Middle East Travel & Tourism sector expected to create 3.6 million new jobs within the next decade – Hospitality Net

London, UK - The World Travel & Tourism Councils latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) reveals the Travel & Tourism sector in the Middle East is expected to create nearly 3.6 million new jobs over the next decade.

The forecast from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which shows an average of 360,000 new jobs every year, also reveals the sector will lead the regions economic recovery, with its average annual growth set to outpace the overall economy for the next 10 years.

According to the report, Travel & Tourisms GDP is forecasted to grow at an average rate of 7.7% annually between 2022-2032, three times the 2.5% growth rate for regions overall economy, to reach nearly US$ 540 billion (10.1% of the total economy).

The sectors contribution to GDP is expected to grow more than 36% to over US$ 256 billion by the end of 2022, amounting to 6.5% of the total economic GDP, while employment in the sector is set to grow by 8.7% this year to reach over six million jobs.

The global tourism bodys annual report also shows further optimism for the regions Travel & Tourism GDP, which could almost reach pre-pandemic levels by 2023 - just 2.5% below 2019 levels.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: After a very difficult couple of years, the future is looking brighter with Travel & Tourism expected to create 3.6 million new jobs across the Middle East over the next decade."

Looking to this year and the next, the outlook is more positive with both GDP and employment set to almost reach pre-pandemic levels."

The recovery of the sector in the Middle East last year was certainly slower than expected, due in part to the impact of the Omicron variant.

Before the pandemic, the Travel & Tourism sectors contribution to GDP was 8.4% (U.S.$323.6 billion) in 2019, falling to just 4.5% (U.S.$162.6 billion) in 2020, which represented a staggering 49.8% loss.

The sector also supported 6.9 million jobs across the region in 2019.

WTTCs latest EIR report also reveals that 2021 saw the beginning of the recovery for the regions Travel & Tourism sector.

Last year, its contribution to GDP climbed 15.9% year on year, to reach US$188.5 billion.

The sector also saw a recovery of more than 390,000 Travel & Tourism jobs, representing a positive 7.6% rise to reach 5.6 million.

The sectors contribution to the economy and employment could have been higher if it werent for the impact of the Omicron variant, which led to the recovery faltering around the world, with many countries reinstating severe travel restrictions.

Since the start of the pandemic, governments across the Middle East have shown total commitment to Travel & Tourism.

Saudi Arabia in particular, has shown great leadership throughout the crisis, pushing for greater regional and global coordination, and making a major investment in Travel & Tourism not only in the country but around the world. The global tourism body believes this support and commitment will speed up the recovery of a sector which is critical to economies and livelihoods around the world.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) represents the global travel & tourism private sector. Members include 200 CEOs, Chairs and Presidents of the world's leading travel & tourism companies from all geographies covering all industries. For more than 30 years, WTTC has been committed to raising the awareness of governments and the public of the economic and social significance of the travel & tourism sector.

According to WTTC's 2021 Economic Impact Report, during 2020, a year in which it was devasted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Travel & Tourism made a 5.5% contribution to global GDP and was responsible for 272 million jobs.

WTTC Press OfficeWTTC

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Middle East Travel & Tourism sector expected to create 3.6 million new jobs within the next decade - Hospitality Net

Tripadvisor Crowns the 10 Best Hotels in the World to Stay at in 2022 – Thrillist

Going on vacation is lovely. Do you know what's not-so-lovely, though? It's sifting through thousands of travel website reviews to find the best hotels. Luckily, Tripadvisor has the Travel Choice Awards for hotels where the brand does the leg work for you and finds the best hotels for travelers.

The awards take place annually and are in year 20 of crowning the best hotels worldwide. Tripadvisor gathers options based on traveler reviews and ratings posted on the website throughout the previous year to figure out the best stays. This year's awards included 11 subcategories of accommodations, such as, Out of the Ordinary Hotels, Hotels on the Water, and Mountain Resorts & Lodges, to name a few.

But the main event categories, Top 10 Hotels in the World for 2022 and Top 10 Hotels in the US for 2022, span over seven countries and feature some of the hottest travel destinations in the world. Coming in number one for the Top 10 Hotels in the World is the jungle resort, Tulemar Bungalows & Villas in Costa Rica. The hillside-perched stay, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, is frequently called an "amazing stay in paradise" by its guests, according to Tripadvisor. Conversely, the hotel that took the top spot in the US, The Mark Hotel in New York City, couldn't be more different. According to the travel website, the hotel has seen its fair share of A-list celebrities and is an Upper East Side landmark that was built in 1927.

To see the best from each of the 11 hotel categories, check out the Tripadvisor Travel Choice Awards. See the best hotels in the world and the US below:

Top 10 Hotels in the World for 2022

Top 10 Hotels in the US for 2022

Janae Price is a News Staff Writer at Thrillist. She's a native New Yorker and loves all things cheese, K-pop, and culture. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @janae_larie.

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Tripadvisor Crowns the 10 Best Hotels in the World to Stay at in 2022 - Thrillist

Travel options for Packers fans looking to see them take on the Giants in London this fall – WTMJ

Some fans have already begun planning their trips to watch the Packers go head to head with the Giants in London this October.

However, planning for an international trip can be expensive and confusing, especially for first-time travelers. Senior destination specialist at Fox World Travel, Colleen Allsberg, told Wisconsins Morning News hosts this is not the time to skimp out financially. This is a once in a lifetime deal, Allsberg said so dont cheap out, have a good time and do it up right.

When looking at flights, Allsberg said the best bet for travelers is flying out of Chicago OHare International. Currently, direct round-trip tickets run at about $800-$900. Hotel rooms closer to the stadium can be found for as low as $150 a night but prices vary depending on where travelers are looking. For example, closer to the city center, rooms are closer to $200+ a night.

When factoring in travel, accommodation, food and shopping, expenses can add up. Allsberg said she is a fan of package deals and fans should keep an eye out for them. Allsberg said You can actually get some better deals and everything is taken care of for you, in that respect.

As far as looking like a tourist its pretty unavoidable. Youre gonna stand out no matter what, so dont try. Just go and be yourself and enjoy London. Allsberg said Its fantastic, it has great restaurants, great theater and the people are hilarious. I think the British have the best sense of humor in all of the World. Just enjoy your experience.

Fox World Travel will also be releasing package deal pricing for the event very soon and fans can keep an eye out for those.

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Travel options for Packers fans looking to see them take on the Giants in London this fall - WTMJ

Les Roches creates a Sustainable Development specialization within its Bachelor program – PR Newswire

Contributing to 10%[1]of the world's GDP, the hospitality and tourism sector is proportionally one of the ecosystems most concerned by sustainable development issues, and control instruments such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria have a direct impact on society and the environment. In response to this, the creation of a sustainable tourism industry promoting meaningful initiatives and resource-efficient cycles is underway. In keeping with its academic philosophy of fostering a spirit of innovation and creativity, Les Roches thus aims to strengthen the ability of future leaders to drive sustainability and change.

The new Bachelor's specialization is designed to equip students with the managerial skills and knowledge necessary to transform hospitality, tourism and the experience economy in this regard. Courses cover the changing demands of customers, stakeholders and communities, eco-tourism, design, and ethics and corporate governance issues. Other specializations are offered in the last semester of BBA studies both on the Crans-Montana and Marbella campuses: Entrepreneurship, Digital Marketing Strategies and Financial Performance Management. The Campus of Les Roches in Marbella additional specialization focuses on Resort development and Management and is dedicated to managing luxury resorts and related businesses.

The specialization "Sustainable Developments and Practices" will be offered at the Crans-Montana campus from next September, with courses taught by prominent faculty members such asDr. Dimitrios Diamantis, Executive Academic Dean, a visionarywhose doctoral thesis already dealt with Consumer Involvement and Ecotourism. The program will also include Master classes delivered by external experts on the field.

The latter expresses his enthusiasm: "Sustainability and ethical issues have long been subjects discussed within the courses, but today we are taking a step forward and sustainable development is really entering as an academic discipline of specialization!" He adds: "This intellectually significant program is eagerly awaited by the entire young generation of students and is a perfect complement to our operational and academic initiatives as well as to our annual Shift'In festival in November."

The school also offers an international innovation competition for high school students within the context of which any eco-luxury idea in the field of hospitality can earn the winners an expedition to the Galapagos Islands and scholarships. The competition which is being conducted in partnership with Lindblad Expeditions, a pioneer in sustainable travel is open to anyone eligible to enter the Bachelor in Global Hospitality Management program in 2022 or 2023.

[1]Source: World Travel and Tourism Council

About Les Roches: Les Roches

Anouck Weiss, VP Communication [emailprotected]

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Les Roches creates a Sustainable Development specialization within its Bachelor program - PR Newswire

A Woman Alone in Oman: Three Weeks Along the Arabian Coast – The New York Times

I could barely tell where the salt ended and the sky began.

I was on my way to Masirah, Omans largest island, when the surrounding terrain turned into a massive salt flat. At its edge, near the road, two Bangladeshi workers were up to their ankles in the mixture of liquid and minerals, pushing the salt flakes into pyramid-shaped piles. I, too, waded in, the horizon blurred by an orange-pink haze.

Finally I reached the ferry and, after more than an hour at sea, arrived at Masirah. I began driving down the west coast of the bowtie-shaped island, hoping to make it to its southern point by sundown, a distance of some 40 miles. The farther I got from the port, the fewer people I saw until, pulling onto the sand of Bu Rasas Beach, there was no one. With the trunk of my S.U.V. open to the sea, emitting the only light for miles, I could hear the small shore creatures scuttling near the waters edge.

Alone, skirting the boundaries between sand and sea, Id reached the midpoint of my trek.

This past December, three months after the Sultanate of Oman lifted its Covid-19 travel restrictions, I flew from my home in Paris to the southern city of Salalah, intending to explore the entirety of Omans coastline from south to north.

For the next three weeks, I would be traveling solo across the edge of the Arabian Peninsula, clocking more than 2,600 miles, improvising campsites, off-roading with middling success, loading my rental car onto ferries to reach remote islands, passing military checkpoints and, finally, reaching the northern tip of Oman and the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most geopolitically contentious and carefully monitored waterways in the world.

When you conjure images of the Arabian Peninsula, whose inhabitants go by the pan-Arab term khaleeji, the Sultanate of Oman is perhaps not the first country that comes to mind. Saudi Arabias presence on the world stage has been dominant in recent years; both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have made political and cultural impressions internationally; and the entire world has watched in horror at the ongoing civil war in Yemen.

And yet Oman has nurtured its reputation as a neutral and often tranquil place, even serving during the Obama administration as a conduit for nuclear talks between the United States and Iran. The country has made few ripples on the international front since the British-backed coup in the 1970s, when a reformist son deposed his father to become the new sultan. The leader Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, who died in 2020 subsequently transformed Oman, catalyzing mass modernization while maintaining the absolute monarchy.

For me, that relative calm was one of its most attractive features. That and its unique climate. Because of its location, Oman is one of the rare countries in the Arab world that experiences a khareef (monsoon) season, which turns the landscape a lush green, floods mountains with waterfalls, fills the wadis (valleys or riverbeds) with fresh water and brings a thick fog to rest on the southern governorates of the country. Oman doesnt really have an off-season. The khareef is popular with khaleejis, and during winter months the sultanate receives more European and Indian tourists. As Id missed the khareef, it was the ideal time for a beach-bound adventure.

In my dedication to traveling the entirety of the Omani coastline, Id be foregoing inland Oman, famed for the Rub al Khali, or the Empty Quarter, considered the worlds largest continuous sand desert and made up of approximately 250,000 square miles of uninterrupted sand dunes, spanning across Oman, Yemen, the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia. And, in a stubborn commitment to driving the entire coastline, I drove some three hours west of Salalah to the border of Yemen to officially begin the trip.

The route to the border was treacherous, full of repeating switchbacks as the road ascended into the Dhofar Mountains. And the quality of the roadway significantly deteriorated the closer I got to Yemen.

The border crossing near the town of Sarfayt wasnt very imposing: a makeshift hut of corrugated iron paneling covered in camouflage netting and yellowed by the sun with a sand-colored SUV in its shade. Disappointingly, there was no signage. This was the closest Id been to Yemen since December 2013, not long before the civil war began. After conferring with his colleagues in the hut, the guard allowed me to complete a U-turn in the no mans land between Oman and Yemen. And with that, my journey had officially begun.

The first thing I did on my expedition north was pull up for a warm cup of sweet milk tea called karak an Omani favorite, made with spices at the nearest place I could find. It was significantly colder and windier here in the mountains.

By nightfall Id reached Fazayah Beach, some 65 miles from the border. Wild camping is legal in Oman; one has the right to pitch a tent on any public land. Before picking up my car rental, I requested that the rear rows be removed, which would give me the option of sleeping in back. That night, I kept the trunk open, tucked into my sleeping bag, listening to the waves. In the morning, cows walked the beach while I swam; later I waited as they blocked the mountain road until I could pull back out onto Highway 47.

My trip progressed in undulating chapters: Periods of isolation and contemplation were followed by moments of extreme focus in precarious situations, which then swung into generous cultural exchanges.

At Mughsail Beach, with Mount Qamar looming in the distance, the shallow pools of light green and blue water gathered in pockets in the sand, as dromedaries, or one-humped Arabian camels, walked along the shore, silhouetted by an orange sun. Ropes of a vine called goats foot crisscrossed the beach, with their pink flowers dotting the sand.

Just as the sun was fading into a fuzzy haze, a traditionally dressed couple walked barefoot along the shoreline, the man in a dishdasha (an ankle-length collarless tunic) and kuma (a rounded embroidered cap), and the woman in an abaya (a long black cloak) and hijab.

At the Khor Rori archaeological site, I met a man who looked to be in his mid-40s. We struck up a conversation, and when he found out I have Yemeni ancestry, he warmed to me. I sat with him through a few of his cigarettes.

He was fascinated by my Jewish heritage, saying I was the first Jew he had ever met and asking to take a photograph together. Then, as though he needed proof of my Jewishness, he asked that I write out several names in Hebrew, which I did. We exchanged numbers and planned to meet that evening for dinner.

After visiting Wadi Darbat, famous for its plateau of waterfalls, I drove to Mirbat, where my new friend had dropped a pin on my phone to share the exact location. He had ordered takeout, and we took the bags to the beach, where he laid out a mat and we sat eating cross-legged using our right hands in place of utensils, in the traditional manner. Having finished our meal of chicken biryani, we stepped out onto the rocks where the ocean lapped onto the stones. We went as far as we could without getting wet, finding a place to lean back comfortably. And then, as if old friends, we had a long talk about a range of topics, including religion, while staring up at the sky.

The next day, I stopped to have coffee in the bustling village of Sadah. As soon as I sat down, the neighborhood children playing at a nearby table were intrigued likely with my unruly (and uncovered) hair, western (though modest) clothes and vaguely familiar features. The girls waved at me, while the boys made faces and loud jokes, clearly having a cheeky laugh at my expense. These exchanges are among my favorite moments on the road: no common language, no inherent gain for either party, just a bit of wonder on all sides, full of hand signals and carefree laughter.

A man in western clothes and his young daughter joined our interaction. He introduced himself as a native of Sadah and suggested a restaurant with the best view in town. Requesting that I refer to him as Ali, he later said he was a member of an elite military unit in Oman.

Ali proposed a drive to Natef Falls, where, as one local described, the water comes from the mountains like tears. I bathed in the freshwater, which felt noticeably distinct from mornings spent in the brine.

Drying off, I recalled the conversation we had shared earlier in the day. Im crazy, youre crazy, hed said, as both of us laughed. What Ali had meant, restricted by the limits of our common language skills, was that I was a woman traveling by herself, an idea that to him was absolutely mad and yet also brave. He was likening it to his mtier: high-altitude military parachuting, which he knew was both courageous and a bit unhinged. (Id seen videos of his jumps.)

In other words: This was Ali, paying me a compliment.

A couple days later I was off-roading in the Sugar Dunes of Al Khaluf in an attempt to reach Bar al Hikman before sunrise. Suddenly, my S.U.V. ceased moving forward; the wheels rotated in place, sending sand in all directions. The car sank into the white lumps. I tried in vain to dig myself out, but it was futile. I hesitated before calling Ali. Within 30 minutes of dropping him a pin, two friends from Alis unit pulled up barefoot, wearing dishdashas and massars (embroidered headscarves) in a beat-up 90s truck the color of sand.

Ten minutes later, employing the practiced skill of people who had clearly done this many times before, they yanked my much larger vehicle out of its pit, and drove it back to the blacktop. They offered me a place to stay at their camp for the night, but I had taken up enough of their time. We said our goodbyes and, my hands pressed together in supplication uttering profuse shukrans (thank yous), they sent me on my way. Feeling inordinately lucky, I found an easily accessible nearby beach, splayed out in the trunk, and passed out.

The following morning, I walked across the stunning white sand beach, sat in the water feeling grateful for it all, and looked back at the dunes that had nearly devoured me the night before.

The farther north I traveled, the craggier the terrain became stonier, less smooth. An hour north from the port city of Sur, I was enchanted by the many smaller coves that broke up the long stretch of beach near Bimmah Sinkhole. Weaving among them, I admired the massive chunks of brain coral and the way the morning sun reflected pastel highlights onto the stones.

Exactly two weeks into my trip, with only brief interludes from the intermittently unforgiving coastal terrain, I pulled into a parking spot on a perfectly manicured street lined with elegant palms trees in a swanky corner of Muscat, Omans capital, and walked my weary self into an international coffee chain.

Looking ahead. As governments across the world loosen coronavirus restrictions, the travel industry hopes this will be the year that travel comes roaring back. Here is what to expect:

Lodging. During the pandemic, many travelers discovered the privacy offered by rental residences. Hotels hope to competeagain by offeringstylish extended-stay properties, sustainable options, rooftop bars and co-workingspaces.

Rental cars. Travelers can expect higher prices, and older carswith high mileage, since companies still havent been able to expand their fleets. Seeking an alternative? Car-sharing platforms might be a more affordable option.

Cruises. Despite a bumpy start to the year, thanks to Omicrons surge, demand for cruises remains high. Luxury expedition voyages are particularly appealing right now, because they typically sail on smaller ships and steer away from crowded destinations.

Destinations. Cities are officially back: Travelers are eager to dive into the sights, bites and soundsof a metropolis like Paris or New York. For a more relaxing time, some resorts in the U.S. are pioneering an almost all-inclusive model that takes the guesswork out of planning a vacation.

Experiences. Travel options centered around sexual wellness (think couples retreats and beachfront sessions with intimacy coaches) are growing popular. Trips with an educational bent, meanwhile, are increasingly sought after by families with children.

Hoping to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, I missed the window for non-Muslim visitors. Instead, I walked through the surrounding gardens. Evening had fallen by the time I departed Muscat for Shinas, a coastal town near the border with U.A.E. I counted the gas flares that dotted the coastline as I continued my drive.

The following morning, I found a small unassuming cafe for breakfast. The corner shop, open on two sides, let in a much-appreciated breeze. I joined a morning crowd of South Asian workers, silently drinking their chais and munching their chapatis, transfixed by the overhead TV, a few flies resting on the plastic tables we all shared. I saw one of the men dip his chapati in his tea, and I did the same. Not half bad. After their meal, men would approach the sink in the middle of the shop and wash their hands and mouth, then use the thin waxy paper, provided by the shop, to dry themselves off. I followed suit.

These types of shops can be found all over the sultanate, a staple of communities in a country where foreign workers mostly from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan make up a significant portion of the population. (In Oman and many of its neighbors, the pandemic led to a reckoning about the many inequalities that exist in the Gulf states, which rely heavily on migrant labor.)

I was finally ready to head to Musandam, the northernmost of Omans 11 governorates, which borders the Strait of Hormuz and is separated from the rest of the country by a spit of Emirati land. Musandam has beautifully barren fjords hugging green-blue bays, jagged mountain ranges, and inlets that reveal small villages accessible only by boat. The port city of Khasab is a four-hour ferry ride from Shinas, north along the edge of the Arabian Peninsula and around the cape into the Strait of Hormuz.

I drove off the ferry into town and let curiosity lead me along the Khasab Coastal Road, gradually nearing my ultimate destination. The Musandam mountain scapes were intimidating, dwarfing the few homes that were built right up against them. One road appeared to turn into the mountains, and I decided to see where it led.

After about five minutes, the paved road gave way to dirt. I got out of the car to take some photos when I heard a mans voice call and echo to me from across the valley. Looking in the direction of the sound, I discerned a figure waving me over. It turned out to be a group of young Omani men, who went on to invite me to join their breakfast, revealing a spread of coffee, karak, tanoor bread (baked in an underground clay oven), honey and cheese. The home, land, and surrounding flock of goats belonged to a family member, and they were all visiting from their respective homes in the nearby Emirates.

That afternoon, I made my way to the northernmost point of Oman or as far as I could go without risking further off-roading high jinks and gazed out over the coast. The waters were deceptively serene. I found a place to rest among the rocks and contemplated the historic nature of the sea passage. Only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, the Strait of Hormuz has been essential for trade between civilizations for thousands of years.

Recently, some 20 percent of the global oil supply has flowed through the strait, which is the only way for oil tankers and cargo ships to reach the Indian Ocean for maritime trade. Tensions at this chokepoint have led (and continue to lead) to numerous conflicts.

Taking in the sea view from a small park just southwest of the horn, I waved to a group of women walking in the sand; they waved back. I longed for interactions with Omani women but had experienced very few throughout the journey partly a result of my limited language skills and the solitary nature of my trip, and partly because of the complicated gender dynamics in a country with a spectrum of conservativeness.

Id spoken briefly with a young doctor on the ferry to Masirah, on the deck reserved for families (the other side was reserved for single men), where we were both trying to get a good picture of the sunset and joked at our unsuccessful attempts. The conversation trailed off, and she returned to sit with her two friends.

At a generic food stand in Khasab, a group of young girls approached me, admiring my camera. I let them hold it and play, which drew the attention of some teenage girls who wanted to practice their English. Youre cute! they said to me, giggling.

Reflecting back on these fleeting moments, I was thankful to have had them.

I left Musandam the following morning and headed back to mainland Oman, where I booked a hotel in Muscat and, for the first night in weeks, slept in a bed. When I awoke, the city had flooded, limiting the options for my final day. I lay back down on the bed. I could still smell the smoke emanating from burned frankincense resin, could feel the air from Jabal Samhan on my skin, could hear the batting of green sea turtle flippers in the sand.

Noa Avishag Schnall, is a visual journalist based in Paris. You can follow her work on Instagram.

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A Woman Alone in Oman: Three Weeks Along the Arabian Coast - The New York Times

Hotels Continue to be a Stable and Lucrative Asset Class – Hospitality Net

Laurent A. Voivenel, Senior Vice President Operations & Development, EMEA & India; Senior Vice President Group Human Resources & Talent Development, Swiss-Belhotel International, participated today in a panel discussion at the Middle East Tourism Investment Summit that took place at the Arabian Travel Market Global Stage.

The panel was moderated by Gerald Lawless, Director of International Tourism & Investment Conference (ITIC) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Ambassador. Others on the panel included Sandeep Walia, Chief Operating Officer, Middle East, Marriott International; Badr Alherbish, Executive Director of Strategy Tourism Development Fund, Saudi Arabia; and Dinky Puri, Founding Partner, Eaglewing Group.

Speaking on how the Middle East is reinventing the financing of future tourism projects, Laurent stressed, Investors are seeking assets that can generate income as well as serve as a powerful hedge against inflation. The hospitality industry is fulfilling that need being a stable and lucrative asset class with demand recovering at a quicker pace than expected. Therefore, there is adequate capital available for investment in the sector.

Elaborating on the possibility of Metaverse influencing investments, Laurent emphasised, Metaverse has opened new channels of profit and investment and is no doubt the next frontier of technology. Virtual hotels powered by blockchain are beginning to take shape and will lead our industry in a new direction.

Laurent further stated, The ever-expanding digital asset universe is creating a whole new ecosystem with new opportunities and new applications. Blockchain holds immense potential for the travel industry because of its unique ability to share information instantly, securely, and privately between dozens of stakeholders. Loyalty programmes can benefit tremendously from blockchain technology with a fundamentally new way to transact and maintain records. It can also reduce costs while significantly improving customer experience with a single digital wallet.

Sustainability holds the power to offer better returns due to improved use of resources. Laurent said, Given an ever-growing impetus for sustainable choices, the hospitality industry will continue to evolve to become more responsible. The abolition of single use plastics by many countries will significantly reduce use of plastics worldwide by 2030. In 2018 as part of the Swiss-Belhotel Internationals global initiative to enhance the sustainability of our operations and reduce plastic consumption, we had eliminated the use of disposable plastic straws from our existing and upcoming properties across the Middle East and Africa region.

Swiss-Belhotel International is currently in 19* countries, managing a portfolio of more than 125* hotels, resorts and projects located in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Tanzania. The Group provides comprehensive and highly professional development and management services in all aspects of hotel, resort and serviced residences. Offices are strategically located in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, China, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Vietnam and Thailand covering Oceania, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and India regions.

*numbers may fluctuate

For further information visit https://www.swiss-belhotel.com.

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Hotels Continue to be a Stable and Lucrative Asset Class - Hospitality Net

Next Earth partners with Iomob and Vueling Airlines to expand its Metaverse with first-ever transportation layer – PR Newswire

New partnership increases sustainability and intertwines popular Metaversewith real-world travel and logistics

BUDAPEST, Hungary and BARCELONA, Spain, May 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Next Earth, the unicorn, sustainability-focused Metaverse today announced a partnership with Iomob,the pioneering blockchain company developing a decentralized protocol for the world's first Mobility Marketplace Network and token. The partnership is through Limitless, the Metaverse integrator and go-to full stack solution for established brands and startups, and will pair Iomob and Next Earth seamlessly.

The strategic alliance, which also includes Vueling Airlines, will collaborate in the development of tools and services enabling "Next Earthians" to plan real-Earth journeys, track carbon emissions and book "carbon positive" transportation via the Metaverse and Iomob's companion app.

"Next Earth and Iomob are simplythe perfect match and use case," says Gabor Retfalvi, CEO of Next Earth. "Developing methods to visualize and experience sustainable travel within Next Earth fundamentally aligns with the natural evolution that underpins our environment and represents a wonderful next step for our company."

Next Earth's partnership with Iomob and Vueling Airlines the first airline to enable bookings through the Metaverse melds several unique entities with the potential to significantly impact environmental challenges. Iomob is a "real world" transportation company that helps users plan A-to-B journeys while allowing them to schedule numerous services like taxis, scooters and more. Vueling Airlines will enable real flight bookings in Next Earth, accessible via QR codes through an accompanying mobile app.

"We are working alongside Next Earth to create the transportation infrastructure that enables a more exciting and purposeful way to traverse the planet," said Boyd Cohen, CEO of Iomob. "Airlines are actively strategizing ways to be present in the Metaverse, so extending our relationship with Vueling Airlines to augment their Web3 bookings is a fantastic initiative for everyone."

Next Earth is becoming the center of the Metaversal Industrial Revolution with its unique, 1-to-1 recreation of the Earth. Iomob, meanwhile, announced investments from True Global Ventures, A100x and Creas. With Vueling Airlines, this new venture makes intermodal mobility more accessible by tapping into 7,000 taxi fleets, micro-mobility in 270+ cities, thousands of parking spaces and 480+ public transit feeds.

"Visualizing real-world journeys and using a Metaverse interface to select and book the least polluting trip, has never been done before," said Jesus Monzo, Distribution Strategy and Alliances Manager of Vueling.

Contact: Fruzsina Lederer +36309141467 [emailprotected]

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Next Earth partners with Iomob and Vueling Airlines to expand its Metaverse with first-ever transportation layer - PR Newswire

Worlds best hotels & resorts; How many are in Hawaii? – KHON2

HONOLULU (KHON2) A new list ranking the best hotels in the world came out and Hawaii had more than a dozen on the list.

Travel + Leisure ranked the top 500 hotels in the world ranked by eight geographic regions:Africa and the Middle East; Asia; Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific; Canada; the Caribbean; Europe; Mexico, Central America, and South America; and the United States.

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Hotels that made the list located on the Big Island are:

Hawaii is home to many luxury hotels and resorts with travelers coming in by the thousands to enjoy their Hawaiian vacations. Four Seasons Resort Lanai was also on the list and Timbers Kauai.

With COVID restrictions easing up more people are booking their flights and hotels to enjoy all that Hawaii offers.

Hotels that made the list located on Oahu are:

Hotels that made the list located on Maui are:

Get more coronavirus news: COVID vaccines, boosters and Safe Travels information

To see the rest of the hotels listed head to Travel + Leisures website.

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Worlds best hotels & resorts; How many are in Hawaii? - KHON2

Global policy will remove headaches from international travel – Travel Daily News International

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced the Harmonising Air Travel policy, a framework that will make international travel simpler, easier and more enjoyable by removing the confusion over travel requirements currently discouraging millions of people from booking flights.

Designed in cooperation with the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the proposed framework will eradicate international travel confusion for passengers, carriers and governments by creating a single, clear, up-to-date online resource setting out requirements for entry to all participating countries.

The policy will be submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) General Assembly with the objective of receiving approval from Member States in October of this year.

GACA President HE Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Duailej said: "The pandemic exposed how disconnected the world really is. Our research shows that many people chose not to travel in 2021 and will not travel in 2022 because of confusing health requirements to get from country to country. We are delighted to launch the Harmonising Air Travel policy, a proposed framework that will unify and strengthen our industry by enabling it to navigate future health crises.

"Aviation is the lifeblood of the global economy, and it is crucial to safeguard it from future disruption. The Harmonising Air Travel policy framework demonstrates the leadership role Saudi Arabia is taking to ensure that the sector thrives in the years to come."

According to recent YouGov research, currently 32 percent of Americans, 47 percent of people in the Gulf, 40 percent of people in Italy and 40 percent of people in the UK say confusion over health requirements will prevent them from travelling in 2022.

The policy will create a harmonised international reporting mechanism for health crises using purpose-built digital communications tools, world-class governance and coordination processes, and a system that will facilitate universal compliance, such as a globally-recognised Digital Health certificate.

As a result, travelers will have access to clear guidelines and requirements needed to get from origin to arrival. The universal platform will be able to integrate all existing international aviation and government-to-government health crises communication systems.

The Harmonising Air Travel policy white paper was launched at the inaugural Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh. Hosted by GACA, global leaders, aviation heads and regulators convened to find solutions to the sector's greatest challenges including passenger experience, sustainability and business recovery post-COVID.

Saudi Arabia aims to become the Middle East's pre-eminent aviation hub. Its' transport and logistics sector, a major pillar of the Vision 2030 economic transformation plan, is undergoing rapid development. The Kingdom aims to generate 356 billion SAR or just under $100 billion USD in investment into its aviation sector by 2030.

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Global policy will remove headaches from international travel - Travel Daily News International

This Is What To Expect On Board The World’s Biggest Cruise Ship – Travel Off Path

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With the worlds biggest cruise ship having recently set sail with passengers for the very first time heres what those waiting to board Wonder of the Seas can expect.

Having reported a few months ago that the ship was due to launch back in March, it has since completed its maiden voyage sailing around both the Eastern and Western sides of the Caribbean on 7-night cruises.

And, with Wonder of The Seas having recently arrived in Europe with the ship set to sail in the Mediterranean throughout the summer months many will be wondering what it is actually like on board this monster-sized vessel.

Well, you are in luck as throughout this article we will take a look at what the ship offers when it comes to places to wine and dine, relax, keep fit as well as the variety of entertainment choices on offer to passengers.

Its not the first time that one of Royal Caribbeans fleet has earned the title of the worlds biggest cruise ship with its Symphony of the Seas having previously held it.

In fact, with Wonder of the Seas now in operation the company now owns the worlds five largest ships with each of them able to accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers at any one time.

So, how big exactly is Wonder of the Seas?

Measuring in at a mammoth 1,118 feet (362m) in length and weighing in at 236,857 tonnes Wonder of the Seas spans across 18 decks, making it possible to play host to a maximum capacity of 6,988 passengers.

And, this number does not even include crew members with the ship also having enough space to accommodate up to 2,300 cruise ship staff.

Royal Caribbeans newest addition Wonder of the Seas features a brand new neighborhood on board, which spans over two of the ships decks.

Named the Suite Neighborhood, passengers are able to stay at one of its 188 suites on offer, as well as sit back and relax at one of the neighborhoods bars and restaurants or soak up the atmosphere at its freshly designed sun deck and infinity-style plunge pool.

The ship also offers seven other neighborhoods to visit on board with each providing their own unique options for drinking and dining in along with a variety of entertainment to enjoy.

With nearly 3000 cabins on board Wonder of the Seas 2,867 to be precise there are a selection of different rooms that can be booked by cruise-goers.

This includes the following staterooms:

All rooms offer occupants the chance to connect to WiFi, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of the ships room service options and spa-like services.

With 20 different restaurants to choose from, you are certainly not going to find it a difficult task to find somewhere to eat or drink when on board Wonder of the Seas with the ship offering all types of cuisine.

Whether youre looking to eat at one of the vessels upmarket eateries, or wanting to grab a quick and easy snack on the go you are not going to be lost for choice for what this ship has to offer.

Those on board can even check out a new addition to the selection of Royal Caribbeans dining options the Mason Jar which offers some of the best when it comes to Americas southern delicacies.

Due to its huge size, Wonder of the Seas is able to offer passengers the opportunity to choose from a selection of swimming pools on board.

This includes the ships huge pool deck which boasts a number of slides, as well as a variety of sun loungers and beds to soak up the sun.

For anyone who is fortunate enough to spend time sailing into the sunset on Wonder of the Seas there is certainly a wide variety of entertainment options for cruise passengers to enjoy.

This includes:

And this is just a taste of what you can expect with the ship also boasting its Central Park, which features in excess of 10,000 plants.

You can check out what else Royal Caribbeans new monster cruise ship Wonder of the Seas has to offer by clicking here.

A few weeks ago we reported that Royal Caribbean had begun constructing the next addition to its fleet of cruise liners with Utopia of the Seas set to sail in 2024.

Once built and in operation the ship will take over from Wonder of the Seas as being the worlds largest cruise liner.

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Travel Insurance That Covers Covid-19 In 2022

Royal Caribbean Cruises Welcome Back Self-Service Buffets

The Worlds Largest Cruise Ship Is Set To Sail in 2024

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The Unique Way To Save Gas Exploring The National Parks This Summer – TravelAwaits

If you want to visit a national park this summer but youre concerned about rising gas prices and traffic, Amtrak Vacations might just have the solution you need.

Amtrak Vacations provides passenger railroad service to national parks so you can relax and take in the scenery with family or friends. Plus, all of the national park itineraries may be customized to suit your preferences including origin city, trip length, and even budget.

Lose yourself in the exquisite beauty and wonder of North Americas treasured national parks, Amtrak Vacations explains. You could spend a lifetime exploring these beautiful landscapes and still discover something new to appreciate each time.

Heres how the trips are possible. Amtrak Vacations trains travel along a 21,000-mile rail system that stretches across 46 states to more than 500 different destinations, many of which are some of the most-famous national parks in the U.S.

When you travel aboard Amtraks iconic train routes such as the Empire Builder, California Zephyr, Coast Starlight, and Southwest Chief to visit these natural wonders, youll sweep through scenery thats sure to astound you, Amtrak Vacations explains. Desert landscapes, awe-inspiring mountain ranges, surreal sunsets and sunrises, lush forests, vast plains, and states and cities you probably would never see except by train are just a handful of the views youll get to enjoy while onboard en route to your destination. Regardless of where you choose to begin and end these popular national park rail journeys, you can expect to create memories youll talk about for years to come!

Heres a quick look at some of Amtrak Vacations most-popular national park rail journeys.

Glacier National Park, which the National Park Service (NPS) calls the Crown of the Continent, is known for its rugged mountains, spectacular lakes, deep forests, and more than 700 miles of trails.

This is a 10-day rail journey on the Empire Builder route that you dont want to miss! Amtrak Vacations explains. If you choose to visit Glacier National Park from Chicago, your train will traverse major portions of the Lewis and Clark Trail and follow in the footsteps of early pioneers. Youll also have the opportunity to take in incredible views of untouched wilderness along the way before eventually reaching Seattle.

You can learn more about the Glacier National Park Express here.

If youve been imagining what it would be like to experience some of the most beautiful, untamed landscapes of the American Southwest, this 9-day, 8-night roundtrip rail journey from Chicago is a perfect adventure! Amtrak Vacations explains.

Along the way, youll be able to take in Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Lake Powell, and even Grand Canyon National Park.

Featuring dazzling views everywhere you look, you could spend a lifetime exploring these regions and still discover something new and exciting each time, according to Amtrak Vacations. Gorgeous year-round, this is your opportunity to experience what millions of other travelers from around the world travel to see each year.

You can learn more about the Grand National Parks of the Southwest Bryce, and Zion to the Grand Canyon vacation here.

Traveling on-board the Southwest Chief and the Grand Canyon Railway to one of the seven wonders of the natural world is certainly a bucket list experience like no other, Amtrak Vacations explains. Known as the most spectacular gorge in the world, the Grand Canyon is one of those places that stays with you long after you return home from vacation.

This 5-day adventure begins and ends in Los Angeles.

You can learn more about the Rails to the Grand Canyon vacation here.

The seven-day journey begins in Chicago and ends in Salt Lake City onboard Amtrak Vacations California Zephyr.

Travel through the wide-open landscape of the Heartland of America by rail before reaching Salt Lake City. Continue on to Jackson Hole for an exploration of Grand Teton National Park and its spectacular wildlife, Amtrak Vacations explains. From there, the journey north continues to Yellowstone National Park, where you can take in the amazing scenery that has made this destination a must-see for decades.

You can learn more about the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Rail Journey vacation here.

This 5-day trip aboard the California Zephyr, which ends in Moab, begins in Denver with a chance to explore the city before traveling to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Then board Amtraks California Zephyr for a scenic ride from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado, your base for exploring the red-orange sandstone and desert blue skies of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Its no surprise the U.S. Postal Service chose to depict Arches on one of its commemorative Park Service centennial stamps, Amtrak Vacations continues. The thousands of sandstone arches at Arches National Park are a must-see, and Canyonlands National Park provides a wealth of scenery from vast mesas to soaring rock columns, and even examples of Native American cave painting.

You can learn more about the Rocky Mountains to Arches and Canyonlands vacation here.

This 9-day journey begins with an entertaining day of sightseeing in San Francisco before touring the award-winning wineries of Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Amtrak Vacations notes. Spend a full day exploring the iconic Yosemite National Park. Get to know Los Angeles on a narrated tour and learn why so many stars call this fabulous city home. And, last, but certainly not least, explore the scenic coastal landscape of San Diego.

You can learn more about the Californian vacation here.

This 7-day trip begins with opportunities to explore Washington, D.C, and visit the national monuments.

Then, in your included car rental, youll head to Shenandoah National Park and enjoy a scenic ride along the Skyline Drive through the park, Amtrak Vacations explains. Next up is the most visited U.S. national park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where a sightseeing tour will take you to the most spectacular overlooks, through the valleys, and more. Finally, at your leisure, youll make your way back to Washington for a final night stay.

You can learn more about the Shenandoah and Great Smoky National Parks Roundtrip from New York City vacation here.

This 5-day journey allows passengers to discover the best of Maine, Amtrak Vacations explains.

Portland, Maines largest city, is a bustling seaport town filled with art galleries, boutiques, historic sites, and museums. Known for its many lighthouses, your all-encompassing harbor cruise tour will take you to see some of the most picturesque ones, Amtrak Vacations notes. Then hop in your included rental car and continue up the coast of Maine to Mount Desert Island, home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. This treasure on the coast of Maine is painted with rocky beaches, woodlands, and glacier-polished peaks including the ever-impressive Cadillac Mountain the highest point on the East Coast.

You can learn more about the Portland & Acadia National Park Getaway vacation here.

If youre thinking about visiting a national park by train, you can learn more about all of Amtrak Vacations national park rail vacations here.

If you want to visit a national park by rail but cant decide which one to visit, Amtrak Vacations also has a planning guide, called the National Parks by Rail map. You can download the map, which explains different trip options as well as what youll see along the way, here.

Be sure to also visit our national parks content, including 10 Unique Rustic Campsites Near U.S. National Parks. And while youre thinking about trains, be sure to visit our rail content, including:

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The Unique Way To Save Gas Exploring The National Parks This Summer - TravelAwaits

University of Hawaii – Wikipedia

College and university system in the US state of Hawaii

The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, three university centers, four education centers and various other research facilities distributed across six islands throughout the state of Hawaii in the United States. All schools of the University of Hawaii system are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The UH system's main administrative offices are located on the property of the University of Hawaii at Mnoa in Honolulu CDP.[4][5][6]

The present-day University of Hawai'i System was created in 1965 which combined the State of Hawai'i's technical and community colleges under one system within the University of Hawai'i.

The University of Hawai'i was created by the Territory of Hawai'i in 1907 as a land-grant college of agriculture and mechanical arts and held its first classes in 1907. In 1912 it moved to its present location in Mnoa Valley and being renamed College of Hawaii. In 1919 the College of Hawai'i obtained university status by the Hawai'i Territorial Legislature and was renamed the University of Hawai'i.

In 1965, the state legislature created a system of community colleges and placed it within the university. The university was renamed the University of Hawai'i at Mnoa to distinguish it from other campuses in the University of Hawai'i System in 1972.

The University of Hawaii at Mnoa is the flagship institution of the University of Hawaii system. It was founded as a land-grant college under the terms of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Programs include Hawaiian/Pacific Studies, Astronomy, East Asian Languages and Literature, Asian Studies, Comparative Philosophy, Marine Science, Second Language Studies, along with Botany, Engineering, Ethnomusicology, Geophysics, Law, Business, Linguistics, Mathematics, and Medicine.

The second-largest institution is the University of Hawaii at Hilo on the "Big Island" of Hawaii, with over 3,000 students. The University of Hawaii-West Oahu in Kapolei primarily serves students who reside in Honolulu's western and central suburban communities.

The University of Hawaii Community College System comprises four community colleges island campuses on O'ahu and one each on Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii. The colleges were created to improve accessibility of courses to more Hawaii residents and provide an affordable means of easing the transition from secondary school/high school to college for many students. University of Hawaii education centers are located in more remote areas of the State and its several islands, supporting rural communities via distance education.

In accordance with Article X, Section 6 of the Hawaii State Constitution, the University of Hawaii is governed by a Board of Regents, composed of 15 unpaid members who are nominated by a Regents Candidate Advisory Council, appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the state legislature. The board oversees all aspects of governance for the university system, including its internal structure and management. The board also appoints, evaluates, and if necessary removes the President of the University of Hawaii.[9]

The university's governing board includes a current student appointed by the Governor of Hawaii to serve a two-year term as a full voting regent. The practice of appointing a student to the board was approved by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1997.

Alumni of the University of Hawaii system include many notable persons in various walks of life. Senator Daniel Inouye and Tammy Duckworth both are veterans of the US military who were injured in the line of duty then later entered government service. Bette Midler and Georgia Engel are successful entertainers on the national stage. Composer Hsiung-Zee Wong also attended the University of Hawai'i. President Barack Obama's parents, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham, and half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, also earned degrees from the Mnoa campus, where his parents met in a Russian language class. His mother earned three degrees from the University of Hawaii including a PhD in anthropology.

Mazie Hirono is a current U.S. Senator. She graduated from the University of Hawaii with a BA in Psychology. She is the first elected female senator from Hawaii, the first Asian-American woman elected to the Senate, the first U.S. senator born in Japan, and the nation's first Buddhist senator.

Alice Augusta Ball was not only the first woman to graduate from the College of Hawaii (now the University of Hawaii) in 1915, but was also the first African American research chemist and instructor in the college's chemistry department. In addition, she was the first person to successfully develop a water-soluble form of chaulmoogra oil that was used for decades to relieve the symptoms of Hansen's disease (leprosy).[10]

The University of Hawaii system has had many faculty members of note. Many were visiting faculty or came after they won major awards like Nobel Laureate Georg von Bksy. Ryuzo Yanagimachi, principal investigator of the research group that developed a method of cloning from adult animal cells, is still on the faculty.

In July 2019, Bob Huey, a professor of Japanese literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, was presented the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, one of Japan's highest honors for those without Japanese citizenship.[11]

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University of Hawaii - Wikipedia

Carl Sagan – Biography – IMDb

Overview (4) Mini Bio (1)

Astronomer, educator and author Carl Sagan was perhaps the world's greatest popularizer of science, reaching millions of people through newspapers, magazines and television broadcasts. He is well-known for his work on the PBS series Cosmos (1980), the Emmy Award and Peabody Award-winning show that became the most watched series in public-television history. This was seen by more than 500 million people in 60 countries. The accompanying book, "Cosmos" (1980), was on the New York Times bestseller list for 70 weeks and was the best-selling science book ever published in English.

Carl Edward Sagan was born November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. Having taught at Cornell University since 1968, Sagan received a bachelor's degree (1955) and a master's degree (1956), both in physics, and a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics (1960), all from the University of Chicago. He taught at Harvard University in the early 1960s before coming to Cornell, where he became a full professor in 1971. Sagan played a leading role in NASA's Mariner, Viking, Voyager and Galileo expeditions to other planets. He received NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and twice for Distinguished Public Service and the NASA Apollo Achievement Award. His research focused on topics such as the greenhouse effect on Venus; windblown dust as an explanation for the seasonal changes on Mars; organic aerosols on Titan, Saturn's moon; the long-term environmental consequences of nuclear war; and the origin of life on Earth. A pioneer in the field of exobiology, he continued to teach graduate and undergraduate students in courses in astronomy and space sciences and in critical thinking at Cornell.

The breadth of his interests were made evident in October 1994, at a Cornell-sponsored symposium in honor of Sagan's 60th birthday. The two-day event featured speakers in areas of planetary exploration, life in the cosmos, science education, public policy and government regulation of science and the environment -- all fields in which Sagan had worked or had a strong interest. Sagan was the recipient of numerous awards in addition to his NASA recognition. He received 22 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities for his contributions to science, literature, education and the preservation of the environment and many awards for his work on the long-term consequences of nuclear war and reversing the nuclear arms race. Among his other awards were: the John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award of the American Astronautical Society; the Explorers Club 75th Anniversary Award; the Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal of the Soviet Cosmonauts Federation and the Masursky Award of the American Astronomical Society. He also was the recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences, "for distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare".

Sagan was elected chairman of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, president of the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union and chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For 12 years, he was editor of Icarus, the leading professional journal devoted to planetary research. He was co-founder of the Planetary Society, a 100,000-member organization and the largest space-interest group in the world. The society supports major research programs in the radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the investigation of near-Earth asteroids and, with the French and Russian space agencies, the development and testing of balloon and mobile robotic exploration of Mars. Sagan also was Distinguished Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and was contributing editor of Parade magazine, where he published many articles about science and about the disease that he battled for the last two years of his life.

On December 20, 1996, Carl Sagan died at age 62 of pneumonia at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. He was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Marcos Eduardo Acosta Aldrete

He mostly wore turtlenecks with suit coats.

Received his bachelor's degree (1955) and his master's degree (1956), both in physics, from the University of Chicago.

Received his Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Chicago (1960).

Suffered from a rare blood disorder that led to cancer and ultimately his death.

Named 1981 Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association "in recognition of his work as an educator, skeptic, activist, and populizer of science".

Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 537-540. New York: Oxford University Press (2002).

He was elected into the 2009 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his services in the Enterprise category.

Attended and graduated from Bahway High School from Bahway, New Jersey (1951).

He has an Erds-Bacon-Sabbath number of 9, which is among the lowest on the planet.

Following his death, he was interred at Lakeview Cemetery in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York.

Grand-Cross of the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientific, Literary and Artistic Merit of Portugal (23 November 1998).

Billions upon billions...

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

[About religion] "I don't want to believe. I want to know."

The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be.

"I never said it. Honest." - The opening line in his last book called "Billions and Billions." He was right -- the phrase was coined by Johnny Carson imitating him.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.

In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time someting like that happened in politics or religion." "The method of science is tried and true. It is not perfect, it's just the best we have. And to abandon it, with its skeptical protocols, is the pathway to a dark age.

To make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. [Cosmos, PBS TV, 23 November 1980]

When Kepler found his long-cherished belief did not agree with the most precise observation, he accepted the uncomfortable fact. He preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions. That is the heart of science.

[Cosmos, PBS TV, 21 December 1980] The only sacred truth is that there are no sacred truths.

[About "Blue Pale Dot", a photo taken by space probe Voyager I in 14 February 1990] Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

[Cosmos, PBS TV, 21 December 1980] We are one planet.

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Relative dating – Wikipedia

Not to be confused with Incest. The Permian through Jurassic stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau area of southeastern Utah is a great example of Original Horizontality and the Law of Superposition, two important ideas used in relative dating. These strata make up much of the famous prominent rock formations in widely spaced protected areas such as Capitol Reef National Park and Canyonlands National Park. From top to bottom: Rounded tan domes of the Navajo Sandstone, layered red Kayenta Formation, cliff-forming, vertically jointed, red Wingate Sandstone, slope-forming, purplish Chinle Formation, layered, lighter-red Moenkopi Formation, and white, layered Cutler Formation sandstone. Photo from Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah.

Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (i.e. estimated age). In geology, rock or superficial deposits, fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Prior to the discovery of radiometric dating in the early 20th century, which provided a means of absolute dating, archaeologists and geologists used relative dating to determine ages of materials. Though relative dating can only determine the sequential order in which a series of events occurred, not when they occurred, it remains a useful technique. Relative dating by biostratigraphy is the preferred method in paleontology and is, in some respects, more accurate.[1] The Law of Superposition, which states that older layers will be deeper in a site than more recent layers, was the summary outcome of 'relative dating' as observed in geology from the 17th century to the early 20th century.

The regular order of the occurrence of fossils in rock layers was discovered around 1800 by William Smith. While digging the Somerset Coal Canal in southwest England, he found that fossils were always in the same order in the rock layers. As he continued his job as a surveyor, he found the same patterns across England. He also found that certain animals were in only certain layers and that they were in the same layers all across England. Due to that discovery, Smith was able to recognize the order that the rocks were formed. Sixteen years after his discovery, he published a geological map of England showing the rocks of different geologic time eras.

Methods for relative dating were developed when geology first emerged as a natural science in the 18th century. Geologists still use the following principles today as a means to provide information about geologic history and the timing of geologic events.

The principle of Uniformitarianism states that the geologic processes observed in operation that modify the Earth's crust at present have worked in much the same way over geologic time.[2] A fundamental principle of geology advanced by the 18th century Scottish physician and geologist James Hutton, is that "the present is the key to the past." In Hutton's words: "the past history of our globe must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now."[3]

The principle of intrusive relationships concerns crosscutting intrusions. In geology, when an igneous intrusion cuts across a formation of sedimentary rock, it can be determined that the igneous intrusion is younger than the sedimentary rock. There are a number of different types of intrusions, including stocks, laccoliths, batholiths, sills and dikes.

The principle of cross-cutting relationships pertains to the formation of faults and the age of the sequences through which they cut. Faults are younger than the rocks they cut; accordingly, if a fault is found that penetrates some formations but not those on top of it, then the formations that were cut are older than the fault, and the ones that are not cut must be younger than the fault. Finding the key bed in these situations may help determine whether the fault is a normal fault or a thrust fault.[4]

The principle of inclusions and components explains that, with sedimentary rocks, if inclusions (or clasts) are found in a formation, then the inclusions must be older than the formation that contains them. For example, in sedimentary rocks, it is common for gravel from an older formation to be ripped up and included in a newer layer. A similar situation with igneous rocks occurs when xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies are picked up as magma or lava flows, and are incorporated, later to cool in the matrix. As a result, xenoliths are older than the rock which contains them.

The principle of original horizontality states that the deposition of sediments occurs as essentially horizontal beds. Observation of modern marine and non-marine sediments in a wide variety of environments supports this generalization (although cross-bedding is inclined, the overall orientation of cross-bedded units is horizontal).[4]

The law of superposition states that a sedimentary rock layer in a tectonically undisturbed sequence is younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it. This is because it is not possible for a younger layer to slip beneath a layer previously deposited. The only disturbance that the layers experience is bioturbation, in which animals and/or plants move things in the layers. however, this process is not enough to allow the layers to change their positions. This principle allows sedimentary layers to be viewed as a form of vertical time line, a partial or complete record of the time elapsed from deposition of the lowest layer to deposition of the highest bed.[4]

The principle of faunal succession is based on the appearance of fossils in sedimentary rocks. As organisms exist at the same time period throughout the world, their presence or (sometimes) absence may be used to provide a relative age of the formations in which they are found. Based on principles laid out by William Smith almost a hundred years before the publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the principles of succession were developed independently of evolutionary thought. The principle becomes quite complex, however, given the uncertainties of fossilization, the localization of fossil types due to lateral changes in habitat (facies change in sedimentary strata), and that not all fossils may be found globally at the same time.[5]

The principle of lateral continuity states that layers of sediment initially extend laterally in all directions; in other words, they are laterally continuous. As a result, rocks that are otherwise similar, but are now separated by a valley or other erosional feature, can be assumed to be originally continuous.

Layers of sediment do not extend indefinitely; rather, the limits can be recognized and are controlled by the amount and type of sediment available and the size and shape of the sedimentary basin. Sediment will continue to be transported to an area and it will eventually be deposited. However, the layer of that material will become thinner as the amount of material lessens away from the source.

Often, coarser-grained material can no longer be transported to an area because the transporting medium has insufficient energy to carry it to that location. In its place, the particles that settle from the transporting medium will be finer-grained, and there will be a lateral transition from coarser- to finer-grained material. The lateral variation in sediment within a stratum is known as sedimentary facies.

If sufficient sedimentary material is available, it will be deposited up to the limits of the sedimentary basin. Often, the sedimentary basin is within rocks that are very different from the sediments that are being deposited, in which the lateral limits of the sedimentary layer will be marked by an abrupt change in rock type.

Melt inclusions are small parcels or "blobs" of molten rock that are trapped within crystals that grow in the magmas that form igneous rocks. In many respects they are analogous to fluid inclusions. Melt inclusions are generally small most are less than 100 micrometres across (a micrometre is one thousandth of a millimeter, or about 0.00004inches). Nevertheless, they can provide an abundance of useful information. Using microscopic observations and a range of chemical microanalysis techniques geochemists and igneous petrologists can obtain a range of useful information from melt inclusions. Two of the most common uses of melt inclusions are to study the compositions of magmas present early in the history of specific magma systems. This is because inclusions can act like "fossils" trapping and preserving these early melts before they are modified by later igneous processes. In addition, because they are trapped at high pressures many melt inclusions also provide important information about the contents of volatile elements (such as H2O, CO2, S and Cl) that drive explosive volcanic eruptions.

Sorby (1858) was the first to document microscopic melt inclusions in crystals. The study of melt inclusions has been driven more recently by the development of sophisticated chemical analysis techniques. Scientists from the former Soviet Union lead the study of melt inclusions in the decades after World War II (Sobolev and Kostyuk, 1975), and developed methods for heating melt inclusions under a microscope, so changes could be directly observed.

Although they are small, melt inclusions may contain a number of different constituents, including glass (which represents magma that has been quenched by rapid cooling), small crystals and a separate vapour-rich bubble. They occur in most of the crystals found in igneous rocks and are common in the minerals quartz, feldspar, olivine and pyroxene. The formation of melt inclusions appears to be a normal part of the crystallization of minerals within magmas, and they can be found in both volcanic and plutonic rocks.

The law of included fragments is a method of relative dating in geology. Essentially, this law states that clasts in a rock are older than the rock itself.[6] One example of this is a xenolith, which is a fragment of country rock that fell into passing magma as a result of stoping. Another example is a derived fossil, which is a fossil that has been eroded from an older bed and redeposited into a younger one.[7]

This is a restatement of Charles Lyell's original principle of inclusions and components from his 1830 to 1833 multi-volume Principles of Geology, which states that, with sedimentary rocks, if inclusions (or clasts) are found in a formation, then the inclusions must be older than the formation that contains them. For example, in sedimentary rocks, it is common for gravel from an older formation to be ripped up and included in a newer layer. A similar situation with igneous rocks occurs when xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies are picked up as magma or lava flows, and are incorporated, later to cool in the matrix. As a result, xenoliths are older than the rock which contains them...

Relative dating is used to determine the order of events on Solar System objects other than Earth; for decades, planetary scientists have used it to decipher the development of bodies in the Solar System, particularly in the vast majority of cases for which we have no surface samples. Many of the same principles are applied. For example, if a valley is formed inside an impact crater, the valley must be younger than the crater.

Craters are very useful in relative dating; as a general rule, the younger a planetary surface is, the fewer craters it has. If long-term cratering rates are known to enough precision, crude absolute dates can be applied based on craters alone; however, cratering rates outside the Earth-Moon system are poorly known.[8]

Relative dating methods in archaeology are similar to some of those applied in geology. The principles of typology can be compared to the biostratigraphic approach in geology.

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Relative dating - Wikipedia

‘New hidden world’ discovered in Earth’s inner core | Live …

Earth's "solid" inner core might actually be a bit mushy, researchers now find.

For over half a century, the scientific community thought that Earth's inner core was a solid ball of compressed iron alloy surrounded by a liquid outer core. But new research, published Sept. 20 in the journal Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, suggests that the firmness of the planetary ball ranges from hard to semisoft to liquid metal.

"The more that we look at it, the more we realize it's not one boring blob of iron," Jessica Irving, a seismologist at the University of Bristol in England, who was not involved in the study, told Live Science. "We're finding a whole new hidden world."

Related: 50 interesting facts about Earth

In some ways, Earth's inner core remains as mysterious as it was when Jules Verne published his fanciful "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 1864. Though scientists have known since the 1950s that our planet isn't hollow as Verne predicted, the planet's interior is still unexplored; the immense heat and pressure are simply too great for any human or human-made probe to travel there. "Unless something awful happens to our planet, we will never have a direct observation of Earth's core," Irving said.

Instead, geophysicists rely on seismic waves generated by earthquakes. By measuring these massive vibrations, scientists can reconstruct a picture of the planet's inner workings in a way that's "akin to a CT scan of a person," Irving said. These waves come in two main flavors: straight-line compressional waves and undulating shear waves. Each wave can speed up, slow down or bounce off of different mediums as it travels through the ground.

For Rhett Butler, a geophysicist at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, the new study started as a question of mismatched numbers. Butler was looking at how the seismic waves created by large earthquakes in five different locations travel through Earth's core to the exact opposite side of the globe. But something was off the quakes' shear waves, which should have passed through a solid ball of metal, were instead being deflected in certain areas.

The numbers surprised Butler. He knew the seismic wave math was correct, which could mean only one thing: Scientists had the structure wrong. "When you're in this business, you've got to match the data," he said. So Butler and his co-author reevaluated their base assumption that Earth's inner core was solid all the way through. They discovered that the waves they observed worked if, rather than being a solid ball, the core had pockets of liquid and "mushy," semisolid iron near its surface.

The range of iron consistencies was particularly striking, according to Butler. "We've seen evidence that not only is it not soft everywhere; it's really hard in some places," he said. "It's got hard surfaces right up against melted or mushy iron. So we're seeing a lot of detail within the inner core that we didn't see before."

This research could potentially revolutionize our understanding of Earth's magnetic field. While the swirling liquid outer core drives our planet's magnetic field, the inner core helps to modify the field, according to research published in 2019 in the journal Science Advances. Other planets, like Mars, have a liquid center but lack both an inner core and a magnetic field, according to research from NASA. Therefore, Butler and Irving believe, a deeper understanding of the inner core will help scientists understand the relationship between a planet's interior and its magnetic activity.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Stars Made of Antimatter Might Be Lurking in the Universe – Scientific American

Antimatter may seem like the stuff of science fictionespecially because scarcely any of it can be seen in our universe, despite physicists best theories suggesting antimatter should have arisen in equal proportion to normal matter during the big bang. But researchers do regularly produce particles of antimatter in their experiments, and they have the inklings of an explanation for its cosmic absence: Whenever antimatter and normal matter meet, they mutually annihilate in a burst of energy. The slimmest overabundance of normal matter at the beginning of time would have therefore effectively wiped antimatter off the celestial map, save for its occasional production in cosmic-ray strikes, human-made particle accelerators and perhaps certain theorized interactions between particles of dark matter.

That is why physicists were so greatly puzzled back in 2018, when the head of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station announced that the instrument might have detected two antihelium nucleiin addition to six that were possibly detected earlier. Any way you slice it, known natural processes would struggle to produce enough antihelium for any of it to end up in our space-based detectors. But the easiest of all those hard methods would be to cook up the antihelium inside antistarswhich, of course, do not seem to exist. Despite the fact that the entirely unexpected AMS results have yet to be confirmed, let alone formally published, scientists have taken them seriously, and some have scrambled to find explanations.

Inspired by the tentative AMS findings, a group of researchers recently published a study calculating the maximum number of antimatter stars that could be lurking in our universe, based on a count of currently unexplained gamma-ray sources found by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Simon Dupourqu, the studys lead author and an astrophysics graduate student at the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology at the University of Toulouse IIIPaul Sabatier in France and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), made the estimate after looking for antistar candidates in a decades worth of the LATs data.

Antistars would shine much as normal ones doproducing light of the same wavelengths. But they would exist in a matter-dominated universe. As particles and gases made of regular matter fell into such a stars gravitational pull and made contact with its antimatter, the resulting annihilation would produce a flash of high-energy light. We can see this light as a specific color of gamma rays. The team took 10 years of data, which amounted to roughly 6,000 light-emitting objects. They pared the list down to sources that shone with the right gamma frequency and that were not ascribed to previously cataloged astronomical objects. So this left us with 14 candidates, which, in my opinion and my co-authors opinion, too, are not antistars, Dupourqu says. If all of those sources were such stars, however, the group estimated that about one antistar would exist for every 400,000 ordinary ones in our stellar neck of the woods.

In place of any putative antistars, Dupourqu says, these gamma flashes could instead be coming from pulsars or the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. Or they might simply be some kind of detector noise. The next step would be to point telescopes at the locations of the 14 candidate sources to find out if they resemble a star or a prosaic gamma-emitting object.

Given some interesting but questionable gamma sources, calculating the conceivable upper limit to the number of antistars is a long shot from actually discovering such astrophysical objects, So most researchers are not leaning toward that conclusion. According to both theory and observations of extragalactic gamma rays, there should be no antistars in our galaxy.... One would only expect upper limits consistent with zero, says Floyd Stecker, an astrophysicist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, who was not involved in the research. However, it is always good to have further observational data confirming this.

If scientists, including the authors, are skeptical of antistars very existence, why are they worth discussing? The mystery lies in those pesky possible detections of antihelium made by the AMS, which remain unexplained. Antiparticles can be created from two known natural sourcescosmic rays and dark matterbut the odds that either of them are responsible appear to be vanishingly slim.

As we increase the size of an atom, it becomes harder and harder to produce as an antiparticle, says Vivian Poulin, a CNRS cosmologist based in Montpelier, France. This means that its rarer and rarer that it occurs, but its allowed by physics. An antiproton is relatively easy to form, yet anything heavier, such as antideuteriuman antiproton plus an antineutronor antiheliumtwo antiprotons plus typically one or two antineutronsgets progressively harder to make as it gets more massive. In a paper published in 2019, Poulin used the AMSs potential antihelium detections to calculate a rough estimate of the prevalence of antistars, which inspired Dupourqus new study.

In a process called spallation, high-energy cosmic rays from exploding stars can ram into interstellar gas particles, says Pierre Salati, a particle astrophysicist at the Annecy-le-Vieux Particle Physics Laboratory, who worked on Poulins 2019 study. The team responsible for the AMSs antiparticle detections claim it may have detected six antihelium-3 nuclei, which would be incredibly rare products of spallation, and two antihelium-4 nuclei, which would be almost statistically impossible to form from cosmic rays, Salati says. (The difference between the two isotopes is the addition of one antineutron.)

As for dark matter, certain models predict that dark matter particles can annihilate one anothera process that could also create antiparticles. But this process still might not be able to make antihelium-4 in high enough quantities for us to have a realistic chance of ever seeing it (if such speculative models reflect reality at all). That is why the antistar hypothesis is still on the table. Verified antihelium detections would be a good indicator for the existence of antistars, but so far the AMS is the lone experiment to offer any such evidencewhich has yet to be granted peer-reviewed publication, Salati notes.

Its a very challenging analysis because, for every one antihelium event, there are 100 million regular helium events, says Ilias Cholis, an astrophysicist at Oakland University, who also worked on Poulins study. It is possible, he and others say, that the detections turn out to be a fluke of a very complicated analysis.

Samuel Ting, a Nobel laureate physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, heads the AMS team and first publicly presented the two latest possible antihelium detectionsthe antihelium-4 candidatesin 2018. We are not yet ready to publish any heavy antimatter results, he says.We are collecting more data before any [further] announcement is made.

It is possible that a different experiment may give answers sooner. The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment is a balloon-borne detector that will hunt for antiparticles above Antarctica this year. Finding more antiparticlesantideuterons or even antihelium, in particular, according to Choliswith the GAPS detector would make the AMS results far more convincing.

If antistars were found to be the culprit, that discovery would require a major reenvisioning of the universes evolution: no longer could we relegate antistars and other hypothetical astrophysical objects composed of antimatter to the fringes of reasonable speculation. Even if they do exist, however, antistars probably are not forming now, Salati says, because their presumptive natal clouds of antihydrogen would face steep odds of avoiding annihilation for the past 13 billion years or so. Thus, any antistars that might be found likely would be exceedingly old remnants of the early universe. If so, one deep mystery would be replaced with another: How, exactly, did such ancient relics manage to survive to today? As is often the case, a new discovery raises far more questions than it answers.

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Stars Made of Antimatter Might Be Lurking in the Universe - Scientific American

Brown alumni to oversee new NASA robotic missions to Venus – Brown University

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] As NASA embarks upon plans to send a pair of new spacecraft to peer into the thick clouds of Venus over the next decade, each of the two Discovery Program missions will be led by a Brown University graduate.

The DAVINCI+ mission will measure the composition of Venus thick toxic blanket of an atmosphere to understand how it formed and evolved. James Garvin, a scientist at NASAs Goddard Spaceflight Center who earned his Ph.D. in geological sciences from Brown in 1984, will lead the mission. The other mission, VERITAS, will look beneath the clouds to study the planets geology and composition. That mission will be led by Suzanne Smrekar of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who earned a bachelors degree from Brown in 1984.

Jim Head, a research professor of planetary science at Brown, has worked with both mission leaders and was a member of the VERITAS science team in its earlier stages. He says that Smrekar and Garvin are the right choices to lead these critical missions to Earths nearest neighbor.

Both Sue Smrekar and Jim Garvin are passionate, energetic and incredibly creative planetary scientists, as well as steady, thoughtful leaders, Head said. I've had the pleasure to work extensively with both of them over the years, and I couldn't be more confident that NASA has made the right choices to lead these two missions.

Over the years, Venus has received less attention from NASA than Earths other next-door neighbor, Mars. But thats not because Venus isnt an interesting place, Head says. Venus is a dead ringer for Earth in many ways. The two are similar in diameter, mass and gravity, and both orbit in the so-called habitable zone around the sun. But at some point, the twin planets diverged onto very different paths. While Earths climate is temperate and conducive to life, Venus runaway greenhouse effect turned it into a stifling inferno, with surface temperatures approaching 900 degrees Fahrenheit.

Understanding how and why these twins wound up with such different fates is a critical question in planetary science, Head says.

Venus is the most Earth-like planet but is so different in so many ways, he said. If we dont understand Venus, we surely cannot fully understand the missing chapters in Earths history, and why the atmospheres are so different. Could the hot, inhospitable Venus we see today be where the Earth is heading in the future?

These two missions should shed light on that question and others. DAVINCI+ will use a descent sphere to dip into the Venusian clouds and measure concentrations of noble gases and other elements in the atmosphere. It will also snap the first high-resolution pictures of Venus tesserae, odd geological features that suggest the planet may have had something like Earths plate tectonics. VERITAS, meanwhile, will use radar to map elevation and surface features across much of the planet. That mapping will help to determine if Venus is volcanically active and whether that volcanism is contributing water vapor to the atmosphere. Using an infrared spectrometer, VERITAS will also look at surface rock composition, which remains largely unknown.

Both missions are part of NASAs Discovery Program and were selected through a competitive process. Both are expected to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe.

Head worked with the VERITAS mission during much of the selection process, but recently stepped aside to make room for younger scientists to join the team, he said. In addition to Smrekar, three members of the current VERITAS team are Brown Ph.D. graduates: Jennifer Whitten, Caleb Fassett and Lauren Jozwiak. Smrekar is a geophysicist who currently serves as deputy principal investigator for NASAs InSIGHT mission to Mars, and was deputy project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. Garvin is a veteran planetary scientist who has worked on numerous NASA missions, and served as the agencys chief scientist. Brown graduates Noam Izenberg and Mike Ravine work with Garvin on DAVINCI+. Martha Gilmore, a 1997 Ph.D. graduate, serves on both mission teams.

Brown has had strong presence in space exploration over the years, Head says, and the leadership of Brown alumni in these new missions is the latest example.

Starting with Professor Tim Mutch in the 1960's, Brown's robust planetary geoscience research and teaching program has prepared generations of undergraduates and graduates for leadership and partnership roles in NASA and international exploration missions, including those of the European Space Agency, India, Israel, the Soviet Union and Russia, Head said.Brown graduates have included two NASA Chief Scientists and two NASA Astronauts, one of whom, Jessica Meir, is a candidateto explore the Moonin the Artemis Program.

Its been 30 years since NASAs last mission to Venus, and Head says hes thrilled that the agency has decided its time to go back. The data returned by these two missions will shed critical light not only on Venus, but on Earth as well, he says.

When we explore the solar system, were doing comparative planetology, Head said. Everything we learn about the other terrestrial planets helps us to understand our own home, and answer critical questions about how our world came to be and how it will evolve in the future.

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Why Is the Star Wars Universe Full of Megafauna? – tor.com

Whilst watching an episode of The Mandalorian, I noticed something in the background that was odd enough that I should have taken note of it ages ago: the Star Wars universe sure has a lot of large apex predators for a setting that has been civilized for tens of thousands of years.

This is not the case on present-day Earth. Biodiversity has taken a sharp nosedive in the last 20,000 years. Pretty much any large species that looks tasty, which might have a taste for humans, or lives on land for which we have other purposes in mind has vanished or been greatly reduced in numbers. Because human lifespans are so short, we take the Earths depleted state as normal, so are spared angst over all the cool beasts no longer extant.

In the Star Wars universe, the story is very different. When visiting a world in that setting, one should always have a contingency plan for attacks from the local whale-sized predators. What the heck is going on?

Conservationism

Perhaps the civilizations of the Star Wars galaxy decided in antiquity not to impoverish ecosystems. It might be that the Republic and the polities bordering it have had conservationist regulations for millennia. After all, nobody wants to live in a galaxy whose worlds are denuded deserts.

As pleasing as that might be, there is precious little evidence of an excess of prudence in the Star Wars setting. Additionally, its hard to believe that a culture incapable of mandating guard rails around the surprisingly deep chasms that appear to be an integral part of the Republics architectural design philosophy would be able to frame and enforce conservation regulations for thousands of years.

Incapacity

Perhaps the intelligent beings are incapable of massacring megafauna fast enough to put a serious dent in their numbers? At first glance, this appears implausible. After all, blasters abound. Still, a blaster is only as effective as its owners aim and if theres one thing the Storm Troopers teach us, it is that marksmanship is a skill very unevenly distributed in this setting.

It only takes a few Wild Bills to put a huge dent in megafauna populations, large animals being by their nature comparatively rare, so I am inclined to reject this explanation.

Hunters are only half the story, however. Perhaps the issue isnt that the hunters are too inept but that tens of thousands of years of natural selection have filtered for megafauna with adaptations to technological predation that permit them to flourish despite blaster-armed trophy hunters. Perhaps most megafauna are exterminated soon after encountering civilized beings, but the exceptions have spread into the empty niches.

Theres some evidence to support this explanation. For example, take the dianoga, the garbage monster in A New Hope. How did such a large beast manage to establish itself on the new Death Star? To quote Wookieepedia:

Over many millennia, dianoga migrated from Vodran by stowing away aboard garbage ships in their microscopic larval forms, and could be commonly found in trash compactors, garbage pits and sewers across the galaxy, living off any present organic matter.

Perhaps the other large megafauna have analogous life cycles, lifeways that permit them to prosper despite civilizations best efforts to contain them. The Republics slapdash approach to safety guidelines could work in the animals advantage, the absence of methodically applied and effective quarantines might facilitate the spread of species fortunate enough to be preadapted to survive contact with intelligent beings. Basically, were seeing the galactic equivalent of zebra snails and Pablo Escobars hippos.

Urbanization

Perhaps megafauna thrive thanks to uneven population distribution and equally uneven economic development. Most of the worlds we see in Star Wars are underdeveloped, low-population backwaters whose inhabitants scrape out marginal lives. Perhaps Coruscant and the other Core worlds act as magnets, their populations and economies growing at the expense of minor worlds, thanks to cheap, fast space travel. Easier to move to the big city to seek ones fortune than to try to create a big city from the ground up. This seems very reasonable to me, coming as I do from a county with a handful of big cities and vast expanses of considerably less populated territory.

***

A combination of selective adaptation over millennia and uneven development seems plausible enough. Feel free to share them in comments.

In the words of Wikipedia editor TexasAndroid, prolific book reviewer and perennialDarwin Award nomineeJames Davis Nicoll is of questionable notability. His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites,James Nicoll ReviewsandYoung People Read Old SFF(where he is assisted by editorKaren Lofstromand web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is a four-time finalist for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award and is surprisingly flammable.

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Why Is the Star Wars Universe Full of Megafauna? - tor.com

Planetology by Annie Botticelli: 9781786784124 …

About Planetology

This is the first mainstream book to look at the whole range of astrological rhythms, including the planetary retrogrades and eclipses as well as the monthly moon cycle, in order to achieve success and a more contented and naturally flowing life.

This is the first-ever mainstream guide to working with the astrological cycles of the Universe. It will allow you to plan ahead and achieve more success in your projects, by taking risks at certain times and avoiding them at others, and also enable you to live more fully and joyfully, flowing with the natural rhythms of life. Accessible to complete beginners as well as offering more complex insights to those who already practise astrology, Planetology is packed full of hands-on projects to help readers work with Mercury, Venus, Mars and the sun and moon, each project with three levels of increasingly complex tasks that are designed to draw readers up to mastery level.

At the books core is Annie Botticellis ASTRO system, which enables readers to align with each planets motion through: Awareness (projects to work with each planet); Strategy (how to plan ahead for each cycle); Techniques (exercises that range from tapping to mineral soaks and detoxes to mantras); Remedies (such as crystals and homeopathy, all tuned into the planet under discussion); and Openness to unexpected, perhaps unwanted outcomes brought to you by Divine plan. These techniques, such as prayer and meditation, allow you to be receptive to the great universal flow that supersedes any one planetary cycle.

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NASA Announces the Discovery of Water in the Sunlit Parts of the Moon – Universe Today

For decades, astronomers have speculated that there may be water on the Moon. In recent years, this speculation was confirmed one orbiting satellite after another detected water ice around the Moons southern polar region. Within this part of the lunar surface, known as the South-Pole Aitken Basin, water ice is able to persist because of the many permanently-shadowed craters that are located there.

But until now, scientists were operating under the assumption that lunar water was only to be found in permanently shadowed craters. But thanks to NASAs Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), water has been observed on the sunlit side of the Moon for the first time. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed all across the lunar surface, and not limited to the dark corners.

The study that describes their findings recently appeared in the journal Nature Astronomy. The study was led by Casey Honniball, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawaiis Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, and included members from the Space Science Institute (SSI), the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.

SOFIA is essentially a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft equipped with a 2.7-meter (106-inch) infrared telescope. With a service ceiling of 11,600 to 13,700 meters (38,000 to 45,000 feet), SOFIA is able to fly above 99% of Earths infrared-blocking atmosphere and search for otherwise faint objects using its Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST).

When Dr. Honnibal and her colleagues observed the Moon with SOFIA, what they noticed was the presence of water molecules (H2O) in the second-largest crater visible from Earth. This is known as Clavius Crater, which is located in the Moons southern hemisphere and measures 231 km (143.5 mi) in diameter and 3.5 km (2 mi) in depth.

As Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in NASAs Science Mission Directorate (SMD), said in a recent NASA statement:

We had indications that H2O the familiar water we know might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon. Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration.

While previous observations had detected traces of hydrogen in this crater but were unable to determine if it was because of water or hydroxyl (OH). This chemical forms when molecular oxygen in lunar regolith bonds with hydrogen atoms, which are the result of charged particles (protons) emanating from the Sun (solar wind) picking up electrons as they travel through space.

Using the FORCAST telescope, Honnibal and her team were able to make that determination since the hydrogen they detected was had a specific wavelength that is unique to water molecules (6.1 microns). As Honnibal explained:

Prior to the SOFIA observations, we knew there was some kind of hydration. But we didnt know how much, if any, was actually water molecules like we drink every day or something more like drain cleaner Without a thick atmosphere, water on the sunlit lunar surface should just be lost to space. Yet somehow were seeing it. Something is generating the water, and something must be trapping it there.

The data obtained by SOFIA revealed water concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million (ppm) in a single cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. This is the equivalent of about a 350 ml (12 oz) bottle and is about 100 times less water than the Sahara desert possesses. Despite this scant amount of water, the discovery is very significant since it raises new questions about the origins of lunar water and how it is able to persist.

In addition, this find has implications for lunar exploration, particularly where long-duration missions and lunar habitats are concerned. As part of Project Artemis, NASA is looking to establish a program of sustainable lunar exploration that will include a base around the southern polar region. The presence of water ice will not only ensure a supply of drinking water but could also be used to manufacture propellants.

Water is a valuable resource, for both scientific purposes and for use by our explorers, said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. If we can use the resources at the Moon, then we can carry less water and more equipment to help enable new scientific discoveries.

This find is also significant because of the way it represents the culmination of decades of research. When the Apollo astronauts first landed on the Moon, the Moon was believed to be completely dry. Interestingly, it was the rocks these missions returned that provided the first indications of lunar water, though these were dismissed as the result of contamination at the time.

Another interesting takeaway from this latest find is the fact that its not the kind of research the SOFIA mission usually performs. Ordinarily, SOFIAs high-altitude observations are guided by a camera that tracks stars, which allows the controllers to keep the telescope locked steadily on its target. These include objects that are faint (like red dwarfs and black holes) or distant objects, like star clusters and galaxies.

The Moon, which is neither faint nor distant, would typically fill the guide cameras entire field of view. After conducting a test observation in August of 2018, NASA scientists were convinced it was worth a try. Said Naseem Rangwala, SOFIAs project scientist at NASAs Ames Research Center:

It was, in fact, the first time SOFIA has looked at the Moon, and we werent even completely sure if we would get reliable data, but questions about the Moons water compelled us to try. Its incredible that this discovery came out of what was essentially a test, and now that we know we can do this, were planning more flights to do more observations.

Naturally, there are a number of unanswered questions that scientists still need to contend with. For starters, theres the question of whether or not water deposits on the sunlit portions of the Moon are accessible. Theres also the ongoing mystery about the origins of lunar water (whether it was produced indigenously or deposited), how its able to accumulate and persist in sunlit regions, and how its transported across the Moon.

In the near future, NASA hopes to conduct follow-up observations with SOFIA to gather more data and (hopefully) answer these questions. In particular, they will be looking for additional sources of water in sunlit locations and during different lunar phases. This data will also inform future missions like NASAs Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), and help create the first water source maps for human exploration.

Further Reading: NASA, Nature Astronomy

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NASA Announces the Discovery of Water in the Sunlit Parts of the Moon - Universe Today