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Looking through these three windows on history reminds us that while the tools of civilization evolve, the human story continues to be driven by many of the same hopes, challenges, and ambitions that have shaped every generation. Continue reading

A 1981 Ribbon schematic of the 3D structure of the protein triose phosphate isomerase by Jane Richardson. Today is voice actress Tajja Isen's birthday. She voiced Betty Barrett aka the titular hero in the 2004 Canadian animated series Atomic Betty.

Jane Richardson, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

By Luca Bravo on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Right now, one of the largest sunspot groups in recent history is crossing the Sun. Active Region 4478 is not only big -- it's violent, showing tangled magnetic fields capable of throwing off huge clouds of particles into the Solar System. Some of these CMEs might impact the Earth. At the extreme, these solar storms could cause some Earth-orbiting satellites to malfunction, the Earth's atmosphere to slightly distort, and electrical power grids to surge. When impacting Earth's upper atmosphere, these particles can produce beautiful auroras. Pictured here, AR 4478 and its dark sunspots were captured in visible light a few days ago from Barcelona, Spain. Almost as large as AR 3664 was in 2024, the AR 4478 sunspot group is so big that it is visible just with glasses specially designed to view solar eclipses. This week, skygazing enthusiasts all over the globe will not only be tracking AR 4478 during the day -- but keenly watching night skies for its corresponding bright auroras. Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)

Photo by Alfredo Vidal Pérez

Singer-songwriter Max Giesinger at 5th Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, Germany.

Original: Sven Mandel Derivative work: Radomianin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.

By Daniel Chen on Unsplash

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

In this recent HiRISE view from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red Planet is the Perseverance Mars rover. Recorded on June 13, the car-sized, six-wheeled robot was imaged a day before completing a Martian marathon, traveling a total distance of 26.218 miles (42.195 kilometers) since it began exploring the surface of Mars. That equivalent marathon distance was achieved by Perseverance on its mission sol (Martian day) 1,890, after about 5 Earth years and 4 Earth months of driving. Perseverance is continuing to hunt for biosignatures. In the HiRISE image, the Mars rover's tracks can be seen leading to its location in an area west of its landing site in Jezero crater near an ancient river delta.

The Dzhuguturlyuchat massif with mountain peaks and glaciers. Dombay, Caucasus Mountains, Karachay-Cherkessia.

Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. View source.