SOHO watched as a fairly bright comet dove towards the Sun in a white streak and was not seen again after its close encounter (May 10-11, 2011). The comet, probably part of the Kreutz family of comets, was discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov. In this coronagraph the Sun (represented by a white circle) is blocked by the red occulting disk so that the faint structures in the Sun's corona can be discerned. Interestingly, a coronal mass ejection blasted out to the right just as the comet is approaching the Sun.
Scientists, however, have yet to find a convincing physical connection between sun-grazing comets and coronal mass ejections. In fact, analysis of this CME using images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that the CME erupted before the comet came close enough to the solar surface to interact with strong magnetic fields.
Courtesy of SOHO. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
Are you ready for the Night of the Living Dead? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a big, serious government agency advises on zombie apocalypse… and other real emergencies and pandemics.
"So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored). Below are a few items you should include in your kit, for a full list visit the CDC Emergency page.
Once you’ve made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency."
Ell (Eldar Gasimov)and Nikki (Nigar Jamaland) from Azerbaijan received the highest number of points from juries and televoters from the 43 countries participating in this year's edition of Europe's most popular music TV-show.*
Ell/Nikki - Running Scared (Winners of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest)
Performer: Ell/Nikki
Song title: Running Scared Song writer(s): Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman Song composer(s): Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman, Iain Farquharson
Lyrics
Verse 1 Come to me, come to me tonight Oh god I need you, anyway... baby I just wanna be, be around you all the time Oh god I need you.. oh...
Chorus 1 I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of life I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you
Verse 2 Come to me, come to me a bit more Oh god I need you, there's nothing left for me to say So rest on me darling, stay forever more Oh god I need you, I need you
Chorus 2 I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of life I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you
Break Oh, what I wouldn't give away To be you're shelter and keep you safe… oh… oh..
Chorus 3 I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of life I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you I'm running I'm scared tonight I'm running I'm scared of breathing Coz I adore you
Eldar and Nigar Running Scared Official Music Video
Official music video for Azerbaijani entry song to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Running Scared from romantic duo Eldar & Nigar.
Postcard video for the ballad Running Scared by Eldar & Nigar.
* The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la Chanson) is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to such places as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Uruguay despite the fact that they do not compete. wiki
The Improvement League, Google Office 0.2, 2010. Photo by Julian Stallabrass
Google offices. Photo by aubergene
Google office. Photo by Håkan Dahlström
Google offices, washington dc. Photo by tvol
Google Office @ Beijing! Photo by FHKE
Phone box at Google office - The GoogleBox. Photo by caccamo
Google London Office. Photo by CDI Europe
Tech Stop. Photo by yuhui At Google Singapore's office at 8 Shenton Way
Giant Google Android statue with puppy and cupcake. Photo by ToastyKen
This giant version of the Android mobile phone platform mascot sits outside a Google office building. "Cupcake" is the code name of the latest Android software release, and the cupcake showed up when it was released.
The puppy is an off-the-shelf piece by Finnish designer Eero Aarnio.
Every two years in August, an enormous "flower carpet" is set up in the Grand Place, the central square of Brussels, for a few days. A million colourful begonias are set up in patterns, and the display covers a full 24 by 77 metres (79 by 253 ft), for area total of 1,800 square metres (19,000 sq ft). The first flower carpet was made in 1971, and due to its popularity, the tradition continued, with the flowercarpet attracting a large number of tourists. Each year celebrates a particular theme, such as 2007's Bicentennial of the Leuven Fire Department. wiki
Based on a play by V. Rosov, the RussianThe Cranes are Flying is a love story set during the early years of World War II.
The film was directed at Mosfilm by Mikhail Kalatozov in 1957 and stars Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana Samoilova. The Cranes are Flying won several international awards including the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.
Watch full length movie The Cranes Are Flying online (Russian language, English subtitles)
Excerpts from cranesareflying's review on imdb:
"This film features a Red Army that is NOT victorious, the German invasion of Russia when Germany introduced the Barbarossa Plan, a blitzkrieg invasion intended to bring about a quick victory and the ultimate enslavement of the Slavs, and very nearly succeeded, actually getting within 20 miles of Moscow in what was a Red Army wipe out, a devastation of human losses, 15 to 20 million Russians died, or 20% of the entire population. Historically, this was a moment of great trauma and suffering, a psychological shock to the Russian people, but the Red Army held and prolonged the war 4 more years until they were ultimately victorious...
This film featured brilliant, breathtaking, and extremely mobile camera work from his extraordinary cinematographer Sergei Uresevsky, using spectacular crane and tracking shots, images of wartime, battlefields, Moscow and crowded streets that are extremely vivid and real.
The film was released in 1957 in Russia, and according to some reviews, "the silence in the theater was profound, the wall between art and living life had fallen...and tears unlocked the doors." - cranesareflying
Reception and Influence
As film scholar Josephine Woll observes, the protagonist Veronika was instrumental in shaping the post-Stalinist Soviet movies by heralding more complicated, multi-dimensional celluloid heroines. It was not only Soviet audiences that accepted and sympathized with Veronika‘s story. The lead actress of Cranes, the beautiful Tat‘iana Samoilova, who was frequently identified with her role, took Europe by storm. Following the film's victory at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958, where it earned the event‘s prestigious Grand Prize, the world celebrated the film‘s main protagonist. Woll notes that the French Liberationcommentator, for example, approvingly contrasted Samoilova‘s purity and authenticity with that Western female icon, Brigitte Bardot
Video impression from the tulips fields nearby Voorhout, The Netherlands, HD 1080p (tulips "Temple of Beauty"), Music: Piano Sonata No.16 in C major ("Sonata semplice"), K. 545, Allegro, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
