The arts.

Very often, we can be quite pessimistic about the world. It's hard not to be in modern society, all major news resolves around some or other political controversy or a crisis of some kind. The modern media shows us only the bad, and our prospects for the future often seem grim.

But most people don't see that, despite what is happening, there is still much happiness and positivity in humanity. The natural world is still there to appreciate and there are still things keeping us from becoming totally nihilistic.

One of the reasons for this is that the positivity is never demonstrated in a way that most people notice, it's there if you look for it, but it requires so much more searching for than is needed to find the negative in the modern world.
And this is why we need the arts, they demonstrate that in humanity, there is talent and appreciation, inspiration and creativity. They can often bring the natural world to us in a more accessible form. Through paintings, sketchings, and yes, even photography (it's an art and a skill, one that takes a decent amount of skill) we see things that we would often not think about. The world around us or simply the thought patterns of an artist can be shown in an accessible and skilled form, letting the world see that there is still, something there worth keeping.

A little Salvador Dali, because you need to appreciate your clocks too...

Astronomy: The planet Venus

As of now, Thursday is astronomy update day. And Today will be on Venus.

Venus:

Venus is the second planet from the sun. It is only marginally smaller than the Earth is, however it has a much thicker atmosphere which consists of poisonous gases such as Carbon dioxide and Sulphur, as well as some of the inert gas Nitrogen.
Venus's year lasts 227 Earth days.
It is the brightest object after the moon in the night sky and is called the Morning/ Evening Star as it is brightest just before dawn or just after dusk.

The name Venus comes from the Roman name for the Greek God of love and beauty, Aphrodite. The symbol for Venus comes from Venus's mirror, hence the circle (mirror face) with the cross (handle). This is also the symbol used to show that something is of a woman.

Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar system with a temperature of  460 °C. The temperature is the same all over the planet as the strong greenhouse effect traps and distributes heat all around the planet. 
The high temperature and high pressure combined mean that lava on the planet's surface often does not cool for very long periods of time and most volcanoes are relatively flat.
The high levels of greenhouse gases in Venus's atmosphere come from the fact that there is a lot of volcanic activity on the planet. 


On February the 12th, 1961, the Soviet's sent the first ever probe to another planet. The chosen destination was Venus and the probe's name Venera I. The Soviets also sent Venera 4, the first probe to relay data from within Venus's atmosphere.

If you would like some more basic info on Venus, Here is the wikipedia link.

And here is a picture to conclude the days ramblings: