The moon’s day side – its fully lighted hemisphere – faces us Note that the moon will look round for a day or two around full moon Because the May full moon occurs in the morning on May 23 the moon will look full on the overnights of May 22 and 23 All the full moons have nicknames Popular names for May’s full moon include the Planting Moon and the Milk Moon the name Flower Moon recognizes the blooming of wildflowers and garden flowers many giving an enchanting appearance in the light of May’s full moon The moon’s arc across our sky varies from month to month and from season to season Every full moon rises along the eastern horizon Every full moon arcs across the sky throughout the night and sets along the western horizon around dawn the arc of May’s full moon is lower than the paths of the full moons since December but higher than the next one which falls on June 21 in North America For those folks in the Southern Hemisphere, the full moon’s arc across the sky is climbing higher with each successive month since December, and will continue to do so until the full moon nearest the June solstice Bottom line: The May full moon occurs in the morning of May 23 but looks full on the previous evening and as it rises on May 23 We invite you to visit our campaign page to discover why we need your contributions now more than ever to preview an illustration from Guy Ottewell’s great book that we're helping finalize and to learn more about EarthSky’s history “Things are always so much more peaceful when looking up.” We couldn’t agree more we apologize for the popup and greatly appreciate your support Charles Heller the body of 19-year-old Anezka Hruzová was found in the woods outside the small town of Polná in rural Bohemia — then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Despite suspicion that a serial killer had been at work in the area for some time right-wing agitators jumped at the opportunity to use this murder to promote their antisemitic programme This was a time of social unrest in Austria-Hungary Anezka was immediately declared to be the victim of “Jewish ritual murder” the notorious blood libel of Jews needing Christian blood to drink or for making matzot A scapegoat was not hard to find — a local drifter named Leopold Hilsner a person with poor social skills who had been abandoned by his mother to the care of Polná’s Jewish community at that time presided over by my grandfather A show trial was set up and Hilsner was found guilty contemporaneous case involving Alfred Dreyfus the French army captain who was exonerated in 1906 12 years after being found guilty of treason the Hilsner case stands unresolved to this day and remains a stain on Czech history My father told me a detail that he had heard from his mother: at the time of the accusation just tell the police the truth and there would be nothing to worry about — echoing the famous motto of the first Czech president now inscribed on large posters at the entrance to the presidential palace in Prague: “Don’t be afraid Hilsner was found guilty after a show trial that even Monty Python could not have scripted: witnesses were bribed antisemitic pamphlets were distributed to the community and a key witness for the prosecution claimed to have seen Hilsner at the time and place of Anezka’s disappearance despite being 700 metres away and suffering from an eye injury Although the charge did not mention “Jewish ritual murder” this was indeed presented to the court as the motive for the murder Hilsner was charged as an accomplice to murder Leopold Hillsner (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Anezka was repeatedly referred to as “the sacrificial lamb” (Anezka=Agnes=Agnus Dei murdered at Eastertide; and her body described as being drained of blood despite there being no forensic evidence for such a claim My father never told people that he came from Polná as he did not want to hear the automatic response: “That’s where the Jews murdered Anezka Hruzová.” This was a comment he heard right up until he fled for the UK in 1939 most of the Jews in Polná left the town soon after the Hilsner Affair My grandmother Bozena was one of the last to remain; she mercifully died of natural causes in 1940 before she could be taken to the death camps with the other few remaining Polná Jews Because the community was officially closed before it could be destroyed Polná is not mentioned in the huge “memorial to destroyed communities” at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem In an interview the JC described him as “the bold champion for right and justice Masaryk wrote pamphlets defending Hilsner and pointing out flaws in the trial He was motivated by a simple philosophy: the Czechs were civilised people who would not be swayed by primitive instincts For his trouble he was attacked by his students and forced to take leave of absence How we covered it: the JC interview with Masaryk published in 1900 (Photo: JC) As a result of these appeals the case was reopened and a retrial was held The case became known as “the Czech Dreyfus case” since at that very time the Dreyfus case had also been reopened Hilsner took the role of the falsely accused Dreyfus and Masaryk the role of the Jews’ champion Emil Zola The charge was again “Murder together with persons unknown” (ie still a Jewish conspiracy) but this time the name of another unsolved murder victim was added to the accusation Hilsner was again found guilty and imprisoned but he was released during the First World War along with violent criminals needed as cannon fodder supported by a state pension quietly arranged by Masaryk his death certificate stating: “Occupation: Beggar” It is possible that Hilsner was denied an adequate defence due to the Jewish community itself turning their back on the case Perhaps they didn’t want to publicly defend a disreputable character Mahler and Freud supported Dreyfus but ignored Hilsner even though during this time Mahler was hissed at concerts and critics compared his conducting gestures to those of someone strangling a baby and has encouraged antisemitic slurs ever since: In 1996 a Czech school textbook stated that “Jews are known to have committed ritual murder”; in 2010 Baroness Tonge called for an inquiry into allegations of organ-trafficking by Israeli humanitarian workers in Haiti; in 2012 the Islamic leader Raed Salah was welcomed in the UK by Jeremy Corbyn as “an honoured citizen”; and just this summer the BBC allowed a reporter to claim that Israel “is happy to kill children” Jenny Tonge apologised for the “offence caused” but denied her remarks were antisemitic The Hilsner Affair slipped from memory during the Communist era who had been an opponent of the Communists people who have contacts with old party members are nervous about discussing it Hoping for a resolution: Heller at Hilsner’s tomb (Photo: Charles Heller) there was revived interest in Masaryk and Hilsner Many articles on the subject by scholars Bohumil Cerny and Petr Vasicek were published and Czech media began to take an interest as well Czech television produced a gripping mini-series (available with English subtitles under the title An Innocent Man) and there is now a prominent display about the case in the newly renovated National Museum in Prague The town of Polná received a huge grant from the EU and has magnificently restored the centuries-old synagogue but ready to be used for Jewish worship once again if anyone is willing to rustle up a minyan and make a trip out to this beautiful rural location In 1999 the Polná town council made a public proclamation of regret for the actions of their predecessors in the Hilsner Affair and is working steadily to restore the old cemetery interviewed for the Czech Radio website about the affair Very recently lawyer Lubomir Muller has suggested two legal arguments for reopening the case and expunging the guilty verdict: one argument is that there is a living person directly affected by the case namely me (Hilsner later changed his name to Heller and so it appears on his tombstone); another argument is that despite changes in national borders throughout the 20th century there are legal precedents that demonstrate that today’s Czech Ministry of Justice indeed has the legal authority to handle this case despite earlier claims that it is a matter only for the Austrian courts the Austrian Minister of Justice in 2008 declared the Hilsner case to be a “gross miscarriage of justice” But the Czech government is not in a hurry to resolve this case once and for all then-President Milos Zeman dismissed an appeal remarking that people should “pay less attention to cases 120 years old” the Czech Ministry of Justice once again declared that there were no reasons to reopen the case Charles Heller is a consultant editor for the Cantors Assembly of America and the European Cantors Association His most recent book is Shul Going: 2500 Years of Impressions and Reflections on Visits to the Synagogue Antisemitism Law Santo Domingo.- 71 percent of Dominicans of voting age says that president Danilo Medina should not amend the Constitution to seek a third term in office The figure is the result of a survey by the Mexican firm PolNav between May 9 and 11 The survey also found that 56.2% of those polled said that it’s little or not at all likely that they will vote for the current president in the event that the Constitution is amended If former president Leonel Fernández was the candidate of the ruling party (PLD) he would obtain 50.6% followed by opposition party (PRM) potential candidate Israel Navarro release the survey during an activity held in the presidential hall of the Radisson hotel Local May 13 Economy North Coast Local Sports Health DominicanToday.com - The Dominican Republic News Source in English The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially announced the theme of World Health Day 2025, Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, which will focus on improving maternal and newborn health and survival World Health Day is marked around the world on 7th April the anniversary of WHO’s founding in 1948 it draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world “The focus of this campaign comes at a crucial moment aiming to help countries regain lost progress while showcasing new research and evidence that will enhance the health of women and babies globally,” said Dr Anshu Banerjee Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at WHO “As rollbacks to humanitarian assistance jeopardize a critical lifeline for millions it will also be an opportunity to step up support and collaboration for global health - and deliver hope to those in urgent need of lifesaving care.” Helping every woman and baby survive and thrive close to 300 000 women lose their life due to pregnancy or childbirth each year; over 2 million babies die in their first month of life This is roughly 1 preventable death every 7 seconds – losses which bring tremendous sadness and heartache to millions of families around the world While maternal and newborn deaths occur in all regions the vast majority are in the poorest countries and those facing conflict and other crises access routes denied or supplies disrupted pregnant women and babies - who need regular access to health services - face severe a staggering 4 out of 5 countries are off track to meet the United Nations’ global targets for improving maternal survival by 2030; 1 in 3 will fail to meet targets for reducing newborn deaths Current funding constraints could further jeopardize progress as many programmes providing critical health services have stalled alongside important medical research focused on pregnant and breastfeeding women and children donors and the health community to invest in proven as part of efforts to improve overall quality of care These include pregnancy related services to detect complications and lifesaving emergency obstetrics – noting that the vast majority of maternal and newborn deaths happen during or shortly after birth – as well as special care for small and preterm babies Complications relating to prematurity are now the leading cause of death of children under-5 worldwide WHO will also highlight the evolving need for health systems to address the many underlying health issues that impact maternal and newborn health These include not only direct obstetric complications but also mental health conditions malnutrition (including under and overnutrition as well as nutritional deficiencies) and an increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases Listening to women and supporting families the campaign will urge increased global attention to women’s longer-term health and well-being This includes advocating for laws and policies that safeguard their health and rights such as paid maternity leave and other critical employment protections and access to vital family planning services “It is not sufficient that women survive childbirth they must also be able to enjoy their lives in good health,” said Dr Pascale Allotey Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO “Women and girls everywhere need access to health providers who listen to their concerns and meet their needs while ensuring they can plan their fertility Efforts are also needed to address the particular risks of climate change for pregnant women and newborns,  as evidence shows an association between higher temperatures and preterm births In low- and middle-income countries, every US$1 invested in maternal and newborn health is estimated to yield around US$9 to 20 in return Evidence shows that spending on maternal and newborn health leads to economic development and happier WHO is supporting essential maternal and newborn health programmes including through: Here’s what you can do to support the campaign The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially announced the theme of World Health Day 2025, Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, which will focus on improving maternal and newborn health and survival Efforts are also needed to address the particular risks of climate change for pregnant women and newborns,  as evidence shows an association between higher temperatures and preterm births In low- and middle-income countries, every US$1 invested in maternal and newborn health is estimated to yield around US$9 to 20 in return It also marks some spring celebrations around the world The full moon of April will rise tonight (April 16) Ramadan and spring celebrations around the world Pink is meant to refer to the eastern United States herb moss pink April's Full Pink Moon will reach its peak at 2:55 p.m EDT (1855 GMT) and is also known in the United States by other Native American names: the Sprouting Grass Moon the moon will appear full to the casual observer's eye for the days before and after the peak itself Related: Amazing photos of Full Pink Moon of April 2022 (gallery) — How to observe the moon with a telescope — What you can see in this month's night sky — The moon: 10 surprising facts The April moon has several connotations in different cultures it is known as the Pesach or Passover Moon; Passover begins at sundown on Friday (April 15) and will end on April 23.  The moon phases of April also factor heavily into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which is also under way during the full moon Ramadan began with April's new moon on April 1 and will end on May 1.  this moon is called the Paschal Moon and its full moon appearance is the date upon which the Christian ecclesiastical calendar is based that there's a difference in Easter celebration dates depending on which tradition you follow Western Christianity celebrates on Sunday (April 17) while Eastern Christianity will have their Eastern Orthodox Easter on April 24 Hindus will commemorate the birth of Lord Hanuman with this full moon which corresponds with Hanuman Jayanti while Buddhists (especially those in Sri Lanka) will honor Bak Poya the event during which Buddha visited Sri Lanka to settle a dispute Your own culture or tradition may have other associations with the April full moon The moon's position on the ecliptic often leads to pretty alignments with planets in the evening or morning sky so keep an eye out here at Space.com for upcoming opportunities to spot the moon and nearby planets For example, on April 23, the half-moon will be visible amid a collection of planets (Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter), along the southeastern horizon early in the morning, according to NASA You can then watch the moon move among the planets for a few more days after this opportunity Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo or video that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, let us know! You can send in images and comments to spacephotos@space.com Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Elizabeth HowellFormer Staff Writer Spaceflight (July 2022-November 2024)Elizabeth Howell (she/her) was a staff writer in the spaceflight channel between 2022 and 2024 specializing in Canadian space news She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years from 2012 to 2024 Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House leading world coverage about a lost-and-found space tomato on the International Space Station witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents and participating in a simulated Mars mission 2022) is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams.  These ARE the Lego Star Wars deals you're looking for How to edit a solar eclipse photograph: A step-by-step guide James Webb Space Telescope finds coldest exoplanet ever seen Trumpworld flew into a frenzy Wednesday morning after the New York Post published what it described as a "smoking-gun email" showing Hunter Biden communicating with a Ukrainian official about meeting with his father The Post said that in one email in May 2014 the month after Hunter Biden joined the board of the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings emailed him asking for "advice on how you could use your influence to convey a message" or "signal." Pozharskyi thanked Hunter Biden for "inviting me to DC and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spent some time together," adding President Donald Trump's allies seized on the report as evidence that the Bidens were in bed with the Ukrainian government and that Hunter Biden took advantage of his position on Burisma's board to link up his father with influential Ukrainian officials "NEWS: Biden lied when he denied speaking to his 'son [Hunter] about his overseas business dealings,'" tweeted Kellyanne Conway She said in another tweet that Hunter Biden joined the board "shortly after Obama put Joe Biden in charge of US relations with Ukraine." She added that the Post's report showed "Burisma's No asking Hunter for 'advice on how you could use your INFLUENCE' on the company's behalf." "Joe Biden is a stone cold corrupt liar," a tweet from the Trump War Room account said it said that "Joe Biden thinks the American people are suckers." Josh Hawley latched onto the story as well tweeting: "Joe Biden using his office to benefit a Ukrainian oligarch after he said he didn't He is going to need to answer questions about this." But a closer examination of the Post's story raises several red flags The most glaring questions center on whether the emails are authentic an unidentified person dropped off a water-damaged MacBook Pro with the emails and other compromising material about Hunter Biden at an unidentified repair shop in Delaware The report said the repair shop's owner provided that information but it did not give details on his identity The owner of the repair shop said that he wasn't sure the laptop belonged to Hunter Biden but that the machine had a sticker from the Beau Biden Foundation The story went on to say the person who dropped off the water-damaged laptop "never paid for the service or retrieved it or a hard drive on which its contents were stored who said he tried repeatedly to contact the client." The shop's owner then contacted federal authorities about the laptop and the hard drive The article also included a photo described as a federal court subpoena showing that the FBI seized the computer and the hard drive in December It's unclear why the bureau subpoenaed the hardware after the repair shop's owner volunteered information about its existence to authorities The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies who recently published a book called "Active Measures" that focuses on the history of disinformation said that the way the purported emails surfaced in the first place was dubious "This here is highly suspicious behavior," Rid tweeted after the Post's story was published "Especially when viewed in the context of a political campaign Exactly how a professional would surface disinformation and potentially forgeries." Rid added that the emails featured in the Post's story were published as images rather than in a file format which "makes it harder to analyze and verify the files." could be there simply to add credibility to forged emails surfaced along with the photos This would be a standard tactic in disinformation operations," he wrote "Bottom line: *every individual little fact*—every email every detail mentioned in an email—must be verified when data is surfaced in such a suspicious way "It appears that The New York Post did not do that here." Isaac also said Trump's impeachment was a "sham" and at one point cited the debunked right-wing conspiracy theory about the slain Democratic staffer Seth Rich He also couldn't get his facts straight about the timeline of events outlined in the Post's story for which he was the source The Daily Beast reported that "throughout the interview Mac Isaac switched back and forth from saying he reached out to law enforcement after viewing the files in the laptop to saying that it was actually the Federal Bureau of Investigation that contacted him." Mac Isaac claimed that he was emailing someone from the FBI about the laptop," The Daily Beast said "At another point he claimed a special agent from the Baltimore office had contacted him after he alerted the FBI to the device's existence he said the FBI reached out to him for 'help accessing his drive.'" the repair shop's owner made a copy of the hard drive and turned it over to Robert Costello a defense attorney who represents former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani before giving the computer and the hard drive to the feds the House of Representatives was also conducting an impeachment inquiry into Trump centered on his efforts to strongarm the Ukrainian government into launching politically motivated investigations targeting the Bidens The Post said Giuliani gave it a copy of the drive on Sunday nearly a year after his lawyer was said to have been given a copy of it But The Wall Street Journal's Kevin Poulsen noted on Twitter that instead of publishing emails from the copy of the hard drive the Post said it's had since Sunday it published PDFs of the emails that were compiled "by a third-party over a year ago." The metadata that Poulsen tweeted indicated that the PDF of the May 2014 email was created on October 10 and that the PDF of the April 2015 email was produced on September 28 Moreover, the Los Angeles Times reporter Chris Megerian tweeted that when he asked Giuliani on Wednesday morning how long he'd had a copy of the hard drive Giuliani responded: "Your interested in the wrong thing This time the truth will not be defeated by process Print a headline saying Lyin' Joe and we can talk." Pozharskyi thanked Hunter Biden for inviting him to Washington But there's no evidence Pozharskyi actually met the former vice president The Post then laid out an apparently explosive timeline: Less than eight months after Pozharskyi thanked Hunter Biden for the introduction Joe Biden pressed the Ukrainian government to oust the prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin by "threatening to withhold a $1 billion US loan guarantee during a December 2015 trip" to Kyiv "I looked at them and said: I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money," Joe Biden said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018 The Post highlighted that when he was fired Shokin had said that he had "specific plans" to investigate Burisma that "included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board and their allies in the right-wing media have repeatedly floated — is that Joe Biden had Shokin fired to stymie a criminal investigation into Burisma Holdings whose board Hunter Biden was on at the time However, as Business Insider reported last year there's a significant issue with that theory Biden was doing the opposite of what Trump and Giuliani have implied: He was trying to oust a prosecutor who was slow-walking the investigation into Burisma rather than actively targeting the company the conservative media and political sphere touted the Post's story on Wednesday as incontrovertible evidence that the president was right when he accused Biden of catering to corrupt Ukrainian interests to protect his son The Biden campaign said in a statement that it "reviewed Joe Biden's official schedules from the time and no meeting The campaign's statement continued: "The New York Post never asked the Biden campaign about the critical elements of this story They certainly never raised that Rudy Giuliani — whose discredited conspiracy theories and alliance with figures connected to Russian intelligence have been widely reported — claimed to have such materials." "While I will intentionally not link to the New York Post, I want be clear that this story is eligible to be fact checked by Facebook's third-party fact checking partners," tweeted Andy Stone we are reducing its distribution on our platform." Twitter followed suit and said it would limit the spread of the story on its platform by blocking users from linking to the Post's report citing company rules against posting hacked material This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Visit Sunrise Sunset Calendars to know the moonrise time remembering to check the moonrise and moonset box we in North America will call this September 1-2 full moon by the name Fruit Moon and how will this September 1-2 full moon resemble the Harvest Moon even though it doesn’t bear that name The Harvest Moon – the closest full moon to the autumn equinox – has a reputation for being bigger and brighter and yellower than other full moons That reputation isn’t deserved; the Harvest Moon is not bigger and it’s not yellower than other full moons moon and planets – makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening hours the moon rises about 50 minutes later each night the Harvest Moon comes up near the time of sunset for several evenings in a row around the time of full moon There’s a shorter-than-usual time between moonrises on these next few nights That’s because we’re near the autumn equinox (although not as near as we’ll be at the next full moon when the effect will be even more pronounced) Check out the custom calendar at Sunrise Sunset Calendars and be sure to click the box for moonrise times See if you notice that the moonrise in your location is less than 50 minutes later between the night of September 1 and the night of September 2 or 3 from your location if you’re at a temperate latitude in the Northern Hemisphere from temperate latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere there will be a longer-than usual time between moonrises for the next few evenings Bottom line: Full moon is September 2 at 05:22 UTC Enjoy the third and final full moon of northern summer (southern winter) tonight Cultures across the world have given special names to full moons and this practice is very much alive in North America Some almanacs assign full moon names by the month other almanacs like to reference full moons relative to seasonal markers lists of full moon names vary widely coming from different regions and cultures we list the most commonly used full moon names in North America Most of these names were derived from Old English and/or Native American sources we have a word about moon names in the Southern Hemisphere 2025 EarthSky lunar calendar is available now. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar with phases of the moon for every night of the year. Get yours today! The next time February won’t have a full moon is 2037 Read more: Why no full moon in February 2018? the seasons for Earth’s two hemispheres are opposite When it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere we suggested that the full moon names might be likewise reversed the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon – moon name for the August full moon in North American skylore – might work for the February full moon in the Southern Hemisphere Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find records of moon names used in the Southern Hemisphere. We asked several EarthSky friends in the Southern Hemisphere if they knew of full moon names for that part of the world, but they all said no. We did find some full moon names for the large island of New Guinea, near Australia, and for South Africa at the website LunarPhasePro.com but we’ve been unable to establish if those names are still in use today whether they come by the month or by the season Sky watchers in recent years have come to recognize both calendar-month and seasonal Blue Moons Calendar-month Blue Moons happen when two full moons fall within a single calendar month The second of the month’s two full moons is popularly called a Blue Moon This sort of Blue Moon happens seven times in every 19 years Let’s take a look at the eight calendar-month Blue-Moons in the present 19-year Metonic cycle: Also, in a year where February has no full moon at all, as in the year 2018 you can have two full moons in January and two full moons in March during those years there are two Blue Moons in single year The next time we have two Blue Moons in one year is 2037 Seasonal Blue Moons happen seven times in 19 years There are usually three full moons between an equinox and a solstice But sometimes four full moons fall in a single season the third of a season’s four full moons is the Blue Moon The last Blue Moon by this definition happened on August 19 The seven seasonal Blue Moons in the current 19-year lunar cycle are: Read more about Blue Moons Is it possible to have only 2 full moons in a single season? Bottom line: North American full moon names Read more: A guide to traditional full moon names and their meanings Read more: Traditional full moon names When is the next Blue Moon? Read more: More comprehensive list of full moon names Read more: 4 keys to understanding moon phases go out at sunset and look for the giant moon rising in the east It will be the biggest and brightest one of 2009 the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009 making that month's full moon the largest of 2008.) Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun because they occur when the moon is at or near perigee (The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.) This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, from Native American folklore. The full moons of each month are named January's is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller You'll see that when compared to a fixed object the moon will be the same size in both cases If you have other plans for Saturday night take heart: You can see all this on each night surrounding the full moon rising earlier Friday night and later Sunday night all three objects have to be in a perfect line A departing fact: The moon is moving away as you read this by about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) a year Eventually this drift will force the moon to take 47 days to circle our world For Star Wars Day, May the 4th, you'll have to use all your Jedi powers to grab this Lego set — Jango Fett's Starship WILL sell out fast What would it be like living on Tatooine from 'Star Wars'? This exoplanet orbiting twin suns could tell us creates clothes that are like looking into a kaleidoscope of yarn One of her standout pieces is a shrug that she crocheted out of bubblegum pink yarn with blooming sleeves that act as mittens Another is a dress composed of 3D crocheted flowers the size of dinner plates that appear to grow off the body Many of these pieces are hypnotic and engulf the whole body in candy-hued colors that come in the form of meticulously woven cardigans and tights Photo: Courtesy of Katya ZelentsovaWhile Zelentsova’s knitwear is otherworldly much of her inspiration comes from her native country The designer was born and raised in the southern Russian city of Volgograd “I couldn’t wait to get out of.” She lived there with her grandparents and would commute to see her mother (who worked in Moscow) about once a month you want to move away from that and trashy pop culture,” she says you try to move away in a sense.” Now living in London Zelentsova has been examining her Russian upbringing and her culture’s history and weaving it in her pieces the 25-year-old’s graduate collection is displayed from March 10 to March 18 at an exhibition at Central Saint Martins Photo: Courtesy of Katya ZelentsovaZelentsova’s childhood in Volgograd was relatively ordinary She remembers being attracted to “shiny things” and admiring how her grandmother and mother dressed When she spent time with her mother at work Zelentsova would occupy herself with a sketchbook She recalls the styles during her childhood as classically early ’00s and over-the-top “Everyone wanted to look like a mix of Paris Hilton and the Russian socialists clad in Denis Simachev,” she says “I also loved Eva Polna from [the band] Gosti iz Budushcego.” And while she was surrounded with the all-excess Zelentsova still took an interest in the Russia of yesteryear She spent much of her time reading her grandmother’s old East German knitting magazines and the Russian edition of the sewing magazine Burda She also listened to the ballads of Russia’s crown jewel of pop these influences eventually came full circle for Zelentsova who based one of her prior collections on the lo-fi visuals of Burda and Pugacheva’s penchant for floaty silhouettes She’d make the knits seen in Burda “more ridiculous,” by expanding the proportions or altering the pieces to make them more sleek and therefore modern (Zelentsova refers to it as her “tits out” collection.) Photo: Courtesy of Katya ZelentsovaZelentsova’s latest collection was inspired by her experience last summer whether she would be forced to leave London to go back to Russia due to a visa requirement she retraced her childhood train ride from Moscow to Volgograd “I started thinking about what might happen after I graduate,” she says “I always like this idea of helping yourself through uncertain times by really amping up what you wear and what you surround yourself with It’s almost a necessary self-indulgence to get by.” Zelentsova connected her journey to that of Natalia Makarova a prima ballerina who defected to the United States during the ’70s only to return to Russia in 1994 Makarova also took a long train ride: It spanned more than 5,500 miles from Saint Petersburg to Tashkent a two-week trip that was later documented by the BBC show “It’s set in this country that she [Makarova] has technically never lived in She had this two-week journey on the train in this country that is sort of collapsing in these gorgeous jerseys and silks,” says Zelentsova “But if you’re on a train for two weeks long a full day on the train from my hometown to Moscow spent trying to look as glamorous as Makarova did in a tiny train compartment.” Photo: Courtesy of Katya ZelentsovaMore influences include whiffs of the Andrei Tarkovsky film Solaris and the time capsule gaudiness of Brighton Beach stuck in the early ’90s and the blingy styles of its Russian residents (The color scheme of saturated pinks and yellows comes from Zelentsova’s own visit to Brighton Beach over the summer.) Zelentsova fused nylons and crochets together ones that she knit with her grandmother over the summer as well as stretchy jacquards and fine laces that she created on Stoll knitting machines at a small factory in Ufa and paneled nylon stripes that she had sewn over the course of a week in the studio at Central Saint Martins Zelentsova used striped chiffon that she sourced from Volgograd “I had to move away to start really appreciating where I am from.” Fareed Zakaria teed off on Bill Maher on "Real Time" last week for using a war on religion on Islam to generate "applause lines in the West." But Maher has been making his case against religion for years on "Politically Incorrect" and in a documentary film in addition to "Real Time." While the frequency of his comments has increased in recent months especially since the Charlie Hebdo shootings and a debate that went viral with Ben Affleck Here are some of Maher's "greatest hits" on the topic -- as well as some of the best retorts With guests Michael Moore and Richard Dawkins Maher suggests liberals are afraid to criticize Muslims "because they’re a minority and because they’re brown Pernicious beliefs are pernicious beliefs." Rula Jebreal tells Maher: "When you talk about Islam in a certain way Keith Ellison: The Koran is "a hate-filled holy book." has made America a "pussy nation" and “there are no great religions Maher on "Charlie Rose": "To claim that this religion is like other religions is just naive and plain wrong The famous debate with Ben Affleck and Sam Harris over "radical Islam." Debating Islam with Cornel West and Mary Matalin Maher in September 2014: The Muslim world has "too much in common with ISIS." January 2015: "Only religion could ruin getting high and looking at cartoons." From "Politically Incorrect": "I have made so much more fun of the Bible than I have of the Koran." Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press It's a sad fact of the pop culture landscape that where huge hits go, lawsuits tend to follow -- and now Carly Rae Jepsen is facing one over her summer-defining smash 'Call Me Maybe.' TMZ reports that Jepsen is facing legal action from a Ukranian singer named Aza who's accusing her of lifting the arrangement from Aza's Christmas track 'Hunky Santa' for 'Call Me Maybe' and seeking the ever-popular "unspecified damages" in return "I'm shocked and surprised that these people wanted to sample my lyrics on their song," an incensed Aza told TMZ "They didn't ask me for permission I was driving and almost got into an accident I couldn't believe what I was hearing." Jepsen's representatives are denying Aza's allegations; as they put it to TMZ "This is completely false and [Carly's] lawyers will deal with this Everyone knows [Carly] is a songwriter." In an added burn to Eastern European pop stars like Ani Lorak they added that Jepsen "is not spending a lot of time listening to Ukrainian radio." The controversy obviously hasn't hurt the play count for the 'Hunky Santa' video which has racked up over 200,000 views since it was uploaded last December 647 of the clip's 648 comments have come in the last day or so or does it remind you of 'Call Me Maybe' Watch the Aza 'Hunky Santa' Video It's a sad fact of the pop culture landscape that where huge hits go, lawsuits tend to follow -- and now Carly Rae Jepsen is facing one over her summer-defining smash 'Call Me Maybe.'\nRead More It's a sad fact of the pop culture landscape that where huge hits go, lawsuits tend to follow -- and now Carly Rae Jepsen is facing one over her summer-defining smash 'Call Me Maybe.' TMZ reports that Jepsen is facing legal action from a Ukranian singer named Aza Large Bratislava boroughs offer dog parks and plan to open more Walking a dog in a city may sometimes be a challenge Several boroughs in Bratislava restrict dogs to the leash and not every dog owner has a forest or a meadow close enough to home where his pet can run to its heart’s delight the situation in the Slovak capital is improving and its boroughs have already established some dog parks and plan to build more The Old Town has just opened a dog park on Palárikova Street This is the third dog park in this borough The other two are on Poľná Street and in Belopotocký Park the Old Town’s spokesperson as cited by the TASR newswire “We are pleased that we have again contributed to the better co-existence of citizens and higher levels of cleanliness and order on the streets and in the public spaces of the Old Town,” said Old Town Mayor Since September 2014 dog owners have been able to use a run with a training ground of 11,000 square metres on Wolkrova Street In January 2016 a dog park of more than 1,000 square metres was opened on Holíčska Street The final dog park for now in Petržalka was opened near Panónska Street and the bus terminal on Vyšehradská Street It is almost 23,000 square metres and was opened in 2017 The local council plans to build a dog park in each part of Petržalka “Our ambition is to build one fenced dog park annually,” said Petržalka spokesperson Silvia Vnenková “We will certainly open one this year as well.” they do not know where the next dog park will be located but there are several options “We are looking for a place which is not too remote but which is still not directly under the windows of our citizens,” said Vnenková It happens that citizens living close to dog parks complain about noise and barking In Ružinov citizens can walk their dogs at two official dog parks One is on Astronomická Street in the Ostredky part and the second one is located on Parková Street Apart from classical facilities for the citizens there are also various agility elements for training dogs like various tunnels and an obstacle course This borough is also pondering whether to build a dog park on Gašparíkova Street or Vavrínova Street “The date has not been decided for now,” said Marianna Šebová “This will depend on available funds and the capacities of the supplier.” The Nové Mesto borough also plans to build new dog parks this borough offers dog parks in Gaštanica Park on Jeséniova Street in Koliba two fenced dog parks with elements for play in the park on Hálkova Street as well as a temporary dog park close to Lakeside Park on Tomášikova Street The latter was launched on the basis of an agreement of the land owner.