What Folks Care About Online Today - March 14th

Pi Day! (or Pie, if you’d so prefer. In which case, I’ll take Banana Cream, please.)

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The world said good night to Professor Stephen Hawking today. Within minutes of the news breaking that the beloved physicist had passed, his name was a trending topic on social media.

From the New York Times:

Stephen W. Hawking, the Cambridge University physicist and best-selling author who roamed the cosmos from a wheelchair, pondering the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe and becoming an emblem of human determination and curiosity, died early Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, England. He was 76.

A university spokesman confirmed the death.

“Not since Albert Einstein has a scientist so captured the public imagination and endeared himself to tens of millions of people around the world,” Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said in an interview.

Stephen was featured in the media as well, with appearances on Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons. It’s interesting to note that Stephen passed on Albert Einstein’s birthday, and Pi (3/14) Day. Nothing is coincidence, it would seem.

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It was National Walk-Out Day across the United States today, as thousands of students walked out of classrooms in protest of gun violence in schools, with major networks backing their plight. The walk-out was staged one month since the Parkland, Florida shooting and scheduled for 17 minutes – to represent the 17 who lost their lives.

From the LA Times:

Nickelodeon and MTV — networks that have welcomed generations of children and teenagers to television — went off the air for 17 minutes on Wednesday in support of those participating in National Walkout Day one month after the Parkland, Fla., shooting.

“In support of kids leading the way today, Nickelodeon will be off the air until 17 minutes past the hour,” viewers were informed.

“The next 17 minutes are dedicated to young people who are leading the fight against gun violence,” read a message on MTV before flashing photos of those who died in the Parkland shooting.

Notably, students in Atlanta were under a “soft” lock-in as a safety precaution. Those students took a knee for 17 minutes.

It’s a new world, friends.

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And what would you say to your celebrity hero?

For one reporter, it was giving Reese Witherspoon a copy of her dissertation from University. The reporter, Lucy Jane Ford, had an opportunity to sit with Reese, Oprah and Mindy Kaling to discuss their film “A Wrinkle In Time”, but before the interview got underway, Lucy gave Reese the scented-copy of her 15k page paper. Amazing. Watch below.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/973572079000915968

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~ Care 🙂

photo via Lucy Jane Ford’s Twitter