Some folks may remember when the Voyager1 satellite launched in 1977 to explore the solar system. This week it was confirmed by NASA that Voyager1 left our solar system around mid August 2012, becoming the first man made object to ever leave our solar system and enter interstellar space. Should the satellite come in contact with alien life in its new uncharted mission it is equipped with gold audio-visual discs containing information about life on Earth – including greetings from then U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Judge Rules “Darwin” the Ikea Monkey To Stay at Sanctuary Home
This week a Superior Court Judge ruled that “Darwin,” the Japanese Snow Macaque who made headlines last December when as he ran loose in an Ikea parking lot, is to stay at the Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary and not be returned to his owner Yasmin Nakhuda. Darwin had been purchased illegally and has been in the care of Storybook Farm Primate Sanctuary since the OSPCA rescued him from that parking lot. Many Onkwehon:we folks will remember the story as media focus shifted from #IdleNoMore demonstrations to covering this story – something which organizers and activists were unimpressed by.
Salvage of the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Begins
The MS Costa Concordia slammed into a reef on January 13, 2012. It has sat off the coast of Giglio Island in Italy ever since. The wreck took the lives of 32 people. Five ship staff have been convicted of manslaughter and the ship’s Captain is currently on trial. Salvage efforts underway right now are an attempt to right the ship and remove it from the area – where locals feel it has been an eye sore since the tragic wreck. The effort will take an estimated 6,000 tons of force to try and peel the ship from the reef. The process, known as “parbuckling,” is planned to take 17 hours and will cost $300 million dollars – making it the most expensive salvage effort ever. If successful, the ship will be righted by print time. When completed, the ship will be towed to port and cut up for scrap. The ship itself weighs 114,500 tons – making it twice the size of The Titanic.
