Stop what you're doing and look at these new emoji
Plus: What NASA deep space photos look like then vs. now
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at…
What NASA deep space photos look like then vs. now
For the first time ever, a state brought a statue of a Black woman to Statuary Hall
Stop what you're doing and look at these new emoji
What NASA deep space photos look like then vs. now
Is it just me, or do the first photos from the new James Webb Space Telescope make everything shot by the Hubble seem mid?
You can see the improvement from the deep-space photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over about 11 days between 2003 and 2004 (top left), versus the first Webb photo released Monday (top right).
The new image shows a cluster of thousands of galaxies, including the smallest, faintest objects ever observed, according to NASA.
A new shot of the “Cosmic Cliffs” shows young stars behind mountains of dust and gas with peaks as high as seven light years tall, revealing in stunning detail that we are indeed floating on a tiny speck of dust in a vast cosmos unknowable to our mortal comprehension.
The Webb also took new headshots for Stephan’s Quintet, a grouping of five galaxies that famously starred as angels in the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life”. The new photo shows clusters of millions of stars and will help scientists learn how galaxies interact and create new stars.
The Webb launched on Christmas Day 2021 and now orbits 1 million miles from Earth. Done in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency, it’s the largest and most powerful space telescope ever. I love when a broad coalition of multi-racial democracies come together to work towards a common goal. 🥰
President Joe Biden said Monday the project “embodies how America leads the world not by the example of our power, but the power of our example” during a press conference unveiling the first image.
For the first time ever, a state brought a statue of a Black woman to Statuary Hall
The U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall collection includes two statues from every state, and today Florida became the first to welcome a statue of a Black woman: Mary McLeod Bethune.
Bethune was an educator, activist, and founder of the National Council of Negro Women. Born the daughter of formerly enslaved people, she went on to advise U.S. presidents.
Her 11-foot-tall statue was created by sculptor Nilda Comas using marble from the same Italian quarry used for Michelangelo’s David, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, and it replaces the statue of a confederate general. It won’t be the last.
In 2020, Virginia’s Robert E. Lee statue was removed, and the state plans to replace it with a statue of Barbara Johns, a Black woman and civil rights activist. There are still nine remaining confederate statues in the National Statuary Hall collection, per a Washington Post tally.
To replace the statues, the governors and state legislatures in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia would need to approve their removal.
Bethune’s statue joins Florida’s other entry, of ice machine inventor John Gorrie. And while hers is the first statue of a Black woman added by a state, there are statues of Rosa Parks and Sojourner Truth displayed in the Capitol.
You can see who represents your state in the Architect of the Capitol’s full list here.
Stop what you're doing and look at these new emoji
Ahead of World Emoji Day on Sunday, June 17 📅 Emojipedia gave us an early look at what the next generation of emoji might look like.
The new slate of emoji are up for approval in September and would be released into 2023. Among the new candidates are a shaking head, new colored hearts, and pushing hands emoji that I could see myself using dramatically to say stop. The sample designs were created by Emojipedia head of design Joshua Jones.
Other new emoji candidates include a moose, crow, goose, jellyfish, fan, wifi symbol, and the Khanda, a Sikh religious symbol. And Democrats, rejoice: there’s also a donkey, finally giving your party its own emoji equivalent to the elephant 🐘.
The new hearts are expected to come in sky blue, gray, and plain pink. While most platforms have a number of pink heart emoji, they’re all decorative or emotive. 💖💕💗💓💞💘💝
Which of the new emoji is your favorite?
Like what you see?
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