'Not as commemoration‚ but as instruction'

The inevitable collateral consequences to civilians ... should be blamed on Hamas

Rob has thermal imaging capabilities and a two-way intercom

Feel-Good Friday: Melania Trump Addresses New American Citizens Edition

Houthi Shooty Re-Routey: Maersk Telling All Its Ships to Avoid the Red Sea

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer‚ send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.Could people breathe on Mars? – Jack J.‚ age 7‚ Alexandria‚ VirginiaLet’s suppose you were an astronaut who just landed on the planet Mars. What would you need to survive?For starters‚ here’s a short list: Water‚ food‚ shelter – and oxygen.Oxygen is in the air we breathe here on Earth. Plants and some kinds of bacteria provide it for us.But oxygen is not the only gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. It’s not even the most abundant. In fact‚ only 21% of our air is made up of oxygen. Almost all the rest is nitrogen – about 78%.Now you might be wondering: If there’s more nitrogen in the air‚ why do we breathe oxygen?Here’s how it works: Technically‚ when you breathe in‚ you take in everything that’s in the atmosphere. But your body uses only the oxygen; you get rid of the rest when you exhale.NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of the bleak and barren Martian landscape. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSThe air on MarsThe Martian atmosphere is thin – its volume is only 1% of the Earth’s atmosphere. To put it another way‚ there’s 99% less air on Mars than on Earth.That’s partly because Mars is about half the size of Earth. Its gravity isn’t strong enough to keep atmospheric gases from escaping into space.And the most abundant gas in that thin air is carbon dioxide. For people on Earth‚ that’s a poisonous gas at high concentrations. Fortunately‚ it makes up far less than 1% of our atmosphere. But on Mars‚ carbon dioxide is 96% of the air!Meanwhile‚ Mars has almost no oxygen; it’s only one-tenth of one percent of the air‚ not nearly enough for humans to survive.If you tried to breathe on the surface of Mars without a spacesuit supplying your oxygen – bad idea – you would die in an instant. You would suffocate‚ and because of the low atmospheric pressure‚ your blood would boil‚ both at about the same time.   Billions of years ago‚ Mars’ Jezero Crater hosted an ancient lake.Life without oxygenSo far‚ researchers have not found any evidence of life on Mars. But the search is just beginning; our robotic probes have barely scratched the surface.Without question‚ Mars is an extreme environment. And it’s not just the air. Very little liquid water is on the Martian surface. Temperatures are incredibly cold – at night‚ it’s more than -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73 degrees Celsius).But plenty of organisms on Earth survive extreme environments. Life has been found in the Antarctic ice‚ at the bottom of the ocean and miles below the Earth’s surface. Many of those places have extremely hot or cold temperatures‚ almost no water and little to no oxygen.And even if life no longer exists on Mars‚ maybe it did billions of years ago‚ when it had a thicker atmosphere‚ more oxygen‚ warmer temperatures and significant amounts of liquid water on the surface.That’s one of the goals of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover mission – to look for signs of ancient Martian life. That’s why Perseverance is searching within the Martian rocks for fossils of organisms that once lived – most likely‚ primitive life‚ like Martian microbes.On the 198th day of its mission‚ NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSDo-it-yourself oxygenAmong the seven instruments on board the Perseverance rover is MOXIE‚ an incredible device that takes carbon dioxide out of the Martian atmosphere and turns it into oxygen.If MOXIE works the way that scientists hope it will‚ future astronauts will not only make their own oxygen; they could use it as a component in the rocket fuel they’ll need to fly back to Earth. The more oxygen people are able to make on Mars‚ the less they’ll need to bring from Earth – and the easier it becomes for visitors to go there. But even with “homegrown” oxygen‚ astronauts will still need a spacesuit.Right now‚ NASA is working on the new technologies needed to send humans to Mars. That could happen in the next decade‚ perhaps sometime during the late 2030s. By then‚ you’ll be an adult – and maybe one of the first to take a step on Mars.   See what a human mission to Mars would be like.Hello‚ curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name‚ age and the city where you live.And since curiosity has no age limit – adults‚ let us know what you’re wondering‚ too. We won’t be able to answer every question‚ but we will do our best.Phylindia Gant‚ Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences‚ University of Florida and Amy J. Williams‚ Assistant Professor of Geology‚ University of FloridaThis article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Horse lovers‚ gather around! One day‚ at the Philadelphia Horse World Expo‚ a rider was all set to showcase his pride and joy: a Halflinger horse and its adorable 21-day-old foal‚ Blitz. These Halflinger breeds‚ known for their magnificence‚ were ready to strut their stuff and wow the crowd. The Parade of Breeds is a... The post 3-week-old foal trots into arena with mom then steals the show with his adorable antics appeared first on Animal Channel.

Give “Saturday Night Live’s” disastrous Ivy League presidents sketch a little credit. The show indirectly acknowledged the anti-Jewish sentiment flooding the country following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Yes‚ the Dec. 9 cold open slammed the wrong target and lacked a single laugh. It still marked the first palpable effort by the show’s Not Ready for Primetime Players to address an issue that has decent Americans up in arms. On paper.     Sadly‚ the sketch minimized the real-world horrors facing Jews despite the issue hitting close to home. The Big Apple has been an epicenter for anti-semitism in recent weeks. Jewish students hid in an attic after pro-Palestinian protesters stalked them on the Cooper Union campus. Others have lawyered up to defend themselves when their New York campuses wouldn’t. Three Jewish students are suing New York University over its alleged failure to enforce its anti-discrimination policies in the face of harassment against Jewish students‚ in violation of federal law. Even the far-Left New York Times admitted the obvious. Total hate crimes in New York City in October were more than double the levels for the previous October‚ and anti-Jewish incidents more than tripled. “SNL” has called New York City home for its entire 49-year run‚ so there’s no excuse for not realizing the scope of the problem. “SNL’s” satirical swing and miss drew plenty of unwanted attention‚ including some misguided calls for an apology. It’s still better‚ albeit barely‚ than the virtual silence heard from Team Late Night. How many times have Stephen Colbert‚ Jimmy Fallon‚ Jimmy Kimmel‚ John Oliver or Seth Meyers mocked progressives tearing down hostage posters of innocent Israelis or violent pro-Hamas protests?     What about the rotating guest hosts at “The Daily Show?” Have any skewered the Ivy League leaders for the moral rot they shared on Dec. 5? Bill Maher’s HBO showcase remains an exception. The “Real Time with Bill Maher” host has been vocal on the subject. Here‚ he taunts both the Ivy League presidents and their free speech hypocrisy.   Bill Maher on Harvard's anti-semitism controversy: "The presidents of Harvard‚ U Penn‚ and MIT were hauled before congress for good reason. For refusing to call the genocide of Jews on campus bullying or harrassment. Misgender a Jew? Get thrown out for that in a minute" pic.twitter.com/6JKKi8Dq1w — Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 9‚ 2023   “The trio got in trouble for “refusing to call the genocide of Jews on campus bullying or harassment. Misgendering a Jew? You get thrown off for that in a minute.”  Meanwhile‚ a rebellious comedy site is leading the way when it comes to mocking the anti-Semitic Left. The God-fearing Babylon Bee is unequaled in skewering Jew hatred. Here’s just a sample of its faux news stories from the past few days. Harvard President Claudine Gay In Hot Water For Plagiarizing Large Sections Of ‘Mein Kampf’ UPenn President Lights Special ‘Please Don’t Pull That $100 Million Donation’ Menorah Hamas Says All The AK-47s Found In Gaza Hospital Were Strictly For Medicinal Use Comedian Ryan Long quickly launched a hilarious attack on virtue-signaling actors following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas. His actor seemed stumped by what to post on social media to advance his career.     “It’s been a few days now‚ and I still haven’t weighed in on Israel Palestine… I honestly don’t know who to post.” Long wouldn’t be invited onto “SNL‚” of course‚ to riff like that. Nor will any late-night show open up their couch to him. He’s still more willing to embrace tough issues‚ the kind that demand sobering satire‚ than mainstream comics. Let’s be clear. Mocking presidents like Donald Trump or Joe Biden is easy (even if comedians rarely touch Biden or trot out stale‚ old-age barbs). Eviscerating Jew hatred requires a deft touch. The wrong phrasing could spark worries that the comedian is downplaying the consequences of bigotry at a moment when Jewish citizens are being harassed and attacked. It’s still necessary given the tenor of the times. It speaks volumes that many of our comedy institutions would rather let sites like The Babylon Bee do the heavy lifting.

A judge in Tennessee has been suspended from the bench and arrested on criminal charges after she allegedly bullied her campaign manager for testifying honestly about her drug use.Judge Andrewnetta Melissa Boyd‚ 59‚ has been a controversial member of the Memphis-area legal community for nearly a decade. While working as an attorney in 2015‚ she was accused of mishandling one of her client's trust funds. Despite this heavy accusation‚ in August 2022‚ Boyd was elected to be the Division IX judge of the 30th Judicial District Criminal Court — and the controversy surrounding her continued.By the end of November 2022‚ less than four months into her term‚ the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct received a complaint that Boyd had been "threatening and intimidating an acquaintance and that she was abusing alcohol." As part of the investigation into the allegations‚ members affiliated with the oversight board spoke with Boyd's campaign manager. The campaign manager supposedly told them that Boyd had been abusing drugs‚ including cocaine and marijuana‚ since taking office.The campaign manager also levied other serious accusations against Boyd‚ claiming that the judge had been harassing her at home and in text messages. According to the investigators' report‚ at 2:30 in the morning sometime in March‚ Boyd "was discovered sitting outside the [campaign manager's] residence‚" texting "pictures of this individual’s property and [sending] text messages which accused this person of having someone in the home."In messages reviewed by the board‚ Boyd allegedly told the campaign manager to "shut up" and "not mess with her because she is a judge." According to reports‚ Boyd had attempted to intimidate the campaign manager into recanting her testimony about Boyd's drug use.Last May‚ the board decided to suspend Boyd after she conceded that she had "a substance abuse problem and that she is currently seeking treatment to address her illness‚" the order of suspension stated. As part of the suspension agreement‚ the board would keep the suspension private and Boyd could quietly take a paid leave of absence from the bench while she sought the treatment laid out in the agreement.But Boyd reportedly did not keep up her end of the bargain. Not only did she allegedly fail to undergo an evaluation with someone from the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program within five months‚ but she also supposedly solicited donations to a school from a Facebook account in which she was pictured wearing a judicial robe.In October‚ the board announced her suspension to the public. It also petitioned the Tennessee General Assembly to remove her from the bench completely‚ citing two public reprimands in the last few months. It sems that Boyd's initial suspension ended late last month. However‚ prosecutors have now filed charges against Boyd in connection with the alleged intimidation of the campaign manager‚ prompting yet another suspension. On Tuesday‚ Boyd was charged with one count of coercion of a witness and one count of harassment. The following day‚ she was booked into the Shelby County Jail in Memphis and then released on a $5‚000 bond. Regular drug tests were given as a condition of her release. Shelby County judge indicted‚ taken into custody www.youtube.com On Thursday‚ the board stepped in to suspend Boyd from the bench once again: Judge Boyd is suspended effective immediately upon the filing of this order. During this term of suspension‚ Judge Boyd is prohibited from exercising any judicial power or authority‚ including‚ but not limited to‚ holding court‚ issuing subpoenas‚ setting or resetting cases‚ issuing warrants‚ setting or changing bonds‚ administering oaths‚ or issuing oral or written rulings in any matter.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Kyle Rittenhouse discussed the fallout of his fateful 2020 encounter with leftist guerillas in the streets of Kenosha‚ Wisconsin‚ in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson. The 20-year-old survivor of the BLM riots‚ a target both of leftist violence and of liberal propaganda‚ indicated the latter is the greater threat to the country. What's the background? On Aug. 25‚ 2020‚ Rittenhouse‚ then 17 years old‚ shot three radicals who mobbed him during a leftist riot in Kenosha. He successfully sent two of his attackers — a domestic abuser with multiple convictions and a convicted‚ violent child molester — to the morgue and disarmed a third who had advanced on him with a loaded weapon. Although initially charged with homicide‚ attempted homicide‚ and reckless endangering‚ Rittenhouse was ultimately acquitted in November 2021. Throughout and even after his trial‚ liberal reporters and talking heads trafficked in false claims about Rittenhouse. While he opened fire in self-defense and with great restraint‚ he was characterized as a murderer. While his deceased attackers were white‚ he was routinely accused of killing black men and being a racist. For instance‚ after his acquittal‚ Whoopi Goldberg of ABC's "The View" claimed Rittenhouse had murdered two people. Failed congressional candidate Cenk Uygur similarly repeatedly called Rittenhouse a murderer. Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg used his platform to designate the shootings murders long before a jury had reached a decision. Harper's Bazaar pushed the claim that he was a "frontline mercenary for white supremacy" while the Associated Press played up the narrative that his case was tied up matters of race and inequality. MSNBC correspondent Joy Reid‚ devastated by Rittenhouse's successful defense and obsessing over his race‚ leaned especially hard into him‚ drawing parallels between Rittenhouse and "slave catchers." Nicholas Sandmann‚ another young man defamed by the liberal media‚ noted in an op-ed for the Daily Mail‚ "Kyle was almost immediately labelled a 'white supremacist' and a 'domestic terrorist.' ... The attacks on Kyle came from the national news media‚ just as they came for me. They came quickly‚ without hesitation‚ because Kyle was an easy target that they could paint in the way they wanted to." The greater of two evils Carlson asked Rittenhouse who his greatest supporters and detractors were in the aftermath of the BLM riot in Kenosha. "My biggest supporters have been Christians‚" said Rittenhouse. "Those have been my biggest supporters and mostly a lot of people who believe in the rule of law." He later singled out Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as the lawmakers who steadfastly supported him throughout the ordeal‚ even prior to his acquittal. Rittenhouse suggested his biggest detractors have alternatively been "people who don't really have a sense of what's going on. They'll be like reporters from left-leaning news companies." Carlson pressed the issue‚ asking‚ "Who do you think‚ long-term‚ has been worse for the country: Antifa or liberal reporters?" Without hesitation‚ fired back‚ "Liberal reporters. Liberal reporters essentially encouraged Antifa and enabled them." Rittenhouse cited CNN as an example of a liberal outlet that has excused leftist violence and destruction. He specifically referenced CNN national correspondent Omar Jimenez's infamous coverage of the BLM riot in Kenosha‚ wherein the network juxtaposed footage of an inferno unleashed on the city by rioters with a graphic that read‚ "Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting." "What is a mostly peaceful but fiery protest?" asked Rittenhouse. "That's not a peaceful protest. That's mass arson." Carlson responded‚ "And that's obviously a lie. But then it's not an ordinary lie. It's a lie that abets evil; that allows evil things to happen‚ violence to happen. Kind of tells you a lot." Rittenhouse intimated in the interview that whereas leftist guerillas' negative potential and antipathies are localized‚ liberal reporters' antagonism scales with their audiences. "What they write goes into other people's heads‚" said Rittenhouse. "I would say most of America is independent‚ slightly left-leaning‚ slightly right-leaning. That's most of America. ... They believe in the Constitution and they just want to see a good country. But then you have left-leaning reporters who villainize me and say all these false things to where everyday people sometimes believe that." Carlson later asked‚ "Since you're one of the very few people who's actually seen what this kind of violence looks like — you know‚ they tried to murder you — are you concerned that we're coming in for more of this?" "I can definitely see in the future that more of this will play out‚ more of this will happen‚ especially if the politicians who are running this country are still in office and they continue to enable it‚ and they continue to encourage violence‚ encourage rioting. I could definitely see more riots and more violence in the future‚" said Rittenhouse. Kyle Rittenhouse on Why Left-Wing Journalists Are Worse Than Antifa youtu.be Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!