Jul 3, 2017

In 1997 we sent a laugh into space. Now we know whose.

Erin Ross

The Voyager satellites (there are two) each carry a golden record. The record's grooves contain the sounds of Earth, meant to represent our planet to any intelligent life. It includes whale songs, a jungle, a human heartbeat, thunder, Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Good and laughter. On earthly recordings, that laughter is hard to hear, which led an Atlantic reporter on a quest to learn what it sounded like — and find out who was laughing.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the laugh (probably) belonged to late astronomer Carl Sagan. Sagan was integral in the record's conception, and while he was working on it he fell in love with the creative director, Ann Druyan. Their daughter, Sasha Sagan, told the Atlantic Druyan included the laugh because it "was the very first impression she ever had of my dad ... she wanted it to live on forever."

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Infant dies after testing positive for coronavirus in Chicago

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An infant less than one year old died in Chicago, Illinois after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the state health department said on Saturday.

Why it matters: The death would mark the first reported infant mortality from COVID-19 in the U.S. The fatality rate for the novel coronavirus in the U.S. is highest among those over 85 years old, per the CDC.

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President Trump said on Saturday he is considering a "short term" quarantine of New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut — states that have already taken steps to quarantine residents and promote social distancing.

The big picture: With 112,000 people infected, the U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases in the world, exceeding China and Italy, per data from Johns Hopkins. A second wave of American cities, including Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia, are reporting influxes of cases.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 4 p.m. ET: 649,904 — Total deaths: 30,249 — Total recoveries: 137,319.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 4 p.m. ET: 116,505 — Total deaths: 1,891 — Total recoveries: 921.
  3. Federal government latest: President Trump is considering a quarantine on New York, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. He signed a $2 trillion stimulus bill to give businesses and U.S. workers financial relief.
  4. State updates: Alaska is latest state to issue a stay-at-home order — New York is trying to nearly triple its hospital capacity in less than a month and has moved its presidential primary to June 23. Some Midwestern swing voters that supported Trump's handling of the virus less than two weeks ago are now balking at his call for the U.S. to be "opened up" by Easter.
  5. World updates: In Spain, over 1,400 people were confirmed dead between Thursday to Saturday.
  6. 🚀 Space updates: OneWeb filed for bankruptcy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
  7. Hollywood: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have returned to U.S. after being treated for coronavirus.
  8. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
  9. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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