NEWS HEADLINES
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EU's top diplomat rejects Russian claims of Ukrainian attack on government sites
It comes as Russia releases video which it claims shows a downed Ukrainian drone launched at one of Putin's residences. read more
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What are Russians hoping for in 2026, asks Steve Rosenberg
The BBC's Russia editor speaks to people in the country as the war in Ukraine nears a fourth year. read more
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Condom tax and cheaper childcare: China's plan to boost birth rates
Chinese people pay a 13% sales tax on contraceptives from 1 January, while childcare services are exempt. read more
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Disney worker hurt stopping 400-lb fake boulder from hitting audience
The worker is "recovering" after he was seen on video being knocked off his feet by the 400-lb (181kg) rubber Indiana Jones prop. read more
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Bulgaria joins the euro after rocky path to new currency
The move is dividing the nation - some welcome it as a bold leap forwards, but others fear it will lead to economic stagnation. read more
ONTOGENY AND PHYLOGENY
STEPHEN JAY GOLD
BIOGRAPHY
Stephen Jay Gould was born and raised in the community of Bayside, a neighborhood of the northeastern section of Queens in New York City. His father Leonard was a court stenographer, and his mother Eleanor was an artist whose parents were Jewish immigrants living and working in the city’s Garment District.[6] When Gould was five years old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History, where he first encountered Tyrannosaurus rex. “I had no idea there were such things—I was awestruck,” Gould once recalled.[7] It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleontologist.
Raised in a secular Jewish home, Gould did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic. Biologist Jerry Coyne, who had Gould on his thesis committee, described him as a “diehard atheist if there ever was one.
