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Aristotle

Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena, or what people ought to do. It includes three main branches: normative ethics, which seeks general principles for how people should act; applied ethics, which addresses specific real-life ethical issues like abortion; and metaethics, which explores underlying concepts and assumptions. Influential normative theories are consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. According to consequentialists, an act is right if it leads to the best consequences. Deontologists focus on acts themselves, saying that they must adhere to duties, like telling the truth. Virtue ethicists, such as Aristotle (pictured), see the manifestation of virtues, like courage, as the fundamental principle of morality. The history of ethics dates back to ancient civilizations and has evolved through religious influences in the medieval period to a more secular approach in the modern era, with the emergence of metaethics in the 20th century. (Full article...)

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Flag of Duluth, Minnesota

... that the flag of Duluth, Minnesota (pictured), has an award-winning simple design, but still represents eight things including Lake Superior, the North Woods, and three city hills?
... that Sophie Scamps decided to enter politics after a survey from her local member of parliament failed to mention climate change?
... that Vollpension employs grandparents to bake cakes according to their own recipes and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, offered live baking courses from elders around the world?
... that Benjamin F. McAdoo was the first Black architect to be licensed in the U.S. state of Washington?
... that Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega kiss in the music video for "Taste"?
... that in the week of his assassination, Quinto Inuma Alvarado said at a conference: "If I must die, I will die"?
... that G Affairs was presented at project markets in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but rejected because it was deemed unmarketable in China?
... that Sienna Green began playing water polo because she saw it as a combination of basketball and swimming, her favourite sports?
... that a parrot reportedly screamed profanities at the funeral of U.S. president Andrew Jackson?

In the news

Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene (track pictured) makes landfall near Perry, Florida, United States, as a category 4 hurricane.
The Chess Olympiad concludes with India winning both the open and women's events.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake is elected President of Sri Lanka.
At least 77 people are killed and more than 255 others are injured in an Islamist militant attack on Mali's capital, Bamako.

On this day

September 27

Rosetta Stone

1822 – In a letter to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, Jean-François Champollion announced his initial successes in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone (pictured).
1851 – The British East India Company inaugurated the Horsburgh Lighthouse on the rocky outcrop of Pedra Branca, Singapore, which later became the subject of a territorial dispute.
1917 – The Broadhurst Theatre opened in New York City with a performance of Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw.
1975 – Two members of ETA political-military and three members of the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front, sentenced to death for murder, became the last people to be executed in Spain.
1983 – American software developer Richard Stallman announced plans for the Unix-like operating system GNU, the first free software developed by the GNU Project.

Felice della Rovere (d. 1536)
Michael Huber (b. 1727)
Alma Vessells John (b. 1906)
Bud Powell (b. 1924)

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Billie Eilish

The 2021 spy film No Time to Die won 24 awards from 64 nominations, with particular recognition for its visual and sound effects, and acting. Based on the Ian Fleming character James Bond, the film received three nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects. "No Time to Die", composed by Billie Eilish (pictured) and Finneas O'Connell, became the third consecutive theme song from a film starring Daniel Craig as Bond to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. At the 75th British Academy Film Awards, No Time to Die was nominated for Outstanding British Film, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects; and won Best Editing. It received two nominations at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards and won Best Song. Eilish and O'Connell won Best Original Song at the 79th Golden Globe Awards. (Full list...)

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The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is the sole living representative of the family Ornithorhynchidae and, together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotreme – mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. Like other monotremes, the platypus senses prey in cloudy water through electrolocation. The male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers an extremely painful venom, making it one of the few species of venomous mammals. This platypus was photographed swimming in a creek near Scottsdale in Tasmania.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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