The First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon Did It Again

In 1967, though there were no official rules banning women from competing in the Boston Marathon, race director Jock Semple tried to rip 20-year-old Kathrine Switzer’s bib off her mid-race. Registering without suspicion by using only her first two initials and last name, Switzer (after the ambush) finished the marathon in just over four hours. This week, 50 years later, Switzer participated in the marathon …

DBFC: Jenks

With a sound reminiscent of New Order and Dandy Warhols, Paris-based duo DBFC unveils “Jenks,” a new single from their forthcoming debut LP. Even with its electronic flourishes, there’s a tactile, grimy old club dance vibe here that manages to be both liberating and nostalgic. And at six-and-a-half minutes, the track’s a bit of a journey itself. DBFC’s album of the same name, Jenks, releases …

Debunking a Long-Lasting Star Trek Theory

Mathematician James Grime has debunked a very popular Star Trek theory by using fairly simple math. The widely held belief that “redshirts” (those who work in engineering or security) die more often than any other character isn’t true, Grime says. While technically 10 gold-shirted, eight blue, and 25 red-shirted die in the series, that calculation ignores the fact that there are more redshirts than anybody …