Month: April 2018

The Sun’s Lost Siblings Could Be Found in Unprecedented ‘DNA’ Survey of 1 Million Stars – Newsweek

An international team of astronomers has revealed the chemical composition of 350,000 stars in the Milky Way as part of an unprecedented sky-scanning project which could reveal the Sun’s lost siblings. This is the first major data release from the … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

First Video Uploaded to YouTube (2005)

One of the most well-known examples of meteoric success on the Internet, the highly popular video sharing website YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in 2005. The next year, it was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion. Within a few years, more than 25 quadrillion bytes of videos were being streamed from the site each month from myriad sources, amateur and professional alike. However, it all started with a single video, uploaded in April 2005, titled what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Stephen A. Douglas (1813)

Short and heavyset, Douglas was dubbed “the Little Giant” for his oratorical skill. In 1858, he engaged in a number of widely publicized debates with Abraham Lincoln in a close contest for the Senate seat in Illinois. The Democrats nominated Douglas for president in 1860, but a splinter group of Southerners chose a different nominee, which divided the Democratic vote and gave the presidency to Lincoln. What extraordinary gesture was Douglas said to have offered at Lincoln’s inauguration in 1861? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Flood Myths

The story of a great flood sent by a deity to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution appears in many ancient cultural traditions. Though it is best known in the modern Western world through the Biblical story of Noah’s ark, other versions, such as stories of Matsya in the Hindu Puranas, Deucalion in Greek mythology, and Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh, are also well known. What do scientists believe accounts for the flood myth’s prevalence in so many cultures? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Defending the world’s hottest pepper, a grower explains how to safely eat it

A farmer is defending a chile pepper dubbed the hottest on Earth that reportedly landed a man in a hospital with “thunderclap headaches.” Salvatore Genovese, who runs a seven-acre farm in Bedfordshire, England, recently told Sky News that the small but … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

SWAT Team Retrieves Elián González from Relatives in Miami (2000)

In late 1999, 5-year-old Elián González and his mother left Cuba on a boat with a dozen other people seeking asylum in the US. Elián’s mother and several others died during the voyage, and Elián was found on an inner tube by fishermen off the coast of Florida. He was released into the custody of his uncle in Miami, but his father in Cuba pressed for his return. The custody dispute ended in an armed raid on the Miami house, and Elián returned to Cuba with his father. What has he said since? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Earth Day

The first Earth Day was observed on April 22, 1970, to draw public attention to the need for cleaning up the earth’s air and water and for conserving our natural resources. Earth Day is now observed regularly throughout the United States and in many other countries. Typical ways of celebrating Earth Day include planting trees, picking up roadside trash, and conducting various programs for recycling and conservation. Schoolchildren may be asked to use only recyclable containers for their snacks and lunches, and families often try to give up wasteful habits. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Rita Levi-Montalcini (1909)

A dual citizen of Italy and the US, Levi-Montalcini did her most important work with American biochemist Stanley Cohen. Studying mouse tumors implanted in chicken embryos, the pair isolated a nerve-growth factor in 1952, the first of many cell-growth factors found in animals. For this discovery, they were awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In 2001, she was made a “senator for life” in the Italian senate. In what unusual place did Levi-Montalcini build her first laboratory? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary