Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Reaching Tranquility: 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission

"On July 16, 1969 the crew of Apollo 11 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the historic quest to put the first men on the moon.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of this achievement, Sun photographer Karl Merton Ferron acquired archive footage from NASA and the John F. Kennedy Library, and interspersed time-lapse images of the moon traveling across the Baltimore skyline during the past eight months. The resulting video is an entrancing convergence of history and art that pays tribute to the Apollo 11 mission."

To view the video, click here.

My Sister's Savior: Should We Take Life to Give Life?

"What does it mean for a society to condone the use of technology for the sole purpose of creating human life just to destroy it? It means we are a culture that has tragically lost its way.

Jodi Picoult’s bestselling 2004 novel, My Sister’s Keeper, recently hit the big screen. Joining other profoundly bioethical films such as Gattaca (1997; addresses genetic engineering of super humans), Million Dollar Baby (2004; tackles assisted dying), and The Island (2005; deals with the creation of human clones to be spare parts for the wealthy sick), My Sister’s Keeper takes on a real-life issue commonly known as 'savior sibling.'”

For more on this topic, click here.

Space shuttle Endeavour blasts off after month's delay on try 6, headed to space station

"After more than a month's delay, space shuttle Endeavour and seven astronauts thundered into orbit Wednesday on a flight to the international space station, hauling up a veranda for Japan's enormous lab and looking to set a crowd record.

Success came on launch try No. 6, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the liftoff of man's first moon landing."

Click here for more on the launch.