Since my house burned down
I now own a better view
of the rising moon.
I now own a better view
of the rising moon.
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I subscribe to the NASA newsletter and thereby receive as many as five emailed pieces per day about space exploration and new technology updates. I have to admit, though, that some of the startling revelations described by NASA seem to be closer to scientific guesses instead of actual newly discovered facts.
For example: NASA astronomers claim to have discovered and identified a goodly number of black holes, all of them situated many, many light years distant from the Earth. Since they are all so far from out solar system the images catalogued from here are necessarily images of things that existed once upon a time in the Earth's far past. And perhaps exist no longer. Who knows what could have become of them and their neighboring stars over a period of thousands and thousands of our solar years?
Also, the growing list of stars with orbiting planets, as identified by the 'wobbling' effect of the star brought about by the planetary orbit, seems to me to be a great leap of faith rather then rock solid proof of the planet's existence. I can imagine too many variables, both known and unknown, to accept as fact the present method of locating planets in extremely distant star systems.
I seem to remember reading that not all astrophysicists and cosmologists agree that black holes, as such, even exist, at least in the form now recognized by contemporary science.
Oh well . . . space/time will tell, I suppose.
The latest NASA newsletter I received (yesterday) began with this:
"After an extensive year-and-a-half search, NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars. Eight candidates have been selected to be NASA's newest astronaut trainees, hoping to be among those who are the first to launch from U.S. soil on commercial American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttle."
That's interesting. There is a list of these new astronaut trainees with introductions and pictures:
LINK
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TRIVIA
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
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HISTORICAL EVENT
On this day, June 18 in 1983, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the space shuttle Challenger was launched into space on its second mission. Aboard the shuttle was Dr. Sally Ride, who as a mission specialist became the first American woman to travel into space.
During the six-day mission, Ride, an astrophysicist from Stanford University, operated the shuttle's robot arm, which she had helped design.
Sally Ride
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WORD FOR TODAY
trepanning
verb
Using a tool for cutting shallow holes to remove a core, as from a skull.
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created through other body surfaces, including nail beds. It is often used to relieve pressure beneath a surface. A trephine is an instrument used for cutting out a round piece of skull bone.
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Paul McCartney is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. With John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and his collaboration with Lennon is one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. After the band's break-up, he pursued a solo career, later forming Wings with his first wife, Linda, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine.
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini
(born 18 June 1952)
(born 18 June 1952)
Isabella Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.
Roger Joseph Ebert
(June 18, 1942 - April 4, 2013)
(June 18, 1942 - April 4, 2013)
Roger Ebert was an American film critic, journalist and screenwriter. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. As of 2010, his reviews were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad. Ebert also published more than 20 books and dozens of collections of reviews.
Richard Allen Boone
(June 18, 1917 - Jan. 10, 1981)
(June 18, 1917 - Jan. 10, 1981)
Richard Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun - Will Travel.
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Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
--Ezra Pound
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