Ok, this isn’t exactly a story that I think shouldn’t be in news. It’s a story I love, but it is definitely proof that this month has been a slow news month!
Let’s face it, cute animal stories are often the trademark of a slow news day / month / week / year. This week the cute animal story is all about a baby aardvark (called Nuru) who was recently born in a Belgium zoo. Aardvarks are apparently very difficult to breed in captivity and baby aardvarks are also very, very cute (like a snuffly, pink, naked, long nosed and big eared mouse) which explains why it’s news. I guess it’s also that we don’t see baby aardvarks very often… I’ve certainly never seen one (or even an adult one!) before.
Whenever you or anyone from your family speaks of Halloween during the year, it just reminds of the strangely clothed children. How strange these cloths get? No imaginations – each year you see various cloths on the high street that catch your attention and you just feel, “oh, that’s perhaps would look cool but is it worth spending this much for one day?” And, you possibly turn away and get on with your regular spending.
With so much news on the web varying from NHS nursing jobs demand coverage to latest developments in international conflicts, it is hard to actually find something different and something truly interesting that might give you a good enough reason to keep reading the news. Well, BBC surprised us all by releasing a rather scientifically unusual and quite interesting article about recent discoveries made by NASA in relation to the further observations of out galaxy.
The idea of having one planet orbiting around two suns was until recently a pure example of fiction. First presented in the Star Wars series, this scientifically not proved natural event gathered skepticism among scientists simply because interactions with two starts was considered absolutely impossible in terms of physics. However, NASA prove them all wrong with their latest discover. Around 200 light years from our solar system, the scientists have discovered a planet that is orbiting not one, but two solar structures.
The discovery was made with the technologically advanced Kepler telescope designed to explore our galaxy in search of earth-like planets. According to the scientists, it absolutely resembles the scenes from Star Warts where Dart Vader’s home planet is having two sunrises following one another. However, it is very unlikely that just like the fiction movie, the planet can support any life.
The planet is a gas formation, quite resembling the structure of Jupiter in our solar planet. However, it is extremely cold - temperatures reaching minus 150 degrees are a normal occurrence on the planet according to scientists from the American space agency. Even though it has two suns to warm it, the planet would remain cold because of the low solar activity of both starts - the stronger sun hardly reaches the 60% of the activity of our sun.
And despite being non-habitable, the planet is a first example in long time when fiction becomes reality decades after invented. What else is about to follow?
In a time when we here on planet Earth have a lot to worry about – this month has seen not only the Norway bombing & shootings but News International uncovered as the source of a serious phone-hacking scandal, amongst a number of other troubling events including the death of soul singer Amy Winehouse – why is it that asteroids miles out in Space are reported by the News? It’s a valid question and, actually, one which has more to it than you may at first think.
See, the chance of an asteroid being close enough to hit earth is pretty ridiculous in the grand scheme of things. Although I am not a scientist and have no education to back my assumptions up, it seems to me that it’s as likely that a rock will hit earth and destroy it as it is likely that cows will don suits and start opening their own banks; in other words, it’s never going to happen. Not unless a very small chance actually becomes reality. And cows suddenly start taking more of an interest in their appearance, of course.
There again, why should we care about a rock somewhere out there, slightly closer to earth than we would like? If it isn’t going to actually hit us, then surely it’s pointless information?
Not quite, as it goes…the fact that we have recorded an asteroid this close does mean a few things, and things which we should all take very seriously. Namely that Space is a wee bit smaller than we at first thought. Or maybe that’s wrong, maybe the word is busy. Busier than we first thought. A disturbing prospect, seeing as the nearest star is a very very long way away…
One thing is certain, of course: if an asteroid of any size was to strike earth then we’d be in so much trouble, so very quickly, that there really wouldn’t be much point writing an article about it. We’d all be dissolved in a massive orange glow faster than we could register.
But actually, if that’s the way it’s going to go, then I don’t think I mind too much. There are certainly worse things to see in your final moments, surely. (Which reminds me, I must take those vinyl stickers off my wall. They’re giving me nightmares, and the drawings on them which I did as a Space-obsessed kid look worryingly like asteroids…)
if an asteroid of any size was to strike earth then we’d be in so much trouble, so very quickly, that there really wouldn’t be much point writing an article about it
Want to hear some of the weirdest and wackiest stories of 2011 so far, well read on.
These stories aren’t your normal news like what celebrity has cheated now or what designer jewellery is a must this season, these stories are just plain strange. So if strange is what you’re looking for you’re in the right place.
A Charles Darwin book that was 122 years overdue was finally returned to the library in Australia this month. To say the staff More
It may be a cliché, but I do think it’s genuinely true that the best stories come from real life, rather than from the imagination of a writer. Take the story of my boyfriend’s family; it would make the plot of any Mills & Boon romance seem bitter and cynical, it tugs at the heart strings so much. A war bride, a woman dying young, a baby taken away from her father, only meeting up again years later… Admit it; More
Both my parents have UK teaching jobs, which meant that I was brought up from an early age to hate the idea of going into the classroom myself when I was older. Which is a shame, as despite all their moaning and complaining, being a teacher definitely has some perks. You get to order people around all the time, you get to have super long holidays and you gets loads of presents from your pupils at Christmas.
When asked this question, I really had no idea what to say. I couldn’t actually reach a decision, and frankly I don’t think I have even now. A few days ago, I was asked whether I’d rather give up meat or alcohol. By meat, you’d have to make your own mind up as to whether fish and seafood remained in that category.
In terms of alcohol, it is basically restricted to booze from a bottle. Obviously if a cake contains More
Fosters TV spots have taught people how to speak Australian for several years now. We all know that a salad is simply a steak with a bit of parsley, and a metrosexual is someone who bothers to roam his hand through his hair at a bar. The ads delight the person who watches them at the same time leaving the reader wondering exactly where the joke is.
The Fosters TV executives who planned the campaign knew what they were doing More
Do you agree or disagree. A friend had this to say regarding what constitutes the best comedy: If laughter is truly the best medicine, then anyone who sees Ellen DeGeneres doing a stand-up routine must feel mighty healthy. As someone who’s seen her perform twice, I can attest to the positive power of cracking up at one of the country’s best comedians, who manages to consistently provide her hilarious viewpoints to people from all walks of life.
