Images of shadows cast by jet contrails

Jet contrail shadows may appear to be cast by a low-altitude bright light shining upwards. In fact, this shadow is normally cast on clouds below the jet and its contrail. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/jet-contrail-casts-a-shadow…

Final Episode Aired For American Quiz Show Host Alex Trebek

“More than two months after Alex Trebek’s death, fans of Jeopardy! finally got the chance to say goodbye,” reports CBS News:
A video tribute to the host closed Friday’s episode of the quiz show, the final one that Trebek taped before pancreatic cancer claimed his life on November 8. The 90-second montage, set to Hugh Jackman singing the Peter Allen song “Once…

Do Children Really Need To Learn To Code?

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: In India, parents are being aggressively sold the idea that their children must start coding at 4 or 5 or be future failures, prompting Neelesh Misra [a writer, audio storyteller, and founder of a media and organic products company] to ask Do Children Really Need to Learn to Code? [Alternate URL here] In a New York…

92-Year-Old Songwriter Tom Lehrer Releases All His Lyrics Into the Public Domain

Marketplace reports: Songwriter Tom Lehrer became a star in the 1950s and ’60s writing and performing satirical songs that skewered just about everything… Lehrer, 92, announced Tuesday via his website that he’s effectively putting everything he ever wrote into the public domain. That means his lyrics and sheet music are available for anyone to use or perform, without having to pay…

Google Introduces Song Matching via Humming, Whistling or Singing

Google has added a new feature that lets you figure out what song is stuck in your head by humming, whistling or singing — a much more useful version of the kind of song-matching audio feature that it and competitors like Apple’s Shazam have offered previously. From a report: As of today, users will be able to open either the latest…

CDC Revises Coronavirus Guidance To Acknowledge That It Spreads Through Airborne Transmission

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its coronavirus guidance Monday, acknowledging that it can sometimes spread through airborne particles that can “linger in the air for minutes to hours” and among people who are more than six feet apart. From a report: The CDC cited published reports that demonstrated “limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who…

Coronavirus lockdown changed how birds sing in San Francisco

The uniquely quiet circumstances of the covid-19 restrictions in San Francisco saw birds respond by lowering their pitch, singing sexier songs and making their songs clearer Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2255352-coronavirus-lockdown-changed-how-birds-sing-in-san-francisco/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

AI can edit video in real time to sync new audio to people’s lips

An algorithm can rapidly alter video footage of a person talking or singing to make them appear to lip sync to any sound – which could be useful for dubbing movies into different languages Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2254326-ai-can-edit-video-in-real-time-to-sync-new-audio-to-peoples-lips/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Why some rain falls so hard

Some rainstorms drench you in a second, while others drop rain in a nice peaceful drizzle. A meteorologist explains how rainstorms can be so different. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/why-some-rain-falls-so-hard-downpours…

Washington Post: Asymptomatic ‘Superspreaders’ May Be Propelling the Pandemic

Saturday the Washington Post (in an article republished in Stars and Stripes) took a closer look at what’s known as “superspreading events”:
Many scientists say such infection bursts — probably sparked by a single, highly infectious individual who may show no signs of illness and unwittingly share an enclosed space with many others — are driving the pandemic. They worry these cases,…