The New York Times' 49-year-old error

Hello friends! Ah, breathe it in. While we’re a few weeks away from astronomical spring (20 March, mark it in your diaries), I’m very much filled with the joys of meteorological spring (which started last Friday), and plan to look (and listen) for some woodpeckers tomorrow.

What will you discover this week?

This week’s kicks

(Note: All listings are correct at the time of send but are subject to change, so please check before you travel! Prices exclude booking fees where they apply.)

Monday 11 March

🧠 Using organoids to reveal what sets the human brain apart, Cambridge Philosophical Society, 18.00, free: Dr Madeline Lancaster explains how brain organoids or ‘mini brains’, collections of lab-grown neurons and brain tissue, can help us answer questions about the human brain that would have been impossible using traditional methods.

🎥 This <5-minute video beautifully illustrates what mini brains are and why we shouldn’t worry about them becoming conscious.

Tuesday 12 March

🪩 🦖 ABBA Unearthed: A Quartet Tribute Amongst Dinosaurs, Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham, 18.00, £6-£12: Ok, so this is an in-person event, and I like to try and keep the majority of listings hybrid at least, but how could I not tell you about this opportunity to experience dinosaurs and ABBA at the same time? I mean, if you book, and change your mind, I’m the first in line.

Wednesday 13 March

☪️ An Islamic perspective on mental health, virtual event held by the Royal Institution, 16.00, pay what you can (£10 suggested, £5 minimum): Rania Awaad takes us on a journey into the intersection of Islamic teachings and mental health practices, exploring how Islamic traditions and principles can play a role in addressing the challenges of modern mental health.

⚛️ Experimental particle physics: What, why and how?, virtual event held by the University of York, 18.30, free: Dr Kate Pachel discusses some of the kinds of particle physics experiments happening today, focusing on high energy experiments, accelerators and colliders.

🎮 And if you fancy a go at running your own particle accelerator, try this oddly addictive game (and give me a shout when the Higgs boson turns up).

Thursday 14 March

🤖 Imperial Lates: AI, Imperial College London, 18.00, free: Hey, fleshbags! Settle in for an evening of the machines taking over where you can become “part of a single-intelligent being” in an AI-powered silent disco, try on some facial recognition-defying facepaint, and sit in on an expert discussion about AI and pop culture.

🌟🌒✨ Jupiter, the Moon and the Pleiades form an orderly queue: Look west at about 8pm, find the Moon (it’ll be a waxing crescent) and cast your gaze down to see Jupiter. If it’s clear, just above the Moon you’ll also see the Pleiades, a cluster of fresh new stars whose brightest are known as the Seven Sisters.

Friday 15 March

🕳️ Diving into the dark: supermassive black holes, virtual event held by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, 18.00, free: Dr Maitrayee Gupta draws us in for this lecture about the might and mystery of supermassive black holes and quasars, which can outshine whole galaxies and offer a cosmic window to the past. I’m going to have Muse in my head all day now.

Saturday 16 March

🐦 Chiffchaffs are coming: Keep an ear out for the distinctive call of the chiffchaff, one of the first signs of spring. Familiarise yourself with that up-down up-down call and the look of one of the birbiest of birbs with this RSPB guide.

Sunday 17 March

🐑 Lambcam: Tune in for a chance to see some lambs being born (!) with St Fagans National Museum of History’s Lambcam, running from 8am to 8pm until Friday 22. At the time of writing, 204 little lambs have been welcomed into the world since the cam went live.

Until next week…

Forty-nine years after printing an editorial mocking a scientist, the New York Times ran a correction reading:

"Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17^th century and it is now definitely established that a ____ can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error."

What event prompted the correction, and what word fills the blank?

Answer comes next week. See you then! x