Astronomy - MILKY WAY OVER YELLOWSTONE

2026 August 16

Milky Way over Yellowstone
Image Credit & Copyright: Dave Lane

Explanation: The Milky Way was not created by an evaporating lake. The colorful pool of water, about 10 meters across, is known as Silex Spring and is located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA. Illuminated artificially, the colors are caused by layers of bacteria that grow in the hot spring. Steam rises off the spring, heated by underground magma associated with the Yellowstone Hotspot. Unrelated and far in the distance, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arches high overhead, a band lit by billions of stars. The picture features a 16-image panorama taken in 2014. If the Yellowstone Hotspot causes another supervolcanic eruption as it did about 640,000 years ago, a large part of North America 

Astronomy - BRIGHT PERSEIDES FROM SWEDEN

 2026 August 15

Bright Perseids from Sweden
Image Credit & Copyright: P-M Hedén (Clear Skies, TWAN)

Explanation: Known for its bright and fast meteors, the annual Perseid Meteor Shower comes to planet Earth's skies from a radiant in the heroic constellation Perseus. The popular northern summer celestial spectacle is created as grains of dust cast off along the orbit of periodic comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle vaporize in Earth's dense atmosphere, tracing brief, but beautiful streaks through the night. Taken near the shower's peak of activity on August 12, this composite image recorded two bright perseid meteors and one meteor's watery reflection from a location near the coastal village of Grisslehamn, Sweden. Almost as bright as Altair, brightest star on the scene, the meteors appear along with the faint, diffuse background of the Milky Way. This year, the shower's peak activity coincided with a New Moon, so perseid meteor flashes were undiminished by bright moonlight. And for many skywatchers, this night of bright perseid meteors followed their viewing of the silhouette of the New Moon in a much anticipated solar eclipse.

Monde sous-marin - LA GALATHEE YETI OU CRABE YETI - KIWA HIRSUTA

La Galathée yéti (Kiwa hirsuta) ou crabe yéti est un crabe très particulier. Elle a été trouvée au niveau des sites hydrothermaux de la dorsale Pacifique-Antarctique, au sud de l'île de Pâques, et a donné naissance à une nouvelle famille, les Kiwidae. Son nom de genre, Kiwa, provient de la déesse polynésienne des coquillages et crustacés et son nom d'espèce, hirsuta, fait référence à son aspect velu...

© Ifremer, A. Fifis, 2006

Astronomy - TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE FROM GREENLAND

 2026 August 14

Total Solar Eclipse from Greenland
Image Credit & Copyright: Aditya Madhavan

Explanation: On August 12, the Moon's shadow reached out to touch our fair planet. Beginning in the Arctic Ocean, it swept along a narrow track that led the dark lunar umbra across parts of Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic, Portugal, and northern Spain. And for a moment, denizens of Earth who found themselves with clear skies under the shadow of the Moon could witness a total solar eclipse. After dodging the weather by sea and making a landing along Rype Fjord on the Greenland east coast (at 71.07055N, 27.71252W), this hard-won snapshot was captured at 17:33:26 UTC. That's near the initial reach of clearing skies along the path of totality, so the image is likely one of the first unobstructed views of the totally eclipsed Sun. Through a break in the clouds, the stunning photo also records one of this eclipse's transient diamond rings and the magnificent solar corona emerging near the moment totality began.

Astronomy - TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OVER SPAIN

 2026 August 13

Total Solar Eclipse Over Spain
Image Credit & Copyright: Ruiyu Zhang
Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Explanation: On August 12th, 2026, the Moon totally eclipsed the Sun and cast its shadow across Siberia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal. Today’s image features two total solar eclipses viewed from Zaragoza, Spain, one over the Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar and the other reflecting in the Ebro River. For a few moments, Spain saw its first major total solar eclipse since 1905. Those witnessing totality may experience a chill in the air, the quieting of birds, the confused chirps of insects, and the shared awe of many. It’s the corona’s time to shine as the Sun’s bright disk is blocked by the Moon. Among other reasons to study eclipses, they help scientists understand why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface. Enthusiastic citizens can contribute to these studies by recording how wildlife responds, imaging the corona, and monitoring air temperature and clouds.

Monde sous-marin - CROSSOTA NORVEGICA : UNE ETRANGE MEDUSE ROUGE

Cette méduse rouge (Crossota norvegica) a été observée dans les profondeurs de l'Arctique grâce à un sous-marin téléguidé.

© Kevin Raskoff, DR

Astronomy - A FIRE RAINBOW OVER WEST VIRGINIA

 2026 August 2

A Fire Rainbow over West Virginia
Image Credit & Copyright: Christa Harbig

Explanation: What's happening to this cloud? Ice crystals in a distant cirrus cloud are acting like little floating prisms. Known informally as a fire rainbow for its flame-like appearance, a circumhorizon arc appears parallel to the horizon. For a circumhorizontal arc to be visible, the Sun must be at least 58 degrees high in a sky where cirrus clouds present below -- in this case cirrus fibratus. The numerous, flat, hexagonal ice-crystals that compose the cirrus cloud must be aligned horizontally to properly refract sunlight in a collectively similar manner. Therefore, circumhorizontal arcs are somewhat unusual to see. The featured fire rainbow was photographed in 2021 near North Fork Mountain in West Virginia, USA.

Astronomy - CONTEMPLATING THE SUN

 2026 August 9

Contemplating the Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Steven Gilbert

Explanation: Have you contemplated your home star recently? Featured here, a Sun partially eclipsed on the top left by the Moon is also seen eclipsed by earthlings contemplating the eclipse below. This spectacular menagerie of silhouettes was taken in 2012 from the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area near Page, Arizona, USA, where park rangers and astronomers expounded on the unusual event to interested gatherers. Also, faintly visible on the Sun's disk, just to the lower right of the dark Moon's disk, is a group of sunspots. A new solar eclipse will occur this week and give many people in northern North America, Europe, and northwestern Africa a new chance to contemplate a partially eclipsed Sun. A thin swath of Earth through Greenland and Spain will further experience a total solar eclipse. An open question is whether any meteors from the peaking Perseids will be visible during totality.

Santé/Médecine - POURQUOI LES HOMMES DEVRAIENT S'ASSEOIR POUR URINER

Pour de très nombreux hommes, quoi de plus naturel que d'uriner debout... Pourtant, adopter une position assise présente certains avantages, notamment pour la santé.

Uriner est l'un des gestes les plus naturels qui soient. Beaucoup d'hommes le font sans réfléchir ni même se soucier de leur posture. Pourtant, « faire pipi » assis plutôt que debout pourrait présenter bien des avantages.

Une meilleure vidange de la vessie

Plusieurs études ont déjà comparé la position assise au fait d'être debout au moment de la miction. Résultat, la première permet de détendre les muscles du plancher pelvien et ainsi une meilleure vidange. Sans oublier qu'en position debout, certains « poussent » inconsciemment. Ce qui, à terme, peut provoquer des douleurs pelviennes, des tensions...

Ceci est particulièrement bénéfique pour les hommes souffrant d'affections telles que l'hyperplasie bénigne de la prostate (volume anormalement important), qui peut rendre le simple fait d'uriner difficile.

Une bonne santé prostatique

Car oui, la prostate grossit naturellement avec l'âge. Ce qui peut devenir un facteur de contraintes pour la vessie et les voies urinaires. En position assise, les muscles de la prostate sont plus relâchés, ce qui facilite le départ de l'urine et réduit la pression mécanique sur la glande.

Cela peut rendre la miction plus confortable et ne plus représenter un moment redoutable pour certains.

Si vous avez des problèmes d’équilibre

Pour certaines personnes, notamment les seniors ou celles ayant des problèmes d’équilibre, uriner debout peut représenter un risque de chute. S'asseoir offre une position plus stable et sécurisante, particulièrement en cas de fatigue, de vertiges ou de mobilité réduite... ou tout simplement la nuit, lorsque l'on ne veut pas allumer la lumière pour ne pas réveiller le reste de la famille.

Une question de propreté

Souvent évoqué avec humour, uriner assis limite les éclaboussures. Même si vous pensez être un excellent viseur, des projections invisibles peuvent salir les toilettes et leur environnement. La position assise permet donc de maintenir une meilleure hygiène.

Quand la position debout reste acceptable…

Mais vous l'avez compris, uriner assis est un choix personnel et n'est pas obligatoire pour tous. Par exemple, si vous ne rencontrez aucune difficulté de vidange. Et dans certains cas (aux urinoirs des lieux publics), la position debout peut même être un gain de temps.

FuturaSciences

Astronomy - NEW SHARPEST IMAGE OF THE SUN UNCOVERS INSTABILITY

 2026 August 6

New Sharpest Image of the Sun Uncovers Instability
Image Credit: NSF, NSO, AURA, MPS, Inouye Tel.

Explanation: What does the new sharpest image of our Sun show? Instability. To be clear, a certain kind of interactive process called the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). This instability can create waves and swirls when two streams flow past each other -- in this case variable streams of solar magnetic plasma. Long hypothesized to occur on the Sun's surface, KHI streaks and swirls were confirmed in just-released dramatic high-resolution images taken recently by the Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, USA.  The featured false-yellow image, actually taken in deep blue, is the highest resolution image yet of the Sun in visible light. It spans about the radius of the Earth, but its finest details are city sized. Visible are several smooth tops of changing solar granules, while the edges of the flower-like structures have been found to harbor multiple KHI swirls. Future research may investigate how the KHI helps move energy, magnetic fields, and may even heat the surrounding solar corona.