NewsPronto

 
Times Advertising


.

The Conversation

The Mother of All Demos

  • Written by Phillip Martin, Podcast host

A computer may have been the size of room in 1968, but it was still a watershed year for tech industry. That year saw the founding of the Intel Corporation that would revolutionize microprocessors and “the mother of all demos,” a landmark event that featured the first public demonstration of a computer mouse. Our guest, Margaret...

Read more: The Mother of All Demos

In 1968, computers got personal: How the 'mother of all demos' changed the world

  • Written by Margaret O'Mara, Professor of History, University of Washington
A scene from Doug Engelbart's groundbreaking 1968 computer demo.Doug Engelbart Institute

On a crisp California afternoon in early December 1968, a square-jawed, mild-mannered Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart took the stage at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium and proceeded to blow everyone’s mind about what computers could do....

Read more: In 1968, computers got personal: How the 'mother of all demos' changed the world

Yom Kippur: A time for feasting as well as fasting

  • Written by Ted Merwin, Part-Time Associate Professor of Religion, Dickinson College
Yom Kippur break fast.danbruell, CC BY-NC-SA

It was the bag of Fritos that gave me away. As a secular Jewish kid whose family did not belong to a synagogue, I did not think twice about riding my bike to the convenience store around the corner during the afternoon of Yom Kippur.

I knew that it was a solemn holiday when observant Jews do not eat or...

Read more: Yom Kippur: A time for feasting as well as fasting

Researchers block cocaine craving and addiction with a special skin graft

  • Written by Qingyao Kong, Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Anesthesia & Critical Care, University of Chicago
Lines of cocaine.Christopher Slesarchik/Shutterstock.com

Addiction to any drug – be it alcohol, tobacco, opioids or illicit drugs, like cocaine – is a chronic disease that causes a compulsive drug-seeking behavior individuals find difficult or impossible to control even when they are aware of the harmful, often deadly consequences.

Long-...

Read more: Researchers block cocaine craving and addiction with a special skin graft

Cuba propone legalizar el matrimonio gay y las iglesias se atreven a salir en contra

  • Written by María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish, St. Joseph's College of New York
Miles de cubanos y activistas internacionales de los derechos LGBTQ participan anualmente en el evento anual, Jornada contra la Homofobia y la Transfobia en Cuba.AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Desde mediados de agosto, los cubanos debaten una propuesta reforma constitucional que, entre otros cambios sustanciales, allanaría el camino para la legitima...

Read more: Cuba propone legalizar el matrimonio gay y las iglesias se atreven a salir en contra

As Cuba backs gay marriage, churches oppose the government's plan

  • Written by María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish , St. Joseph's College of New York
As gay Cubans gain more rights, opposition is also growing.AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Leer en español.

Cubans are debating a constitutional reform that, among other legal changes, would open the door to gay marriage. It would also prohibit discrimination against people based on sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity in the communist...

Read more: As Cuba backs gay marriage, churches oppose the government's plan

Are today's white kids less racist than their grandparents?

  • Written by Margaret Hagerman, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Mississippi State University
Do we have any reason to believe that each new generation of white people will be more open-minded and tolerant than previous ones?Elvira Koneva

In America’s children, we often see hope for a better future, especially when it comes to reducing racism.

Each new generation of white people, the thinking goes, will naturally and inevitably be more...

Read more: Are today's white kids less racist than their grandparents?

The science, skill – and luck – behind evacuation order calls

  • Written by Susan L. Cutter, Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography and Director Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute, University of South Carolina
A sunny day evacuation days before Hurricane Florence made landfall in North CarolinaAP Photo/Tom Copeland

More than 1 million people in the Carolinas were ordered to evacuate days before Hurricane Florence hit landfall.

Government officials order coastal evacuation even when it’s sunny at the beach with not a cloud in the sky and no hint of...

Read more: The science, skill – and luck – behind evacuation order calls

Catastrophe overload? Read philosophers and poetry instead of headlines

  • Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University Newark
Read poetry.Photo by Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash, CC BY-SA

For almost two years now, Americans have been confronted daily by ominous tidings. We are living through stressful times. Reading the news feels awful; ignoring it doesn’t feel right either.

Psychologist Terri Apter recently wrote about the “phenomenon in human behavior...

Read more: Catastrophe overload? Read philosophers and poetry instead of headlines

Federal funding for higher ed comes with strings attached, but is still worth it

  • Written by Jason Alix Coupet, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, North Carolina State University
Even privately run colleges and universities get money from the federal government.ITTIGallery/Shutterstock.com

When nonprofit colleges and universities get federal funding for research and to support students, do government regulations make it difficult to fulfill their missions?

As a professor who studies the organizational performance of...

Read more: Federal funding for higher ed comes with strings attached, but is still worth it

More Articles ...

  1. Digitizing the vast 'dark data' in museum fossil collections
  2. How the zebrafish got its stripes
  3. Rivers flood regularly during hurricanes, but get less attention than coastlines
  4. ¿Por qué sentimos el olor de la lluvia?
  5. Barrier islands protect coasts from storms, but are vulnerable too
  6. Nuclear reactors in hurricanes: 5 questions answered
  7. Immigrant detention in the US: 4 essential reads
  8. Can Jeff Bezos help the homeless? 4 essential reads
  9. Could coal ash be a viable source of rare-earth metals?
  10. Delacroix at the Met: A retrospective that evokes today's turmoil
  11. Battles over patriotism, Pledge of Allegiance in schools span a century
  12. Ground-level ozone continues to damage health, even at low levels
  13. Death count debates overshadow the real story: Hurricane Maria was partly a human-made disaster
  14. Study shows BPA substitutes may cause same health issues as the original
  15. Why hurricane forecasters can’t ‘politicize’ storm warnings even if they wanted to
  16. Miles de expertos en salud mental coinciden en el diagnóstico: Donald Trump es un peligro
  17. After a century, insulin is still expensive – could DIYers change that?
  18. For centuries, anonymous insider accounts have chipped away at ruling regimes – and sometimes toppled them
  19. Magnetic bacteria and their unique superpower attract researchers
  20. Lessons from White House disinformation a century ago: 'It's dangerous to believe your own propaganda'
  21. Want to help after hurricanes? Give cash, not diapers
  22. Why we love robotic dogs, puppets and dolls
  23. Hurricanes can cause enormous damage inland, but emergency plans focus on coasts
  24. How social networks can save lives when disasters strike
  25. Why the Russians might hack the Boy Scouts next
  26. India's sodomy ban, now ruled illegal, was a British colonial legacy
  27. How Les Moonves got to leave CBS on his own terms while others in #MeToo miscreant club got canned
  28. What is flood insurance and why the system is broken: 6 questions answered
  29. New data paint an unpleasant picture of poverty in the US
  30. Gene-editing technique CRISPR identifies dangerous breast cancer mutations
  31. Savvy social media strategies boost anti-establishment political wins
  32. What college rankings really measure – hint: It's not quality or value
  33. 6 questions you can ask a loved one to help screen for suicide risk
  34. The national prison strike is over. Now is the time prisoners are most in danger
  35. Our shared reality is fraying
  36. Images of suffering can bring about change – but are they ethical?
  37. Anniversary of Lehman's collapse reminds us – booms are often followed by busts
  38. What the world needs now to fight climate change: More swamps
  39. California aims to become carbon-free by 2045. Is that feasible?
  40. How meteorologists predict the next big hurricane
  41. 'Treason' is now a popular word – here's what it really means
  42. Los activistas que luchan por abolir el ICE plantean una visión más amplia
  43. Can the census ask if you're a citizen? Here's what's at stake in court battles over the 2020 census
  44. Why al-Qaida is still strong 17 years after 9/11
  45. Minority job applicants with 'strong racial identities' may encounter less pay and lower odds of getting hired
  46. Welcome to the new Meghalayan age – here's how it fits with the rest of Earth's geologic history
  47. The friendship of Michelle Obama and George W. Bush strikes a hopeful, important chord
  48. When MSNBC or Fox News airs in public places, how do people react?
  49. Women's colleges play unique role in quest for equality
  50. Detroit is Burning