Tibor's Blog

Eurasian jay bathing by renaudderosa

Native silver on Acanthite crystals - Hongda mine, Shanxi Province, China

On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off on space shuttle mission STS-31, with the Hubble Space Telescope in its payload bay. The following day, Hubble was released into space, ready to peer into the vast unknown. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the observatory’s primary mirror had a flaw that affected the clarity of the telescope’s early images. Over the next three years corrective optics were developed for the telescope and in December 1993, astronauts repaired Hubble’s “vision” during space shuttle mission STS-61, the first of NASA’s five servicing missions to the orbiting observatory. Subsequent repairs and upgrades were also made on servicing missions in February 1997 (STS-82); December 1999 (STS-103); March 2002 (STS-109); and May 2009 (STS-125). The Hubble Space Telescope has provided scientists and the public with spectacular images of deep space. One of the most technologically advanced pieces of equipment that humans have put into orbit, it has helped researchers make important discoveries about our universe, ranging from planets and stars to galaxies and cosmology, in the process reinvigorating and reshaping our perception of the cosmos and giving astronomers insight into the history and fate of our universe.

TheDailyPositive.com (via thedailypozitive)

Source: Escape ants are a tower of strength (Daily Express)

A honey bee can fly up to 6 miles; as fast as 15 miles per hour. Their wing stroke at 200 beats per second. The average bee produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in a lifetime. 1100 stings are required to be fatal. The drones do not sting and do not work. A colony consists of 20,000 - 60,000 bees and one queen. Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work. A hive will fly 90,000 miles to collect 7kg of honey. A queen bee can live for 3 to 5 years. Honey bees have 2 compound eyes and 3 simple eyes. Drones are expelled from the hive during winter and die after mating. Biggest threats: mites, colony collapse disorder, disease, urbanization and African bees.

Sweet Innocence by Philip Kuntz

Mt. Rainier NP, Washington byPerri Schelat