Idina Menzel can't believe "Wicked" is turning 20.

The standard traffic practice is under increased scrutiny.

Between "Cheers" and "Frasier," Kelsey Grammer spent more than two decades playing the erudite if pompous character, with the latter representing one of the rare spinoff series that matches the original, during happier times for network TV. He's back in a show that engineers such an obvious trick one needn't be a psychologist to recognize it, or conclude Frasier should have been left happily retired.

A group of amateur radio enthusiasts have set up a beacon in the UK that allows anyone to observe meteors as they burn through the Earth’s atmosphere. The UK Meteor Beacon project uses radio signals to identify meteorites as they pass through a 400 km-wide section of sky over England and Wales. The data is then displayed on a live online feed, with meteors appearing as blue streaks that emit a ping followed by a trailing pitch. The system captures more than 100 meteors every hour, even during times of relatively low activity. For the upcoming Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on 12 August, the frequency could be in the region of thousands per hour as Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Unlike optical astronomy, the use of radio signals mean that meteors can be observed in nearly any weather conditions at all hours of the day and night. It also means that the system can pick up smaller meteors that may not appear as ‘shooting stars’ to the naked eye. This method of observation could potentially lead to the discovery of new meteor showers, which could then be tracked to uncover previously unknown comets. The radio transmitter is based at the Sherwood Observatory near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, however receivers can be placed anywhere in the country. “The transmitter is illuminating the sky above Mansfield with radio signals that can be reflected by meteors and their trails,” Brian Coleman, who designed the system’s hardware and has a receiver in his back garden, told The Independent. “Even outside the Perseids and other meteor showers we’re seeing them at a rate of two a minute – and we can observe them day and night no matter what the weather. Only thunderstorms and lightning can interfere with it.” It is the first meteor beacon system run by amateur radio and astronomy volunteers in the UK, and has already received funding from the Radio Society of Great Britain and the British Astronomical Association. It has also gained the attention of academic and citizen scientists keen on studying meteors. Setting up the beacon transmitter is only the first part of the project, with the four-person team now planning to design and deploy echo receivers that can be distributed throughout the country at distances of up to 1,200 km from the Sherwood Observatory. The receivers can be built for as little as £10, according to Mr Coleman, using plastic pipes and other materials found in DIY stores. His hope is that the low cost will encourage schools to set up their own receivers to develop STEM-related projects that will encourage students to explore radio engineering and astronomy. Observations of the meteors from different directions can also be used to calculate the location and trajectory of meteors, with the team currently trying to establish whether it is possible to triangulate the meteors by studying the horizontal lines and blue smudges that appear on the waterfall display. Such measurements are currently possible with military-grade pulse radar systems, but it has never been done before on this scale. If it is possible, then knowing the speed and direction of the meteors will allow them to calculate the landing spot of any meteors that make it through the Earth’s ionosphere without burning up completely. These samples can then be studied to offer a better understanding of the universe. “The ultimate ambition is to have a system like Blitzortung, which uses a network of ground-based detectors to track live lightning strikes around the planet,” Mr Coleman said. “If successful, we could observe meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere in real-time throughout the world – but there’s still a lot of work to do before we achieve that.” Read More Amateur astronomers make ‘major breakthrough’ in saving Earth from asteroids ‘It’s becoming like an airport’: How SpaceX normalised rocket launches Perseid meteor shower offers best chance to see a ‘shooting star’ in 2023 Watch live: Russian cosmonauts step out of ISS to perform spacewalk Earth hit by powerful ‘X-1’ solar flare, after fears of ‘cannibal’ blast

Reese Witherspoon candidly opened up about her sex scene in the film Fear, sharing that it still went ahead despite her saying no. The actress told Harper’s Bazaar that she requested a stunt double for the 1996 psychological thriller featuring Mark Wahlberg, adding that it "wasn’t a particularly great experience." "It wasn’t explicit in the script that that’s what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no," Witherspoon, who was 19 at the time, told the publication. "I didn’t have control over it," she added. "I’m certainly not traumatised or anything by it, but it was formative." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Witherspoon went on to say it was the inspiration behind launching her film production company, Hello Sunshine. The aim is to open up perspective and empower women "by giving them authorship, inspiring agency, and creating a platform to help them shape culture." "It made me understand where my place was in the pecking order of filmmaking," she explained. "I think it’s another one of those stories that made me want to be an agent for change and someone who maybe can be in a better leadership position to tell stories from a female perspective instead of from the male gaze." Earlier this year, the star and ex-husband Jim Toth announced they were parting ways after 12 years together. The pair released a joint statement. Witherspoon felt like this was the right move as it felt "much more authentic" to share it in her own words and "not let somebody else control what’s happening." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

After 21 world premieres, nearly two weeks of red-carpet parades and hundreds of thousands of camera flashes, the 76th Cannes Film Festival concludes Saturday with the presentation of its top prize, the Palme d’Or

xQc believes Adin Ross went too far with his recent tweets about HasanAbi, explaining why he's never made the same remarks

Adin Ross is now the target of yet another charge amid ongoing HasanAbi controversy

xQc accused Kai Cenat of stealing content ideas

The awkward yet humorous encounter culminated in a brief kiss, much to the delight of the audience

Alix Earle and her roommate team up for a cooking adventure

The stakes are higher than ever in ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Season 4, especially since this season concludes the entire show