Thursday, July 17, 2025
Discover the heart-wrenching tale of Spain's own Romeo and Juliet - the legendary Lovers of Teruel. Two childhood sweethearts, Diego and Isabel, were torn apart by fate and family, leading to a tragic end that echoes through time. Their story, believed to be embodied by two mummies discovered in the 16th century, has captivated visitors to the Orpato mausoleum where their beautifully sculpted tombs lie.
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Great photo!1 On September 21, 2012, Space Shuttle Endeavor completed its final journey, soaring across California atop NASA’s specially modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft!
As part of a two-day farewell tour, one of the most memorable moments came when Endeavor made a breathtaking flyover of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge .
In a jaw-dropping deep-sea expedition, scientists exploring a submerged volcanic area uncovered more than one million giant eggs—each measuring nearly 20 inches long—clustered around active hydrothermal vents. These eggs, found at extreme ocean depths, don’t match the size or biology of any known marine species, sparking global excitement in the scientific community. Experts believe this could signal the discovery of an entirely new form of life adapted to survive in harsh volcanic conditions, where temperatures, pressure, and mineral concentrations are far beyond normal levels.
The team is now racing to analyze DNA samples from the eggs, which may help determine the origin of the mysterious organism. Early findings hint at a species that produces fewer but highly developed offspring to thrive in geothermal habitats—a unique reproductive strategy. Researchers are planning further missions to monitor the site and observe any hatching events. This remarkable discovery challenges what we know about life in Earth’s most extreme environments and could reshape our understanding of biodiversity in the deep ocean.
When Cecilia Payne wrote her Ph.D. thesis in 1925, she quietly cracked open the sky.
Using spectral data, she made a shocking discovery: the Sun—along with most stars—is made almost entirely of hydrogen, the lightest element in the universe. This flew in the face of what every expert believed at the time.
A senior astronomer, Henry Norris Russell, told her not to publish. Four years later, he confirmed her findings—and got most of the credit.
Cecilia had already overcome the odds just to get that far. Cambridge wouldn’t award her a degree because she was a woman, so she left England and came to Harvard. There, she earned the first Ph.D. in astronomy from Radcliffe, a degree later called the most brilliant thesis in astronomy ever written.
Her work became the foundation for nearly everything we know about stellar composition and variable stars. She was eventually named Harvard’s first woman professor promoted from within—and later, first woman to chair a department.
But when she died in 1979, most newspapers barely mentioned her greatest discovery. No memorial. No textbook chapter.
Just hydrogen. Everywhere.
Cecilia Payne helped us understand the stars.
Now it’s time we remember hers.
~Unusual Tales
Mark Kultajev
I
have a secret to tell you : in moon's sky (when you are looking from
its surface) Earth doesn't move (it does, but it's almost nothing)
They say there’s a rabbit who lives in the moon.
Some smile when they speak it,
or poets too far gone.
Others swear they’ve seen him:
a soft blur in the silver,
ears perked, paws steady,
silhouetted against the glow.
But whether you believe or not,
the rabbit doesn’t mind.
He has work to do.
Each night, when the sky blooms open like a silver blossom,
he begins his rhythm...
pounding rice in his stone mortar,
slow and steady,
a lullaby of labor and quiet purpose.
Not for fame.
Not for proof.
But because it’s what he’s always done.
Because some magicks are not loud,
but loyal.
When his task is done,
he shakes the stardust from his fur
and walks beside the Moon Goddess.
She says little... she rarely needs to.
Together, they glide across the sky,
her light spilling over rivers,
his paws padding softly beside her.
Below, a child makes a wish with eyes wide open.
A grandmother leaves rice by the window.
A dreamer writes by candlelight.
And somewhere,
someone swears the moon is smiling back.
The rabbit notices.
He always does.
Even if you doubt him...
he sees you.
Even if you forget...
he remembers.
For belief isn’t what makes him real.
The moon still shines.
The rabbit still walks.
And every night,
the story goes on.
⋅⋅⋅──────⋅✤⋅──────⋅⋅⋅
Written by Zenaida Nina, known as Baba the Storytelling Witch | Moonstone Cottage. Inspired by popular Moon Rabbit folklore.
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