Bruce MacDonald
The lunar missions and, later, the Skylab program relied on the work of a remarkable young mathematician named Margaret Hamilton, a pioneering software engineer. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bruce MacDonald
Bruce MacDonald is a former reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio. He now writes computer software for American Public Media in St. Paul.
There’ll be no school this week in the Ferguson, Mo., school district, as efforts to quell violence related to a police shooting fail to stop the unrest. The announcement appears on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website: “We believe that closing schools for the rest of this week will allow needed time for peace and stability Read more →
I admit to having a minor phobia about blood-sucking insects and arachnids. I empathize with volunteers enlisted to drag sheets through fields to gather specimens in the pursuit of scientific research. As kids, my friends and I used to push our bikes across a dewy meadow at dusk and sneak into adjacent woods to watch Read more →
In what looks like a super-sized version of the popular vintage toy called Electric Football, scientists at Harvard University have revealed what they say is the largest robot swarm ever. Read more →
Thirteen-year-old Trisha Prabhu of Naperville, Illinois, has devised a project to help stem cyberbullying, the practice of posting mean or hurtful messages on social media. Read more →
A team of hackers — in the original sense of the term — is restoring those images from tapes that were squirreled away carefully almost fifty years ago. Read more →
A genuine apology offered — rare today in public life — and a glimpse of horror from a lawless place.
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Are we finally at a turning point where solar energy makes sense? Read more →
NPR president and CEO Jarl Mohn says his commercial media expertise will help NPR grow. Read more →
A Powderhorn neighborhood woman has taken a dispute with the United States Postal Service to the Internet. Read more →
As a bicycle commuter I’m always a little leery of the abundant Canada geese that foul the paths around Twin Cities lakes. They stand their ground and appear a little threatening, especially when they have young ones in tow. (To be sure, they probably feel the same way about me.) It doesn’t hurt to give Read more →
What to do with a Zamboni in midsummer? Read more →
Payments from tobacco companies go down as cigarette sales decline — and e-cigarette use grows. Read more →
Ducklings were rescued. Mission accomplished.
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I’m sorry to live in a world where this kind of thing is necessary, but I see the point of a cell phone application that sends a distress signal via the power button. Olivia Solon writes in the U.K. edition of the Wired website that Amnesty International has released an open-source “panic button” app for human rights activists. Read more →