Monthly Archives: November 2018

“It travels at a speed of around 28 800 km/h”

ESA Blog: 20 questions for 20 years: Happy Birthday International Space Station. “This week we celebrate 20 years since the first International Space Station module Zarya was launched into space on 20 November, 1998. To mark the occasion, we are answering 20 of your most frequently asked questions about Alexander Gerst’s time on board the orbital outpost. Read on to be enlightened…”

“Is there gravity in space?
[…]
In truth, astronauts are not floating, they’re ‘falling’. But because of the high speed of the Space Station’s orbit, they fall ‘around’ Earth – matching the way Earth’s surface curves. The moon stays in orbit around Earth for this same reason. Since astronauts have the same acceleration as the Space Station, they appear and feel weightless.”

“Im Sommer sind nur 54 Prozent der üblichen Niederschlagsmenge gefallen.”

Deutsche Welle: Trockenheit: Deutschland läuft auf Grund. “Es war 1975, als der Entertainer Rudi Carell das regenreiche Wetter beklagte: “Wann wird’s mal wieder richtig Sommer?” Wenn Carell noch lebte, was würde er heute singen? Deutschland vertrocknet, weil es zu wenig regnet.”

Die zehn Fotos zeigen ähnliche oder schlimmere Bilder, als wir sie hier am Rhein vor unserer Haustür gerade vorfinden. Die nächste Rheinfähre musste ca. zwei Wochen wegen Niedrigwasser pausieren, fährt inzwischen aber wieder. Eine ordentliche Portion Regen wäre aber mehr als willkommen.

Kinder sind Flüchtlingen gegenüber offen

Deutsche Welle: Deutsche Kinder offen gegenüber Flüchtlingen. “Eine Befragung zeigt, dass deutsche Mädchen und Jungen es gut finden, dass ihr Land Geflüchteten ein Zuhause bietet. Bei Kindern in ostdeutschen Bundesländern ist die Zustimmung allerdings geringer.”

“Die Mehrheit der deutschen Kinder steht der Aufnahme von Flüchtlingen in Deutschland offen gegenüber. Das ergab das LBS Kinderbarometer 2018, dass die Landesbausparkassen der Sparkasse (LBS) am Donnerstag, dem Internationalen Tag für Toleranz der UNESCO, veröffentlichten. Drei Viertel der befragten Kinder zwischen 9 und 14 Jahren gaben an, sie fänden es gut, dass Deutschland Menschen aufnimmt, die aus anderen Ländern geflohen waren.”

“We’re changing a mass realization system that we’ve had for 129 years”

NPR Science: Say Au Revoir To That Hunk Of Metal In France That Has Defined The Kilogram.

“The world is about to say au revoir to Le Grand K, a cylinder of platinum and iridium that has long reigned over the world’s system of weight measurement.

Le Grand K was forged in 1879 and is held in a locked vault outside Paris — revered and kept under lock and key because its mass, a little over 2 pounds, is the official definition of the kilogram.

But this is will soon change. On Friday, the international General Conference on Weights and Measures will meet in Versailles, France, to vote on whether to redefine the kilogram.

The vote is expected to be unanimous, a mere formality after years of work. Going forward, the world’s system of mass measurement will not be based on some special hunk of metal, but rather on unalterable features of the universe — such as the speed of light, time and Planck’s constant, a number that helps scientists figure out the energy of a photon of light, given its wavelength.”

“Here comes the flood.”

Mother Jones: House Dems Already Have Their List of Trump Scandals to Investigate. Here It Is.. “The subpoenas are coming.”

“The challenge will be deciding what to focus on—and perhaps resisting calls for an impeachment investigation. For partisans seeking to pin down Trump, the best strategy may be to eschew impeachment in favor of a series of easy-to-justify oversight investigations. The Trump White House already is dysfunctional. It is light on bodies, and lighter on experience and competence. Faced with information requests and subpoenas from multiple committees across multiple fronts, the White House and the entire Trump administration will have a tough job responding and getting anything done. A fusillade of legitimate probes will probably present more of a threat to Trump than an impeachment inquiry that, even if successful in the House, would run into a brick wall in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Since Trump entered office—and brought into the White House a boatload of scandals and controversies—congressional Democrats have been demanding the chance to investigate him and his gang. Republicans, though, constantly blocked them and protected Trump from Capitol Hill gumshoes. Now the House Democrats have a golden opportunity—and, perhaps unfortunately for the nation, an embarrassment of riches to choose from.”

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