Learning Skills

Article of the day for January 30, 2019 is Mascarene grey parakeet . The Mascarene grey parakeet (Psittacula bensoni) was a parrot from the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the western Indian Ocean that became extinct by the 1760s. It has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other parrots from the islands. Subfossil bones of this parakeet found on Mauritius were very similar to those of other Mascarene parrots. The subfossils were connected with 17th- and 18th-century descriptions of small grey parrots on Mauritius and Réunion, together with a single illustration published in a journal describing a voyage in 1602. The Mascarene grey parakeets had long tails and were larger than the many green species of the genus Psittacula. They were hunted for their meat, and were considered to be crop pests. Captured individuals would call out to summon a whole flock, a behaviour that may have contributed to their rapid annihilation. Deforestation was also...

By PARUL SEHGAL from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2S0kjBv

With a high of 42F and a low of 30F.

By SEB EMINA from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2DFNfpB

By LENA DUNHAM from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2CRnUHt

By TOM BISSELL from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2Wur3WT

Article of the day for January 29, 2019 is Antlia . Antlia (from Latin for "pump") is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. It was established by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, and its name was later abbreviated from "Antlia Pneumatica" by John Herschel. Completely visible from latitudes south of 49 degrees north, it is close to the stars forming the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis. Antlia is a faint constellation; its brightest star is Alpha Antliae, an orange giant that is a suspected variable star, ranging between apparent magnitudes 4.22 and 4.29. S Antliae is an eclipsing binary star system, changing in brightness as one star passes in front of the other; sharing a common envelope, the stars are so close they will one day merge to form a single star. Two star systems with known exoplanets, HD 93083 and WASP-66, lie within Antlia, as do NGC 2997, a spiral galaxy, and the Antlia Dwarf Galaxy.