Explorers

When it was introduced in 1994, the federal housing experiment Moving to Opportunity was, to some, a means to rectify poverty. To others, it was a way for cities to dump their poorest residents on the suburbs. Many deemed it a failure, and officials pulled the plug on it in 1999. The program transplanted families from impoverished neighborhoods to wealthy ones, with mixed results, and the moves weren't permanent for most. But one Hopkins researcher is among those seeking to salvage the program's efforts.

The handsome young man sitting in the pink parlor chair radiates restlessness, a disdain for social conventions and undeniable self-satisfaction. The impatience in Richard Caton Woodville's "Self-Portrait with Flowered Wallpaper" can be detected in the wide-thrust knees of the artist born to a wealthy and prominent Baltimore family, and in his hastily buttoned and pointedly shabby jacket. His ego can be gleaned from the care he lavished on painting his face. Woodville imbued his visage with the high, broad forehead and aquiline nose that were thought in that age to signify a lofty mind and an aristocratic, resolute temperament.

Ballet Theatre of Maryland's production of "Frontier: The War of 1812 on the Chesapeake" comes to the Chesapeake Arts Center at 3 p.m. March 17 as part of the Performing Arts Association of Linthicum. The show continues the association's season bringing historic events alive in performance. This acclaimed ballet, capturing the spirit of the young United States, was inspired by the letters and memoirs of Dolley Madison and other women of the period. It depicts major events of the conflict, from the declaration of war and the burning of Washington, D.C., to the battle of Fort McHenry and the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner.

A monthly lecture on the Johns Hopkins University campus will focus Tuesday on novae, massive nuclear explosions that occur in stars known as white dwarves. They involve the interaction of a white dwarf with another star, with the white dwarf pulling in gases from its neighbor. The lecture is titled “Novae: Stars that Explode - Repeatedly” and will be at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive. #sigshell { float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; }

For such a long time, arsenic was the perfect poison. It is odorless, colorless and tasteless, so it's difficult to detect when slipped into a food or beverage. Its effects are gradual and cumulative - deflecting suspicion from the killer. The symptoms of arsenic poisoning mimic those of other diseases common in the 19th century, such as cholera and dysentery. Because the elemental form of arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, it is inexpensive and easily obtained. And until a clever British chemist named James Marsh devised a test in the 1830s, it was impossible to trace the poison in the human body.

Adam Lankford thinks there's an oft-repeated misconception about suicide attackers that isn't merely wrong. It's potentially deadly. Lankford is the Baltimore-born terrorism expert who has just published a book titled "The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers. " The book, parts of which were written in Baltimore, deflates common assumptions about the psychology of those who claim they murder strangers to advance political goals.

Summer break finds many kids sleeping in, riding bikes and splashing in the pool. But it's not every day you come across a pastime like Autumn Boit's. “Yesterday I skipped lunch to clean artifacts,” the Ellicott City fourth-grader declared on a humid August morning at Robinson Nature Center. The nature center, which opened in Columbia in the fall of 2011, held its first series of summer camps in 2012 - including Autumn's “Digging Up the Past” archaeology camp. With 18 forested acres, Robinson Nature Center is full of ways to keep children engaged during the summer.

Maryland has received $250,000 in federal funds to explore the role of climate change on people's health. The funding was awarded by the Centers for Disease Control , which has a program aimed at preparing local communities to deal with the health affects of the changing environment. The program is attempting to identify vulnerable populations, such as children and senior citizens, and how to treat them. U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes announced the award from the CDC today.

Captains Sharing & Caring, a nonprofit foundation that gives children with terminal illnesses or physical disabilities and their families a day out on several local waterways, is looking to marinas, yacht clubs and those with private docks to hosts events this summer. According to Cheryl Krajcsik, the executive director of the foundation, this is the third summer that the foundation will run events, mostly on Middle, North East and Magothy rivers and Bodkin Creek. The events typically last from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the water - with a picnic or other activities, such as swimming afterward - on Sundays from June through August.

Two Baltimore Police officers and a young police explorer were injured near an M&T Bank Stadium parking lot on Thursday night when the police van they were in was struck head on by an oncoming vehicle, police said. The collision occurred about 10 p.m. at the intersection of West Ostend and Warner streets, at the south end of the Ravens football stadium, police said. The driver of the oncoming vehicle was also treated for minor injuries, police said. Both officers and the explorer - a participant in a departmental education program for youth aged 14 to 20 - were taken to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center with what were believed late Thursday to be non-life-threatening injuries, police said.