As inquisitive beings, we are constantly questioning and quantifying the speed of various things. With a fair degree of accuracy, scientists have quantified the speed of light, the speed of sound, the speed at which the Earth revolves around the sun, the speed at which hummingbirds beat their wings, the average speed of continental drift….
Daily Archives: July 6, 2015
History of Cartagena, Colombia: Spanish America’s Biggest Slave Port
Far too many people are unaware that the Spanish Americas received countless millions of chained African men, women and children during the Maafa. Too often when we think of African slavery in the Americas we are hoodwinked into channeling our focus toward the British North American colonies, Portuguese Brazil the British West Indies or the sovereign Black man’s pearl of Haiti.
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ROSES HAVE HIDDEN GENES THAT COULD MAKE THEM SMELL EVEN SWEETER
Roses are an ornamental plant, bred over hundreds of generations to have their distinctive shape and color. But what they gained in visual appeal they lost in their olfactory potency—that is, roses used to smell even sweeter than they do now. By manipulating some of the genes that control the rose’s fragrance, a team of French researchers has discovered new enzymes that could make roses smell more potent, according to a study published today in Science.
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The Pluto Probe Went Into Safe Mode, And We Don’t Know Why
The New Horizons spacecraft is rapidly soaring closer to Pluto for our first flyby of the distant almost-planet. But something went wrong on Saturday afternoon, knocking the probe out of communication for over an hour. Now we’re back in touch and trying to figure out what happened.
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MICROBES IN THE WEIGHT ROOM
In addition to water bottles, disinfectant spray bottles have become commonplace in many athletic facilities. The routine is simple to adopt; after you’ve used a piece of equipment, simply spray down the surfaces you’ve touched and give it a wipe.
A Homeless Man Turned in $2,400 That He Found, Gave Away $5,000 Raised for Him, and Asked For a Job Instead
A homeless man in Langford, British Columbia is paying it forward in a big way.
THE SEARCH FOR A BETTER LETHAL INJECTION
Midazolam is a light anesthetic used in thousands of medical procedures all over the United States. But for the past few years, it has been used for a more sinister purpose: in lethal injections.
The Fat Cat Collective 