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Showing posts from December, 2022

Secret hidden beneath painting's surface

       After a routine inspection of the Cincinnati Art Museum's prized Paul Cézanne painting "Still Life with Bread and Eggs", Serena Urry (chief conservator) noticed something odd. There were cracks concentrated in two specific areas revealing white paint, that contrasted with the French painter's so-called "dark" period. She asked a local medical company to bring portable X-ray and scan the painting. After stitching the pieces together and turning the final image sideways, she was shocked with what she'd found out. The X-ray scan revealed a figure resembling Cézanne himself. According to Serena- "I think everyone's opinion is that it's a self-portrait ... He's posed in the way a self-portrait would be: in other words, he's looking at us, but his body is turned." Peter Jonathan Bell, the museum's curator of European paintings, sculpture and drawings says that they will "collaborate with Cézanne experts around the worl...

Return of Nasa's Orion capsule

       Orion capsule as a part of NASA's Artemis programme was launched uncrewed approximately 3 weeks ago on a journey around the moon. This capsule was built by NASA in order to "carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain astronauts during their missions and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities". After its maneuver possible by its European propulsion module, it successfully pushed itself from the Moon in the direction of Earth. The capsule will enter earths atmosphere at around 40,000 km/h, generating temperatures likely to reach close to 3,000C. According to Artemis mission manager - Mike Sarafin, "This is our priority one objective, for a reason", as it will put the shielding systems of the capsule to final test. It should drop around 09:40 local time (17:40 GMT) with the support of a parachute, targeting a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California. If the interior of the Orion capsule will be secure, meaning...

Volcano eruption on Java island

     Today, in East Java there has been an unsuspected occurrence. Mount Semeru has erupted, causing tremendous fear in the locals. Fortunately, no one was injured, but nearly 2000 people have been evacuated. Authorities gave information, that it began erupting at about 02:46 local time (19:46 GMT). Because of the "hot avalanches" of lava poured from Semeru, people have been commanded to keep the minimal distance of 8 kilometers from the volcano. According to a spokesman for Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), "The increased threat level from three to four also means the danger threatens people's homes". Besides the damage done to houses, it also inflicted a bridge, that is being rebuilt after a previous eruption of Semeru, which caused a series of natural disasters that resulted in many deaths. Fortunately, after the today's eruption meteorologists said no tidal changes had been observed. https://www.bbc.com/news...