New Hampshire considers ending capital punishment
The State Senate of New Hampshire will vote to repeal the death penalty. Currently, New Hampshire only has one inmate on death row. New Hampshire is the last state in New England to have the death penalty. According to the New York Times, “If approved, New Hampshire would become the 21st state to get rid of the death penalty, continuing a national trend toward fewer executions. Bills to limit the application of the death penalty or to repeal it have also been introduced in at least 18 states this year.”
Measles cases reach new high
During the first week in April, there were 78 cases of measles nationwide. This year, there has been 465 confirmed cases, making this outbreak the second largest since 2000. The Director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins University, Daniel Salmon, told the New York Times, “‘Maybe it’s getting worse,’ he said, but he emphasized that measles vaccination coverage is strong at the national and state levels— more than 90 percent of children are immunized.”
Astronomers create first image of a black hole
Last Wednesday, astronomers unveiled the first image of a black hole. An international team of over 200 researchers worked on this project. According to CNN, “The effort wouldn’t have been possible without Katie Bouman, who developed a crucial algorithm that helped devise imaging methods.” The Event Horizon Telescope was used to capture the image of the black hole at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy.
