Lynn Conway may hold the record for longest delay between being unfairly fired and receiving an apology for it. In 1968, IBM – a company that now covers its logo in a rainbow flag each June for Pride Month – fired Conway, who died on June 9, 2024, at 86, when she expressed her intention to transition. IBM eventually apologized to...
Excavating data from digs done decades ago and connecting with today’s communities
The ancestors of Alaska Native people began using local copper sources to craft intricate tools roughly 1,000 years ago. Over one-third of all copper objects archaeologists have found in this region were excavated at a single spot, named the Gulkana Site.
This is the site I’ve studied for the past four years as a Ph.D. student at Purdue...
Modern surgery began with saws and iron hands – how amputation transformed the body in the Renaissance
The human body today has many replaceable parts, ranging from artificial hearts[1] to myoelectric feet[2]. What makes this possible is not just complicated technology and delicate surgical procedures. It’s also an idea — that humans can and should alter patients’ bodies in supremely difficult and invasive ways.
Where did that idea come...
The Hubble telescope has shifted into one-gyro mode after months of technical issues − an aerospace engineering expert explains
Imagine keeping a laser beam trained on a dime that’s 200 miles away. Now imagine doing that continuously for 24 hours, while riding a merry-go-round. Seem difficult? Well, that’s basically what the Hubble Space Telescope does.
After months of technical issues, NASA announced June 4 that Hubble would shift into one-gyroscope mode[1]. This...