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There was a straight shot from Earth to the Moon and Mars last night

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I almost missed it. Amid a bout of prime-time doomscrolling, a social media post reminded me there was something worth seeing in the sky. Mars disappeared behind the full Moon for a little more than an hour Monday night, an event visible across most of North America and parts of Africa.

So I grabbed my camera, ran outside, and looked up just as Mars was supposed to emerge from the Moon's curved horizon. Seen with the naked eye, the Moon's brightness far outshined Mars, casting soft shadows on a cold winter evening in East Texas.

Viewing the Moon through binoculars, the red planet appeared just above several large partially shadowed craters at the edge of the Moon's curved limb. I quickly snapped dozens of photos with my handheld Canon 80D fitted with a 600 mm lens. Within a few minutes, Mars rose farther above the Moon's horizon. Thanks to the parallax effect, the Moon's relative motion in its orbit around Earth appears significantly faster than the movement of Mars in its orbit around the Sun.

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Manzabar
2 days ago
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Cedar Rapids
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Hollywood mourns the loss of David Lynch

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Visionary filmmaker David Lynch—whose work spanned midnight movie staples like Eraserhead (1977), neo-noir psychological thrillers like Mulholland Drive (2001), and beyond—has died at 78. According to Deadline Hollywood, the director had to evacuate his home due to the LA wildfires. He had been diagnosed with severe emphysema a few years ago and rarely left his house due to COVID-19 fears. Following the evacuation, his health deteriorated, and he passed away at his daughter's house.

“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” the director's family said in a statement. “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”

Reactions from Hollywood were swift and heartfelt. Kyle MacLachlan, who became a star when Lynch cast him as Paul Atreides in 1984's Dune, Blue Velvet (1986), and the TV series Twin Peaks, described the director as "the most authentically alive person I'd ever met":

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Manzabar
2 days ago
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We’re Halfway Through The Public Domain Game Jam, And There’s Still Plenty Of Time To Get Involved

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We’re at the halfway point of January, and that means we’re at the halfway point of the latest edition of our public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1929! As in past years, we’re celebrating the entry of new works into the public domain by calling on game designers of all stripes and levels of experience to create digital and analog games based on these now-copyright-free works from 1929.

We’ve already gotten a few interesting early entries, and we expect a lot more to come in as the deadline approaches — but for now that deadline is still more than two weeks away, and that’s still plenty of time to get started and build a game of your own.

As usual, we’ll be awarding prizes to winners in six categories. Every entry has a shot at either the Best Analog Game or Best Digital Game award, but if you don’t feel like competing for those coveted titles, you can also tighten your focus: put your art and design skills to work for the Best Visuals prize, do justice to a work you love for the Best Adaptation prize, mix and match an interesting selection of sources for the Best Remix prize, or dive deep into obscure and unexpected sources for the Best Deep Cut prize. Some of the most intriguing and surprising games from past jams were squarely aimed at these special categories!

If you want to get involved, head on over to the game jam page on Itch to read the full rules and sign up — then start designing! And for those who are already hard at work, we’re excited to see what you’re cooking up. The jam runs through the end of January, and then we’ll be testing out all the entries to select our winners. Thanks to everyone who’s getting involved and showing why a robust and growing public domain matters.

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Manzabar
2 days ago
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Cedar Rapids
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A NASA astronaut may have just taken the best photo from space—ever

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People who appreciate good astrophotography will no doubt be familiar with the work of Don Pettit, a veteran NASA astronaut who is closing in on having lived 500 days of his life in space.

Pettit is now in the midst of his third stint on the International Space Station, and the decade he had to prepare for his current stay in orbit was put to good use. Accordingly, he is well stocked on cameras, lenses, and plans to make the most of six months in space to observe the planets and heavens from an incredible vantage point.

Ars has previously written admiringly of Pettit's work, but his latest image deserves additional mention. When I first saw it, I was dazzled by its beauty. But when I looked further into the image, there were just so many amazing details to be found.

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Manzabar
3 days ago
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And We’re Off! The Public Domain Game Jam Starts Today

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It’s a new year, and that means new works are entering the public domain, and that means it’s time for the latest installment of our public domain game jam, Gaming Like It’s 1929!

If you’ve been itching to get started on your entry, now’s the time — you’ve got until the end of the month to make an analog or digital game based on works from 1929 that entered the public domain today. For more information and some examples of works you could draw from, check out our announcement post and the game jam page on Itch. We’ll bring you more updates throughout the month, and then in February we’ll be choosing winners in six categories (check out last year’s winners and our series of winner spotlight posts if you need some more inspiration!)

We can’t wait to see what you come up with — good luck, and happy New Year/Public Domain Day!

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Manzabar
11 days ago
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Cedar Rapids
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NASA Will Let Trump Decide How to Bring Mars Rocks to Earth

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The Mars Sample Return effort was billions of dollars over budget and not expected to return to Earth with its samples until 2040.

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Manzabar
11 days ago
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Cedar Rapids
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