From finding sinkholes to slave fishing ships – Observing the Earth with satellites
DigitalGlobe maps the Earth’s surface at a high resolution, to the extent where you can take a single map and zoom in enough to clearly see the windshield of a car, though the bobble head on your dashboard is safe from view so far. The company works with mineral prospectors, city planners, tech companies and different branches of […]
Chasing tornadoes from the air
Chasing tornadoes and hurricanes with an airplane reveals an unprecedented view of their reach, threat and power. But it’s a rocky ride. Medill News Service reporter and Comer Scholar Morgan Levey hopped a front row seat in the cockpit of the P-3 “hurricane hunter” as an embedded reporter with NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. She continues […]
Annual blessing of the Bodega Bay fishing fleet marks a shorter and uncertain salmon season
By Rebecca Fanning Bodega Bay, Calif. The Karen Jeanne rocks and sways as Dick Ogg steers out of Bodega Harbor, past the rocky breakwall where surf-casting fishermen wave from their perches. Behind him, an array of boats fall into line, each decorated with signs and flags, their decks full of fishermen, families and friends. To some […]
Physical therapist applies human techniques to help ‘man’s best friend’
By Xinyi (Ethel) Jiang Medill Reports Kikin – a Labrador retriever – is 12 years old, but in dog years, he is an old man in his eighties. Every week, Kikin comes to ARFit dog therapy center for a special treatment. Therapist Tod Miner is helping Kikin walk better again. To do it, he’s applying […]
For a family who lost a baby, love keeps them moving on
By Yunyi (Jessie) Liu Medill Reports Anne Street set a wall of five clocks at home to the moment of her marriage and the birth times of each of her four children. The accuracy of the time can be calculated in seconds. Her eldest son George, 7, excitedly pointed to the clock with the time of […]
Self-aware: Virtual Cyberslug knows how to fight for survival
Erik Alcantar Medill Reports “Cyberslug,” a virtual ocean predator, sets itself apart from other artificial intelligence creations with one distinct quality – simple self-awareness. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report online in the journal eNeuro that this artificially intelligent virtual slug behaves very similarly to the living creature it is designed to mimic – the sea […]
Twitch gamers hope new community guidelines will combat online harassment
By Jourdan Kerl Medill Reports The live streaming video platform Twitch improved online security this March to protect professional and amateur streamers from harassment and hate speech that have plagued some users. Twitch, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, updated the Community Guidelines to reflect how important community of streamers is to the platform to combat the issues surrounding […]
Election night dims early for State Sen. Daniel Biss
By Elizabeth Beyer Medill Reports The crowd of roughly 350 staffers, volunteers and supporters of State Sen. Daniel Biss (9th) shifted from joyful to somber in just two hours after the polls closed across Illinois earlier this evening. Billionaire businessman J.B. Pritzker won the Democratic gubernatorial primary race with more than 45 percent of the vote, nearly […]
Cricket in Chicago kicks off league games in April
By Annnaya Medill Reports Cricket is all the rage in Southeast Asia where India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka revere this pastime as more than a major league sport and something closer to a religion. Actual shrines in India are dedicated to Sachin Tendulkar, one of the game’s greatest players. Immigrants who move here miss the […]
Chinese festivals bring diverse students together at the Pretoria Chinese School
By Xiaozhang (Shaw) Wan Medill Reports The traditional Chinese drum team joins together students of diverse origins and is part of the celebration for Chinese festivals at the Pretoria Chinese School in South Africa. As drumbeats rang in the Year of the Dog in February, the school came alive with a bang. Singing and dancing, students and staff dressed in […]
