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The US just returned to the Moon after more than 50 years. How big a deal is it, really?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-flannery-3906">David Flannery</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> In the few short years since the COVID pandemic changed our world, China, Japan and India have all successfully landed on the Moon. Many more robotic missions have flown past the Moon, entered lunar orbit, or crashed into it in the past five years. This includes <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/kplo">spacecraft developed by South Korea</a>, <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023/04/27/Dubai-s-ruler-announces-new-moon-mission-after-UAE-s-Rashid-Rover-lunar-crash-">the United Arab Emirates</a>, and an <a href="https://www.spaceil.com/">Israeli not-for-profit organisation</a>. Late last week, the American company <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a>, in collaboration with NASA, celebrated “America’s return to the Moon” with a successful landing of its Odysseus spacecraft. Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/change-5-china-launches-sample-return-mission-to-the-moon-is-it-winning-the-new-space-race-150665">Chinese-built sample return missions</a> are far more complex than this project. And didn’t NASA ferry a dozen humans to the Moon back when microwaves were cutting-edge technology? So what is different about this mission developed by a US company? <h2>Back to the Moon</h2> The recent Odysseus landing stands out for two reasons. For starters, this is the first time a US-built spacecraft has landed – not crashed – on the Moon for over 50 years. Secondly, and far more significantly, this is the first time a private company has pulled off a successful delivery of cargo to the Moon’s surface. NASA has lately focused on destinations beyond the Earth–Moon system, including Mars. But with its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a> (CLPS) program, it has also funded US private industry to develop Moon landing concepts, hoping to reduce the delivery costs of lunar payloads and allow NASA engineers to focus on other challenges. Working with NASA, Intuitive Machines selected a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapert_(crater)">landing site</a> about 300 kilometres from the lunar south pole. Among other challenges, landing here requires entering a polar orbit around the Moon, which consumes additional fuel. At this latitude, the land is heavily cratered and dotted with long shadows. This makes it challenging for autonomous landing systems to find a safe spot for a touchdown. NASA spent about US$118 million (A$180 million) to land six scientific <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/About_Payload_Systems">payloads</a> on Odysseus. This is relatively cheap. Using low-cost lunar landers, NASA will have an efficient way to test new space hardware that may then be flown on other Moon missions or farther afield. <h2>Ten minutes of silence</h2> One of the technology tests on the Odysseus lander, NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/impact-story-navigation-doppler-lidar/">Navigation Doppler Lidar experiment</a> or NDL, appears to have proved crucial to the lander’s success. As the lander neared the surface, the company realised its navigation systems had a problem. NASA’s NDL experiment is serendipitously designed to test precision landing techniques for future missions. It seems that at the last second, engineers bodged together a solution that involved feeding necessary data from NDL to the lander. Ten minutes of silence followed before a <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760838333851148442">weak signal was detected</a> from Odysseus. Applause thundered through the mission control room. NASA’s administrator released a video congratulating everyone for returning America to the Moon. It has since become clear the lander is not oriented perfectly upright. The solar panels are generating sufficient power and the team is slowly receiving the first images from the surface. However, it’s likely Odysseus <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/165864/odysseus-moon-lander-is-tipped-over-but-still-sending-data/">partially toppled over</a> upon landing. Fortunately, at the time of writing, it seems most of the science payload may yet be deployed as it’s on the side of the lander facing upwards. The unlucky payload element facing downwards <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/23/world/odysseus-lunar-landing-sideways-scn/index.html">is a privately contributed artwork</a> connected <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/22/style/jeff-koons-moon-phases-odysseus-landing/index.html">to NFTs</a>. The lander is now likely to survive for at least a week before the Sun sets on the landing site and a dark, frigid lunar night turns it into another museum piece of human technology frozen in the lunar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/regolith">regolith</a>. <h2>Win some, lose some</h2> NASA’s commercial approach to stimulating low-cost payload services all but guarantees some failures. But eventually NASA hopes that several commercial launch and landing providers will emerge from the program, along with a few learning experiences. The know-how accumulated at organisations operating hardware in space is at least as important as the development of the hardware itself. The market for commercial lunar payloads remains unclear. Possibly, once the novelty wears off and brands are no longer able to generate buzz by, for example, <a href="https://www.columbia.com/omni-heat-infinity/moon-mission/">sending a piece of outdoor clothing to the Moon</a>, this source of funding may dwindle. However, just as today, civil space agencies and taxpayers will continue to fund space exploration to address shared science goals. Ideally, commercial providers will offer NASA an efficient method for testing key technologies needed for its schedule of upcoming scientific robotic missions, as well as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">human spaceflight in the Artemis program</a>. Australia would also have the opportunity to test hardware at a reduced price. It’s worth noting that US budgetary issues, <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-warns-of-very-problematic-space-technology-budget-cuts/">funding cuts</a> and <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-workforce-update">subsequent lay-offs</a> do threaten these ambitions. Meanwhile, in Australia, we may have nothing to launch anyway. We continue to spend less <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Budget/reviews/2023-24/ScienceResearch">than the OECD average on scientific research</a>, and only a few Australian universities – who traditionally lead such efforts – <a href="https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/moon-to-mars-initiative-demonstrator-mission-grants/grant-recipients">have received funding</a> provided by the Australian Space Agency. If we do support planetary science and space exploration in the future, Australians will need to decide if we want to allocate our limited resources, competing with NASA and US private industry, to supply launch, landing and robotic services to the global space industry. Alternatively, we could leverage these lower-cost payload providers to develop our own scientific space program, and locally developed space technologies associated with benefits to the knowledge economy, education and national security.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224276/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-flannery-3906">David Flannery</a>, Planetary Scientist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/queensland-university-of-technology-847">Queensland University of Technology</a> Image credits: Intuitive Machines This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-just-returned-to-the-moon-after-more-than-50-years-how-big-a-deal-is-it-really-224276">original article</a>.

International Travel

Almost half of Moon missions fail. Why is space still so hard?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gail-iles-761554">Gail Iles</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> In 2019, India attempted to land a spacecraft on the Moon – and ended up painting a kilometres-long streak of debris on its barren surface. Now the Indian Space Research Organisation has returned in triumph, with the Chandrayaan-3 lander <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-counts-down-crucial-moon-landing-2023-08-23/">successfully touching down</a> near the south pole of Earth’s rocky neighbour. India’s success came just days after a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02659-6">spectacular Russian failure</a>, when the Luna 25 mission tried to land nearby and “ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface”. These twin missions remind us that, close to 60 years after the first successful “soft landing” on the Moon, spaceflight is still difficult and dangerous. Moon missions in particular are still a coin flip, and we have seen several high-profile failures in recent years. Why were these missions unsuccessful and why did they fail? Is there a secret to the success of countries and agencies who have achieved a space mission triumph? <h2>An exclusive club</h2> The Moon is the only celestial location humans have visited (so far). It makes sense to go there first: it’s the closest planetary body to us, at a distance of around 400,000 kilometres. Yet only four countries have achieved successful “soft landings” – landings which the spacecraft survives – on the lunar surface. The USSR was the first. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_9">Luna 9</a> mission safely touched down on the Moon almost 60 years ago, in February 1966. The United States followed suit a few months later, in June 1966, with the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/1966-the-real-first-moon-landing-118785850/">Surveyor 1</a> mission. China was the next country to join the club, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_3">Chang'e 3</a> mission in 2013. And now India too has arrived, with <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2023/aug/23/india-chandrayaan-3-moon-landing-mission">Chandrayaan-3</a>. Missions from Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Russia, the European Space Agency, Luxembourg, South Korea and Italy have also had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon">some measure of lunar success</a> with fly-bys, orbiters and impacts (whether intentional or not). <h2>Crashes are not uncommon</h2> On August 19 2023, the Russian space agency Roscosmos announced that “communication with the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02659-6">Luna 25 spacecraft</a> was interrupted”, after an impulse command was sent to the spacecraft to lower its orbit around the Moon. Attempts to contact the spacecraft on August 20 were unsuccessful, leading Roscosmos to determine Luna 25 had crashed. Despite more than 60 years of spaceflight experience extending from the USSR to modern Russia, this mission failed. We don’t know exactly what happened – but the current situation in Russia, where resources are stretched thin and tensions are high due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, may well have been a factor. The Luna 25 failure recalled two high-profile lunar crashes in 2019. In April that year, the Israeli <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beresheet">Beresheet lander</a> crash-landed after a gyroscope failed during the braking procedure, and the ground control crew was unable to reset the component due to a loss of communications. It was later reported a capsule containing microscopic creatures called tardigrades, in a dormant “cryptobiotic” state, may have survived the crash. And in September, India sent its own Vikram lander down to the surface of the Moon – but it did not survive the landing. NASA later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/dec/03/indias-crashed-vikram-moon-lander-spotted-on-lunar-surface">released an image</a> taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter showing the site of the Vikram lander’s impact. Debris was scattered over almost two dozen locations spanning several kilometres. <h2>Space is still risky</h2> Space missions are a risky business. Just over <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/success-rate-of-lunar-missions-is-a-little-over-50-as-per-nasa-database/articleshow/101774227.cms">50% of lunar missions succeed</a>. Even <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20190002705/downloads/20190002705.pdf">small satellite missions</a> to Earth’s orbit don’t have a perfect track record, with a success rate somewhere between 40% and 70%. We could compare uncrewed with crewed missions: around <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230518-what-are-the-odds-of-a-successful-space-launch">98% of the latter are successful</a>, because people are more invested in people. Ground staff working to support a crewed mission will be more focused, management will invest more resources, and delays will be accepted to prioritise the safety of the crew. We could talk about the details of why so many uncrewed missions fail. We could talk about technological difficulties, lack of experience, and even the political landscapes of individual countries. But perhaps it’s better to step back from the details of individual missions and look at averages, to see the overall picture more clearly. <h2>The big picture</h2> Rocket launches and space launches are not very common in the scheme of things. There are <a href="https://www.pd.com.au/blogs/how-many-cars-in-the-world/">around 1.5 billion cars</a> in the world, and perhaps <a href="https://www.travelweek.ca/news/exactly-many-planes-world-today/">40,000 aeroplanes</a>. By contrast, there have been fewer than <a href="https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/derived/launchlog.html">20,000 space launches</a> in all of history. Plenty of things still go wrong with cars, and problems occur even in the better-regulated world of planes, from loose rivets to computers overriding pilot inputs. And we have more than a century of experience with these vehicles, in every country on the planet. So perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect spaceflight – whether it’s the launch stage of rockets, or the even rarer stage of trying to land on an alien world – to have ironed out all its problems. We are still very much in the early, pioneering days of space exploration. <h2>Monumental challenges remain</h2> If humanity is ever to create a fully fledged space-faring civilisation, we must <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/02/space-is-cold-vast-and-deadly-humans-will-explore-it-anyway/">overcome monumental challenges</a>. To make long-duration, long-distance space travel possible, there are a huge number of problems to be solved. Some of them seem within the realm of the possible, such as better radiation shielding, self-sustaining ecosystems, autonomous robots, extracting air and water from raw resources, and zero-gravity manufacturing. Others are still speculative hopes, such as faster-than-light travel, instantaneous communication, and artificial gravity. Progress will be little by little, small step by slightly larger step. Engineers and space enthusiasts will keep putting their brainpower, time and energy into space missions, and they will gradually become more reliable. And maybe one day we’ll see a time when going for a ride in your spacecraft is as safe as getting in your car. <hr /> Correction: a typing error in the original version of this article put the Surveyor 1 mission in 1996, rather than its actual year of 1966.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211914/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gail-iles-761554">Gail Iles</a>, Senior Lecturer in Physics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-half-of-moon-missions-fail-why-is-space-still-so-hard-211914">original article</a>.

International Travel

Leo DiCaprio's new film gets 9-minute standing ovation

If a 9-minute standing ovation is anything to go by, then claims that Martin Scorsese’s new project Killers of the Flower Moon is the “film of the year” may just be on to something. The movie - which stars the likes of Hollywood legends Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone - received exactly that: 9 whole minutes of applause after its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Its stars were all in attendance, from Leo who was last present with Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, to 80-year-old Scorsese, who was returning to the festival for the first time since 1985, when he was there for After Hours. The near-three-and-a-half-hour film - which shares its name with the David Grann book it was adapted from - takes place in 1920s Oklahoma, and shares the story of a dark period in American history, depicting the serial murders of members of the Osage Nation. Prior to its screening, the film had already been dubbed by some as the festival’s “most anticipated film” - it even saw Apple CEO Tim Cook swing by, as the company is one of the film’s distributors. And as soon as it concluded, the applause broke out - with some suspecting that it may have continued on beyond the 9-minute mark, had Scorsese not been asked to address the crowd. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone land a 9-minute standing ovation for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ — the biggest and loudest of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cannes2023?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cannes2023</a> so far. <a href="https://t.co/1Gxp4cED1T">pic.twitter.com/1Gxp4cED1T</a> — Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaminSetoodeh/status/1660019896393113602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote> “Thank you to the Osages,” Scorsese said upon reaching the mic. “Everyone connected with the picture. My old pals Bob and Leo, and Jesse and Lily. We shot this a couple of years ago in Oklahoma. “It’s taken it’s time to come around but Apple did so great by us. There was lots of grass. I’m a New Yorker. I was very surprised. This was an amazing experience. “We lived in that world with the Osage, we really did, and we really miss it.” As former Osage tribal leader Jim Gray said of the experience, “the dignity and care for the Osage perspective was genuine and honest throughout the process and the Osage responded with the kind of passion and enthusiasm that met this historic moment. “For those of us who were watching from the sidelines while our best and brightest among us auditioned, sewed, catered, painted, acted and advised the filmmakers, it’s going to be hard not to feel our presence in helping to tell.” Lily Gladstone - who plays an Osage woman betrayed by her husband in the movie - had more to add, telling Variety that “the work is better when you let the world inform the work. That was very refreshing how involved the production got with the [Osage Nation] community. As the community warmed up to our presence, the more the community got involved with the film. “It’s a different movie than the one [Scorsese] walked in to make almost entirely because of what the community had to say about how it was being made and what was being portrayed.” And alongside praise for the film came praise for the performances within it, with many convinced Gladstone is set for attention during awards season for her work, and one reviewer even going so far as to call this “Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performance yet”. Images: Getty

Movies

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

Dixi et salvavi animam meam. This Latin phrase – I have spoken and saved my soul – sits at the end of Karl Marx’s <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/">Critique of the Gotha Programme</a>. Written in 1875, this text imagines a communist society that will come about “after the enslaving of the individual to the division of labour, and thereby also the antithesis between mental and physical labour has vanished”. Only then, Marx argues, “can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be completely transcended and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!” Roger Waters – bassist, lyricist and conceptual mastermind behind Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, released 50 years ago today – knows Marx’s Critique. Indeed, he quotes it when discussing the record with music journalist John Harris. “Making The Dark Side of the Moon, we were all trying to do as much as we possibly could,” Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">told</a> Harris. "It was a very communal thing. What’s that old Marxist maxim? ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ That’s sort of the way the band worked at that point." Assertions about solidarity, cooperation and shared “unity of purpose” – as Waters says – situate Dark Side in the context of Pink Floyd’s <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/pink-floyd-roger-waters-david-gilmour-feud/">notoriously fractious</a> recording career and helps us understand the album’s enduring appeal. <h2>Shine on you crazy diamond</h2> Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965. Led by the charismatic songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett, the group established itself as a leader in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_underground">London underground music scene</a>. They released their debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_Machine">Soft Machine</a> member Kevin Ayers <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/pink-floyds-the-piper-at-the-gates-of-dawn-9781441185174/">described</a> The Piper at the Gates of Dawn as “something magical, but it was in Syd Barrett”. Not long after the record’s release, Barrett suffered a catastrophic, LSD-induced breakdown. In response, the band recruited David Gilmour on guitar and recorded a second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, as a five-piece in 1968. Around this time, the increasingly unstable Barrett was unceremoniously ousted by the rest of the band. After Barrett left, says Ayers, “Pink Floyd became something else totally”. There are different versions of Pink Floyd. The recordings released after Barrett left the band in 1968 bear little resemblance to the first. Dark Side sounds nothing like the whimsical Piper. But it is obvious the record is in large part preoccupied with the loss of Barrett. This preoccupation comes to the fore in the album’s penultimate track. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OOQP1-wOE&ab_channel=HDPinkFloyd">Brain Damage</a>, written and sung by Waters, references Barrett’s adolescence (“Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs”), alludes to his illness (“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon”), and acknowledges his leaving the group (“And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes; I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon”). Drummer Nick Mason confirms the group didn’t want to lose Barrett. In his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/265734.Inside_Out">autobiography</a>, he writes, "He was our songwriter, singer, guitarist, and – although you might not have known from our less than sympathetic treatment of him – he was our friend." <h2>If the dam breaks open many years too soon</h2> What we hear on The Dark Side of the Moon is a band dealing with trauma. In this sense, Dark Side represents the start of a reckoning with the past – a process that culminated with the band’s next record, 1975’s elegiac <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/wish-you-were-here-pink-floyd-seminal-ode-to-the-tragic-life-of-syd-barrett/">Wish You Were Here</a>. Culmination is a useful term when it comes to Dark Side more generally. On this record, all the avant-garde techniques and tendencies the band had toyed with in the post-Barrett period – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te">musique concrète</a>, sonic manipulation, extended improvisation, analogue tape manipulation – come together to spectacular effect. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ">Money</a> – with its anti-capitalist lyrics penned by Waters (“Money, it’s a crime; share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie”), odd time signature, and handmade tape-loops mimicking the sounds of cash tills, bags of coins being dropped from great height and bank notes being torn up – is one of the stranger hit singles in pop music history. Be that as it may, Money and the album from which it is taken, of which <a href="https://www.pinkfloyd.com/tdsotm50/">more than 50 million copies</a> have been sold, continue to resonate with listeners worldwide, five decades on from its initial release. <h2>The enormous risk of being truly banal</h2> “I made a conscious effort when I was writing the lyrics for Dark Side of the Moon to take the enormous risk of being truly banal about a lot of it,” Waters told John Harris, “in order that the ideas should be expressed as simply and plainly as possible.” On this point, <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/david-gilmour-says-its-pretty-unlikely-he-and-roger-waters-will-resolve-pink-floyd-feud">if nothing else</a>, David Gilmour agrees. He told Harris, "There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific. That was a leap forward. Things would mean what they meant. That was a distinct step away from what we had done before." Mortality, insanity, conflict, affluence, poverty and, in another nod to Marx, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation">alienation</a> are some of the themes presented on the record. The need – and this brings us full circle – for compassion, if not outright solidarity, is another. This is an album about the importance of understanding, as Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">insists, "T</a>he potential that human beings have for recognising each other’s humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy." Given the sorry state of the world in 2023, about which Roger Waters has many <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64580688">contentious</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/07/pink-floyd-lyricist-calls-roger-waters-an-antisemite-and-putin-apologist">problematic</a> things to say, I wager Pink Floyd’s masterwork will continue to resonate with listeners for a while yet. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-the-moon-at-50-how-marx-trauma-and-compassion-all-influenced-pink-floyds-masterpiece-198400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Music

“So full of love”: Chrissy Teigen reveals newborn daughter’s name

Chrissy Teigen and her husband, singer John Legend, have revealed the name of their newborn daughter in a touching Instagram post. The couple recently welcomed their new baby, with John reportedly announcing the birth at a private concert on Friday the 13th, declaring it “a blessed day”. “She’s here!” Chrissy captioned her post, to an outpouring of love and celebration from fans and friends, “Esti Maxine Stephens - the house is bustling and our family could not be happier.” Of their new addition and the experience of becoming a family of five, she added, “Daddy sheds nightly tears of joy seeing Luna and Miles so full of love, and I am learning you still need diapers with a c section!? We are in bliss. Thank you for all the love and well wishes - we feel it all!” John posted the same photo as Chrissy, honouring his wife and his family with the caption, “on Friday, we welcomed Esti Maxine Stephens to our family, and our house is overflowing with love and joy. I’m in awe of Chrissy’s strength and resilience and I’m so thrilled to see how Luna and Miles embrace their baby sister. I’m so, so grateful, but that doesn’t seem like a big enough word.” <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnm4W4mPPVy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnm4W4mPPVy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen)</a> </div> </blockquote> The image shows the couple’s children Luna, six, and Miles, four, cradling their new little sister. The family’s blessing comes three years after the tragic loss of their third child, and their supporters were eager to share their love amidst the good news, with many fellow famous faces among them. “Congratulations!!!” Wrote actress Rosario Dawson to Chrissy, along with a string of red hearts. Reality TV star Kris Jenner chimed in to share that she “can’t wait to meet her!!!” To John, actress Viola Davis wrote, “Aaaaaahhh!!!! Mazaltov!!!! Blessings to you and yours!!! Beautiful.” Chrissy and John’s comment sections were flooded with hearts, well wishes, and congratulations, with many gushing over their baby’s name: Esti Maxine Stephens. Legend’s legal name is John Roger Stephens, explaining Esti’s new surname. Fans of the couple believe Esti’s middle name, Maxine, is a tribute to John’s late grandmother, Marjorie Maxine Stephens. Announcing her pregnancy last August, the model and cookbook author wrote, “the last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again.” The couple’s latest updates assure their supporters that their home and hearts are full, as they settle in to enjoy life with their newest family member, little Esti. Image: Getty Images

Family & Pets

The verdict: Full fat versus low fat milk

The idea of full low milk being healthier for us began circulating in the 1950s. It was shown that saturated fat increased blood cholesterol levels, with certain statistical evidence leading to the assumption it resulted in higher rates of heart disease and obesity. This idea is not totally wrong. Full fat milk does indeed have a high saturated fat content, about 65 percent in fact. <a href="http://www.simoneaustin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Simone Austin</a>, accredited practising dietitian and spokesperson for the <a href="http://daa.asn.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dietitians Association of Australia</a> addresses the claims that saturated fat should be avoided when it comes to weight management. “We are still recommending saturated fat should be kept to a minimum as there is still a link between saturated and plasma cholesterol levels, however full cream milk is only 4% total fat and is therefore not a high fat product, depending on quantity of course.” Health and nutrition coach and whole foods chef, Lee Holmes, believes that low-fat milk is a great option for those trying to lose weight. Even though the fat is skimmed, the milk itself still contains an abundance of calcium and protein, and these are essential to weight loss. “Low-fat milk is better for overall weight control and maintenance as it only contains 0.15% fat as opposed to full-cream milk which contains 3.8% fat” she explains. The New Zealand Ministry of Health recommends enjoying mostly low and reduced fat milk and milk products, as it can reduce the total daily kilojoule intake to aid with weight management. This is generally believed to lead to weight loss and reduced risk of heart disease. However, Simone explains why it is not quite that straight forward. “Fat can give some feeling of satiety. If you are having less milk overall, and it is more filling to have full cream milk, then this might decrease overall volume of food consumed and therefore not be detrimental”. This approach is supported by recent research conducted by <a href="../%20http:/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26746178">Swedish researchers</a>, looking at the dairy consumption of a group of middle aged men. If found that those who ate full fat dairy products were less likely to become obese over a period of 12 years, compare with men who rarely ate high- fat diary. This is because the weight-loss effect of reducing saturated fat depends on what replaces it in the diet, which is usually sugar and carbohydrates. Unfortunately, most of us are susceptible to consciously or unconsciously replacing a larger reduction in calories with something else. So, if you drink low-fat varieties of milk in order to reduce calorie intake, you must ensure you are not making up these calories elsewhere for this approach to be effective. However, in your quest for a slimmer waist line, it is important not to overlook other important health factors. Milk is a primary source of nutrients, and according to both Simone and the <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2032&context=sspapers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABS</a>, most over-60s simply aren’t getting what they need. “In New Zealand the annual per capita consumption of milk has declined by 30% in the last 20 years, and 20% of the New Zealand population has an inadequate intake of calcium”. Simone stresses that simply aiming to meet serves is the priority. “Milk also provides a valuable source of protein and as we age our efficiency at using protein reduces, so we need to have a little more”. Lee Holmes echoes this, stating that ideally, people over 60 years of age should be having two to three glasses of cow’s milk daily to absorb the necessary amounts of calcium. If you don’t want to consume that much milk, are lactose intolerant or prefer to opt for non-cow’s milk (such as almond) you need to make these nutrients up elsewhere. “You may want to consider a quality, natural supplement to ensure you are giving your body all the nutrients it needs." So whether it be low-fat or full-fat, say cheers to milk and manage your weight loss in accordance with other health factors. Image: Getty Images

Food & Wine

Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for Sri Lankan political satire, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Sri Lankan novelist Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. The win couldn’t come at a better time for Sri Lanka, a country once more engaged in <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/06/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-protests-imf/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">political and economic instability</a>, as it suffers through one of the world’s worst economic crises, with soaring inflation, food and fuel shortages, and low supplies of foreign reserves. And of course, the government was overthrown in July, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled following mass protests. Karunatilaka said in his acceptance speech: <blockquote> My hope for Seven Moons is this; that in the not-too-distant future, 10 years, as long as it takes, Sri Lanka […] has understood that these ideas of corruption and race-baiting and cronyism have not worked and will never work. </blockquote> <h2>Political black comedy</h2> Karunatilaka’s novel is extraordinary – and hard to pin down. It is at once a black comedy about the afterlife, a murder mystery whodunit, and a political satire set against the violent backdrop of the late-1980s Sri Lankan civil war. It is also a story of love and redemption. Malinda “Maali” Kabalana, a closeted war photographer, wakes up dead in what seems to be a celestial waiting room. The setting will be familiar to many who’ve spent time in Colombo (as I have – it’s where my husband’s family is from). We open in a busy, bureaucratic office, filled with confusion, noise, a propensity against queuing – and a healthy dose of “gallows” humour. In other words, Maali is in some sort of purgatory. Maali soon discovers he has seven days – seven moons – to solve his own murder. This isn’t easy – he is interrupted by sardonic ghosts (often with grudges, questionable motives, and a tendency towards extreme chattiness), the violent reality of war-torn Colombo, and piecing together his memories of who he was. He also has seven moons to lead his official girlfriend and his secret boyfriend to a cache of photographs, taken over time, which document the horror of the war – and incriminate local and foreign governments. Karunatilaka’s subject matter and plot highlight, question and explore Sri Lanka’s legacy – and its continued, difficult relationship with its civil war, which spanned 1983 to 2009, though the reverberations continue. And his novel’s provocative, intimate, second-person style implicates us – the readers. Karunatilaka has mastered his craft as a novelist. He never once wavers from a second-person perspective that might be unwieldy (perhaps even gimmicky) in a lesser writer’s hands. The novel tells us, “Don’t try and look for the good guys, ‘cause there ain’t none”. It realises a combined responsibility for the tragedy of that 25-year civil war, in which the country’s colonial history is also implicated. British colonialists brought Tamil workers from South India to Sri Lanka, to work as indentured labourers on their coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Their descendants’ fight for an independent Tamil state was a strong component of the civil war. <h2>Diffusing violence with humour</h2> As a novelist and lover of second-person narration and a long-time follower of Karuntailaka’s accomplished work, I couldn’t be more delighted by this Booker win. I first came across Karunatilaka through his debut novel, <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/chinaman-9780099555681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinaman</a>, which was handed to me by my sister-in-law several years ago on a family visit to Colombo. That book taught me about cricket, but it also taught me the sardonic brilliance of Sri Lankan humour. Karunatilaka once again uses humour to great effect in The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – to diffuse confronting moments of violence, to engage his reader, and for pure enjoyment. This novel follows a murder victim through a bloody civil war – and it’s laugh-out-loud funny. It’s also a tighter, more focused book than Chinaman: here is an author in control of his craft and what he wants to say with it. The Booker judges, too, praised the “scope and the skill, the daring, the audacity and hilarity” of the book. Karunatilaka’s winning novel took time to write. Ten years have passed since Chinaman. His skilful use of craft to tell this complicated story is testament to the idea that good books take the time they need: something that all authors know but publishers are not always willing to accept. However, Karunatilaka has been busy in that ten years, not just writing literary fiction, but writing for children – and having a family. The 47-year-old is now married with two kids. Karunatilaka is only the second Sri Lankan novelist to have won the Booker Prize. (The first was Michael Ondaatje in 1992 for The English Patient.) But last year, his countryman Anuk Arudpragasam was also <a href="https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/authors/anuk-arudpragasam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shortlisted</a>, for <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Anuk-Arudpragasam-Passage-North-9781783786961" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Passage North</a>, another accomplished novel set in the aftermath of the civil war. I’m excited by what this means for Sri Lankan authors and the Sri Lankan publishing scene. Here is a country with stories to tell and enormous skill to tell them with: let’s hope this leads to more Sri Lankan novels achieving wide readership, success and deserved acclaim. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/shehan-karunatilaka-wins-booker-prize-for-sri-lankan-political-satire-the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida-192722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: thebookerprizes.com

Books

Michael Bublé's dream to become a full-time dad

Iconic singer Michael Buble has started to hint to fans that he may be quitting music soon to pursue being a full-time father. The singer, 46, has sold over 75 million records worldwide and says he is “not loving” his career as much as he should and wants to spend more time with his wife Luisana Lopilato, 35, and children Noah, Elias, Vida and Cielo, his youngest who was born last month. Speaking on That Gaby Roslin Podcast, he said: “I think i'm not loving it as much, I think i’m getting close to thinking maybe I can just go and bed a dad. "I have this picture in my head, of just me in a field with my kids and Ed Sheeran's kids and we're just hugging each other and picnicking and getting drunk." Bublé is currently preparing to head on another world tour late September. He said he often has to remind himself how lucky he is if he is not "feeling" his work. He added that the idea of becoming a full-time dad was a "fantasy", with few people "brave" enough to make the choice. Bublé said: "I don't know a friend who doesn't have the same thought, I mean we never do it. We never seem to really do it, very few of us are brave enough to say, 'No, I just want to do this’, but I think it's a fantasy." He has previously taken two years off when his eldest son Noah was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2016, before the boy made a full recovery. In the past he has claimed he would have been more successful if he had not started a family, and thinks about what could have been "all the time”. Image: Getty

Family & Pets

The one-of-a-kind Jumbo Hotel is back in full flight!

Easily mistaken for a regular aircraft, the Jumbo Stay Hotel plane is a jet that has been refurbished and turned into a hotel! Ordinarily it’s not something many people know about unless you have flown in or out of Sweden’s Arlanda Airport, which is home to the unique digs. While the Jumbo Stay Hotel plane has been around for many years (and no, it doesn't fly anymore), a video revealing what it looks like on the inside has now gone viral on TikTok. <blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@thepointsguy/video/7116918197525187883" data-video-id="7116918197525187883"> <section><a title="@thepointsguy" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thepointsguy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@thepointsguy</a> Would you spend a night at the Jumbo Stay Hotel? <a title="aviation" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/aviation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#aviation</a> <a title="airport" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/airport" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#airport</a> <a title="hotel" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/hotel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#hotel</a> <a title="♬ WHERE I WANNA BE - Archie Thompson" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/WHERE-I-WANNA-BE-6768743855144568833" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ WHERE I WANNA BE - Archie Thompson</a></section> </blockquote> “This is the one plane you will never have any troubles sleeping on,” The Points Guy said in a clip of the plane. The Boeing 747 is parked just outside the Stockholm airport and was initially built for Singapore Airlines back in 1976. Back in 2006, more than $US3 million was spent on transforming the jet into a hotel allowing people to live out their dream and sleep in the cockpit, with almost every part of the aircraft turned into accommodation. “For starters, you can walk right out onto the wings of the aircraft with tables and chairs set up to enjoy a drink or a snack,” a team member of the US travel blog continued. “You can eat breakfast in the nose of the aircraft and enjoy a buffet in the retro dining space while reading all about the history of the 747.” He said upstairs you will find one of the most unique aspects of the accommodation. “The cockpit suite complete with a queen-size bed and the 747’s original flight controls. “While the cockpit seats have been removed to maximise sleeping space, you can still sit on the edge of the mattress and live out your pilot fantasy like we did.” The Jumbo Stay Hotel was out of action for a while due to the pandemic, but it’s now up and running again with prices starting from around $60 per night – up to $255 per night for the cockpit ensuite. Image: TikTok

Real Estate

See the strawberry moon that shone around the world

Stargazers across the world had plenty to see this week, as the strawberry supermoon lit up the sky. The moon appeared slightly larger than usual with an orange tint, reaching its peak size on Wednesday night for Australia and New Zealand. Though called a strawberry moon, the name has nothing to do with colour, instead coming from the Native American Algonquin nations and meaning it is the last full moon in spring or first of summer in the northern hemisphere, per <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/strawberry-supermoon-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a>. According to <a href="https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-june" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Old Farmer’s Almanac</a>, it was named the strawberry moon to mark the ripening of strawberries that would be ready to gather in June. Since it is a supermoon, defined as a full moon within 10 percent of the closest distance it can be to Earth, the moon appeared full in the days prior and will for a few more after, according to <a href="https://www.space.com/strawberry-supermoon-full-moon-2022-what-to-expect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Space.com</a>. Here, we've compiled a collection of the most stunning shots of the supermoon from all corners of the world for your viewing pleasure. Image: Gary Hershorn (Getty Images)

International Travel

Damning full-page ad slams Ardern’s border policy

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/jacinda-ardern-popularity-plunges-as-kiwis-struggle-to-return-home/e350bbd6-907c-4bd9-be82-63037dc52269" target="_blank" rel="noopener">openly criticised</a> in a full-page ad regarding the country’s strict border policy, after news emerged of a pregnant New Zealand journalist fighting to return home to give birth.The advertisement, taken out by prominent businessman Michael Horton in one of New Zealand’s most widely-read magazines, claimed that New Zealand was one of the few countries not allowing its citizens to return home.Under the headline, “The following countries do not ban their own citizens from returning to their home country”, the ad listed dozens of countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This ad, sponsored by Michael Horton, appears in the January 29 <a href="https://twitter.com/nzlistener?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzlistener</a>. Thank you Michael. <a href="https://twitter.com/nzgovt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzgovt</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/govtnz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@govtnz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jacindaardern?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jacindaardern</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZGTW2iFHUr">pic.twitter.com/ZGTW2iFHUr</a>— Graeme Jennings (@Graeme_rj) <a href="https://twitter.com/Graeme_rj/status/1484343384357494786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2022</a></blockquote>Above it, another headline read, “The following countries effectively ban their own citizens from returning to their home country”, with New Zealand as the only country listed.The ad comes as Charlotte Bell, a 35-year-old journalist who was working in Qatar for Al Jazeera until recently, remains stranded in Afghanistan, despite being triple-vaccinated and ready to isolate upon her return to her home country.Kiwis looking to return home are required to secure a place in government-run quarantine, through a system called Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ).According to the MIQ website, travellers are advised to book their place in MIQ - with spots gradually released in the months prior to flight arrivals - before booking their flights.“In periods of high demand, some people will miss out on securing an MIQ voucher, regardless of the system that is used,” the website reads.As a result of the high demand for the 4500 available spots, thousands of New Zealanders have been unable to return home in time to be with dying family members or be present for milestone moments.The system, which used a weekly lottery system to allocate vouchers until early January, has been fully booked out for months in advance which has also meant that impromptu travel or returning for emergencies - such as in Ms Bell’s case - remains virtually impossible. Ms Bell published an open letter in <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-charlotte-bellis-an-open-letter-on-miq/U4WQGYTJHUP36AGVOBN3F6PJSE/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New Zealand Herald</a> over the weekend detailing how she was forced to seek refuge in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul, after she was no longer able to work in Qatar because it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried there.<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF;border: 0;border-radius: 3px;margin: 1px;max-width: 540px;min-width: 326px;padding: 0;width: calc(100% - 2px)" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZSRlVysIQF/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"><div style="padding: 16px"><div style="flex-direction: row;align-items: center"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 40px;margin-right: 14px;width: 40px"> </div><div style="flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 100px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0"> </div><div style="height: 50px;margin: 0 auto 12px;width: 50px"> </div><div style="padding-top: 8px"><div style="color: #3897f0;font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;font-style: normal;font-weight: 550;line-height: 18px">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0"> </div><div style="flex-direction: row;margin-bottom: 14px;align-items: center"><div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px;flex-grow: 0;margin-right: 14px;margin-left: 2px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 20px;width: 20px"> </div><div style="width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 2px solid transparent;border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom: 2px solid transparent"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: auto"><div style="width: 0px;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right: 8px solid transparent"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;flex-grow: 0;height: 12px;width: 16px"> </div><div style="width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left: 8px solid transparent"> </div></div></div><div style="flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center;margin-bottom: 24px"><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 224px"> </div><div style="background-color: #f4f4f4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 144px"> </div></div><a style="color: #c9c8cd;font-family: Arial,sans-serif;font-size: 14px;font-style: normal;font-weight: normal;line-height: 17px;text-decoration: none" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZSRlVysIQF/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Charlotte Bellis (@charlottebellis)</a></div></blockquote>“This is ridiculous. It is my legal right to go to New Zealand, where I have healthcare, where I have family. All my support is there,” she <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/from-kabul-pregnant-reporter-fights-nz-govt-to-come-home/94ed99be-8bbf-4ed0-a0f3-10a77e52ff84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.Ms Bell first attempted to secure residency in Belgium - where her partner is from - but said the length of the process meant she would have been left in the country with an expired visa.With the option to either hop from country to country on tourist visas or attempt to secure a more long-term stay while she fought to return home, Ms Bell and her partner returned to Afghanistan because they had a visa, felt welcome, and could continue their battle there.Critics like Mr Horton have claimed the lottery system is a needlessly punishing process as more than 90 percent of the country’s population have been fully vaccinated and boosters continue to be administered.Meanwhile, Ms Ardern’s approval ratings have taken a hit, with a recent 1 News Kantor poll indicating that her current approval rate sits at just 35 percent, the lowest it’s been since she became Prime Minister in 2017.Image: @charlottebellis (Instagram)

Travel Trouble

What made Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner so different from other sitcom dads

Bob Saget, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/arts/television/bob-saget-dead.html">who died on Jan. 9, 2022</a>, is probably best remembered for his role as Danny Tanner on the popular sitcom “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092359/">Full House</a>,” which aired from 1987 to 1995. I think fans of the show have such fond memories of this character because Danny exemplified what it meant to “be there” as a parent. A single dad whose wife had passed away, he was eager to lend an ear to daughters D.J., Stephanie and Michelle, offering them support and reassurance through the twists and turns of childhood and adolescence. Why heap so much praise on a sitcom dad? It’s easy to disregard TV as mere mindless entertainment. But entertainment media can both reflect and reshape culture – including how fathers interact with their children. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1990-25264-001">They can influence how viewers think about fathers</a>, regardless of the accuracy of those portrayals. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GzIcrG8AAAAJ&hl=en">As someone who studies stereotypes of fathers</a>, I view Danny as an avatar of the changing expectations of fatherhood that began in the late 1970s. <h2>Danny Tanner and ‘being there’</h2> Danny Tanner was a 30-something widower when Full House premiered. That wasn’t a common situation for his demographic – <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/1/pop/p20-365.pdf">less than 1% in his bracket shared it</a> – and it allowed viewers to watch Danny parent his three daughters with the help of his brother-in-law and his best friend. Nonetheless, in nearly every episode, viewers saw Danny “being there” for his family. “Being there” is a concept that describes <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_gEDfhZp5s0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=promises+i+can+keep&ots=8ac2OWdjLK&sig=mnXZdjICi5BLnhGI-Np8UrcfGlc#v=onepage&q=promises%20i%20can%20keep&f=false">being physically and emotionally involved with your children</a>. This term took <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12376">on particular significance for fathers in the late 20th century</a>. “Being there” allowed dads to be seen as more than just financial providers and recognized that fathers interact with their children in varied and important ways. In the earlier part of the century, fathers were assumed to be breadwinners and not much else, a stereotype reflected in the era’s popular media. For example, sitcom fathers on “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046600/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Father Knows Best</a>,” which aired from 1954 to 1960, and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051267/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3">The Donna Reed Show</a>,” which ended its run in 1966, bore little responsibility for actual child care beyond a pat on the head and some occasional discipline. Beginning in the 1970s, psychologist Michael Lamb encouraged a change in how we thought about fathers and broadened the definition of what he called “<a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/271493">father involvement</a>.” Lamb proposed three dimensions of father involvement: engagement, availability and responsibility. The last of these, responsibility – which involved financial support and parental guidance – could be spotted in some form in the preceding sitcoms. But engagement and availability, which tend to involve day-to-day emotional support, were almost entirely foreign. Danny Tanner’s approach to fatherhood, by contrast, demonstrated perhaps the fullest realization of these changing expectations. One episode, “Back to School Blues,” featured oldest daughter D.J. starting junior high. Spoiler alert: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnIQu35CCDc">It doesn’t go well</a>. She’s teased by older girls, wears the same outfit as one of the teachers, and spends lunch alone. (I was a year younger than D.J., and this episode made me nervous about my own entry into junior high.) When Danny doesn’t approve of D.J.‘s attempts to look older to fit in and make friends, she storms off to her room saying she wants to be left alone. Danny says he can’t do that, and then listens as she explains everything that went wrong at school. In this short scene, he reinforced family rules and provided emotional support, while showing that he would “be there” for D.J. whenever she needed. <h2>A different kind of dad</h2> Though Danny represented a departure from the typical sitcom father, he didn’t exactly spearhead a new trend. Immature and irresponsible fathers – the kind seen in popular shows like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">The Simpsons</a>,” “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101120/">Home Improvement</a>” and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092400/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Married … With Children</a>” – were more commonplace. To this day, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-sitcom-dads-still-so-inept-139737">the stereotype of the bumbling dad persists on TV</a>. <iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wKf7i3DZi-c?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Danny comforts D.J. after she admits she isn’t happy with her body. <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2015-25403-001">In my research</a>, I found that single sitcom dads with full child care responsibilities were shown interacting with their children more often than married sitcom dads. Compared to their married counterparts on the tube, they were more likely to offer kindness, care, love, support and guidance. Along with Danny, these characters included Mr. Drummond on “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077003/">Diff’rent Strokes</a>,” Tony Micelli in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086827/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">Who’s the Boss?</a>” and Maxwell Sheffield on “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106080/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0">The Nanny</a>.” On the other hand, married sitcom father-child interactions were more likely to involve criticism and sarcastic humor. In fact, married sitcom fathers often made jokes at their children’s expense. Why does this discrepancy exist? <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00473.x?casa_token=L_W94GXie6kAAAAA:hB5-n-UFrNCGS2C2vVjT1oBL8bdvSocrrzk99GlyY_oy_kOP6jzVByhxeyrDmKaLXMUmLOgMJ26YnVpC">My research has found</a> that in real life, married fathers are thought to be loving and kind but with room for improvement as parents. They’re seen as the right-hand man to mothers, who have taken the lead in parenting. Because of this, people expect more bumbling and less skill. Single dads, however, tend to be viewed as selfless and dedicated, because the assumption is that they’ve put their children above all else. Danny Tanner isn’t the novelty today that he was in the early 1990s. But if his character is instructive in any way, it’s that dads shouldn’t have to lose their wives to be the best parent they can be. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jessica-troilo-752757">Jessica Troilo</a>, Associate Professor of Child Development and Family Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/west-virginia-university-1375">West Virginia University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-made-bob-sagets-danny-tanner-so-different-from-other-sitcom-dads-174754">original article</a>. Image: <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/promotional-portrait-of-the-cast-of-the-television-series-news-photo/3126220?adppopup=true" class="source">Lorimar Television/Fotos International via Getty Images</a>

Queen's full Platinum Jubilee plans finally revealed

Image: Getty Marking 70 years of tireless service to her nation, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at 95 years of age, will soon become the first British Monarch to celebrate this amazing milestone. Throughout the year the Queen and members of the Royal Family are set to travel around the country, undertaking a variety of engagements to mark this special occasion. Now Buckingham Palace has finally released the full programme ahead of those celebrations. It includes parades, concerts and – if you're lucky enough to live in the United Kingdom – a Bank Holiday. While it's not yet certain which events Her Majesty will actually be able to attend, following the orders given by doctors to rest last year, celebrations have already kicked off – with the Platinum Pudding Competition on January 10! Run by Fortnum & Mason, it seeks to find a dish that can be dedicated to the Queen’s historic milestone. Recipes will be judged by an expert Panel, including food writer and chef Dame Mary Berry. The Queen's Green Canopy initiative will continue to plant new trees to present to her at the end of the year. From May 12th to 15th, more than 500 horses and 1,000 performers are expected to take part in a show in the grounds of Windsor Castle. This will take the audience through royal history – from Elizabeth I to the present day. The rest of the celebrations are expected to take place later this year, with June the 2nd marking the first of the special four-day UK Bank holiday when the Birthday Parade – also known as Trooping the Colour – takes place in Horse Guards Parade. On the same day, the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK overseas territories will come together to light a beacon at the same time as the principal beacon at Buckingham Palace. On June 3rd, a service of Thanksgiving for the Queen's reign will be held at St Paul's Cathedral, ahead of the star-studded Platinum Party at the Palace on Saturday, June 4th. The party is expected to bring together some of the world's biggest names in entertainment. On June 5th, street parties are being planned across the UK, with neighbours expected to join together for food and fun to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Pageant master Adrian Evans has also revealed there will be a special tribute to the Queen and her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in April 2021, aged 99. Throughout the celebrations, some of the Queen's estates - including Sandringham and Balmoral - will be open for residents and visitors to enjoy. Performers, dancers, musicians, military personnel, key workers and volunteers will tell the story of the Queen's reign in the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. This will include a River Of Hope - made up of 200 silk flags - which will make its way along the Mall. Schoolchildren across the country have been invited to create a picture of their hopes for the planet over the next 70 years, and some of their designs will be put on to the flags. In July, three displays marking the Queen's accession to the throne, the Coronation and Jubilees will be put on at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Beauty & Style

"Over the moon": UberEats makes first delivery into space

UberEats has teamed up with a Japanese billionaire to send canned food onboard the International Space Station. The delivery was made by Japanese entrepreneur Yusaka Maezawa on December 11th, arriving at the ISS 8 hours and 34 minutes after Maeawa's departure from Earth. The dishes include boiled mackerel in miso, beef bowl cooked in sweet sauce, simmered chicken with bamboo shoots and braised pork. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.uber.com/newsroom/uber-eats-in-space/" target="_blank">statement</a>, "One small handoff for Yusaku Maezawa, one giant delivery for Uber Eats!" "We're over the moon to have helped make our first successful delivery to space. Our goal is to help people go anywhere and get anything, so we're proud to serve the astronauts at the International Space Station." "Yusaku Maezawa gets a thumbs up on this delivery, even though it took a bit longer than the usual 30 minutes to arrive." Maezawa and his assistant will spend 12 days onboard the ISS before returning home. After receiving a flood of criticism for the deciding to pay a fortune for the trip to space, Maezawa defended his decision saying it was an "amazing experience". "Once you are in space, you realise how much it is worth it by having this amazing experience," he told the AP in the first TV interview since he arrived at the station. "And I believe that this amazing experience will lead to something else." Maezawa and his assistant are the first self-paying tourists to visit the space station since 2009. When asked about reports that claimed he had spent over $80 million for the 12-day mission, Maezawa didn't disclose the contract sum but admitted he paid "pretty much" the rumoured amount. When responding to criticism from those who claims his money would be better spent helping people on Earth rather than a space mission, Maezawa simply claimed that "those who criticise are perhaps those who have never been to space." Image credits: UberEats

International Travel

Downton Abbey: A New Era full teaser FINALLY released

Only a week ago, it was announced that the new teaser trailer for Downton Abbey: A New Era would only be shown in cinemas ahead of showings of Belfast. Fortunately, those of us that haven’t been to the cinema can now enjoy it from home, with the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/full-teaser-trailer-online-for-downton-abbey-a-new-era/" target="_blank">release</a> of the footage online. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2ZLjAORkXS0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> With the release of the new trailer, more of the film’s plot has been revealed. Specifically, Dame Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley reveals that she had a casual fling in the past that has resulted in her inheriting a French Villa. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845740/downton1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/65764e4a03a342509dd9174c34fdafd7" /> Image: @downtonabbey_official (Instagram) Plus, the family are gearing up to welcome a royal visitor to the estate. The film also promises to include the wedding of assistant cook Daisy Mason to footman Andrew Parker. <img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845741/downton2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/172d00698e014b368b3a3a4e57822057" /> Image: Universal Pictures UK / YouTube The list of returning faces includes: Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham), Laura Carmichael (Lady Grantham), Jim Carter (Charles Carson), Brendan Coyle (Mr Bates), Michelle Dockery (Lady Crawley) and Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates). <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845742/downton3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/9f2f1567c0724ca79f57a3111e92b8da" /> Image: @downtonabbey_official (Instagram) Joining them are newcomers Hugh Dancy (Hannibal), Laura Haddock (Guardians of the Galaxy), Nathalie Baye (Catch Me If You Can), and Dominic West (The Wire). Directed by Simon Curtis and scripted by Julian Fellows, Downton Abbey: A New Era is due to arrive in cinemas on March 18, 2022. Image: @downtonabbey_official (Instagram)

Movies

Australia is putting a rover on the Moon in 2024 to search for water

Last month the Australian Space Agency <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/13/australia-to-build-20kg-rover-to-head-to-moon-in-joint-mission-with-nasa">announced</a> plans to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon by as early as 2026, under a deal with NASA. The rover will collect lunar soil containing oxygen, which could eventually be used to support human life in space. Although the <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/australias-first-mission-moon">deal with NASA</a> made headlines, a separate mission conducted by private companies in Australia and Canada, in conjunction with the University of Technology Sydney, may see Australian technology hunting water on the Moon as soon as mid-2024. If all goes according to plan, it will be the first rover with Australian-made components to make it to the Moon. <h2>Roving in search of water</h2> The ten-kilogram rover, measuring 60x60x50cm, will be launched on board the Hakuto lander made by <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/">ispace</a>, a lunar robotic exploration company based in Japan. The rover itself, also built by ispace, will have an integrated robotic arm created by the private companies <a href="https://stardust-technologies.com/">Stardust Technologies</a> (based in Canada) and Australia’s <a href="https://www.explorespace.com.au/">EXPLOR Space Technology</a> (of which I am one of the founders). Using cameras and sensors, the arm will collect high-resolution visual and haptic data to be sent back to the mission control centre at the University of Technology Sydney. It will also collect information on the physical and chemical composition of lunar dust, soil and rocks — specifically with a goal of finding water. We know water is present within the Moon’s soil, but we have yet to find a way to extract it for practical use. The big push now is to identify regions on the Moon where water sources are more abundant, and which can deliver more usable water for human consumption, sample processing, mining operations and food growth. This would also set the foundation for the establishment of a manned Moon base, which could serve as a transit station for further space exploration (including on Mars). <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> The ispace moon lander was displayed in Washington DC. Courtesy of Australian Embassy staff <h2>Moon-grade materials</h2> Once the Hakuto lander takes off, the first challenge will be to ensure it lands successfully with the rover intact. The rover will have to survive an extreme environment on the lunar surface. As the moon rotates relative to the Sun, it experiences day and night cycles, just like Earth. But one day on the Moon lasts 29.5 Earth days. And surface temperatures shift dramatically during this time, reaching up to 127℃ during the day and falling as low as -173℃ at night. The rover and robotic arm will also need to withstand the effects of space radiation, vibrations during launch, shock from the launch and landing, and exposure to dust and water. At the same time, the arm must be light enough to conduct advanced manoeuvres, such as grabbing and collecting moon rocks. Advanced space-grade aluminium developed in Australia will help protect it from damage. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /> The TechLab antenna chamber at the The University of Technology Sydney is being used to test communication signals which will be critical to this mission. The team behind the mission is currently in the process of testing different designs of the robotic arm, and figuring out the best way to integrate it with the rover. It will be tested together with the rover at a new lunar test bed, at the EXPLOR Space Technologies facility in New South Wales. Like the one used by NASA, this test bed can mimic the physical and chemical conditions on the Moon. It will be critical to determining whether the rover can stay mobile and continue to function under different environmental stressors. <h2>Step into your astronaut boots</h2> The rover will also send back data that allows people on Earth to experience the Moon with virtual reality (VR) goggles and a sensor glove. Haptic data collected back by the robotic arm will essentially let us “feel” anything the arm touches on the lunar surface. We plan to make the experience available as a free app — and hope it inspires future generations of space explorers. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joshua-chou-405757">Joshua Chou</a>, Senior lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-putting-a-rover-on-the-moon-in-2024-to-search-for-water-170097">original article</a>. Image: iSpace

International Travel

Fat Bear Week is here and it’s full of chunky Ursidae

<div class="copy"> On the northern Alaskan Peninsula, thousands of brown bears have busily spent the last few weeks gorging themselves on salmon to fatten up and survive the winter. Unbeknown to them, the entire world is watching with a burning question – who will be crowned the Fat Bear Week Champion 2021? Over the next seven days, the chubbiest bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve will be pitted against each other in a series of knockout rounds. The public can <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://explore.org/fat-bear-week" target="_blank">vote online</a>, using any criteria they see fit – such as weight, age, cuteness, or other circumstances – and then next week, a single bear will remain standing. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="Fat Bear Week Contenders 2021" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u_kBdhuCVIE?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://cosmosmagazine.com" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> “From its humble beginnings of Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014 to over 640,000 votes cast last year in 2020, celebrating fat bears and Katmai’s healthy ecosystem has since become a tradition,” the US National Parks Service (NPS) <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm" target="_blank">wrote</a> on its website. The bears are all winners because a fat bear is a healthy bear – fat equals survival. <h2>The annual Fat Bear Week competition</h2> Each year, bears enter a winter den where they remain for the entirety of the long, cold months, unable to eat or drink until they emerge in spring. Over this time, they burn up to a third of their body weight as they draw on their fat reserves just to survive. This makes the six months they spend out in the world crucial – they need to find and eat a year’s worth of food. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"> <div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 500px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 500px; height: 734px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1441568250127470592&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmagazine.com%2Fnature%2Ffat-bear-week-is-here-and-its-full-of-chunky-ursidae%2F&sessionId=1bd0186a6f7f9719aa8434fd2276c9725d98d3a3&theme=light&widgetsVersion=fcb1942%3A1632982954711&width=500px" data-tweet-id="1441568250127470592"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h2>Tasty Salmon</h2> Cue the salmon. These fish are one of the most important components of the Pacific ecosystem. After years at sea, they return to their home rivers in autumn months to spawn. It is an epic journey – and the final leg of their lives. From the moment they hit freshwater, their bodies begin to change and decay, but thousands still struggle upstream to the place they were born, in an attempt to reproduce. Bears flock to these rivers to gorge themselves on the protein-rich salmon. In times of plenty, bears will strip away the most nutritious parts of the body, such as the brain, skin and eggs, and cast the rest aside for scavengers. The salmon also end up fertilising the temperate rainforest adjacent to rivers and streams, with benefits for plants, fungi, algae and insects – so to appreciate the gloriously chunky bears is to also have an appreciation of the greater ecosystem. Katmai is home to one of the largest and healthiest runs of sockeye salmon in the world, with the fish pouring up the rivers from late June to September. The bears rely on the annual return of these fish from their ocean migration. They can chow down dozens of salmons and tens of thousands of calories per day, ready to get them through the lean winter. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"> <div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 500px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" class="" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 500px; height: 727px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="Twitter Tweet" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3NwYWNlX2NhcmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib2ZmIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1178765565273559041&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fcosmosmagazine.com%2Fnature%2Ffat-bear-week-is-here-and-its-full-of-chunky-ursidae%2F&sessionId=1bd0186a6f7f9719aa8434fd2276c9725d98d3a3&theme=light&widgetsVersion=fcb1942%3A1632982954711&width=500px" data-tweet-id="1178765565273559041"></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> This year, 12 finalists have been selected out of the thousands of bears that call the park home. You can check out <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week-2021.htm" target="_blank">photos of the finalists</a> on the NPS website. Find more info about how and when to vote <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://explore.org/fat-bear-week" target="_blank">here</a>. <h2>Fat Bear Junior</h2> This year, NPS also announced a new segment of the competition: Fat Bear Junior. It’s even more adorable than it sounds. Pictures of the tubby cubbies can be found <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-junior-2021.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-asset"> <div class="embed-wrapper"> <div class="inner"><iframe title="Fat Bear Jr! Everything You Need To Know About These Chubby Cubbies!" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A9JPoz_jesM?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://cosmosmagazine.com" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div> </div> </div> </div> You can also keep up with the week’s action on Katmai’s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm" target="_blank">website</a>, as well as its <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/KatmaiNPS" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.facebook.com/KatmaiNPP/?ref=page_internal" target="_blank">Facebook</a> pages. You can also livestream the bears into your own home through the park’s <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls" target="_blank">bear cams</a>. All of this is leading up to the fateful day, Tuesday 5 October, when one bear will reign supreme. As NPS writes: “All bears are winners but only one true champion will emerge.”  <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=167300&title=Fat+Bear+Week+is+here+and+it%26%238217%3Bs+full+of+chunky+Ursidae" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> </div> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/animals/fat-bear-week-is-here-and-its-full-of-chunky-ursidae/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/lauren-fuge">Lauren Fuge</a>. Lauren Fuge is a science journalist at Cosmos. She holds a BSc in physics from the University of Adelaide and a BA in English and creative writing from Flinders University. Image: 747 NPS Photo/N. Boak </div>

Family & Pets

I Am Woman is Helen Reddy’s story

When Helen Reddy Reddy came out and sang I Am Woman nearly 50 years ago, the world listened. Like most songs, there was an important story behind it and the film, I Am Woman tells that story in fascinating detail. It does seem strange that no-one had told Helen Reddy’s story on the big screen before. Sure, Reddy did write a book about her life titled, The Woman I Am, but to date, we haven’t had a film about this iconic Australian singer-songwriter and Grammy-award winning artist. Not only is Reddy one of the most successful performing artists ever to emerge from Australia, she’s also the person who co-wrote and sang the song that went on to become the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s – I Am Woman. The film I am Woman tells the full story Released earlier in 2020, the film about Reddy’s life is now streaming on <a href="https://www.stan.com.au/">Stan. </a> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6WLMz8Qeg4A" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> Made by the producers of The Sapphires, I Am Woman was directed by Unjoo Moon and shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Dion Beebe. Australian actor, Tilda Cobham-Hervey stars as Reddy and American actor, Evan Peters, stars as Reddy’s husband, Jeff Wald. It’s an inspiring story because Reddy, who arrived in New York in 1966 with $230 in her pocket and her three-year-old daughter on her arm, went on to have incredible success as a singer in both the American market and then, worldwide. It wasn’t long before she ran out of money but five years later, she was one of the biggest superstars of her time. She became an icon of the 1970s feminist movement by co-writing a song which galvanised a generation of women to fight for change. Arrived in New York with $230 in her pocket Helen Reddy arrived in New York in 1966 with $230 in her pocket and her three-year-old daughter, Tracy, on her arm. Reddy traveled to America because she’d been told she’d won a recording contract, but when she goes to see the record company about it, she’s met with blatant sexism and a dismissal of her work as a female artist. Without a visa, Reddy decides to stay in New York anyway and pursue a singing career, struggling to make ends meet and provide for her daughter. She befriends fellow Australian and legendary rock journalist, Lillian Roxon and later, it’s Roxon who inspires her to write and sing the iconic song, I Am Woman. Roxon holds a party for her and it’s there Reddy meets Jeff Wald, a young aspiring talent manager who later becomes her agent and husband. Reddy’s story unfolds as she marries Wald and they move to LA so he can help her get the breaks she needs. But it’s not easy and Reddy has to persuade him to keep pushing her. In the end, Wald helps her achieve her goals, but it’s not enough to save their marriage because he becomes addicted to cocaine and this gradually turns their relationship toxic. I am Woman becomes an anthem Reddy writes her iconic song, I Am Woman, during this time when she’s trying so hard to be heard as a musical artist in America. At exactly the same time, the Women’s Liberation Movement was at its peak. <img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/nothing.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/a046199a0c1e4783add573ce4273060e" />Reddy has said She was looking for songs that reflected a positive self-image that she felt she had gained from her participation in the women's liberation movement. She’s been reported as saying she was looking for the right song and she couldn’t find it, so she knew she had to write it herself. She worked on the song with another song writer, Ray Burton, and together they came up with I am Woman. It became the perfect unofficial anthem and was a smash hit at the same time. Of course, the song upset some of the men who said it was “angry” or even “man-hating.” Reddy sang many popular songs after this one but she didn’t write many more, which would seem to be a pity. The film is largely and Australian production The film, I Am Woman, is a Goalpost Pictures production in association with Deep Blue Pacific. It had funding from Screen Australia, in association with WestEnd Films, Screen NSW, Adelaide Film Festival and South Australian Film Corporation. The film premiered in Sydney about a year and a half ago, with the director, Unjoo Moon, and the Australian actor, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who played Reddy in the film. At the premiere, Unjoo Moon said she was thrilled to be there because: “It’s deeply meaningful to me that the release of Helen Reddy’s inspirational story, I Am Woman, will kick off in Australia. Not only did Helen’s story begin in Australia but so did our journey of making this movie.” Moon continued, saying her inspiration for the film came from her early years: “I remember so clearly, when I was a young girl growing up on the north shore here in Sydney. I wasn’t old enough to have been at a Helen Reddy concert but I remember what would happen when her music came on the radio. I’d be sitting in the back seat of the station wagon and the windows would get rolled down and everyone’s hair would come out – and I knew she just had this kind of impact on my mother and her friends,” said Moon. This film still has so much relevance today Some reviewers have said this film about Reddy’s life is timely for our current situation because it gives us historical background to issues which are still relevant to feminist discussions today. While it appeals to a specific audience – those women who grew up with Reddy’s songs as background to their lives and their children – it’s still interesting for younger women who may not know about these events. For the women and their children who lived through the 1970s, watching Reddy sing her songs on the big screen would be a deeply personal and rewarding experience. For those who are younger and don’t know Reddy’s songs as well, it’s probably enough to learn about how these songs gave women inspiration for their feminist cause – and how Reddy will always hold a special place in their hearts for the role she played as a strong and successful woman. Helen Reddy passed away in September 2020 Helen Reddy was able to see the film, I Am Woman in 2020 but sadly, she passed away on September 29, 2020. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother,” her daughter Traci and son Jordan posted on Facebook. “She was a wonderful mother, grandmother and a truly formidable woman. You can watch I Am Woman now on <a href="mailto:https://www.stan.com.au/">Stan.</a>

Movies

Spooky facts about the moon

There’s a graveyard on the moon Most of the 181,437 kilograms of garbage on the moon is space junk and ephemera crash-landed or left behind by the 12 astronauts who have visited since 1969: abandoned satellites, spent rockets, cameras, backpacks, and golf balls. But here’s one of the more morbid moon facts: Among the detritus on the moon are the ashes of Eugene Shoemaker, one of the founders of the field of planetary science, sent skyward by NASA in a polycarbonate capsule. “Lunatics” can blame the moon One of the moon facts from the Middle Ages is that scientists and philosophers believed that a full moon caused seizures and influenced episodes of fever and rheumatism. Because of the connection between the moon and unusual behaviour, the afflicted were called lunatics, or, literally, “moon sick.” The moon is disappearing Each year, the moon’s orbit moves about four centimetres away from the Earth, meaning that in a mere 500 million years, the moon will be 23,496 kilometres farther away than it is right now. There are fresh footprints on the moon’s surface Man hasn’t set foot on the moon in more than four decades, and yet, fresh prints remain. Is this evidence of an alien life form? Is Bigfoot taking up extra-planetary residence? Nah, they’re just leftover astronaut footprints. Because there’s no wind or water on the moon, tracks can last millions of years. A full moon might keep you awake In a small study from the University of Basel in Switzerland, subjects monitored closest to a full moon experienced less deep sleep, produced less melatonin, and took five minutes longer to fall asleep that those monitored during other times of the month. Sleep researcher Marie Dumont, who wasn’t involved in the study, suggests that the full moon could indirectly affect the internal body clock by increasing volunteers’ exposure to light in the evening. The truth about the blood moon As many people witnessed in late September 2015, the moon really can turn an eerie shade of red under the right conditions. But despite werewolf warnings and apocalypse alerts, scientists define the so-called “blood” moon as a purely astronomical event when the earth casts a rust-coloured shadow on the moon’s surface. Shadows are darker on the moon than on Earth Astronauts on the moon immediately noticed that their shadows were much darker there than on Earth. The atmosphere that scatters light to create shadows on Earth is absent on the moon. The sun and the Earth itself provide a little bit of light, enough for shadows to still appear, but the shadows are much harder to see. The moon experiences earthquakes (or moonquakes) Just like the Earth, the moon has a crust that shifts and changes. Moonquakes can occur when the lunar crust warms and expands, or they can be triggered by meteorite impacts. While moonquakes don’t reach the same level of intensity as earthquakes, they can last much longer, because the moon has no water to combat seismic vibrations. The moon has a time zone all its own It’s called “Lunar Standard Time,” but it doesn’t correspond simply with a time on Earth. Time is quite different on the moon than on Earth; a year on the moon is divided into twelve “days,” each about as long as an Earth month. Each “day” is named after a different astronaut who has walked on the moon. The “days” are divided into 30 “cycles,” which are then divided into hours, minutes, and seconds. Oh, and the calendar started the moment Neil Armstrong walked on the moon: Year 1, day 1, cycle 1 began at July 21st, 1969 at 02:56:15 Universal Time. The moon experiences a huge range of temperatures You probably think of Earth as located in the habitable, moderate zone of our solar system. Planets closer to the sun are far hotter, while the planets farther away experience frigid temperatures. But the moon experiences some pretty intense temperatures, on both ends of the spectrum, considering how close it is to our life-friendly planet. During the day, temperatures can be as high as 93.33 degrees Celsius. By the moon’s poles, though, the temperature stays around minus 204 degrees Celsius. This disparity is thanks to the moon’s lack of an atmosphere. Written by Beth Dreher. This article first appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/culture/spooky-facts-about-the-moon">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.co.nz/subscribe">here’s our best subscription offer</a>.

Mind

Water on the Moon: research unveils its type and abundance

The Moon was for a long time considered to be bone dry, with analyses of returned lunar samples from the Apollo missions showing only trace amounts of water. These traces were in fact believed to be due to contamination on Earth. But over the past two decades, re-analyses of lunar samples, observations by spacecraft missions, and theoretical modelling <a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-deep-in-search-of-water-on-the-moon-26775">have proved</a> this initial assessment to be wrong. “Water” has since been detected <a href="https://www.space.com/40481-moon-meteorite-mineral-hidden-lunar-water.html#:%7E:text=A%20mineral%20that%20requires%20the,moon%2C%20study%20team%20members%20said.">inside the minerals</a> in lunar rocks. Water ice has also been discovered to be mixed in with <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/8907">lunar dust grains</a> in cold, permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles. But scientists haven’t been sure how much of this water is present as “molecular water” – made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (H2O). Now two new studies published in Nature Astronomy <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-01222-x">provide an answer</a>, while also giving an idea of how and where <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1198-9">to extract it</a>. Water and more water The term water isn’t just used for molecular water, but also also for detections of hydrogen (H) and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/hydroxyl-group">hydroxyl</a> (OH). Although H and OH could be combined by astronauts to form molecular water at the lunar surface, it is important to know in what form these compounds are present initially. That’s because this will have an impact on their stability and location under lunar surface conditions, and the effort required to extract them. Molecular water, if present as water ice, would be easier to extract than hydroxyl locked in rocks. The presence of water on the Moon is scientifically interesting; its distribution and form can help address some profound questions. For example, how did water and other volatile substances arrive at the inner Solar System in the first place? Was it produced there or <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11684#:%7E:text=We%20determine%20that%20a%20combination,the%20water%20in%20the%20Moon.">brought there by asteroids or meteorites</a>? Knowing more about the specific compound could help us find out. Understanding how much water is present, and its location, is also incredibly useful for planning human missions to the Moon and beyond. Water represents a key resource that can be used for life-support purposes – but it can also be split apart into its constituent elements and put to other uses. Oxygen could replenish air supplies, or be used in simple chemical reactions at the lunar surface to extract other useful resources from the regolith (soil composed of small grains). Water could also be used as rocket fuel in the form of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This means that the Moon has great potential to become a refuelling base for space missions further into the Solar System or beyond. Its lower gravity and lack of atmosphere means it would require less fuel to launch from there than from Earth. So when space agencies talk of in-situ <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-a-moon-base-120259">resource utilisation at the Moon</a>, water is front and centre of their plans, making the new papers extremely exciting. New research Instruments on board various spacecraft have previously measured “reflectance spectra” (light broken down by wavelength) from the Moon. These detect light coming from a surface to measure how much energy it reflects at a specific wavelength. This will differ based on what the surface consists of. Because it has water, the Moon’s surface <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6130389/">absorbs light at 3𝜇m wavelengths</a> (0.000003 metres). However, absorptions at this wavelength cannot distinguish between molecular water and hydroxyl compounds. Using the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html">NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)</a> telescope, flown at 43,000 feet, the team behind one of the new papers observed sunlit sections of the Moon’s surface in wavelengths of 5-8𝜇m. H2O results in a characteristic peak in the spectrum at 6𝜇m, and by comparing a near-equatorial area as a baseline (thought to have almost no water) with an area near the south pole, this study reports the first unequivocal observations of molecular water under ambient conditions at the lunar surface at an abundance of 100-400 parts per million. This is several orders of magnitude too large for most of the water to be adsorbed onto regolith grain surfaces. Instead, the authors suggest that the water they have observed must be locked up inside glass formed by tiny meteorites impacting and melting already hydrated regolith grains. Alternatively, it could be present in voids between grain boundaries, which would make it easier to extract. Where exactly this water is sited would be of extreme interest for future explorers as it would dictate the processes and energy required to extract it. Luckily, the other paper used new theoretical models, based on temperature data and higher resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to refine predictions of where conditions are right for molecular water to be trapped as ice. Previous research has shown already that there are such kilometres-wide “cold traps” in permanently shadowed areas <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/281/5382/1496.full">near the poles</a>, where water ice may be present. Evidence from orbiting spacecraft, however, was inconclusive about this being molecular water or hydroxyl. The new study finds that there are also abundant small cold traps where conditions permit water ice to accumulate – on the scale of centimetres or decimetres. In fact, such traps should be hundreds to thousands of times more numerous than larger cold traps. The team calculates that 0.1% of the total lunar surface is cold enough to trap water as ice, and that the majority of these icy cold traps are at high latitudes (> 80°). This is particularly near to the lunar south pole, narrowing down the choice of future landing sites with the highest chance of finding trapped water ice. However, it is important to realise that the two studies investigated areas at different latitudes (55°-75°S vs >80°S) and therefore cannot be compared directly. Nevertheless, these latest discoveries further enhance our understanding of the history of water on our nearest neighbour. They will undoubtedly strengthen plans for a return to the Moon. Instruments such as the European Space Agency’s (<a href="https://exploration.esa.int/web/moon/-/59102-about-prospect">PROSPECT payload on Luna 27</a>) will be able to make measurements on the Moon to “ground-truth” these tantalising glimpses of the wealth of information yet to be discovered. Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/james-mortimer-125966">James Mortimer</a>, The Open University and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mahesh-anand-125967">Mahesh Anand</a>, The Open University. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/water-on-the-moon-research-unveils-its-type-and-abundance-boosting-exploration-plans-148669">The Conversation.</a>

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The US just returned to the Moon after more than 50 years. How big a deal is it, really?

Almost half of Moon missions fail. Why is space still so hard?

Leo DiCaprio's new film gets 9-minute standing ovation

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

“So full of love”: Chrissy Teigen reveals newborn daughter’s name

The verdict: Full fat versus low fat milk

Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for Sri Lankan political satire, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Michael Bublé's dream to become a full-time dad

The one-of-a-kind Jumbo Hotel is back in full flight!

See the strawberry moon that shone around the world

Damning full-page ad slams Ardern’s border policy

What made Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner so different from other sitcom dads

Queen's full Platinum Jubilee plans finally revealed

"Over the moon": UberEats makes first delivery into space

Downton Abbey: A New Era full teaser FINALLY released

Australia is putting a rover on the Moon in 2024 to search for water

Fat Bear Week is here and it’s full of chunky Ursidae

I Am Woman is Helen Reddy’s story

Spooky facts about the moon

Water on the Moon: research unveils its type and abundance

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Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

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Keep up to date

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The US just returned to the Moon after more than 50 years. How big a deal is it, really?

Almost half of Moon missions fail. Why is space still so hard?

Leo DiCaprio's new film gets 9-minute standing ovation

The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

“So full of love”: Chrissy Teigen reveals newborn daughter’s name

The verdict: Full fat versus low fat milk

Shehan Karunatilaka wins Booker prize for Sri Lankan political satire, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Michael Bublé's dream to become a full-time dad

The one-of-a-kind Jumbo Hotel is back in full flight!

See the strawberry moon that shone around the world

Damning full-page ad slams Ardern’s border policy

What made Bob Saget’s Danny Tanner so different from other sitcom dads

Queen's full Platinum Jubilee plans finally revealed

"Over the moon": UberEats makes first delivery into space

Downton Abbey: A New Era full teaser FINALLY released

Australia is putting a rover on the Moon in 2024 to search for water

Fat Bear Week is here and it’s full of chunky Ursidae

I Am Woman is Helen Reddy’s story

Spooky facts about the moon

Water on the Moon: research unveils its type and abundance

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