A 2,000 year-old Gladiator School in Austria brings the arena back to life.
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Valuing World Cultures
Study historic and contemporary cultural and artistic heritage, with particular emphasis on the arts of Asia and Africa, the heritage of the Americas, indigenous knowledge and expressive systems, and modern and contemporary art and design.
Shed light on the interconnections among world cultures.
Photo Credit: Reiner Reidler / Anzenberger Agency
Tucked into a rare. almost disintegrated, album’s last page is a previously unknown photo of one of American history’s great figures: abolitionist Harriet Tubman, in what’s believed to be the earliest photo of her in existence.
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Understanding the American Experience
Use material culture and documentary collections to research and interpret national milestones and achievements; American life and national identity, cultural expression, the environment and changing landscape, and achievements in science and technology; political and military struggles; economic, scientific, technological, and cultural innovations; and artists and leaders that have defined the United States and the character of its people.
Photo Credit: Shawn Miller
In this excerpt from his new book Taming the Sun, Varun Sivaram follows the research paths of two rival scientists determined to find a way to wring fuel out of thin air.
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Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
Develop concepts, theories, tools, and models that contribute directly to halting biodiversity loss, managing species and their habitats, restoring ecosystems, and mitigating threats to the environment.
Photo Credit: Santtu Mustonen
Sixty years after the nuclear tests, the groundwater is contaminated and the coconuts are radioactive. But are the coral reefs thriving?
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Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
Increase knowledge of the evolutionary and ecological history of species and ecosystems, and the processes responsible for population declines and extinction.
Understand how species interactions, climate change, habitat fragmentation, diseases, environmental contaminants, and invasions of exotic species affect the survival of species and the functioning of ecosystems.
ERC Grand Challenges Network: for inquiry, for project design, for activism.
NASA Landsat satellite image GeoTIFF archive, http://glovis.usgs.gov
New gene-editing technology gives scientists the ability to wipe out the carriers of malaria and the Zika virus. But should we use it?
To read more, explore these resources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/kill-all-mosquitos-180959069/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/venomous-fungus-mosquito-dome
Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
Understand how species interactions, climate change, habitat fragmentation, diseases, environmental contaminants, and invasions of exotic species affect the survival of species and the functioning of ecosystems.
Increase knowledge of the evolutionary and ecological history of species and ecosystems, and the processes responsible for population declines and extinction.
ERC Grand Challenges Network: for inquiry, for project design, for activism.
After the Civil War, 18 veterans of the United States Colored Troops returned to Talbot County, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where their families had toiled for generations. But this time, they had a chance to create something their ancestors had been denied: a village of their own, where everyone was free.
To read more, click here.
Understanding the American Experience
Conduct research on historical migrations and diasporas to and within America and on the contemporary movements of people, art, artifacts, and cultural expressions that connect various world cultures to the American experience.
Interpretation of the diverse communities of the United States, particularly African American, Latino, Asian Pacific American, and Native American, as well as the cultural interrelationships among these communities.
ERC Grand Challenges Network: for inquiry, for project design, for activism.
Photo Credit: Gabriella Demczuk
Looming high among the volcanic outriders of the Great Rift Valley in northern Ethiopia, is nature with a serious case of gigantism: a basalt escarpment 40 kilometers long, staggered between altitudes of 11,000 and 15,000 feet, populated with super-sized plants and armies of monkeys 500-strong. In 1978, UNESCO dubbed it “one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world,” and consecrated the Simien Mountains National Park in its very first batch of World Heritage Sites, alongside Yellowstone and the Galapagos Islands.
For more, read here.
Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
Improve understanding of and access to the biology and natural history of species – information that is lacking for the vast majority of species on the planet.
Increase knowledge of the evolutionary and ecological history of species and ecosystems, and the processes responsible for population declines and extinction.
ERC Grand Challenges Network: for inquiry, for project design, for activism.
Photo Credit: Clay Knight on Unsplash
New research has revealed that a giant impact on Mars more than four billion years ago would explain the unusual amount of “iron loving” elements in the Red Planet.
Planets form as small dust grains stick together and agglomerate with other grains, leading to bigger bodies termed “planetesimals.” These planetesimals continue to collide with each other and are either ejected from the Solar System, gobbled up by the Sun, or form a planet. This is not the end of the story, as planets continue to accrete material well after they have formed. This process is known as late accretion, and it occurs as leftover fragments of planet formation rain down on the young planets.
To read more, click here.
Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe
Understand the formation, geological diversity, and dynamics of the Earth, the Moon, and other rocky bodies in our solar system.
ERC Grand Challenges Network: for inquiry, for project design, for activism.
Photo credit: UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA/LPL/SWRI
Life on Earth could have originated in cold conditions near the surface, before spreading to warmer environments, according to research that analyzes the possible gene sequences belonging to the earliest life.
To read more, click here.
IMAGE CREDIT: MARJORIE D. CANTINE.
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts in June 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, which pitted European Americans servicemen stationed in Southern California against Mexican American youths and other minorities who were residents of the city.
European American servicemen and White European immigrant civilians attacked and stripped children, teens, and youths who wore zoot suits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits to be unpatriotic during World War II, as they had a lot of fabric. Rationing of fabric was required at the time for the war effort. While most of the violence was directed toward Mexican American youth, young African American and Filipino Americans who were wearing zoot suits were also attacked.
The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in a barrio near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year by European Americans against Latinos in Chicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New York City.
To read more, click here.
Provocations:
Photo credit: Gordon Parks / Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was a unique U.S. Army unit and it had the distinction of being the only all-African American, all-female unit sent overseas during World War II. The women kept mail flowing to nearly seven million soldiers in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).
To read more, click here.
WACs who would later be organized into the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion stand in front of their quarters in England, 17 February 1945 (National Archives)
ERC Grand Challenges: For project design, for inquiry, for activism.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a two year survey mission that will focus on the discovery of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky. This first-ever all-sky transit survey will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, around a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances.
To read more, click here
Photo Credit: Chris Gebhardt