News Roundup

This week we have a varied grouping of articles that piqued my interest this week.

Netflix: Researchers have crunched the data and have determined that the average viewer spend about a minute to a minute and a half browsing Netflix to find something to watch. This is furthered by the fact that viewers look at between 10 and 20 title before just giving up.

NASA: This is some pretty cool news as NASA is toying with the idea of working with laser propulsion system which could possibly make interstellar travel a reality. This would be a game changer in the spaceflight since you wouldn’t have to use all that fuel to go anywhere which would make it a less expensive endeavor. Also according to the report it would cut down travel time between Earth and Mars currently about 8 month for like a probe but according to this if the science works out it would cut it down to merely days.

Musical Theater: Over on Playbill there is a unique look at the current state in the musicals where they ask if we are in a new Golden Age, perhaps a Platinum Age of Musical theater. Rick McKay is working on his Golden Age trilogy about the oral history of Broadway from the 40s-today. Playbill says that musicals are more a national phenomenon today with the abundance of musicals available to the general public with the success of the live musicals on NBC and FOX as well as in movie theaters and on musical shows such as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nashville and Empire. Not to talk about that musical about Alexander Hamilton which debuted at 12 on the Billboard 200 and was number one on the Rap chart.

Politics: In not really big news Senate Republicans have confirmed that they will not vote on any Supreme Court nominees that Obama gives them. This would be the first time since the 1800s that this has happened. However this plan by the Republican might blow up in their faces since they have 24 seats up and it seems like the American people might have gotten sick and tired of what they’ve been doing in Washington and want a change. This might also change how Mitch McConnell and Republican feel about scheduling any appointment hearing for Supreme Court justice.