Wednesday 30 December 2020

Funny Sheep gets revenge on Cat


This is a pretty fascinating funny battle of the animals. They sure push and shove each other. They don't create great damage. It seems that no sheep or cats were seriously hurt in this video. Take a look at this smart sheep that gets revenge on the annoying cat. Some people might have been feeling sorry for the sheep, at first. Let's hope that sheep doesn't get eaten by the owner or something.

Perhaps it doesn't make sense to argue about who was right: the cat or the sheep. Neither of them were right, they are just two animals being funny fighting animals, it seems.  Probably, the cat deserved that push. The cat was invading the sheep space. The sheep really can't get out of that cubicle.

Funny Cat vs. Deer


This fascinating funny "battle" of Cat vs. Deer is pretty funny and interesting. The deer take a long look at the cat on the road. The deer are sure interested in the amazing cat animal.

The cat (Felis catus) is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is often referred to as the domestic cat to distinguish it from the wild members of the family. A certain cat can either be a house cat, a farm cat or a so-called feral cat. Domestic cats are really valued by humans for companionship and their ability to hunt rodents.

Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The 2 main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, the fallow deer, and the chital; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer (caribou), the roe deer, the mule deer, and the moose. Female reindeer, and male deer of all species except the Chinese water deer, grow and shed new antlers each year. In this they really differ from permanently horned antelope, which are really part of a different family (Bovidae) within the same order of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla).

Funny Cat bullies Husky


Cats and dogs are funny fascinating entertaining funny animals. See how the funny cat bullies the husky.

The connections people form with their cats and dogs are often the longest, strongest relationships in their lives. These animals are often called our "soul mates" or our best friends. These great furry friends make humans comfortable.

You might have thought about why cats and dogs are often enemies. Dogs and cats are "mortal enemies." These animals often hate each other. It has much more to do with predatory instincts and communication issues. When dogs were first domesticated, many were really bred to chase and hunt small, furry animals.

Funny Japanese meal for cats


Take a look at a tasty traditional-style Japanese meal made for the cats. It's a set menu (miso soup, rice with furikake, and fish) except the food is all made out of great cat-safe ingredients. 

The hungry cats like the Japanese meal for cats. It is funny how they even eat the tasty food from the table and from the chairs.

Cats can be addicted to tuna, whether it's packed to eat for cats or for humans. Some tuna now and then probably won't hurt. But, cats should not extremely overdose on canned fish products. A steady diet of tuna prepared for humans can lead to malnutrition (for cats) because it won't have all the nutrients a cat needs. And, it seems that too much tuna can cause unfortunate mercury poisoning.

Meet Porter - The World's First Driving Dog


The Driving Dogs are fascinating smart animals. Dogs this smart sure deserve a good home to stay at. Every year, the SPCA needs to find homes for thousands of cute dogs just like Porter (dogs who have been abused, abandoned, or just forgotten). It is nice to adopt dogs in need of care, indeed.

This funny dog might have started driving slowly and then went on to racing. Dogs like a human that takes them to the dog park or dogs like to drive fast cars.

The joke is, it is all fun and games until he drives off the course in search for a new owner.

It is funny if food ordered online came delivered by a fantastic smart driving dog.

Funny Cat Terrorized by Popcorn


The cat, Sprinkles, is scared of popping corn. What a weird popcorn maker this is - West Bend "Stir Crazy."

Popcorn can either be good or bad for a person's health, depending on what goes into making it. On its own, without any added sugar or salt, popcorn makes a nutritious, healthful snack. Popcorn seems to contain plenty of nutrients and vitamins when people make it in the right way. Be careful about eating the hard popcorn bits - they could be hard to digest.

Parts of Popcorn do not digest. It is not clear if we gain benefits from the polyphenols in popcorn, as they are contained in the hull, which is insoluble fiber and not digested. There is a possibility the polyphenols pass through us unabsorbed. However, it is encouraging to know that popcorn is a whole-grain food and a really good source of fiber.

Be careful - popcorn could be a choking hazard. Crunching them can damage teeth. In severe cases, swallowing them can cause a mass collection in the intestinal tract, known as a "bezoar."

A "bezoar" is a solid mass of indigestible material that accumulates in your digestive tract, sometimes causing a blockage. Bezoars usually form in the stomach, sometimes in the small intestine or, rarely, the large intestine.

Cats better be careful about the dangers of popcorn.

When a Chameleon trusts you :)


If you chameleon correctly, this is the kind of bond you can have with your little fellas. It is beautiful when a when a Chameleon trusts you. What a great pleasant pet animal this is. These color-changing animals are amazing.

Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. These fantastic species come in a range of colors, and many species have the ability to change color.

Chameleons are distinguished by their zygodactylous feet; their very extensive, not highly modified, their swaying gait; and crests or horns on their brow and snout. Most species, the larger ones in particular, also have a prehensile (capable of grasping) tail. Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, but in aiming at a prey item, they readily focus forward in coordination, affording the animal stereoscopic vision.

Chameleons are adapted for climbing and visual hunting. They live in warm habitats that range from rain forest to desert conditions, with various species occurring in Africa, Madagascar, southern Europe, and across southern Asia as far as Sri Lanka. These fantastic animals also have been introduced to Hawaii, California, and Florida, and often are kept as cute household pets.

What is "zygodactylous"? It is talking about feet in which two toes point forwards, and two to the rear.

Chameleon Clothing is Ideal for Lightweight Hiking. Wear it, carry it, sleep on it, sleep in it. Use the garment of the future that is perfect.

Shanghai Great Yellow Cat catches fish very easily


This Shanghai Great Yellow Cat sure catches fish very easily.  The joke is, this is how the cat maintains its orange. Cats sure seem to hate to get inside the water, but they love to fish like this. I guess this hunt was too easy for this cat, too many fish in the water there. The fantastic cat ran away before someone tries to throw the fish back or something.

Cats are carnivores, so they need a source of animal protein (such as fish) to be in optimal health. Many cats love fish. However, it is not an acceptable food for everyday daily feeding. Fish contains high levels of fatty acids, which can lead to a vitamin E deficiency in cats and painful conditions.

Lazy cat sleeps on busy restaurant floor refusing to move


This amazing fascinating lazy funny cat was really not in the mood to move. The lazy cat really simply sprawled out on the floor of a busy restaurant. This funny cat sure has a lot of freedoms. It is treated well by its admirers and customers of the place.

The tabby named Thongdang was filmed sleeping comfortably on her back on the wooden floor in Chachoengsao, central Thailand on July 27.

When waitresses had to pass by carrying plates, Thongdang would not move and the staff had to step over the cat. What a fun cat challenge they would have to go through.

The restaurant boss has often said, "She's the kind of cat that does what she wants and everybody else has to accommodate her." Looks like people are having fun with this cat. The sight of the cat just makes things more interesting.

"But, we still love her, even when she lays on the ground and won't move."

This cat probably was not a stray cat, but some cats are.

The number of stray dogs and cats in Thailand is astronomical, and continues to rise. According to estimated figures from the Department of Livestock Development, the country had around 350,000 stray dogs and cats in 2007. Fast-forward to 2017, the number more than doubled to 860,000.

Epic Cats Hate Falling in Water


These hilarious funny entertaining epic cats are hilarious. Funny cats fall in water by accident and hate it. Cats really don't like being forced into water, it seems. An aversion (a strong dislike or disinclination) to water seems to be one of the most well-known characteristics of household cats. However, this isn't true of all the cats out there in the world. Cats probably don't like getting wet because of what water does to their fur. Cats are fastidious (very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail) funny animals that spend a great deal of their day grooming themselves.

Cats are great funny animals.

Tuesday 29 December 2020

Funny Cat in Room of Toilet Paper


100 rolls of toilet paper were used to make this amazing original room. They really transform the room beyond recognition. It seems that cats like the sound of toilet paper. Take a look at this cat figuring out this brain puzzle.

Cat's Reaction To The Invisible Wall Challenge


CatPusic on Youtube constantly amazes. See the "invisible wall" through which the cat must go. The wall is for the cat on the way from the room to the kitchen. See how the fantastic fascinating cat will react. See if he will be able to go through this wall.

Monday 28 December 2020

Cat in Flour - His Reaction


The cat is interesting with flour on the floor! This cat's imagination is limitless.

Survival Skills. Cat VS Air Pump


The brave fantastic cat sees a new device - a noisy air pump. He must study it at any cost in order to survive. The cat’s strong paws always help him out of anything new and unknown. This curious cat is smart.

Do cats eat fruit and berries?


Humans always wanted to find out - do cats eat fruit and berries? Learn from this Pusic the cat as it is given 10 different popular fruit and berries. Take a look at what this cat does.

With most cats, it seems that not all cats like vegetables and even fewer like fruits (felines can't taste sweet flavors). However, they are a rich source of vitamins and they're loaded with fiber and water to help with digestion.

Reducing Hole for the Cat. When will he stop?


CatPusic on Youtube amazes you with shows of each new passing of the cat through the hole. See the hole becoming smaller and smaller in diameter until the cat cannot pass anymore. The cat gives up at a certain level. The cat can sure fit through a pretty small hole.

It seems that this cat even tried to act like a "battering ram" to get himself through this hole. Much respect is given to the cat.

This is interesting. Whiskers help cats determine if they can fit through a narrow passages without getting stuck. Whiskers can help a cat find its favorite toy at night. Cats have proprioceptors located at the ends of their whiskers. The proprioceptors send messages to their brain regarding the important position of their body. Yes, cats really do use their whiskers to measure spaces.

Cat Pranked By Big Cat Mask


You will enjoy this funny big human-cat. See the real cat's reaction to a big copy of his face in a mask. A fantastic fascinating big cat/human breathes and moves.

Pusic the Cat is a bit at a loss: is this really his copy or a distorting mirror?

Some people wonder: are cats smarter than dogs? This is kind of a never-ending debate between cat and dog owners. There are various reasons for each side of the argument.

Science has various research on this matter of cats and dogs. Animal intelligence research shows that dogs are generally seen as smarter because they’re much more trainable.

Cats kind of have a mind of their own and often refuse to participate in meaningless tasks simply to please their owners. Cats ignore people sometimes because they don’t feel the need to acknowledge you. Dogs seem to be the more social animal. Cats are more independent and prefer to do things for themselves. These animals seem to be in different categories of intelligence.

Saturday 26 December 2020

The Insane Biology of: The Octopus


The octopus (plural octopuses) is a soft-bodied, 8-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. Around 300 species are recognized, and the order is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, the octopus is bilaterally symmetric with 2 eyes and a beak, with its mouth at the center point of the eight limbs. The soft body can rapidly alter its shape, enabling octopuses to usefully squeeze through small gaps. They trail their 8 appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are certainly among the most smart intelligent and behaviorally diverse of all invertebrates.

Enjoy watching the fantastic Insane Biology of The Octopus.

Endangered Ecosystems - Canada’s Grasslands


This is really one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world - Canada’s grasslands. The Nature of Things will show you unknown wilderness. See temperate grasslands that are most endangered and least protected habitat type in the world.

Prior to European settlement, North America’s Great Plains were home to enormous herds of bison. Wolves and grizzly bears thrived at the top of the diverse food chain in this vast landscape.

Much has been lost, but there is still enough wildness that exists in these flatlands. This is inspiring.

Endangered Animals in Canada - 5 Canadian Wildlife You Need To See


These animals are out there: polar bears, brown bears, grizzly bears, Kermode bears, Humpback whales, orcas, dolphins and narwhal, Moose, caribou and other kinds of deer. Think about which animals are in Canada.

Canada has over 200 species of mammals, 462 bird species, and a diverse marine life. Wildlife lovers love Canada.

See the fantastic top 5 Canadian animals that are endangered.

There are really 55 endangered animals in Canada, including: Peary Caribou, Eastern Cougar, Vancouver Island Marmot, Sea Otter, Bowhead Whale, Right Whale, Beluga Whale and Wolverine.

National animals of Canada are the North America Beaver, Canadian horse and others.

Wild animals from Canada


Take a look at a video compilation of several beautiful wild animals on camera. Wild animals from Canada will excite you. These wild animals are fascinating, fantastic, entertaining, pretty, meaningful and thoughtful creatures.

Canada Geese Walk Away From River After Swimming


These are sure nice Canada geese animals. They swim in the small river and then walk. Observe fascinating fantastic Canada Geese that walk away from river after swimming. Geese in real life are better than untitled goose game. A Canada goose will never fail to disappoint you. You might have thought there was a golden goose here somewhere. They are not on goose island. One of them must have been the mother goose. In the winter days, you might see a snow goose. See duck duck goose. That bird sure had a goose mouth. 

The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the Spruce Goose) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company.

Grey Goose is a brand of vodka produced in France.

Canada Immigration Policies Under Covid-19


The Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic has severely disrupted the Canada immigration system since restrictions were first introduced in March 2020.

Canada has certainly restricted international travel and closed the Canada-USA border. Most of the restriction measures are likely to remain into 2021.

Immigration.ca's Colin Singer (Canada Immigration Lawyer) looks at how Canada immigration has been affected by COVID-19 in 2020.

The Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Canada on January 27, 2020, after an individual who had returned to Toronto from Wuhan, Hubei, China, tested positive.

Most of the Coronavirus Covid-19 cases are in Canada's 2 most populous provinces: Ontario and Quebec. Confirmed cases have been reported in all of Canada's provinces and territories.

Canada certainly has severely restricted its border access, barring travellers from all countries with some exceptions. The federal Minister of Health invoked the Quarantine Act for the first time in its legislative history, legally requiring all travellers (excluding essential workers) returning to the country to self-isolate for 14 days.

Canada is now experiencing a second wave of the virus. Restrictions and lockdowns are created to decrease the spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic. Vaccinations also help to reduce the spread of the dangerous virus.

USA-Canadian border community struggles as countries stay locked down


Travel restrictions are meant to decrease the spread of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic. Certain Canada-USA borders run through the middle of some towns. Coronavirus travel restrictions have disrupted life in one Vermont town along the USA-Canada border.

However, the pandemic does not know borders. Technically, the country borders are what they are. There is an impact on some communities. It used to be much easier to cross the borders from Canada to USA and from USA to Canada.

For Canada, some travel exceptions exist, such as for the purpose of reuniting certain families. It seems that until the virus is under control, Canada will not be decreasing restrictions at the border.

The Canada-United States border is officially known as the International Boundary. This is the longest international border in the world between 2 countries. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic and Pacific coasts) is 8,891 kilometers (5,525 mi) long. The land border has 2 sections: Canada's border with the contiguous USA to its south, and Canada's border with the USA state of Alaska to its west. The bi-national International Boundary Commission deals with matters relating to marking and maintaining the boundary, and the International Joint Commission deals with issues concerning boundary waters. The agencies currently responsible for facilitating legal passage through the international boundary are the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and USA Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The Treaty of Paris of 1783 was created at that time. In the second article of the Treaty, the parties agreed on all boundaries of the United States, including, but not limited to, the boundary to the north along then-British North America. The agreed-upon boundary included the line from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River, and proceeded down along the middle of the river to the 45th parallel of north latitude.

The parallel had been established in the 1760s as the boundary between the provinces of Quebec and New York (including what would later become the State of Vermont). It was surveyed and marked by John Collins and Thomas Valentine from 1771 to 1773.

The Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes became the boundary further west, between the United States and what is now Ontario. Northwest of Lake Superior, the boundary followed rivers to the Lake of the Woods. From the northwesternmost point of the Lake of the Woods, the boundary was agreed to go straight west until it met the Mississippi River. In fact, that line never meets the river since the river's source is further south.

The Jay Treaty of 1794 (effective 1796) was created the International Boundary Commission, which was charged with surveying and mapping the boundary. It also provided for the removal of British military and administration from Detroit, as well as other frontier outposts on the USA side. The Jay Treaty was superseded by the Treaty of Ghent (effective 1815) concluding the War of 1812, which included pre-war boundaries.

The War of 1812 was a conflict fought between the United States and its allies, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its allies.

Coronavirus: Ontario confirms 1st cases of new COVID-19 variant in Canada


It is now more important than ever that people follow the important lockdown rules because of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic and new virus variants.

Ontario confirmed Canada's first known cases of a new Coronavirus COVID-19 variant that was first identified in the U.K. but has been found in various countries including Belgium and Australia.

The Ontario province made the announcement on Saturday. Ontario said that the 2 cases were from the Greater Toronto Area and had no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts and are in self-isolation.

Read more about the Virus Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC-202012/01).

Read more here:

First day of Ontario's province-wide lockdown


As Ontario enters a 2nd province-wide lockdown, there seem to be differences when compared to the 1st lockdown in March.

Some constant tracking of cell phone locations suggests that not many people are indeed staying home. It seems that people these days are more unconcerned about the rising numbers of Coronavirus Covid-19 cases.

People are being encouraged to reduce line-ups and crowds.

Mobile phone tracking is a process for identifying the location of a mobile phone, whether stationary or moving. Localization may be effected by a number of technologies, such as using multilateration of radio signals between (several) cell towers of the network and the phone, or simply using GPS. To locate a mobile phone using multilateration of mobile radio signals, it must emit at least the idle signal to contact nearby antenna towers, but the process does not require an active call. The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is based on the phone's signal strength to nearby antenna masts.

Mobile positioning may be used for location-based services that disclose the actual coordinates of a mobile phone. Telecommunication companies use this to approximate the location of a mobile phone, and thereby also its user.

The technology of locating is based on measuring power levels and antenna patterns and uses the concept that a powered mobile phone always communicates wirelessly with one of the closest base stations, so knowledge of the location of the base station implies the cell phone is nearby.

It seems that advanced systems determine the sector in which the mobile phone is located and roughly estimate also the distance to the base station. Further approximation can be done by interpolating signals between adjacent antenna towers. Qualified services may achieve a precision of down to 50 meters in urban areas where mobile traffic and density of antenna towers (base stations) is sufficiently high. Rural and desolate areas may see miles between base stations and therefore determine locations less precisely.

Coronavirus: Why is Ontario going into lockdown after Christmas and not before?


Global News thinks about whether it was a really good idea for the Ontario lockdown to happen before or after Christmas. There are dangerous fears that hospitals could be overwhelmed due to expected surge in Coronavirus COVID-19 cases. (Province of Canada) Ontario is heading into a serious province-wide lockdown on Dec. 26.

Some experts and doctors seem to be criticizing the Ford's government important decision not to impose the lockdown before Christmas, with the Ontario province reporting nearly 2,500 Coronavirus cases Thursday.

Christmas gatherings certainly have to be reduced with people being encouraged to stay home as much as possible. People are being encouraged to distance themselves from others, as much as possible.

The Ontario-wide lockdown for Coronavirus COVID-19 is certainly now in effect. While Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, and other areas are already under serious lockdown, the province-wide order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 26.

The lockdown closes many businesses, such as: gyms, movie theatres and many other types of indoor businesses.

Essential places stay open, such as: grocery stores and pharmacies. However, they are staying open with certain capacity restrictions.

Stores and restaurants will be allowed to offer curbside pickup and delivery.

Capacity restrictions will become 25% per room at discount and big box retailers that sell food and are allowed to be open.

People are being encouraged to wear face masks or face coverings.

Hospitals in Ontario have prepared for possible surges in capacity in anticipation of an influx of Coronavirus COVID-19 patients.

See a full list of the Ontario lockdown restrictions here:

Thursday 24 December 2020

We Know More About That Underground Lake on Mars


Scientists have taken a look at the underground lake found on Mars in 2018. It seems that this lake might not be the only one.

To add to that, new clues might help us understand why the Sun’s atmosphere is so much hotter than the surface.

From what we know today, it seems that almost all water on Mars today exists as ice. However, it also exists in small quantities as vapor in the atmosphere.

What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and dust slipping downhill to make dark streaks. The only place where water ice is visible at the surface is at the north polar ice cap. Abundant water ice is also present beneath the permanent carbon dioxide ice cap at the Martian south pole and in the shallow subsurface at more temperate conditions. More than 5 million km3 of ice have been detected at or near the surface of Mars, enough to cover the whole planet to a depth of 35 meters (115 ft). Even greater amounts of ice are likely to be locked away in the deep subsurface of this fantastic red planet.

Some amounts of liquid water may occur transiently on the Martian surface today, but limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, which are challenging environments for known life.

No large standing bodies of liquid water exist on the planet's surface, because the atmospheric pressure there averages just 600 pascals (0.087 psi), a figure slightly below the vapor pressure of water at its melting point.

It seems that under average Martian conditions, pure water on the Martian surface would freeze or, if heated to above the melting point, would sublime to vapor.

Experts believe that before about 3.8 billion years ago, Mars may have had a denser atmosphere and higher surface temperatures, allowing vast amounts of liquid water on the surface, possibly including a large ocean that may have covered one-third of the mysterious red planet.

It seems that water has also apparently flowed across the surface for short periods at various intervals more recently in Mars' history. Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater, explored by the Curiosity rover, is the geological remains of an ancient freshwater lake that could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life.

To date, no proof has been found of past or present life on Mars. Cumulative evidence shows that during the ancient Noachian time period, the surface environment of Mars had liquid water and "may have been" habitable for microorganisms.

NASA releases new images from Hubble Space Telescope


The new images are sure beautiful. See how NASA releases new images from Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versatile, well known both as a vital research tool and as a public relations boon for astronomy. The Hubble telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA's Great Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Hubble features a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, and its 4 main instruments observe in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of Earth's atmosphere allows it to capture extremely high-quality high-resolution images with substantially lower background light than ground-based telescopes. Fantastically, it has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images, allowing a deep view into space. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as determining the rate of expansion of the large universe.

Dog Unmoved by Alien Invasion Prank: Funny Dog Maymo vs Aliens


This dog is brave. Watch Funny Dog Maymo being unmoved by a Crazy Alien Invasion Prank. The cute dog is taking a nap on the couch when he notices the aliens showing up in the living room. This dog is probably used to getting fun toys like this.

Jupiter and Saturn form the closest visible alignment in 800 years


Jupiter and Saturn formed the closest visible alignment in 800 years.

The observatory at Gwacheon National Science Museum is where one can get close details on what's known as the "great conjunction".

Jupiter and Saturn seem to align every two decades, but the last time they came this close to each other was 400 years ago in 1623.

On that occasion, Jupiter and Saturn were too close to the sun, so the conjunction wasn't visible from Earth.

The next great conjunction will occur on the 15th of march 2080.

Because this event is happening just before Christmas, some are dubbing it the 'Christmas star.'

This event also happens to fall on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

A "great conjunction" is really a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, when the 2 planets appear closest together in the sky. Great conjunctions occur approximately every 20 years when Jupiter "overtakes" Saturn in its orbit. They are named "great" for being by far the rarest of the conjunctions between naked-eye planets (i.e. excluding Uranus and Neptune).

The spacing between the planets varies from conjunction to conjunction with most events being 0.5 to 1.3 degrees (30 to 78 arcminutes, or 1 to 2.5 times the width of a full moon). Very close conjunctions happen much less frequently (though the maximum of 1.3° is still close by inner planet standards): separations of less than 10 arcminutes have only happened four times since 1200, most recently in 2020.

Mysterious radio wave from space perplexes scientists


The possible existence of extraterrestrial life is always exciting to think about. Scientists in search of extraterrestrial life are now studying a mysterious radio wave coming from Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun.

Proxima Centauri is a really small, low-mass star located 4.2465 light-years (1.3020 pc) away from the Sun in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Its Latin name means the "nearest [star] of Centaurus". This interesting object was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes and is the nearest-known star to the Sun. With a quiescent apparent magnitude 11.13, it is too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. Proxima Centauri is a member of the Alpha Centauri system, being identified as component Alpha Centauri C, and is 2.18° to the southwest of the Alpha Centauri AB pair. It is currently 12,950 AU (0.2 ly) from AB, which it orbits with a period of about 550,000 years.

Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star with a mass about an 8th of the Sun's mass (M☉), and average density about 33 times that of the Sun.

Because of Proxima Centauri's proximity to Earth, its angular diameter can be measured directly. Its actual diameter is about one-seventh the diameter of the Sun.

Armenia coronavirus death toll is 2,691


Hope to end the destruction: Armenia, Azerbaijan fight Coronavirus COVID-19 war after ceasefire truce.

It is hoped that Saturday's ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the beginning of the end of casualties and destruction. However, both countries are also fighting another "war" (the one against Coronavirus COVID-19).

Armenia coronavirus death toll is 2,691

Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases Overview:

Armenia:

Total cases: 155K
Recovered: 136K
Deaths: 2,691

Worldwide:

Total cases: 79.3M
Recovered: 44.7M
Deaths: 1.74M

Armenia is officially the Republic of Armenia. This is really a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located in Western Asia, on the Armenian Highlands, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Argentina coronavirus death toll is 42,314


Al Jazeera shows that Argentina is turning to its super rich to help people struggling to make ends meet because of Coronavirus COVID-19.

The Senate has approved a bill to tax people with assets worth more than $2.5m, with hopes of raising more than $3bn. However, opponents say it will prevent future investment and slow down the country’s economic recovery.

Argentina coronavirus death toll is 42,314

Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases Overview:

Argentina:

Total cases: 1.56M
Recovered: 1.38M
Deaths: 42,314

Worldwide:

Total cases: 79.3M
Recovered: 44.7M
Deaths: 1.74M

Argentina is officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina). This is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the large country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is the 8th-largest country in the world, the 4th largest in the Americas, the second largest in South America after Brazil, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation by area.

Algeria coronavirus death toll is 2,696


FRANCE 24 shows that Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said Sunday he was recovering from the Covid-19 illness, in his first televised appearance since he was hospitalized in Germany almost 2 months ago.

Algeria coronavirus death toll is 2,696

Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases Overview:

Algeria:

Total cases: 96,549
Recovered: 64,401
Deaths: 2,696

Worldwide:

Total cases: 79.3M
Recovered: 44.7M
Deaths: 1.74M

Algeria is officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. This is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north of the country on the Mediterranean coast. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), Algeria is the 10th-largest country in the world, and the largest by area in the African Union and the Arab world. With an estimated population of over 44 million, it is the 9th-most populous country in Africa.

Afghanistan coronavirus death toll is 2,117


Al Jazeera shows that as hospital beds fill up in the only hospital treating the coronavirus in the Afghan capital of Kabul, there are fears that a spike in the number of Coronavirus cases could be straining its fragile health system.

Testing, data and knowledge about the deadly virus are scant and many Afghans cannot afford face masks, despite the millions of dollars in aid given to help contain the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic outbreak.

Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases Overview:

Afghanistan:

Total cases: 50,433
Recovered: 39,692
Deaths: 2,117

Worldwide:

Total cases: 79.3M
Recovered: 44.7M
Deaths: 1.74M

Afghanistan is officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. This is really a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast. Occupying 652,000 square kilometers (252,000 sq mi), it is a large mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest. Kabul is the capital and largest city. The population is around 32 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks.

It seems that humans lived in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago. Settled life emerged in the region 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus civilization (Shortugai site), the Oxus civilization (Dashlyji site), and the Helmand civilization (Mundigak site) of the 3rd millennium BCE.

COVID-19 Surge Hits South Korea And Japan After They Had Contained The Virus


The USA is certainly not the only country in the big fight against the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic. New bigger waves of the virus are happening in various countries. Certain parts of Asia, where the virus first hit and which were the first to emerge from lockdowns, are now experiencing alarming new spikes. 

Watch how the COVID-19 Surge Hits South Korea And Japan After They Had Initially Contained The Virus.

Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases Overview:

Worldwide:

Total cases: 79.3M
Recovered: 44.6M
Deaths: 1.74M

Japan:

Total cases: 207K
Recovered: 172K
Deaths: 2,941

South Korea:

Total cases: 53,533
Recovered: 37,425
Deaths: 756

When the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic began early in 2020, experts wondered if there would be waves of cases. "Waves" are a pattern often seen in other virus pandemics. It certainly seems that some locations that saw a high number of coronavirus infections early on, followed by a decline, are having a "second wave" of increased cases of Coronavirus Covid-19.

Be careful - a 2nd wave of COVID-19 could be more dangerous than it looks. However, lessons from the 1st wave help us make the right decisions.

Some experts think that people didn't quite do enough to prevent a second wave. Some experts are also thinking about how to prevent a possible third wave.

Wednesday 23 December 2020

Ontario preparing to enter province-wide lockdown


Global News shows that Ontarians will face a strict new lockdown right after Christmas. The Ontario province wants to be in control of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Pandemic situation.

Canada has joined a growing list of countries banning travel to and from the United Kingdom, in an effort to keep out a more contagious strain of COVID-19. Some experts point out that these orders may have come too late.

Certain things will be allowed and not allowed under Ontario's provincewide lockdown.

The Ontario lockdown will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 26 and remain in place until at least Jan. 23, 2021, for the 27 public health unit regions in southern Ontario.

In the province's north, where daily case numbers have been significantly lower, the lockdown is set to expire on Jan. 9.

Read more details about the Ontario lockdown here: what is allowed and what is not:

Russian Chess: 'Game of the Year' decides title as Covid-19 hits Russian championship


World No 4, Ian Nepomniachtchi, wins and Daniil Dubov creates as Sergey Karjakin fails again.

A game cast in the romantic mould of the nineteenth century and of the legendary Latvian Mikhail Tal decided first prize at this week’s Russian championship.

Read more about it here:

Chess is a 2-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. Chess is believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga sometime before the 7th century. Chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the East Asian strategy games xiangqi (Chinese chess), janggi (Korean chess), and shogi (Japanese chess). Chess reached Europe via Persia and Arabia by the 9th century, due to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The queen and bishop assumed their current powers in what is now Spain in the late 15th century, and the modern rules were standardized in the 19th century.

Each player begins with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Each piece type moves differently, with the most powerful being the queen and the least powerful the pawn. The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king.

There are around 800 million chess players in the world and only about 1500 of them are grandmasters.

Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine


Global News shows that Health Canada has now given the green light to Moderna's Coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine. Canada has approved the Moderna Coronavirus COVID-19 vaccine. This rollout will be different from Pfizer-BioNTech's rollout.

The Moderna vaccine does not require very cold freezers, such as the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccine made by Pfizer needs to be kept extremely cold: minus 70 degrees Celsius, which is colder than winter in Antarctica. Moderna has said that its vaccine needs to be frozen too, but only at minus 20 Celsius. Since there will be limited vaccine doses at first, immunization managers across the country will need to have plans to certainly distribute any and all vaccine doses that are available.

Health Canada has approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use in this country, with 168,000 doses really expected to arrive by the end of the year.

The regulator announced the approval on Wednesday after completing a review of the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company's clinical trial data.

"The data provided supports favourably the efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as well as its safety," Health Canada said in a notice authorizing use of the vaccine for people over the age of 18.

Canada expects to receive 1.2 million doses from both Pfizer and Moderna by Jan. 31.

Read more details here:

Saturday 19 December 2020

India's First Crewed Mission - ISRO Gaganyaan Vyommitra


ISRO are certainly stepping up their game with their upcoming space missions. India hopes to achieve much greatness with this. Watch this interesting video: India's First Crewed Mission - ISRO Gaganyaan Vyommitra.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is the national space agency of the Republic of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under Department of Space (DoS) which is directly overseen by the prime minister of India while chairman of ISRO acts as executive of DoS as well. ISRO is the primary agency in India to perform tasks related to space based applications, space exploration and development of related technologies. It is one of six government space agencies in the world which possess full launch capabilities, deploy cryogenic engines, launch extraterrestrial missions and operate large fleets of artificial satellites.

The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established by Jawaharlal Nehru under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1962, with the urging of scientist Vikram Sarabhai recognizing the need in space research. INCOSPAR grew and became ISRO in 1969, also under the DAE. In 1972, the Government of India had set up a Space Commission and the Department of Space (DOS), bringing ISRO under the DOS. The establishment of ISRO thus institutionalized space research activities in India. It is managed by the DOS, which reports to the Prime Minister of India.

A Farewell to the Arecibo Observatory


On December 1, 2020, Arecibo's long history came came to an end when it crashed and collapsed. It collapsed some time after it was scheduled to be dismantled.  This monumental observatory served a lot of years. It has made many fantastic discoveries over the last 60 years.

After suffering damage in recent months, the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope in Puerto Rico really collapsed on December 1. Cables that suspended a platform of scientific instruments above the dish snapped, causing the platform to fall into the dish.

The Arecibo Observatory is also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC). This is an observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

The observatory's main instrument was the Arecibo Telescope, a 305 m (1,000 ft) spherical reflector dish built into a natural sinkhole, with a cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals mounted 150 m (492 ft) above the dish. Completed in 1963, it was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, impressively surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China.

After the 2 cable breaks supporting the receiver platform in the prior months, the NSF stated on November 19, 2020 that it was decommissioning the telescope due to safety concerns. On December 1, 2020 the main telescope collapsed before any controlled demolition could be conducted.

The impressive space observatory also includes a radio telescope, a LIDAR facility, and a visitor center, all which are expected to remain operational after the damage from the main telescope collapse is assessed.

LIDAR (sometimes also written as "LiDAR", "Lidar", or "LADAR") is used in a wide range of various land management and planning efforts, including hazard assessment (including lava flows, landslides, tsunamis, and floods), forestry, agriculture, geologic mapping, and watershed and river surveys.

Lidar is a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor. Differences in laser return times and wavelengths can then be used to make digital 3-D representations of the target. It has terrestrial, airborne, and mobile applications.

You might have thought about what is the biggest observatory in the world: Gran Telescopio Canarias. Located 2,267 metres (7,438ft) above sea level in La Palma, Canary Islands, the Gran Telescopio Canarias is currently the world's impressive largest single aperture telescope.

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.

Japanese space capsule carrying asteroid samples lands in Australia


Global News shows that a Japanese space capsule carrying the world’s first asteroid subsurface samples shot across the night sky early Sunday before landing in the remote Australian outback. It completed a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth, the nation's space agency said on Sunday.

"At 2:28 am (1729 GMT Saturday) today, the capsule made re-entry and landed. I presume some of you have seen the significant trajectory of the fireball at the time of re-entry," Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) president, Hiroshi Yamakawa, told a news conference at its campus in Sagamihara, southwest of Tokyo.

The spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million km (180 million miles) away, 1 year ago. After the spacecraft released the capsule on Saturday, it set off on a new expedition to another distant asteroid.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (国立研究開発法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, literally "National Research and Development Agency on Aerospace Research and Development") is the Japanese national aerospace and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon.

Astronomers produce most detailed 3D map yet of the Milky Way


The first accurate 3D map of the Milky Way has been unveiled by the European Space Agency which could help shed fresh light on the Galaxy.

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The name describes the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished without zooming in.

The structure of the Milky Way is thought to be similar to this galaxy: UGC 12158.

The Milky Way is the second-largest galaxy in the Local Group (after the Andromeda Galaxy).

International Space Station: 20 years in 60 seconds


Monday 2 November 2020 marks 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station. Take a look at memorable moments from the unique orbital outpost. See 20 years of the International Space Station in 60 seconds.

Since Crew One took up residence on 2 November, 240 people including 18 ESA astronauts have lived and worked on the orbital outpost, carrying out essential research to benefit life on Earth. The next ESA mission to the International Space Station is set for 2021, when Thomas Pesquet will become the first European to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for his Alpha mission.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a modular space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).

The ownership and use of the space station is certainly established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.

The useful space station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted in astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other science fields.

The ISS is suited for testing the spacecraft systems and equipment required for possible future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.

The ISS circles the Earth in roughly 93 minutes, completing 15.5 orbits per day.

Astra's Tiny Rocket Gets To Space


Astra's tiny launch vehicle almost made it to orbit, getting to space but coming up 0.5km/sec short in terms of velocity.

The startup company Astra has manufactured certain rockets for both commercial and military customers. As of 2020, Astra is attempting to launch a rocket into orbit, but has not been successful. These rockets are labelled "Rocket 3".

The first two rockets, Rocket 1.0 and Rocket 2.0 were test vehicles without payloads. Although their only launches were reported to be failures, Astra later reported they were successful.

The company sometimes says, "Our customer has requested we not discuss their operations with the press."

The weight of a rocket is certainly the force that opposes motion and thrust. A heavier rocket requires more thrust to reach space, which ultimately increases the overall cost of the rocket. Engineers try to find ways to reduce the weight of a rocket by using lightweight materials. However, lighter is not always better (depends on what the objectives are).

European Space Agency Is Bringing Space Trash Back to Earth


There are hundreds of thousands of pieces of space debris circling the planet out there. Space debris are a risk to useful spaceships. The European Space Agency just signed a 86 million-euro ($102 million) contract to bring large pieces of orbital trash back to Earth.

Space debris is also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash or space garbage. These are also defunct human-made objects in space (in Earth orbit) which no longer serve a useful function.

Space debris could be derelict spacecraft (nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages), mission-related debris and fragmentation debris from the breakup of derelict rocket bodies and spacecraft. Other space debris include fragments from disintegration, erosion and collisions, paint flecks, solidified liquids expelled from spacecraft and unburned particles from solid rocket motors.

As of October 2019, the US Space Surveillance Network reported nearly 20,000 artificial objects in orbit above the Earth, including 2,218 operational satellites. However, these are just the objects large enough to be tracked. As of January 2019, more than 128 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 cm (0.4 in), about 900,000 pieces of debris 1-10 cm, and around 34,000 of pieces larger than 10 cm were estimated to be in orbit around the Earth.

The ISS (International Space Station) often avoids a 'piece of unknown space debris' by moving its location in space. The ISS has been hit by bits of small space junk before. The problem of space junk has become greater over time. The space station has moved to avoid debris three times in 2020 alone.

Russia's 'eco-space rocket' launches payload into orbit for 1st time in 6 years


RT shows that The Russian Space Forces have conducted a successful second test launch of the Angara A5 heavy-lift space launch vehicle, six years after the first test flight in 2014.

Touted as an eco-rocket due to its usage of kerosene and oxygen as fuel, the Angara rocket family is the first Russian space booster designed from scratch since the fall of the Soviet Union. Development originally began in the 1990s, and the Angara A5 variant was first tested almost twenty years later, in 2014.

"Soyuz" is one of the most often used rockets. It is the Russian "workhorse." Since its original incarnation took flight in 1966, the Soyuz family of rockets has certainly racked up almost 2000 missions. Russia space program is important.

The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities is commonly known as Roscosmos (Russian: Роскосмос). This is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research.

Originating from the Soviet space program founded in the 1930s, Roscosmos emerged following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It initially began as the Russian Space Agency.

26 New Space Discoveries Just Recently Made


Space is a huge place. Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime.

A four-dimensional space (4D) is a mathematical extension of the concept of three-dimensional or 3D space. Three-dimensional space is the simplest possible abstraction of the observation that one only needs three numbers, called dimensions, to describe the sizes or locations of objects in the everyday world.

Astronomers are discovering new things about our galaxy and universe constantly. Check out the latest space discoveries. See black holes, a place where you’ll have two shadows and bad news for Orion the constellation. See how textures of planets have changed. See some of the freshest space facts we only recently discovered.

You've probably always wanted to know how many stars are in our galaxy. The Gaia Mission has been working on making a 3D model of our galaxy and getting a more accurate count of the number of stars in it. They thought it was 1 billion, but that estimate could be up to 400 or even 700 billion stars.

The primary way astronomers really estimate stars in a galaxy is by determining the galaxy's mass. The mass is estimated by looking at how the galaxy rotates, as well as its spectrum using spectroscopy.

On November 4, 2013, astronomers amazingly reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarf stars within the Milky Way Galaxy. The nearest such planet may be somewhere about 12 light-years away.

Space weather warning! Solar flare could affect electrical grids, GPS systems


FOX 2 St. Louis shows that there’s a space weather warning for Earth. The planet is under a geomagnetic storm watch. And what’s happening on the sun could affect everyone on Earth.

Scientists have discovered that a massive sunspot is turning towards Earth. This event could cause major strong flares, which can affect Global Positioning Systems (GPS) connectivity, power grids, satellites, and radio communications.

Telecommunication satellites and even GPS satellites can be rendered inoperable for periods of time during solar flares. There's also an effect that it could have on humans, any humans orbiting the Earth at the time as well. Solar flares occur near the surface of the sun.

Solar flares and CMEs seem to pose no direct threat to humans on earth. Earth's atmosphere protects us from the radiation of space weather. (If an astronaut out in space is bombarded with the high-energy particles from a CME, he or she could be seriously injured or killed.)

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona. They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time it reaches our planet.

SpaceX Starship Explodes On Attempted Landing During Test Flight


NBC News shows that during a high-altitude flight test, SpaceX’s Starship exploded on impact while attempting to land. Elon Musk tweeted after the prototype’s explosion congratulating the team on a successful flight that still collected necessary data.

SpaceX’s Mars rocket Starship exploded on return landing following a test flight on Wednesday. "Fuel header tank pressure was low during landing burn, causing touchdown velocity to be high & RUD, but we got all the data we needed! Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!," SpaceX’s chief executive officer, Elon Musk, said in a tweet.

People have thought about how many SpaceX rockets in total have failed. Out of 86 SpaceX missions over the course of 13 years, only four other launches have failed. Two years later, Falcon 1 launches successfully for the first time and becomes the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach Earth's orbit.

Mars Space Discoveries 2020


See Factnomenal about Mars space discoveries 2020. A new planet Mars space discovery is not found very often, indeed. Increasing space exploration is happening by NASA, SpaceX and other such agencies. Many new space discoveries are shocking the world.

Here are some of the Mars discoveries:

Aug. 19, 2020 - A new study is helping scientists piece together the ancient climate of Mars by revealing how much rainfall and snowmelt filled its lake beds and river valleys 3.5 billion to 4 billion years.

Aug. 19, 2020 - Researchers have developed the highly sensitive ORIGIN instrument, which can provide proof of the smallest amounts of traces of life, for future space missions. The instrument may be used on certain missions.

Aug. 6, 2020 - Vast areas of the Martian night sky pulse in ultraviolet light, according to images from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft.

Aug. 5, 2020 - Subsurface cavities created by lava on Mars and the Moon could provide a shield against cosmic radiation, new research says. Future Planetary Bases could be a possibility.

Aug. 3, 2020 - A large number of the valley networks scarring Mars's surface were carved by water melting beneath glacial ice, not by free-flowing rivers as previously thought, according to new research.

July 30, 2020 - NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is on its way to the Red Planet to search for signs of ancient life and collect samples.

June 3, 2020 - New images of the Martian moon Phobos give scientists insight into the physical properties of the moon.

May 19, 2020 - By studying the chemical elements on Mars today - including carbon and oxygen - scientists can work backwards to piece together the history of a planet that once had certain conditions.

May 18, 2020 - The mystery of some lava-like flows on Mars has been solved by scientists who say they are caused not by lava but by mud.

May 13, 2020 - What Mars is made of. Earth-based experiments on iron-sulfur alloys thought to comprise the core of Mars reveal details about the planet's seismic properties for the first time.

May 11, 2020 - Scientists have modeled the atmosphere of Mars to help determine that salty pockets of water present on the Red Planet are likely not habitable by life as we know it on Earth.

Apr. 29, 2020 - Scientists exploring Mars and analysing Martian meteorite samples have found organic compounds essential for life: nitrogen-bearing organics in a 4-billion-year-old Martian meteorite.

Impactite, shown to preserve signs of life on Earth, was discovered on Mars and could contain signs of ancient life, if life ever existed on the planet. On June 7, 2018, NASA announced that the Curiosity rover had discovered organic molecules in sedimentary rocks dating to three billion years old.

Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System. In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often referred to as the "Red Planet".

Mars and Earth have about the same landmass.

Mars is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system.

Only 18 missions to Mars have been successful.

Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system.

On Mars, the Sun appears about half the size as it does on Earth.

Mars Had Water In The Ancient Past.

Mars Has Frozen Water Today.

Mars Used To Have A Thicker Atmosphere.

Mars Has Some Extreme Highs And Lows In Terrain.

Mars Has Two Moons: One of the moons is doomed. Mars has 2 tiny moons - Phobos and Deimos (whose names are derived from the Greek for fear and panic). In 100 million years or so, it seems likely that Phobos will be shattered by stress caused by the relentless tidal forces, the debris forming a decaying ring around Mars.

Israeli official says aliens exist


WION shows you a story about an Israeli official that has claimed that Aliens have made contact with humans and Donald Trump knows all about it.

A former head of Israel‘s military space program claims that extraterrestrials have made contact with officials in the United States and Israel over the years. However, the aliens won’t come out in public because "humans are not yet ready to see them."

"Humanity isn’t ready," professor and retired Israeli general Haim Eshed said.

He also suggested that USA and Israel have been collaborating with aliens on space travel for years, and that USA President Donald Trump was "on the verge" of revealing their existence.

Read more details about this here:

Dark Matter Is Even Stranger Than We Thought


A huge part of the matter in the universe is: dark matter. You can't really "see" it. But, you could see the effects of its gravity. Experts are thinking about how this matter can really behave.

Scientists can see how dark matter is distributed based on how its gravity affects light. However, when astronomers compared recent data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Very Large Telescope to current models, something didn’t add up.

"Current assumptions" about dark matter physics might not be entirely correct. Watch the video for more explanations.

Dark matter is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass - energy density or about 2.241×10⁻²⁷ kg/m³.

Dark matter can refer to any substance which interacts predominantly via gravity with visible matter (e.g., stars and planets). Hence in principle it need not be composed of a new type of fundamental particle but could, at least in part, be made up of standard baryonic matter, such as protons or neutrons.

Here is the explanation of "dark matter" in simple terms. Dark matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, so they cannot be detected by observing electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is material that cannot be seen directly. We seem to know that dark matter exists because of the effect it has on objects that we can observe directly.

Proving dark matter is a difficult task. Scientists have not yet observed dark matter directly. It doesn't interact with baryonic matter and it's completely invisible to light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation, making dark matter impossible to detect with current instruments.

Some may wrongfully think that there is no dark matter. However, without dark matter, galaxies would lose a large fraction of the gas that forms new stars immediate after the first major star-forming event they experienced.

Dark matter theory is needed to account for the fact that galaxies don't seem to obey the fundamental laws of physics. That led scientists to believe there must be some invisible matter there to create a stronger gravitational pull and faster stellar motion.

SpaceX launches classified US spy satellite into orbit on final 2020 mission


Global News shows how SpaceX successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit on the company's Falcon 9 reusable rocket in its final mission of 2020 on Saturday.

Falcon 9 carried the spy satellite into space for the USA National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on a classified national security mission. The launch had been originally scheduled for Thursday, but was aborted due to irregular pressure readings.

SpaceX did not show the satellite's positioning, but it did broadcast the separation and landing of Falcon 9.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. The goal of the company is to reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars.

Falcon 9 is a partially reusable two-stage-to-orbit medium-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX in the United States. Both the first and second stages are powered by SpaceX Merlin engines, using cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene as propellants.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense. NRO is considered, along with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), to be one of the "big 5" USA intelligence agencies.

A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The first generation type took photographs, then ejected canisters of photographic film which would descend back down into Earth's atmosphere.

Optical image reconnaissance satellites use a charge coupled device (CCD) to gather images that make up a digital photograph for transmission back to Earth from an altitude of about 200 miles. Since the satellites are in orbit, they cannot hover over a given area or provide real-time video of a single location.

How Radioactivity Makes Planets Habitable


Radioactivity - you probably didn't think that was good for life or that it helped to create life. But, planet radioactivity can be a good thing. The perfect balance (what a coincidence) of radioactive elements inside planets like ours might make it habitable. Researchers are thinking about how Mars is losing its water.

Almost all water on Mars today exists as ice, though it also exists in small quantities as vapor in the atmosphere. What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and dust slipping downhill to make dark streaks.

The "ice giant" (also called "water giant") planets Uranus and Neptune are thought to have a supercritical water ocean beneath their clouds, which accounts for about two-thirds of their total mass, most likely surrounding small rocky cores.

Earth seems to be the only known planet to have bodies of liquid water on its surface. Europa is thought to have subsurface liquid water.

Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron-nickel core. It has a very thin atmosphere, composed primarily of oxygen. Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter.

There is certain radiation inside the planet that is protecting us from radiation outside.

In addition to their own resiliency, living things and the cells they are made of are protected from excessive amounts of UV radiation by a chemical called ozone. A layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere absorbs UV radiation and prevents most of it from reaching the Earth.

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is an icy world whose surface is completely obscured by a golden hazy atmosphere. Titan is the only solar system object other than Earth boasting stable liquids on the surface, with lakes and seas of full of methane being major features at its polar regions. Hilly and mountainous areas, thought to represent exposed portions of Titan's crust of water ice, represent 14% of the surface. Also, damaging particles cannot make it to Titan's surface; they're absorbed by the atmosphere, meaning that it's a "safe environment" for humans to live in.

China's Chang'e-5 moon probe set for successful return to Earth


The China National Space Administration has announced the Chang’e 5 returner module is set to land in Mongolia. On board are around two kilograms of moon rocks and dust. The mission has made China certainly the first country to have retrieved these samples since the 1970s. China has advanced space exploration.

Chang'e 5 is a robotic mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft was named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e.

Chang'e ( Chinese: 嫦娥 ), originally known as Heng'e, is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. She is the subject of several legends in Chinese mythology, most of which incorporate several of the following elements: Houyi the archer, a benevolent or malevolent emperor, an elixir of life, and the Moon. She is married to Houyi. In modern times, Chang'e has certainly been the namesake of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

Chang’e-5 landed in Inner Mongolia. The Chang’e-5 sample return vehicle successfully landed in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, on 16 December 2020.

Chang’e-5 is China’s first lunar mission to collect soil samples from the Moon and return them to Earth to be studied. Chang’e-5 collected samples near Mons Rümker, in the northern region of Oceanus Procellarum, a younger volcanic complex.

Chang'e-4 landed in Von Kármán crater, within the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, in December 2018. An ancient lunar impact there may have exposed the Moon's mantle.

Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 lofted moon orbiters in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

Chang'e 3 put a lander-rover duo down on the lunar nearside in December 2013.

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program ( CLEP; Chinese: 中国探月 ). It is also known as the Chang'e Project ( Chinese: 嫦娥工程 ). This is really an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program incorporates lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return spacecraft, launched using Long March rockets. Launches and flights are monitored by a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) system.

Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots tele, "remote", and metron, "measure".

The Long March rockets is a family of expendable launch system rockets operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). In English, the rockets are abbreviated as LM- for export and CZ- within China, as "Chang Zheng" (长征) means Long March in Chinese pinyin. The rockets are really named after the Long March of Chinese history.

Long March 5 is a Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Successfully, it is the first Chinese launch vehicle designed from the ground up to focus on non-hypergolic liquid rocket propellants. There are currently two CZ-5 variants: CZ-5 and CZ-5B.

Rockets in Chinese history are interesting. Rockets were first used as actual weapons in the battle of Kai-fung-fu in 1232 A.D. The Chinese attempted to repel Mongol invaders with barrages of fire arrows and, possibly, gunpowder-launched grenades.

It is better to launch a spaceship from near the equator. It gives it more speed. The explanation is complicated. The spin of the Earth itself can help give the spaceship "a push." The land at the equator is moving 1670 km per hour, and land halfway to the pole is only moving 1180 km per hour, so launching from the equator makes the spacecraft move almost 500 km/hour faster once it is launched.

You might have thought about why NASA launches from Florida. It was selected for 2 reasons:
(1) it is relatively near to the equator compared with other USA locations
(2) it is on the East Coast. An East Coast location was desirable because any rockets leaving Earth's surface and traveling eastward get a boost from the Earth's west-to-east spin.

Rockets can tilt to the side to get the best turn. A gravity turn or zero-lift turn is a maneuver used in launching a spacecraft into, or descending from, an orbit around a celestial body such as a planet or a moon. It is a trajectory optimization that uses gravity to steer the vehicle onto its desired trajectory.

Friday 18 December 2020

NASA's Artemis deep space lunar mission to include Canadian astronaut


Space Exploration Continues: NASA's Artemis deep space lunar mission to include Canadian astronaut.

Interesting Space Facts:

A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetic field. Earth has two such belts and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The "belts" were a hazard for the Apollo (Moon) missions. The astronauts had low exposure in "belts" due to the short period of time spent flying through them. Apollo flight trajectories tried to avoid "belts" when possible.

Artemis, in Greek religion, is the goddess of wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation and of chastity and childbirth; she was identified by the Romans with Diana. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.

If Earth had two moons, it would be catastrophic. An extra moon would lead to larger tides and wipe out major cities like New York and Singapore.

Besides the 2019 Chinese rover Yutu-2, the only artificial objects on the Moon that are still in use are the retroreflectors for the lunar laser ranging experiments left there by the Apollo 11, 14, and 15 astronauts, and by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 and Lunokhod 2 missions.

The Outer Space Treaty says that no matter whose national flags are planted on the lunar surface - no nation can 'own' the Moon. As of 2019, 109 nations are bound by the Treaty, and another 23 have signed the agreement but have yet to be officially recognised. In the future, different countries could be parts of the moon.

The Outer Space Treaty says that astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities; States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and. States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

With the NASA Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.

It will take some time for Artemis to get to the moon. While the journey to the Moon takes 3 days, reaching Mars is a far lengthier and more complicated goal.

The USA space agency (NASA) has formally outlined its $28bn (£22bn) plan to return to the Moon by 2024. NASA is still aiming for human missions to Mars in the 2030s.

The Moon's gravity at the surface is only 17% that of Earth's. Using the same force of a jump on Earth, you could rise about 3 metres (10 feet) off the ground and stay in the air for about 4 seconds.

Gravity on Mars is only about 38% of Earth's. So, if you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh about 38 pounds on Mars. And if you can jump one meter (3.3 feet) high on Earth, you would be able to jump 2.64 meters (almost 9 feet) high on Mars.

Outer space can be deadly. The most immediate threat in the cosmic vacuum is oxygen deprivation. Assuming that you don't hold your breath during decompression, it will take about 15 seconds for your O2 deprived blood to get to your brain. When this happens, you'll pass out - and then you will die.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains announced Wednesday that the Canadian and American governments have signed a new treaty outlining Canadian participation in the Artemis missions and locking in a seat for a Canadian astronaut on the 2023 launch.

The Moon is really Earth's only permanent natural satellite.

The Moon always shows Earth the same face.

The Moon's surface is actually dark.

The Moon is drifting away from the Earth. The moon is slowly moving away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year, but the speed of its retreat has varied over time.

The Lunar Gateway, or simply the Gateway, is certainly a planned small space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module, and holding area for rovers and other useful robots.

The Moon is really an astronomical body that orbits the Earth as its only permanent natural satellite. Basically, the Moon is neither a star nor a planet, though it is always by the Earth's side and rotates with us synchronically as a satellite.

The Moon is made of rock and metal (just like the Earth and the other rocky planets) (Mercury, Venus and Mars). The crust, the Moon's outer shell, is covered by lunar soil, also called regolith: a blanket of fine rock particles, varying between three and 20 metres (10 to 65 feet) deep.

The moon is the brightest and largest object in our night sky. The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.

A Moon landing is really the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959. The United States' Apollo 11 was the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, on 20 July 1969.

India has announced plans for a third lunar mission, months after its last one crash landed on the Moon's surface.

China moon landings were on near side of Moon until 3 January 2019, when the Chinese Chang'e 4 spacecraft made the first landing on far side of Moon.

Main countries with space agencies are: the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken. Facilities around the world support the operation and management of the International Space Station.

While a number of countries have built satellites, as of 2019, eleven countries have had the capability to send objects into orbit using their own launch vehicles. Russia and Ukraine inherited the space launchers and satellites capability from the Soviet Union, following its dissolution in 1991.