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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.

Learning by doing, remotely

Experiential learning is alive and well at MIT — even when it’s remote. Just ask Julian Zulueta, a sophomore in biological engineering. Last May, he spotted an intriguing social impact internship opportunity in the PKG Public Service Center newsletter: The CDC Foundation, a Congressionally-chartered nonprofit created to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was seeking remote students to assist with the Covid-19 response. He applied — one of 60 candidates for two spots — and got……

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‘Lovecraft Country’ Is Haunted by the Ghosts...

In the third episode of Lovecraft Country, the 10-part horror drama series from HBO, a character named Letitia “Leti” Lewis moves into an all-white neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago. Leti, who is played by Jurnee Smollett, is prepared for backlash from her neighbors. What she isn’t prepared for is a basement haunted by the ghosts of a white physician and the African Americans he experimented on and killed. As shocking and extreme as these events may seem,……

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Ice Age Glacial Exhibit in Ithaca,...

During the last Ice Age, the Finger Lakes region of New York was covered by a glacier over two miles thick. This wall of ice permanently sculpted the landscape, scratched rocky outcrops, and gouged deep valleys that became the Finger Lakes themselves. The Museum of the Earth, part of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) in Ithaca, New York, features an exhibit devoted to educating visitors about this dynamic age of North America’s prehistory. Exhibits range from glacial connections to……

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More than a meal

According to the 2019 NOAA Report on the U.S. Ocean and Great Lakes Economy, Massachusetts is the largest single contributor to the Northeast Blue Economy, accounting for over one-third of the region’s ocean employment and gross domestic product. Challenges caused by Covid-19 have had damaging effects on the seafood industry and far-reaching impacts on the coastal communities that Sea Grant serves. In April, the National Sea Grant Office mobilized funding to support program responses to these challenges. With closed……

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A global collaboration to move artificial intelligence...

Today, artificial intelligence — and the computing systems that underlie it — are more than just matters of technology; they are matters of state and society, of governance and the public interest. The choices that technologists, policymakers, and communities make in the next few years will shape the relationship between machines and humans for decades to come. The rapidly increasing applicability of AI has prompted a number of organizations to develop high-level principles on social and ethical issues such as……

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Antoninus and Faustina Temple in Rome, Italy

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was a Roman temple located in the area now known as the Roman Forum, a large archaeological site in the middle of the city of Rome. Construction on the temple began around 141 CE by Emperor Antoninus Pius to celebrate the memory of his late wife Faustina. It was later dedicated to the emperor himself following his death. The building was transformed into a church around the 7th-century and became known as the……

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Casas Típicas de Santana in Santana, Portugal

The beautiful, yet small, heritage houses of Madeira are made from wood and thatch. Originally, they were constructed by farmers and other rural inhabitants during the settling of the island. Each house consists of just one or two rooms where a single-family could live. Despite being composed of straw, the thatched roofs are sharply angled, almost touching the ground. This helps water run off the house with relative ease, keeping the inside dry during heavy rains. These same materials……

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Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate in York, England

One of three churches named Holy Trinity in York (with the other two being Micklegate and the former King’s Court), Goodramgate is thought to be the oldest. It’s estimated that the church’s earliest building date was around 1250. Most of the structure was completed during the 15th-century. Often considered a shining example of medieval church architecture, part of the church’s modern-day uniqueness stems from the presence of box pews, in which families would be isolated from others during prayer…….

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Hexenbürgermeisterhaus in Lemgo, Germany

Lemgo is a small town in northwestern Germany known for witch hunts that took place between 1583 and 1681. A total of 254 people, both men and women, were executed during this period. One of the most famous buildings in the town is the Hexenbürgermeisterhaus, a 16th-century townhouse famous for its ornate Weser Renaissance-style façade. It was originally constructed between 1568 and 1571 by local merchant Hermann Kruwel and his wife Lisbeth Fürstenau. The design is attributed to the town’s master……

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Römermuseum in Wien, Austria

The city of Vienna is a wonderful place known for its beautiful palaces, coffee houses, and its amazing history. A segment of that history often overlooked is the founding of the city by the Roman Empire. Vienna, known during the days of the Roman Empire as Vindobona, was first founded as a military camp on the edge of the empire. The camp eventually grew and was given the status of municipium, Latin for a small city or town.  The town……

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What are the odds your vote will...

This is part 2 of a two-part MIT News series on voting research and the 2020 election. Part 1 focuses on shifts in post-Election Day vote tallies. In elections, every vote counts. Or should count. But a new study by an MIT professor indicates that in the 2016 U.S. general election, 4 percent of all mail-in ballots were not counted — about 1.4 million votes, or 1 percent of all votes cast, signaling a significant problem that could grow……

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Steelers stay perfect, blow out Mayfield, Browns...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — One by one the dominos toppled. The NFL’s best running game fell first. The passing game came next, quickly followed by the optimism that somehow things would be different for the Cleveland Browns. It never is. Not in Pittsburgh anyway. Players change. Coaches change. Decades change. The result when the Steelers host the Browns does not. Pittsburgh wins. And while the Browns might be on their way back to relevance, the Steelers provided a stark reminder…

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Thauvin stars as Marseille beats Bordeaux 3-1...

PARIS (AP) — Winger Florian Thauvin scored a fine goal and set up another as Marseille beat Bordeaux 3-1 at home to move up to fifth place in the French league on Saturday. Hatem Ben Arfa made his debut for midtable Bordeaux, the ninth club of the former France winger’s topsy-turvy career. The 33-year-old played two full seasons for Marseille after joining from Lyon in 2008, when he was considered one of the best young talents in European soccer….

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VCs reload ahead of the election as...

This is The TechCrunch Exchange, a newsletter that goes out on Saturdays, based on the column of the same name. You can sign up for the email here. It was an active week in the technology world broadly, with big news from Facebook and Twitter and Apple. But past the headline-grabbing noise, there was a steady drumbeat of bullish news for unicorns, or private companies worth $1 billion or more. A bullish week for unicorns The Exchange spent a……

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New virus restrictions in Europe; Merkel warns...

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to come together like they did in the spring to slow the spread of the coronavirus as the country posted another daily record of new cases Saturday. “Difficult months are ahead of us,” she said in her weekly video podcast. “How winter will be, how our Christmas will be, that will all be decided in these coming days and weeks, and it will be decided by our behavior.” Meanwhile, new restrictions…

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