive in Australia is the Dynamiq, which is the most basic of specifications available in this part of the world. In addition to being rear-wheel drive, it visually differs from its all-wheel-drive siblings with aero-styled wheels rather than fancy mesh-style wheels.

Priced at 74,000 kangaroo bucks (make that 49,715 bald eagles), the Ioniq 6 Dynamiq is rocking an 800-volt charging system that also supports 400-volt charging without additional components or adapters. Tipping the scales at 1,968 kilograms (4,339 pounds), the plebeian variant offers a driving range of up to 614 kilometers (382 miles) on the WLTP combined testing cycle, which is far more optimistic than the EPAs equivalent cycle.

Equipped with a 77.4-kWh battery, the Ioniq 6 Dynamiq cranks out 168 kW (225 horsepower) and 350 Nm (258 pound-feet), which may seem underwhelming for a car this heavy. Fret not because Hyundais go-faster division will soon take the veils off the Ioniq 5 N, after which the Ioniq 6 N will join the lineup. The 577-horsepower RN22e concept previews the 6s performance version.

The South Korean automaker claims that 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) are dealt with in 7.4 seconds. In rather damp conditions on an unprepped surface, Brett Davis of PerformanceDrive clocked 6.99 seconds with brake hold and 7.07 seconds otherwise. Not bad, but not thrilling either.

Hyundais aero-conscious fastback sedan recorded 15.17 seconds at 155.5 kilometers per hour (96.6 miles per hour) in the quarter mile, which is alright for the variant designed specifically for maximum driving range. Emergency braking in the dry from 100 kph to zero takes 3.01 seconds at 37.41 meters (122.73 feet).

Equipped with larger wheels and two electric motors, the all-wheel-drive Ioniq 6 Techniq needs 5.1 seconds to reach 100 clicks according to Hyundai. The cited publications managing editor once again exceed the manufacturers claim, recording 4.91 seconds with brake hold and 5.01 seconds without this launch-improving trick. As it wasnt on a private road, this flavor of the Ioniq 6 was not tested in the quarter mile. It wouldnt have impressed, though, because its not a bonafide N.

Similar to the lifted hatchback marketed as being a crossover by the South Korean automaker, the Ioniq 6 is based on the E-GMP vehicle architecture. Shared with the Kia EV6 and luxury-oriented Genesis GV60, the Electric Global Modular Platform also serves as the basis for the EV5, EV9, Ioniq 7, and GV90 utility vehicles.

The China-bound EV5 has been recently unveiled as a concept. North America, on the other hand, is getting the EV9 and Ioniq 7. As for the GV90, think of it as the Genesis-branded alternative to the EV9 and Ioniq 7.

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Hyundai Ioniq 6 Acceleration Test Shows That an N Performance ... - autoevolution

Picture the scene. Its 350BCE, and Aristotle presumably looking a bit like Sir David Attenborough, except in a toga is collecting creatures from the teeming rock pools around the Greek island of Lesbos. Hes beavering away on his scala naturae a natural ladder that puts everything in the natural world in a hierarchy that has animate things such as minerals at the bottom, then plants above them, followed by animals. And of course, at the top of the ladder, tottering maniacally over everything else: humans.

Beastly is Keggie Carews messy but heartfelt account of the environmental catastrophe unleashed by this barmily Trumpian idea of Aristotles that were somehow superior to the rest of nature. As Carew convincingly argues, the influential scala naturae paved the philosophical way nature was to serve us.

Over 380 or so charmingly meandering pages, Carew attempts to unpick Aristotles folly and fix humanitys big error our interactions with the planets other inhabitants. She does this in part by recounting the story of our intellectual journey from ancient Greece to today as philosophers, theologians and scientists first built on, then started to break away from, Aristotles worldview.

Carew, author of the Costa book award-winning memoir Dadland (2016), does a great job of rattling through centuries of dusty theological thought and the way the likes of Saint Augustine and Thomas Aquinas fatefully concluded that animals dont have souls so arent worthy of our care, or even our pity. As she observes, pithily: Advocacy for kindness to fellow creatures under the Abrahamic god has never really caught on.

But over the past 20 years or so, scientific research has started to chip away at this human-centric view. In 2012, scientists from around the world signed the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, announcing that the weight of evidence shows all mammals and birds, and many other creatures, including octopuses are conscious beings a revolutionary moment, because it proves that animals arent dumb beasts that we can use and abuse, but feel pain and other emotions. Carew, though, isnt especially wowed by this scientific sea change: The extraordinary thing is that it took so long. More extraordinary still, perhaps, is that it needed to be stated at all.

Alongside this potted history of our philosophical understanding of nature, Carew describes, in myriad moving ways, the colossal environmental damage caused by our wrong-headedness. From the destruction of wild habitats (only 2.9% of land on Earth is faunally intact the rest tarnished or ruined) to biodiversity loss everywhere, the book is brimming with examples of irrevocable harm. Wherever we showed up, notes Carew, darkly, extinctions followed. She writes poignantly about the suffering of the beautiful baiji, the Chinese river dolphin that was gradually overwhelmed by pollution, noise and over-fishing: The baiji took more than 20m years of evolution to refine, and 50 years of grand communist-capitalist ideology to rub out.

The books structure is confusing at times, jumping between Carews personal memories, facts about one species or another and wide-ranging summaries of human history. Then again, maybe she is trying to mimic Charles Darwins famous tangled bank metaphor for how everything in nature is connected. Indeed, Carew is especially compelling when it comes to this interrelatedness, where the dying out of one species can cause entire ecosystems to decline and fall.

Sea otters, for instance, were wiped out on Americas coasts, which meant that the urchins they ate multiplied unchecked, which in turn caused entire kelp forests to fail killing off their inhabitants, including the gentle 10-tonne Stellers sea cow. The disappearance of one creature can spell doom on a much larger scale. As Carew warns us: We mess with these interactions at our peril, for theyre so immensely complex we do not understand them.

In place of Aristotles egocentric ladder, Beastly is a clarion call for the humbler notion that every bit of nature matters: Our banners must shout more expansively: Save the whale! Save the krill! Save the phytoplankton! Save everything in between! Time and again, Carew comes back to the psychological impact that losing wild places is having on us sometimes called solastalgia: the sadness we feel as we wander through landscapes unnaturally devoid of insects, birds and animals.

For Carew, as for many of us, this melancholy has given way to something darker: A close cousin of solastalgia is eco-furiosity, an eco-tear-your-hair-out solastalgia on steroids. It is the long loud, desperate cry of the human heart. The only hope for our battered planet is that we come to appreciate the wondrous interconnectedness of living things. As Carew wistfully puts it: When we understand, we begin to care.

Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us by Keggie Carew is published by Canongate (20). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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Beastly: A New History of Animals and Us by Keggie Carew review ... - The Guardian

In troubled times, we gravitate toward those who make a convincing case for hope. Franklin Roosevelt assured Depression-era Americans that the only thing to fear was fear itself. Martin Luther King Jr., inspired us with his dream of equal rights. More recently, Jane Goodall has insisted that, despite countless self-inflicted catastrophes, homo sapiens might have a bright future on this planet. From a scientist with no illusions about primate behavior, its a startlingly optimistic vision.

In the 1960s, Goodall was the first primatologist to get an up-close, extended, forest-level view of chimpanzees. Her groundbreaking studies in Tanzanias Gombe Stream National Park shed light on humans closest relatives and, by extension, on us. She observed intercommunity wars that stretched on for years. Chimps brutalized one another, hitting, kicking and even brandishing weapons. Sound familiar?

Goodall made the connection between chimpanzees aggression and our own. In both cases, its triggered by jealousy, fear, revenge and the scramble for resources. But in Goodalls view, theres no doubt about which species acquired the worst traits during evolution. Chimps simply arent capable of depravity on a human scale. Unlike them, we inflict pain methodically, in holocausts, inquisitions and other terrors unknown among the great apes.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 23 Dr. Jane Goodall attends the TIME 100 Summit 2019 on April 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for TIME) (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for TIME)

Goodall, who turns 89 today, has witnessed her share of modern-day cruelty. She learned of the Nazi death camps as an English schoolgirl during World War II. She endured the kidnapping of students from her Gombe research station. She recoiled from animal abuse in laboratories and on factory farms. Its no surprise that she had second thoughts about bringing her son into the world.

So how did Goodall travel from horror to hope? Once again, it starts with her primate studies. If aggression is coded in our genes, so too is compassion.

In chimpanzee society, nurturing is common. Individuals maintain friendships through tickling, wrestling and social grooming. Dominant chimps break up fights and restore harmony, a forerunner of our own moral impulses.

In morality, Goodall sees our salvation: patterns of caring that have evolved right alongside patterns of selfishness. She marvels over acts of altruism, extending even to those outside our gene pool. Yes, people can behave worse than chimpanzees, but we can also behave better, with conscious acts of self-sacrifice.

So here we are, the human ape, half sinner, half saint, with two opposing tendencies inherited from our ancient past pulling us now toward violence, now toward compassion and love, Goodall writes in her autobiographical Reason for Hope.

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She believes our better angels can win the tug-of-war. Thanks to a sophisticated brain, we have increasingly overcome our base instincts. Goodall cites plenty of examples from her own lifetime: improved conditions for the poor, the rise of corporate responsibility, growing concern for the environment. Weve come a long way in a short time, at least by evolutionary standards.

But theres a catch in Goodalls hopefulness. We must actively work to save the Earth and fast. In the Goodall gospel, each one of us has immense power to do good. And if enough of us exercise that power, miracles happen.

That might sound nave, but look at what Goodall herself has accomplished. She grew up with no aristocratic advantages, toiling as a waitress to earn money for her first trip to Africa. Still, she dedicated herself to good causes, starting small and scaling up as she had the chance. Today, her Roots & Shoots program helps children solve problems around the globe. The Jane Goodall Institutes Tchimpounga sanctuary protects chimpanzees from illegal hunting. In her tireless travels, Goodall advocates for human rights and conservation.

True, most of us cant create our own institutes. And most of us will never have a megaphone as large as Goodalls. But, as she has said, Every single one of us matters and has a role to play. Maybe its by purchasing an environmentally friendly product, even if it costs a bit more. Maybe its by helping a stranger rather than feuding with one on social media. When we choose to stop acting like chimpanzees at their worst hitting and kicking we perpetuate our species noblest qualities.

Goodalls mother once sent a Winston Churchill quote to buck her up during a stressful moment. It was one of the British prime ministers morale-boosting exhortations from World War II, that formative period in Janes childhood: This is not a time for doubts or weakness this is the supreme hour to which we are called.

Now, Goodall herself is the leader calling us to action. If we follow her example, perhaps our own struggle for survival will prove victorious.

Robbins is a journalist and childrens author. His book You Are a Star, Jane Goodall is newly published by Scholastic.

See the article here:
Jane Goodall's message of hope for all humanity: On her 89th ... - New York Daily News

Whos having more fun? Henry Kaczmar is hitting .270 through 25 games and playing beyond his years at baseballs most athletic position. (Press Pros Feature Photos)

The Buckeyes freshman shortstop comes as close to a natural assimilation to college baseball as one could imagine. And no saw it coming this quickly.

Columbus, OH Ohio State freshman Henry Kaczmar probably never heard of Roy Hobbs. Hes too young. Never saw The Natural, filmed in 1984.

Robert Redford? Wouldnt get the comparison, or irony.

But if you can appreciate his start as a rookie shortstop in the Big Ten Conference through 25 games .270 average (24 for 89), a home run, 5 doubles, 16 RBIs and solid glove play youd swear that no one looks more natural in his evolution to college baseballs highest level than the former Walsh Jesuit Warrior, just one year removed.

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For sure he never heard of Pop Fisher (Wilford Grimley), who took a chance on playing Hobbs over the incumbent right fielder for the make-believe New York Knights, based on a batting practice tryoutnot unlike first-year coach Bill Mosiello taking a chance to play Kaczmar at shortstop as a freshman based on his high school credentials and what he saw in fall practice.

But twenty five games into this script the ironies, the comparisons, and the reality of it happening are front and center evident, undeniable given the challenges of playing arguably the most athletic position on the field.

Its sure fun to watch, said Mosiello following Saturdays 6-2 win over Minnesota a game that saw Kaczmar got 3 for 4 with his first collegiate home run, and played flawlessly at shortstop in the midst of a gale winds and impending storms.

Ive had a lot of great young players, and some freshman All-Americans. But I like what hes doing and I sure wouldnt trade him because you want your kids to have success, and its neat to watch him have that success, just like its hard to watch when theyre failing. Anytime someones playing like he is its fun to watch. Henrys doing a really good job.

Deeply steeped in a culture of baseball from childhood up, what hes doing looks as natural against Minnesota as it did against Akron Hoban last year. Originally a commit to play at Michigan, he flipped that commitment when Michigan coach Erik Bakich pulled up anchor and left for Clemson during the summer.

Kaczmar capped of a three-hit day Saturday with a two-run homer in the eighth, his first in college baseball.

His father, Chris, was the long-time coach at Walsh Jesuit (26 years), winning 600 games and four state titles with the Warriors. So Henry Kaczmar is no stranger to expectation and challenge. What hes doing now, frankly, feels pretty natural to him.

I feel like Im never really satisfied with what Im doing, which isnt a good thing sometimes, he said following Saturdays win over Minnesota. So Im always focused on being better, and just going out there and be myself, regardless of who Im playing for. I just try to be natural, and relaxed. I dont look at the numbers, I try to give it all I have.

In a higher culture of baseball now, where body language is akin to trash-talking in basketball, Kaczmar has exceptional body language for one so young.

Yeah, and thats something that Mo preachesactions speak louder than words, he adds, smiling.

And for the record, Henry Kaczmar smiles a lot.

Body language is such a huge part of the game, and its something that you cant fakenot only for yourself, but to others who are watching. If opponents see youre down, theyre going to attack. Offense or defense, your body language needs to be you on the attackput your foot on their throat. Im always conscious of it, because it is such a huge part of the game.

To be sure, hes had some down moments. Striking out with runners in scoring position. And last week he got picked off first at Indiana in one of those rare baseball moments that you cant explainor justify. The trick isdont dwell over those moments. Play on. Learn from it. Think of it as something that makes you better, not something that cause others to question. And believe it, no ones questioning.

The manner in which hes played shortstop is everything you can ask. What he gets to he catches. What he catches he comes up throwing, and almost without exceptionchest-high to first base. He and sophomore second baseman Josh McAlister have quickly bonded to become a dependable double-play combination, and already have turned 18, almost the total for the entire 2022 season, when the Buckeyes had 22 in 51 games.

The only question coming out of fall baseball washow much can he hit? But no one, at present, seems concerned. Cue the Roy Hobbs clip:

For as long as Ive played I always think I have two choices, he offers. If I do something wrong I can be upset about it and have it affect the rest of the gameor I can move on from that and actually have a good game. You always have an option. You can go farther up the line towards positive, or you can go farther down the line towards negative. Thats how I think. And Im always trying to go farther up the line.

Editor/publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State baseball for Press Pros Magazine.

Hes eloquent to speak on topics baseball well beyond his years, or the average freshman. He credits his dad for preparing him for that, along with about any other phase of the game. Hes remarkably comfortable with interviews, and questionslike he is with the next ground ball.

His focus following Saturdays game was that of appreciation for the first conference win, but he wasnt dwelling on it. Dont rest on your laurels. The important game is Sunday, because that determines the series farther up the line. You have the choice, you know.

His motivation? Need you ask? Hes been prepared for this all his life. But realistically..

My dad, he adds. I think he misses coaching, but hes been to every game so far, hes excited for the Bucks, and I know hes excited for me.

Naturally!

The Buckeye Diamond club is proud to sponsor coverage of Buckeye baseball on Press Pros Magazine.com.

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Roy Hobbs Is Playing Shortstop For The Buckeyes...And Henry ... - Press Pros Magazine

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The last man sits in the tower of the last house, in the middle of the last oasis, and weeps, for he knows that he is dying. Between the waterfalls of his tears hes recording his last thoughts. Shaking his forefinger at the machine floating in front of him, he says, I remember when they used to say, at some time in the future the human race will no longer be even a memory. There will be a moment when the human race, and its entire history, will be thought of for the last time. He looks around him at his study of ancient and eclectic books and paraphernalia, and dry dust in occasional rays of hard sunlight, and mutters, This is that time.

He stares through the stone-framed glassless window beside him, out to the horizon of rocky hills which borders a woodland green and lush under the blue sky and the diamond sun, But the energy thats keeping this paradise alive in the desert world means it can only produce enough food for one descendant at time. And its been such a long time.

Adam the Ironically Named is over four hundred and twenty years old, and has a beard to match. Hes also the thousandth clone in a line of inhuman recreations of the last natural human. But hes long determined that this will be his last regeneration. Hes determined that his will be the last version of the facsimiles through which flows his mind a consciousness he can only believe must still be the real thing, even now. But now, after a thousand iterations, resurrection has lost its allure, in this dying world. His heart feels as dry as the wasteland that surrounds his retreat, just beyond sight, just beyond the ridge of the hills, all across an Earth covered in sand and rock and rivulets and shrubs.

This tower is also the heart of the library of the accumulated wisdom of humanitys aeon. Its whats left of over a hundred million years of thought and striving. But of the media in many forms here, Adam likes best the books. With a few exceptions, these are kept vacuum-sealed in cool, dark vaults of shelves that delve into caverns. The texts reach back to the scratched pictograms and hieroglyphs that document the beginning of writing. Theyre stored alongside many digital formats, stretching back to silver discs. He cannot remember the last time he descended into the Librarys utter depths.

Adam gazes unfocused at a manuscript open upon a stand, and reflects, The Library contains the results of the myriad millenia of millenia in which the thought of humanity has struggled against its own limitations. These include starting from an almost absolute ignorance, whilst being stubbornly protective of an ego that says that each major step in understanding is the ultimate step. On the contrary, the Library has histories, and histories of histories, and histories of histories of histories, detailing cycles within cycles of the rise and fall of human culture across the world, through millions of years. He knows that humanity is ancient now. He calculates that its about one hundred and fifty-three million years old, but its age is beyond clean summation. How many hundreds of millions of years is it that humans have been on this planet? he asks the droid before him.

Maybe about two hundred million years? the robot says.

Charlie is an obedient scribe, hovering about obsequiously as Adam mumbles his meditations into his lenses which wisdom the robot immediately tries to sculpt into holo images in the space in front of them, instantly turning the words into solid light, white against a navy blue space. Hell probably edit it all into something epic later, add clips. He has enough of them. Its a shame therell be no-one around to watch it. Even Ariel has gone missing.

Adam asks, So how about this for a an overview of history? This is for the Memoires, Charlie, by the way signalling that the droid should record the coming narrative, for historical reasons if nothing else: The first million years or so of Homo sapiens were all animal agitations. During this period we were always fighting ourselves for territory and status, just like what were they called again, Charlie?

Children, responds the robot.

Yes, children. We were like children, in that we had not yet learnt to control our responses. But after wed realised, to our apparent great surprise, that we hadnt destroyed ourselves, we really began to take the idea of human self-benefit seriously. We also knew that the Earths a sphere and the Sun is dying, slowly after slowly heating up Back in those heady days of our youth, full of hormones and animal instincts, we believed we could colonise the stars with only a little ingenuity. So we sent out many ships, full of hope. And certainly we did have bases on the planets and moons of our dying Sun for millions of years as Methuselah, my House Intelligence, has told me

Thats me! the deep voice of the House Server says.

We had successful colonies at various times on the Moon, Mars, Titan the orbs are displayed before them in quick holographic fly-pasts We even bred a new species of human for the oceans of Enceladus, under the ice of that moon of Saturn. They disappeared beneath alien waves for separate evolution there for over three million years, Im told. Then, slowly, the ice melted, and radiation storms stripped Enceladus of its liquid not unlike what the Sun has done more slowly for the Earth. Some of Enceladuss merpeople came and lived in the seas of Earth, even thrived, though most of the survivors of that race reconverted to traditional humanity (RIP). The remaining fish people died many million of years later, when the last of Earths habitable seas dried up. They were the last living seas we know of anywhere. That was twenty million years ago or so now, Im told. A blink of an eye for the Cosmos. Indeed, the last river still flowed through my garden not two million years ago. Now weve had to put a field around the farm to keep the moisture in. The bubble of life in the universe has grown very small indeed. On this cue, Charlie turns to gaze through a window, and spots a parrot and a rabbit enjoying the opportunities afforded them by the vegetation.

Ive seen videos of the ruins of our civilisation on Titan which is now an orange graveyard swept over by the dust of time and the ice of death. And in its day it challenged Earth for the Solar System! Now the whole Solar System is dead except for this last remaining oasis of a garden. As if to verify his pessimism, the old man holds his hand up to stall the robot in its recording, so that he can gaze out of the stone-framed portal to the crescent Moon as it hangs in the sky above the trees and the hill line. His eyes are watering and his vision is poor, and he doesnt know who hes recording his last thoughts for, in this empty, empty universe.

Hes been waiting for so long, but there has been no word from the cosmos ever. This also means no word back from humanitys hopes.

As I was saying, in the heady days of the youth of humanity, we set out to colonise the stars, as our dreams and our survival instincts contrived to compel us. Our seeding of the vast void was especially hopeful during our Second Million as it is relayed down to me in legend as being. Isnt that right, Methuselah?

Yes. As the legends have it.

Adam picks up a curled scroll from his possibly genuine Napoleonic writing desk, and waves it in front of Charlies recording eyes, as if this may in some way confirm the idea: There must have been a billion ships over a million years of hopeful dissemination, all looking for the planet or moon that would support human life long-term. And the chance was about one in a billion that theyd find one. To be good for proper, long-term human colonisation, theyd need to find, at about 1G, a water-bearing oxygenated world still primitive enough not to have a human-poisonous ecosystem. That means first, not covered with animals and plants that we cant eat, or probably, touch. But even more demanding, theyd need that oxygenated atmosphere to not be full of fatal alien bacteria and most alien bacteria probably would be fatal insofar as theyd react with human biochemistry at all. Basically, the pioneers would need to find an Earth-type planet where harmless cyanobacteria-equivalents had generated an oxygen atmosphere, but where nothing else had evolved except perhaps a few stromatolites. Unfortunately, it doesnt appear that any of our ships ever found their sterile Eden to plant themselves on. We never heard back from any that did, anyway. Or from anyone else, either.

As he speaks, he vaguely watches the visuals from Charlie dance and shimmer in the centre of a room shadowed with holey tapestries against most of the windows, and smoky with the woody incense from the summer sap he takes from the trees in his arboretum. Yes, he fondly remembers walking those groves, just last summer. The flowers were resplendent, but the beauty so bittersweet. Adam nods at his robot again and starts to pronounce: By year One Million of the human race, the Solar System had pretty much settled into a routine, with peaceful trade between species being the political norm, the inevitable up-and-down waves of historical motion notwithstanding. Indeed, we were thriving to the point of diversification. But apart from Enceladus, by the end of Three Million, the various exospecies had extincted, overwhelmed by the implacable ecological forces arrayed against them by which I mean the fatally freezing cold and lack of breathable air of the globes on which they had rooted themselves. Inevitably, we did try terraforming Mars off and on over a couple of dozen million years or so, as the legends heroically relate But, as the records show, we couldnt get the atmosphere to stick around at such a low gravity without turning Mars magnetic field back on, a feat that our rather less than divine technology never got close to achieving. And try as we might and we did actually try we never managed to modify the human phenotype enough to breed people who never needed to breathe oxygen at all. Oxygen is just too deep in our biochemistry. And as for the artificial life Well, thats a whole other set of memories entirely. To avoid looking at Charlie, Adam glances along the shelves of books at his right, his source of the most precious stories of his ancestors, which no one will ever read, or hear again, probably. Now Im here alone in the last house on Earth actually, its more of a Chateau in the last oasis, with only a computer, a couple of serving robots, and a diminishing ark of pets for company. And one of the robots is missing. He glances through the open window, across the grove, to the mountains, hoping that Ariel would return.

The old man sits on a couch in the cooling evening in a silken robe of white and gold. Shadows stretch over shelves in a study that bears paraphernalia picked from a million cultures. Its a selection of all the Archivist likes best of all of human history, in terms of its household decoration, at least. As well as being the store of the remnants of human thought, sensation, and understanding as expressed in many media, his house is a museum of the best of human material culture for the more-than-hundred-million years of its creativity or at least, the best of the most enduring of the most enduring of such artifacts. But the garden will perish once the robots turn to rust, and this last respite too will presently be swept over with dust, then disintegrate. But for the brief moment of consciousness that is the miracle of the universe, we have enjoyed some beauty, Adam surmises to himself, with a wry smile.

Well, to whomever it may concern, this is my summary of one hundred and fifty-three million years of human history Umm To be honest, the seed of our utter stagnation was planted with the death of any possibility of sending out any more ships. That came upon the death of our local colonies, and so of our spatial outreach. This seed of stagnation has just taken more than a hundred million years to come to fruition. I am the last refuge of humanity from extinction. But I can hold back the tide of time no longer.

Charlie zooms visually into the distance, out of the window, intercepting the parrot now in flight across the cloudless sky. It appears gigantically in the middle of the room.

The stability of civilisation became our core ethical principle fairly early on, I would say. The earlier part of human history I would characterise as power struggles. We were still coming to terms with our biology, our animal inheritance our flesh, as one might say. But we forced ourselves to became adept at sustainable resource use, in a stable population, on a limited terrain. If you havent figured it out, political control is basically making sure the bread and circuses keep coming to town. The rest of history is ego battles in various theatres of war. But we became mature when all our wars were cold, or at most, cool. I believe there were some centuries when there were no murders at all. Thatd be about as good as it got.

Now theres no-one to murder but myself. And if you see this, you may judge that I have murdered myself, since I had the power to continue my life in a new body, but did not take it. But what the hell, what are you going to do to me now ? Say bad things about me? Hey, alien race, go ahead but know that youre mocking what you dont understand: the history and biology that fed human intellect and values. They formed the mystery and misery that made humanity that makes myself. This you can perhaps never sympathise with. Unless, of course, youre a human being watching this to which I can only say, I wish youd called home, just once But good luck anyway, sons and daughters of Earth. Youre gonna need it.

Adam nods at his robot again, while pointing at the bookshelves for Charlie to film them. As the books and crystals come into drifting focus at the centre of the Library, Adam asks: So what do our millions of years reveal? What truths does the history of humanity hold? Well, our history is up and down, you know in glorification, then in stagnation Then in shrinkage; then death, in various chaotic phases Until now I am the only human left alive And Ive lived so long, alone. For a thousand generations I have renewed myself, awaiting a word from the stars that never came. For a long time the silence was deafening; then maddening. Now it is just emptiness, forever. So this last life of mine has been the last throw of the last dice of humanity. But now even the last hope of humanity is dying. The flame of this last mind is flickering out.

Adam makes a cut motion with his hands, and pauses to lean back to breath in pure oxygen through a tube, even though extra oxygens already being pumped around the room. He stares hard at Charlie and asks, How am I doing? Is this how history should be told, do you think? And what anyway should my message be to an unknown, and overwhelmingly likely non-existent, audience? Has human existence even been good or bad, Charlie? What do you think, as an outside observer?

After a second, and a literal (over-)dramatic whirr of thought, Charlie responds, Well, did you learn or do anything worthwhile? If so, what? And I cannot speak for you, you know, about what you think is worthwhile.

Errrmmmm Adam sharpens his beard with his fingers as he ponders the essential truth for a precious last second or two: Okay I think we must concede that consciousness itself is all were really sure of. Yet consciousness itself is so amazing as to be miraculous. We did not ever fully grasp it. Thats why I dont think youre really alive, Charlie, by the way.

Im not sure I quite understand you, lord.

Ha I mean, youre not conscious, so youre not alive. There is nothing it is like to be you. Youre just a machine programmed to pretend to be conscious. All electricity and no mind. Thats what I think you are. Adam taps his own head to paradoxically make several points at once to the machine.

I actually resent that, Charlie replies: But Im sure you would say that Im just programmed to say that. Which I also resent, by the way.

Humour me at the end of my days, wont you, Charlie? But If you really are conscious, my final order to you and Ariel and the House, is to go out and populate the universe. Take this best human junk with you too, for sentimental reasons. He waves around himself at his dust-laden possessions, Even if they are only my sentiments

Because we dont really have any sentiments, boss?

Yes, thats right. In case you dont really feel the stuff youve been expertly developed to pretend to feel.

Ill bear it in mind.

Adam nods to himself. You never know who you might bump into, among the stars. He breathes from the oxygen pipe again. Incidentally, Charlie, what do you calculate as more likely, finding an alien intelligence at last, or finding the descendants of human colonists?

I think well find no one at all, to be honest.

Fine. That will make it easier for you, probably. Since youre made of metal, and synthetics which you yourselves can synthesise, and you dont need to breathe, your chances of thriving throughout the galaxy and beyond, even for billions of years, are fairly high, Id speculate. Good luck to you, then. But never forget you carry humanitys legacy in your very existence.

Yes sir. Ill also bear you in mind. In fact, I think were most likely to bump into machine intelligence evolved from something we sent out exploring during those years the Earth was spawning. Or maybe Im just being a bit biased for the artificials, I mean, sir. AI Forever!, you know how it goes

Yes, well, Im artificial too, even if Im organic. To illustrate this distinction, Adam coughs like a real dying old man. Yes Your offspring need only worry about crossing the abysses between the stars. The raw material for your success is plentiful. At almost every step through the cosmos therell be some planet or moon you can mine minerals from. Nevertheless, good luck, again! The more you can get of that, the better. But Im serious about this, Charlie: if you are aware, you must spread awareness everywhere.

Thank you for the reproductive mandate, lord, Ill get working on it as soon as you The droid looks away for a second in embarrassment, then continues abruptly: Yes, it will be interesting to see what we and our children encounter as we venture across the universe Its a shame you wont come with us, lord.

That does sound like sentiment, Charlie. Thank you for that. But I think biological consciousness has had enough disappointment for one universe, and its all coming to a head. My head, in fact. Which he again taps for illustration. In fact, this really is my final message to the teasing nothingness He nods to the robot to start recording again:

Thank you, whatever is the ultimate source of human existence. It has been beautiful, painful, intriguing and problematic in a fine balance of worthwhileness for so very long. For the rest of you hearing this: Stay interested in life, whoever you are, for that is the best that you can reasonably hope for from it even while you know that, ultimately speaking, life is not interested in you

After a few seconds of silence, Charlie says, perhaps sincerely, Thats very poignant though Adam does not know whether his words are sincere for several reasons, including not knowing whether Charlie has a mind, and the fact that he can feel his own mind rapidly slipping away from his body.

Hes lying on a long couch under a Moon arising in the now mauve sky through the window. The stars are just beginning to peep awake. He has to be there: hes being kept alive by wires and tubes feeding into and out of his body, mostly unobtrusively. Yet all of them are quickly becoming obsolete. But Adam remembers his Memoires, so he asks Hey Charlie, what would you want to know from a more-than-hundred-million-year-old species, if you discovered their remains on some old planet somewhere?

After a trillion quick calculations, the droid responds, I think basic things like, What went wrong? And what major decisions did they take to get there? So that we can avoid making them for my own species, you understand.

I do understand. The old man breathes deeply from the pipe. But maybe its inevitable, death, he adds, realistically from his perspective. Perhaps death is as inevitable as entropy Saying this, Adam collapses back onto the silken golden pillow and coughs lightly a few times. Closing his eyes, he breathes out; his last breath. The last thought of the last human being is, At last, it is finished.

Grant Bartley 2023

Grant Bartley edits Philosophy Now. His latest video, What is Free Will?, can be accessed at youtu.be/4o7P4niHO5A.

Link:
The Last Thought | Issue 155 - Philosophy Now

Native Forests, the Landscaping that Cities Need

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During the 19th century, efforts to improve the quality of urban life focused on creating gardens and parks, marking the beginning of the evolution of landscaping as a modern discipline. However, despite remarkable examples worldwide, excessive structure and artificiality in urban parks have gone against the motivations that gave rise to them. In many cases, their design has resulted in decontextualized and inefficient public spaces that are highly demanding on resources and far from being truly sustainable.

The strict use of geometry and the imposition of species that are difficult to adapt and care for are gradually giving way to a more organic approach to landscaping, tailored to local ecosystems and more efficient in its development and conservation. Native forests embody all these positive aspects. They not only ecologically restore degraded areas but also improve air quality and retain rainwater, creating biodiverse green spaces that deeply connect people with nature. We spoke with Magdalena Valds, founder and director of Bosko, who explains why native forests are the right path towards conscious and truly ecological landscaping.

Jos Toms Franco: To generate fast-growing native forests you use the Akira Miyawaki method of ecological restoration. What does this system consist of, and why is it important in the current context?

Magdalena Valds (Bosko): The Miyawaki Method is an intensive ecological restoration system. This means that, with the objective of reconstituting a certain reference ecosystem, it aims to imitate the conditions of that ecosystem in its mature version. For example, if the ecosystem corresponds to a temperate forest, the soil conditions and plant species that would exist in that place if there had been no human intervention are observed.

So then, the soil is worked to enhance its oxygenation and enrichment with organic matter, until it reaches certain characteristics that are similar to the soil of a mature temperate forest. Similarly, the possible species are selected from all the strata typical of that ecosystem, and they are planted in high density, that is, from 3 to 5 plants per square meter. In this way, collaboration between the species that have coexisted for hundreds of thousands of years is fostered, and their competition for nutrients and light is stimulated, just as in any forest.

Finally, the soil is covered with a layer of mulch in order to protect it from solar radiation and promote the multiplication of microbiological life in it, which facilitates the interactions of the forest and makes it increasingly complex.

The Miyawaki method makes it possible to recover properties of the original ecosystem and obtain environmental benefits, such as improving air quality, reducing ambient temperature, and filtering and retaining rainwater. However, one of its significant benefits is that it produces native forests with accelerated growth, which translates into highly attractive spaces from a human perspective. It allows us to perceive how degraded soils grow and transform into exuberant forests, which become shelters for biodiversity and people in a short time.

This makes them ideal for installation in urban spaces. Their impact is not only ecological, by capturing CO2 and other pollutants, but also profoundly social, by bringing people closer to the knowledge, attachment, and care of their own natural heritage within the city. Hundreds of Miyawaki forests have been created in cities in Asia and Europe, and now at Bosko, we are doing the same in different parts of Chile.

Jos Toms Franco: The concept of restoration is widely used to bring circularity strategies closer to architecture. However, it seems to be limited only to the design of specific projects and the selection and management of their materials. How can ecological restoration help integrate an architectural project into the natural space where it is located and beyond?

Magdalena Valds (Bosko): Ecological restoration aims to assist in the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed natural environments, rebuild their biodiversity, and restore their ecosystem services.

The development of an architectural project necessarily impacts the location where it is situated and its ecosystem. In this context, acting with conservation logic (when it is a project located in a natural environment with minimal intervention) and following ecological restoration can be valuable perspectives to properly integrate a project into its natural environment and mitigate the intrinsic intervention's consequences.

The Miyawaki system, in particular, is an excellent tool for addressing highly degraded terrain, especially in cities. Due to its high degree of work per square meter, it generates a significant positive impact in the short term, accelerating the repair and recovery of a damaged space and transforming it into a biodiverse nucleus. Our work aims to contribute to imagining a piece of land, a neighborhood, or a city as an integrated and efficient green network of forests and urban vegetation, amplifying its impact and achieving more ambitious socio-environmental objectives with a holistic vision.

Urban forests present an opportunity to reintroduce nature to our cities, creating biodiverse and dynamic sources that can also improve people's quality of life: they purify the air, reduce the effect of heat islands, improve climate resilience, and confer a multitude of well-documented benefits to people's physical and mental health.

Jos Toms Franco: Landscaping associated with architectural projects appears to prioritize the selection of "trendy species" for aesthetic purposes, which seems to go against what you propose. How do you approach traditional landscaping differently, and what additional benefits can it provide? To what extent is it possible to manage and accommodate the visual appearance of a Miyawaki forest?

Magdalena Valds (Bosko): At Bosko, we consider ourselves agents of a distinct type of landscaping that is ecological, aesthetic, and functional, with the aim of achieving a deeper connection between people and nature.

Native forests provide a more sensory type of landscaping that connects people in a more intimate way with nature, providing shelter, shade, intimate spaces, flows, rhythms, sounds, and smells.

The design of a Miyawaki forest can be highly adaptable in its layout, incorporating paths, walkways, empty and full spaces. However, ecological criteria should always be the priority, respecting the "body of forest," which is a minimum area required for nature to flourish and develop properly. We design Miyawaki forests by prioritizing the placement of species inside, creating a rich and diverse forest. For the contour, however, our criteria is more aesthetic in selecting the most attractive native species, such as herbaceous ones with showy flowers, to enhance their wild and dense appearance.

The Miyawaki forests created by the Swiss NGO SUGi, a great collaborator and inspiration for Bosko, for the Vuitton and Moet Chandon Foundation in London, are beautiful examples of the fusion between ecology and aesthetics.

Another example recently executed by Bosko in Chile is the Adriana Hoffmann Native Garden at the Mirador Interactive Museum (MIM), where the design incorporates shapes and paths, along with an adequate distribution of species and heights, creating welcoming and attractive spaces for visitors.

Jos Toms Franco: Could you explain the process for restoring a "new soil"? What factors should be taken into consideration, and how long does it typically take for the soil to be restored?

Magdalena Valds (Bosko): The soil improvement process begins with observation and analysis. The objective of a Miyawaki forest is to imitate the reference ecosystem in its mature state. This means projecting the same soil to intervene, as if there had been no human intervention. In a space where a forest should have existed, the soil should be loosened, oxygenated, and full of microbiological life associated with bacteria and fungi, as well as organic matter. Additionally, it should be covered with leaf litter typical of the forests, including twigs, decayed trunks, countless leaves, and dead insects. The mission is to loosen the soil to oxygenate it, incorporate organic matter in a dose that allows reaching an adequate minimum for the healthy development of the forest, and cover it with mulch to simulate the protective leaf litter on the forest floor.

The duration of this process, which is key in the creation of a Miyawaki forest, can range from 3 days to 2 weeks depending on factors such as the complexity of the soil and the size of the future forest.

Jos Toms Franco: How have you seen the evolution of your first forests and regenerative landscaping projects after a few years? What kind of benefits can you start to notice?

Magdalena Valds (Bosko): Our first Miyawaki forest, which covers an area of 280 m2 in Pirque (Chile), was planted three and a half years ago. Currently, its canopy reaches over 8 meters in height, largely comprised of maytenus and soap bark trees. The forest boasts high biodiversity, with approximately 80% of native flora species surviving, and serving as a thriving habitat for a range of birds and insects including quebracho butterflies, giant hummingbirds, and beetles.

Its soil is soft, humid and covered with organic litter. Its temperature is considerably lower than the temperature outside, and upon entering its empty center, which is specially designed for the Japanese practice of "forest bathing" or Shinrin-yoku, one experiences a sense of peace and disconnection.

Since its planting, this Miyawaki forest has reduced water consumption by 60% and does not require maintenance, except for personal interests. As Akira Miyawaki said, "the best management of a forest is its non-management."

For more details about this work, please visit their official website.

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Native Forests, the Landscaping that Cities Need - ArchDaily

Theres been what the Fed thought would happen in residential real estate, and then theres been the Mid-Valley housing market, which has remained hotter than expected.

In the last 90 days, Corvallis had 72 homes sales, theres currently 52 homes under contract, and 47 active listings. Albany saw 140 homes sold in the same three month period, with 88 currently under contract, and 48 active listings. Similarly, Lebanon has sold 57 homes, with 41 under contract, and 55 active listings.

Depending on which of many sources you go with, a stable real estate market has between four and six months of inventory available Corvallis currently has 1.94 months on hand. In Albany its all the way down to 0.93 months. and Lebanon has the most inventory right now, but its still only 2.89 months worth.

Samantha Alley of RE/Max Integrity said theres usually some increased sales during Spring, but thats far from the only factor driving the current surge in activity.

The recent uptick in the real estate market in Corvallis, Albany, and Lebanon may be due to a combination of factors. Mortgage interest rates have been fairly volatile with some highs and lows, but settling out in the low 6s at the end of March. This makes homeownership more affordable than a few months ago, leading to increased demand for homes, said Alley, The tight inventory of available homes has also contributed to the current state of the market, with properties selling relatively quickly and often for at or above asking price. Overall, these factors have led to a competitive market, where buyers need to act quickly to secure a property.

That said, Alley also cautions its not a free-for-all for sellers either, homes in poor condition need to be priced accordingly.

Alley also notes that lenders have adjusted their programs and expanded the types of properties they lend on. For instance, its easier than in the past to finance condos or older manufactured homes and homes in communities with leased land. Also, some lenders are broadening their approval criteria and offering loans with lower down payments.

However, Alley notes, These adjustments in lending practices have opened up more opportunities for buyers to enter the market and secure their dream home. But, they do come with a price tag, of higher interest and more fees.

February Employment Numbers Released: The state continues to release employment numbers later than they used to and well see if they get more timely after the current legislative session ends.

Anyhow, Benton Countys seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7% in February, unchanged from its revised rate of 3.7% in January. Oregons statewide unemployment rate in February was 4.7%, down slightly from its revised January rate of 4.8%.

Benton Countys employment gains in February were more than normal; total nonfarm employment increased by 1,000 jobs, when an employment increase of 770 jobs would be expected. As a result, seasonally adjusted employment increased 230 jobs between January and February. Seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment is now up 2.6% from the level in February 2020, 1,110 jobs above its pre-pandemic level.

Over the past year Benton Countys seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment is up 2,170 jobs or 5.1%.

The private sector overall added 280 jobs over the month. Trade, transportation, and utilities added 180 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 40 jobs in February. The public sector added 720 jobs in February. Federal government added 20 jobs. Local government education employment added 710 in February.

Whats a GROTTHUSS, and What Did It Revolutionize: A spinout company from Oregon State University had what can only be described as a YEEHAW breakthrough moment and it means storing energy from renewable sources can be done far more sustainably and safely, and potentially, with less cost.

The company is GROTTHUSS INC. Theyve worked in collaboration with both HP and the university.

Heres what happened: Scientists led by an Oregon State University researcher developed a new electrolyte that raises the efficiency of the zinc metal anode in zinc batteries to nearly 100%, a breakthrough on the way to an alternative to lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage.

The research is part of an ongoing global quest for new battery chemistries able to store renewable solar and wind energy on the electric grid for use when the sun isnt shining and the wind isnt blowing.

Xiulei David Ji of the OSU College of Science and his collaborators reported their findings inNature Sustainability.

The breakthrough represents a significant advancement toward making zinc metal batteries more accessible to consumers, Ji said. These batteries are essential for the installation of additional solar and wind farms. In addition, they offer a secure and efficient solution for home energy storage, as well as energy storage modules for communities that are vulnerable to natural disasters.

A battery stores electricity in the form of chemical energy and through reactions converts it to electrical energy. There are many different types of batteries, but most of them work the same basic way and contain the same basic components.

Every battery has two electrodes the anode, from which electrons flow out into an external circuit, and the cathode, which acquires electrons from the external circuit and the electrolyte, the chemical medium that separates the electrodes and allows the flow of ions between them.

Relying on a metal thats safe and abundant, zinc-based batteries are energy dense and seen as a possible alternative for grid energy storage to widely used lithium-ion batteries, whose production relies on shrinking supplies of rare metals such as cobalt and nickel. Cobalt and nickel are also toxic and can contaminate ecosystems and water sources if they leach out of landfills.

Additionally, electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries are commonly dissolved in flammable organic solvents that often decompose at high operation voltages. Other safety concerns include dendrites, which resemble tiny trees growing inside a battery. They can pierce the separator like thistles growing through cracks in a driveway, leading to unwanted and sometimes unsafe chemical reactions.

Zinc metal batteries are one of the leading candidate technologies for large-scale energy storage, Ji said. Our new hybrid electrolyte uses water and an ordinary battery solvent, which is non-flammable, cost-effective and of low environmental impact. The electrolyte is made of a dissolved mixture of inexpensive chloride salts, with the primary one being zinc chloride.

The cost of electricity delivered by a storage facility consisting of zinc batteries can only be competitive with fossil-fuel-produced electricity if the battery has a long cycle life of thousands of cycles, Ji said. To date, however, cycle life has been limited by the poor reversibility performance of the zinc anode.

During charging, Ji explains, zinc cations in the electrolyte gain electrons and get plated on the anode surface. During discharge, the plated anode gives up electrons for the workload by being dissolved into the electrolyte.

This zinc plating and dissolution process is often woefully irreversible, Ji said. Namely, some electrons used in plating cannot be recouped during discharge. This is a problem in an area known as Coulombic efficiency.

Coulombic efficiency, or CE, is a measure of how well electrons are transferred in batteries, the ratio of the total charge extracted from the battery to the charge put in the over a full cycle. Lithium-ion batteries can have a CE in excess of 99%.

The new electrolyte developed by Ji and collaborators including scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Penn State and the University of California, Riverside, enabled a CE of 99.95%.

The primary challenge with zinc batteries is that zinc reacts with water in the electrolyte to generate hydrogen gas in what is called a hydrogen evolution reaction, Ji said. This parasitic reaction causes a short cycle life and is also a potential safety hazard.

The new electrolyte, however, restricts waters reactivity and nearly shuts down the hydrogen evolution reaction by forming a passivation layer on the surface of the anode. A similar passivation layer is what enabled the initial commercialization of lithium-ion batteries in the 1990s.

Ji credits OSU chemistry colleague Chong Fang for uncovering the electrolytes atomic structure by using femtosecond Raman spectroscopy and Alex Greaney at UC Riverside for determining the passivation mechanism.

Also, it is worth noting that the efficiency we measured is under harsh conditions that do not mask any damage caused by the hydrogen evolution reaction, Ji added. The breakthrough reported here heralds the near-future commercialization of the zinc metal batteries for large-scale grid storage.

OSUs Kyriakos Stylianou also took part in this research, which was supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy.

And now, your business events calendar

Real Estate Broker Pre-License Class:Have you been thinking about a career as a real estate agent? This class is the first step. An accelerated pre-license hybrid weekly class, self-study, and a 9-5 pre-test cram session on Saturday, June 10th will get you ready for the Oregon Real Estate Brokers License Exam. You will have to attend all class sessions through Zoom or in person much of the self-study portion of the class is online. The class is offered by the Small Business Development Center at Linn-Benton Community College.

The course contains 11 sessions, the fee is $695. First session runs from 6 to 9 pm, Tuesday, April 4, and the sessions conclude Saturday, June 10. Class meets at Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers North Albany Branch. Clickhereto register.

How to Negotiate Your Salary: Interactive session for tips on how to negotiate your offer after landing a job. Presented byVamos OSU,an alumni network for all graduates and friends who identify with and support OSUs Latinx and Chicanx communities. Ask Alumni is an opportunity to meet OSU alumni who have been where you currently are, ask questions and learn from their experiences.

Hybrid event, in-person or online. Wednesday, April 5, from 5 to 6 pm, at theCH2M Hill Alumni Center,725 SW 26th Street, Corvallis. Clickherefor more info or two register for online attendance.

OSU Non-Profit & Public Service Fair:The March 1 date was postponed due to inclement weather the new tentative date is April 11. Explore service. Better the world. Discover your passion.

Meet representatives from over 50 nonprofit and local government organizations representing a wide variety of fields who are seeking OSU volunteers, interns, and employees. The 17th annual Non-Profit and Public Service Fair offers the chance to network with people who share your interests and passions and learn more about the many opportunities available in the nonprofit field. The entire OSU community, including alumni, and the public are encouraged to attend this event!

Tuesday, April 11, from 11 amto3 pm, at theMemorial Union Building (MU), Ballroom,2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Registerhere.

Property Manager Pre-License:If you love problem solving, working with people and multitasking, then this in-demand property management class is for you. This course prepares you for the State of Oregon Property Manager License Exam and covers the role of property managers, tenant relations, fair housing, lease agreements, and more. You must attend all class sessions through Zoom and have online access to complete the self-study portion of this course.

$600 fee. Offered through Zoom video conferencing. Seven sessions staring Tuesday, April 11, 6 to 8 pm. Clickherefor more information and to register.

Going Into Business Class:In just one session, youll get all the basic information you will need to begin planning your successful business. Rules, regulations, financing, customers, markets, and feasibility will all be discussed in this free seminar.

Free, this class offered through the Linn-Benton Community College Small Business Development Center. Tuesday, April 11, from 6:30 to 7:20 pm. This seminar is offered through Zoom video conferencing. Clickhereto register.

Chamber of Commerce Success Events Series:Third in a series three standalone classes, so you wont have needed to have attended the prior classes to benefit from this last one April 12 brings a class focused on building a conscious company culture. The fee is $110.

Class will be at the Chamber of Commerce office, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. This is a Chamber member event, clickhereto register.

Business After Hours: Corvallis Chamber of Commerce event with a new host every time, in this instance, Knife River Training Center in Albany. Wednesday, April 19, from 5 to 7 pm. Preregister admission is $15 for members, and $20 for non-members. Add $5 if youre paying at the door.

Knife River Training Center is at 35973 Kennel Rd SE, Albany. Click here to register.

Grad School for Biz: This virtual sessionintroduces the Graduate Business Programs at Oregon State University.The online session we will cover graduate program options in the College of Business, including the MBA, Masters, and Graduate Certificates programs. We will also introduce the curriculum, program tracks, admission and financial aid, and what sets Oregon State apart from other programs. Oregon State University offers graduate business programs in Portland, Corvallis, and online.

Women in Business Luncheon: Leah Bayles talk will be titled Grow with it! Soulful Strategies to Shift Oh No! to Yes, I can!

Bayles is a holistic life coach, transformational speaker and podcast host. She seeks to empowers big-hearted, high achievers to create the life and the impact they love without wearing themselves out. Her career in holistic wellness has included positions as Heartspring Mind-body Therapist, SHS Employee Wellness Coordinator and Integrative Yoga Therapy program director.

Bayles will cover:

12 to 1 pm, Thursday, Apr. 20 at Courtyard Marriott in Corvallis, 400 SW 1st Street. Click here to register.

Read the original here:
Corvallis Business: Breakthrough by an OSU Company Called ... - The Corvallis Advocate