Those of us who are Caucasian may not realize that black people DO tan. But until recently, even scientists didn’t realize that they are even MORE LIKELY to die from skin cancer than the rest of us. The melanin that makes their skin dark does not protect them. Researcher Hugh Gloster says, “There’s a perception that people with darker skin don’t have to worry about skin cancer, but that’s not true.”
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I have recently made some new friends and I have been analyzing the process of that strange thing called “friendship.”
When I was a child, like most people, I had close friends whom I never see anymore. In fact, I have no idea what happened to most of them. Then I had a middle period in my life when I was very lonely and it seemed like I didn’t have any friends, and I couldn’t figure out why.
I think I’ve figured it out.
But instead of my explaining it, perhaps a story will work better: I remember when I was once at an outdoor café with my goddaughter and her mother. My goddaughter has since grown up to become a lovely young lady, but she was a teenager then, and filled with all the angst that stage in life brings.
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In 1974, a signal was detected by the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The broadcast consisted of a transmission of a pictorial message, and in 2001, it was approximated in a crop circle. Another signal from the same star cluster was picked up 30 years later, in 2004. Both times, astronomers initially decided that the transmissions were of interest, then concluded that they must be meaningless, despite their seeming structure. However, artist Jonathon Keats claims that the signal is indeed a code, and that when deciphered, it becomes a work of art. The painting he has made from the signal is being exhibited at the Magnes Museum in Berkeley for six months. The show opened on July 30.read more
Lately we’ve been reporting on a Stonehenge that has been discovered in Brazil. Perhaps the imminent destruction of the Amazon rainforest in that country is leading us to discover these mysterious structures. Now another Stonehenge has been discovered, this time in France.
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