A group of what only can be described as ‘brave’ kayakers and snorkelers saw a giant shape floating in the water ahead of them, and paddled towards it to record the sighting of an incredible species. On a recreational paddle near La Jolla Cove, California, they had found an oarfish (Regalecus glesne)—an omen of destruction […] The post Rare ‘Doomsday’ Fish Surfaces in California, Just the 20th Discovered in the State Since 1901 appeared first on Good News Network.

Books fanart Creating Fan Art, Brick by Brick An interview with Rick Martin, who creates elaborate SFF fanart from Lego. By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on August 22, 2024 Credit: Rick Martin Comment 1 Share New Share Credit: Rick Martin Fan art comes in many forms. And for Rick Martin, that form is Lego. Martin started making Lego as an adult back in 2013 when, as a Federal government employee, he was furloughed for two weeks. “I couldn’t really go anywhere because they could call us back to work at any day,” Martin told me. “I had all these Legos my parents had dumped on me, and I was working my way through some of Brandon Sanderson’s books at the time, so I decided to start building some.” To date, Martin has made builds based on several authors’ works. In addition to Sanderson, he’s also recreated a slew of scenes from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series as well as installations from Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes, Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth, and Catherynne Valente’s Space Opera, among others. He was also kind enough to let us share some of those images here (and you can see all of his fan art on his website, secondbrickfast.com), and talk to me about his process. Picking the Fandom to Build Credit: Rick Martin Martin always has a long list of things he wants to build. So long, in fact, that he knows he’ll never get to them all. To winnow it down, he centers those that get him truly excited. “It’s mostly things that just inspire me, and things that I want to see a visual representation of,” he says. “I try to do things that haven’t been done too much, like when things have already come out in film and TV, they’re less exciting to me because there’s already this well-established visual representation of it.” Practical concerns are also a factor—he only has so many Lego parts (though as you can see by the image of his workroom above he has an impressive collection that he estimates includes hundreds of thousands of pieces), and sometimes scenes would require too much specialization. “I’d really like to do the Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemison,” he says. “Specifically, there’s one scene… where there’s an underground city in a cavern with giant gemstones. I’ve always envisioned that, and I think that’d be really fun to do, but trying to make these obelisks and gemstones that are not ninety-degree angles makes it a lot harder… and I don’t think I can amass enough of the right kinds of parts and figure out the geometry to do it.” Deciding on the Kind of Build Credit: Rick Martin (secondbrickfast.com) Deciding what to build next also requires figuring out the size of the build. Martin has done installations as large as six feet by six feet, which can take him up to a year to do. He also, however, does smaller builds that focus on a specific scene or character. “I might do a series of small builds featuring one character to show their character development through a series,” he explains, adding that he can also do those a lot faster, which means he can do more builds within a given year. Making the Builds Credit: Rick Martin When Martin gets down to actually building, he doesn’t usually sketch things out in advance. The base plates serve as his craft paper, and after doing some rough measurements to figure out what the scale is going to be, he’ll use small Legos in a color not used in the build to outline and mark things out. “Occasionally, I do have to draw things out,” he concedes. “Especially with a lot of Brandon Sanderson’s works, because he put so much official artwork into his books, and I want to match that.” One example of this was M-Bot from Sanderson’s Skyward, a sentient spaceship. The wings of Martin’s Lego M-Bot move, and he had to do some trigonometry to figure out where the joints should be to match the official art created by Ben McSweeney. Customization Credit: Rick Martin You might have noticed that most of Martin’s Lego characters have specific expressions that match descriptions in their respective books. To achieve this, he often sends pieces out to a flatbed 3-D printer, which can print images onto round surfaces like golf balls and, in Martin’s case, a tiny Lego head. In other instances, he also just uses direct-to-film decals that he makes himself. Showcasing the Builds Credit: Rick Martin Martin also considers how he will be able to photograph his creations once they’re done so that others can best see his work. He’s learned about composition and invested in special lighting, and also keeps in mind how he can best showcase the builds once he’s done. “I try to keep that in mind what the shot is going to be, not just what the build going to be,” he says. “So what angles am I going to take the photo from? What’s the composition going to be like? Will we be able to see all the character spaces? I keep all that stuff in mind as I’m building, rather than trying to just fix that at the end.” What’s Next? Credit: Rick Martin In addition to making some digitally animated Lego shorts of scenes from Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive and Skyward (which you can check out here), Martin is currently working on his latest project, a chess set with characters from The Stormlight Archive. “I went through a list of all the different main characters and which chess pieces they would be,” he says. “I tend to like to do that with different books, because it’s a good way to illustrate a lot of different things from a series. Chess sets just seem to naturally have a sort of hierarchy of pieces with two sides. And it works pretty well with Brandon’s books. I’ve done that with Mistborn [pictured above] and with Elantris and The Wheel of Time. So yeah, right now, I’m just about two-thirds the way done with that one.” You can see the rest of Martin’s creations at his website here. [end-mark] The post Creating Fan Art, Brick by Brick appeared first on Reactor.

Two persistent problems beset American schools. First, teachers must leave the classroom and become administrators or counselors to earn above the standard teacher salary. Second, colleges of education can’t prepare new teachers nearly as well as an apprenticeship under a veteran teacher who has consistently demonstrated mastery of the craft. Thankfully, K-12 education can rework how it prepares new teachers and rewards quality veteran educators to solve both problems simultaneously. Let’s begin with the second problem. A common complaint among teachers is how far removed the professors in the education programs are from the K-12 classroom. Most haven’t been classroom teachers in at least a decade and have forgotten what that was like. Some have never been a teacher at all. They found that many lofty ideas and great-sounding theories fail and crumble in a room full of energetic children looking to them for clear direction and guidance. Utilizing current classroom teachers would remove that complaint entirely. Nobody knows better about classroom teachers’ challenges and struggles than those who have been in the position for years. As apprentices, aspiring teachers could observe and learn how the veterans handle unruly students, constant interruptions, unhappy parents, broken copy machines, dismissive administrators, and rained-out recess. Gradually, the mentor could hand over tasks and responsibilities over the year to allow the apprentice to apply some of the learned techniques. Another complaint I often hear from teachers is that the classes they took in their education programs needed more useful information. Rather than teaching them about pedagogy or ensuring they had a solid understanding of the content they would be teaching, many of their classes focused on courses like child psychology, social foundations of education, and educational philosophy. While it might be interesting for educators to know about these topics, it is not necessary to become effective teachers. Effective welders needn’t know the finer points of thermodynamics of metallurgy. Knowledge of pedagogy certainly helps, but teaching is an applied science, and practical knowledge about classroom management, for example, is far more urgent in the early years. A teacher preparation model that utilizes experienced teachers who demonstrate a clear understanding of their content and use the prescribed curriculum with efficacy addresses the issue of relevance. Of course, the curriculum will vary, but aspiring teachers can see what it looks like to follow the plan. Observing this may deter them from venturing onto the internet to find more “fun,” “engaging,” and less effective curricula once they have their own classrooms. Those suggestions address issues related to teacher prep programs, but they simultaneously address the issue of great teachers who deserve recognition and compensation for their skill and dedication to the profession. School leaders should strive to keep effective teachers in the classroom where they will have the most significant impact on students. States should stop paying college professors who haven’t been in the classroom for years six-figure salaries to float lofty ideas of utopian classrooms to bright-eyed students. Instead, they should jettison requirements for prospective teachers to get state-certified through ineffective colleges of education in favor of teacher apprenticeships. At the same time, states and school districts should move toward merit-based pay systems rather than paying teachers based on the length of time they’ve served in the classroom, rewarding excellent teachers who demonstrably improve student learning. In most states, there is currently a student-teacher model similar to this. However, it is generally not an entire year, requires rising teachers to delve into child psychology, and doesn’t adequately screen or compensate the participating veteran teachers. There is a new program that was introduced in recent years that has promise, however. The Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAP) allow aspiring teachers to glean wisdom from and work alongside experienced educators before taking on the responsibility of a classroom of their own. “Since the K-12 Teacher Registered Apprentice occupation was first approved in 2021, 30 U.S. states or territories have registered at least one K-12 Teacher RAP,” according to an apprenticeship guidebook, and these options have begun to show their success. K-12 education has faced unprecedented scrutiny in recent years, and problems that remained dormant for decades suddenly became undeniable. Teacher preparation programs are the root of so many of those problems. Meanwhile, great teachers who should be applauded for their dedication to children and commitment to education for decades are leaving in droves because of a lack of autonomy or clear pathways for professional growth.  It is time to stop complaining about the issue and start looking at practical solutions. The post In With Teacher Apprenticeships, out With Colleges of Education appeared first on The Daily Signal.

ICE Manages to Lose 32,000 Illegal Minors

"A very memorable moment.”

Is seaweed grown next to a wind turbine the future of food?

Sometimes a baking soda volcano doesn’t cut it.

To say it’s an absolute beast would be an understatement.

The vibrant colors of the rosy maple moth have evolved for good reason.

On Thursday, the nervous sweat had yet to wear off on ABC’s Good Morning America from their weak knees and clammy palms from their Tuesday and Wednesday shows recapping the Democratic National Convention.  This time, the played the role of Russia Today anchors promoting their party’s vice presidential candidate Tim Walz as a scandal-free “[s]ocial studies teacher, retired National Guard member, high school football coach” who “electrified this arena...with a pep talk for the nation” calling on those listening “to give it their all” to save the country from the GOP. I'm once again here to showcase how much of an ebullient Biden-Harris cheerleader ABC's Mary Bruce is. She's definitely hot and bothered by everything #DNC. pic.twitter.com/G1MnM9ydDO — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 22, 2024 Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos got things going in the opening tease: “Governor Walz takes the stage at the Democratic Convention...Social studies teacher, retired National Guard member, high school football coach...with his wife and children cheering him on. Former President Bill Clinton and TV legend Oprah Winfrey takes the stage, too.” Chief pom-pom waver Mary Bruce was bursting at the seams in excitement in her lead-off report, insisting the man who’s lied about his children being conceived using IVF and his military service to name a few came with “straight talk” to give “a heartfelt pitch”: Well, it is safe to say that, just a few weeks ago, many Americans had never heard of Tim Walz. But last night, he electrified this arena, the nation hearing his personal story and meeting his adoring and very proud family. Walz shared plenty of straight talk and made a heartfelt pitch for the ticket. The former high school football coach leaving it all on the field. Overnight, Coach Walz with a pep talk for the nation. In between soundbites of Walz’s speech, Bruce beamed that Walz’s “family [was] bursting with pride” as he “shar[ed] his story growing up in a small town in Nebraska.” “The 24-year veteran and six term congressman, an avid hunter who’s fought for gun reforms, a former social studies teacher who passed free meals for all school children...But Walz also taking on the traditional running mate role of attack dog,” Bruce swooned. Before shifting to celebrities, Bruce said “[t]he former high school football coach urging supporters to give it their all.” Bruce saved some energy for cheering the presence of “star power”, “the queen of television” in Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, “[t]he man from Hope now saying the nation needs a president of joy.” Speaking of the “classic” Winfrey, Bruce said “[h]er first speech at a political convention” consisted of “urging Americans to vote their values” and “bringing the crowd their feet with her signature crescendo.” Bruce concluded with a preview of the kisses she’ll apply to Harris on Thursday night and Friday morning: She is, of course, going to share her personal story, as the daughter of immigrant, arguing that she understands the middle class experience. She’ll talk about her work as a prosecutor, as she now prosecutes the case against Trump, and she will most certainly share her vision of hope and optimism for the future[.] Stephanopoulos and devoutly anti-Trump correspondent Rachel Scott gave a few minutes to the Trump campaign, but instead of letting Trump speak for himself, they painted a wildly partisan picture of Trump doing little at his rallies except engaging in “personal attacks” and “anti-Semitic” smears with policy being all but nonexistent (click “expand”): STEPHANOPOULOS: Trump out on the trail yesterday, Rachel. His team keeps telling him to talk about policy, but he just can’t help himself. SCOTT: Yeah. The former President, George, is making it clear he is not going to stay away from those personal attacks. And it’s also clear he’s been watching what has been playing out here at the Democratic National Convention. He went on to attack someone who’s not even on the Democratic ticket, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, calling him a highly overrated Jewish governor, claiming that the speech that he gave was poorly delivered. Now, Shapiro, of course, was on the short list to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate. He did deliver a blistering speech, going after the Republican ticket, accusing them of trying to take away freedoms of Americans. But that reaction from Donald Trump, part of a larger pattern. The former President has attacked Jewish people who are supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in comments that have been labeled as anti-Semitic. Now, the former President has been out on the campaign trail doing a blitz across the battleground states, really trying to counter the Democratic National Convention. He did deliver his first outdoor rally speech since that attempted assassination on his life. There were added security provisions, bulletproof glass surrounding him. Snipers were in position. But, yes, George, despite what his advisers are telling him, despite what Republican allies are telling him to stay focused on the policy, he said he’s not going to stay away from those personal insults[.] And for good measure, the tools at ABC completely dismissed almost any chance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s departure from the 2024 field would matter. In fact, it was floated this would be a boost for Harris, not Trump (click “expand”): STEPHANOPOULOS: Rick, RFK Jr.’s poll numbers had been dropping. Hard to gauge what impact his getting out, maybe endorsing Donald Trump will have. KLEIN: Yeah, George. I mean, the battleground states look a lot different than they did a few short weeks ago when Donald Trump was leading everywhere. Right now Kamala Harris is up in six of the seven big battleground states including the Midwestern states, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. Tim Walz, of course, from Wisconsin [sic]. And we are right now in the state of Illinois. But to your point about the national polling, when Robert F. Kennedy was added to the latest poll, he was polling at just five percent. As Jon Karl said, he was well into the double digits earlier in the summer. Harris with a three-point lead with the three of them in the race, but when you take him out of the mix, it is not at all clear where his voters necessarily go. When you took that away as an option in our latest poll, you see the largest share of voters actually then went to Kamala Harris, but the biggest number on this screen is 34 percent that say it was someone else if Kennedy was out of the mix. Some of them are holding out for Kennedy. So, if Kennedy is now telling supporters to vote for Donald Trump, you might see the lion’s share of them go to Donald Trump. Kennedy has had better popularity and favorability among Republicans than among Democrats. And a lot of his views are closely aligned with Donald Trump. The bottom line is, George, we may see a tightening race get even tighter as a result of this. To see the relevant ABC transcript form August 22, click here.