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A NEW LOOK, TOGETHER, AT 2 CIVIL RIGHTS GIANTS

Thursday, February 1, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we explore the common goal of MLK and Malcolm X, tell the tender stories of children in palliative care, question when psychedelics will become legal ... and show how to calculate the distance to the sun.

Martin Luther King Jr., played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Malcolm X, played by Aaron
Pierre, are surrounded by reporters in the US Senate as seen in GENIUS: MLK/X.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/RICHARD DUCREE

They were long thought as rivals, but were America’s two leading civil rights advocates ultimately on the same page?

Growing up, Gina Prince-Bythewood thought she had to choose between Team Martin and Team Malcolm. That conundrum diminished some influence for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and the many-stranded pathways each took toward seeking full rights for Black Americans.

The new scripted National Geographic series Genius: MLK/X emphasizes the surprising commonalities between the two (depicted above). The hope, as executive producer Prince-Bythewood puts it, is that people won’t have to choose between them. “We need heroes,” agrees playwright and screenwriter Jeff Stetson, “and they were heroes.”

See: Genius: MLK/X, premiering tonight on ABC and streaming beginning Friday on Disney+ and Hulu.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Polarized light micrograph (PLM) of serotonin, also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL W. DAVIDSON, SCIENCE SOURCE

Will psychedelics soon become legal? (Above, a polarized light micrograph of serotonin.)

This invention saved countless lives during WWII and beyond

Has sonar found Amelia Earhart's lost plane? Related: Do giant crabs hold clues to her fate?

Can an FDA-approved test predict opioid addiction?

What we know about the real Buddha

Can this new technology help screen for autism?

The truth about moths and light

Is taking your shoes off at home actually cleaner?

The one way to prevent osteoporosis

Sorry, Punxsutawney Phil: Why groundhogs can’t predict the end of winter

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

Jean-Baptiste Colbert presenting members of the Royal Academy of Sciences to King Louis XIV at the opening ceremony of the Paris Observatory in 1667 (oil on canvas) by Henri Testelin.

PHOTOGRAPH BY INCAMERASTOCK, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Finding out the distance to the sun: Centuries ago, French scientists came up with an ingenious—and game-changing—way to determine the earth's distance from the sun. (Above, a depiction of scientists before King Louis XIV in 1667.) The strategy to measure distance involved a trip across the Atlantic. Where to?

A. Haiti
B. Martinique
C. Guadeloupe
D. French Guiana

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A mother plays with her daughter, who has multiple rare genetic syndromes, on a swing in a front yard

PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN JOHNSON

It’s an agonizing reality faced by millions of parents: coming to terms with a child’s terminal illness. While a great many advances have been made in medical care that allow children with complex chronic conditions to live longer, some families choose to prioritize quality of life, leaning on caregivers who help the sick live as comfortably and normally as possible.

“Neither hastening death nor prolonging life,” the medical director of a supportive care program that focuses on the patient’s “physical, emotional, social, and spiritual comfort” tells Nat Geo. Photographer Lynn Johnson and writer Taylor Sisk spent months shadowing young patients with chronic conditions such as Emma Cromlish (pictured above) enjoying playtime on the swing with her mother Jill Rachau. Emma was born with multiple rate genetic syndromes.

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A person holds the head of a Jameson’s mamba, revealing its hollow fangs.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTIAS KLUM

Venom that heals? It's National Serpent Day (pictured above, a Jameson's mamba) and we are exploring the possibilities of nature's most effective killer—venom. All venom is multifaceted and multitasking, which makes it a remarkably fast-acting toxin. But the properties that make it so deadly can also make it incredibly valuable for medicine. Here's how.

Related: This man gets bitten by deadly snakes in the name of science

Today’s soundtrack: Put Your Reconds On, Corinne Bailey Rae

We hope this newsletter brightened your Thursday! It was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and Nishita Naga. Know someone who might want our newsletter in their inbox? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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