Month: April 2021

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2…………>  Blue Dunes Paradise: Mars Up Close?

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The NASA released a stunning image that offered a spectacular view of the sand dunes and northern polar caps on the distant planet, captured by the Mars Odyssey capsule that was launched into space on April 7, 2001, with the objective to develop a map that could outline the compositions of the Martian landscape in a bid to give researchers a more solid perspective of the terrain, making spacecraft remains the oldest piece of technology examining Mars.

The release, which was done in an effort to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mars Odyssey orbiter, is a false-color image, meaning the colors used are representative of the temperature detected in the area. As such, the planet’s polar caps are represented with crystal blue tints, whereas hues of yellow and orange are used to depict the Martian dunes.

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https://sputniknews.com/science/202104131082611995-nasa-unveils-stunning-image-of-blue-martian-dunes-to-celebrate-odyssey-anniversary/

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3…………>  COVID19 Exponential Explosion: WHO Warning

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As new cases are “growing exponentially” in spite of strict preventative COVID-19 measures imposed by foreign governments, said leading WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove, the health body’s technical lead for its COVID-19 response, who had no choice but to declare that the trajectory of the pandemic is at a “critical point” during a panel discussion in Geneva, Switzerland:

“We are in a critical point of the pandemic right now, the trajectory of this pandemic is growing,” Kerkhove noted, highlighting that over the last week some 4.4 million new cases were documented.

“The trajectory of the pandemic right now is growing exponentially.”

“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic where we have proven control measures. It is time right now where everyone has to take stock and have a reality check of what we need to be doing,” she added.
Last week, global case counts spiked by about 9%, as the COVID-19 death toll jumped by 5%.

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https://sputniknews.com/world/202104121082611505-who-warns-covid-19-pandemic-growing-exponentially-as-millions-of-cases-emerge/

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4…………>  Remembering Gagarin: 1st Man In Space

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Cosmonauts, astronauts and taikonauts, and more than 500 people from various countries have been to space since Yuri Gagarin’s historic first flight on April 12, 1961, with the space flights into Earth’s orbit have since become routine since his voyage 60 years ago, a brave man who died in 1968 during a training flight at the age of 34.

“I didn’t realize at all that Yuri Gagarin had gone into space,” recalls German astronaut Gerhard Thiele.

“That was kept secret. Only when the flight was successfully completed did they go public with the big news.” Thiele, who flew to space aboard the US space shuttle Endeavor in 2000, says he only has only vague memories of his parents talking about Gagarin’s successful flight.

The German astronaut grew up in West Germany and his interest in space travel began in the mid-1960s, with US space flights,  at time, the US was “much more open” than the Soviet Union, the 67-year old says.

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https://phys.org/news/2021-04-russia-legend-cosmonaut-gagarin.html

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After a decline during first year of pandemic, thousands of migrants from Central America are again on the move trying to reach the United States – many of them families or unaccompanied minors.

Joe Biden’s government has already asked for support from its emergency management agency to help handle a spike in the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the border with Mexico, as the influx of children is straining the system.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-56432363

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