Skywatchers will be treated to the longest “blood moon” eclipse of the 21st Century on Friday.
As it rises, during this total eclipse, Earth’s natural satellite will turn a striking shade of red or ruddy brown.
The “totality” period, when light from the Moon is totally obscured, will last for one hour, 43 minutes.
The eclipse is visible from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, most of Asia and South America and in the UK from around 21:00 to 22:15 BST.
On the same night and over the coming days, Mars will be at its closest point to Earth since 2003 – visible as a “bright red star” where skies are clear.
Why will the eclipse last so long?
The Moon will pass right through the centre of the Earth’s shadow, at the shadow’s widest point.
“This is actually almost as long as a lunar eclipse could be,” Prof Tim O’Brien, an astrophysicist at University of Manchester, explained.
A record-setting heat wave is the latest weather catastrophe to beset Japan. On Sunday, a weather station outside Tokyo reached the hottest temperature ever recorded in the island nation, and emergency responders have been swamped with requests for help in the searing heat.
This summer has been one of catastrophe for Japan. The heat arrived in mid-July, following record rains that killed at least 200 people and a typhoon that strafed the country’s southern islands. Things really began cooking this weekend, though, and reached a fever pitch on Monday.
Kumagaya, a town located about 40 miles northwest of Tokyo, suffered through temperatures of 41.1 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday. That set a new all-time heat record for Japan, besting a 2013 reading of 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Tokyo also set an all-time record for the city, reaching 40.8 degrees Celsius (105.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
But the heat has hardly been confined to the metro area. According to Kyodo News, nearly 70 percent of weather stations monitored by the Japan Meteorological Agency have recorded temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). At least 241 of the 927 stations in the network have cracked 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit). Only Hokkaido to the north has managed to keep its cool.
Scientists are preparing to create “miniature brains” that have been genetically engineered to contain Neanderthal DNA, in an unprecedented attempt to understand how humans differ from our closest relatives.
In the next few months the small blobs of tissue, known as brain organoids, will be grown from human stem cells that have been edited to contain “Neanderthalised” versions of several genes.
The lentil-sized organoids, which are incapable of thoughts or feelings, replicate some of the basic structures of an adult brain. They could demonstrate for the first time if there were meaningful differences between human and Neanderthal brain biology.
Chiang Rai, Thailand (CNN)Thai officials ruled out any immediate attempts to evacuate 12 football players and their coach trapped deep inside a system of caves in northern Thailand on Saturday despite concerns over low oxygen levels underground and poor weather forecasts.
“No, not today,” Narongsak Osottanakorn, the governor of Chiang Rai province, said after being pressed by reporters on rescue efforts.
Officials are considering a rescue plan involving a “buddy dive” — where an experienced adult diver would swim with each boy — to evacuate the team members, according to a US official familiar with the joint rescue operation.
Thai divers would lead the mission and US divers would preposition oxygen tanks, the US official said. The rescue team also includes divers and workers from Australia, the United Kingdom, and other parts of Europe and Asia.
Thai military officials have been briefed, the source said, and the country’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was to be told about the plan Saturday morning.
The rescue mission could begin as soon as the weekend, but no decision has been made whether to proceed, the US official said.
More than a dozen wildfires have ignited across California wine country in the last 24 hours, leading to at least one death in Mendocino County.
All told, 15 fires have so far destroyed at least 1,500 structures and burned more than 73,000 acres across nine counties, reports the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. More than 20,000 residents have been forced to evacuate.
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba Counties.
“These fires have destroyed structures and continue to threaten thousands of homes, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents,” Brown’s proclamation said. “These fires have damaged and continue to threaten critical infrastructure and have forced the closure of major highways and local roads.”
According to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, an officer spotted one of the fires at 1:10 a.m. Monday, when severe wind gusts downed trees and power lines, sparking a fast-growing blaze.
Fire glows on a hillside in Napa County, California, on Oct. 9, 2017, as multiple wind-driven blazes continue to whip through the region.
A resident jumps from his home’s roof as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen, California.
Flames overtake a structure in California’s famed wine region.
Firefighters douse flames as a home burns.
Tens of thousands of acres and dozens of homes and businesses have burned in wildfires that ignited in Northern California.
Flames ravage a home.
A firefighter is silhouetted as a house burns in the background.
A firefighter walks near a swimming pool as a neighboring home burns.
A truck is totally consumed by flames.
A vehicle’s burned-out windshield frames the charred remains of a home.
A chimney is all that is left of a home after fire swept through.
