The Oscar for best animated short film may not generate nearly as much attention as other categories, but it strikes an exciting contrast with the more traditional forms of storytelling found throughout other categories.Take a look at 89th Academy Award nominees for Animated Short.
With four 4s and the right mathematical operators it's possible to make any whole number.
So you can make 0 with (4-4) + (4-4). 1 could be (4/4)+(4-4). It's a fun puzzle to see how high you can go, but there's a neat trick that lets you make any number all the way up to infinity.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate are a great flavor combination. Add dried fruit, nuts and oats and you’ve got a delicious and nutritious bar. Nicole, a student at the Culinary Institute of America shows us how to make them.
Ingredients
It’s getting to be that time of year: When high school seniors and their parents start worrying. Will children get into the college they want? Will parents be able to pay for it?
One remarkable young man in Fairfax County, Va., doesn’t have to worry about any of that.
Timothy Park has hit the grand slam: admission to four of America’s military service academies. It’s almost like getting into every one of the Ivy League schools — with the added difficulty of getting a congressional nomination.
“I’m feeling amazing right now!” said Park, 18, a student at Trinity Christian School.
Stellar grades, test scores, leadership skills, community service, and physical fitness were all part of the formula that got him into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
How rare is the feat? “It’s about one percent, if not less,” Park said one graduate told him. “Of the whole country.”
“I’m following up the legacy of service my grandfather started,” he said. His grandfather Eugene Park was a child in Busan, South Korea, when American troops landed to push back the invading North Koreans in the early 1950s. Forever grateful, when he grew up and became a doctor in Pennsylvania, Eugene Park always provided free medical care to Korean War veterans. “What he said is he had a debt of honor he wanted to repay,” his grandson said.
Timothy’s dad continues the family tradition of service as a lieutenant colonel in the Army. “We’re very proud and excited he’s going to serve our country,” said Sean Park. “As Americans, there’s no better thing than protecting our country.”
“My first choice at this point is West Point, but I’m keeping my options open,” said Timothy.
He admits his future seems a little daunting. “It’s honestly, almost a miracle,” he said.
Timothy hasn’t settled on a major field of study, he said. But whatever he decides, the tuition will be free.
Three students have been named National Finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology after earning top spots in one of two regional competitions that took place this past November. The Competition is the nation's premier science research competition for high school students and promotes excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. For more information, go to: www.siemens-foundation.org.
Many grease-resistant fast-food wrappers and boxes contain potentially harmful chemicals that can leach into food, a new study contends.
Testing on more than 400 samples from restaurants nationwide revealed that nearly half of fast-food wrappers and one out of five paperboard food boxes contained detectable levels of fluorine, said lead researcher Laurel Schaider. She’s an environmental chemist at the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Mass.
Previous studies have linked some fluorinated chemicals such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) to kidney and testicular cancer, low birth weight, thyroid disease, decreased sperm quality, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, and immune system problems in children, the study authors said in background notes.
Major U.S. manufacturers voluntarily phased out PFOA and PFOS for most uses starting in 2011, but other countries still produce them. These study results show that fluorinated chemicals are still widely present in food packaging, the authors said.
“One of the challenges in avoiding exposure is you can’t tell by looking at a wrapper whether it contains fluorine,” Schaider said. “We can choose not to purchase a stain-resistant carpet or a stain-resistant coating on our furniture. But it’s difficult for a consumer to choose food packaging that doesn’t have fluorinated chemicals.”
As a class, fluorinated chemicals are referred to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). They are used in a wide range of products, including carpeting, upholstery, floor waxes and outdoor apparel, the study authors said.
Some fast-food packaging is treated with PFASs to make the wrappers and boxes grease-resistant, Schaider said.
It has been found that PFASs can leach into food from packaging, Schaider said. Heat and grease appear to help the chemicals migrate into food, she added.
According to the Foodservice Packaging Institute, only “short-chain” fluorinated chemicals are still used in fast-food packaging. The “short-chain” chemicals “have been rigorously reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and found to be safe for their intended use,” the industry group said in a statement.
PFOA and PFOS are “long-chain” chemicals, and have been phased out, the institute said. “Today’s food service packaging is no longer treated with ‘long-chain’ fluorochemicals, and instead use FDA-approved ‘short-chain’ fluorochemicals or even newer barrier coatings, which are free of any fluorochemicals,” the group added.
For the new study, the researchers said they gathered hundreds of samples from 27 fast-food chains in five metropolitan areas across the United States. They used particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy to analyze the samples for fluorine, Schaider said.
“Paper normally doesn’t contain much fluorine, so we reasoned this would be a method of detecting the presence of PFASs,” Schaider said.
The research team said it found that 46 percent of paper wrappers and 20 percent of paperboard box samples for foods like pizza and fries contained fluorine. The team also tested paper cups used for hot and cold beverages, but found no significant levels of fluorine.
Paper wrapper samples containing fluorinated chemicals ranged from about 38 percent of sandwich/burger wrappers up to about 57 percent of wrappers used for desserts, breads and Tex-Mex foods, the study authors said.
To validate their analysis, the researchers conducted a more detailed study on a subset of 20 samples, Schaider said.
In general, samples that were high in fluorine also contained PFASs. Six of the samples also contained a long-chain PFOA, even though the chemical is no longer widely used because of health hazards.
PFOA could be present in these wrappers because recycled paper was used in their manufacture, Schaider said — an indication of how difficult it is to remove these chemicals from the environment.
Studies have shown that PFASs from consumer products accumulate in landfills and can migrate into groundwater, Schaider said. Fluorinated chemicals also are allowed in compostable food packaging.
“It seems incompatible to have these chemicals that never break down in paper that we want to compost,” Schaider said.
There is particular concern regarding the long-term effects of these chemicals on children, said a chemical exposure specialist who wasn’t involved in the study.
Fluorinated chemicals have been found in umbilical cord blood, suggesting that fetuses are exposed to PFASs, said Dr. Kenneth Spaeth, chief of occupational and environmental medicine for Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y.
Approximately one-third of U.S. children consume fast food every day, the study authors noted.
“With chemicals like this, exposure begins in utero and continues once we’re born through childhood and into adulthood,” said Spaeth. “That has real potential ramifications in terms of our health.”
It’s unlikely that new regulations will be adopted to remove PFASs from products, Spaeth added. Instead, he recommended public pressure as a means for future change.
“A lot of products have become BPA-free, not because they were forced to but because of public concern and public outcry,” he said, referring to Bisphenol A, an estrogen-imitating chemical used in plastics. “If consumers are waiting for public oversight, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
This week’s top story is about organ donation. Felipe introduces us to Katy, a teenager who received a special life giving gift: a heart. Katy was born with half a heart and was in need of a transplant. Nearly 100,000 people across the country are waiting for organ transplants
