Planet Eureka # 04 - Space radishes ... electric airplanes ... women hunters
Season's Greetings. Welcome to another edition of the Newsletter.
After a really long wait, ISOR has released its data obtained from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. They are free to be downloaded from the ISRO Science Data Archive website.
Saving the Great Indian Bustard.. thru Fireflies.
The Great Indian Bustard is one of the critically endangered bird species in Indian with less than only 150 left in the wild. This ostrich like bird is one of the heaviest bird species that can fly, and they have a poor eyesight. Since it cannot change its flight path in a short time frame due to its weight, collision with high tension live wires are a major cause of fatalities amongst these birds.
In an unique initiative, the Wildlife Conservation Society of India has installed bird diverters on the high tension wires. These diverters look like a string of fireflies perched on top of the wires, and can alert the Bustards to change their flight path sooner.
Electric Airplanes will soon be a reality
About half of all flight routes in the world are less than 500 miles. This augurs well for electric airplanes. And, the environmental benefits are very high, if all these routes are covered by electric airplanes.
European Regulators have granted a mass production license for a Slovenian company called Pipistrel Aircraft to manufacture a small electric airplane called Velis Electro. Great progress indeed.
Prehistoric Women were fierce hunters too
Rewind back 10000 years ago. Imagine a prehistoric hunting group. Most probably you would visualize a group of male hunters and the females gathering plants or waiting in caves for the males to arrive with their hunt.
Now, take that myth out of your mind. A new, but strong evidence came from a prehistoric burial site in Peru, where archaeologists found a skeleton of a 18 to 19 year old female with lots of hunting tools. Typically prehistoric humans bury the dead along with the the items that the dead used in his/her life time.
Space Radish anyone?
NASA has successfully grown radish in the International Space Station. It is a very important step to sustain longer missions, where astronauts can expect to grow and eat their own food rather than sustaining themselves on packaged food for longer space travels. Of all vegetables why radishes? That is because radishes mature fast in 27 days
A whole new Blue Whale population
Scientists have just discovered a new set of Blue Whales in the Indian Ocean by tracking a previously not known song. Whales use songs to communicate amd socialize with each other.
One last thing!
Jupiter, Saturn & ISS
The world was treated to a spectacle of Jupiter and Saturn coming together. One Australian photographer took one step further. He calculated the time when the International Space Station will pass between the two planets and captured the rare event. The result is stunning.
Hope this edition of the Newsletter was informative. Wish you and your beloved ones a Happy New Year 2021.
Best,
- Team Planet Eureka