Browsing: Nature

A Brief History On September 27, 1962, the book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson was published.  The book dealt with environmental science and focused on the widespread use of pesticides and the disinformation provided by the manufacturers of those chemicals. Digging Deeper Carson made a case that the indiscriminate use of these chemicals was poisoning the environment and killing off many beneficial insects along with the pests.  Additionally, many birds suffered ill effects from the pesticides, and Carson projected that one day the birds would be gone, hence the title of the book. You might have thought a cataclysmic environmental…

A Brief History On September 19, 1991, the mummified body of a man that lived around 3350 to 3105 BC was discovered in the Ötztal Alps between Austria and Italy.  The name of the mountains was used to name the mummy “Otzi,” and the long dead “iceman” became a celebrity. Digging Deeper Preserved by the snow and ice on the mountain, this Copper Age man was found to probably have been murdered, an arrowhead found in his shoulder and other wounds implying so. Otzi was found by tourists from Germany at a height of 10,530 feet.  Believing the body to…

A Brief History On September 14, 1984, retired USAF Colonel Joseph Kittinger made aviation history by becoming the first person to pilot a gas balloon solo across the Atlantic. Digging Deeper Kittinger scored other aviation firsts when he made the then record high altitude skydive, 102,800 feet, in 1960, a record that stood until 2012.  Kittinger flew 483 combat missions in Vietnam, including being shot down and captured in 1972. Kittinger had also previously set altitude records for balloon flight, and on one of those high-altitude flights became the first human to view the curvature of the Earth fully.  Not…

A Brief History On September 13, 1987, two thieves took advantage of a guard being absent from an abandoned Brazilian hospital site to help themselves to whatever they could scavenge.  The men made the blunder of taking a 3.3-ounce capsule of caesium chloride, a highly radioactive substance used in radiation therapy. Digging Deeper The same night of the theft, the thieves exhibited signs of radiation poisoning.  Visiting a local clinic, they were diagnosed with radiation sickness.  About three days after the theft, the thieves opened the capsule and picked out some of the glowing blue substance inside. The thieves sold…

A Brief History On September 12, 1992, NASA launched mission STS-47, an historic flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. Digging Deeper Among the notable facts about this particular flight, is that this mission marked the 50th space shuttle flight.  Another first, was the first African American woman in space, Mae Carol Jemison.  Mamoru Mohri became the first ever Japanese astronaut aboard a US spacecraft, and the first married couple to be together in space when Mark Lee and Jan Davis made the space flight as crew members. Endeavor made a total of 25 successful space flights from 1992 until retirement in…