NEWS & BLOG

California regulators have approved the ‘Cruise’ driverless taxi rides in San Francisco, the first to be approved in a state where several competitors are testing the same technology.

Original post by Michael Liedtke/Associated Press News

Read more here: https://apnews.com/article/technology-san-francisco-climate-and-environment-government-politics-63e3bc1eade16d91a209b00697db42c5

In a location in northern Alabama lies the 19th Unnamed Cave. The cave is 80-foot wide and leads to a long tunnel where the ceiling and floor draw closer and closer together. Far from the entrance of the tunnel artwork can be seen with the pockets of daylight that reaches through. 

The artwork within the cave consists of abstract shapes and lines, reptiles, animals, and humanlike figures created by Native American artists between 660 and 949 C.E.

Jan Simek, an archeologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her colleagues have been documenting cave sites for the past several decades. They discovered that the 19th cave has more images than what is visible to the naked eye. Recently they have utilized 3-D scans of the cave revealing giant figures such as life-sized drawings of humans and an 11-foot long diamondback rattlesnake.

Original post by Megan Gannon/Smithsonian Magazine

Read more here:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/3-d-scans-reveal-gigantic-native-american-cave-art-in-alabama-180980004/

The Smithsonian is celebrating Women’s History Month with 120 statues of women who are changing the future.

This new historic exhibit is called “#IfThenSheCan-The Exhibit”. It features 120 life-sized 3D statues of women who have excelled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The exhibit is located at the Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C., and will be on display there and in select Smithsonian museums from March 5 to 27. 

Some of the women included are; Jessica Esquivel Ph.D. in physics, Katrina Popovich, and Rae Wynn-Grant, wildlife explorer.

Original post by Joyann Jeffery/TODAY

Read more here: https://www.today.com/news/news/smithsonian-womens-history-month-120-statues-women-in-stem-exhibit-rcna18633 

Cherokee Nation Film Incentive will provide up to $1 million in annual funding for productions filmed within the Cherokee Nation’s northeast Oklahoma reservation. This program will be the first tribal film office in the country.

The purpose of this project is to introduce Hollywood to the beauty and diversity of its 14-county reservation. In 2019 the Cherokee Nation Film Office became the first certified American Indian film commission to open in the U.S.

This program is known for encouraging and providing jobs to unique all-inclusive talent, crew, staff, and actors that are American Indian. 

Original post by Sheila Stogsdill/WRBL

Read more here: https://www.wrbl.com/news/cherokee-nation-film-office-launches-tribal-film-incentive-program/ 

Africatown, located outside of Mobile, Alabama, is a community of Black resistance against Black oppression.

The town once had a past of chattel slavery and breaking spirits of enslaved Africans, they resisted, eventually endured, restored, and secured land to establish themselves. Today, the Africatown Historic Preservation Foundation works to preserve the legacy of decades of transportation and environmental challenges.

In the 1950s, Africatown developed into a community that preserved the African culture and its traditions, deriving from 32 enslaved Africans. These individuals consisted of different ethnic groups, traditions, and customs and were kept in Timothy Meher’s possession in Alabama.

The Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation was founded in 2019 and funded by the American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AHPF). AHPF has documented the community’s legacy through history projects and providing service and education. The AHPF is also striving to preserve the existing genealogical connections to Africatown.

Original post by Orilonise D. Yarborough/National Trust for Historic Preservation

Read more here: https://savingplaces.org/stories/hearing-spirit-speak-preserving-africatown#.YfMmqPXMI6E

The Southern Poverty Law Center provides $50,000 in grants to support civil rights museums. A memorial to the victims of the explosion at a munitions plant in 1973, and a monument to enslaved women who were subjected to medical experiments. 

Five Black historic sites will receive grants from Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), including the “Mothers of Gynecology” monument, the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, the Thiokol Memorial Project, the Fannie Lou Hamer Museum, and the Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum.

Original post by Livia Gershon/Daily Correspondent-Smithsonian Magazine

Read more here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-funding-will-help-highlight-five-black-history-sites-in-the-south-180979402/