More than 60 million years ago a 6-mile-wide asteroid crashed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs. Four other mass extinctions in the past 450 million years destroyed countless other animal and plant species. In her profound new book, The Sixth Extinction, science writer Elizabeth Kolbert argues that Earth could be heading for another extinction that would kill off many … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: ‘Birds’ compels without avians; ‘Venus’ actress captivates
When Alfred Hitchcock turned Daphne du Maurier’s apocalyptic novella The Birds into a movie in 1963, it became a visually literal thriller of avian menace instead of a character-based psychological tale. Now comes Irish yarn-spinner Conor McPherson (The Seafarer, The Weir) to translate the story to the stage, suggesting that man may have less to fear from feathered creatures … [Read more...]