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The summit of Mauna Kea, sacred to Native Hawaiians, is home to 13 astronomical facilities, two of which are currently being decommissioned. After years of protests that halted the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Mauna Kea and divided communities in Hawaii, a major change in the management of the summit is underway. Since the beginning of this year, a new state-appointed oversight board has been preparing to assume management of Mauna Kea. Under a law signed in June 2022 by then-Hawaii Governor David Ige, a five-year transition period formally begins in July of this year. Then, in 2028, the Maunakea Stewardship Oversight…

The tantalizing history of Mars’ Jezero Crater, which was once home to an ancient river delta and lake, is what pushed NASA to choose the location as the landing site for its Perseverance rover. NASA’s Perseverance rover has spent the last eight months in the dry, forlorn landscape of Jezero Crater. But analysis of some of the rover’s first images have confirmed that roughly 3.7 billion years ago, the crater was home to an ancient lake fed by a river — one that occasionally experienced flash floods, washing boulders into the lake from up to tens of miles away. When…

American Goldfinch “I photographed this male American goldfinch in my backyard in Foley, Minnesota. Goldfinches are the small yellow bird that made me fall in love with birdwatching!” says Sara Wunderlich. Here’s how to attract more goldfinches to your backyard. Yellow Warbler “One of the things I love about Wisconsin is the variety of birds that come here during spring migration. Warblers are the a delight to see. These tiny little bright yellow warblers are beautiful and I could never get enough pictures of them,” says Michelle Nyss. Prothonotary Warbler “It was a very nice surprise to see a prothonotary warbler this spring in Ontario. Normally I…

They called them Catacomb Saints – corpses of ancient Romans unearthed from the catacoms of Rome, given fictitious names and sent abroad as relics of saints from the 16th to the 8th centuries. 19. They are lavishly decorated, as you can see below. But why – why are they so luxuriously decorated? Are they really buried like this, or has something happened? Well, they really aren’t saints in the strict sense, although some of them may have been early Christian martyrs. During the 15th century, Western Europe was rocked by the storm Beeldenstorm – the wrath of the statue – a term used to…

The quadrocopter was also able to catch objects tossed by researchers, such as bean bags and tennis balls The quadrocopter dubbed “SNAG” has feet and legs modeled after a peregrine falcon William Roderick via Stanford University A new drone is taking inspiration from nature’s best flyers: birds. The bio-inspired aerial bot, which was developed by Stanford engineers, combines four sets of propellers on top with a set of bird-like features below, such as grasping claws and bending legs that allow it to land smoothly almost anywhere. “It’s not easy to mimic how birds fly and perch,” says Stanford mechanical engineer William…

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced its most recent discovery of a preserved double graveyard containing the remains of a man, his wife, and mummified animals, including cats and mice. Scientists believe the discovery, which was unveiled Friday, is from the Ptolemaic period, which dates back more than 2,000 years. The tomb was found in the city of Akhmim about four miles from Sohag. “It’s one of the most exciting discoveries ever in the area,” said Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The most impressive discovery was that of 50 animals and a human mummy. Eagles, falcons, ibex,…

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, was first banded by scientists on a remote North Pacific atoll in 1956 Wisdom, a 70-year-old Laysan albatross, and one of her chicks from years past. USFWS On February 1, the world’s oldest known wild bird became a mother once again when her chick hatched on the Midway Atoll in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean. Scientists first attached a red identifying ankle band to Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, in 1956. She’s now at least 70 years old and has outlived the researcher who first banded her, reports Nina Wu of the Honolulu Star Advertiser. Just shy…

The ordinary matter we encounter every day only makes up about 5% of the universe’s density, according to the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (Lambda-CDM) model, which is the current accepted standard for how the universe began and evolved. Dark matter makes up 27% of the universe’s density, and the remaining 68% is made up of dark energy, a so far theoretical force driving the universe’s expansion. Nevertheless, a recent study has called into doubt the existence of dark energy altogether, citing computer simulations that revealed the gap in the theory that dark energy was supposed to fill vanishes when the…

Astronomers used to believe that the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest galactic neighbor, was three times as massive as the Milky Way. Not anymore. This image of the Andromeda galaxy, captured by NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer, shows the ultraviolet side of our familiar galactic neighbor. Both the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy (M31) are giant spiral galaxies in our local universe. And in about 4 billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda will collide in a gravitational sumo match that will ultimately bind them forever.Because astronomers previously thought that Andromeda was up to three times as massive as the Milky Way, they…

Crusaders froм the Latin West left an unмistakaƄle iмprint on the cities of the Near East throughout the Middle Ages, Ƅuilding castles and fortresses that could resist waʋes of conquest. Many of these castles still stand today, and in soмe cases, reмain in use. Krak des Cheʋaliers, perhaps the мost iconic crusader castle, was eʋen occupied and used as a мilitary Ƅase in the recent Syrian conflict. Howeʋer, мany of these iмpressiʋe structures haʋe yet to giʋe up all of their secrets. Eʋen in the late 20th century, crusader structures were still Ƅeing discoʋered in the Leʋant, the мost notable of…

“Crystal Mountain”. Located within the white desert, 120 km from the Farafra Oasis and 160 km from the Bahariya Oases is one of the rarest mountains in the world, it is a mountain full of different crystal, where there are more than 12 types Crystal, clustered with each other in a huge mountain mass. The hill is a subvolcanic vault, which emerged during the Oligocene age, 33 million years ago. Crystal Mountain, which is often called the Jewel of the Desert is formed by the quartzite crystals and looks amazing in the sun’s rays. A few decades ago, that natural…

An asteroid smashed into the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago, killing some 75 percent of life on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Some 66 million years ago, a city-size asteroid barreled through Earth’s atmosphere and slammed into the shallow waters off the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. The cosmic artillery strike gouged a 125-mile-wide (200 km) crater in Earth surface, lofting plumes of vaporized rock and debris into the air that globally blocked out views of the Sun for years or decades. After the initial blast, the reduced sunlight caused Earth’s surface temperature to plummet by as…

The galaxies NGC 5394 (the smaller one, on the right) and NGC 5395 (the larger one, on the left) are in the middle of colliding over the span of millions of years. Collisions between galaxies can take millions of years. The galaxies NGC 5394 and NGC 5395 are in the middle of one such ambling encounter.The pair, located about 160 million light-years away from Earth, have already collided at least once, astronomers say. The stars in each of the galaxies are so far apart that any collisions between stars are very unlikely. However, the collision may have caused turbulent motions…

This Hubble Space Telescope image captures the rare sight of three merging galaxies, each containing a supermassive black hole. According to recent supercomputer simulations, triple mergers such as this may be how ultramassive black holes — those tens of billions of times the mass of the Sun — formed so quickly in the early universe. With a gravitational field so strong that not even light can escape its grip, black holes are probably the most interesting and bizarre objects in the universe. Due to their extreme properties, a theoretical description of these celestial bodies is impossible within the framework of Newton’s classical…

Ingenuity helicopter nears 50th flight on Mars Ingenuity helicopter nears 50th flight on MarsSaying this proof-of-concept rotorcraft surpassed expectations is putting it lightly. NASA’s Perseverance rover took this selfie with its companion the Ingenuity helicopter on April 6, 2021. In this image, the helicopter sits just 13 feet (4 meters) from the rover. Watching dust kicked up from the martian surface by the rotors of a human-made helicopter never gets old. Neither does point-of-view footage of said helicopter landing safely back on the ground — which has now happened 48 straight times. The Perseverance rover deployed the Ingenuity helicopter onto…

This strange new ancient tomb was recently uncovered in Turkey which already makes this quite rare already, but what really stood out to the experts here is the fact that it points towards this all being dedicated to Queen Nefertiti. The whole tomb is littered with signs and symbols which mention Queen Nefertiti and after some time had passed and the expert linguists managed to decipher the stories told here the team was baffled This is all revolutionary content, as we’ve never heard of this story before regarding Queen Nefertiti, her followers, and her husband. The story is written from…

Gomphrena, also called globe amaranth, is an easy-care annual that anyone can grow. It also makes a great addition to dried bouquets. Benefits of Growing Gomphrena By now, your mailbox is probably awash in all the latest seed catalogs, and you’re starting to think longingly toward spring. As you flip through those vibrant pages, tempted by all you see, you might overlook gomphrena, a pretty little annual also known as globe amaranth, but it’s definitely worth adding to any flower garden. This easy-care annual bloom has a secret—it dries beautifully, meaning the gomphrena you grow in the summer can grace your living room…

The American redstart is a stunning, distinctive warbler. Learn how to identify these colorful birds, and see what the female and juveniles look like.Redstart ID Tips Bright yellow plumage is common among warblers. But the vibrant American redstart is distinctive. Males are mostly black with rich, reddish orange patches on the sides, wings and tails. Redstarts are among the most active warblers as they flit through trees. They fan out their brightly colored tails, a notable behavior that makes them easy to identify. If you’re birding on the edges of eastern forests, be sure to look for redstarts. Like most warblers, redstarts usually aren’t…

Kylie Jenner was once upon a time the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. While the self-made angle is debatable and the billionaire status is dwindling, her ultra-luxurious lifestyle remains a constant. Kylie Jenner’s US$73 million all-pink private jet. Photo: @kyliejenner/Instagram One of the latest additions to her high-flying lifestyle is a US$73 million private jet. Clearly, the grandeur of the Kardashian-Jenner family can put their counterparts to shame. Let’s take a closer look … Mind-blowing catering on board Kylie Jenner gets ready to travel in style. Photo: @kyliejenner/Instagram Making travelling first-class look second-rate is the unbelievably decadent seven-course menu on board the…

KENDALL Jenner has shown off her thin frame yet again, stepping out in West Hollywood in a revealing outfit amid plastic surgery rumors. Fans have accused the model of getting fillers in her lips and breast implants. Kendall Jenner showed off her figure amid boob job speculationCredit: BackGrid She was seen out and about sans shirt in West HollywoodCredit: BackGrid On Thursday, Kendall, 26, was seen out and about in West Hollywood dressed and ready for a workout. She was photographed wearing a bright blue sports bra and matching leggings with a sweater wrapped around her shoulders. The model wore…

From blue jays to indigo buntings, how many blue colored birds do you know? Enjoy beautiful photos of birds with blue feathers. Blue Colored Birds: Great Blue Heron Great blue herons are one of the largest blue colored birds. Becky Jones shared this photo of a great blue heron gracefully gliding on Schuy Rush Lake in Rushville, Illinois, in the fall. Blue Jay “I was so pleased with this shot. It was one of the best images I took of this handsome blue jay, and it seemed like he was posing for me and my camera!” says Lorraine Lynch. Learn how to…

The spacecraft-killing anomaly over the South Atlantic A strange dent in Earth’s magnetic field doses orbiting craft with high levels of radiation. It’s caused everything from periodic glitches to total mission failure. The European Space Agency’s Swarm satellites measure the strength of Earth’s magnetic field. In this image, cooler colors (blue) mean lower strength than warmer colors (pink). The large dark region is called the South Atlantic Anomaly. Radiation is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless enemy to both humans and electronics alike. And, thanks to a quirk in Earth’s magnetic field, a region called the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) regularly…

The Sun’s death could mean new life in the outer solar system What will happen to the solar system when the Sun dies? It might be the end of planet Earth, but life could still find a way. The future red giant sun bakes planet Earth. In roughly 5 billion years, the Sun will run out of energy and drastically alter the solar system. Oceans will be baked dry. Entire planets will be consumed. And long-icy worlds will finally enjoy their day in the Sun. Our star is powered by nuclear fusion, and it turns hydrogen into helium in a…

Iп the year 79, the Romaп city of Pompeii was “obliterated” wheп the volcaпo Vesυviυs erυpted, killiпg aboυt 2,000 people. Αrchaeologists foυпd maпy petrified bodies wheп excavatiпg this place. Αrchaeologists υпearthed a пυmber of petrified people iп the rυiпs of the aпcieпt city of Pompeii of the Romaп Empire (today Italiaп territory). These bodies became evideпce of a terrible tragedy that happeпed пearly 2,000 years ago. Specifically, iп the year 79, the volcaпo Vesυviυs sυddeпly “wake υp” aпd erυpted violeпtly. The city of Pompeii, Hercυlaпeυm aпd several settlemeпts at the foot of this volcaпo were hardest hit. Αmoпg them, Pompeii is…