Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science

Ada Lovelace Day Honors the World's First Computer Programmer (10/5/2017)
On Tuesday, October 10, take a few moments to honor Lady Ada Lovelace, an early Victorian mathematician hailed as the world's first computer programmer. Established in 2009, Ada Lovelace Day celebrates women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)...

Tinkering with Torpedoes How Hedy Lamarr's WWII Invention Led to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (12/13/2017)
Golden-era actress Hedy Lamarr achieved fame and financial success through her looks and movie roles, but it was her pursuit of inventing that set her apart from other Hollywood icons.

Astronomy, Space, Spaceweather

Neutron Stars Make Waves With Heavy Metal Light Show (11/1/2017)
A long time ago in a galaxy 130 million light years away...two neutron stars locked in a gravitational embrace whizzed around each other at blinding speed, sending gravitational waves — ripples in the "fabric" of space and time — billowing through the cosmos.

Evanston Skywatchers can Stay Local for the Great American Eclipse (8/9/2017)
Anyone not aware of the upcoming total solar eclipse might be living in a remote cave without so much as a transistor radio. But if that cave is in southern Illinois, they need only step outside at mid-day on Aug. 21 to witness the moon entirely covering the sun...

Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis (1/25/2017)
A magical northern lights display, most common near the icy north and south poles, begins 93 million miles away on that giant fireball we call the sun...

In the Bleak Midwinter, Make a Wish on a Shooting Star (12/14/2016)
Wherever night skies are dark enough – especially far from the glow of city lights – skywatchers might see shooting stars flit through the sky. Every so often Earth passes through clouds of comet debris that cause more lively displays of shooting stars called meteor showers...

Earth Tilts Toward Autumn At the Equinox (9/21/2016)
While pumpkin spice season seems to arrive earlier each year, the autumnal equinox reliably takes place every third week of September, marking the approach of crisp fall weather and shortening days...

Slingshot to Saturn: How Gravity Helps Solar System Travelers (8/24/2016)
In 1977, NASA’s Voyager 2 space probe began its Grand Tour of the solar system, looping around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune and using the power of gravity from each planet to slingshot away to the next...

Iridescent Clouds at The Edge of Space (7/27/2016)
Every day we check the local weather forecast to see if we will need sunglasses or an umbrella. It is also possible to check the space weather forecast (at spaceweather.com, earthsky.org and other astronomy websites), to see if we are expecting meteor showers...

Satellites and Space Junk (5/18/2016)
When the Soviet Union launched a little satellite called Sputnik in October 1957, they beat America into space (we launched Explorer 1 the following January) and energized the Cold War “space race” that led to the creation of NASA...

Riding the Gravitational Wave (4/6/2016)
Gravitational waves – ripples in the “fabric” of space and time – have swept 1.3 billion light years across the universe to become astronomy’s exciting new discovery...

Comet Catalina (12/30/2015)
Even those who are not early risers might consider braving a cold morning just once over the next several months to catch Comet Catalina...

Women of NASA Lego Set (2/21/2018)
In late 2017, Lego released its Women of NASA set, featuring four real-life NASA scientists. The set was designed by Maia Weinstock, deputy editor of MIT News, who also teaches the history of women in science and engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a Lego fan. .

Climate Change, Weather

Amid Climate Change and Warming Weather, Earth Day Matters (4/19/2017)
Almost 50 years after the first Earth Day in 1970, concerns about the “greenhouse effect” have evolved into fevered debates about global warming and climate change – heating up along with Earth’s overall temperature...

Bill and Eleanor Revelle Honored by Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (11/30/2016)
Alderman Eleanor Revelle (7th Ward) and her husband William Revelle, PhD, a Northwestern University professor of psychology, were recently honored by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for their environmental work...

Climate Change Gives Rise to Extended Allergy Season (4/6/2016)
Ah, spring. Even after a moderate winter, warm days and blooming daffodils cannot come soon enough. In fact, spring weather is arriving sooner than usual, especially in the northern United States and Canada, according to studies that track weather and plant blooming patterns...

El Niño 2015 (1/13/2016)
With winter here, many Evanstonians are probably shivering at the thought of wind chills and knee-deep snow...

Coronavirus, Covid-19

ETHS Alumni Create Self-Sanitizing Copper Cell-Phone Case 5/9/2020
After learning that copper kills all kinds of microbes, including coronavirus, two ETHS grads and their Vanderbilt University roommate created a copper cell phone case to help mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Young Entrepreneurs Donate Germ-Killing Cell-Phone Cases to Local Healthcare Workers 2/1/2021
ETHS grads and their business partner donated 250 of their copper cell phone cases to NorthShore University Health System workers.

Flora and Fauna

Coyotes: Phantoms of The Urban Landscape (11/2/2016)
When police and fire sirens ring through the air, domestic dogs often howl in response. In neighborhoods that skirt the Evanston canal, an additional chorus of high-pitched barks rises exuberantly from the thicket of trees along the North Shore Channel...

Dog Day Cicadas Sing a Summer Love Song (6/15/2016)
People often fondly recall the hypnotic buzz of locusts on the soundtrack of their youthful summers. But it is cicadas, not locusts (a type of grasshopper), whose buzzing we hear during the dog days of summer. The annual “dog-day cicada” (Neotibicen canicularis) will emerge...

Rats! (2/22/2017)
If Evanston could hire the Pied Piper of Hamelin, City Council would not have to discuss a subject that gives everyone the willies: rats...

Red Swamp Crayfish Burrow Into North Shore Channel (9/7/2016)
When Sonja Nordahl was walking her dogs in early August, she encountered a little gang of red crustaceans scuttling across the Canal Shores Golf Course in north Evanston...

Summer Vampires: Mosquitos and Ticks Pose Extra Problems This Summer (7/12/2017)
A bit of knowledge and some preventive measures should help everyone avoid these bloodsucking pests so they do not have to stay inside until October.

Invasion of the Garden Snatchers (5/17/2017)
In case you missed it, scatterings of pretty little yellow flowers amid lush green foliage have sprouted throughout Evanston over the past few weeks. Their sunny faces surprised gardeners, cheered up drab landscapes, and bridged the dreary transition from winter to spring...

In Autumn, Trees Show Their True Colors (10/5/2016)
Even before the autumnal equinox, scatterings of yellow leaves foretell the coming of fall. By mid October, the northern Illinois landscape will be flush with a range of autumn hues that should last several weeks, if the weather cooperates...

Health, Human behavior, Medicine, Wellness

Medical Cannabis: More Than Just a High Road to Relief (6/14/2017)
With subtle signs in its frosted windows, Evanston’s only medical marijuana dispensary is easy to miss while strolling the Maple and Church shopping district ...

For Smokers, Quitting Can Be a Tough Resolution to Keep (1/11/2017)
Every January, countless people resolve to improve their lives. Recently the most popular New Year’s resolutions included getting fit, losing weight, saving money, and spending more time with family, according to the Nielsen data company...

Boosting America's Health With Fortified Foods (7/13/2016)
In 1941, the Doughnut Corporation of America marketed “Vitamin Donuts” made with newly developed vitamin-enriched flour. Their ads implied that the doughnuts’ 25 units of vitamin B1 would supply “pep and vigor.” Finally, doughnuts as health food...

In Springtime, Try the Sunshine Vitamin (4/20/2016)
Under winter’s sunless skies, candles and crackling fires can brighten our day. But a candle’s warm glow cannot replace the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which help our bodies manufacture vitamin D – the “sunshine vitamin” – a crucial nutrient for bone health...

Meditation (3/9/2016)
In a hectic digital world, Ms. DeGeneres is not alone in using meditation to recharge herself. An estimated 18 million Americans meditate, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, to calm their busy minds and reduce stress...

Science History: International Geophysical Year, UFO research

IGY Part I: Science, Satellites, and The International Geophysical Year (1/24/2018)
In 1957-58, the IGY brought climate science to the fore, set in motion the age of space technology and exploration, and triggered the "space race" between the United States and Soviet Union, in an ostensibly borderless and non-competitive scientific environment.

IGY Part II: Space Age Ups and Downs (5/2/2018)
After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in October 1957 and the United States launched Explorer 1 the following January, both countries put more than a dozen satellites — often referred to as artificial moons — and spacecraft into orbit by decade's end.

IGY Part III: Operation Moonwatch — Citizen Scientists Spot the First Space Age Satellites (6/27/2018)
Citizen volunteers on "Operation Moonwatch" teams around the world made some of the most reliable satellite sightings during the first exciting months of the Space Age.

International Polar Years: Science Collaborations on a Global Scale (10/17/2018)
The famed IGY was preceded by two groundbreaking international polar research collaborations in the 1880s and 1930s.

J. Allen Hynek - Part I: The Northwestern Professor Who Gave UFOs a Chance (8/22/2018)
When Northwestern's Dr. J. Allen Hynek was not teaching astrophysics, researching stellar spectra or tracking satellites, he reviewed reports of UFO sightings and sometimes traveled around the country to investigate sightings himself. And he strongly advocated for serious scientific investigation of UFO reports.

J. Allen Hynek - Part II: Close Encounters of Many Kinds (9/5/2018)
More about Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the Northwestern astrophysics professor who created the UFO classification system that brought us Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Citizen Science, Makerspaces

Makerspaces Bring Hands-On Learning to Underserved Evanston Kids (9/20/2017)
The “Maker Movement” is taking hold in Evanston, with a collaboration of schools, community centers, the library and Northwestern University working to create makerspaces for school age kids throughout our city...

Citizen Scientists: Everyday People Doing Real Science (6/28/2017)
When gravitational waves buzzed through the L-shaped LIGO detectors in Louisiana and Washington states last January, it marked the third such detection in as many years. Scientists and astronomy geeks went agog over yet another pair of black holes, whose merger...