Apple's first M4 Macs also include updated accessories and a tweaked webcam.

The moon mission that never happened illustrates the difference between what we can do, and what we choose to do.

At least nine asteroid missions are underway or coming soon, a recognition of these objects' scientific fascination — and their potential danger.

In the search for alien civilizations, the first step is making sure we understand what it is we're looking for.

The extent of Arctic sea ice may not look as dire right now as in some recent years, but beneath the surface (literally and figuratively), there’s still plenty reason for concern.

May's incredible displays may have been among the strongest in 500 years. Now, the responsible sunspot region is rotating back toward us.

Thanks to clashing air masses and a jet stream sweeping storms along between them, this spring has brought a rash of destructive tornadoes.

With record breaking global temperatures persisting, a new annual global heating record is likely — despite a looming La Niña.

Phytochemicals in fruits and veggies can improve your health. Learn how eating a rainbow of colors can boost your immunity and fight diseases.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station recently captured mind-blowing images of the Northern Lights

It has been over 32 years since Mt. Spurr last erupted, but the Alaskan volcano near Anchorage is showing signs of reawakening.

Worried about the economy, but climate change isn't high on your list of concerns? Keep reading...

Learn what causes aggression for those living with dementia and find gentle ways to comfort your loved one during challenging times.

Should a paper on deaths following surgery have been published as a Christmas special?

A 100-year-old paper anticipated key issues in modern neuroscience

Mapping the emotional responses to deep brain stimulation

Why is it so hard to picture COVID-19?

Celebrate astronomer Maria Mitchell, observe World Water Day and prepare for Citizen Science Month

A study of 14 million research papers reveals a sudden and dramatic change that occurred soon after ChatGPT appeared.

Phones that transmit odors seem like a great idea, but careful what you wish for!

La eclíptica, dicho de manera simple, es el plano de la órbita de la Tierra alrededor del Sol.

The post ¿Qué es la Eclíptica? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the winners of the 16th annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.

The post See the Photos that Won the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Beverly Lynds, a pioneer for women in astronomy and astrophysics, advanced the study of dust-and-gas clouds in the Milky Way.

The post Beverly Turner Lynds, 1929–2024 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Location: Special Collections x-Collection- TL521.A541485 1968

Location: Special Collections Hevelin Collection- PS3553.H4715S46 1978

Location: Main Library- JQ3515.T33 2014

Location: Main Library- TJ114.A65 2015

Location: Law Electronic Resource- 

September's partial lunar eclipse will be the first and only time the Moon ducks into Earth's umbral shadow in 2024. The Moon also occults Saturn and hides members of the Pleiades this month.

The post Harvest Moon Takes a Quick Dip in Earth's Shadow for a Partial Lunar Eclipse appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

As Saturn's rings narrow, now's the time for its moons to shine.

The post See Mutual Events, Close Approaches of Saturn's Moons appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Moon starts the week low in twilight with Venus and Spica, then steps eastward past Antares and the Sagittarius Teapot. Meanwhile, the recurrent nova in Corona Borealis is still keeping us waiting.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 6 – 15 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Moon occults Saturn before dawn on Tuesday morning, then the Moon skims the edge of Earth's shadow for a partial lunar eclipse that evening. Meanwhile, Jupiter and Mars shine in fine view late at night.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 13 – 22 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

In this dark-of-the-Moon week, the Cygnus Milky Way crosses the zenith, and Arcturus, Capella, and Fomalhaut come to a certain balance.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 20 – 29 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

On these moonless evenings, Cassiopeia shows some of its inner workings. The Circlet of Pisces offers a very red star next to a little-known cross. From Vega, Lyra points away from the head of Draco.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 27 – October 6 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The waxing crescent Moon passes Venus, then Antares, in the western twilight. Several days later, Comet Tsuchinshan starts stealing the twilight show for everyone in the world's north temperate latitudes!

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, October 4 – 13 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS enters its week of glory for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Don't let any clear twilight slip by!

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, October 11 – 20 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS fades and shrinks as it rises high into a darker sky. Venus passes Antares. The waning Moon passes the Pleiades, Jupiter, and Mars. Arcturus becomes the Ghost of Summer Suns.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, October 18 – 27 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Fading Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS poses high in a moonless sky for its fans with binoculars and telescopes, even as we wave farewell for at least a hundred thousand years, maybe forever. Meanwhile four brighter, more permanent members of the solar system await attention.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, October 25 – November 3 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Newfound Comet ATLAS (C/2024 S1) could dazzle – or fizzle.

The post There Won't Be a Second Bright Comet This Month (Update) appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The thin crescent Moon pairs beautifully with Venus low in Monday's twilight. And be on the lookout for any Taurid fireballs this week!

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 1 – 10 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The stars betray that we've tipped from the season of warm evenings to the cold (or at least crisp). And the Moon this week skims Saturn, then the Pleiades.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 8 – 17 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Bridgetown (Barbados) - Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic)

[Finish line of The Amazing Race 36, Episode 9, at the Anfiteatro La Puntilla in Puerto Plata, with the Taino Bay cruise port in the background. Screenshot from CBS television broadcast.]

It's a sign of the times that The Amazing Race made its first visit to the Dominican Republic this season. The DR has had the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean or Central America for the last twenty years, and is now the region's largest economy. A substantial part of that economic growth, and a deliberate target of the government's efforts to attract investment, has been tourism.

Until a decade ago, more money came into the DR through remittances from Dominicans living and working abroad, mainly in the USA, than from any other source. Since then, boosted by government policies to promote tourism development, revenues from international tourism to the DR have doubled, passing remittances as the country's largest source of foreign exchange.

The DR is the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola; Haiti is the the western third of the island. If the DR doesn't get as much notice abroad, that's partly because it's a relatively stable, middle-income country, not notable for poverty, wealth, or war. "If it bleeds, it leads", and the DR hasn't had the crises that have brought so much attention (although little understanding or empathy) to its closest neighbor.

To put the situation in perspective, per capita income in the DR is half what it is in Barbados, the last previous destination visited by The Amazing Race 36, but five times that of Haiti. A major issue in the DR is immigration from Haiti and ongoing discrimination in the DR against a racially stigmatized underclass of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry.

International tourism rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic much more quickly in the DR than in most other countries. There were more foreign visitors to the DR in 2022 than there had been in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. As they started travelling again after the worst of the pandemic, some visitors from the USA probably chose the DR as a destination closer and a shorter flight away than other places they might otherwise have gone.

Other visitors come to the DR -- especially to the area around Puerto Plata where this episode of The Amazing Race took place -- on a growing number of cruise ships. The main challenge for the racers took place at the Damajagua waterfalls, which are promoted primarily as a shore excursion for cruise ship passengers. I had hoped that the pandemic might kill off the cruise industry as we know it, or at least reduce demand for cruises enough that some cruise ships might be repurposed for transportation. I was wrong. Cruising is back with a vengeance.

Puerto Plata has only a tenth of the population of the country's capital city and main cargo port, Santo Domingo, but Puerto Plata is overwhelmingly and increasingly the dominant cruise ship port of call in the DR. There are two cruise ports in the Puerto Playa area, one purpose-built and operated exclusively for Carnival Cruise Lines at Amber Cove, and the Taino Bay Cruise Port in the center of the city that was visible in the background at the finish line of this episode of The Amazing Race 36.

Next week The Amazing Race 36 returns to the USA. For the season finale, two episodes have apparently been edited down to a total of an hour and a half of broadcast time to suit the demands of CBS television schedulers. Stay tuned!

[Originally published by Responsible Statecraft, the journal of the Quincy Institute]

Two proposals that would radically alter the current system for registering Americans for a future draft were introduced recently in Congress without any hearings or debate.

They raise practical issues about whether any draft today would even be possible.

As part of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the House voted this month to make registration with the Selective Service System of all draft-eligible men ages 18-26 “automatic.” In addition, the version of the NDAA on its way to the Senate floor would expand draft registration to include young women now, too.

Debate about the draft has typically been framed around whether the U.S. “needs'' a draft. Debate about women and the draft has been framed around whether women “should” be required to register. But the bigger question we face is three fold: will women sign up voluntarily (if in fact registration is not “automatic”), is “automatic” registration based on other databases feasible, and can registration or a draft – for men and/or women -- even be enforced.

When I was invited to testify before the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) in 2019, I told them that “any proposal that includes a compulsory element is a naïve fantasy unless it includes a credible enforcement plan and budget.... Women will be more likely to resist being forced into the military than men have been, and more people will support them in their resistance.”

Library - Art Library, Location - OSIZ, Call number - FOLIO ND2470 .P35 2016

Library - Art Library, Location - LIB, Call number - NA7348.P2 C44 2017

Library - Art Library, Location - OSIZ, Call number - FOLIO N7330.S5 S53 2015

Library - Art Library, Location - LIB, Call number - N6510 .J37 2016

Library - Art Library, Location - LIB, Call number - RC455 .E45 2017

Library - Art Library, Location - OSIZ, Call number - FOLIO NA2890 .V55 2008

Library - Art Library, Location - LIB, Call number - N332.G33 B4337 2017