A toolkit will fly above the UK on Tuesday night, after it was drifted into the ether during a mission last week.
Nasa astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Harra were fixing a solar panel on the International Space Station (ISS) when their tool bag just… slipped into space.
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And because it was seen as low risk, the astronauts just left it behind.
Now, the bright, white bag is travelling 250 miles above Earth, around five minutes ahead of the ISS.
It’s surprisingly visible to people on the ground too, meaning you don’t have to be a NASA astronaut to see it – you just need binoculars or a telescope, and a spot of good weather.
Anyone in the south of the UK should be able to spot it between 6.24pm and 6.34pm on Tuesday evening, and it’s expected to return on November 24 between 5.30pm and 5.41pm.
It was first spotted by the Virtual Telescope Project last week, and it’s now being tracked by the US Space Force to make sure it doesn’t threaten the ISS or satellites.
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Some estimates reported last week in the Smithsonian Magazine suspect it will re-enter the atmosphere between March and July 2024.
This is not the first time astronauts have lost something into space, though.
Nasa astronaut Ed White lost a spare glove in 1965 during a spacewalk, and in 2006, fellow Nasa astronaut Piers Seller lost a spatula as he repaired a heat shield.
And Nasa’s Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper also lost her toolbag when attempting to repair parts of the ISS back in November 2008, as she became the first woman to lead a space walk, ever, at the time.
Worries about space debris are growing.
More than 170 million pieces have been dropped into the universe since that first glove was dropped back by White almost 60 years ago.
The solitary bit of foliage was known for growing at a natural trough between two small hills at the Roman-era Hadrian’s Wall, creating quite the picturesque scene.
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The tree was often named after the 1991 film it starred in, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was a real tourist attraction.
The Northumberland icon was even named Tree of the Year in 2016 by Woodland Trust.
Its exact age was unknown, but it was believed to be around 300 years old.
However, it was found cut in two in a reported act of vandalism on Thursday morning – prompting an outpouring of sadness on social media.
Aerial view of the ‘Sycamore Gap’ tree on Hadrian’s Wall lying on the ground.
Jeff J Mitchell via Getty Images
Still, the National Trust general manager Andrew Poad told BBC Breakfast that the stump which remained was “healthy” and so could be used to grow new shoots – a technique known as coppicing.
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He said: “It’s a very healthy tree, we can see that now, because of the condition of the stump, it may well regrow a coppice from the stump, and if we could nurture that then that might be one of the best outcomes, and then we keep the tree.”
However, the estate manager at the Woodland Trust, said it would take a few years to develop into “even a small tree” – and up to 200 years “before it is anywhere close to what we have lost”.
He added: “Once a tree of this age has gone, the sad truth is you can’t replace them within any visible timeframe. It takes centuries.”
A 16-year-old boy was arrested on the suspicion of criminal damage as part of a police investigation into the incident on Thursday.
Police said at the time that he was in custody and helping with the investigation.
Northumberland National Park Authority officials have also concluded that the tree was “deliberately felled”.
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The high sheriff of Northumberland, Diana Barkes, said the incident was a “huge loss” to everyone, according to the BBC.
She added: “Whether we can create something out of the wood for people to come and remember the tree and remember their loved ones, I don’t know, but maybe.”
Mexican lawmakers heard testimony that “we are not alone” in the universe and saw the alleged remains of non-human beings in an extraordinary hearing marking the Latin American country’s first congressional event on UFOs.
In the hearing on Tuesday on FANI, the Spanish acronym for what are usually now termed Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), politicians were shown two artifacts that Mexican journalist and long-time UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan claimed were the corpses of extraterrestrials.
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The specimens were not related to any life on Earth, Maussan said.
The two tiny “bodies,” displayed in cases, have three fingers on each hand and elongated heads.
Maussan said they were recovered in Peru near the ancient Nazca Lines in 2017.
He said that they were about 1,000 years old, analysed through a carbon dating process by Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM).
Similar such finds in the past have turned out to be the remains of mummified children.
Maussan said it was the first time such evidence had been presented.
“I think there is a clear demonstration that we are dealing with non-human specimens that are not related to any other species in our world and that all possibilities are open for any scientific institution… to investigate it,” Maussan said.
“We are not alone,” he added.
Remains of allegedly ‘non-human’ beings presented in Mexico
HENRY ROMERO
Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez, Director of the Scientific Institute for Health of the Mexican navy, said X-rays, 3-D reconstruction and DNA analysis had been carried out on the remains.
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“I can affirm that these bodies have no relation to human beings,” he said.
UNAM on Thursday republished a statement first issued in 2017, saying the work by its National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry with Accelerators (LEMA) was only intended to determine the age of the samples.
“In no case do we make conclusions about the origin of said samples,” the statement said.
Lawmakers also heard from former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who has participated in US Congressional hearings about his personal experience with UAP and the stigma around reporting such sightings.
Congressman Sergio Gutierrez, from President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s ruling Morena party, said he hoped the hearing would be the first of other similar events in Mexico.
“We are left with reflections, with concerns and with the path to continue talking about this,” Gutierrez said.
In recent years, the US government has done an about-face on public information on UAP after decades of stonewalling and deflecting.
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The Pentagon has been actively investigating reported sightings in recent years by military aviators, while an independent NASA panel studying UFOs is the first of its kind by the space agency.
NASA is set to discuss findings from the study on Thursday.
Maussan faced swift backlash and criticism from sceptics on Wednesday who questioned the authenticity of his presentation.
“This could really hurt efforts to take the issue seriously,” said a user of X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. “Why didn’t they wait until a scientific paper was ready to publish it?”
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison and Reuters TV, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
The 96-year-old monarch “died peacefully” at Balmoral in Scotland on Sept. 8, 2022, after an astounding 70-year reign.
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“As we mourn a year on, we also celebrate the wonderful times we shared with Her Late Majesty the Queen,” Ferguson, also affectionately known as “Fergie,” wrote on social media Friday.
“She entrusted me with the care of her corgis Sandy and Muick and I am delighted to say they are thriving,” Fergie shared, alongside a photo of herself with the two pups.
As we mourn a year on, we also celebrate the wonderful times we shared with Her Late Majesty the Queen. She entrusted me with the care of her corgis Sandy and Muick and I am delighted to say they are thriving. pic.twitter.com/xlrXIDe53E
The late queen was known for her love of corgis, and owned over 30 dogs during her lifetime.
Though it was reported that the monarch was going to stop breeding corgis toward her last few years ― so she would not leave any of her animals behind after her death ― she was given two puppies by her son, Prince Andrew, during the coronavirus lockdown.
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Though one of the dogs passed away shortly after being gifted to the queen, she was given another dog not long thereafter.
After the queen died in September 2022, Sandy and Muick were entrusted to the care of the Duke of York and Fergie.
The dogs memorably made an appearance at the queen’s funeral on Sept. 19, where they were shown waiting for their owner’s coffin to arrive at Windsor Castle.
Members of the Royal Household stand with the queen’s royal Corgis, Muick and Sandy, as they await the wait for the funeral cortege on Sept. 19, 2022, in Windsor.
Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
Members of the royal family paid tribute to the late monarch on Friday, each in their own way.
King Charles released a statement and audio recording shared with HuffPost on Thursday, saying that “we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.”
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In marking the first anniversary of Her late Majesty’s death and my Accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us.
I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during… pic.twitter.com/NfM6LDWTA0
Prince William and Kate Middleton visited St Davids Cathedral in Wales, where the two honoured “Her Late Majesty and all that she did for communities like this around the UK, the Commonwealth and the world.”
In a personal message from the couple ― signed W&C ― the two also paid tribute to the queen on their social media accounts, writing “Today we remember the extraordinary life and legacy of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. We all miss you.”
A moment of reflection at St Davids Cathedral honouring Her Late Majesty and all that she did for communities like this around the UK, the Commonwealth and the world. pic.twitter.com/44JXfwCc4S
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 8, 2023
Prince Harry, who was in the UK on Sept. 7 for the WellChild Awards, spoke of his grandmother during a speech at the event.
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“As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year, as my grandmother passed away,” the Duke of Sussex said. “As you also probably know, she would have been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her. And that’s precisely why I know ― exactly one year on ― she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we’re together continuing to spotlight such an incredible community.”
On Friday, the duke visited St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where the late queen was laid to rest. She is buried alongside her husband, Prince Philip, as well as her father, mother and sister, Princess Margaret.
At least four of the eight candidates on stage falsely claimed that people are getting abortions up until birth. But the Florida governor went a little further.
DeSantis claimed to know a woman named “Penny” who he said “survived multiple abortion attempts” and “was left discarded in a pan.”
He added: “Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and brought her to a different hospital.”
DeSantis then declared that Republicans “are not going to allow abortion all the way up ’til birth,” referring to something that, again, is not actually happening to begin with, no matter what Republican politicians desperate for primary voters might say.
Many people on social media were sceptical that DeSantis’ story is true and that his good friend Penny even exists.
HuffPost reached out to the DeSantis campaign to ask about the governor’s friendship with Penny and whether they would make her available for interviews, but no one immediately responded.
DeSantis may have been referring to an anti-abortion rights activist from Michigan named Miriam “Penny” Hopper, who has claimed she was born in 1955 at 23 weeks old after her parents decided to have an abortion.
Tens of thousands were without power in Southern California on Sunday night after Tropical Storm Hilary brought damaging winds and the threat of “life-threatening flooding” to the region, prompting warnings across the state and as far north as Oregon and Idaho.
The centre of the storm made landfall in Southern California near Palm Springs on Sunday night after passing through Mexico. Emergency officials urged residents across the state to stay indoors and off flooded roads, and schools in Los Angeles and San Diego cancelled classes on Monday.
“THIS IS LIFE THREATENING FLOODING!!!!!!” the Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service wrote on Sunday night. The agency declared a flash flood warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties into early Monday morning.
“You do not want to be out driving around, trying to cross flooded roads on vehicle or on foot,” Michael Brennan, the director of the National Hurricane Center, said during a news briefing, per The Associated Press. “Rainfall flooding has been the biggest killer in tropical storms and hurricanes in the United States in the past 10 years, and you don’t want to become a statistic.”
Maximum sustained winds were near 45 mph, but weather officials expected the storm to weaken into a post-tropical cyclone by early Monday. Large parts of California and Nevada were expected to see 3 to 6 inches of rain, with some areas experiencing up to 10 inches in total.
The intensity of the storm and the fact that a hurricane was heading toward California at all has already sparked concerns from climate scientists who have long warned such events will only become more frequent and more severe as climate change continues. It’s too soon to say if Hilary was made more severe by our warmer world, but researchers released a shocking report in 2020 that found climate change is already making hurricanes stronger.
A-level results day has arrived – and, as usual, the internet is full of people either sharing their own accomplishments or sending lengthy commiserations to those who may not have secured the grades they wanted.
Plenty of people share their own stories about receiving their grades as headlines up and down the country reveal the proportion of A or A* grades has fallen from 44.8% at the pandemic peak to 27.2% this year.
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That’s hardly a surprise though, as the government had been planning to bring grades back to pre-pandemic levels.
Still, X (formerly known as Twitter) is currently flooded with users (including celebrities) revealing the minimal impact their A-level results had on their own successful lives.
And while it is definitely an important day for those who receive their results, the occasion tends to turn into a competition online.
Jeremy Clarkson, for instance, rolled out his annual tweet reminding everyone that he got a C and 2Us at A-level – and yet he has “loads of friends and a Bentley” and “my own brewery”.
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Meanwhile education secretary Gilligan Keegan was also criticised for suggesting employers won’t ask about students’ A-level grades within 10 years of their graduation.
Labour’s shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said she was being “rude and dismissive” and “talking down England’s young people”.
So if you’re fed up of seeing this endless dialogue about A-levels and just how much they matter, here are 12 actually funny tweets (or X reactions) to lift your mood:
Don’t worry if your results aren’t what you wanted. I got ABBA, and I still work all night and work all day to pay the bills I have to pay.
Remember kids, your future prosperity does not need to be determined by your A level results. You could just marry a billionaire’s daughter like I did.#alevels2023
I always enjoys those comments on A level day, from people who say ‘Don’t worry if you don’t get the results you hoped for. I failed all my exams and now I’m President of Tunisia and own my own hovercraft!’
A cat in a Nebraska animal shelter has made headlines for his skill with a door handle, but he’s still waiting for an adopter to open their door to him.
“Staff started to go crazy knowing they shut certain doors when they left at night but those same doors would be open in the morning……then today we discovered this,” the Capital Humane Society in Lincoln wrote on July 27 on Facebook.
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The post included a video of a black cat named Grimsen leaping up and grabbing a door’s lever handle with his paws, managing to pull it down to let himself out.
“Grimsen is the ultimate trickster,” the shelter wrote.
The cat’s adoption listing also cites his ingenuity, calling Grimsen a “VERY smart guy” who “has managed to teach himself how to open lever style doorknobs and walk freely amongst the other shelter cats strutting his stuff.”
Early in the morning on the day of the Facebook post, the shelter staff noticed that three different doors were open and Grimsen was strolling the hallway. He was returned to the room he shares with two other cats, but around noon, “Grimsen was spotted walking down the hallway again,” veterinary and behaviour assistant Hillary Brandt told HuffPost in a Facebook message.
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Not long after, Grimsen was once again returned to his room. This time, he was caught red-pawed opening the door.
Grimsen, probably coming up with another scheme.
Capital Humane Society
Unfortunately for a freedom-loving feline like Grimsen, it’s important that doors remain closed, especially after business hours.
“Doors stay closed at night so we know all cats are behaving properly and not throwing parties after hours, making messes and possibly fighting with others who don’t play well with feline friends,” said Sierra Kurth, the shelter’s fundraising and grants coordinator.
Grimsen had to spend a night in a cat condo inside a locked office before the shelter was able to add a hook apparatus to the doorknob of his regular room to prevent him from getting out ― though he still made an attempt.
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The feline’s chaos-causing ways were mostly met with approval by those who commented on the shelter’s video.
“I’m Grimsen’s lawyer,” read a top comment from one justice-minded Facebook user. “My client is innocent.”
His story made multiple local news headlines, with KLKN-TV declaring him the cat who “can’t be contained.”
But despite his number of fans, Grimsen, who came to the shelter as a stray in mid-June, was still looking for someone to adopt him as of Friday. Preferably someone with a good sense of humour.
“He is a very active and comical boy,” Brandt said.
And despite his exceptional intelligence, Grimsen is no snob. His adoption listing notes that he “loves all the pets that you can give him, even when he has escaped and his presence surprises you.”
The body of a former sous-chef at the White House, who went missing while paddleboarding in the waters of Edgartown Great Pond in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, has been recovered Monday, according to authorities.
The Massachusetts State Police have not released the identity of the paddleboarder, but The Associated Press and Chicago Sun Times reported that the victim was Tafari Campbell.
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Both AP and the Sun Times report that Campbell was 45, though MSP says the body recovered was that of a 43-year-old male.
Campbell went to work for the Obamas when they left the White House. In a statement, Barack and Michelle Obama called Campbell a “beloved” part of their family.
“Tafari was a beloved part of our family. When we first met him, he was a talented sous chef at the White House — creative and passionate about food, and its ability to bring people together. In the years that followed, we got to know him as a warm, fun, extraordinarily kind person who made all of our lives a little brighter.”
“That’s why, when we were getting ready to leave the White House, we asked Tafari to stay with us, and he generously agreed. He’s been part of our lives ever since, and our hearts are broken that he’s gone,” said the pair, who purchased their 29-acre Edgartown property in December 2019.
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MSP retrieved the male victim’s body around 10am just one day after he went missing. His body was found approximately 100 feet away from shore, by “deploying side-scan sonars” from a boat. Authorities said the “president and Mrs Obama were not present at the residence at the time of the accident”.
The search for Campbell initially began around 7.46pm on Sunday when Martha’s Vineyard police and fire agencies responded to a call about a male paddleboarder who was unable to stay above water.
Authorities say another paddleboarder was also with him on the pond at the time and witnessed him go under the water.
Multiple agencies were involved in the search, including the Coast Guard, Dukes County Sheriff’s Department, local police, Edgartown fire personnel and other island fire departments.
The State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District and Edgartown police are investigating the incident.
A deadly heatwave is sweeping southern Europe, with a warning of higher temperatures to come and fears of wildfires and threats to agriculture.
What’s happening and where?
The high-pressure system, which crossed the Mediterranean from north Africa, has been named by Italy’s Meteorological Society as Cerberus – the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld.
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Emergency measures were put in place in several countries as temperatures in parts of Mediterranean Europe were set to reach 45C on Friday and into the weekend.
Weather alerts were in place across Spain’s Canary Islands, Italy, Cyprus and Greece, with the Greek authorities expecting temperatures to reach as high as 43C on Friday or Saturday.
Health authorities issued a top, red alert warning for 10 Italian cities for the next two days, including Rome, Florence, Bologna and Perugia.
Meanwhile, in the Arctic, a record high temperature of 28.8C was measured at Slettness Fyr on the northern tip of the Norway, Norwegian meteorologists said on Thursday. This tops a previous record from July 1964 when the thermometer reached 27.6C.
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Cerberus is being tracked by the European Space Agency, which warned that the heatwave will also be felt in parts of northern Europe.
It said: “Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Poland are all facing a major heatwave with temperatures expected to climb to 48 Celsius on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia – potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe.”
What about the UK?
The Met Office has said there is no sign of Cerberus arriving in the UK, with temperatures expected to be close to average or slightly below for July.
As a result of the high pressure being pushed across Europe, low pressure systems have been directed towards the UK. As the UK gets prolonged showers, the weather bureau predicts unsettled conditions to continue for the next few days.
What’s the impact in Europe been?
Tourists in central Athens huddled under mist machines, and zoo animals in Madrid were fed fruit popsicles and chunks of frozen food as measures including staffing changes, cellphone alerts and intensified forest fire patrols were put in place.
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In Athens and other Greek cities, working hours were changed for the public sector and many businesses to avoid the midday heat, while air-conditioned areas were opened to the public.
Authorities put an ambulance on standby near the archaeological site of the Acropolis in Athens, ready to provide first aid to tourists wilting in the heatwave.
A man walks past misting fans of a shop in Athens, on July 13, 2023. Greece’s national weather service EMY on July 10, 2023, said a six-day heatwave would grip Greece starting July 12. (Photo by SPYROS BAKALIS / AFP) (Photo by SPYROS BAKALIS/AFP via Getty Images)
SPYROS BAKALIS via Getty Images
In the Balkans, beachgoers in the Croatian town of Nin smeared themselves in its medicinal local mud to protect themselves from the sun while 56 firefighters with 20 vehicles and three aircraft struggled to contain a brush fire near the Adriatic town of Sibenik.
There are concerns about the impact on those working outdoors in Italy after a 44-year-old man who was painting road markings in the northern town of Lodi collapsed and died this week.
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As Spain’s politicians fret about how the high temperatures might affect turnout in a general election this month, animals in Madrid’s Zoo were this week being treated to frozen food to cool off amid the sweltering.
Italian farmers’ lobby group Coldiretti said milk production was down by around 10% because cows eat less in the heat, drink huge quantities of water and make less milk.
An orangutan licks a treat on a hot and sunny day at the Madrid Zoo, Spain, Thursday, July 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
via Associated Press
What’s causing it? Is climate change a factor?
Professor Hannah Cloke, a climate scientist at Reading University, said that the current heatwave was caused by hot air coming up from the Sahara, with the air mass then becoming lodged across parts of Europe.
She said: “Heat is a silent killer. So this is the main concern that people’s lives are at risk.”
“Certainly, we should immediately stop pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” Cloke added, warning that some changes to the climate were already locked in.
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The impact of extreme summer heat has been brought into focus by research this week that said as many as 61,000 people may have died in Europe’s sweltering heatwaves last summer.
Is there more to come?
The record European temperature of 48.8C was registered in Sicily in August 2021 and that figure could be exceeded.
Luca Lombroso, meteorologist from the AMPRO group in Italy, said: “Next week there will be an even stronger heatwave than this one, some values in the central south will be really freaky.”
“Between Tuesday and Wednesday in Rome and Florence we will probably exceed 40C, which will also be approached in the north,” he added.
