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Its been more than 20 years since audiences were first introduced to Bill Nye, the scientist and entertainer who helped make science fun for a generation of viewers. Now, like so many of our 90s favorites, hes back.

Bill Nye Saves the Worldis an evolution of the original, tapping into some of what made Bill Nye the Science Guy fun, but not without some experimental hiccups along the way.Some fans will inevitably compare Nyes new endeavor with his Emmy Award-winning educational series, which shares the explanations of science and chants of Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! But where Bill Nye the Science Guy was geared toward children, Bill Nye Saves the Worldaims at the children he likely taught when they were younger, now grown up.

The show is less about What is this cool thing? and more Heres a scientific topic that will affect us and the Earth, now what do we do with that? (Though the show does include definitions of relevant jargon your average fan of science might not know.)

Filmed in front of a live studio audience, Nye introduces a new topic every episode with a mix of experiments and explanations, reports from special correspondents, and a wide-ranging discussion with a panel of experts. Theyre more complex than what fans are usually used to, and Nye and his guests could easily spend more than 30 minutes discussing them.

Eddy Chen/Netflix

Nye isnt beholden to the idea of presenting facts and conspiracies as two equal options in a scientific debate in the name of impartiality. So for episodes where scientists state something as fact, Nye doesnt have to entertain alternate viewpointsthat have no basis in fact. Episodes around these topicslike vaccines, alternative medicine, and climate changefocus less on whether it exists andmore on how, which can lead to more nuanced and fascinating discussions. Climate change in particular is something Nye has spoken extensively about.

For other topics that dont necessarily have a right and wrong answer, the discussion can sometimes wanderastray. Episodes that dont have a cohesive conversationmost visible during expert panelsare the weakest part of the series. Nye usually participates as a guest in discussions (with panels containing other familiar faces), but ultimately hes the host. He gets off to a rocky start in that role, but he does improve over the course of the six episodes offered to critics.

Nyes correspondents and experiment guests include celebrities, scientists, and some of Nyes real-life friends, and they offer new perspectives on topics even scientists might not have considered. He still pulls off wacky experiments, whether hes using a Pepe the Frog-shaped shredder, riding in a self-driving car to get ice cream, or bringing in an MLB power hitter to illustrate a bigger point. The experiments are more complex than were used to seeing, but Nye and his guests are clearly having fun with everything. Fortunately he still has his handy blue lab coat, which he puts on before performing experiments.

And you cant argue with the timeliness of some of his episodes, some of which could be ripped from recent headlines.

Bill Nye Saves the World is a work in progress, butits sprinkledwith enough nostalgic factors to satisfy his older fans without being completely overwhelmed by them. Nye might not save the world on his own, but he does offer the tools and the knowledge for viewers to join the fight.

All 13 episodes of Bill Nye Saves the World drop on Netflix April 21.

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'Bill Nye Saves the World' gives millennials a grown-up dose of science magic - The Daily Dot

WOOD RIVER JCT. Chariho Tech students brought home plenty of gold medals from the state SkillsUSA career and technical school competition on April 4. They will now go on to compete in the SkillsUSA nationals in June.

We brought in 14 gold medals, 12 silver and nine bronze medals in 17 different areas, Director Susan Votto said. Every year we try to compete in more and more competitions. I know they are very well-prepared by the instructors here at the center, and the students are motivated and they want to win and they want to do their best.

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives. The organizations mission is to prepare career and technical students to enter the workforce. Chariho Superintendent of Schools Barry Ricci said the state competition motivated students to elevate their game.

The SkillsUSA competition is a great event as it allows our students to compete against the very best students in Rhode Island, he said. As a result, expectations are raised for everyone. Im so proud of the accomplishments of our students in the SkillsUSA competition. The number of medals received is a tribute to not only the hard work of Chariho tech students, but also to their skilled and dedicated instructors.

Joseph Penhallow, Olivia Pellegino and Nick Edwards won the gold medal in crime scene investigation.

During our junior year, we had a chance to compete at the state competition, so this is our second time around, so it wasnt as nerve-wracking as the first time, Penhallow said. There were nine schools, including us.

Pellegrino said the biggest challenge was meeting the deadline.

Time management was probably our biggest challenge, getting everything done that we had to get done, she said. They were asking us to basically investigate the scene. We had to start with photography, which is what I do, and we also had to measure all the evidence and collect it in under 30 minutes.

I like that it gives students a chance to practice real-word skills before theyre even in college, Edwards added.

Drew Anderson placed first in criminal justice, a field he intends to enter when he graduates from college.

We had to do several different scenarios, such as car stops, and we also had to do other case-law scenarios. Theyd give us a scenario and wed have to handle the scenario. Im going to a four-year college to get a degree in criminal justice.

Criminal justice instructor Lt. Bob Wild had nine students in this years state competition.

Were back to the nationals again this year, which is something weve done three years in a row, he said. This will be our fourth year from crime scene investigation. I have some very talented students. I think theyll do wonders when they get into their careers in law enforcement. Theyre going to be assets wherever they go. Theyre hardworking, dedicated students.

Engineering and drafting students Hunter Claudio and Jordan Beason took first place in the mobile robotics competition.

We upset the entire room and knocked all the big teams off their pedestals, Claudio said. We really stuttered for a little bit, but we came back and just hit it back really strong.

The Chariho teams robot was small and simple a good fit, Beason said, for this contest.

One of the things about the competition was to have a small footprint with our building materials, and we also wanted to make it simple to program, so we made this simple robot that could pick up objects and move them over this fence, he said. Halfway through the match they had something called the engineering challenge where they switched the rules of the competition and our robot really favored the new rules that they came up with.

Wyatt Petrichko won a silver medal and a $1,500 scholarship in computer technology and game design.

We repaired two computers and we also did some service on the computer, making sure it was eligible for our remote desktop connection, stuff like that, he said. The scholarship was a big surprise. Im very excited about that.

In the aesthetics competition, Isla Magnusen and Melissa Morrill took first prize.

I won gold in aesthetics, which is basically makeup application and fantasy makeup, Magnusen said. It was kind of difficult. I felt the most prepared in the room, though.

Morrill was Magnusens model.

I think we made a really good team, because we communicate well, silent communication, and we know each other very well, she said.

Culinary arts student Arianna Angelly won a gold medal for her three-course meal.

I made a roasted cream of broccoli and garlic soup, a balsamic salad, and I made a pan-seared chicken breast with a white wine-mushroom pan sauce, rice pilaf and roasted zucchini, she said.

Angelly, who won a gold medal in the state competition last year, came in sixth at nationals, but this year, she said she was going for the top prize.

This year, I want to place first, she said.

cdrummond@thewesterlysun.com

@cynthiadrummon4

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Chariho Tech takes SkillsUSA state golds, students qualify for nationals - The Westerly Sun

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On the other hand, Trumps Syrian misadventure is immoral, violates every promise he ran on, and could sink his presidency.

Left to his own devices, uncontaminated by Washington group-think, Trump gets it right.

Back in 2013, when President Obama was being egged on to attack Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack far more sweeping than this latest one, Trump tweeted:

Aug. 29, 2013:

What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.

Aug. 31, 2013:

Be prepared, there is a small chance that our horrendous leadership could unknowingly lead us into World War III.

Sept. 1, 2013:

If the U.S. attacks Syria and hits the wrong targets, killing civilians, there will be worldwide hell to pay. Stay away and fix broken U.S.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly stated that he had no interest in starting World War III over Syria, saying, We have bigger problems than Assad. His policy position was: Let Syria and ISIS fight. I look at Assad and Assad looks better than the other side.

Trump was right on every point.

Assad is one of the least bad leaders in the entire Middle East. Hes not a murderous thug like Saddam, has no rape rooms, isnt into jihad, protects Christians, and is fighting ISIS. He provided us with intelligence on al-Qaida after 9/11. He does not have crazy Islamic police slapping women around or throwing gays off buildings. (That would be our beloved ally, Saudi Arabia.)

Trump was also correct about Assads opponents being far worse, containing large helpings of both ISIS and al-Qaida.

As awful as it was to see those dead children, Trump knew that Americas first duty is to our own children.

We have never succeeded at turning a Third World dictatorship into a paradise. The history of these things is that removing a Middle Eastern strongman always makes things worse for example, in Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Egypt.

We leap in, thinking were helping the poor devils under the thumb of a dictator and then the new tribe takes over and oppresses everyone else, usually much more brutally, while hating us even more than the old tribe did.

If voters wanted more Middle Eastern wars, there were plenty of other candidates offering that: Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, and Hillary Clinton, for example. And we must never forget Jeb! though it proved surprisingly easy to do so in 2016.

But we picked Trump.

While most of the left wailed about the return of Nazi Germany under Trump, savvier liberals saw his vulnerability: flattery. All we have to do is praise him! Youll be shocked at how easy it is.

And, boy, did they lay it on thick with the Syrian misadventure. No suckers bait was left on the floor. Cable news hosts gushed, Trump became president of the United States tonight! On MSNBC, Brian Williams called the bombing beautiful three times in less than a minute. Sen. Lindsey Graham (one of the women of the Senate, according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) compared Trump to Reagan. The New York Times headlined an article, On Syria Attack, Trumps Heart Came First.

My nightmare scenario: Trump and Jared watching TV together and high-fiving: DID YOU SEE THE NEWS! THEY LOVE YOU! All Trump had to do was pointlessly bomb another country, and it was as if a genie had granted his every wish.

Looking for some upside to this fiasco, desperate Trump supporters bleated that bombing Assad had sent a message to North Korea. Yes, the message is: The Washington establishment is determined to manipulate the president into launching counterproductive military strikes. Our enemies both foreign and domestic would be delighted to see our broken country further weaken itself with pointless wars.

Was America strengthened by the Iraq War? The apparently never-ending Afghanistan War? Vietnam? This is how great powers die, which is exactly what the left wants.

Administration policy was heading in the wrong direction at 90 mph, but thank God, Trump seems to have grabbed the steering wheel and hit the brakes. Notwithstanding the hopes and dreams of Clausewitzian military strategist Nikki Haley, we will not be engaging in regime change in Syria or starting World War III with Russia today.

We want the president of America back not the president of the world.

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Ann Coulter: Lassie, Come Home - Breitbart News

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Vladimir Putin may be having some buyers remorse when it comes to his decision to back Donald Trump in 2016.

Vladimir Putin has learned the same thing about Donald Trump that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton [did.], crowed Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough. He is unpredictable.

Scarborough continued:

How fascinating that Vladimir Putin, if he thought he was going to influence politics in America, it hasnt turned out that way, he said. Other than hes got Ann Coulter on his side, so hes got that. But other than that, its not working out very well for Putin.

Wow, said fellow host MikaBrzezinski. perhaps in anticipation of this article.

Oh wait and Sean Hannity, hes got Sean Hannity on his side, Scarborough added for good measure.

The panel, which included show regulars, Richard Haas andWillie Geist expressed a general fascination with the swiftly souring relations between Trump and his Russian counterpart in the aftermath of the presidents recent airstrike against Syria.

This is not what [Putin]bargained for said.Haass.

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Scarborough: Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity Are 'On [Putin's] Side' - Mediaite

North Korea is prepared to preempt any "reckless" military intervention from the United States under the "more vicious and more aggressive" President Trump, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told The Associated Press in an interview published Friday.

"We've got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands, and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a U.S. preemptive strike," Han said. "Whatever comes from the U.S., we will cope with it. We are fully prepared to handle it."

His comments follow a Thursday report from NBC News citing unnamed senior intelligence officials who said the U.S. is prepared to launch a conventional attack, including American boots on the ground, on North Korea if the isolated nation conducts another nuclear weapons test. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin, however, said "multiple senior defense officials" denied NBC's report, calling it "wildly wrong."

Such a test is expected as soon as this Saturday, April 15, when Pyonyang celebrates the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founding president of the regime. Kim Jong Un, the founder's grandson and the current leader, has hinted a major new weapons test may be scheduled for that day. Last weekend, a U.S. Navy carrier strike group changed course and moved toward North Korea in what was understood to be a show of force against Pyongyang. Bonnie Kristian

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Ann Coulter is puzzled why Trump would hit Syria's Assad, 'one of ... - The Week Magazine