Dozens of entertainers are set to get stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year. The class of 2027 includes Lisa Kudrow, fresh off the third season of The Comeback, Keke Palmer (who deserves one for her viral memes alone), and Elle and Dakota Fanning — the first sister duo to receive the honor together in a double ceremony. See the full list.
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The Quest to Create a Less Annoying Microwave Beep
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If you suffer from misophonia (or just want to heat leftovers in peace), this one’s for you. A two-person startup called Starling turned its attention to the ear-piercing microwave beep we know all too well and, much to the delight of our ears and wallets, found an affordable way for manufacturers to change the sound.
The zen invention is thanks to the startup’s software tool, Microwave Sound Bench, which replaces the beeps with more pleasant chirps and tones using the appliance’s existing hardware rather than adding a speaker. That means the tweak would be a low lift on the manufacturer’s end and simply require new code in the device. “It’s theoretically compatible with any hardware that’s in a microwave,” Joel Corelitz, one of the founders, told Wired.
Starling is willing and ready to partner with an appliance maker to bring better sounds to everyday devices, but Corelitz and co-founder Colin Coogan said their idea is also up for grabs. “It’s not a big fear that someone’s going to steal this,” Corelitz explained, adding: “We just want to solve the problem of going through the world hearing noises that are annoying and don’t contain good information.” Listen to demos of better-sounding beeps.
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Baltimore’s Updated 911 System Connects Some Callers With Counselors Rather Than Cops
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In Baltimore, calling 911 isn’t only a way to get in touch with police officers, firefighters, or EMTs. The service is expanding into a 24/7 system connecting some callers, such as those dealing with homelessness, confusion, or mental health issues, to counselors and clinicians when the situation doesn’t necessitate police presence.
“Not every 911 call is the same,” Mayor Brandon Scott said in an April statement about the program, which is part of a larger strategy to improve social support services and address community crises. “Whether it’s a medical emergency, a ride to the pharmacy, or someone having a mental health crisis, our residents deserve care that meets their needs.”
Baltimore logged 1.68 million 911 calls in 2024, but tens of thousands of them didn’t require traditional emergency services, a community safety expert told NPR. The updated system aims to spare callers in such cases from potentially traumatizing encounters with law enforcement officials while also allowing first responders to focus on other safety matters and have more resources at their disposal.
Rebecca Neusteter, the executive director of the Health Lab at the University of Chicago, who studies services like these, said, “We also see responders themselves feeling like they have a better toolbox in their ability to pursue actual resolution to these calls.” Learn more about the program.
Culture
The Linguistic “Golden Age” Wasn’t That Long Ago, Researchers Say
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Today, humans speak about 7,500 languages, which may seem like a lot but is actually a small sliver compared to the number we spoke in the not-so-distant past, according to a study published last week. Researchers found that humans may have spoken as many as 20,000 to 75,000 different languages during an era they’ve dubbed the linguistic “golden age” between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago.
“The most unexpected result is how recent the peak appears to have been. The period of greatest linguistic diversity may have occurred not in the remote Palaeolithic, but during the era of expanding states and early empires,” study co-author Claire Bowern said in a statement.
Using social-computational models, population estimates, and ethnographic data, the researchers tried to fill in the gaps of “the rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene” — a period from 11,700 years ago to present day. They reported that linguistic diversity peaked during a window between 1000 B.C. and A.D. 1000 before dipping due to the expansion of large states and empires replacing smaller tongues with more dominant languages.
“The languages we see today are the survivors of a massive and highly selective historical bottleneck,” added fellow author Damian Blasi. “A linguistic feature may be common not because it is inherently superior, but because it happened to be carried by populations that expanded.” See the language map the researchers created.
In Other News
Betelgeuse? Betelgeuse! Astronomers found new evidence of a possible companion star orbiting the stellar giant (read more)
The Booker Prize longlist is out — see the 13 books vying for the award, three of which are by debut authors (read more)
A rare Kareem Abdul-Jabbar jersey is up for auction and expected to fetch more than $1 million (read more)
High schools funded or managed by the Bureau of Indian Education have reached record high graduation rates (read more)
Have you heard of binturongs? Conservationists are racing to save the adorable mammals dubbed “bear cats” (read more)
Inspiring Story
Basketball family
How do you keep kids busy during the summer? Tevin Whitehead turned to a neighborhood basketball court in Philadelphia to keep his 10 children active in an affordable way. In just two years, the simple summer outing has grown into an 18-team basketball league serving more than 200 young people, who shoot hoops and make friends throughout the year. “This is like family right here,” one player said.
Photo of the Day
Courtesy of NAS Oceana and Maikayla
Say hello to Virginia’s newest visitor(s)! The leatherback sea turtle pictured above is the first of its species ever recorded to nest on Virginian shores, showing up on a military base in Virginia Beach. The endangered turtle received a very kind welcome, with the Naval Air Station Oceana and partners working quickly to fence off the area, giving her eggs the best odds of hatching safely.
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