Month: December 2017

Scientists just found the oldest known black hole, and it’s a monster

Eduardo Bañados had three nights to spot something that might not even exist: a supermassive black hole close to the beginning of time. At the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, perched high atop a mountain in the world’s driest desert, he scanned for … Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Battle of Nineveh (627 CE)

The Battle of Nineveh was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Dynasty, the last dynasty of native rulers to reign in Persia. Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, was able to draw his Persian adversaries onto a favorable battlefield by feigning a retreat, thereby securing victory for his troops. The loss seriously damaged the Sassanids’ power. Within decades, the weakened Sassanid dynasty would be toppled by the Arab Conquest. What fate did the Sassanid king suffer after Nineveh? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (United States)

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated by Roman Catholics in the southwestern United States, where the Spanish influence is still strong. At the pueblo just north of Taos, New Mexico, there is an impressive torchlight procession on December 12. At the Jemez Pueblo, matachines (clowns or buffoons) perform a variety of ceremonial dances. At churches and plazas throughout New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, such traditional Native American dances as the arc and arrow, gourd, braid, feather, palm, owl, and snake dances are performed on this day. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

John Jay (1745)

Though Jay initially deplored the growing conflict between Britain and its American colonies, he became a staunch supporter of the revolution once it began. He was heavily involved in early US government and urged ratification of the Constitution. He served as the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, among other posts. Today considered one of the “Founding Fathers,” Jay once joked that he could travel from Boston to Philadelphia by the light of his burning effigies after he had done what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hydras

Hydras are simple freshwater organisms found in temperate and tropical regions. They are especially interesting to biologists because they undergo morphallaxis when injured, regenerating new body parts to replace dead or damaged tissue. When a hydra is severed in two, for example, its segments reorganize to form two fully functional, independent hydras. Some evidence suggests that hydras are unique among animals in that they do not experience senescence, meaning they do not undergo what process? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Last Manned Lunar Landing (1972)

With the Apollo program drawing to a close, the astronauts of Apollo 17 knew that it would be some time before anyone returned to the Moon. Hours after the mission’s launch, the astronauts snapped the famous “Blue Marble” photograph of a fully illuminated Earth. Days later, they landed on the Moon. On their three moonwalks, they explored miles of the Taurus-Littrow region, collected rock samples, and set up equipment for remote data collection. Who was the last person to walk on the Moon? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary