Latest news with #UniversityofMassachusetts
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Millions of cicadas have emerged in Ohio. How many eggs can a female cicada lay? What to know
Cicadas have started to emerge around Cincinnati this year. This brood of cicadas is XIV (14), the latest brood of 17-year cicadas to emerge. Cincinnati, Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana will see millions, or even billions, of bugs from this brood. There are always so many cicadas, but how many eggs do female cicadas lay? Let's take a look at what we know. There are millions, if not billions, of cicadas flying around Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and several other states right now. How are there so many cicadas when they emerge? Because the females are egg-laying machines. Female cicadas can lay up to 600 eggs, inserting them into the branches of trees and shrubs with their ovipositor (egg-laying organ), according to the University of Massachusetts. When cicadas emerge, you'll likely find them on trees. Adult cicada males make their well-known deafening 'buzzing,' or singing sound, to attract females to mate. Up to 10 weeks later, after the eggs hatch, the nymphs drop to the ground and dig into the soil, feeding on host plant roots. Their underground stages will mostly go unnoticed until the next time adult cicadas emerge. Whether or not you enjoy this biological phenomenon, only one brood of cicadas has popped out this year. Not two, like last year. In 2024, two periodical broods appeared. Brood XIX, which has a 13-year life cycle, and Brood XIII, which has a 17-year life cycle overlapped in parts of the Midwest last year, according to Cicada Mania. The lifespan of cicadas depends on the brood and whether they are annual or periodical species. Brood XIV is one of 15 recognized broods of periodical cicadas that emerge every 13 or 17 years after living as nymphs underground. It is also one of four broods that appear in the Buckeye State. Once male and female periodical cicadas have mated and the latter has laid eggs, the insects die after spending only a few weeks above ground. That can be anywhere from three to six weeks after first emerging. The Brood XIV cicadas won't be crawling and flying around only in Ohio this summer. If you plan to take a summer vacation in another state, you may find them in: Georgia Indiana Kentucky Massachusetts North Carolina New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Tennessee Virginia West Virginia This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati swarmed by cicadas. How many eggs can a female cicada lay?
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Contributor: Voice of America made the U.S. a superpower. Now Trump has surrendered
Before I became an American citizen, I knew America. I remember sitting beneath Mogadishu's blue sky, under the skeleton of an acacia tree, watching pigeons soar low and high as boys chased a ball, their laughter carried by the wind while dust rose and danced above their heads. Somalia's civil war had not yet begun, and the world still made sense. Voice of America was my favorite radio station, the voice of a beloved, diverse nation. In the late 1980s, before war marched into our lives and destroyed everything, my older sister was obsessed with Michael Jackson's song 'Thriller.' Voice of America played it repeatedly, and though I secretly enjoyed the song, I wouldn't dare let her catch me nodding along because I was a boy: She loved music, singing and dancing, while I admired military men in green uniforms. But Voice of America broke through all that, and we learned another story was possible. Years later, when I became a student at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, that voice of publicly supported media followed me: National Public Radio became my favorite radio station. Helping me refine my accent and deepen my understanding of the language, it helped me learn not only the language, but also the rhythm of American thought, its debates, its heartache, its humor. Public media has long been America's greatest superpower, and its influence long the envy of other nations. But the Trump administration has now surrendered to America's enemies, killing off public media and letting Russia and China take over. In 2024, I met a wealthy man in Somalia — a man blessed with two houses, two wives and children. As I stepped into his house with him, I remarked: 'This is great. You're living your best life.' 'I have another identical house with my younger wife,' he added, pride swelling in his voice. As he spoke, I noted the Toyota Land Cruiser, my favorite vehicle, parked in the courtyard of his home. 'Word,' I responded, absorbing the sight. No man like him lives in Boston, where I spent most of my life. We struggle with 9-to-5 jobs, and for many in the U.S., even getting married and buying a home is a stretch, much less imagining two marriages and two homes supported by one breadwinner. As we sat outside in the warm Somali sun, he turned to me. 'Do you think I can go to America?' he asked me. 'I'd like to go to California. I've heard so much about it on Voice of America when I was growing up learning English.' That's the power that the U.S. used to project: persuading people around the world that the U.S. had everything figured out, even selling the American dream to people who were living successful lives elsewhere. The radio network reached 300 million people globally. As the man talked of trying to upgrade his impressive life to an even more lavish one in the U.S., I judged him. Here he was living in wealth and comfort, but believing in America as a beacon of hope, a land of opportunity, where beauty and prosperity dance together under the American flag, fluttering in pristine air over manicured green lawns. Voice of America is part of this grand storytelling machine. Influence is more powerful than war. War destroys, breeds enmity and stirs resentment, but storytelling exerts lasting control by changing how people think. That is what made America so attractive and influential. But America's standing has been in decline, through decades of feckless foreign policy. Eliminating institutions like Voice of America and the Public Broadcasting Service will only accelerate this downfall. The most beautiful country in the world does not thrive on its war machine; it thrives on the power of its story. Now, in 2025, as America under President Trump threatens to dismantle the very media that tells its story to the world, I feel something strange moving in my belly. Once public radio is murdered, much of America's storytelling dies with it. And when that happens, the dream — the one that compels boys and girls from all over the world to risk everything just to come to America — dies too. America will feel that loss, and a generation of talent will flock to rival nations instead. Boyah J. Farah, author of 'America Made Me a Black Man: A Memoir,' is building a science and technology institute in Garowe, Somalia. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Voice of America made the U.S. a superpower. Now Trump has surrendered
Before I became an American citizen, I knew America. I remember sitting beneath Mogadishu's blue sky, under the skeleton of an acacia tree, watching pigeons soar low and high as boys chased a ball, their laughter carried by the wind while dust rose and danced above their heads. Somalia's civil war had not yet begun, and the world still made sense. Voice of America was my favorite radio station, the voice of a beloved, diverse nation. In the late 1980s, before war marched into our lives and destroyed everything, my older sister was obsessed with Michael Jackson's song 'Thriller.' Voice of America played it repeatedly, and though I secretly enjoyed the song, I wouldn't dare let her catch me nodding along because I was a boy: She loved music, singing and dancing, while I admired military men in green uniforms. But Voice of America broke through all that, and we learned another story was possible. Years later, when I became a student at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, that voice of publicly supported media followed me: National Public Radio became my favorite radio station. Helping me refine my accent and deepen my understanding of the language, it helped me learn not only the language, but also the rhythm of American thought, its debates, its heartache, its humor. Public media has long been America's greatest superpower, and its influence long the envy of other nations. But the Trump administration has now surrendered to America's enemies, killing off public media and letting Russia and China take over. In 2024, I met a wealthy man in Somalia — a man blessed with two houses, two wives and children. As I stepped into his house with him, I remarked: 'This is great. You're living your best life.' 'I have another identical house with my younger wife,' he added, pride swelling in his voice. As he spoke, I noted the Toyota Land Cruiser, my favorite vehicle, parked in the courtyard of his home. 'Word,' I responded, absorbing the sight. No man like him lives in Boston, where I spent most of my life. We struggle with 9-to-5 jobs, and for many in the U.S., even getting married and buying a home is a stretch, much less imagining two marriages and two homes supported by one breadwinner. As we sat outside in the warm Somali sun, he turned to me. 'Do you think I can go to America?' he asked me. 'I'd like to go to California. I've heard so much about it on Voice of America when I was growing up learning English.' That's the power that the U.S. used to project: persuading people around the world that the U.S. had everything figured out, even selling the American dream to people who were living successful lives elsewhere. The radio network reached 300 million people globally. As the man talked of trying to upgrade his impressive life to an even more lavish one in the U.S., I judged him. Here he was living in wealth and comfort, but believing in America as a beacon of hope, a land of opportunity, where beauty and prosperity dance together under the American flag, fluttering in pristine air over manicured green lawns. Voice of America is part of this grand storytelling machine. Influence is more powerful than war. War destroys, breeds enmity and stirs resentment, but storytelling exerts lasting control by changing how people think. That is what made America so attractive and influential. But America's standing has been in decline, through decades of feckless foreign policy. Eliminating institutions like Voice of America and the Public Broadcasting Service will only accelerate this downfall. The most beautiful country in the world does not thrive on its war machine; it thrives on the power of its story. Now, in 2025, as America under President Trump threatens to dismantle the very media that tells its story to the world, I feel something strange moving in my belly. Once public radio is murdered, much of America's storytelling dies with it. And when that happens, the dream — the one that compels boys and girls from all over the world to risk everything just to come to America — dies too. America will feel that loss, and a generation of talent will flock to rival nations instead. Boyah J. Farah, author of 'America Made Me a Black Man: A Memoir,' is building a science and technology institute in Garowe, Somalia.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Dems plan another big bump in financial aid
BOSTON (SHNS) – The Senate Ways and Means Committee wants to keep its foot on the gas of ballooning financial aid with a 25% increase to the MASSGrant Plus program, according to someone with knowledge of the committee's plans for next year's state budget. The MASSGrant Plus program, which is meant to cover unmet costs of tuition and mandatory fees for low-income community college students attending public higher education institutions, was expanded to an $80 million investment last year. The committee's fiscal year 2026 budget, set to be unveiled Tuesday, will recommend increasing that investment to $100 million. The goal is to make public higher education close to completely free for more lower income students, including those who also qualify for federal Pell grants. The financial aid investment has grown rapidly in recent years. When it was launched under former Gov. Charlie Baker in 2018, the program had just $7.5 million to distribute to students in need. Under the $80 million invested in fiscal 2025, MASSGrant Plus covers the full cost of tuition and fees and an allowance of up to $1,200 for books and supplies for full- or part-time students at public four-year colleges and universities from families earning up to about $85,000 per year. For families earning up to $100,000, the program covers about half of the out-of-pocket costs for tuition and fees for full-time students at the state's community colleges and 15 state universities. Additionally, the University of Massachusetts announced last fall that through the expansion of MASSGrant Plus, any in-state student coming from a family who earns under $75,000 will be able to attend a UMass school for free by next school year. The current state budget included a number of other higher education financial aid investments as well, including making community college free for every Massachusetts resident and an additional $175.2 million for other scholarships awarded through the General Fund. The Board of Higher Education approved budget recommendations in December for fiscal 2026 which included, 'expanding the Massachusetts financial aid programs to make all public colleges and universities debt-free or nearly debt-free for almost all without an existing college degree.' Gov. Maura Healey and the House proposed level-funding the program after years of rapid growth, keeping it steady at $80 million. The most recent big increases in financial aid have been mostly funded through a pot of revenues collected from a 4% income surtax on the state's highest earners. That surtax was approved by voters in 2022, and may only be spent on education or transportation initiatives. The committee plans to release its full annual budget bill Tuesday in advance of floor debate on it during the week before Memorial Day. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
04-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
With funding under fire from Trump administration, UMass president says climate research is key
As he celebrates his tenth year running the University of Massachusetts system, President Marty Meehan has survival on his mind and is looking at climate research. "I think that we've seen the federal government kind of letting up on our climate goals that we have set out as a country. And I think you're seeing across the country that states are stepping up," says Meehan in an interview on WBZ's "Keller At Large." Higher education struggling With university research funding under fire from the White House and higher education in general struggling through a period of economic decline, Meehan is betting that UMass can survive and prosper by aligning its focus with the legislature's recent funding commitment to climate tech research and development. In a recent "State of the University" speech, Meehan pointed to research already underway at campuses including UMass Dartmouth (on sustainable fishers), UMass Amherst (water treatment technologies) and UMass Boston (protecting coastlines from damage) as examples of how the university can leverage state and private-sector investment into good jobs for students and an academic future safe from budgetary erosion at the federal level. Marty Meehan on climate research "There is a significant business that has developed as a result of [climate change], UMass educates the workforce of Massachusetts. We need to train people to get them the skills they need to work in this sector," he says. Meehan also discussed diversity on campus, the safety of foreign students, and dealing with anti-Semitic and anti-Palestinian behaviors. You can watch the entire interview on-demand right here, and join us for interviews with top local newsmakers every Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on the weekend edition of "Keller At Large."
