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Scientist Stephen Hawking Dead At Age 76

Joyce Grant — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 03:22:53 +0000

When we think of scientific geniuses, we may think of Albert Einstein, Marie Curie or Ada Lovelace. Stephen Hawking was right up there with the most brilliant minds of any generation. He passed away last week, at the age of 76.
It would take a book -- or a movie (there are both) -- to even scratch the surface of his accomplishments, his tremendous sense of humour, his influence on millions of people and the vast depths of his knowledge.

He helped the world better understand black holes and string theory. Black holes are extremely dense regions in space. We can't see them. In fact, we can understand what they are only by how they affect things around them. Hawking furthered our understanding of them and many other areas of physics. His groundbreaking work changed science forever.

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Author Alice Munro Wins Nobel Prize In Literature

Joyce Grant — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 22:41:38 +0000

One of Canada's best-loved authors has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious prizes an author can win. It comes with a $1-million cash award.

Alice Munro won the prize for her brilliant short stories.

Munro, 82, grew up in a small town in Ontario. Many of her stories are set in rural Ontario.

In making the announcement, Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, called Munro "master of the contemporary short story."

Munro was surprised and delighted to find out she had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

She told CBC News that, "I never thought I would win."

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Pterosaur Named After Girl Who Discovered It

Joyce Grant — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:27:00 +0000

Like many children, Daisy Morris loves to collect fossils.

Unlike other children, however, Daisy’s hobby has led to a pterosaur being named after her.

A pterosaur is a type of flying reptile closely related to dinosaurs.

The species Daisy discovered is now known as Vectidraco daisymorrisae, or “Dragon from the Isle of Wight.”

Daisy, who lives in England, was five years old in 2008 when she and her mother were taking a walk along the beach. She noticed some black bones—about 40 mm long-- sticking out of the mud and she dug them out.

The family took the bones to a fossil expert at Southampton University in England.

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