Tag: The
How Do We Name the Stars?
The UniverseFridays What’s in a (Star’s) Name? With billions of stars in the Milky Way, some nomenclature standardization is necessary By Phil Plait edited by Lee Billings A close-up photograph of the star Betelgeuse as it appears in an antique German sky atlas. Stay connected to The Universe: Get email alerts for this weekly column…
The Human Brainwaves Centennial Exposes a Darker Science History
Opinion The Forgotten History of the Discovery of Human Brainwaves The centennial of the discovery of brain waves in humans exposes a chilling tale involving Nazis, war between Russia and Ukraine, suicide and the vicissitudes of history By R. Douglas Fields edited by Daniel Vergano This year is the centennial of the discovery of human…
Americans Are Moody, and Pollsters Should Pay Attention
Opinion Americans Are Moody, and Pollsters Should Pay Attention The full potential of public opinion polling lies in its ability to illuminate deeper societal trends beyond electoral forecasts By Jennifer Benz In April 2021 the first media poll to measure a possible 2024 electoral match-up between President Joe Biden and former president Trump was commissioned…
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Attempts a Record-Breaking Christmas Eve Flyby
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Preps for Record-Breaking Christmas Eve Flyby The Parker Solar Probe will swoop just 6.1 million kilometers above the sun’s surface on Christmas Eve. Scientists are thrilled at what we might learn By Jonathan O’Callaghan edited by Lee Billings A solar prominence begins to break apart as it towers over the surface…
Y2K seems like a joke now, but in 1999 people were really freaking out
By Jack Mitchell Mike Cupo, a systems operator for Public Service Electric and Gas Company, uses a special red phone to talk via radio to PSE&G staffers in the field, during a simulated Y2K drill at company headquarters in Newark, N.J., on April 9, 1999. Power plant operators across the country held drills to make…
Shyam Benegal, influential director of India’s ‘parallel cinema’, dies aged 90
The film-maker challenged mainstream Bollywood and pioneered a new wave cinema movement in the 1970s that tackled social issues Shyam Benegal, a renowned Indian film-maker known for pioneering a new wave cinema movement that tackled social issues in the 1970s, has died aged 90 after suffering from chronic kidney disease. Benegal passed away on Monday…
Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh dies aged 92
The ex-politician was admitted to hospital on Thursday after his health deteriorated Manmohan Singh, India’s first Sikh prime minister and the architect of the big-bang economic reforms that set the stage for the country’s emergence as a global powerhouse, has died aged 92. A hospital statement attributed Singh’s death to “age-related medical conditions”. The government…