When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…
Tag: achievements
Today in science: A spacecraft obliterated a sundog
On February 11, 2010, a solar observatory launched into space ripped apart a sundog and created a new ice halo that amazed scientists. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/video-when-a-spacecraft-destroyed-a-sundog…
How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it
Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land on its far side, it has also planted a flag on lunar soil and brought samples back to…
The largest-ever catalog of gravitational waves released
One of humankind’s greatest achievements was made on 14th Sept 2015 when the first direct detection of a gravitational wave event was made using the aLIGO observatories in Washington State and Louisana in the U.S. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-largest-ever-gravitational.html…
Quantum Computer Makers Like Their Odds For Big Progress
For years, quantum computing has been the preserve of academics. New advances, however, are pushing this potentially revolutionary technology toward practical applications. From a report: At the Q2B conference this month, quantum computer makers Google, IBM, Honeywell, IonQ and Xanadu detailed specific steps they expect by 2024 that will push their machines further down the road of commercial practicality. Those achievements…
World’s space achievements a bright spot in stressful 2020
Astronauts blasted into orbit from the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade, three countries sent spacecraft hurtling toward Mars, and robotic explorers grabbed rocks from the moon and gravel from an asteroid for return to Earth. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-world-space-bright-stressful.html…
IBM Apologizes For Firing Computer Pioneer For Being Transgender… 52 Years Later
On August 29, 1968, IBM’s CEO fired computer scientist and transgender pioneer Lynn Conway to avoid the public embarrassment of employing a transwoman. Nearly 52 years later, in an act that defines its present-day culture, IBM is apologizing and seeking forgiveness. Jeremy Alicandri writes via Forbes reports: On January 2, 1938, Lynn Conway’s life began in Mount Vernon, NY. With a…
Deleting Your Facebook Account Forfeits Oculus VR Games You Already Paid For
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Polygon: In August, Facebook announced that consumers who use its Oculus virtual reality headsets would be required to log in with their Facebook accounts in order to play games. The transition went into effect earlier this month, and it comes with a catch. If at any point you decide to delete your Facebook account,…
Harvard Professor Challenges ‘The Meritocratic Hubris of Elites’
“Universities have been conscripted as the arbiters of opportunity, as the dispensers of the credentials, as the sorting machine,” warns a Harvard political philosopher, in a new interview in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “The Insufferable Hubris of the Well-Credentialed.” The meritocratic hubris of elites is the conviction by those who land on top that their success is their own…
Daria’s career journey: from HVAC systems to UX research
We’d like to introduce you to Daria. She’s an amazing Coursera learner, whose career journey has taken her from designing HVAC systems in Kyiv to UX design in California. She tells her story below in a series of chapters, and along the way, offers some valuable career advice for anyone who’s hoping to make a […]
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