Tag Archives: Space

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Pleasures, Science & Health, Television, Travel

William Shatner has traveled to space in Blue Origin rocket : NPR

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By Joe Hernandez, Updated October 13, 202111:08 AM ET

Blue Origin’s New Shepard lifts off from the launch pad carrying 90-year-old Star Trek actor William Shatner and three other civilians near Van Horn, Texas.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Blue Origin’s second human spaceflight has returned to Earth after taking a brief flight to the edge of space this morning. Among the four passengers on board — there is no pilot — was William Shatner, the actor who first played the space-traveling Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.

“The covering of blue. This sheet, this blanket, this comforter that we have around. We think, oh, that’s blue sky,” an emotional Shatner said after returning to earth.

Canadian actor William Shatner, who became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, speaks from the stage at the second edition of the multi-genre entertainment comic and fan convention ‘Comic Con Africa’ in Johannesburg on September 21, 2019.
MICHELE SPATARI/AFP via Getty Images

“Then suddenly you shoot through it all of the sudden, as though you’re whipping a sheet off you when you’re asleep, and you’re looking into blackness, into black ugliness.”

At age 90, Shatner is now the oldest person to fly into space.

Source: William Shatner has traveled to space in Blue Origin rocket : NPR

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Science & Health

UFO report: U.S. unable to explain more than 140 unidentified flying objects, finds no evidence of alien life – The Washington Post

By Shane Harris and Missy Ryan, June 25, 2021 at 2:34 p.m. PDT

The USS Russell and the USS Omaha captured video appearing to show UFOs flying, hovering and splashing into the ocean. (Jeremy Corbell)

The report finds no evidence that the objects, characterized as unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, were the handiwork of alien beings. But in almost all of the 144 cases that a team of government experts examined, a lack of data stymied their efforts to say definitively what they were.

The U.S. government was unable to determine whether more than 140 unidentified flying objects, many of them reported by Navy aviators, were atmospheric events playing tricks on sensors or crafts piloted by foreign adversaries, or whether the objects were extraterrestrial in origin, according to a long-anticipated report released Friday by the nation’s top intelligence official.

Editor’s Note: See the link below for the full report links.

Source: UFO report: U.S. unable to explain more than 140 unidentified flying objects, finds no evidence of alien life – The Washington Post

Film & Movies, Music, Science & Health, Web & Technology

Hear black holes and galaxies translated into sound from NASA data – CNET

The Whirlpool Galaxy sounds like a horror movie.

This composite of the Cat’s Eye Nebula uses data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI

In space, no one can hear you scream, but on Earth we have ways of turning space objects into haunting soundtracks.

Galaxies, black holes and nebulae come to life via audio, giving us a new way to interact with the cosmos. A team of scientists translated data collected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other space telescopes into sound using a process called data sonification.

Musician Andrew Santaguida of System Sounds, a science and art outreach project, was also involved.  

On Wednesday, NASA released new audio tracks that let us listen to a Chandra Deep Field observation, the Cat’s Eye Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy. The three all have distinctly different sonic personalities, ranging from light and ethereal to almost creepy.

From YouTube…

Source: Hear black holes and galaxies translated into sound from NASA data – CNET

Current Affairs, Science & Health, Television, Web & Technology

How to Watch Live As NASA Lands on Mars Today | Travel + Leisure

NASA image
Courtesy of NASA

“How to live-stream Insight’s landing on Mars. You can watch InSight’s attempt to land on Mars live on NASA TV. On Monday, Nov. 26, NASA TV will broadcast the landing from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST/2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST. There will then be a post-landing news briefing no earlier than 2 p.m. PST/5 p.m. EST. You can also watch the landing on YouTube and UStream.”

Source: How to Watch Live As NASA Lands on Mars Today | Travel + Leisure

Film & Movies, Science & Health

Cities at night – mapping the world at night

From the Scout Report…
Source: Cities at night – mapping the world at night

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Libraries, Web & Technology

Why university libraries are tossing millions of books – CSMonitor.com

“A library without books? Not quite, but as students abandon the stacks in favor of online reference material, university libraries are unloading millions of unread volumes in a nationwide purge that has some print-loving scholars deeply unsettled.”

Source: Why university libraries are tossing millions of books – CSMonitor.com

See also, A Library Without Books? Universities Purging Dusty Volumes