Author: quannd
NASA engineers must quantify everything. But no matter how many equations they use to calculate launch windows, estimate exposure to cosmic radiation or create flight trajectories, there’s one thing they can’t quantify: the mental health of astronauts. And for a while, NASA could get away with it. Early astronauts certainly faced mental challenges — worries over mission failures, the fear of the unknown. But it wasn’t until the arrival of space stations that astronauts began spending months away from home. In 1994, with the building of the International Space Station under way, NASA formed a psychological unit. Now, NASA astronauts…
As little as 9,000 years ago, a sofa-sized turtle paddled around the Brazilian Amazon. The finding, based on a fossilized jawbone, reveals that some of the most massive turtles ever lived relatively close to the modern day. The turtle lived so recently, in fact, it’s possible that people living in South America encountered it, researchers report in the March Biology Letters. In 2007, gold miners digging near the Amazonian city of Porto Velho uncovered the fossilized remains, later determined by researchers to be part of a turtle’s lower jaw. And it was big. “When I saw the material, I was…
The mathematical rules for creating musical harmony may be more malleable than thought. Western music theory traditionally holds that chords sound most pleasant when they contain notes separated by certain intervals (SN: 5/9/23). Namely, intervals where the notes’ frequencies have simple ratios — like 2:1 (an octave) or 3:2 (a fifth). But new research reveals that people’s actual preferred harmonies depend on the timbre of the notes. Timbre is the distinct flavor of sound produced by specific instruments — the reason that the same note played at the same volume sounds different on the piano, guitar or gong. These findings,…
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsAt least 29 people were killed when an Istanbul building was engulfed by a fire that began in an underground nightclub undergoing renovation.Several more were seriously injured in the blaze, which spread through a 16-storey block in the city’s Besiktas district.Six people, including managers of the Masquerade club and a person in charge of the renovations, were detained for questioning, said the city’s governor Davut Gul.Police officers stand next to a building after a fire…
Deadpool and Wolverine might be close to release now, but the surprises are seemingly far from over, as Funko listings reveal another potential cameo With Deadpool & Wolverine on the horizon, yet another exciting potential cameo might just have been revealed by the notoriously informative Funko Pop toy line, giving fans more fuel to the fire of a popular casting theory. Deadpool & Wolverine is the third installment in the Deadpool franchise, bringing Ryan Reynolds’ mech with a mouth and friends into the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe alongside returning Fox Marvel star Hugh Jackman, reprising his iconic role as Wolverine.…
Heavy rains killed eight people, mostly children, and injured 12 in Pakistan’s northwest, an official said Saturday.Downpours in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province caused rooms to collapse, crushing the people inside, according to Anwar Shahzad, a spokesperson for the local disaster management authority.Shahzad said that three of the dead were siblings aged between 3 and 7 years old, from the same family. The casualties occurred in the past 24 hours, he added. Pakistan has this year experienced a delay in winter rains, which started in February instead of November. Monsoon and winter rains cause damage in Pakistan every year.…
His Majesty seemed like he was in good spirits as he was seen attending an Easter service at Windsor Castle with his wife. Image Credit: Samir Hussein/WireImage King Charles looked like he was in a good mood as he left an Easter church service on Sunday, March 31. The king, 75, smiled as he was at Windsor Castle with his wife Queen Camilla, 76. The outing came nearly two months after Charles revealed that he’d been diagnosed with cancer, following a procedure to treat an enlarged prostate. Charles and Camilla were both seen smiling as they walked around St. George’s Chapel for…
The Koppenberg hasn’t always smiled on Mathieu van der Poel. In November 2018, still a few months away from transferring his cyclocross talents to top-level racing on the road, the Dutchman endured a torrid afternoon on its slopes at the Koppenbergcross.After lumbering home in 21st place, an almost unthinkable four minutes down on the day’s winner, Van der Poel could only shake his head in resignation. Even though he had won the race the year before, his relationship with the steep cobbled climb at its heart was always an uneasy one. “No,” Van der Poel said that afternoon. “This is not…
(L-R): Bre-Z as Tamia Cooper, Michael Evans Behling as Jordan Baker, Daniel Ezra as Spencer James, … [+] and Samantha Logan as Olivia BakerTroy Harvey/The CW All American is officially back with another season. To watch the Season 6 premiere live, discover what time new All American episodes drop on The CW and stay updated on the full release schedule so you don’t miss an episode. Created by April Blair, All American is The CW’s hit drama series that premiered in October 2018. The show follows the football journey of Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), and is based on the real-life…
The fossil of a giant ichthyosaur from around 180 million years ago has been discovered at the Rutland Water reservoir in the East Midlands of England. The specimen was discovered by the Rutland Wildlife Trust during works to drain a lagoon island in the reservoir for landscaping. Rutland’s bedrock is entirely Jurassic in age and spans the period between about 195 and 160 million years ago, with the oldest rocks in the southwest and the youngest in the west. Measuring around ten metres in length, the fossil is the largest and most complete ichthyosaur ever found in the UK. Previous…