On July 14, 2015, after nine years and more than 30 billion miles, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew within 7,800 miles of Pluto. As New Horizons passed by the icy world on its one–way journey into the cosmos, it recorded and beamed volumes of priceless data and images that NASA will be busy analyzing for years to come. The flyby was the biggest event in twenty–first–century space exploration and [...]
Abstract binary code background A 56–page manuscript written by Alan Turing, a major contributor to modern computing now known for his code breaking in World War II, has been auctioned by Bonhams auction house in New York. This collection of Turing’s “formulas and scientific musings” is contained in a small notebook, which was sold on April 13, 2015, for $1,025,000. A portion of [...]
With the vast strides we have made in technology, it’s hard to imagine what reading a book will look like in the year 2114. It’s also seemingly impossible to predict what the content of these novels will be. I’m sure Jane Austen never saw Pride and Prejudice and Zombies coming. However, thanks to Scottish artist Katie Paterson, one book slated for publishing in 2114 is [...]
It’s easy for a work of art to be lost to the ages and, unfortunately, all too common. But what about art that’s been hidden behind other art? Though not as common as a piece simply being destroyed, there is a surprising number of paintings underneath other paintings. Discovering these hidden works has been almost impossible until recently, when X–ray technology has given [...]
Can you imagine trying to use your favorite social media site—or any website, really—with all of the text flowing in the opposite direction? ,siht ekil leef dluow tI and it would make said website very cumbersome to interact with. This was the reality that Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu speakers were stuck with until as recently as 2013 for Facebook and 2012 for Twitter. With most [...]
There is no true path to success; everyone moves forward in life at a different speed and in a different way from others. It is comforting to know there are so many ways to get ahead, and when life gets in the way, there are many different ways to catch up. Now there are increasingly more ways to demonstrate the same academic proficiency [...]
If you were to begin talking about pop art, most people will immediately think of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962). If they’re more familiar with the movement, they may consider other works such as Wayne Thiebaud’s Three Machines (1963) or Jasper Johns’s Flag (1954). The subjects of these pieces might seem mundane and everyday, but the pieces are anything but drab and monotonous. A spark of [...]
Great teachers come in many forms and can teach at different grade levels, but they all share one thing: a knack for building their classrooms specifically around their students’ needs. Since October 2014, NPR has been celebrating these excellent educators through their 50 Great Teachers multimedia series. Sarah Hagan of Drumright High School in Oklahoma is determined to make trigonometry and algebra fun; she has brightened [...]
As the internet becomes increasingly ubiquitous and digital overtakes physical reading material, the field of journalism has had to adapt to retain both readers and profits. In my 2015 spring semester at Tufts University, I served as a managing editor of my school’s newspaper, the Tufts Daily, and I can attest to the fact that we, like many other university and professional papers across [...]
Most people and events that gain a permanent spot among those we remember and honor are recalled because of the incredible accomplishments achieved, challenges overcome or substantial benefits made available to our country and world. Examples include Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, Jonas Salk and the development of the polio vaccine, and the United States landing a man on the moon. Unfortunately, [...]