It was a stormy summer day, dead in the middle of August, with lightning sheeting the sky and a deep underwater gloom pervading the parking deck. My three-year-old had fallen asleep in his car seat on our way to the children’s museum, and I could hardly believe my luck: a whole hour to spend on my dumb internet routines. My publisher’s sales portal updates in massive tranches every few (or two) weeks, so naturally I check it every day. And here was an update—in fact, a huge leap, with total unit sales topping 10,000 for the very first time. I…
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Moiya McTier describes her journey from academic research in astrophysics, to setting up her own science communication business Road less travelled Moiya McTier has combined her passions to create a varied and stimulating career.(Courtesy: Arin Sang-Urai) As a kid, I dreamt about becoming a professional athlete, a famous artist, or maybe the US President. I wanted to solve the mystery of the electron’s quantum leap, or be the world’s leading expert in Arthurian legend. So far, I have achieved none of these dreams – but instead I find myself in the coolest career I could possibly imagine. In fact, I…
Who is responsible for maintaining family lore? In Company, Shannon Sanders introduces—and repeatedly reintroduces—readers to the Collinses, a Black family with roots in D.C. and Atlantic City. Sanders, a master of character, makes every individual distinctive and recognizable even as they clearly belong to a whole, bound by shared history, values, and challenges. In “The Good, Good Men,” two adult sons try, for better or worse, to fulfill their presumed filial duties; in “La Belle Hottentote,” four nieces fill in for an absentee daughter; and in “Company,” an aunt struggles to live up to family standards of hospitality. By presenting…
â€ÅNight of the Caregiver†starring Natalie Denise Sperl and The Exorcist’s Eileen Dietz is now streaming on Tubi, Amazon Prime and Vudu, and definitely provides chills and thrills for all horror movie enthusiasts. Synopsis: Hospice nurse Julia Rowe is hired to be caregiver for Lillian Gresham, who lives in an isolated house in a remote area. Although she is terminally ill, the elderly Lillian is a cordial and sweet lady. However, as the night goes on, Julia suspects something demonic is also dwelling in the house causing she and Lillian to be in grave danger… Natalie Denise Sperl is an…
A Black Belt in Karate Doesn’t Make a Fair Father Salar Abdoh Share article An excerpt from A Nearby Country Called Love by Salar Abdoh He couldn’t bear going back to the apartment just yet. The apartment of the dead. When they’d been much younger he had shared the big bedroom with his older brother while their father took the small one in the back for himself. Issa recalled the bouts of barely controlled rage and weeping that ensued each time their old man thought his firstborn was not manly enough. It was a dance of endless humiliation between the…
Follow the flow: Graphs showing the smooth flow of photocurrent streamlines around a microscopic structure shaped like an aeroplane wing. This electrofoil (top left) makes it possible to contort, compress and expand photocurrent streamlines in the same way that aeroplane wings (shown in silhouettes at right) contort, compress and expand the flow of air. (Courtesy: UCR/QMO Lab) Taking inspiration from the flow of air around aeroplane wings, researchers in the US have imaged photoexcited electrons flowing around sharp bends for the first time. Because such bends are often found in integrated optoelectronic circuits, observing the electrons’ â€Åstreamlines†could lead to…
The source of the sound Researchers find that the Kortokoff sounds heard through a stethoscope may not be sound waves at all. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Elle Aon) Tap, tap, tap… Swish, swish… Tap, tap… Whoooo… Silence. The Korotkoff sounds heard through a stethoscope are routine in non-invasive clinical blood pressure measurement. For over a century since the sounds were discovered, however, scientists have debated what causes them. Are there cavitation bubbles in the brachial artery? A â€Åwater hammer†type phenomenon? Most posited theories looked toward a source of sound inside the arteries and related to blood flow. But perhaps Korotkoff sounds aren’t…
Cataclysmic collision: It is thought that ‘rapid neutron-capture processes’ that occur during a neutron star merger could be responsible for producing heavy elements (courtesy: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet) Physicists in Japan and Lithuania have found evidence that tellurium is produced in neutron star mergers. Their findings bolster the idea that neutron star mergers are responsible for most of the heavy elements in the universe. The synthesis of heavy nuclei – those heavier than silver – is described by a set of nuclear reaction know as the â€År-process†or rapid neutron-capture process. First proposed in 1957, it occurs in an environment…
Venezuela, my home country, was once one of the richest countries in Latin America due to the discovery of oil at the start of the last century. Today, Venezuela is in political and economic turmoil with a mass exodus of more than 7 million. As I wrote my new memoir, Motherland about the fragile concept of home and my complicated relationship to my family and to Venezuela, there were several books that took me back on a quest to understand where we came from as a country. The horrific conditions in Venezuela over the last several years sometimes made us…
The Masquerade of the Red Death is the one night every year where we gather in Brooklyn, celebrate with our community, and raise funds to support our work. It is also the night the spirit of our party patron saint Edgar Allan Poe is strongest, and the spooky vibes reach their peak! This year, our friends, readers, writers, and beloved colleagues from the literary sphere showed up and showed out, fabulously decked in horns, feathers, and most thematically, many stunning and creative masks. Themed cocktails were sipped, tail-feathers were shaken, and party-goers ended the night with an armload of free books!…
Engineering icons: a small section of the new Tube map. (Courtesy: Transport for London) Perhaps the most iconic map ever is Harry Beck’s depiction of the London Underground, which first appeared in the 1930s. Now, Transport for London (TfL) – which runs the Underground – has partnered with the Royal Academy of Engineering to create a Tube-themed map that depicts famous people in the history of engineering. Created to celebrate National Engineering Day on 1 November, the entire map can be viewed here. The American artist Jackson Pollock was famous for abstract paintings made by dripping paint onto canvasses. It…
“The world here beats faster than a hummingbird’s wings,” writes Alexandra Chang in her new collection Tomb Sweeping. Chang, the author of Days of Distraction and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 recipient, writes poignantly about tenuous connection. In these stories, a wealthy housewife runs a gambling ring in Zheijiang, a young woman attends the living funeral of a family friend, someone “drinks himself into a dedicated madness,” two friends become further alienated despite attempts to reunite, a brother disappears during Japanese occupation and the Sook Ching. Chang is curious about “the power of angry women” among “men of…
The Mug Shot: Look straight ahead and contemplate the lousy Kirkus review you’re sure to get. The Talk Show Host: Place one hand under your chin and imagine listening to someone else, something you rarely do as a writer. The Orgasm: Throw your head back and grin ecstatically after ordering a box of your favorite gel pens. The West Nile: Sit at a scenic outdoor table at dusk, notebook open in front of you. If you contract the virus at least your mother will never have to read your memoir. The James Dean: Turn up the collar on your leather…
Some of the biggest mysteries of physics – including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, and the origin of the universe – are in the sights of cosmologists and astroparticle physicists. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast I am in conversation with three editorial board members of the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP) which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. They are the cosmologist and theoretical physicist Licia Verde who is at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences at Spain’s University of Barcelona; Erminia Calabrese, who is an observational cosmologist at the UK’s University of…
THE GLOBAL FILM ALLIANCE The G.F.A. in Hollywood with a Powerful Collaboration of International Film Production Companies. Eleven independent film companies- JJ Filmworks and A Plus Films from Bulgaria,Talkinglens Productions from the UK, Montalvo Digital Studios, UK, Hollywood Entertainment News, USA, Night Owl Studio, California USA, Wartime Films, USA, 360 Studios LTD, USA, 360TVN, USA, Zava Pictures, CA and VGPI Foundation, CA are thrilled to announce their partnership as the Global Film Alliance. This alliance marks a significant milestone in the world of filmmaking, as these esteemed companies join forces to create universally appealing mainstream films of all genres…
“It’s brave of us to die!” writes Melissa Broder in Death Valley, a desert survival story. The woman in Broder’s third very funny novel, like Broder’s other characters, is recognizable by her need to “control the uncontrollable,” as well as her wit, occasional panic, deep and unrelenting introspection, and love affair with Best Westerns (“Where the wood can be fake, make it fake. Where linoleum can be used, use linoleum. If a geometric shape can be incorporated into any wall, rug or floor tile, it’s going in”). The woman’s father has recently come out of a coma after a very…
Today #TheSimonettaLeinShow continues its highly anticipated 6th Season, as they welcome none other than Shark Tank’s very own, Daymond John, who they are so proud and elated to celebrate Black Entrepreneurs Day with. Daymond is known to be a quintessential self-starter, beginning his journey selling hats on the streets of New York City. He transformed his hustle into creating FUBU, a brand that not only transformed urban fashion but also became a symbol of entrepreneurial triumph. Daymond’s remarkable career spans beyond fashion as a bestselling author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist, not to mention iconic business tycoon. He’s not just a…
I Dressed Up as a Husband for My Wedding Marriage I was married once, at least we thought about it, it was in b&w, we were tiny, walking in a forest, the trees dwarfed us—the trees had been married forever, moss hung from their fallen branches, we had to step over them. We put on the costumes—groom, bride— these are jobs, I realized, that only last a couple hours. Why not try it, what could we lose, we were already deep inside the forest, we were already lost, marriage was just where the path was headed—I thought it would make…