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Easter, Kepler-186f, and Exploding Judas

A report that astronomers have found a planet in the constellation Cygnus, which they named Kepler-186f, turned Chris Wood’s thoughts to humanity’s chance of escaping earth. “Star Trek childhoods and a present of holodeck-quality technology inspire dreams of the ultimate geographic cure. We’ve raped this planet to a fare-thee-well? No prob. On to the next.” What, exactly, would moving to “Kep” entail? Wood does the math. An excerpt of his column: It is Good Friday where I live, in the most Catholic part of old Mexico. The entire week and weekend to come are turned over to a passionate mix

Saudi Prince who Charmed and Smarmed is Sacked

International affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe has reported on the doings of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, since the prince was a fixture in the American administrations of Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. “Many saw him as a pernicious influence on these Republican administrations,” writes Manthorpe in today’s column — especially in the hours after 9/11. His new column examines why the prince’s career finally hit the skids — and the role of Syria. An excerpt: The sacking of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is public acknowledgement that the strategy for ousting Syrian President Bashar

The Goldilock World in Cygnus

A cosmic finding: astronomers have discovered Kepler-186f, which NASA calls “the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone … (it) confirms that Earth-size planets exist in the habitable zones of other stars and signals a significant step closer to finding a world similar to Earth.” The search for a habitable world is the quest for a world that’s not too hot, not too cold, but just right — which is why it’s often called a Goldilocks world. The catch? Kepler-186f exists some 500 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus. There really is no place

Gabriel García Márquez dies, age 87

Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez died today, age 87, in Mexico City. Born and raised in Aracataca, Colombia, he set out to become a lawyer, veered into journalism, and went on to become one of the world’s most prolific creators of literary masterpieces, including One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. One Hundred Years is often cited as the seminal work of magic realism, fitting perhaps for the son of a pharmacist who refined the art of creative alchemy. Márquez  had recently been treated for various infections in hospital, his health was fragile, and he

Racial resegregation in the American south

  Sixty years after the United States Supreme Court outlawed “separate but equal” schools, Nikole Hannah-Jones of  journalism organization ProPublica went to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to investigate the resegregation of Southern schools. Her series begins today, April 17.   Segregation Now: 60 Years After Brown v. Board from ProPublica on Vimeo.   A short documentary film by the award-winning Maisie Crow:   Independent, non-partisan and employee-owned, FactsandOpinions serves, and is funded by, readers. We do not carry advertising or solicit donations from foundations or causes. Our original work in Dispatches, Think and Photo-Essays is available for a $1 site day pass

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