Today is Memorial Day, an opportunity to honor fallen soldiers and the sacrifices they’ve made throughout U.S. history. It became a federal holiday (and a three-day weekend) in 1971, but its origins go back to the post-Civil War era, when it was known as Decoration Day. One of the earliest recorded observations took place in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865, during the final days of the war. It was a gathering of freed Black residents who came together to decorate the graves of Union prisoners. Learn the little-known history of that event.
Arizona Desert Destination Is the Latest International Dark Sky Park
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Stargazers, you may want to add this desert destination to your bucket list. Southwest Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was recently designated as an International Dark Sky Park following increased efforts to protect its nocturnal ecosystems, which are prone to disruption from artificial light.
Located in the Sonoran Desert, the world’s most biodiverse desert, the monument encompasses 330,000 acres and is home to several wildlife species that require darkness for survival, including mountain lions, moths, and bats.
Over the past decade, the team at Organ Pipe has updated more than 100 light fixtures, conducted astronomy evening programs and telescope nights, launched an astronomer-in-residence program, and more, all to “to preserve the magical landscape and promote dark-sky lighting and values,” DarkSky International Community Program Manager Michael Rymer said in a press release.
Along with bringing a host of resources to help Organ Pipe continue to protect its nighttime environment, the new designation honors land where humans were guided by the cosmos for thousands of years. Local biologist Craig Fischer said: “There is little as humbling and beautiful as spending time appreciating the desert’s diverse array of nocturnal critters navigating the landscape by starlight as even our ancestors once did.” Check out a map of other Dark Sky Places around the globe.
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“Ceiling Broken”: Elim Chan Will Be the First Woman to Lead the San Francisco Symphony
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In September 2027, Elim Chan will become the first woman to lead the San Francisco Symphony as music director. The historic appointment also marks the first time a woman will take charge of one of the country’s “Big 7” orchestras (New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles).
“When it happened, I was like, ‘Oh my God — it’s time,’” the 39-year-old conductor from Hong Kong told The New York Times. “It is groundbreaking. It’s another ceiling broken.” Chan is no stranger to breaking barriers in the male-dominated field: She was the first woman to win the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in 2014 and the first woman and youngest person to be named chief conductor of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in 2019.
San Francisco Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey said her tenure will start a promising new chapter for the symphony, following a difficult post-pandemic period. “We are very optimistic about where the organization is headed,” he said. “Her vision aligns so beautifully with who we are. She programs with genuine curiosity. And she is committed to expanding the orchestral canon.” Watch Chan in her element.
Science
More Sustainable Sunscreen Might Be on the Horizon, Thanks to Fish Eggs and Science
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While it seems a hot new SPF product pops up every day, it’s been more than 25 years since the FDA approved a new ingredient for sunscreen in the U.S. But according to a study published this month, there might be a new contender in a molecule found in fish eggs called gadusol.
The compound helps protect several species of fish against ultraviolet damage, servingas a built-in sunscreen of sorts. Added bonus: Gadusol absorbs harmful wavelengths without absorbing visible light, so it “opens the door to sunscreens that will not make you pasty white,” James Gagnon, a developmental biologist not involved in the study, told NPR. The downside is that it’s rather scarce and not easy to extract, which makes scaling it up for a commercial sunscreen a challenge.
To overcome that, researchers inserted genes from fish into E. coli, creating “cell factories” that increased production yields by nearly 93 times. “Achieving this level of production in the lab is very promising,” lead study author Ping Zhang said in a statement. “It suggests that we may be able to meet future demand for natural sunscreen ingredients through microbial production.”
It will likely take years for the molecule to make its way into sunscreen bottles, but the study could kick off new uses for gadusol as well as a “greener and more sustainable way to bring laboratory discoveries into real-world use,” added Zhang.
In Other News
World Cup lottery: New Yorkers have a chance to scoop up $50 tix to the coveted soccer tournament (read more)
California’s governor signed an order to get ahead of of potential AI job displacement (read more)
The Artemis II plushie that went around the moon is now housed at a museum, alongside Snoopy (read more)
A humble “supertree” is helping fishingcommunities worldwide adapt to climate change (read more)
The Pitt’s Noah Wyle rallied for IRL health care workers in Washington, D.C. — hear him speak (read more)
Inspiring Story
Thank you to restaurant MVPs
Lauren Bethke sought out to write an article on Los Angeles-based dishwashers’ favorite restaurants. But her reporting led her to change the direction of her story to instead highlight the dishwashers themselves, who do “noble work in the service of others.” Meet nine LA dishwashers.
Photo of the Day
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“Flags In.” Every year ahead of Memorial Day, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (also known as The Old Guard) places around 250,000 American flags on the burial sites of fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery. “We’re here to finish the mission and do this for the ones that came before us,” said Jonah Field, one of the soldiers who (meticulously) placed the flags.
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