Egypt’s president to choose woman, Christian VPs

Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, will appoint a woman as one of his vice presidents and a Christian as another, his policy adviser told CNN. “For the first time in Egyptian history — not just modern but in all Egyptian history — a woman will take that position,” Ahmed Deif told CNN’s Christiane …

China launches it’s first female ‘taikonaut’ into space

Saturday’s launch of a piloted space capsule known as Shenzhou-9 marks China’s breakthrough into the exclusive club once made up only of the United States and Russia. One of the three astronauts in the capsule is a woman, 33-year-old Liu Yang, the first Chinese woman in space. Shenzhou-9 was launched at 6:37 p.m (local time) …

Apple Adds Gay and Lesbian Couple Icons to iOS 6

The new version of Apple’s iPhone operating system comes with new emojis, the popular emoticons that are often used in texting and email, especially by young kids and nerdy adults like me. Two of these new pictograms represent gay and lesbian couples for the first time. The icons are placed next to the previous relationship-related emojis …

Timeline of women in space

Hundreds of humans have flown in space. Only 40 women (54 as of 2012) have made the journey — including Eileen M. Collins, who commands the Space Shuttle Discovery on NASA’s historic return to flight. NPR explores the long road that women like her have trod into space: 1960-1962: Ladies in Waiting Twenty-five women report …

Girls in STEM: A New Generation of Women in Science

Girls in STEM, featuring young women scientists and engineers who wowed the President and the nation at the White House Science Fair in February, shines a spotlight on these extraordinary young role models and their exciting projects — ranging from a machine that detects buried landmines, to a prosthetic hand device, to a lunchbox that …

Life Expectancy rises 0.9 years for whites, 2 years for blacks

A recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, based on data from 2008, shows a few interesting changes. African-americans are catching up in terms of long life, though still behind. Both white men and women increased their average life expectancy by 0.9 years. African-american men increased theirs by 2 years and …

Marine Corps ordered to open certain ground combat billets to women

The Marine Corps wants “a few good men” and some women too: Commandant Gen. James Amos this week ordered that certain jobs previously meant for men now be opened to women as well. In some cases, the change is meant as a test to help Amos make recommendations about a possible permanent shift. Amos’ order …