NASA just diverted a massive asteroid in the silence of space

Sep 27 2022

A NASA spaceship struck an asteroid seven million miles away from Earth on Monday night in order to deflect its orbit in a historic test of humankind’s ability to prevent catastrophe.

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test, nicknamed Dart, impactor hit the target – an asteroid called Dimorphos – 10 months after a California blast off.

Director of NASA’s planetary science division Lori Glaze said that humanity is embarking on a new era ‘in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourselves from something like a dangerous asteroid impact.’

The 160-metre asteroid was roughly the size of an Egyptian pyramid and appeared as a speck of light around an hour before the collision.

DART was shot at the moonlet at around 23,500km/h. Dimorphos itself orbits a larger planetary object called Didymos, but neither pose a threat to our planet as they loop the sun every two earth years.

Despite this, NASA carried out the experiment to see whether this diversion could take place. This feat brings to life a concept which has been shown in countless science fiction works.

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Cuba legalises same-sex marriage with overwhelming majority

Sep 27 2022

Cuba has officially legalised same-sex marriage after a family code which increased protections for minorities was voted in favour for by a large majority.

The electoral council said that 74.1% of those eligible to vote in Sunday’s national referendum turned out to cast their ballot. 3,936,790 out of 94% of the votes counted so far are in favour, with 1,950,090 against.

The new family code extends greater protection to LGBTQ couples to marry and even adopt children. Women, children and the elderly also had more protections extended via this law.

LGBTIQ+ community members in Cuba faced official discrimination for decades and continued to do so even when homosexuality was legalised in 1979.

Taking to Twitter on Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote that ‘love is now the law. It is paying off a debt with several generations of Cuban men and women, whose family projects have been waiting for this law for years. As of today, we will be a better nation.’

Malta’s parliament approved a similar Marriage Act and other Laws (Amendment) Act in 2017 under the Joseph Muscat administration. This made Malta the 15th nation in Europe and 25th in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.

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Man compares driving a Vespa versus a car on Maltese roads

Sep 27 2022

A local guy by the name of Yanis Azzopardi decided to shed some light on the differences between driving a vespa and a car on Maltese roads.

Yanis, who typically drives a Vespa, was somewhat forced to undertake the experiment when it ‘decided to have a little break’ and needed fixing.

Turning to his car, he kept track of all the changes he experienced on the road, with the first being that he ‘easily spent an extra 7 hours travelling and looking for parking.’

‘7 hours that could have easily been enjoyed with the family, exercising, reading a book, working, meditating, and anything else your mind can think of.’

Yanis also noticed how his Vespa required sometimes less than €10 fuel per week, but had to spend around €45 per week on his Toyota IQ. ‘Now that back-to-school chaos has started, if you’re travelling solo, think of the possibility of barely ever having to be in traffic…’

‘Think about getting to work or anywhere else in 10-15 minutes’ said Yanis. ‘Long term solutions exist, but until we get there, two weeks all the way.’

He also put out a word of advice to other Vespa or motorcycle driver’s saying that ‘having two wheels doesn’t give you the right to drive like a maniac or overtake cars like there’s no tomorrow.

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Pro-choice activist swallows medical abortion pill during rally

Sep 27 2022

Activist and gynaecologist Isabel Stabile wanted to show the public how safe and effective medical abortion pills are – and she did so by swallowing one during last Sunday’s pro-choice rally.

Stabile explained the process of her ordering the pills online through Women on Web, and how safe the pills are for anyone making use of them. To elucidate the rest of the process, she was handed a bottle of water and went on to swallow the pill to the clapping and cheering of the crowd.

Stabile has been very vocal about the right to abortion and the need for Malta to remove the blanket ban which makes it the only EU country to have such a law in place.

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Her activism even landed her in unfortunate situations when in May of this year she was assaulted by a driver as she protested for the cause.

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