Posts by Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met and a historian of early modern Britain & the Atlantic world. She holds a BA in History and Mathematics from Brown University and an MA in European & Russian Studies from Yale University. Madeleine has worked in archives and museums for years with a particular focus on photography and arts education. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, film photography, and studying law while cuddling with her cat Georgia.
Archeology
October 22, 2022

Scientific Facial Reconstruction Brings Three Medieval Scots Back to Life

History holds many surprises. Workers repairing a crumbling crypt in Scotland in 1957 learned this lesson the hard way when they stumbled upon three very old stone coffins. This grizzly discovery led to the uncovering of a medieval burial ground at Whithorn, the site of the oldest Christian community in the country. In recent years, a project called Cold Case Withorn has sought to bring the site to life using modern technology.

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Science
October 19, 2022

British Physicist Creates Over 1,600 Wikipedia Pages for Women Scientists and Scientists of Color

Women remain under-represented in most STEM fields. For example, only 38% of physicians and surgeons are women, and only a shocking 15% of engineers are female.They are not the only ones still facing the effects of historical exclusion and barriers to access in these fields. Black and Hispanic STEM college graduates remain disproportionally low, as does representation in fields such as engineering.

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Astronomy
October 13, 2022

NASA’s DART Mission Successfully Moved a Stadium-Sized Asteroid’s Orbit

Someday an asteroid might threaten Earth. In preparation for that day, NASA has been strategizing how to deflect incoming celestial bodies. This plan for planetary defense was recently tested for the first time when the DART mission's spacecraft collided intentionally with a small asteroid named Dimorphos which currently poses no danger to us. The results are now in: the collision shortened the period of Dimorphos' orbit.

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Astronomy
October 10, 2022

NASA’s JunoCam Shares Stunning Rendering of Jupiter’s “Frosting-Like” Clouds

Jupiter is known for its swirling, stunning clouds. The marbled stripes and red spot make for a stunning view. These fascinating patterns exist in the planet's atmosphere, where cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water drift in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. As beautiful as Jupiter is in photographs, it's even more stunning in a 3D rendering recently created by a citizen scientist using data from NASA's JunoCam.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.