International Day of Science for Peace

This year, 2016, the theme is "Celebrating Science Centres and Science Museums"!

Share with others the places of science that you are most important to you!

The UN site has more information here > International Day of Science for Peace

World Space Day! (May 6!!!)

International Space Day, now celebrated on the first Friday in May, was started in 2001 by astronaut (and senator) John Glenn. It was developed from the popularity of the National (US) Space Day created by Lockheed Martin for a one day event in 1997.

On May 5, 1961, Commander Alan Shepard Jr. became the first America astronaut to be launched into space, aboard Freedom 7 (space capsule). The flight, suborbital, lasted 15 minutes and traveled to a height of 116 miles.
 On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, was the first man launched in to space and safely returned!

Stay tuned for World Space Week in October! 

Many museums hold Space Day celebrations:
Smithsonian International Air and Space Museum
Seattle Museum of Flight
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
 Maine Space Grant Consortium Space Day Celebration
World Space Day on FB

National Arbor Day(s) - US April 29, 2016

 
Arbor Day is an international celebration, but it is celebrated on different days around the world (usually in spring) depending upon local climates. The first (known) Arbor Festival was in Mondonedo, Spain, in 1594. The first *modern* Arbor Day was held in 1805 in Villanueva de la Sierra, Spain.

In the US the first Arbor Day was celebrated April 10, 1872, when ~1 million trees were planted in Nebraska. Over time Arbor Day became an official celebration with President Roosevelt issuing an Arbor Day Proclamation (April 15, 1907) addressed to the school children of the United States about the importance of trees, and encouraging that forestry be taught in US schools.

Over the years the date has changed a bit, and now Arbor Day is celebrated in the US on the last Friday in April, this year that is April 29!


A partial list of tree planting celebration (& times) around the world:

Australia

National Tree Day is on the last Sunday in July. Arbor Day has been observed in Australia since June 20, 1889.

Belgium

International Day of Tree-planting is celebrated ~March 21 as an educational day/observance, not as a public holiday.

Brazil

Arbor Day (Dia da Árvore) is celebrated September 21.

British Virgin Islands

Sponsored by the National Parks Trust, Arbour Day is celebrated November 22. \

Cambodia

Cambodia celebrates Arbor Day July 9.

Canada

National Forest Week is celebrated the last full week of September, with National Tree Day falling on the Wednesday of that week. Individual Arbor Days are celebrated around Canada in spring.

Central African Republic

National Tree Planting Day is July 20.

China

Arbor Day, celebrated on March 12, is upheld in China with the The Resolution on the Unfolding of a Nationwide Voluntary Tree-planting Campaign,1981

Costa Rica

"Día del Árbol" is June 15.

Egypt

Arbor Day is January 15

Germany

The first Arbor Day ("Tag des Baumes") in Germany was in 1952, it is celebrated on April 25.

India

The tree planting festival in India is called Van Mahotsav (festival of trees). Originating in 1947, it lasts one week in July.

Iran

"National Tree Planting Day is on the 15th day of month Esfand which is generally ~ March5.

Israel

Tu Bishvat (the new year for trees), is on the 15^th day of Shvat, which is ~ January or February.

Japan

Greenery Day, similar to Arbor Day, is celebrated May 4.

Kenya

National Tree Planting Day is April 21.

Luxembourg

National Tree Planting Day is in November.

Republic of Macedonia

'Tree Day-Plant Your Future' tradition was started on March 12, 2008, when over 150,000 Macedonians planted 2 million trees in one day (symbolically, one for each citizen). It continues now each year.

Malawi

National Tree Planting Day is on the 2nd Monday of December.

Mexico

The Día del Árbol , started in 1959, it is celebrated each year on the 2nd Thursday of July.

Mongolia

The first National Tree Planting Day was celebrated in 2010, it is now tradition on the 2nd Saturday of May and October.

Namibia

Arbor Day is celebrated on October 8.

Netherlands

Begun in 1957, National Festival of Trees (Nationale Boomplantdag/Nationale Boomfeestdag) is celebrated the third Wednesday of March.

New Zealand

Arobor Day is on June 5.

Niger

Arbor Day is August 3.

Pakistan

National tree plantation day is August 18.

Philippines

Arbor Day has been celebrated since 1947, and is now celebrated on June 25.

Poland

Arbor Day is October 10.

Portugal

Arbor Day is March 21.

South Africa

Arbor Day, begun in 1945, was expanded to Arbor Week in 200, lasting from September 1-7.

South Korea

Arbor Day is celebrated April 5.

Spain

Celebrations for Arbor Day are chosen locally, but they are usually celebrated from February to May.

Taiwan

Arbor Day is celebrated on March 12.

Tanzania

National Tree Planting Day is April 1

Uganda

National Tree Planting Day is March 24.

United Kingdom

National Tree Week, first celebrated in 1975, this year is from Nov 26- Dec 4.

United States

Arbor Day is on the last Friday in April.

Venezuela

Día del Arbol (Day of the Tree) is the last Sunday of May.

 

Happy Dark Sky Week

In case you haven’t heard by now, this week is National Dark Sky Week. Celebrated every April around the time of the new moon, this is a week when people all over the world turn out the lights at night to try to reduce light pollution.

What exactly is light pollution? This is the excess, unnatural light caused by human society that makes the night sky brighter than it should be. Light pollution is annoying for astronomers or anyone else trying to enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty of the stars and nearby planets at night through a telescope.  But beyond that, it also wastes energy, disrupts sleeping patterns, negatively affects nocturnal wildlife, and even disrupts the growth pattern of some plants and trees. So for the rest of the week, do your best to turn down the lights at night, and turn off what you’re not using. Spread the word! And while you’re at it, go outside and appreciate the amazingness that is the Night Sky. For more information, check out this page on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Dark-Sky_Week

In honor of Dark Sky Week, let me share with you an astronomical coincidence. Did you know that the Sun and the Moon are almost exactly the same size? … Well, actually they aren’t. But at some point in life you’ve probably noticed that they appear to be the same size, at least when viewed from the surface of the earth. This fact is most apparent during a total solar eclipse, when the Sun, Moon and Earth align in such a way that the sun is almost perfectly blocked out by the profile of the Moon. 

 Above: Photograph of a total solar eclipse, captured in 1999. (en.wikipedia.org)

It turns out that this is actually one of the more interesting coincidences in astronomy (at least as far as earthlings are concerned). As we all know, the Sun is the largest body in our solar system, and is much, much larger than the Moon. How much larger? Well, the diameter of the Moon is about 3,475 kilometers (or about 2,160 miles, for those of you still using the imperial system). For comparison, the diameter of the Sun is a whopping 1.39 million kilometers (or about 865,000 miles). That means the Sun is almost exactly 400 times wider than the Moon. So why do they look the same size, you ask? Well, it’s simple geometry! The Moon is about 370,000 kilometers (~230,000 miles) away from the Earth, while on average the Sun is about 150 million kilometers (~93 million miles) away from the Earth. This means that the Sun also happens to be roughly 400 times farther away from the Earth than the Moon is.

The end result? When viewed from Earth, the Sun and Moon appear to be the same size. If not for this happy coincidence, we would not be able to enjoy the magic of a solar eclipse, which every so often gives us a dark sky in the middle of the day.

Space Oddity, as performed by Chris Hadfield ON the International Space Station

Seen this yet? No? Watch it. Now. 

You have? Enjoy again! It makes me smile every time.

Astronaut, Commander Chris Hadfield, filmed this rendition of "Space Oddity" (with the permission of David Bowie) while he was in space, on the International Space Station, on May 12, 2013.

He has
-2 shuttle missions
 Mission Specialist 1 on STS-74, Mission Specialist 1 on STS-100,
- In May 2010, Hadfield served as the commander of the NEEMO 14 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, living and working underwater for fourteen days.^[8][9] NASA announced in 2010 that Hadfield would become the first Canadian commander of the International Space Station, leading Expedition 35 after its launch on 19 December 2012.^[10] His craft docked with the station on 21 December. He remained on the station for five months, transferring control to Pavel Vinogradov and departing on 13 May 2013.^[11] Hadfield is enthusiastic about the prospects for a manned mission to Mars, and when asked if he would consider a one-way journey to Mars to be the first to visit, he said "I would be honoured to be given the opportunity.


We at Quest feel that this is one of the most amazing things we've seen all week ; )

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