The illusive and secluded Randall’s Island, located on Manhattan’s east river, came alive last weekend. Thousands of New Yorkers and out-of-towners made their way across the many bridges that connect Randall’s Island to Manhattan for one of the biggest New York City parties of the summer, The Governors Ball Music Festival. The festival is still new at heart, and although it’s only in its second year of running, has already established a reputation for being a must-go event in NYC.

This year the festival not only lived up to, but exceeded its high expectations, with a little help from Mother Nature. As the sun beamed down on the island all day it was impossible not to become enthralled with the great atmosphere, food, energy and, of course, music this event offered. The vibe throughout the two-day festival was varied; much like the bands and DJ’s playing.

While there were some who climbed on top of others’ shoulders in the stage pits, there were also those who preferred the safety of the ground and caught some rays while sunbathing in the spacious park.

Those who wanted to be in the hot spot could join the rest of the ravers at one of the two available stages. While volleyballs, and at times people, were thrown in the air, the bands kept the crowds dancing and enthusiastic throughout the day. The Saturday line-up consisted of both well-known and amateur bands and DJ’s, but all acts managed to captivate the attention of their audiences.

The oversized 10 foot volleyball became the center of attention during Major Lazor’s performance, until his famous ‘take your shirt off and spin it in the air’ move captured the crowd’s attention even more. Pretty soon the majority of the audience was shirtless jumping up and down, waving with their shirts in the air, on Lazor’s demand. Things heated up even further when he preformed his well-known hit, “Pon de Floor;” even the sunbathers came out to join the party for this one.

Duck Sauce, best known for their single “Barbra Streisand,” decided that just in case onlookers were not aware who was playing, they would place a massive inflatable duck on their stage so there was no confusion. As entertaining as Duck Sauce was, they were nothing compared to the conga line consisting of over one hundred human bodies that so happened to form while their set was playing. Some fans wore pretend yellow duck noses, which unintentionally blended into the stage décor.

Passion Pit was by far one of the most crowd-pleasing bands of the day. Beginning at 8pm they had the entire audience jumping to their beats. As the sun began to fade away into the night, the festival was brightened by artificial lights from the stage and lanterns hanging from the clear sky.

The last act to headline the stage was well-known rapper and performer, Kid Kudi. Considering the festival had now been going strong for 12 hours, he managed to do a stand up job with exciting his fans. He kept the energy alive while performing some of his well-known hit songs, such as “Day and Night” and “Memories.” It was clear that this was the act that everybody was waiting around too see. The sun no longer shined, but the crowds kept the festival alight with glow sticks and aluminous clothing.

Others notable acts that preformed on Saturday, June 23rd included, Santigold, Atmosphere, Chromeo, Penguin Prison, Walk the Moon and Big Gigantic.

Countless food trucks, beer stalls, and amazing music, and what was the best thing about this two-day event? There was absolutely no overlap. How many festivals do you know of that offer this wonderful feature?

Image Courtesy of  laubarnes

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A team of chemistry researchers in the United Kingdom has discovered a molecule that could potentially halt global warming and its effects by cleaning the atmosphere of pollutants and producing clouds.

In the 1950s, German chemist Rudolph Criegee postulated the existence of these molecules, which are known as the Criegee biradicals or Criegee intermediates. Criegee biradicals were confirmed only recently because the means to observe had not been developed until now. They are extremely reactive and elusive: once they form, they immediately bond with other chemicals.

The researchers, from the Universities of Manchester and Bristol and the Sandia National Laboratories, accidentally detected the molecule while performing an experiment with a synchrotron, which used light from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Light Source.

The intense light allowed the researchers to discern the Criegee biradicals’ formation and eliminate those of similarly arranged molecules. Upon detecting them, the team further observed the Criegee biradicals reacting in atmospheric conditions in the synchrotron. They learned that the molecules formed rapidly – faster than imagined – and accelerated in formation when in the presence of pollutants.

“Criegee radicals have been impossible to measure until this work carried out at the Advanced Light Source,” says Dr. Carl Percival, Reader in Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Manchester and co-author of the team’s paper, in the University of Manchester’s media release. “We have been able to quantify how fast Criegee radicals react for the first time.”

Criegee biradicals oxidize pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide into nitrates and sulfates. These compounds initiate the development of aerosols, tiny particles that deflect solar radiation into space. Aerosol formation ultimately leads to cloud formation, which cools the Earth by blocking sunlight.

These reactions can occur anytime. According to Dr. Percival, “The main source of these Criegee biradicals does not depend on sunlight and so these processes take place throughout the day and night.”

“But the fact is that these [intermediates] haven’t been studied before,” George Marston tells LiveScience.com, “so it’s difficult to know what you would really expect.” Marston, who did not partake in the research, is a chemist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

The Criegee biradicals have not yet been observed in action in the atmosphere, so the idea of the molecules controlling the Earth’s climate remains hypothetical. Initiating the formation of Criegee biradicals and controlling their reactions at such a large scale would be a difficult task for scientists to undertake.

Furthermore, the geoengingeering project may backfire; the atmosphere is still complex and not well understood. ”This is very much the beginning of a much more extensive systematic study,” Marston adds.

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