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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

Fifty years ago, April 20, 1972, Apollo 16's lunar module Orion touched down on the Moon's near side in the south-central Descartes Highlands. While astronaut Ken Mattingly orbited overhead in Casper the friendly command and service module the Orion brought John Young and Charles Duke to the lunar surface. The pair would spend nearly three days on the Moon. Constructed from images (AS16-117-18814 to AS16-117-18820) taken near the end of their third and final surface excursion this panoramic view puts the lunar module in the distance toward the left. Their electric lunar roving vehicle in the foreground, Duke is operating the camera while Young aims the high gain communications antenna skyward, toward planet Earth. Celebrate: Earth Day

Lemony cod, warm fennel salad and wild rice. A  combo that requires zero side dishes!  Click to read the recipe

A Lonely Path was not chosen
as a goal for my latest life
Who would choose such a sad
Path? My lovely wife is a victim
of unwanted disease. Dementia
now moving into Alzheimers.
A slow dance of memory loss.
Many moments of indecision.
Not knowing what to do when
getting ready for bed.

Those days of old
we're exciting
but dangerous.
Driving the Yakima
River canyon road,
at top speed,
pedal to the metal.
We would race on
the 2 lane, highway.
It was a crazy thing to do,
but we had fun and believed
we were immortal.

Across the window,
beyond the pane,
started a dance,
Wind and rain.

Broken shards of glass?,
Angular pieces reflecting
Sunrays against a wall,
a kaleidoscope of
brilliant colors, creating
a pattern of flickering
light, as the wind
moves the glass.l

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

There's an interesting sky to see if you wake up before the Sun. Lined up on toward the eastern horizon are four planets in a row. The planets are so bright they can even be seen from the bright sky inside a city. In fact, the featured image was taken from New York City, USA, with the foreground highlighted by the RFK (Triborough) Bridge. Pictured, the planets are, left to right, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Saturn. The planets all appear in a row because they all orbit the Sun in the same plane. This plane, called the ecliptic plane, was created in the early days of our Solar System and includes all planets, including Earth. The morning planet parade will continue throughout April and May, and will even be joined by Mercury in June. APOD volunteer programming opportunity: Discord

Photo by Stan Honda

https://www.flickr.com/photos/westlangdesign
https://sonya-lang.pixels.com/

The idea that we should eat three meals a day is surprisingly modern. How many meals a day is best for our health? Read more

"We Are Made of Music, We Are Made of Time: Violinist Natalie Hodges on the Poetic Science of Sound and Feeling".  Read more

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

The eggs from this gigantic chicken may form into stars. The featured emission nebula, shown in scientifically assigned colors, is cataloged as IC 2944 but known as the Running Chicken Nebula for the shape of its greater appearance. Seen toward the bottom of the image are small, dark molecular clouds rich in obscuring cosmic dust. Called Thackeray's Globules for their discoverer, these "eggs" are potential sites for the gravitational condensation of new stars, although their fates are uncertain as they are also being rapidly eroded away by the intense radiation from nearby young stars. Together with patchy glowing gas and complex regions of reflecting dust, these massive and energetic stars form the open cluster Collinder 249. This gorgeous skyscape spans about 60 light-years at the nebula's estimated 6,500 light-year distance.

Photo by Stefan Steve Bemmerl