Observers of Wednesday morning’s total lunar eclipse might be able to catch sight of an extremely rare cosmic sight. On Oct. 8, Interested skywatchers should attempt to see the total eclipse of the moon and the rising sun simultaneously. The little-used name for this effect is called a «selenelion,» a phenomenon that celestial geometry says cannot happen. […]readmore
Rhode Island – Governor Lincoln Chafee is pleased with Moody’s Investors Service report on improved credit status classification. The credit rating agency on Wall Street praised local leaders for taking steps to improve the fiscal health of the state government. The agency upgraded the future financial condition of the government of Rhode Island negatively, where […]readmore
Rhode Island – Homeland Sercurity agents captured Najd Khalil, 27 of Pawtucket trying to escape days before he began serving a sentence in prison for two years for smuggling cigarettes. The federal agents apprehended a Delta airplane that was bound for Paris from Logan Airport and then to Beirut. Khalil had removed the electronic shackle […]readmore
Turkey’s president says the Syrian border town of Kobani is on the verge of falling to Islamic State militants. Kurdish fighters have been defending the town for three weeks from the approaching militant offensive. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Tuesday that the ultra-radical Sunni militant group will take control of the area along […]readmore
LUMPKIN, GEORGIA—In the concrete block-walled visiting room of the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia – one of the biggest immigrant holding facilities in the country – Salvadoran-born Nilson Flores says he’s seen many detainees sent back to countries where their lives are in danger. “They should call this place the ‘jail of broken dreams’,” he said. […]readmore
Two Japanese scientists and a Japanese-born American scientist have been awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing the environmentally-friendly blue light emitting diodes, commonly known as LEDs. Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura were honored for their work in the 1990s in creating bright, energy-efficient white light from semiconductors, succeeding where scores […]readmore
USA Swimming on Monday suspended Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian ever, for six months and said he won’t be on next year’s U.S. team at the world championships. The 22-time Olympic medalist also won’t be paid his monthly stipend, USA Swimming said on its website. The organization said Phelps, who was charged with DUI […]readmore
WASHINGTON — In a move that may signal the inevitability of a nationwide right to same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court on Monday let stand appeals court rulings allowing such unions in five states. The development, a major surprise, cleared the way for same-sex marriages in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Officials in Virginia […]readmore
After more than 150 years, Edgar Allan Poe has finally returned to Boston. A statue of the famous author and poet was unveiled yesterday at Charles Street South and Boylston Street, known as Edgar Allan Poe Square, with recitations of his work by Boston authors Matthew Pearl and Meghan Marshall to about 400 onlookers. “Poe’s […]readmore
UMass Dartmouth recognized for offering veterans the best possible experience in higher education UMass Dartmouth has been named a Military Friendly School for the year 2015 by Victory Media Inc., which recognizes schools that have gone above and beyond to provide transitioning veterans the best possible experience in higher education. UMass Dartmouth is one of […]readmore