Image caption,The piece of space debris. Picture: Dr Brad Tucker
When Mick Miners, a farmer in New South Wales, Australia, first saw a large black object sticking out of the ground in a remote part of his land, he thought it was a dead tree.
But on closer inspection – and verification from experts – he learned it had fallen from space.
The Australian Space Agency (ASA) later said it came from a SpaceX capsule.
Experts described the discovery as “rare” and “exciting” – but said such events may become more common.
The object landed on 9 July in a large area of fields, but was not discovered by Mr Miners until several weeks later.
Two other pieces were later found nearby, and the ASA asked anyone who came across further items to contact a debris hotline set up by SpaceX.
Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist at the Australian National University, was called to examine the object.
He is often called to similar discoveries – the vast majority of which turn out not to be space debris.
“This has been super exciting to see this all up close, I’ve never seen a piece of space junk fall like this.”
Don Pollacco, a professor of astrophysics at the UK’s Warwick University, agreed that it was very rare for space debris to hit land.
While objects fall from space to Earth every day, the vast majority land in the oceans covering most of the planet, he said.
What’s more, the only recorded case of a person being hit was Lottie Williams, who was unhurt when a piece of space debris landed on her shoulder in Oklahoma, US, in 1997.
Other incidents include damage to buildings in Ivory Coast in 2020, from pieces of a Chinese rocket.
However, discoveries on land may become more common – especially as the number of rockets sent to space has hugely increased in recent years.
The Sun is also moving into a cycle of being more active, Prof Pollacco added, a knock-on effect of which may be more debris falling to Earth.
Perhaps more worrying is a study from Canada’s University of British Columbia, published in July, which found there was a 10% chance of one or more people being killed by space debris in the next decade.
But Prof Pollacco still says the chance of an individual being hurt is “almost zero”, adding: “I don’t think people need to be frightened, the likelihood of them getting hit is unbelievably small.”
Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist from the Australian National University, who first realised the timing and location of the debris falling coincided with a SpaceX spacecraft which re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 7am on 9 July, 20 months after its launchlaunch in November 2020.
Tucker believes the debris came from the unpressurised trunk of the SpaceX capsule, which is critical to take off but dumped when returning to earth.
Tucker also explained why the space debris didn’t create a massive crater when it hit the ground.
When the capsule hit the Earth’s atmosphere, it lost most of its speed because all of the energy was absorbed in the atmosphere, causing it to break apart.
“Like if you throw a ball through a window, the shards of glass don’t necessarily travel at the speed of the ball. They travel slower because of the transfer of energy.”
Dr Sara Webb, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University, explains it’s also possible the debris could have bounced around and bounced further away from where it had initially landed.
Indonesia’s anti-drugs agency is proposing to build a jail that will be surrounded by moats stocked with crocodiles and piranhas.
Indonesia’s drug tsar Budi Waseso said the animal guards would be better than human ones because they could not be bribed.
In November 2015, Indonesia bowed to international pressure and put a temporary halt on executing death row prisoners, so alternatives were sought by the authorities.
Shark Week is an annual, week-long TV programming block created by Tom Golden at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July and/or early August, it was originally devoted to conservation efforts and correcting misconceptions about sharks. Over time, it grew in popularity and became a hit on the Discovery Channel. Since 2010, it has been the longest-running cable television programming event in history.
There can be no better or worse sight than your own reflection, but these vain animals seemed very keen to admire themselves.
Innovative French photographer Xavier Hubert-Brierre traveled to Gabon with his wife and set up a mirror in several locations in order to capture animals walking by.
Superman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in 2003. Author Mark Millar created the comic with the premise “What if Superman had been raised in the Soviet Union?” It received critical acclaim and was nominated for the 2004 Eisner Award for best limited series.
The story mixes alternate versions of DC super-heroes with alternate-reality versions of real political figures such as Joseph Stalin and John F. Kennedy. The series spans approximately 1953-2001, save for a futuristic epilogue.
In Red Son, Superman’s rocket ship lands on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas. Instead of fighting for “truth, justice, and the American Way”, Superman is described in Soviet radio broadcasts “as the Champion of the common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact”. His civilian identity is a state secret.
Plot The Soviet Union reveals Superman to the world in 1953. The news of a superpowered alien under Soviet control causes panic in the United States, shifting the focus of the Cold War arms race from nuclear weapons to metahumans. CIA agent James Olsen recruits Lex Luthor, a scientist employed by S.T.A.R. Labs, to destroy Superman. Luthor’s first act is to cause Sputnik 2 to plummet towards Metropolis. After Superman diverts the satellite away from the city, Luthor retrieves his genetic material and creates a monstrous clone of Superman, whom Lex Luthor names Superman 2.
Meanwhile, Superman meets Wonder Woman at a diplomatic party, and she becomes smitten with him. Pyotr Roslov, the head of the NKVD and Joseph Stalin’s illegitimate son, is angry that Superman has turned his father’s attention away from him and ended his chances of advancement within the Soviet regime. Pyotr shoots a dissident couple in front of their son for printing anti-Superman propaganda. Stalin dies from cyanide poisoning, and Superman initially refuses command of the Communist Party. However, a chance meeting with Lana Lazarenko, his childhood sweetheart, changes his mind. Superman chooses to use his powers for the greater good and turn his country into a utopia.
The U.S. government sends “Superman 2” to engage Superman, and their duel causes an accidental nuclear missile launch in Great Britain. The clone sacrifices itself to save millions. Luthor murders his research staff at S.T.A.R. Labs and founds LuthorCorp, dedicating his life to destroying Superman.
By 1978, the United States is on the verge of social collapse whereas the prosperous Soviet Union has peacefully expanded its influence to nearly every corner of the globe. The cost of this progress is an increased infringement on individual liberties, with Superman fast becoming a Big Brother-like figure, and the introduction of a brain surgery technique that turns dissidents into obedient drones, or “Superman Robots”. Superman now works with Wonder Woman to save lives as well as govern the Soviet state. Wonder Woman has become increasingly enamored of Superman, but he considers her simply as a comrade, and is oblivious to her love for him.
Luthor plans to shrink Moscow, but this plan fails when Brainiac, his collaborator, shrinks Stalingrad instead. Superman intervenes and retrieves both Brainiac’s central processing unit and the tiny city, putting an end to the Brainiac-Luthor cooperation. He is unable to restore Stalingrad and its inhabitants to their proper size. This becomes his one failure and a source of great guilt.
Luthor’s third plan involves the vigilante Batman, who was the boy orphaned by Pyotr. Batman joins forces with LuthorCorp and Pyotr, now head of the KGB. They capture Wonder Woman and use her as bait for Superman, hoping to sap his powers with rays that imitate sunlight from Superman’s home planet. The plan works, but Superman convinces Wonder Woman to break free of the lasso that she is tied up with and destroy the generators running the lamps emitting the solar energy. She does, severely injuring herself in the process, but the lamps stop running and Superman’s powers return. Scared that Superman was going to lobotomize him and turn him into a robot, Batman kills himself as a martyr to his cause. Pyotr is turned into a Superman robot, and Wonder Woman no longer has feelings for Superman, as he shows little to no regard for her injured condition.
Luthor enacts his fourth plan when he finds a mysterious green lantern in an alien ship that crashed at Roswell, New Mexico. Brainiac is reprogrammed into Superman’s aide, and the construction of a Fortress of Solitude, located in Siberia and referred to as “The Winter Palace”, begins. Superman’s reign continues with no crime, poverty, or unemployment, but with an ever-present state authority. Superman is committed to “winning the argument” with the U.S., and repeatedly refuses Brainiac’s suggestions of an invasion. Stalingrad remains his one failure, now contained within a protective glass “bottle”.
In 2001, the U.S. elects Luthor and Olsen as President and Vice President, respectively. Using his scientific expertise, massive economic capital and dictatorial powers, Luthor returns prosperity to his country. This is only a part of a more general plan to provoke Superman into invading the United States. Luthor shows Olsen two of his greatest discoveries: the Phantom Zone, a place that super-hearing cannot reach; and the Green Lantern Corps.
Luthor confronts Superman in the Winter Palace. Brainiac yanks Luthor deep into the recesses of the Fortress to be converted surgically into a Superman Robot, claiming that Lex would convince Superman to commit suicide in less than 14 minutes. Superman agrees that his hand has been forced, and prepares to attack.
First Lady Lois Luthor visits Paradise Island to forge an alliance with the Amazon empire, now ruled by an embittered and vengeful Wonder Woman. Superman attacks the East Coast, confronting and defeating the Green Lantern Marine Corps, which is led by Colonel Hal Jordan. The Amazon forces, commanded by Wonder Woman, attack Superman but are quickly defeated, along with a collection of “super-menaces” (including the Atomic Skull, the Parasite and Doomsday) that Luthor had put together over the years. Brainiac’s spaceship cuts the U.S. Pacific Fleet to pieces, and the two superbeings meet at the White House. They are greeted by Lois Luthor with the last weapon, a small note written by Lex that reads: “Why don’t you just put the whole world in a bottle, Superman?”
Realizing he has meddled in affairs that he had no place in, Superman orders Brainiac to end the invasion. Brainiac, however, reveals it has never been under Superman’s control, and instead attacks Superman with green radiation. Brainiac is shut down from inside by Luthor, who evaded the surgery. As the singularities powering Brainiac’s ship threaten to collapse, Superman rockets it into space, where it explodes. The Earth is saved, but Superman is apparently dead.
The Soviet Union falls into chaos, but is soon brought back under control thanks to the Batmen (resistance members who began wearing the costume after Batman’s death). Luthor integrates many of Superman’s and Brainiac’s ideas into the new philosophy of “Luthorism” and forms a “Global United States”. This becomes the defining moment for mankind’s future as it enters an unprecedented age of peace and stability. A benevolent world government is formed and maintained. Luthor presides over a string of scientific achievements, including the curing of all known disease, and colonization of the solar system. Luthor lives for over 1,000 years.
At Luthor’s funeral, it is revealed that Superman survived the explosion of Brainiac’s ship and is apparently immortal. Superman attends the funeral wearing a business suit and thick glasses essentially identical to the appearance of Clark Kent, an identity he never adopted in this timeline. Luthor’s widow, Lois, sees this mysterious figure in the crowd and, other than an eerie sense of deja vu, suspects nothing. Superman walks quietly away from the ceremony, planning to live among humans rather than ruling over them.
Billions of years in the future, Earth is being torn apart by tidal stresses from the sun, which has become a red giant. Luthor’s distant descendant, Jor-L, sends his infant son, Kal-L, rocketing back into the past. The final panels of the comic book depict the landing of Kal-L’s timeship in a Ukrainian collective in 1938, effectively causing a predestination paradox (and, thus, making Superman a descendant of Luthor and Lois).
Why Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan only the Gods know. Very provocative and lame brained move. She infuriated China and put U.S. – Chinese relations in peril.
She claims she did it to show support for a fragile democracy facing an autocrat, totalitarian and belligerent giant next door.
But in making that political maneuvre she actually put the world in peril. China has started extremely provocative military actions near Taiwan, including intrusions into Taiwanese airspace. One miscalculation or mistake by a pilot and the real bullets could start flying. Nancy, you are a fool!
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