Year: 2021

Erupting Volcano Devours Drone

Aside Markozen.com Nature

A mesmerizing video captured by a drone flying over an erupting volcano in Iceland shows the moment when the UAV gets too close to the action and winds up being devoured by lava. The amazing piece of footage was reportedly captured last week by photographer Joey Helms as he was filming the ongoing eruption of Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano. Over the last few months, the site has become something of a proverbial hot spot for drone operators looking to capture amazing footage. This particular flight, however, provided a previously unseen and rather destructive perspective.

Flying over a river of lava, Helms’ drone eventually hovers atop the volcano’s central crater as massive plumes of lava are ejected into the air. Suddenly, the UAV begins to sound as if it is in distress and then it is quickly devoured by the molten rock. Explaining what caused the downfall of his drone, Helms said that “around the volcano where you have the hot gases emitted they cause turbulences all around it and hot rocks raining on to you, flying these things is even more tricky.” While the daring flight may have cost him his drone, it did provide the photographer with what we presume he hopes will be a one-of-a-kind piece of footage.

An Outdoor Observation Deck in NYC like no other

Aside Markozen.com Buildings

30 Hudson Yards (also the North Tower) is a super-tall skyscraper in the West Side area of Manhattan. Located near Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Penn Station area, the building is part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, a plan to redevelop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s West Side Yard. It is the sixth-tallest building in New York City.

The building has a triangular observation deck jutting out from the 100th floor, with a bar and event space on the 101st floor. This observation deck, at 1,100 feet, opened in March 2020 and is the second highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, after Toronto’s CN Tower Outdoor SkyTerrace (342m or 1,122 feet). (New York’s One World Trade Center has an observation deck on floors 100-102, at 1,268 feet and Chicago’s Willis Tower has an observation deck on its 103rd floor, at 1,354 feet; however, they are both enclosed.) It offers new skyline views to the south and east of Manhattan, the surrounding boroughs, and New Jersey.

The observation deck is called Edge NYC.

Mars: Nasa’s Perseverance rover’s first 100 days in pictures

Aside Markozen.com Space
Mars landscape acquired by Nasa's Perseverance rover, using its left Mastcam-Z camera, on 27 March 2021

Nasa’s Perseverance rover is celebrating 100 Martian days (sols) since landing on Mars, where it is hunting for signs of past microbial life, and seeking to investigate the planet’s geology and past climate.

Since touching down on 18 February, the robot has captured some amazing images from around its landing site, Jezero Crater, a 49km (30 mile) wide impact depression just north of the Red Planet’s equator.

A small helicopter, Ingenuity, has also returned aerial images, having made history with the first powered, controlled flights on another planet.

Here is a selection of pictures sent back from the mission so far.

Self portrait of Nasa’s Perseverance Mars rover with the Ingenuity helicopter, on 6 April 2021
image captionOn 6 April, Perseverance used the Watson (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera to take this selfie next to the Ingenuity helicopter. This photo is made up of 62 individual images which were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth.
Nasa's Ingenuity helicopter can be seen with all four of its legs deployed below the Perseverance rover, on 30 March 2021
image captionDays earlier, Ingenuity had been deployed from underneath the rover.
Nasa’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is seen here in a close-up taken by Mastcam-Z, on 5 April 2021
image captionThe 1.8kg (4lb) helicopter is regarded as a technology demonstration for the potential of aerial mobility in the thin Martian atmosphere.
Nasa's Ingenuity Mars helicopter on its first flight, on 19 April 2021
image captionOn 19 April, Ingenuity made history with the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. The chopper, which is visible near the centre of this image, rose to about 3m (10ft) above ground and hovered for several seconds, before touching back down.
An aerial image captured by Nasa's Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its second successful flight test on 22 April 2021
image captionIngenuity captured its first colour aerial image while on its second flight. The drone hovered about 5m (16ft) above the ground, tilted and moved laterally 2m (6ft), before returning to the spot it took off from. Perseverance’s tracks and Ingenuity’s shadow are visible on the Martian surface below.
Rover viewed on Mars
image captionIngenuity photographed Perseverance while on its third flight. At the time, the mini-helicopter was about 85m (278ft) from the rover and flying laterally at an altitude of 5m (16ft). One of Ingenuity’s feet is also visible at the edge of the image, just below the rover.
Nasa’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter airborne on its fifth flight, on 7 May 2021
image captionOn 7 May, Ingenuity reached a height of 10m (33ft), before flying 129m (423ft) to a new landing spot.
An image of part of the rover and its tracks on the ground, taken during Perseverance's first drive on 4 March 2021
image captionTwo months earlier, Perseverance went for its first drive since it landed in Jezero Crater. The one-tonne rover is carrying an advanced payload of instruments to gather information about Mars’ geology, atmosphere and environmental conditions.
A rock photographed by Nasa's Mars Perseverance rover's right Mastcam-Z camera, on 28 March 2021
image captionPerseverance is equipped with a laser that is designed to help it collect data on the planet’s geology. While investigating this 15cm (6in) rock, the instrument left the faint row of dots that is visible near its centre.
Rocks photographed by Nasa's Mars Perseverance rover's right Mastcam-Z camera, on 13 May 2021
image captionThe rover is also equipped with a variety of different cameras. This image was taken by the “right eye” of Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z, one of a pair of cameras that provide a stereo view similar to what human eyes would see.
Mars landscape photographed by Nasa's Perseverance rover's left Mastcam-Z camera, on 22 March 2021
image captionThis image was taken with the left Mastcam-Z camera and was selected by public vote to be featured as “Image of the Week” for Week 6 of the rover’s mission.
Santa Cruz hill photographed by Nasa’s Perseverance Mars rover's Mastcam-Z imager, on 29 April 2021
image captionThis image shows Santa Cruz, a hill about 1.5 miles (2.5km) away from the rover. The entire scene is inside Mars’ Jezero Crater; the crater’s rim can be seen on the horizon line beyond the hill.

The Perseverance rover has initial funding to operate for one Mars year, roughly two Earth years.

BBC

Bed Shotgun Racks

Aside Markozen.com Crime

I used to laugh when I would see bed shotgun racks in the States. But after watching countless American real crime and reality cop shows over the past couple years I’ve changed my mind. If I lived in the States I would have one to. I’d also have a .44 magnum behind the toilet and a machine pistol in my glove compartment. And maybe an AK-47 behind the couch.

The Ventures

Aside Markozen.com Music

The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band, formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar in the United States and across the world during the 1960s. While their popularity in the United States waned in the 1970s, the group remains especially revered in Japan, where they tour regularly to this day. The classic lineup of the band consisted of Wilson (rhythm guitar), Bogle (initially lead guitar, switched to bass), Nokie Edwards (initially bass, switched to lead guitar), and Mel Taylor (drums).

Yogi Bear Country

Aside Markozen.com Advertising

You have to be in your late fifties or sixties to know who Yogi and Boo-Boo are.

Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic funny animal who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.

Yogi Bear was the first breakout character in animated television; he was created by Hanna-Barbera and was eventually more popular than Huckleberry Hound. In January 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show, sponsored by Kellogg’s, which included the segments Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle. Hokey Wolf replaced his segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show. A musical animated feature film, Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!, was released in 1964.

Original Yogi cartoon:

Bush Family Divided Over Whether or Not White House is Haunted

Aside Markozen.com Paranormal

Video at bottom.

An amusing difference of opinion has emerged among the Bush family as to whether or not the White House is haunted as the former first lady dismissed such an idea, while her daughter insists that it’s true. The proverbial paranormal divide reportedly came to light earlier this month when Laura Bush appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show. During her conversation, the former first lady was asked if she had ever experienced ghostly activity at the White House as her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, has claimed happened to her and her sister while they were living there. Unfortunately for the former first daughters, their mother responded in the negative and suggested that they were imagining the spooky activity.

“Barbara and Jenna were the ones that felt like it was haunted and pretended they heard voices,’ she said, “it’s probably just the secret service talking down the hall in another room that they heard, but we didn’t think it was haunted.” As one might imagine, having her paranormal experience debunked by her mother on national television didn’t sit too well with daughter Jenna, who pushed back on the assertion that she was exaggerating during a subsequent appearance on the Today Show. Explaining that the two sisters would often hear “1920s piano music” being played outside their room at night, she recounted talking to a longtime worker at the White House, named Buddy, about the weirdness.

“I said, ‘Buddy, you wouldn’t believe what Barbara and I heard last night,'” she recalled, “and he said, ‘oh Jenna, you wouldn’t believe what I’ve seen in these walls.'” The former first daughter went on to offer to call her sister so that she could confirm their experience and argued that it’s rather unlikely that secret service agents were playing 1920s piano music outside their room at night. ” I love my mom,” she said with a laugh, “but the ghost might not have been into her.”