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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

To Make Japan's Original Sushi, First Age...

In the Japanese city of Wakayama, a stone’s throw away from ancient castle ruins and the Kumano river, a 74-year-old restaurant called Toho Chaya specializes in an ancient form of sushi. To make narezushi, the restaurant packs rice inside salty fish carcasses and ages them for months. Toho Chaya has always done things the old-fashioned way, from making narezushi to conducting an interview by fax machine. “Since it is made by fermentation, it tastes similar to cheese or yogurt,”……

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An Australian Town's Identity Rests on a...

The afternoon is overcast, the ocean churning, between Port Fairy and Warrnambool, on the Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia. A man and woman carry shovels and a metal detector along the beach. I ask if they are looking for Warrnambool’s notorious wreck, the Mahogany Ship. Without hesitation, the man answers: “I’ve been searching for the Mahogany Ship for 15 years.” The Shipwreck Coast is a dramatic 80-mile stretch of jagged cliffs and deep gorges, limestone formations and towering dunes…….

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Found: A Nazi 'Enigma' Machine at the...

When the marine biologist Michael ßwat descended to the seabed of the Bay of Gelting on the western edge of the Baltic Sea, he noticed a contraption tangled up in the fishing line the crew had headed down to collect. The device, which at first seemed like an old typewriter sitting under at least 30 feet of water, was a Nazi Enigma machine, likely one of hundreds abandoned and thrown overboard in the dying days of the German war……

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MIT Society of Women Engineers’ journey into...

When the student body was sent home last March in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the MIT Society of Women Engineers (SWE), one of the largest student organizations on campus with over 400 undergraduate and graduate student members, faced its biggest challenge yet — transitioning nearly 70 in-person programming events to an entirely virtual experience. The group worked tirelessly throughout the summer — when most MIT clubs and organizations were not in session — on ways to adapt……

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Portable device can quickly detect plant stress

Researchers at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) have designed a portable optical sensor that can monitor whether a plant is under stress. The device offers farmers and plant scientists a new tool for early diagnosis and real-time monitoring of plant health in field conditions. Precision agriculture is an important strategy for tackling growing food insecurity through sustainable farming practices, but it requires new technologies for rapid diagnosis of plant stresses……

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The cauldrons of gold theory of media...

Another week, another email newsletter. This time, the story is Punchbowl, a politics-centric newsletter founded by a crop of recent Politico alums including Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan. Ben Smith has the story, as does Maxwell Tani at the Daily Beast with some more juicy details. Why do we need another newsletter analyzing Beltway politics in a world of Politico Playbook, Axios, The Daily 202 and a hundred others? In fact, why do we need the voluminous……

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One Way Ventures, a firm focused on...

One Way Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs immigrant founders, has closed its second fund at $57.5 million. The close comes three years after One Way announced its debut fund, a $28 million investment vehicle. The new fund will allow One Way to grow their check size from $500,000 to $1 million, giving them the ability to lead institutional seed rounds at a faster clip, says founding partner Semyon Dukach. The bigger fund is par for the course……

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Church of Agia Fotini Mantineias in Tripoli,...

This unique Greek Orthodox church is located on a plain where the ancient city of Mantineia was formerly situated. Construction on the church began in 1969 and it was inaugurated in 1978. No cement was used during the building process, only natural materials such as stone, marble, wood, and tiles. There are rumors that the church was constructed with materials taken from ancient Greek structures such as pillars, stones, and mosaics. The church was created by architect Konstantinos Papatheodorou……

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Wreck of the Steamship Helena in Bigfork,...

In the years before roads and automobiles made commuting around Flathead Lake easier, steamships ruled the waves. The Helena stood out among the fleet of ferries in that it allowed the communities around the lake to flourish. Constructed in 1915 by James Kehoe, the Helena was cobbled together from salvaged parts including its engine, which was once featured at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. After representing the industrial might of the United States in the Louis Sullivan’s transportation……

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Venmo adds a check cashing feature, waives...

Venmo this morning announced it will begin to offer a new check cashing service, “Cash a Check,” in the Venmo mobile app. The feature, which is being rolled out to select users starting today, can be used to cash printed, payroll and U.S. government checks, including the new stimulus checks, the company says. Though typically there will be fees associated with the Cash a Check feature, Venmo says these are being waived on stimulus funds for a limited time…….

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Rodalquilar Gold Mine in Rodalquilar, Spain

The surviving structures of the Denver mining plant hang precariously off a hillside above the town of Rodalquilar, located inside the Cabo de Gata Natural Park. The mine reached its peak during the 1950s, as the belief grew that vast deposits of gold were hidden underground. However, the state-sponsored enterprise failed to meet expectations and the mine was abandoned in 1966. In the summer of 1985, the site was turned into a post-apocalyptic prison camp for the film Solarbabies, with Jami……

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The Trongate Cherub in Glasgow, Scotland

On the southwestern corner of Merchant City, a hip and prosperous suburb of Glasgow, resides a medieval building known as the Trongate.  This juncture also happens to be the home of the Trongate Theatre, which opened its doors in the early 1980s. Formerly an 18th-century church, it’s now a modern award-winning performance venue. In 1998, the entire space underwent a restoration that introduced two newly created pieces of modern art. The sculptures are entitled “Cherub” and “Skull.” They are……

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India’s CRED raises $81 million, buys back...

Bangalore-based CRED is kickstarting the new year on a high note. The two-year-old startup, led by high-profile entrepreneur Kunal Shah, said on Monday it has raised $81 million in a new financing round and bought shares worth $1.2 million (about 90 million Indian rupees) from employees. The Series C financing round, as first reported by TechCrunch in late November, was led by DST Global. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, and General Catalyst also participated in the……

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Browns end long playoff drought, survive late...

CLEVELAND (AP) — Squeezing the game ball in his left hand, Baker Mayfield looked at the giant scoreboard showing highlights of Cleveland’s glory days. In the stands, masked fans hugged, high-fived and took one last look at the final score — Cleveland 24, Pittsburgh 22 — just to make sure. The Browns, winless just three seasons ago and so bad for so long, are in the playoffs. The NFL’s longest postseason drought is over. “I am really just happy…

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The Latest: US virus death toll hits...

BALTIMORE, M.D. — The COVID-19 death toll in the United States has surpassed 350,000 as experts anticipate another surge in coronavirus cases and deaths stemming from holiday gatherings over Christmas and New Year’s. Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows the U.S. passed the threshold early Sunday morning. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected. The U.S. has begun using two coronavirus vaccines to protect health care workers and nursing home residents and staff but…

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