Good News in History, September 7

Happy 94th Birthday to Walter Sonny Rollins was born. Widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians, Rollins’ seven-decade career has seen 60 records released with him as band leader. A number of his compositions, including St. Thomas, Oleo, Doxy, and Airegin have become jazz standards. Rollins has been called “the […]

Tiny Fossil Reveals Penguin’s Surprisingly Useful Wings and How They Evolved

nnSometimes, certain aspects of an animal’s biology can seem completely redundant, such as the tiny arms of a T. rex, or wings on a flightless bird.nnBut thanks to a recent study of fossilized penguin wings, researchers were able to pinpoint when these birds had turned their seemingly pointless wings into powerful diving aides.nnA joint research team […]

Facebook Saves a Life with its AI Alerting Local Police of a Suicide in Progress

nnToday, when people mention mental health and Facebook in the same sentence, it almost never bears a positive connotation.nnBut at least for one young woman in Lucknow, India, there’s a very good reason to make such a connection, as an AI working for Meta alerted local police that she was about to commit suicide.nnThe 23-year-old […]

Good News in History, September 6

29 years ago today, Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s baseball record when he played in his 2,131st consecutive game. Once considered a near-impossible feat, “the streak,” which continued for 2,632 games, earned Cal the nickname, Iron Man. The televised game, between the Orioles and the California Angels, still ranks as one of the most […]

Watch This Mushroom Propel a Robot Across the Ground—We’re Not Joking

nnThere’s no question that when most people think of robotics, they imagine a field of metal, mechanisms, and wires.nnYet today, in the growing field of biohybrid robotics, one can watch as a traditional robot is animated to mechanical life at the command of a mushroom.nnA mushroom’s fungal filaments, known as mycelia, are known to carry […]