03 agosto 2015
A Proton Arc Over Lake Superior
The setting had been picked out -- all that was needed was an aurora. And late last August, forecasts predicted that an otherwise beautiful night sky would be lit up with auroral green. Jumping into his truck, the astrophotographer approached his secret site -- but only after a five hour drive across the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. What he didn't know was that his luck was just beginning. While setting up for the image, a proton arc -- a rare type of aurora -- appeared. The red arc lasted only about 15 minutes, but that was long enough to capture in a 30-second exposure. As the name indicates, proton arcs are caused not by electrons but by more massive protons that bombard the Earth's atmosphere following an energetic event on the Sun. In the featured image, the yellow lights on the horizon are the city lights of Marquette, Michigan, USA. The blue and yellow rocks in the Lake Superior foreground are lit by a LED flashlight. Also captured, to the left of the red proton arc, was the band of our Milky Way Galaxy.
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The Rise, And Fall, And Rise, And Fall of Zhukov
He began as a hero of the Soviet state, returning home to parades after great victories during World War II. Stalin feared his popularity and he was forced into retirement after being denounced by his former friends. But that’s just the beginning for Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov.
bay area, late july, photographed by terra & aqua.14 images....
bay area, late july, photographed by terra & aqua.
14 images. 18th july-2nd august.
image credit: nasa/modis. animation: ageofdestruction.
ageThe black-white-red color scheme is based upon the colors of...
The black-white-red color scheme is based upon the colors of the flag of the German Empire, and the black-white-red colors were commonly associated with anti-Weimar Republic sentiment by German nationalists following the fall of the German Empire after World War I. Hitler knew that combined, these three colors create a psychological sense of intimidation and power. Which is why a lot of propaganda like these banners use the same color combination. (The photos were taken by Hugo Jager, a former personal photographer of Adolf Hitler. He was one of the few photographers who were using color photography techniques at the time, meaning this image is not colorized but the original photograph. How Jager managed to save them during the fall of Berlin is quite an interesting story.)
active-rva: August is National Immunization Awareness Month....
August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Find where to receive your vaccines in the United States here.
Immunization (vaccines) are a vital part of maintaining public and personal health. Everyone knows that vaccines are recommended for children on a set schedule (learn more about getting your kids vaccinated here)- but did you know that adults need to keep up to date on their shots, too?
All adults should, unless otherwise directed by their doctor, receive a yearly influenza vaccine, a Tdap (pertussis) vaccine if they did not receive one as adolescents, and a Td (tetanus and diphtheria) booster shot every 10 years. Other vaccines may be recommended based on occupational hazard, travel, or individual health needs.
Some sexually active adults may need Hepatitis A and/or Hepatitis B vaccines. People who are pregnant are recommended to receive the Tdap every time they become pregnant.
Young adults who did not receive an HPV vaccine in adolescence should receive one; men should get one up until age 21, and women should get one up until age 26. The HPV vaccine is cancer prevention; it immunizes you against strains of human papillomavirus which cause cervical, vaginal, anal, and vulval cancers. See more info here.
Receiving your vaccines not only protects you; it protects the people you come into contact with, including those at greater risk from illness, such as people with existing health problems, children, and the elderly. Vaccines cannot cause autism (this idea was first perpetuated by British doctor Andrew Wakefield, who completely fabricated his study linking a contemporary vaccine to autism in order to reduce competition for an alternate vaccine he had patented), and the vast majority cannot cause the disease they prevent; see here for further safety information.
Franz Schubert, famous Austrian classical composer, composed...
Franz Schubert, famous Austrian classical composer, composed about 1500 works. He died at 31.
August 3rd 1960: Niger gains independenceOn this day in 1960,...
Hamani Diori (1916 - 1989)
Nigerien flag
August 3rd 1960: Niger gains independence
On this day in 1960, Niger gained independence from France. The landlocked African nation borders Mali, Algeria, Libya, Chad, Nigeria, Benin, and Burkina Faso. European powers first came into contact with Niger in the nineteenth century, and, in 1922, after years of French attempts to subdue dissidents, the country became a French colony. Life under colonial rule was fraught, with Nigerien citizens only entitled to limited French citizenship and power being wielded by distant colonial governors. In the 1950s, the French government introduced reforms aimed at increasing Nigerien political participation and provided for a measure of self-government. In 1958, French colonies in Africa were given the right to hold a referendum on their membership in the French Community - a body seen as a step towards independence. Nigerien voters were divided on the issue, but eventually the ‘yes’ campaign, headed by the Nigerien Progressive Party under the leadership of Hamani Diori, was successful. In December, Niger declared itself a republic within the French Community; this is often considered the founding of the Nigerien nation. Diori became Prime Minister of Niger in 1959 and, with assistance from the French, consolidated his rule into an effective one-party state. In July 1960, France agreed to Niger’s full independence, and Diori declared independence in August, a day which is celebrated as Independence Day in Niger. Diori then became President of Niger, but his administration was notoriously corrupt, negligent of domestic concerns, repressive of dissidents, and exclusionary of major ethnic groups. In 1974, Diori was ousted in a military coup and imprisoned; in the following years, Niger has seen a series of military governments and attempts at liberalising reforms.
55 years ago today
FREE ON KINDLE TODAY! (3rd...
FREE ON KINDLE TODAY! (3rd August)
Motivated by research which found that just being exposed to photographic scenes of nature enhances feelings of vitality, Sunsets For The Soul presents a breathtaking collection of stunning sunset photographs interspersed with some of the greatest verse ever written to include reference to the setting sun.
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