Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Mourning Prince, putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, finding a huge coral reef and more this week
1. Prince Has Died at 57
Following an investigation at his home and recording studio Paisley Park, it’s been confirmed that Prince has died at 57. Prince Rogers Nelson, a truly legendary musician, released 39 albums throughout his career, garnering seven Grammy Awards and earning him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the hearts of millions of fans. While the death of the beloved artist is shocking, the spirit of Prince is surely immortal, living on through his iconic songs, radiant stage presence and enigmatic off-stage demeanor that can only be described as “Prince.”
2. Harriet Tubman is the New Face of the $20 Bill
After announcing last summer that they had plans to replace the face of Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill with a woman, the US Treasury has finally settled on which woman to depict: Harriet Tubman. The historical abolitionist, civil rights activist and humanitarian will actually not replace Hamilton, though, as the Treasury has decided instead to add her to the $20 bill, along with Andrew Jackson, who’s been criticized for his role in removing native Americans from their land. In addition, the $5 bill will also include the faces of other civil rights era leaders.
3. How Artificial Intelligence Can Quickly Diagnose Cancer
While a viable cure for cancer may be still be decades away, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have found a promising way to efficiently diagnose and prevent the disease. Using a special microscope and an artificial intelligence algorithm, they’re able to non-destructively identify cancer in a sample, significantly reducing the time and effort normally needed to diagnose. The researchers believe their method—which gains a deeper understanding of how to spot cancer the more it’s used—can lead to more data-driven diagnoses.
4. Scientists Discover a 600-Mile Coral Reef
While bleaching is plaguing coral reefs around the world—most significantly Australia’s Great Barrier Reef—there’s one reef that seems to be flourishing. Located at the mouth of the Amazon river, a 600-mile-long reef was recently discovered below the oceans murky waters—and it’s thriving with corals, sponges, stars and other sea life. Scientists were blown away with the discovery, as they previously believed a reef couldn’t survive below the water’s sunlight-blocking plume.
5. Star Trail Images Taken From the International Space Station
Aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Don Pettit has an incredibly unique perspective of Earth and the night sky. He recently set his camera to take long-exposure photographs as the ISS orbits the globe (at 17,000mph), producing literally out-of-this-world imagery of Earth at night. Along with a shower of bright star trails, light from major cities is seen streaking across the planet’s surface—the Aurora Borealis even makes a cameo appearance.
6. Canada Announces Plans to Decriminalize Recreational Marijuana
At an appropriately (and comically) timed UN general assembly session discussing drug problems around the world on 4/20, Canada’s health minister Jane Philpott announced that the country plans to decriminalize recreational marijuana beginning spring 2017. “We will work with law enforcement partners to encourage appropriate and proportionate criminal justice measures. We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem,” she said.
7. Instagrammable Bathrooms Around the World
Most people only take a trip to the toilet out of pure bodily necessity, but according to a new book by Lonely Planet, bathrooms could soon become the next hot spot for world travelers. In the book, titled “Toilets: A Spotter’s Guide,” the travel experts scoured the globe to uncover the world’s most scenic, bizarre and luxurious lavatories. A few examples include a secluded bathroom on Toilet Island in Belize, a precarious outhouse situated on a rickety bridge in Canada, and a restroom with a view in Kongsberg, Norway.
8. 11 Apps and Gadgets That Encourage Greener Living
We should be adopting environmentally-friendly habits all year long, not just when Earth Day swings around—but sometimes it’s tough to know where to start. The team at The Webby’s Netted is helping ease the transition with their latest round-up, which gathers 11 of their favorite eco-conscious apps, products and websites that integrate green practices into the tech-obsessed world. With apps like Recycle Nation, services including Max Back and gadgets like the Edyn Garden Sensor, going green no longer means living like you’re in the stone age.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
