2021’s Dazzling Stargazing Events

Following 2020’s uncommon and inspiring roster of celestial happenings, 2021’s heavenly events will keep us gazing skyward. From February’s Venus-Jupiter conjunction to May’s “Blood moon” total lunar eclipse and the peak of the Perseid meteor showers in August, spectacular astronomical delights will unfurl. While some will cross entire continents, others will manifest in specific destinations. See all of this cosmic calendar—and where everything will be …

Cambridge University Announces “The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music”

Cambridge University will publish The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music, a “comprehensive, up-to-date survey of video game music,” online this March, and a print edition will follow shortly after. Academics and gamers will contribute to the effort, which aims to assess the sonic contributions games have made in popular culture. Edited by Tim Summers and Melanie Fritsch, the book strives to be a formal …

3D Schröder Staircase Wins 2020 Illusion of the Year Contest

The 16th annual Best Illusion of the Year Contest, hosted by the Neural Correlate Society, crowned a 2020 first prize winner this week. Japanese mathematician Kokichi Sugihara’s 3D Schröder Staircase wowed judges with its ingenuity. The Schröder Staircase (aka Schröder’s Stairs) is typically done in 2D on paper with ink or pencil, but Sugihara deciphered a way to render the illusion in real life and …