Category Archives: Around the World

“2020 beschert Weltraumfans etliche himmlische Highlights”

Deutsche Welle: Orion, Starliner, Sonnenfinsternisse und Planeten: Das kommt 2020 im Weltall auf uns zu. “Vier Marssonden, eine neue ESA-Rakete, eine totale Sonnenfinsternis, ein wunderschönes Planetentreffen sowie neue Raumschiffe für die Internationale Raumstation: 2020 beschert Weltraumfans etliche himmlische Highlights.”

“Das Himmelsereignis des Jahres ist die totale Sonnenfinsternis am 14. Dezember. In einem gut 90 Kilometer breiten Streifen schiebt sich der Neumond komplett vor die Sonne. Für maximal 2 Minuten und 10 Sekunden wird der Tag zur Nacht: Die hellsten Sterne sind am Himmel zu sehen und rund um die dunkle Mondscheibe zeigt sich die flammende Sonnenatmosphäre, die Korona. Der Totalitätsstreifen läuft leider zumeist über das Meer.

Die Totalität beginnt am 14. Dezember um 14:33 Uhr Weltzeit im Südpazifik und endet um 17:54 Uhr Weltzeit im Südatlantik vor der Küste Namibias.

Aber die Finsternisfans haben Glück: Der Höhepunkt der Finsternis findet über Land statt. Von etwa 16:00 bis 16:25 Uhr Weltzeit kreuzt der Mondschatten den Süden Chiles und Argentiniens.
[…]
Von Mai bis Dezember bilden Jupiter und Saturn, die beiden größten Planeten im Sonnensystem, ein hübsches Gespann am abendlichen Firmament – sichtbar in allen Teilen der Welt (von arktischen Regionen abgesehen), aber besonders gut auf der südlichen Hemisphäre.

Der Höhepunkt dieser Jupiter-Saturn-Festspiele wird am 21. Dezember erreicht. Dann überholt der schnellere Jupiter den deutlich langsameren Ringplaneten. Nur alle 20 Jahre stehen Jupiter und Saturn so dicht am Himmel beieinander!”

“The measles virus has killed almost three times as many people in DR Congo as any Ebola outbreak.”

Deutsche Welle: World’s biggest measles outbreak in DR Congo kills thousands. “The deadly virus has killed nearly three times as many people in the Democratic Republic of Congo as any Ebola outbreak. It’s preventable with a vaccine.”

Mehr als 6000 Tote durch Masern im Kongo. “Vor einem Jahr brach in dem zentralafrikanischen Land eine Masern-Epidemie aus. Inzwischen sind dadurch mehr Menschen gestorben als durch die Ebola-Seuche. Dabei könnte eine Impfung Leben retten.”

“[T]he evidence pointing to the harms of e-cigarettes is starting to pile up”

NPR: New Study Offers First Evidence Of Vaping’s Long-Term Risks. “The study finds that e-cigarettes are linked to increased risk of chronic lung diseases including emphysema, chronic bronchitis and COPD, as well as weakened immune defenses.”

NPR: Vaping Nicotine Linked To Increased Risk Of Chronic Lung Disease. “The extreme cases of lung injury caused by vaping have raised awareness of the potential harms of electronic cigarettes. […] Many of these acute illnesses are linked to black market THC products, but a growing body of evidence points to the risks associated with vaping nicotine.”

See also this podcast:

CBC Podcast White Coat, Black Art: ‘It was terrifying’: Teen who collapsed after vaping nicotine is now warning her peers. “Vaping-related severe lung illnesses tracked, but not lower-level incidents, including nicotine poisoning.”

“Dr. Hassan Nemeh […] has seen the worst of those dangers up close. In September, he performed what may be the first double-lung transplant on a person whose lungs had been severely damaged by vaping. The patient was 17 years old.”

“we care about having a president who takes seriously his oath to preserve and protect our Constitution”

The New York Times – Opinion: Impeach Trump. Save America. “It is the only thing to do if our country’s democracy is to survive.” By Thomas L. Friedman.

“If we say, as Republicans do, that what Trump did is not an impeachable offense, we are telling ourselves and every future president that — in direct contradiction of what the founders wrote in the Constitution — it is O.K. to enlist a foreign power to tilt the election your way. Can you imagine how much money candidates could raise from Saudi Arabia or China to tilt a future election their way, or how many cyberwarriors they could enlist from Russia or Iran to create fake news, suppress voting or spur outrage?
[…]
If Congress were to do what Republicans demand — forgo impeaching this president for enlisting a foreign power to get him elected, after he refused to hand over any of the documents that Congress had requested and blocked all of his key aides who knew what happened from testifying — we would be saying that a president is henceforth above the law.

We would be saying that we no longer have three coequal branches of government. We would be saying that we no longer have a separation of powers.

We would be saying that our president is now a king.

If we do that, the America you studied in history class, the America you grew up knowing and loving, and the America that the rest of the world has so long admired as a beacon of democracy and justice will be no more. Oh, how we will miss it when it’s gone.”

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