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Leucippus was a Greek philosopher of the 5th century BCE. He is credited with founding atomism, with his student Democritus. Leucippus divided the world into two entities: atoms, indivisible particles that make up all things, and the void, the nothingness between the atoms. Leucippus's ideas were influential in ancient and Renaissance philosophy. They were a precursor to modern atomic theory, but the two are only superficially similar. Leucippus's atoms come in infinitely many forms, all in constant motion, creating a deterministic world created by the collisions of atoms. The soul is viewed as an arrangement of spherical atoms, cycled through the body by respiration and creating thought and sensory input. Little is known of his life, with a few scholars doubting that he existed, attributing his ideas purely to Democritus. Two works are attributed to Leucippus, The Great World System and On Mind, but all of his writing has been lost except for one sentence. (Full article...)

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In the news

Aurora borealis seen from Okeford Hill in the UK.

A series of solar storms impact the Earth, creating aurorae (pictured) at more southerly and northerly latitudes than usual.
Former prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama is sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, leaves more than 110 people dead and at least 140 others missing.
Kyren Wilson wins the World Snooker Championship.
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On this day

May 11

Frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra

868 – A copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed in Tang-dynasty China, making it the world's oldest dated printed book (frontispiece pictured).
1889 – Bandits attacked a U.S. Army paymaster's escort in the Arizona Territory, stealing more than $28,000.
1970 – Lubbock, Texas, was struck by a tornado that left 26 people dead.
2010 – Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party after failing to strike a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats.
2022 – Myanmar civil war: Government troops killed 37 unarmed civilians in Mondaingbin.

Richard Feynman (b. 1918)
Judy Ann Santos (b. 1978)
Zenna Henderson (d. 1983)

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Today's featured picture

Sagunto is a municipality of Spain, located in the province of Valencia, approximately 30 km (19 mi) north of the city of Valencia. The municipality includes three differentiated urban nuclei: Ciutat Vella (Sagunto), Grau Vella and Puerto de Sagunto. More than half of the population lives in Puerto de Sagunto, situated on the Mediterranean Costa del Azahar. The Ciutat Vella is the site of the ancient Iberian and Roman city of Saguntum and a siege in 219 BC which was the trigger of the Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and the Romans. This panorama shows the Ciutat Vella, looking north from the hill on which Sagunto Castle stands.

Photograph credit: Diego Delso

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