Category Archives: Space Travel

Few brands symbolize the Great American Road Trip like Airstream. On the outside, its iconic aluminum travel trailers have changed little since the last century, and for our money, thats a very good thing. Across the lineup, however, the interiors have evolved into something altogether different. Theyre more polished, more luxurious even downright swanky and were not talking about just the flagship models that sell for well north of $150,000.

The new Airstream Caravel 16RB offers many of the same upscale features and specs of its pricier brethren in one of the companys most compact footprints ever. But dont let the diminutive size of this Airstream camper fool you. Airstream managed to pack all the amenities of a modern luxury apartment into just under 17 feet hows that for van life?. That has us seriously reconsidering our current living situation.

The Caravel name isnt new. In fact, it was released alongside the beloved Bambi way back in the 1960s when Airstream began toying with the idea of lighter, single-axle RVs. But Americans wanted much, much bigger campers back then, and so the models fizzled out. Fast forward a few decades, when most of us are planning our travels (and our lives) with the environment and minimalist living in mind, and Airstream re-released both of these compact RVs in 2019.

On an initial walk-around of the latest Caravel 16RB, it doesnt appear to have changed much since Kennedy was in office. Its true that Airstream kept the handsome and timeless look of its popular riveted aluminum design. Its all wrapped in 10 large windows that bathe the interior in sunlight. Plus, at around 3,500 pounds, its light enough for most medium-sized SUVs to tow it.

Inside, however, the tiniest Caravel feels like an ultra compact studio apartment on wheels. The raw aluminum cladding carries through, giving it a clean, modern industrial feel. Airstream makes clever use of space to delineate between the sleeping, dining, and cooking areas. Theres a full-sized memory foam mattress with a hanging closet the dinette converts into an additional sleeping area (for a total of four adults) and the kitchen boasts a sink and two-burner cooktop all impressive considering its 16.5-foot length. Theres even a separate bathroom with a standing shower.

What truly sets the Caravel (and most other Airstreams) apart is the attention to detail. Theres a long list of tech convenience features baked into this latest model. That includes dimmable, energy-efficient LED lighting and a QuietStream climate control system. Plus, digital nomads will dig the integrated four-speaker JL audio system and TV with an omnidirectional antenna. There are plenty of places to plug in, too, via multiple USB ports and standard 110-volt power outlets throughout. You can keep it all topped up with an optional 100-watt solar package for going off-grid.

The entry-level Caravel 16RB starts at $74,000, making it one of the most affordable full-featured Airstream models on the market. Really, only the pared-down Airstream Basecamp is significantly cheaper, but its a whole different animal, so its impossible to compare the two. If youre looking for a little extra legroom and even more amenities, the Caravel model lineup also includes 19-, 20-, and 22-foot models. Whichever model you opt for, just promise to take us with you. Well bring the snacks.

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Airstreams new travel trailer fits a swanky studio apartment into less than 17 feet of living space - The Manual

If theres one living stand-up legend whose jokes are perfect for Twitter, its Steven Wright. Not only are they concise (Lost a buttonhole) but so meticulously absurd (I like to reminisce with people I dont know) that rapid shifts of context dont distort their meaning.

So it was a surprise that when he started an account in 2011, he didnt use it to try out punch lines, but to write a novel very slowly. It almost sounds like a Steven Wright joke. But more than a decade later, this larky experiment has turned into a book, Harold, abouta meandering, bizarrely charming day in the life of a 7-year-old boy.

In an almost stream-of-consciousness style from the boys point of view, Harold, which takes place in the 1960s when Wright was a kid, pingpongs from musings on a third-grade teacher to a daydream about going to the moon. Plenty of its sentences would not be out of place in Wrights standup: All art is modern art at some point.

Sitting in the Manhattan office of Simon & Schuster last month, Wright, who has been telling jokes in front of audiences for more than 40 years, explained in his signature gravelly drone that stand-up provided him a very narrow window of creativity. Not a criticism, hes quick to add, just a description of the appeal of the new, more expansive form. I wanted to put a funnel on Harolds head and pour everything I think about being aliveinto it, he said. Lawyers, religion, space. Everything.

Asked why he would focus on a boy, Wright shrugged. But he believes children notice things thatadults miss. He sounds almost jealous when he describes the uncluttered mind of a young person. A kid, he said, is like an alien who just got off a spaceship and is looking around.

Wright can resemble an alien himself. He seems as laconic and lyrical as he is onstage, except warmer and quicker to laugh. Metaphors pour from him like a Bob Dylan song come to life. When asked to describe Wright, Marc Maron texted me: Poet. Happens. Rarely. In. Comedy.

Theres no more storied example of Johnny Carson making an overnight star than when his booker, visiting colleges for his son, stumbled upon an unknown Steven Wright performing in a Chinese restaurant in Boston. Wright killed on The Tonight Show in 1982, when the studio audience alone was his biggest crowd yet. Three years later, Wright released I Have a Pony, a classic of modern stand-up.

If you came to it young, as many did and still do, it could rejigger your entire sense of humor. The comic Anthony Jeselnik told me Wright influenced everything about my comedy. Bobcat Goldthwait called him human pot, explaining, Listen to him long enough and you feel stoned and see the world as absurd and amused as he does.

Wright described his background as resolutely ordinary: middle-class, all-American, Norman Rockwell stuff. Sensitive, a little quiet, he didnt tell his family that he had been doing comedy for years. Wright calls his break a fluke.

Dont be fooled by this fairy-tale story. Wright not only had a gift for old-fashioned joke construction but also a rare discipline and taste that he remained stubbornly faithful to. Take one example: Ive always hated puns, he told me with a rare flash of passion that he chuckled at. It would be funnier if you dropped a dish.

Early on, he set up rules for his comedy that might have hurt him in the short term but have allowed his work to age as well as any comedians. He avoided anything topical. He also did not curse. I didnt want to get a bigger laugh because of that, he said. I wanted it to be pure.

Wright usually waves away any grand intent behind his work, saying his deadpan style is just how he talks. His old friends back this up. But maintaining a singular view of the world requires effort.

After living on both coasts, he moved back to New England to a rural spot one town over from Walden Pond. You can see your life better, he said of living near nature. At one point, he likened city life to being constantly pelted with candy. You cant think because youre just trying to get through the Raisinets.

Wrights monotone one-liners remain a touchstone for a comedy subgenre, along with the other master of deadpan, Mitch Hedberg, who died in 2005.

The biggest difference between Mitch and Steven is that when you saw an hour of Mitch, you got an idea of who he voted for, what he was about, said Goldthwait, who, like Wright, emerged from the Boston comedy scene of the 1980s. You watch Steven for an hour and have more questions about him than before you saw him.

This is why Harold holds a particular fascination for comedy fans. What more can we learn about the elusive Wright?

Theres a romantic streak mostly absent from his comedy. The Apollo mission to the moon looms large in the story, and Wrights father, an engineer, worked for a company that helped build parts for NASA. Seeing a camera wrapped in plastic that was heading for space at his dads workplace fired his imagination and was at one point a scene in the book. That was cut, but the thrill of space travel remains.

There is also more talk of love. Sometimes lustful, other times weary. Being in love was like being on a seesaw where one side contained nitroglycerin, he writes. When you first get on no one knows which side has it.

When Harold talks about a beautiful, intense New York girlfriend in his future, this sounds like something from the authors life. Wright said that was true but kept it oblique in the book and was loath to discuss his personal life. He never married (Romance is gambling, he told me) and, asked why he didnt have kids, he sounds like a bystander to his own life. Didnt think about it, then it didnt happen, he said. It wasnt decided. It just happened.

The most revealing thing Harold captures about Steven Wright is the way he thinks about thinking. Described by the author as a wondering machine, the boy ponders whether its possible to be in your 70s and have the perspective of a 5-year-old without being nuts? Steven Wright is 67 and says he performs less these days.

The books central metaphor is a description of Harolds thought process as a room with one window and a riot of birds flying around. Occasionally one flies out. That represents an idea. Its a view of creativity that is random and unpredictable. Isnt it a bit scary? What happens if the birds stop flying out?

Wright released relatively few specials in his career because, he said, I can only think of so much stuff. But he looked at ease with the idea that some things are out of our control. You can try to think of ideas, but your mind is running on its own. Or at least my mind, he said. Its mostly chaos, but youre organizing a lot of it.

Then he paused to smile and toss out one last metaphor: You have to stay on the road when you drive.

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Steven Wright, Master of the One-Liner, Tries His Hand at a Novel - The New York Times

MINNEAPOLIS --"It's a bird, it's a plane ... nope, it's poop!"

On May 15, residents of Burnsville, Minnesota were waiting in line at a Caribou Coffee drive-thru when their windshield was splattered with what they call "brown rain."

"The odor was so strong that the woman who was handing me my coffee noted how much it smelled," said Burnsville resident, Carisa Browne. "I mean, my cat had something similar to it this morning, so I've had a lot today with the poop."

"I had my A&P license, I went to school to be an aircraft mechanic, and I didn't know if there was even a way to release it mid-flight, so that's why I'm a little confused, I'm gonna look into it," said Browne. The Metropolitan Airports Commission says they are not aware of any incidents related to flight activity.

Browne did some Internet sleuthing and believes the culpable plane was a United Airlines flight to Denver. WCCO News reached out to United and got this response from their media relations department: "No reports on this from our end."

But mysterious substances falling from the sky are not totally uncommon.

In 2018, a 22- to 26-pound chunk of ice fell on the Fezilpur Badli village in India, startling residents. Some villagers thought it was an extra-terrestrial object, and even took samples home. A sample of the projectile was sent out for a chemical analysis, and a spokesperson for the International Aviation Authorities "strongly suspected" that the ice chunk was frozen airline excrement.

Luckily, in this 2018 case of flying excrement, no one was hurt.

A woman in central Madhya Pradesh in 2016 was not so lucky. She suffered a severe shoulder injury when she was hit by a football-sized chunk of ice that fell from the air and crashed through the roof of her house.

India and Burnsville, Minnesota are not the only places where there have been odorous objects reported falling from the sky.

In 2012, a Long Island couple were covered in "sludge" as a plane flew overhead. Another couple in Leicester, England also reported an incident where pungent "blue ice" hit their roof, broke apart, and landed on their heads.

So, what's the deal? Are airlines emptying their waste on us?

The short answer, is no...at least not on purpose.

Most airplanes are configured with a modern "vacuum waste system" that sucks waste and wastewater into a sealed tank below the craft. Once a plane lands, the ground crew dispose of sewage using a "honey truck" that siphons the waste and disposes of it into an airport's underground sewage system.

On a long-haul 747 flight, travelers may flush a toilet around 1,000 times, creating roughly 230 gallons of sewage. Sometimes, that can be too much sewage for a plane to handle, especially if it's malfunctioning. In those cases, waste can seep out of the tanks.

When a sewage tank or drain tube develops a leak, it creates what is referred to as "blue ice." Blue waste treatment liquids used in plane toilets turn to ice when exposed to freezing temperatures at high altitudes -- hence the name "blue ice."

Typically, blue ice gathers and stays on the outside of the aircraft, but sometimes it breaks off before landing. When it does break off, it often melts and evaporates before reaching the ground. Though, this depends on how high the plane is at the time it falls.

Waste leakages pose a serious concern for air safety. Aside from damage to homes and injury to people, blue ice has even caused damage to other planes. In one instance, blue ice knocked an engine off the wing of a plane.

This made us curious how do other ways of transportation dispose of their waste? The answers may shock you.

Cruise ships have been reported to routinely drop thousands of gallons of human sewage a day...most likely into whatever waterway they're sailing. An EPA survey found that cruise ships generate an average of 21,000 gallons of sewage and 170,000 gallons of graywater -- residual water that drains from sinks, showers, and laundry machines, often laden with detergents, oil, grease, food waste, and various pathogens -- a day.

There is a patchwork of federal, state, and international laws regarding how and where ships can dispose of their waste, but it's somewhat complicated.

For example, sewage needs to be treated if it's going to be flushed within three miles of U.S. coastline. Beyond that, it can be dumped in it's raw state. However, most cruise lines and trade associations have a policy against dumping untreated sewage anywhere.

What about trains? How do train lines dispose of their waste?

Until the 1990s, U.S. trains often drained their waste onto the tracks. When reaching stations, personnel would ask passengers not to use the bathroom. However, these days, most trains store waste in an onboarding holding tank.

But what about astronauts? How do they handle their "business"?

The answer is rather simple. Waste is either sent back to Earth or recycled.

Toilets on the International Space Station separate solid and liquid waste. Solid waste is tightly bagged and placed into an unmanned vehicle (known as a "Progress module") and is eventually returned to Earth, though burns up upon its re-entry into the atmosphere.

Since urine is 90% water, astronauts have found a way to put it to good use.

Liquid waste is boiled, distilled, and sent to a water processor where it undergoes a cycle of filtration and chemical purification until it can be used by the crew. Astronauts say, "Today's coffee istomorrow's coffee!"

However, recycling liquid waste is a relatively new procedure. Historically, urine would be ejected into space. Due to the low temperatures in space, wastewater would quickly freeze into small crystals.

Rusty Schweickart, an astronaut on Apollo 9, once described a urine dump at sunset as "the most beautiful sight in orbit."

Space programs stopped using this method of disposal due to waste turning into orbital debris. NASA has been refining their method of urine purification for the last 20 years.

"As we travel farther from Earth on Artemis missions to the Moon and build toward longer, crewed missions to Mars, it's inevitable we'll need more reliable hardware and a reduced requirement for spares," said Arthur Brown, deputy manager of ECLSS integration and development at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Even from the space station, it's a long way to the nearest hardware store or machine shop."

All in all, rest assured that objects flying in the air are least likely to be Superman or human excrement, rather birds or planes.

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Poop falling from the sky: Here's how often that happens - CBS News

Most people in a position to hold a critical opinion on the matter think that biological life is not unique to planet Earth but that it has also arisen elsewhere in the universe, including intelligent life. So, how will we react if intelligent alien life visits Earth?

Much of what is written on the subject is preoccupied with what rights we should grant our alien visitors. But it seems to me that our most urgent preoccupation must be how to establish reliable two-way communication with the aliens.

At present, we have no evidence that life exists anywhere in the universe beyond Earth. However, our understanding of the nature of life on Earth, how life might have arisen from lifeless chemicals and how it evolved through Mendelian genetics to the present day, together with the fact that there are many planets elsewhere in the universe with physical conditions similar to Earth, emboldens us to confidently predict that life has arisen and evolved in many locations throughout the universe.

Aliens will, almost certainly, look very different from us. This is only to be expected when we consider the vast variety of animal body-plans evolution has produced here on Earth; many that look quite strange to the human eye, eg octopus, Japanese spider crab, star-nosed mole, blobfish, narwhal, aye-aye, naked mole rat and many more (google the photographs).

Most of what I read concerning how we humans should react to alien visitors relates to what rights we should grant them, assuming the visitors are sentient, ie able to feel and perceive, to show awareness and responsiveness and to experience pleasure and pain. Great concern is expressed by philosophers like Peter Singer that we should extend the same rights to sentient aliens that we extend to sentient non-human earthly life.

If aliens visit Earth, at least in the medium term, they will almost certainly be far more advanced than us, having solved the problem of interstellar space travel well before we have. It is also very probable that they will not only be sentient but far more advanced technologically and far more intelligent than us humans.

[UFOs are back in the skies over America. Did they ever go away?]

So, I think it would be more appropriate for us to ponder what rights the aliens would be prepared to grant to us rather than the other way around. Also, what if the advanced alien visitors were hostile towards us. Aliens with the capacity to cross vast interstellar distances to reach Earth would almost certainly have the firepower to destroy us in any conflict.

I think the critically important thing to prepare for in anticipation of aliens arriving here is how to communicate with them to ask them where they came from, why are they visiting us, what they want from us, etc. The fascinating 2016 sci-fi film Arrival explores this scenario establishing a two-way conversation with 12 alien spacecraft that suddenly appeared in Earths skies.

If intelligent alien life exists it may well be broadcasting its existence to the rest of the universe, probably via radio waves. An organisation called Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute has been listening for such broadcasts using giant radio-telescopes since 1985, but has detected none.

SETI Institute is now debating whether, in addition to passive listening, it should also be broadcasting (Active-SETI) our existence to the universe. Active-SETI would be a risky undertaking because we might attract the attention of hostile aliens far more technologically advanced than ourselves.

[Are we alone in the Milky Way galaxy?]

Meanwhile, there are persistent reports worldwide of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in our skies. Many people believe some of these UFOs are alien spacecraft the aliens are already here! This UFO phenomenon should not be dismissed as crackpot. Many strange sightings have been made, even filmed, by competent observers eg professional airline pilots. Governments have a duty to investigate these reports.

The Pentagon recently released a long-awaited 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) cataloguing 510 UAP reports gathered by agencies involved in the report and branches of the US military. UFOs are rebranded as UAP. The report assessed 366 of the most recent UAP reports. Twenty-six were characterised as uncrewed aircraft systems, or drones, 163 were balloons and six were airborne clutter like plastic bags.

One hundred and seventy UAP reports remain uncategorised and unattributed. Some of these displayed unusual flight/performance characteristics and require further analysis. It is good to see the US starting to take this matter seriously after years of media sensationalising UFO sightings.

William Reville is an emeritus professor of biochemistry at UCC

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How will we react when the aliens arrive? - The Irish Times

Luxury stores with the most beautiful interiors - Luxebook Luxury stores with the most beautiful interiors - Luxebook Arushi Sakhuja and Jade CrastoThe link between retail stores and architecture has always been very strong. For this reason, many brands have taken the help of several famous designers to design their luxury stores to make it an experience. The result? A series of boutiques around the world that look like art installations. LuxeBook takes you through the most remarkable and intriguing shop interiors from pool-inspired designs to opulent chandeliers and sculptures. Are you a design enthusiast? A traveller? Then these stores will leave you awe-inspired. Burberry Mykonos, GreeceBurberry GreeceThe Burberry pop-up store in Nammos Village gives you a glimpse of true Mediterranean aesthetic. Immersed in nature, the structure is presented with a palette of pistachio green and beige and is enriched with blue and pink summer shades. Throughout the store, fixtures and details are built with a variety of materials and textures, from plywood to mirrored, glossy finishes and a dash of greenery. The outdoor terrace features a wooden pergola inspired by traditional Mykonos buildings, with TB Summer Monogram blue siding. The ground floor features a blank canvas wall where visitors can add illustrations and custom tags, similar to the Burberry Bond Street store.Glossier, SeattleGlossier, SeattleLocated in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood and designed by Glossiers in-house team, the 2,800-square-foot retail space is the brands largest physical store to date. A large sculpture at the centre of the space is designed to look like a boulder covered in moss and colourful mushrooms, influenced by the flora of the Pacific Northwest region. This is based on a landscape installation created by designer Lily Kwong for the pop-up and a terraced hill is evoked by a stack of flat thin cushions upholstered in various green textiles and leathers along the large store windows. Walls around the store are finished in light-toned textured walls and beige and dusty-pink tiles cover the floor. On the exterior, doors and window trims are painted a dark blush hue to match the Glossier logo and contrast the buildings cream brickwork, making it look palatial. Aesop, Hong KongAesop, Hong KongAesop has added yet another store to its extensive retail network in Hong Kong. The store features an interior design by architecture practice Nadaaa from Boston. Evoking a refined state of construction, Aesop reflects an immersive sense of calm, by drawing on a neutral, natural palette. With extensive use of raw materials and exposed finishes, the store uses beams of reclaimed Oak shelves set on blackened steel frames, offering a wonderful textual interplay. An elongated sink of oxidised copper punctuates the sophisticated industrial aesthetic.Dolce & Gabbana Rome, ItalyDolce & Gabbana Rome, ItalyDolce & Gabbana is well known for its exaggerated designs that steer clear of sobriety. Over the years the brand has designed the image of a new Italian aesthetic in the world. Their boutique in Piazza di Spagna, in Rome, the heart of the Eternal City, the capital of Italian history and culture, could not be less. Housed within the walls of a majestic sixteenth-century palace, the shop looks like a real Roman temple made of marble, mosaics and frescoes. A digitalised fresco depicting Greek gods is the focal point of luxury fashion brands store. Set within a 16th-century palazzo the store reflects a city synonymous with magnificence and uniqueness. Circular mosaics have also been embedded into the high-gloss floors, inscribed with the words paradise, love and beauty.Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, NetherlandsSelexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, NetherlandsThe contemporary building interior of the Bookstore Selexyz Dominicanen was designed by Merkx+Girod architects in Maastricht, Netherlands for the Dutch booksellers Selexyz Dominicanen. Merkx+Girod were commissioned by the Dutch booksellers to convert the interior of the former Dominican Church in Maastricht into a modern bookstore. The interior design takes advantage of the spatial magnificence of the churchs architecture. To satisfy BGNs need for 1,200 m2 of selling space and given that the churchs floor area is of only 750 m2, Evelyn Merkx and Patrice Girod thought to insert an oversized walk-in bookcase. In order to preserve the character of the church while achieving the desired commercial square footage, the architects decided to insert an oversized walk-in bookcase where the books are kept. The lighting, which is an all but integral part of the stores design, manifests itself in the chorus by way of a traditional chandelier above the crucifix-shaped table located in the caf area.Gavello Nel Blu, Mykonos, GreeceGavello Nel Blu, Mykonos, GreeceGavello Nel Blu, designed by SAINT OF ATHENS, is a jewellery store with an interior that resembles a real swimming pool: light blue tiles. This jewellery shop on the Greek island of Mykonos was designed to resemble a 1960s swimming pool. Creative agency Saint of Athens worked with Dive Architects on the project for Italian brand Gavello to make the store stand out from its neighbours.As you enter the shop, you get the impression that you are swimming in an empty pool. The walls and floors are made of light blue tiles, and a ladder and beach balls stamped with the brands logo decorate this soothing world. There are also lockers to store your things and red and white striped cushions. The architects have also included other accessories such as mirrors, display cases, and display cones for an even greater vacation feel! Innovative, isnt it? The jewelry is displayed on a rectangular table in the centre of the store as well as inside four niches embedded into the blue tiled walls. The goal behind the design of this store was to show that with a few square meters, you can create a surreal and innovative space while still representing the image of a brand. That you can create a store in which you want to enter into.Moniker, OsloMoniker, OsloMoniker Fashion Universe, in Oslo, is a 1,500-square-metre concept store that Norwegian design studio Snhetta said is supposed to feel like a treasure hunt. Called Moniker Fashion Universe the 1,500-metre-square concept store is located in the heart of Oslos shopping district, near the newly renovated Valkyrien Square. Fixed partition walls create a maze of rooms set within a different visual universe built around different personality traits and based on, for example, space travel, motor racing and the French Riviera. Just like the womenswear department, which is split into five zones that are built around five different personality traits, Moniker Man is split into two distinct zones built around the character traits of sensitive and ambitious. Featuring striped fabrics, plenty of foliage and a lilac and yellow colour palette, Delons zone takes its design cues from the French Riviera. According to the studio, the playful design of this zone is designed to challenge our conception of what falls into the categories of feminine and masculine. In the ambitious zone, which pays homage to Paul Newman, the design team created a classic ambience through a luxurious material palette. This is contrasted with industrial materials that nod to the racing industry.Idli by Thierry Journo Jaipur, IndiaIdli by Thierry Journo Jaipur, IndiaExperience Jaipur through a contemporary lens at lifestyle boutique Idli, the brainchild of French designer Thierry Journo. The theatrical space features trompe loeil canopy and breezy palm tree murals, where handmade furnishings and hand-painted vases mingle with colourful fashion creations. The new store, on Subhash Marg, in C-Schemethe citys poshest residential areais filled with light and showcases his work at stints as a copyist at the Louvre, in collaborations with Thierry Mugler and Andree Putman, and as an illustrator for John Galliano.The space comes alive with doorways that are framed by striped, trompe loeil canopies, tropical palms and grass on the wall and paper lanterns in a rainbow of colours hanging from the ceiling. The entire effect is fantastical, quintessentially French. Sabyasachi, New YorkInto the world of SabyasachiSabyasachi built its first international store in the United States in the West Village of New York. The store is intended to depict Mukherjees trip from Kolkata to New York and to showcase the opulent richness for which his creations are recognised. The store reflects a classic look, suited to the modern customer, and is inspired by historic residences and palaces of the Indian metropolis. The corridors are filled from floor to ceiling with framed paintings influenced by Persian dynasty Qajar art, 16th-century Mughal miniatures, Indian Pichhwais, and antique pictures. Glass chandeliers hung low from the ceiling illuminated this decked-out maze, where tables were overflowing with food served on silvera custom arrangement for the event.JJ Valaya, AerocityPhoto Courtesy: JJ ValayaFar from the frantic throng, the flagship shop has various design schools. The master couturier created, developed and designed everything in the store, which takes a maximalist but never gaudy approach to design. The store contains a tiny reception area and a jewellery department featuring Aulerth and the new bridge-to-luxury brand, JJV. A winding staircase brings you to the actual treasure, which has equal room for his couture and home lines. The shop is adorned with the designers photographic works, and his home space is an expression of his passion for photography, travel, and all things luxurious. With over three decades of experience in the business, the designer is an institution in his own right, and his designs have a luxurious, old feel to them. A room is dedicated to some of his most expensive and complex bridal lehengas, which are displayed in a museum-style setting and coupled with beautiful dupattas and shawls. He recognises the need for a bridge or pret companies that cater to other minor events, as well as curate travel outfits. JJ Valayas charm is that it is maximalist yet the needlework is ageless.Arjun Kilachand, Mumbai

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Luxury stores with the most beautiful interiors - Luxebook

If time is one of the four dimensions of the Universe, why can we only travel forward in time?

Its true that we live in four dimensions, with three dimensions of space and one of time.

However, the time dimension is different to the three space dimensions because of the way we choose to define it and the way the Universe is constructed.

Nevertheless, one of the remarkable features of physics is that travel into the past does appear to be possible.

A wormhole could make backwards time travel possible. Credit: Mark Garlick / Science Photo Library / Getty Images

According to Einstein, time flows more slowly in stronger gravity.

Imagine two people, one on Earth and the other near a black hole, where time flows more slowly because of the stronger gravity.

We view them on Monday, but by the time the person on Earth reaches Friday, the person near the black hole has only reached Wednesday.

If there was a bridge between the two and Einsteins theory permits one known as a wormhole it would be possible for the person on Earth to travel back from Friday to Wednesday.

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Is it really possible to travel back in time? - BBC Sky at Night Magazine

view from Mars Getty Images / Nzoka John

Is it time for humans to inhabit space? SpaceX and NASA certainly think so. Elon Musk's space company had its first rocket test flight and Musk has been vocal about his goal to reach Mars. NASA has also made strides towards space habitation byannouncing the crew manning the next mission to the moon and unveiling 3D-printed habitats for four people to live like they would on Mars.

The moon is also viewed as the next colonizable territory for the world, which has launched the U.S. into a fierce space race with China. NASA's Artemis mission aims to get people to the moon once again and use that knowledge to "take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars." While the effort has set into high gear, there are plenty of critics of space colonization.

Some argue that there are far too many hurdles to jump before we can actually inhabit space, while others see it as the way of the future.

So far, much of our exploration of space has been through robots and technology, however, humans "canmovefasterthanrobotsandmakequickerdecisions," NASA chief scientist James Green told Upfront. This could allow for Mars and the moon to be studied and analyzed far faster and more efficiently. Sending humans to Mars could be a huge step in discovering whether it once contained life.

NASA revealed a potential habitat for four astronauts to live in Mars-like conditions in preparation for a Mars expedition in the future. "What can take a rover days and weeks to analyze, a person can study in just hours," Green added. NASA also emphasized the goal of its Artemis mission to the moon is to "allow our robots and astronauts to explore more and conduct more science than ever before."

While some view extraplanetary habitation as a way for the human race to survive, others see space travel and colonization as merely a distraction from addressing the problems on Earth. "We should deal with our own environmental issues here first," wroteBruce Dorminey inForbes."Then worry about terraforming Mars." The lessons learned "from cleaning up our own planet and preserving its flora and fauna will only help us when terraforming the world next door."

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Climate change is currently one of the largest problems human civilization is facing. It is threatening our resources and livelihood. Advancing technology like carbon capture methods and geoengineeringas well as switching to renewable energy can help combat climate change but require more investment to come to fruition. "The billions if not trillions of dollars needed to colonize Mars could, for example, be better spent investing in renewable forms of energy to address climate change," argued Zahaan Bharmal of TheGuardian. "There is no guarantee that the same fate would not befall Mars colonists."

Humans are meant to explore and space is simply the next treasure trove of discovery. "The greatest accomplishments come from taking risks, exploring the unknown, and reaching for the stars," remarked Lauren Brace forThe Central Trend. "For a planet that is constantly evolving, it seems only fitting that we expand our horizons to another destination out of this world."

Exploration and discovery are tenets of the human experience and "we pick up the mantle of ourexplorer ancestors, and we explore again," Jack Brady opined inTheMichigan Daily. Having an otherworldly goal gives society a goal to work toward and "expanding, outwardly-focused civilizations are farless likely to turn onthemselves," per Fred Kennedy inForbes. Brady adds that space exploration "gives us an opportunity to dream again to change our course as a species forever."

While the idea of being a species of more than one planet is exciting, the "idea of living on another world where we can't be outside just doesn't sound that appealing," according to Bill Nye. In reality, neither the moon nor Mars has an atmosphere or environment that humans can freely live on as they do on Earth. Mars in particular would require terraforming or "transforming Mars into a more Earth-like habitat," according to USA Today.

"Everything on Earth, from its atmosphere to its climate to its gravity, is a factor that we have evolved around," and in turn, humans have the "extreme disability to survive anywhere other than Earth,"Skyler Verrone wrote in an opinion forThe Triangle. Essentially, "it'sanenormouschallengetogethumanssafelytothesedestinations," senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute AmandaHendrix told Upfront.

With threats like climate change and nuclear war, moving to the moon or Mars might just be our only hope. Elon Musk has long supported this idea, saying that becoming interplanetary will "safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen." Perhaps a "Planet B" is not a terrible idea.

Life on Earth is fragile as it is and any number of world-ending events could occur. "In the last 500 million years of the Earth's history there have been five mass extinctions of species," NASA's director of planetary scienceJim Greene, told NBC News."If we're going to live as a species, we're going to have to 'back up' in other places ... and that place is Mars."

Even if we do decide to move to the moon or Mars, the cost is a substantial barrier. Humans "require a vast support infrastructure to provide things like water, food, and breathable air," Bharmal continued. All of these require significant technological advancement in addition to the cost of actually moving people on Earth to the moon or Mars.

"The question isn't whether or not we're technologically capable of doing it, because we are. The question is whether or not we have the political will to do it,"NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. Governments have long expressed interest in putting man back on the moon and traveling to Mars but fell short when it came to budget. However now, there are private investors like Elon Musk as well as better technology. "The question is: Will we receive the budgetto do it right now?"

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The pros and cons of space colonization - Yahoo News

The actor Ed Harris plays NASA flight director Gene Kranz in the 1995 film Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard.Credit: Landmark Media/Alamy

Failure is not an option, NASAs legendary flight-operations director Gene Kranz is said to have remarked, as seen in the 1995 film Apollo 13. Actor Ed Harris portrayed Kranz as he guided his team to save a spacecraft that had run into trouble on the way to the Moon. In the movie, as in real life, the three astronauts on the Apollo 13 mission pulled off a spectacular fix and returned safely to Earth.

Not all space ventures have such a tidy ending. A 2019 attempt by Israeli company SpaceIL to land on the Moon crashed. On 20 April this year, a spectacular intentional detonation ended the first major test flight of Starship, the worlds largest rocket, which SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, is building to carry humans back to the Moon and to Mars. The craft had spun out of control four minutes after lifting off its launch pad in Texas. Five days later, a robotic mission from the Japanese company ispace, based in Tokyo, tried and failed to land safely on the Moon.

Moon mission failure: why is it so hard to pull off a lunar landing?

Its crash-landing was devastating not only for the small team of engineers that had built and flown the spacecraft, but also for others whose hopes were riding along with it. When the lander crashed, it pulverized two rovers designed to travel around and explore the Moons surface one built by the space agency of the United Arab Emirates and the other by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. A camera system built by Canadensys Aerospace of Toronto, Canada, which was designed to photograph the rovers deploying, also went up in smoke.

The scientists and engineers involved should not be discouraged by these failures. Space is hard. This is a truism trotted out every time theres an attempt to launch from this planet or land on another. But it is accurate. Those who wish to explore the cosmos should expect to fail perhaps many times before they can succeed.

Engineering requires iteration, time and again: first to design machines that might work and then to test them against as many possible scenarios in which things could, and of course do, go wrong.

As with all failures, the Starship explosion will teach scientists and engineers valuable lessons before the craft attempts to fly again. Along with studying why the rockets 33 engines did not all ignite and burn as they were supposed to, SpaceX also needs to reckon with the extensive environmental damage caused when Starships launch pelted nearby communities with more sand and debris than expected. NASA is watching this process closely, because it is depending on Starship for its plans to send humans back to the Moon in the coming years.

Private ispace Moon landing fails: researchers are investigating

Ispace, too, will study and learn from its missions problems, ahead of a planned second launch next year. It looks as if the spacecraft ran out of propellant just before reaching the surface, causing it to crash-land.

Humans live in a culture in which it seems as if everything must go right the first time we try it, but that is not how successful products are developed, nor how science unfolds especially in space. Back in the 1960s, both the US space programme and the Soviet Unions equivalent went through a process of trial and error, as they tried time after time to land the first Moon missions, and failed repeatedly. Both learnt from each attempt and incorporated those lessons the next time around.

Kranz did not actually say Failure is not an option although that didnt stop him using the phrase as the title of his 2000 autobiography. In research and development, failure is indeed an option. In fact, it can be a necessary learning objective on the path to success.

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In space, failure is an option often the only one - Nature.com

Virgin Galactic announces return to space, crew

Las Cruces native and New Mexico State University graduate Jamila Gilbert is one of four Virgin Galactic employees who will serve as a mission specialists to evaluate the astronaut experience when the company returns to space later this month. The aerospace and space travel company Virgin Galactic yesterday announced the crew and its plans to return to space after close to two years in order to conduct the final assessment of the spaceflight system and astronaut experience before commercial service begins in late June. Returning to space is what we have all worked towards, President of Spaceline Missions and Safety Mike Moses said in a statement. Our mission specialists were selected for their diverse expertise, and they couldnt be better suited to validate the astronaut training program and overall experience. After this flight we will begin flying our customers to space. Gilbert, according to a news release, is a non-engineer who has been with the company since 2019 where she has been an integral part of our team, leading internal communicationsas a Latina woman of Purpechan-Mexican roots, a visual artist and a communications professional who speaks four languages, Jamila will bring a different perspective from the pilots and engineers who have flown before her. Last month, Virgin Galactic completed its glide flight from Spaceport America, another key step, the company said, before starting commercial flights.

Santa Fe District 1 Councilor Renee Villarreal announced yesterday she wont run for re-election come Nov. 7. When I first started on this path as an elected official, I indicated that I would commit to two terms (eight years), and then step down to create space for the next leader as part of my values of building community leadership and ensuring diverse voices have access to positions of power, Villarreal says in a statement. Villarreal also praised Alma Castro, a local organizer and owner of Caf Castro, who announced her intentions to run for the seat last week. I am thrilled to see another woman of color run for public office and am proud of Alma Castro for stepping up! Villarreal says. I have known Alma through the decades and have appreciated her leadership as a community organizer and small business owner. As a local Santafesina, she is running for the right reasons. Several other candidates also reportedly indicated their interest in the District 1 seat yesterdaythe start of the public financing campaign period. Villarreals announcement leaves two vacant seats in the upcoming municipal election; District 3 Councilor Chris Rivera also announced last week he wont seek re-election, whereas Districts 2 and 4 Councilors Michael Garcia and Jamie Cassutt will each seek another term.

I am not in LA, so I cannot walk a picket line as I did in 1988, but I want to go on the record with my full and complete and unequivocal support of my Guild. So writes Santa Fe-based Game of Thrones author/creator George RR Martin in a recent blog post supporting Writers Guild of America union members, who went on strike May 2. Martin notes that he has experienced several such strikes since he began writing for television and film in 1986. The 1988 strike, the first I was a part of, lasted 22 weeks, the longest in Hollywood history. The 2007-2008 strike, the most recent, went for 100 days. This one may go longer. The issues are more important, imnsho, and I have never seen the Guild so united as it is now. In a subsequent post yesterday, Martin expounds upon what he considers the most important issue at stake in the strike: the so-called mini rooms that the Guild is hoping to abolish, and the terrible impact they are having on writers at the start of their careers. Martin learned how to write for TV, he says, in the writers room on the set of The Twilight Zone; I was the most junior of junior writers, maybe a hot(ish) young writer in the world of SF, but in TV I was so green that I would have been invisible against a green screen, Martin writes. And that, in my opinion, is the most important of the things that the Guild is fighting for. The right to have that kind of career path. To enable new writers, young writers, and yes, prose writers, to climb the same ladder. The way shows work now, he says, the showrunner assembles a mini-room, made up of a couple of senior writers and a couple newcomers and the chance to learn on set has been lost. Variety magazine reported yesterday several major studies are suspending first-look and other deals amid the ongoing strike.

State Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero yesterday announced five new members of his leadership team, who will oversee areas ranging from policy to curriculum to equity. These education leaders embody our vision to boost student outcomes across the board, Romero said in a statement. Thought, care and intention were put into the selection process to produce a varied team of individuals poised to affect change. This is my personal dream team. Seana Flanagan, who has been in the position of managing director in an interim capacity, has been named to that position; she has been with PED since 2014, and previously served as division director of education quality. Gregory Frostad, former interim Policy and Legislative Affairs director and Safe and Healthy Schools director is now assistant secretary of Policy and Research. Amanda DeBell, who is currently Albuquerque Public Schools Zone 3 schools associate superintendent will be the departments deputy secretary of Teaching, Learning and Innovation. KatieAnn Juanico, who formerly worked for San Felipe Pueblo as its education director, is now assistant secretary of Indian Education for the state. The only out-of-state hire, Candice Castillo, is currently executive officer of Student Support Services at Houston Independent School District and will be coming to New Mexico to serve as deputy secretary of Identity, Equity and Transformation. According to a news release, Castillo will oversee such things as federal programs, safe and healthy schools, language and culture, and the Black and Hispanic education acts, as well as student, school and family support.

Reported May 8: New cases: 293 (includes the weekend); 681,034 total cases. Deaths: 0 Statewide fatalities: 9,236; Santa Fe County has had 410 total deaths; Statewide hospitalizations: 57; patients on ventilators: four. The state health department will stop reporting daily COVID-19 cases on May 11.

The Centers for Disease and Prevention most recent May 4 community levels map shows two New Mexico counties have turned yellow, depicting medium levels: Colfax and McKinley. The rest of the counties remain green, aka have low levels.

Resources: Receive four free at-home COVID-19 tests per household via COVIDTests.gov; Check availability for additional free COVID-19 tests through Project ACT; CDC interactive booster eligibility tool; NM DOH vaccine & booster registration; CDC isolation and exposure interactive tool; COVID-19 treatment info; NMDOH immunocompromised tool kit. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOHs COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.

You can read all of SFRs COVID-19 coverage here.

On the most recent episode of KSFRs CinemaScope podcast, host Nazneen Akhtar Rahim talks with stand-up comedian Mona Shaikh, the first Pakistani female comedian to be selected for the Laughs Factory Funniest Person in the World Competition. Host of her own show Minority Reportz, Shaikh talks about how she broke into the industry. Stand-up comedy is a hard life, Shaikh says. So, if you grew up in a normal stable loving home, theres no need to do stand-up. Being born and partially raised in Pakistan, she never planned to enter the industry, she says, noting: I truly believe that you dont choose comedy; comedy chooses you.

As part of its Culture Shifters series, Huffington Post spotlights 23-year-old filmmaker Kymon Greyhorse (Navajo and Tongan), whose short film I Am Home was chosen for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival just six months after Greyhorsewho grew up in both New Mexico and Utahgraduated from the University of New Mexico. I Am Home, the story notes, began as a poem Greyhorse wrote during the pandemic while isolating in Albuquerque. All of that built-up loneliness and feeling lost and confused of what the future looked like for meit was like I was almost desperate for anything that would ground me while I was slowly drifting off, Greyhorse tells Huffington Post. I wanted to feel family. I wanted my anxiety to fade away and for someone to tell me that Im good and that this feeling isnt forever. So I took all of those emotions and put it to words. Last year, Greyhorse released his first narrative short film Can I Love You? inspired by his mother and the addiction and violence she encountered growing up on the Navajo reservation. About the film, Greyhorse says in his directors statement: My mom was the backbone of the family, the responsible one that grew up too fast. She tried her best to hide and protect my aunt and uncles from the ugliness but would soon watch them indulge in the same poisons of substance abuse, domestic violence, and neglect. She had dreams she thought mightve been too big. Ones that seemed too good to be true. Ultimately, he says, the film is a love letter to my mom.

While we normally eschew spreading conspiracy theories, were making an exception for one that involves our favorite topic: chile peppers. In this case: jalapeos. Dallas-based D Magazine dining critic Brian Reinhart began his investigation into the de-spicification of jalapeos in his own kitchen, writing: Its not just you: jalapeo peppers are less spicy and less predictable than ever before. As heat-seekers chase ever-fiercer varieties of pepperCarolina reapers, scorpions, ghoststhe classic jalapeo is going in the opposite direction by design. He then speaks with Dallas-area chefs, many of whom agree jalapeos have lost their fieriness. But you cant just yak with Texans if you want to investigate chile peppers; you have to consult the expertsin this case: Stephanie Walker, extension vegetable specialist at New Mexico State University, advisory board member of that universitys Chile Pepper Institute, and chair of the 2023 New Mexico Chile Conference. Walker says shes heard the complaints about jalapeos diminishing kick and, it turns out, she has a theory, which Reinhart characterizes as the vast jalapeo conspiracy. We wont completely spoil the story of how jalapeos lost their punch (its a good read) but suffice it to say: big processing, cross-breeding and Texas shoulder some of the blame.

The National Weather Service forecasts another relatively calm day for Santa Fe, with sunny skies, a high temperature near 72 degrees and north wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. However, elevated fire conditions are in effect throughout much of the state and, yesterday, interagency fire officials reported the Las Cocas fire, burning just south of Guadalupita in Mora County. As of last night, the fire was at estimated at 75 to 100 acres and 10% containment, with volunteer firefighters digging hand lines; and Santa Fe hot shots en route. The cause of the fire is under investigation. In the wake of last years devastating Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon wildfire, caused by prescribed burns, fire officials this week say they postponed a scheduled prescribed burn scheduled to have begun Sunday in the Carson National Forest in response to this weeks dangerous fire weather.

Thanks for reading! The Word almost wishes she was in New Jersey so she could visit the Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory exhibition at Princeton University Library, about which Jasmine Liu writes compellingly in the LA Times Review of Books.

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Virgin Galactic Announces Return to Space, Crew | - Santa Fe Reporter

Experience the extraordinary world of space travel in Grande Centre Point Space Pattaya

Humans love to travel, to explore, and to experience new things. And because of that love and curiosity, it even pushed for the development of space exploration where astronauts go out of the earth to travel the universe and explore the unknown.

But not all of us can do that. The good thing is, some hotels and accommodations are bringing the space travel experience closer to its customers through space themed hotels and parks. One of those establishments is the Grande Centre Point Space. Located at Pattaya, in Thailand, this hotel is named as Thailand's first-ever space themed hotel.

A product of innovative cutting edge design and technology, this hotel has 490 space rooms and suites inspired from actual space capsules, 12,000 square meter space water park, game zones, and a lot more.

Prior check-in, guests can already have a taste of spaces top-notch technology. By moving their hands to the 88 square meter interactive wall, they can embark on fun and exciting adventures by completing computer generated missions.

In time of entering their capsules, they will be greeted by a space equipped with Wi-Fi, bathtub, shower, balcony with overlooking view of Pattaya Beach, that they enjoy with complimentary snacks and softdrinks in every room. Meanwhile, those who will book their own space suites will have all of the mentioned features plus built-in bluetooth speaker, capsule coffee with its machine, and jacuzzi. At night time, guests can opt to switch on the space light features in the room. These lights mimic the wonders of celestial space at night. Its like exploring the universe while laying in the comfort of their own bed.

After a relaxing sleep, guests can enjoy the hotels vast water park. This Space Water Park is divided into four theme zonesflying rocks, mountain, space pirate beach, and planet zone. Adrenaline junkies will have a great time in flying zones for it has two water chutes including an eight-meter slide tower, that will send them flying into an endless loop. This zone also has its outdoor playground with a sandpit and trampoline.

For those who love a chill time with nature, the mountain zone features a lazy river, a cave pool, and jungle jacuzzi. Meanwhile, party goers will surely flock to the space pirate beach zone. Made with artificial white sand beach with waves, this zone also has its own space beach bar that does not simply offer drinks but some of Thailands famous street food. Lastly, families, especially the kids will enjoy the planet zone, as it has its own mini golf course, pool, and amphitheater.

On top of all of these, Grande Centre Point Space Pattaya is also boasting its various in-house restaurants including the Orbit that has 420 sitting capacity and offers a wide selection of buffet and other menu options. Theres also the Solo Luna, the hotels rooftop restaurant, where guests can enjoy the magnificent view of Pattaya while enjoying Thai food.

And this is how ordinary humans can travel to space without leaving the Earth.

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A tour inside the Thailand's first space themed hotel - Manila Bulletin