Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time this offseason. The main topic: the three rookie defensive backs and what to expect at safety. Here are some highlights:

Scientists modified Toxoplasma gondii to deliver a potential Rett Syndrome therapeutic to the mouse brain. 

Sara Tenney talks about how ACS creates digital primers to bridge the gap between undergraduate-level depth and scholarly articles. 

In neonatal mice, the neurotransmitter serotonin mobilizes immune cells that promote tolerance to antigens.

Gut microbiome disruption in male mice increases disease risk in offspring, indicating that preconception paternal health status can affect the next generation.

Single-cell sequencing unpacked 10 varieties of fat cells, including one that uses an alternative heat-regulating strategy that protects against weight gain.

Compartmentalized protein expression in the spider silk gland provides clues to spinning more sustainable materials. 

This handbook is designed to empower both new and seasoned flow cytometry users who are curious about the unique capabilities of HTS cytometry.

New 3D blueprints that highlight tumor complexity reveal several new discoveries, some of which challenge existing theories of cancer progression.

The Guardian 5000 Series Hotplate Stirrers represent a significant advancement in laboratory equipment, combining cutting-edge technology with unparalleled safety features. As the next generation of Guardian stirrers, these models offer exceptional performance and reliability for a wide range of applications.

Chasing dog tails for answers, researchers explore the reasons behind the quintessential tail wagging of these furry four-legged friends.

Specialized neurons in the brainstem and vagus nerve provide potential therapeutic targets for treating inflammatory disorders.

Cellular oxygen consumption in the brain may shed new light on Alzheimer’s disease onset, progression, and treatment.

By identifying Wolbachia in arthropods, science-enthusiast citizens can help researchers sample the bacteria’s hosts.

Infrastructure expansion will enable rapid ingestion, homogenization of new multi-omics and real-world data for accelerated delivery of multidimensional insights to inform drug development

analytica USA picks up on analytica's unique selling point by covering the entire spectrum of laboratories in industry and research, from laboratory planning to final equipment.

Scientists discovered a mechanoreceptor that triggers the distinctive shake-off behavior observed in mice when they become wet.

Scientists are reimagining the food system, turning to fungal fermentation as a sustainable method for transforming food byproducts into tasty treats.

Microfluidic chips that mimic the complex human cervical environment provide a platform to study the reproductive tract and associated infections like bacterial vaginosis.

Why are Washingtonians using the Empower ride-sharing app?

The nation's capital Washington, D.C., is the least festive of the United States, according to a study.

Dozens of beloved Washington restaurants closed this year, more than in 2022, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.

In 2023, vehicle theft became an epidemic in the Washington, D.C., area as the rate soared, with more than 6,000 cars stolen this year in the capital city.

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund played equal parts in redefining the hierarchy of European soccer. But Bayern Munich won't let its rival play on a level field back in Germany.

The locker sat empty in the happy clubhouse, its contents packed away and its occupant gone. Danny Espinosa has been a key contributor to the Nationals since his first promotion from the minor leagues late in the 2010 season. He has played 390 games for Washington, most of them at second base. But on Tuesday he was absent, a glaring void next to his normal spot alongside teammate Ian Desmond’s stall. Around the room loud music blasted from the stereo system after a thrilling 3-2 comeback win over the New York Mets on Tuesday night. Espinosa wasn’t there to enjoy it.

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg did not throw a bullpen session as hoped this week and instead was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a strained lat muscle.

Run GenZ advises young Republican candidates on everything from website building to fundraising plans.

The public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, on Monday opened on a two-hour delay. This was a borderline call, considering there was no snow or ice on the streets at 6 a.m., and so it’s no surprise that the largest neighboring school systems — Washington, D.C., and Fairfax County, Virginia — opened on time.

$12 million -- That's the whopping number of dollars Oprah Winfrey handed over to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the museum announced Tuesday, according to the Washington Post. Winfrey's name will adorn a 350-seat theater in the new museum, which is slated to open in 2015 on the National Mall. She already donated $1 million to the project in 2007 and has served on the museum's advisory council since 2004.

Abbey Road was briefly in front of the Capitol earlier this month. On June 6, Madame Tussauds Washington D.C. brought George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to briefly walk the sidewalk there to promote the museum's new Beatles exhibit, which opened Wednesday.

We surveyed the Yeas & Nays alumni association -- Politico's Patrick Gavin, Urban Daddy's Jeff Dufour, Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Kiki Ryan, the New York Post's Tara Palmeri, Clyde's Restaurant Group's Katy Adams and Washington City Paper's Jenny Rogers -- to give you, loyal readers, some of our favorite items that appeared in the newspaper:

Commuters in Newark, New Jersey, were subject to delays Thursday morning after a bull got loose on the tracks of Newark Penn Station.

KinectAir, an on-demand private air travel company, is now booking budget-friendly private planes.

The Washington Redskins branding change isn’t sitting well with everyone.

The first thing any reader needs to know is that the vast, vast majority of Native Americans were never offended by the Washington Redskins' mascot or logo. Certainly, there are offensive ways of representing Native Americans in sports and in other areas — Chief Wahoo comes to mind, as do mocking versions of native dances and rituals. But the Redskins did not engage in those, and people noticed.

After former team owner Daniel Snyder sold the Washington Commanders, many people foolishly hoped that the new ownership group would entertain the idea of returning the longtime Redskins name to the franchise. This wishful thinking was egged on after a group known as the Native American Guardian’s Association created a petition that has nearly 131,000 signatures to bring back the glorious Redskins moniker.

A tech conference meant to be the largest gathering of female technologists faced backlash when biological men identifying as "nonbinary" were seen attending the event.

Former President Barack Obama encouraged coders to join the Biden administration's artificial intelligence team.

With all of Washington consumed by the promise and perils of generative artificial intelligence and everything that comes with it, we risk neglecting the next technology revolution brewing under our very noses. Biotechnologies, built on our deepening understanding of how to read, write, and edit genetic code, the “code of life,” are not just transforming biomedicine but are generating better, more sustainable approaches to manufacturing, agriculture, and environmental health.

New application of Raman spectroscopy imaging allows scientists to probe the chemical composition of sailors lost at sea over 500 years ago.

Not wearing hearing aids could lead to increased risks of social isolation and Alzheimer's Disease.

Both scientific ‘red herrings’ and flaws in human logic led to inaccurate ‘Pompeii effect’ hypothesis.

Capitals get crushed in decisive Game 7

Players can't explain latest loss in playoffs

Facebook and Instagram users in the EU users are getting a new option to use these platforms for free with less personalized ads, and Meta is also slashing the price of its ad-free subscription by 40%.

The post Facebook and Instagram to Display Less Personalized Ads in the EU to Appease Regulators appeared first on Thurrott.com.

Short Run Comix Festival, Diwali: Lights of India, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15 by EverOut Staff

We hope you're not too tired from Halloween partying because there's plenty of fun events to hit up this weekend, from Short Run Comix Festival to Diwali: Lights of India and from the Polish Fall Bazaar to Seattle Art Museum's Día de los Muertos Community Celebration. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week. P.S. Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday—don't forget to set your clocks back!

Día de los Muertos Community Celebration
Each year, in honor of Día de los Muertos, printmaker and artist Fulgencio Lazo creates a tapete. (Spanish for "rug," tapetes are large-scale sand paintings created on the ground). Inspired by ancestral Oaxacan traditions, the tapete has become an annual tradition at the Seattle Art Museum in observance of the role death plays in the life cycle. This year's Día de los Muertos celebration will also include a musical performance by La Banda Gozona, dances performed by energetic Oaxacan troupe Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño, and art-making activities with printmakers Edith Chávez and Ivan Bautista. LINDSAY COSTELLO
(Seattle Art Museum, Downtown, free)

In between playing defense and scheming to win back Seattle’s voters over the next few election cycles, we should carve out some time for self-reflection. It’s tempting to think of the present moment as a backlash against progress, a temporary deviation in the arc of the moral universe—or perhaps, for the pessimist, to doubt the notion of progress altogether. But was this reaction really inevitable? by Katie Wilson

It’s a trying time for Seattle’s left.

The city’s new council members are rounding the curve on their first year in office, and I don’t know about you, but I’m wishing it was time to pass the baton. It’s depressing enough that City Hall is no longer a laboratory for progressive policy innovation. But it’s the Bad Idea Whac-A-Mole that’s truly exhausting: rolling back minimum wages and renter protections; defunding community-driven development; reinstating so-called SOAP and SODA zones; turning our big business tax into a slush fund. The left is having to fight like hell just to defend the achievements of the past decade.

In between playing defense and scheming to win back Seattle’s voters over the next few election cycles, we should carve out some time for self-reflection. It’s tempting to think of the present moment as a backlash against progress, a temporary deviation in the arc of the moral universe—or perhaps, for the pessimist, to doubt the notion of progress altogether. But was this reaction really inevitable? Can we draw any lessons from it? What should the left do differently in the future to regain influence and maintain it?

Critics of progressive-left political culture, as it’s developed over the past dozen or so years, often emphasize its supposed impotence: its penchant for loudness on social media, insistence on ideological purity, and zeal for “canceling” individuals instead of changing systems. Its adherents operate mainly in the symbolic realm and can’t break out of their echo chamber long enough to affect the real world.

Whatever the merits of this kind of critique, it doesn’t fully capture what’s happened in Seattle. Precisely what characterizes our city (and just a handful of others) is that the progressive left has been effective, relatively speaking, at winning real things. But our success is not due to some special organizing prowess or because we’ve avoided the pitfalls of the wider culture. It has more to do with our city’s demographic peculiarities.

Over the past several decades, progressive politics have come to correlate ever more strongly with educational attainment, while “dealigning” from markers of working class status. The gradual replacement of old Seattle’s blue collar workforce, displaced by rising housing costs and the dwindling of maritime and industrial jobs, with the younger, more affluent tech worker set hasn’t made Seattle any less blue; perhaps the opposite. Add to that some political self-selection among new arrivals, and the average normie non-activist voter just happens to be a flaming lib. On top of all that, union density in Washington state is among the highest in the country, and when Seattle’s labor unions decide to throw their weight around in local elections, left-leaning candidates tend to get a leg up.

With these advantages, Seattle’s left hasn’t had to be extraordinarily smart or strategic to win a modicum of political power. And a movement with power faces different problems than a movement in opposition. From the outside, it’s easy to lambaste the status quo and its obvious failings. But actually governing is more complicated. It means passing policies, implementing them, defending their results. It also means being vulnerable to blame for whatever’s going wrong in the city, whether or not it’s your fault or within your power to fix.

Of course, even at its strongest, Seattle’s progressive left held only partial power—through a city council majority that was often undermined by more centrist mayors. In such circumstances, governing also means having to decide when to remain oppositional, and when to compromise and win what you can. Either way, you have to tell a good story, explaining what you’ve done and why you couldn’t do more, to avoid being seen as ineffective.

All this means that the progressive predisposition of Seattle’s electorate is a trap, as well as an advantage. If it were harder to get lefties into office, that might force us to be more strategic about what they should do when they get there—and to build the kind of movement that can support them when the going gets rough.

Winning power is one thing, holding it is another.

Over the last two election cycles, the left lost it. The backlash began in 2021 with the victories of Mayor Bruce Harrell, Councilmember Sara Nelson, and City Attorney Ann Davison. Last fall finished the job, ushering in the most conservative city council Seattle has seen in a long time.

In my new column for The Stranger, I plan to look both backward and forward. I’ll dig through the past ten-plus years in search of lessons that can help Seattle’s left into the future. I write as someone who’s been involved in many—though by no means all—of the progressive policy battles of this period, primarily through my work with the Transit Riders Union. But I’m speaking for myself, not for any organization, and I don’t expect that all my opinions will be popular. There is too much groupthink on the left; so let’s disagree!

The backlash elections of 2021 and 2023 centered most obviously around the issues of homelessness, policing, and public safety. I will start the journey there, looking critically at the question of what our goals should be and how we frame and explain these goals.

These are themes we share with other progressive big cities, but our politics have a unique side, too. No look back at the past decade of Seattle’s left can bypass an assessment of Kshama Sawant’s tenure on the council, and the influence of her former organization, Socialist Alternative.

And these discussions will raise larger questions about progressive-left organizing. Who is “the left,” anyway, and does “progressive” mean anything anymore, if it ever did? Whom are we trying to organize and how? Toward what ends?

The left is not a monolith. In practice, Seattle’s left today is an uneasy alliance of labor unions, community organizations from the long-established to the ad-hoc, issue-based advocacy groups, service-focused nonprofits, parties and other overtly political formations, and freelance activists, coalescing imperfectly and temporarily around specific campaigns or policy goals. Between and also within these entities there exists a multiplicity of worldviews, theories of social change, and visions of a future, better social order.

When someone on the left (like me) talks about what “we” should be doing, only in the most abstract sense are they speaking to and about this whole constellation of actors. But throughout these institutions and broader left milieu there are individuals who, to a greater or lesser extent, can choose to do things differently, or to do something new.

There is a gleam of light on the horizon. In next Tuesday’s special election for citywide council position 8, the left looks poised to claw back a seat. Next year will bring a larger opportunity, with the mayor and city attorney up for re-election as well as the two citywide council positions. But progressives won’t have a chance at a reliable governing majority until 2027.

So let’s make sure that when we win that majority, we’re prepared to hold onto it. It’s easy to bemoan the hypocrisy of Seattle liberals, the reactionary and ungenerous impulses too often hiding behind those “in this house we believe” yard signs. I’ve done that myself. But if the left can’t maintain the edge in a city where your average voter is at pains to prove his progressive bona fides, what chance do we have at power anywhere?

Sabrina Carpenter, Freakout Festival, and More by EverOut Staff

November is here, which means a deluge of holidays are coming your way, from Election Day to Veterans Day to Thanksgiving. Plus, it's Native American Heritage Month and the first round of festive winter events are coming down the pike. Of course, there's also the usual array of concerts, festivals, food & drink events, and tons more. As we do every month, we've compiled the biggest events you need to know about in every genre, from Sabrina Carpenter to Freakout Festival and from Gobble Up Seattle to Wicked.

Julio Torres: Color Theories
If you're keyed into comedy up-and-comers, you're probably already familiar with Julio Torres, the Salvadoran American SNL writer who also appeared in Search Party, Shrill, Los Espookys, and Fantasmas. Torres' A24 feature Problemista featured Tilda Swinton and a side of surreal quirk, following a Salvadoran toy designer whose work visa runs out as he toils as an assistant for an art-world weirdo. I'm a fan of Torres' thoughts on all things millennial—design aesthetics (wavy mirrors, Canva flyers), internship hell, and crushing student loan debt. This comedy set will continue to tap into the zeitgeist. LINDSAY COSTELLO
The Crocodile, Belltown (Nov 11–12)

Sabrina Carpenter, Freakout Festival, and More by EverOut Staff

There's plenty of first-rate events to check out this week, from Sabrina Carpenter's Short N’ Sweet Tour to Freakout Festival and from Wicked to An Evening with David Sedaris, but first, make sure to VOTE! And for a look at the month ahead, check out our November events guide.

Author Talk and Demo: Bebe Black Carminito, The Curated Board
Truly, is there any occasion where a big spread of snacks isn't welcome? Author Bebe Black Carminito aims to take your entertaining game to the next level with her new book The Curated Board: Inspired Platters for Any Occasion, which shows you how to prepare show-stopping boards and platters with over 50 recipes, including pickled champagne jalapeños, marinated citrus and herb olives, and dill and artichoke dip, as well as drink pairing suggestions. Join her for a board demo, Q&A session, and book signing. JULIANNE BELL
(Book Larder, Fremont)

The 2024 Bainbridge Island Film Festival runs from November 7-10. by Charles Mudede

If catastrophe strikes on Tuesday, and all you can see is four years of gloom and more gloom, then it might be the right time to take a ferry to Bainbridge for two reasons. One, the November-colored waters of Elliott Bay will match and maybe even soothe your mood. (One thing you can always depend on is the love misery has for company.) Two, there is a festival, Bainbridge Film Festival, which features a superb distraction, the comedy Micro Budget.  Directed by Morgan Evans, who has worked for The Onion, the film cannot be praised for originality but for getting the most out of a concept that really should have no gas left in it: The mockumentary.

The plot: An Iowan, Terry (Patrick Noth), decides to relocate to LA to make a movie that can only be, when completed, unspeakably bad. His wife is very pregnant, he doesn't have enough money, and the sun has never shined on his imagination. He hires actors who have many rungs to climb before they come anywhere close to the D List, and the production moves from one absurdity to the next. 

During the filming process, the pregnant wife suffers, the actors suffer, and the members of the production team work without disguising their contempt. All, including the cousin shooting the documentary, are caught in the fantasy of a madman who should have kept his desires in the lowest drawer of his office desk.

We have been there and seen all of that. And yet, Micro Budget, is actually funny and, once in a while, reaches a region that can be called brilliant (particularly in the moments when the director attempts to meet what he imagines to be the woke standards of Hollywood). The film also has a priceless cameo. One you will never expect in a million years.

It's worth watching even if a catastrophe is averted on November 6.

The 2024 Bainbridge Island Film Festival runs from November 7-10.