Faced with an ALS diagnosis, Christopher and Lisa Valentine Clark gave themselves—and everyone else—permission to laugh at the disease. For example, when it slurred his speech, Chris said, “ALS has taken many things away from me but one thing it’s given me is the ability to play an incredibly convincing Frankenstein.” After dealing with the long, slow ALS decline through humor, Chris passed away last month. Read how the couple’s life together might have felt tragic if it hadn’t also been so . . . funny.

The BYU Committee on Race, Equity, and Belonging recently launched race.byu.edu, which features its mission statement, updates, a list of resources, and a portal where individuals can submit their experiences, questions, and concerns. Don’t miss the Instagram story introducing the committee members.

A year ago, BYU professor Joe Price suggested using his computer algorithm to match people in a FamilySearch database. Now “Saints by Sea” has set sail, sharing the records of thousands of individuals who immigrated to the United States. Learn about the collaboration and seek out your seafaring ancestors.

In her 2018 devotional, Carolina Núñez shared how we can better love our neighbors, even those who are completely different than us. “The Samaritan made space in his life, both physically and mentally, for the injured man and got close to him,” she said. “This was not abstract compassion. It was concrete. This was not arm’s-length love. This was an embrace.” Enjoy a new highlight video or read or watch the full address.

BYU researchers analyzed more than 115 scientific studies on masks. What did they learn? “Masks could be one of the most powerful and cost-effective tools to stop COVID-19 and accelerate the economic recovery,” they said. And, in case you missed it, here is BYU’s plan for an in-person fall semester with adjustments for the health and safety of the campus community during the pandemic.

Peek over the fence at the progress being made on the new Music Building using these two live feeds from campus. Located east of the BYU Law School, the School of Music’s performance and academic space should be completed by fall semester 2022.

Richard Burt, a talented trumpet player attending BYU at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, volunteered for the military, eventually serving as a performer with the 746th Far East Air Force Band. At war’s end, the group recorded several songs on a wire recorder in a tent in the Philippines. Back home, Burt had the music pressed into 76 RPM vinyl records that then went missing for years. Watch the intriguing story of how a grandson uncovered the recordings and is sharing the legacy of his trumpet-playing soldier ancestor.

Leave your umbrellas at home! BYU Noteworthy showers viewers with another YouTube live session, a performance of “It’s Raining Men.” On their Insta they admit that while this bop is a blast to sing, “raining cats and dogs sounds . . . much more cuddly.”

BYU Sports Nation talked with athletic director Tom Holmoe about the state of sports, including football scheduling, fans in the stands, and testing protocols. In other sports news, here’s the fall sports announcement from the WCC Presidents’ Council as well as quotes from coaches and athletes in the 2019–20 BYU Athletics Annual Report.

Looking for a way to detect wildfires before they rage out of control, a group of BYU engineering students teamed up with UTOPIA Fiber to create a new early-detection tool that could save communities thousands of dollars and, more important, save lives. Learn how it works.