Two months after aggravating Muslim public opinion around the world with comments representing Islam with violence, Pope Benedict XVI is in Ankara beginning his four-day visit to Turkey from 28th November to 1st December 2006. He was welcomed at the airport by the country’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a powerful symbolic indication, Pope Benedict visited Istanbul’s magnificent Blue Mosque and became the second pope in history to enter a Muslim place of prayer. He addressed group about Christianity and Islam as two branches from the same family tree fundamentally, both believing in one God, originated from Abraham. He talked about existence of spiritual bond between both religions and need for humanity in life in an increasingly globalised world. Pope Benedict said assurance of religious freedom is essential for an equal society and requested all religious leaders to “utterly refuse” to support any form of violence in the name of faith (religion). The objectives of the Pope’s visit to Turkey are to eliminate clashes (differences) between Muslims and Christian, and to put to an end the 1,000-year isolation in Christianity between the Vatican and Orthodox churches. Police had taken full measures to guarantee that Pope is safe during his trip. Pope told Prime Minister of Turkey that he would like Turkey to join the European Union, which he opposed two years before due to Turkey’s improperness to join the club of Christian nations.
December 1, 2009
Water discovered on Saturn’s Moon
Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, raising the interesting possibility for existence of hidden supernatural living creatures. This discovery astonished scientists who are looking for signs of life in space. Enceladus is calculated to be 314 miles across and is considered as the shiniest object in the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft was launched in 1997 and went into orbit around Saturn in 2004, examining its spectacular rings and many moons. Liquid water and a heat source are two essential elements for life. Even though its distance from the Sun is very high, Enceladus clearly has an internal heat source probably caused by Saturn’s gravitational pull, which warms water adequately to produce the geysers. Any life on that moon would likely be in the form of extremophilic primitive organisms (organisms that live in extreme conditions). Previously wet Mars has long been the main focus of the search for life on other planets. But, Saturn’s moon Enceladus could be an even more promising place to start the search for extraterrestrials (space beings). Now Enceladus joins the list of those bodies, Mars and Europa, that have signs of liquid water on them and energy sources coming from radioactive heating and tidal heating that make the very interesting places to look for the origins of life.
Warren Buffet Donated 85% of His Berkshire Holdings to Different Foundations
Warren Buffett, the world’s second-richest man, is making an extraordinary donation to the foundation run by the world’s richest man, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. In June 2006, Buffett announced that he constantly would give away 85% of his Berkshire holdings to five foundations in annual gifts of stock, beginning in July 2006. The largest contribution would go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The rest of the money will go to four other foundations headed by Buffett’s three children, and to the foundation in his late wife’s name. The Gates Foundation focuses on global health issues, such as the GAVI Alliance to distribute vaccines to children in poor countries for diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, and, tuberculosis, to provide education, such as the United Negro College Fund Gates Millennium Scholars Program and developing libraries. Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates have been the only administrators of their foundation. But, later Buffet also joined them when the plan was started. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett planned to allocate more than $30 billion of his stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2008, Buffett became the richest man in the world dethroning Bill Gates, worth $62 billion according to Forbes. Bill Gates had been number one on the Forbes list for 13 consecutive years. In 2009, Bill Gates regained number one on the list according to Forbes magazine, with Buffett getting on second.
Pluto is No More a Planet
August 24, 2006, was an important day in the history of planetary science. It was absolutely the first day when official scientific definition of the word “planet” is explained. It was also the famous day as Pluto was propelled out of the planetary family. Pluto is a tiny, solid, icy world in a more lengthened orbit unlike other planets, which move closely in circular paths. Another abnormality about Pluto is the inclination of its orbit. All the other planets follow paths in a confined band within the limits of the constellations, we call the zodiac, but Pluto’s orbit deviates from this and takes the path above and below that band. Another deviation is Pluto does not dominate its neighborhood i.e., Charon, its large “moon,” is only about half the size of Pluto, while all the true planets are far bigger than their moons. So officially, Pluto is not a planet and considered as dwarf planet. Pluto is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System (after Eris) and the tenth-largest body noticed, directly revolving around the Sun. Before 2006, there were nine planets, they Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Now, there are only eight planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Tsunami in Indonesia Left Many People Deserted
On 17th July, 2006, an earthquake of 7.7 magnitude was experienced for more than a minute in the vicinity of Christmas Island, Tasikmalaya, Bandung, and Jakarta. The powerful earthquake generated tsunami and sent huge waves shattering into a 175-kilometer stretch of Java’s southern coast, destroying houses, restaurants, hotels, cars, motorbikes, and boats were left ruined with fishing nets, furniture and other debris. The toll reached to 659 dead with more than 280 missing and more than 74,000 people displaced, either because of their homes were destroyed or out of fear of living next to the sea. Nearly three foreigners from Japan, Belgium and Sweden were killed and five Saudi Arabians were severely injured. At first glance, rescuers met with the sight of bodies in the branches of trees, and in the remains of destroyed hotels and houses. Body bags and other important items arrived, and relief aid such as tents and food were sent for the thousands of people who had got deserted and escaped from their homes. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake occurred due to fault in the thrust on the boundary between the Australia plate and the Sunda Plate. Many people have been living in the hills since the disaster.