Listen To This Story

Blood Moon Wows Skywatchers Worldwide (Maria) 

The author writes, “A total lunar eclipse delighted stargazers overnight on Sept. 7-8 with a spectacular display of orbital mechanics that briefly turned Earth’s natural satellite blood red. This week’s total lunar eclipse graced the night sky as Earth drifted between the moon and sun, veiling the lunar disk in its umbral silhouette. As the moon slipped into the deepest part of our planet’s shadow — a period known as totality — a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering saw the moon adopt a bloody red hue.”

Postal Traffic to US Drops Over 80% After Trade Exemption Rule Ends, U.N. Agency Says (Dana) 

From NPR: “Postal traffic to the US has fallen significantly after the Trump administration suspended a trade exemption rule in late August, according to a global postal union. The U.N.’s Universal Postal Union (UPU) said the global postal network saw postal traffic en route to the US “come to a near halt” after Aug. 29, when the “de minimis” trade exemption that allowed small packages worth less than $800 to be exempt from tariffs ended. Data between postal operators shows that traffic dropped 81% on Aug. 29 compared to a week earlier, the union said.”

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Say They Were Attacked by Egyptian Officials. Now They’re Facing Charges (Reader Steve) 

The author writes, “Yasin El Sammak, 22, and his 15-year-old brother arrived outside an Egyptian diplomatic building in Manhattan [August 22], planning to film a small protest urging the country to do more for residents of Gaza suffering from starvation. Instead, video provided by another activist shows Egyptian government personnel dragging the pair off the street and into the building, where they were repeatedly pummeled, thrown to the ground and whipped with a metal chain. New York City police then arrested El Sammak and his younger brother on felony assault and strangulation charges, even as witness testimony and footage from the scene appeared to contradict a narrative given to police by Egyptian officials.”

Tiny Lab-Grown Spinal Cords Could Hold the Key To Healing Paralysis (Sean) 

From SciTechDaily: “For the first time, scientists at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have successfully combined 3D printing, stem cell science, and lab-grown tissues to explore a new approach for treating spinal cord injuries. Details of the work appear in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Spinal cord injuries affect more than 300,000 people in the United States…One of the biggest barriers to recovery is that nerve cells die, and the remaining fibers cannot regrow across the site of injury. The Minnesota team designed their study to directly address this challenge.”

Instagram Account Promotes Holocaust Denial T-Shirts to 400,000 Followers (Laryn) 

The author writes, “An Instagram account with almost 400,000 followers is promoting racist and antisemitic t-shirts, another sign that Meta is unable or unwilling to enforce its own policies against hate speech. 404 Media flagged the account to Meta as well as specific racist posts that violate its hate speech policies, but Meta didn’t remove the account and the vast majority of its racist posts…memes and shirts promoted by the account might confuse the average internet user, but people who are fluent in extremist online culture will clearly recognize them as antisemitic.” 

The Druids Oak Is 800 Years Old – Can It Help Save Tomorrow’s Forests? (Laura) 

From BBC News: “The conservation scientist from the charity, The Woodland Trust, thinks the secrets of such remarkable resilience lie in its DNA. The experts want to understand how oaks can live for 1,000 years or more, resisting threats such as climate change and bouncing back from disease – knowledge that could be vital in restoring Britain’s depleted woodlands.”