Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 433,750 in 2009, and in 2019, it was estimated to be 449,974. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city in Virginia and the 44th most populous city in the nation. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is the largest city in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. This area, known as “America’s First Region”, also includes the independent cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk, as well as other smaller cities, counties, and towns of Hampton Roads.
Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. Every year the city hosts the East Coast Surfing Championships as well as the North American Sand Soccer Championship, a beach soccer tournament. It is also home to several state parks, several long-protected beach areas, military bases, a number of large corporations, Virginia Wesleyan University and Regent University, the international headquarters and site of the television broadcast studios for Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment, and numerous historic sites. Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists, who eventually settled in Jamestown, on April 26, 1607.
The city is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest pleasure beach in the world. It is located at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which was the world’s longest bridge-tunnel complex until the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opened in 2018. Wikipedia
Bill Chadwick has seen things you wouldn’t believe. He’s observed an undersea volcano oozing carbon dioxide, which turned into an eerie, milky liquid under intense water pressure. “That was crazy,” Chadwick tells Vox. He witnessed another eject a toxic plume that was killing and stunning fish and squid, which rained down to be eaten by crabs, worms, and shrimp.
Chadwick, a researcher at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, has spent much of his career exploring the ocean’s depths as a seafloor geologist. He says nothing is quite as wondrous as an underwater volcano.
One of Chadwick’s all-time favorite expeditions was to the Mariana Arc, a chain of mostly submerged volcanoes south of Japan. Between 2004 and 2010, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) glided around this previously unexplored realm, surveying its volcanic cathedrals — some nearly breaking the waves, some concealed a mile beneath. The eruption of an underwater Arc volcano known as NW Rota-1 — the same one emitting the plume that knocked out fish and squid — marked the first time a deep-sea volcano had been seen spewing molten rock.
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LeVar Burton’s turn behind the Jeopardy! the podium has been a long time coming. In 2013, Burton tweeted that his dream job would be to host Jeopardy!; in September 2020, he tweeted, “Not gonna lie, I feel like I’ve been preparing my whole life to occupy the Jeopardy! podium when Alex Trebek retires.” Then, the world turned upside down for devoted Jeopardy! viewers like Burton—in November 2020, Trebek died of pancreatic cancer, leaving a void in American life that seemingly no one could fill. But the show must go on, so Jeopardy! producers hired a revolving door of prominent broadcasters, athletes, and actors to moderate America’s favorite game show. “The guest hosts were a way to find a permanent replacement for Alex,” Burton told Esquire, “but also an appropriate way for America to get used to the fact that Alex wasn’t going to be there anymore.”
Now, Burton is stepping up to the plate as a Jeopardy! Season 37 guest host, while an announcement about the permanent host looms. Burton, the public intellectual who cultivated a love of reading and knowledge in an entire generation of Americans through the Peabody Award-winning series Reading Rainbow, seems an obvious successor to Trebek. But if he doesn’t get the gig, don’t worry about him. “If I don’t get it, I’ll be fine,” Burton told Esquire. “My life will go on.”
Literally translated into English as the ‘Green Coast’, the Costa Verde is situated at the base of the Bay of Biscay in the northern region of Asturias and Cantabria in Spain. Its stunning coastline stretches the length of the Basque region until reaching France. The Costa Verde is sheltered by the Cantabrian Mountains, which provide the perfect backdrop to this beautiful stretch of coastline as well as offering a great opportunity for hiking. Rightly names the ‘Green Coast’, the area is abundant with lush vegetation and scenery which contrasts with the golden sand of its shores. The quality of the coast’s vegetation is mainly owing to the area’s particular climate which is typical of any resort fed off the northern Atlantic coast. Summers are mainly warm and dry however there can be rainy periods and these continue throughout the winter, however, the result is beautiful.
Last September, a wildfire tore through one of Dario Sattui’s Napa Valley wineries, destroying millions of dollars in property and equipment, along with 9,000 cases of wine.
November brought a second disaster: Mr. Sattui realized the precious crop of cabernet grapes that survived the fire had been ruined by the smoke. There would be no 2020 vintage.
A freakishly dry winter led to a third calamity: By spring, the reservoir at another of Mr. Sattui’s vineyards was all but empty, meaning little water to irrigate the new crop.
Finally, in March, came the fourth blow: Mr. Sattui’s insurers said they would no longer cover the winery that had burned down. Neither would any other company. In the patois of insurance, the winery will go bare into this year’s burning season, which experts predict to be especially fierce.
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Stuart Smith, owner of Smith Madrone Vineyards & Winery, inspected burned tree stumps near his vineyards, which were charred in last year’s wildfires, in St. Helena, Calif.Credit…Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times
IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation, and technology. In fact, many people have an endless fascination with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity, and empathy.
Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts or to adapt behavior to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. It is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. This includes changing strategies for optimal decision-making. In our ongoing research, we are trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.
Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. If you normally take the same route to work, but there are now roadworks on your usual route, what do you do? Some people remain rigid and stick to the original plan, despite the delay. More flexible people adapt to an unexpected event and problem-solve to find a solution.
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Einstein thought imagination was crucial. Robert and Talbot Trudeau/Flickr, CC BY-NC
Verona is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 259,610 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in northeast Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy because of its artistic heritage and several annual fairs, shows, and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, an ancient Roman amphitheater.
Between the 13th and 14th century the city was ruled by the Della Scala Family. Under the rule of the family, in particular of Cangrande I della Scala, the city experienced great prosperity, becoming rich and powerful and being surrounded by new walls. The Della Scala era is survived in numerous monuments around Verona.
Two of William Shakespeare’s plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet (which also features Romeo’s sojourn to Mantua) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities. Verona was also the birthplace of Isotta Nogarola, who is said to be the first major female humanist and one of the most important humanists of the Renaissance. The city has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture. Wikipedia
As America struggled to recover from a global pandemic, a shattered economy, and record unemployment levels, headlines despaired: “NECKTIES DOOMED.” Men were “slashing their clothing bills” to retailers’ chagrin, the Associated Press reported. Those who continued to wear ties were downgrading from colorful, expensive silk to plain, cheap cotton. The year was 1921, and reports of the tie’s death were premature, to say the least.
A century later, as Americans begin to emerge from another financially devastating pandemic, another rash of headlines is predicting the tie’s imminent demise. Last fall, the Financial Times wondered, “Is This the End of the Tie?” More recently, The Wall Street Journal asked, “Will Ties Ever Be Relevant Again?” For more than a year, many men who once felt bound to wear ties have shown up on Zoom each day wearing polos or even T-shirts. Now that they have tasted freedom from the necktie—and have seen their colleagues, clients, and bosses doing the same—how can they ever go back to working with their necks encumbered?
After this pandemic, many fewer men will have to. The arc of fashion has always bent toward informality (and androgyny—since the late 1800s, women have sometimes worn ties too). But a major disruption—like a war, a recession, or a global pandemic—can accelerate that natural change. Ties as an everyday accessory have certainly taken a hit, from which they’re unlikely to recover fully. The deeper functions that ties have long provided—such as social signaling and personal expression—will be absorbed by other garments. But ties will continue to be worn on the most formal occasions, and as quirky accoutrements for the self-consciously old-fashioned or whimsical. In other words, neckties are the new bow ties.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
An image from Virginia Beach, VA, USA
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An image from Costa Verde Spain
Einstein thought imagination was crucial. 
Toronto Star Archives/Getty
James' World 2 