50 year visitors

Finishing school

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Courtesy of our Florida correspondent

How much trust do you have in "your" media?

Another private trip to space

SpaceX launched three rich businessmen and their astronaut escort to the International Space Station on Friday for more than a week’s stay. The three are an American, a Canadian and an Israeli who run investment, real estate and other companies. They’re paying $55 million apiece for the rocket ride and accommodations, all meals included.

As a gift for their seven station hosts, the four visitors are taking up paella and other Spanish cuisine prepared by celebrity chef José Andrés. The rest of their time at the station, NASA’s freeze-dried chow will have to do.

Meet the Cow Lady

Courtesy of our Florida Correspondent

Reality is full of tricks

Number 81 is born

Dogwood in Boston

Working Together

Do we need to go beyond lithium batteries

Bacteria traveling around the universe

UConn Huskies are in the title game!

 

The mascot, the players, cheerleaders and band members celebrate

One place our money goes

One Russian's views of the war

Oleg Kuvaev, a Russian, has lived in Israel for quite a while

It's seasonal allergy time

Spring brings seasonal allergies, causing millions of people in the U.S. to experience sneezing, congestion and other symptoms. People who struggle with seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever and allergic rhinitis, are mostly reacting to pollen from plants, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Climate change has made it worse; the allergy season is longer and pollen counts are higher.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recently released its 2022 Allergy Capitals report, which lists some of the most challenging cities for spring and fall allergies in the top 100 metropolitan areas in the continental U.S. Here's the list:

1. Scranton, PA 

2. Wichita, KS 

3. McAllen, TX 

4. Richmond, VA 

5. San Antonio, TX 

6. Oklahoma City, OK 

7. Hartford, CT 

8. Buffalo, NY 

9. New Haven, CT 

10. Albany, NY 

11. Bridgeport, CT 

12. Springfield, MA 

13. Dayton OH 

14. Columbia, SC 

15. El Paso, TX 

16. Syracuse, NY

17. Des Moines, IA 

18. Miami, FL 

19. Memphis, TN 

20. Las Vegas NV

Courtesy of a Duncaster resident

Goodbye March

A Hidden Disease

Noise can be dangerous

The European Environmental Agency says that excessive noise is actually killing people. It estimates that long-term exposure causes 12,000 premature deaths per year across the European Union.

The World Health Organization says that noise pollution is an "underestimated threat that can cause a number of short and long-term health problems, such as, for example, sleep disturbance, cardiovascular effects, poorer work and school performance, [and] hearing impairment".

What's more likely?

Climate change or war? It looks like Biden thinks war is, as his proposed military budget ($813.3 billion) is almost 20 times the budget for climate change ($44.9 billion). 

The military budget will set another record this year, as it exceeds the last record-setting budget of $782 billion. William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted in a statement that Biden's proposed budget is "substantially more—adjusted for inflation—than spending at the height of the Korean or Vietnam wars, and over $100 billion more than peak spending during the Cold War."

Relieving Stress