Allerton Bywater is a village in the city of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. The River Aire, popular with swans, flows through it.
aviation
” One Airport Literally Charging for Breathing Air … ” !!!
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
A man walks inside the Simon Bolivar airport in La Guaira, outside Caracas.
As if flying wasn’t bad enough these days (we even have to keep our cellphones pre-charged now, egh), one airport has taken air travel to its most comical (read:worst) : Simon Bolivar International Airport is charging passengers for clean air, starting this month.
Well, really what they’re doing is charging flyers for the right to breathe clean air, in the form of a tax — not that that’s much better, really.
From July onwards, anyone flying to or from Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia in Caracas is going to have spend 125 bolivars — roughly $20, depending on the highly variable exchange rate — on what the airport has called a “breathing tax.”
Ostensibly, the fee is in order to pay for a “state-of-the-art” air purification system, which “deodorizes” and “sanitizes” the building (just how smelly and dirty was it before, you have to wonder). It’s the first of its kind in South America, the ministry of water and air transport boasts, and will help “protect the health of travelers.”
If you’re thinking that this sounds suspiciously like a pricey air conditioning unit, you’re not alone. The move has caused a furor on social media in Venezuela, where people are already pretty unhappy with the government of Nicolas Maduro.
Recently, Maduro’s office has put in place certain currency controls that have stopped international airlines — like Delta and American Airlines, for example — from repatriating what they make from selling tickets in Venezuela. What this has meant is that Delta, American, United and Canada Air have all severely cut down their flights to the country — which, as you can imagine, has not been so good for Maiquetia Airport’s revenues.
“We are isolated as airlines have reduced flights to the U.S. by more than 80 percent,” Jesus Ernesto Ortiz, president of Caracas travel agency Happy Tour Group, told Bloomberg earlier this week. “Venezuela is going to receive less flights than Cuba or Haiti. It is the first time the Venezuela airlines sector is facing a crisis like that.”
Well, it certainly puts Easyjet’s fees into perspective, if nothing else.
Source:::: Business Insider .com
Natarajan
Image of the Day…A Rocket Reentry over the Skies of Australia…
Bright meteor over Australia on July 10 was a rocket reentry
That bright meteor over Australia – seen by many – was likely the reentry of the upper state of a Soyuz rocket, launched two days earlier. over
UPDATE JULY 10 AT 1815 UTC (1:15 P.M. CDT). Experts are now reporting that today’s bright meteor – widely reported over southeastern Australia today (July 10, 2014) – was not a piece of natural space debris, but instead was the reentry of the upper state of a Soyuz rocket, launched on July 8. It seems the meteor was part of the vehicle used to launch Russia’s second Meteor-M weather satellite. Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589), an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, tweeted that the Australian meteor was:
… Object 40077, 3rd stage from Meteor-M launch, reentered over Australia at about 1145 UTC Jul 10
Daniel Fischer (@cosmos4u) pointed out that time and location of the Australian meteor event appear to match the last TIP (Tracking and Impact Prediction) message for the reentry. And, as Fischer pointed out on Twitter just now:
He’s talking about the video below, caught by in Australia via mobile phone. You can see that the meteor does take awhile to streak across the sky, and, indeed, in verbal reports of the meteor from earlier today, people were commenting on how slow it was.
Thursday night in Australia, reports of a very bright and slow-moving shooting star flooded into the Brisbane Times, which covers the widely populated states of Victoria and New South Wales in southeastern Australia. People in the city of Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, also reported a bright object streaking through the sky. The Sun Herald in Melbourne reported:
Social media lit up when the unusual spectacle was seen at around 10pm.
The object – described by witnesses as like a flame – was reported to be flying rapidly.
Charmaine Harris from Thornbury said it lasted more than a minute.
The Australia Bureau of Meteorology, which received reports of the July 10 meteor around 10 p.m., at first said it could be natural debris from space or artificial space junk. Now, it appears it was space junk.
Aviation Week reported on the launch of a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage – carrying a Russian weather satellite and six small spacecraft to orbit on July 8. According to Aviation Week, liftoff took place at 9:58 p.m. local time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
They said this satellite – Russia’s second Meteor-M weather satellite – is designed to monitor global hydrometeorological data for weather forecasting and to gather data on the ozone and radiation environment in near-Earth space. It will also measure sea-surface temperature, monitoring icy conditions at the poles for navigation. The satellite itself, presumably still safely in orbit, has a design life of five years.
Bottom line: A bright meteor was seen by many in Australia around 10 p.m. local time on July 10, 2014. Experts are now reporting that the meteor was not a piece of natural space debris, but instead was the reentry of the upper state of a Soyuz rocket, launched on july8.
Source:::: Earth sky news
Natarajan
A Close Call For Two Planes …Scary Too !!!
Pilots averted a catastrophic situation on Saturday when two planes nearly collided at Barcelona Airport in Spain.
The video shows an Utair Boeing 767-300 on final approach to a runway just as an Aerolineas Argentineas Airbus A340-300 prepares to take off.
The Utair pilots quickly aborts the landing, pulling up and clearing the plane on the ground.
YouTube/Barcelona-El Prat In’tl
The manoeuvre is risky because the plane has to unexpectedly re-enter the air, which is populated with other planes.
The Utair pilots close the landing gear doors and circle around for another landing attempt.
Meanwhile, the Airbus takes off unscathed.
Eventually, the Utair flight lands safely on its second attempt.
A very scary close call.
Here’s the full video:
Source:::: Business Insider AU and You Tube
Natarajan
Joke of the Day… “but ten dollars are ten dollars… ” !!!
Stumpy Grinder and his wife Martha were from Portland, Maine. Every year they went to the Portland Fair and every year Stumpy said, “Ya know, Mahtha, I’d like ta get a ride in that theah aihplane.” And every year, Martha would say “I know, Stumpy, but that aihplane ride costs ten dollahs .. and ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”
So one year Stumpy says, “By Jeebers, Mahtha, I’m 71 yeahs old, and if I don’t go this time I may nevah go.” Martha replies, “Stumpy, that there aihplane ride is ten dollahs … and ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”
So the pilot overhears then and says, “Folks, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say ONE WORD, then I won’t charge you. But just ONE WORD and it’s ten dollars.”
They agree and up they go… the pilot does all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word is heard. He does it one more time, and there is still no word… so he lands.
He turns to Stumpy as they come to a stop and says, “By golly, I did everything I could think of to get you to holler out, but you didn’t.”
And Stumpy replies “Well, I was gonna say something when Mahtha fell out … but ten dollahs is ten dollahs.”
Source::::Joke a day.com
Natarajan
Image of the day… A Drone Flies Thro Fireworks !!!
Jos Stiglingh captured this stunning video with a GoPro Hero 3 Silver, showing the view from a DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter flying in and above a fireworks display. He filmed it in West Palm Beach, Florida. Jos said:
Be sure to watch in HD!
Not everyone agrees flying a drone through fireworks is a good idea. Gregory S. McNeal said today (July 4, 2014) on Forbes that flying a drone through fireworks might land you in prison:
There’s no doubt that [Stiglingh’s] HD video is stunning. It’s also dangerous and likely unlawful (at least if it occurred in the United States). The flight is unsafe as the existence of the drone in the airspace above the fireworks display creates an increased risk of hazardous debris (from the fireworks or the drone) falling into spectator areas. There is also the possibility that a firework colliding with a drone may divert the pyrotechnic downward into spectator areas, causing it to detonate where it otherwise should not.
McNeal later adds that Steglingh’s drone might have been directed through a safety zone over the ocean, established by the coast guard.
Bottom line: Don’t try this at home! Jos Steglingh has captured a video of a drone flying through fireworks that many are viewing today. No wonder. It’s stunning.
Source:::: Earth Sky News
Natarajan
Image of the Day…Dust Storm …
Dramatic shots of the July 3 dust storm – aka haboob – in Phoenix. Thanks to all who posted on EarthSky’s Facebook page.
Phoenix, Arizona got its first big dust storm yesterday (July 3, 2014). These storms, also known as haboobs, occur the summer months in the southwest United States. They’re caused by the monsoonal flow that helps provide rain for parts of Arizona. If some storms develop away from a dry area, then the outflow and winds from that storm can produce dust storms in the region. Check out these amazing images of yesterday’s storm!
Abc15.com has a huge gallery of images of the July 3, 2014 storm in Phoenix
Source:::: Earth sky news
Natarajan
Stunning Aerial Photos of Brazil”s Soccer Fields …
via The Creators Project
The community surrounding ‘The Beautiful Game’ is huge, and is a unifying force for countries all over the world. All that soccer requires is a ball, a couple goals, and some players—that’s part of what makes it so brilliant.
As many cities in the World Cup’s current home country are occupied by the most famous soccer players in the world, Brazilian photographer and journalist Renato Stockler’s photo essay Terrão de Cima captures the pure democratic essence and simplicity of the soccer fields ensconced in Sao Paulo neighborhoods.
Stockler says in the project’s description that the fields he photographs, “Are a breath for the hard daily life of those who live in the outskirts of Sao Paulo. These fields show the urgency for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fight for leisure in a city as Sao Paulo.”
The reddish dirt and uneven patches of grass that make up most of the fields are a harsh contrast to the soft greens that soccer fans are accustomed to watching. All the same, Stockler says that when the hard day’s work is at an end, it’s easy to find tight knit communities of players, friends, and family gathered around the sparse field to blow off steam.
Terrão de Cima, which loosely translates to, “The Ground from Above,” is a love letter to the rugged fields of Stockler’s home, which are fast disappearing due to land speculation.
Aerial photography is the perfect medium for the task, since it shows the incredible variance in color, shape, and texture of local soccer fields, yet also captures the players as a single unit—a culture, rather than just a bunch of people. We’re still not sure we’d want to slide tackle anyone on these fields, but we’re more than ok with ogling them from above.
via The Creators Project
via The Creators Project
via The Creators Project
via The Creators Project
via The Creators Project
via The Creators Project
via The Creators
Source:::: Business Insider .com
Natarajan
Image Of the Day… Upside-Down Rainbow !!!
upside-down rainbow. What is it?
Circumzenithal arc by Dudley Williams
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People who look up a lot may occasionally see the rainbow-like arcs depicted in the photos on this page. They’re called circumzenithal arcs, and they’re not really rainbows. Instead, they’re caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. These arcs are related to the frequently seen halos around the sun or moon. Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics says of these graceful and colorful arcs:
The circumzenithal arc, CZA, is the most beautiful of all the halos. The first sighting is always a surprise, an ethereal rainbow fled from its watery origins and wrapped improbably about the zenith. It is often described as an “upside down rainbow” by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to “a grin in the sky”.
Look straight up near to the zenith when the sun if fairly low and especially if sundogs are visible. The centre of the bow always sunwards and red is on the outside.
Les says that the most ideal time to see a circumzenithal arc is when the sun is at a height of 22 degrees in the sky. Look here to see Les Cowley’s illustration of the various kinds of halo phenomena, related to circumzenithal arcs. And enjoy the photos below, contributed by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed.
Bottom line: When you see an upside-down rainbow in the sky, you are likely seeing a circumzenithal arc. It’s related the halos often seen around the sun or moon, caused by ice crystal in the upper atmosphere. The photos here are by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed!
Gallery: Rainbows around the world
Source::::: Deborah Byrd In Earth sky news site
Natarajan
Image of the Day…
Northern Illinois storm clouds on June 30
A farmer captured this photo of a serious storm sweeping through northern Illinois on Monday, June 30.
On Monday, June 30, 2014, flooding, downed trees and fires caused by lightning strikes snarled traffic, cut power and delayed or canceled hundreds of flights in and out of Chicago, Illinois. Steve Pitstick of Pitstick Farms in northern Illinois caught some of the storm clouds of this heavy-weather day on film.
Illinois was said to be hit particularly hard in Monday’s storms, but the central U.S. as a whole had tornadoes, high winds, hail and heavy rains that day. By Tuesday morning, hundreds of thousands of people were without power and trying to clean up damaged homes and roadways, according to the National Weather Service.
Source:::: Earth sky news site
Natarajan
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