In recent days, the typhoon Neoguri reached southern Japan, seriously affecting the prefecture of Okinawa. On July 6, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned the inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands that Neoguri may be among the most powerful typhoons to ever hit the nation. Its size can be really seen only from above and the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have taken several photos of it.
A study published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” presents the results of a research on plastic waste in the world’s oceans. A group of scientists took samples of waste in various ocean areas in 2010 and 2011 and from the data they gathered they estimated that the amount of plastic in the oceans is up to 40,000 tons. Other researches that that took into account the data down to the ’70s estimated that thare might be up to one million tons of plastic in the oceans and this raises the question of what happened to the missing plastic.
On Monday March 3, 2014 the American astronaut William Reid Pogue passed away. He was a veteran of the Skylab space laboratory who became an author, a speaker and an educator after his career at NASA. As a pilot of the Skylab 4 mission, he departed on November 16, 1973 and returned to Earth on February 8, 1974. At the time, it was the longest manned space mission ever.
After retiring from the Air Air and NASA in 1975, William Reid Pogue remained in the field working as an aerospace consultant and as speaker and educator. He produced video on space flight and in 1991 published the book “How Do You Go to the Bathroom in Space?”, in which answered 270 questions he received during his speeches in schools. In 1992 he also published a science fiction novel, “The Trikon Deception”, with writer Ben Bova.
In the course of his work as a speaker, William Reid Pogue was asked other questions, to which he replied in a new book, “Space Trivia”, published in 2003. In 2011 he published his autobiography, “But for the Grace of God: An Autobiography of an Aviator and Astronaut”.
Wednesday February 19, 2014 the astronaut Dale Gardner passed away due to a brain aneurysm. During his career as an astronaut, he flew on the Space Shuttle Challenger in mission STS-8 and on the Space Shuttle Discovery in mission STS-51-A. In his last mission, he recovered two satellites placed in the wrong orbit using a jetpack.
Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon to the great mathematician Alan Turing, at least in part erasing the shame of having tried him for his homosexuality in 1952. This act represents a victory of the campaign that requested such an act, which began a few years ago and was supported by several members of the last British governments, many scientists and many other people. In the end, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling submitted a formal request to the Her Majesty, who issued the pardon.
