Athens Authentic Marathon

 More than 45,000 runners from 92 countries participated in Athens' Authentic Marathon run on November 13, 2022

The run traces the steps of Phedippides, a news bearing Athenian soldier, who announced the victory of Greeks against the Persians at the Marathon battle in 490 BC.

Pheidippides collapsed and died after he said νενικηκαμεν that translates to "we won"

The Marathon race became one of the most competitive events during the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens.  Spyros Louis won the gold medal in the first modern Olympics and became a legend in Greece.

The Marathon Race represents the highest effort in which the human body, soul and mind are tested to their limits as the runner presses to reach the finish line.

Here the young and not so young runners near the finish line in the Panathenaikon Stadium in Athens an unforgettable moment for the athletes, their families and friends.

This year a 91-year-old, Stelios Prassas participated and completed the Marathon run.  His success reminds us what humans can accomplish if they are physically gifted and have the will to train and prepare for the ultimate test in human endurance.

Longest Nonstop Bird Flight

 

A 5-month-old bird has set a new world record for the longest bird flight between Alaska and Tasmania.  The bar-tailed godwit -aka Limosa Iapponica travelled the distance of 8,425 miles (13,560 km) in 11 days.  Because the young bird was tagged, it allowed scientists to accurately track its flight.  Although it crossed over several Pacific islands like Vanuatu it did not stop until it reached the large Australian island of Tasmania.

DART

 

The Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) was NASA's successful test on September 26, 2022 of its plan to defend Earth from an asteroid's on collision course with our planet.

DART spacecraft zeroed in on Dimorphos, Didymos little moon which is 160 m in diameter and at a distance of 6.8 million miles or 11 million kilometers from Earth.  It stroke the little asteroid at a speed of 14,000 miles per hour hoping to divert from its orbit.

A picture of the little asteroid Dimorphos taken 2 min before the impact shows in great detail rocks on its surface.

Images from James Webb telescope showed a vast cloud of dust indicating a much larger force of the impact that it was expected.  The images were similar to those obtained by the Italian Space agency LICIAcube the little craft that separated from DART moments before its impact on Dimorphos.  NASA announced on Oct 11, 2022 DART's mission proved successful in adjusting the trajectory of Dimorphos, suggesting that a deadly space rock could be deflected in the future.  Before DART's impact it took the little asteroid 11 hours and 55 min to orbit its Didymos.  The spacecraft's impact changed the smaller asteroid's orbit by 32 min. 

Artemis I

 

Artemis I is NASA's first step to returning to moon after 50 years since astronauts landed there for the last time.  The giant moon rocket at the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule will take off on Sept 2nd.

The SLS rocket will attempt to send the Orion capsule around the moon and back with no one aboard. Astronauts could circle the moon in 2024 and attempt a lunar landing in 2025.  Artemis exploration programs was named after God Apollo's twin sister Artemis in Greek mythology.

NASA official said that the moon missions will be central to its human spaceflight program which aims to establish ultimately a long-term presence on Moon's surface and prepare for future missions to Mars. 

NASA called off moon launch twice due to a hydrogen leak.  NASA said that Artemis I is now scheduled to launch on Sept 27 or Oct 2. 

Cape Tenaron

 

Cape Tenaron or cape Matapan is mainland Greece's southernmost point. It was the site of the Ancient city Taenarum.  Nearby is a cave legend claims was the home of Hades the God of underworld.  On the hill above the cave there is a temple dedicated to the God of the sea Poseidon.

Tenaron's lighthouse was built in 1892 and its luminosity was 12 nautical miles.  In 1984 it was upgraded with solar panels and its luminosity is now 22 nautical miles.  The trek to the lighthouse from the end of the paved road is 2.2 kilometers.  For those who decide to take the hike to this very interesting place is better to start early in the morning or late in the evening in order to avoid the blazing summer Greek sun as there is no shade in its entirety.  I visited the site in 1968 when I was serving in the Greek Navy and my brother visited it recently on foot.

Santorini - 2022

 

Santorini has changed a lot since I first visited it fifty-four years ago.  It is now one of the most glamorous and visited islands on planet earth.

The views of the Caldera from the patios of elegant hotels is stunning.

The 3-hour trek between Fira and Oia presents a most beautiful scenery.

Santorini has become the place where young persons from far away places such as the United States or China elect to give vows of everlasting love and devotion. 

On this visit I stayed in the lovely hotel Phaos, which patio overlooks the the islands of Anafi and Astypalea in the Aegean Sea.

As in my first visit in 1968, I visited once more Akrotiri the Bronze Age settlement, one of the most important Minoan urban centres in the Aegean Sea, when it was covered by ash following the volcanic eruption in the 17 century BC.  The ancient Minoan town at Santorini's south coast, is called the "Pompeii of Greece" and some archeologists theorise that it is the fictional island of Atlantis that was created by demi-gods who established a utopian society as described by Greek philosopher Plato. 

I am finishing the trilogy on Santorini with the lighthouse in its southern tip, likely the oldest in Greece, as it was built in 1892.  It was the purpose of my first visit to service it and my role as a young Navy physician to check the health status of its crew.  The view was beautiful then, like it is now, thus a large number of visitors keep coming in the evenings to look at the sun setting.  Each of my trips to Santorini left me with beautiful and indelible memories which I will cherish the rest of my life. 

Santorini - 1988

 
I returned to Santorini 20 years after my first visit.  At that time the construction had begun in earnest.  On the left you can see the spire and dome of the Catholic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and on the right, the Candlemas Orthodox Cathedral was under reconstruction.

Before my trip to Santorini, we baptised my firstborn son on April 23, the feast day of Saint George, in the little chapel on mount Lycabetus in Athens.  A rare storm had blown by earlier resulting in a crystal clear Spring day with deep blue skies, we thus had a beautiful view of Athens and its nearby islands.

In the evening of our arrival in Santorini, I went out for a walk in the little town of Fira.  It was cold and windy as on my first visit 20 years before. It was after sunset, a light rain had started and I was walking alone.  At one point another person was walking the opposite direction towards me. He was wearing a black raincoat and a hat with a wide flat rim similar to the one of Don Quixote.  He was the Monseigneur of the Catholic Cathedral which was originally built in 1823 and restored in 1970.  The picture above is how the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist looks today.  

Santorini - 1968

 I visited Santorini for the first time in 1968 while I was serving in the Greek Navy.  It was a stormy day something which is not unusual for the Cycladitic islands known for their strong winds.  We anchored by the southernmost cape called Akrotiri.  

At that time tourists had just discovered this unique island and some visited it on mules or donkeys.  

I visited the island on foot.  The most important site then was, as it is now, the Bronze age city Akrotiri.

Akrotiri became known due to the excavations conducted under the supervision of the archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos in 1967.  I was lucky that Professor Marinatos was on the site at the time of my visit and gave me a tour of the ancient city that was covered completely during the volcanic explosion more that three millennia ago.  It is few times in our lives that we meet in person eminent individuals like him. 

The Endurance was found in the Antarctic

 The Endurance, the lost vessel of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, was found after107 years it sank at the bottom of Weddell Sea.  The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank on November 21, 1915.

The crew began to haul three lifeboats over the ice but were able to go a short distance.  On January 21, 1916 a blizzard blew the floe north forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape.  On April 9, 1916 after 7 harrowing days across ferocious seas they reached the Elephant island.  With the long dark winter days looming, and his men half-starved Shackleton decided to attempt to sail a 22 foot lifeboat to South Georgia.

On April 24, 1916 Shackleton and five men set sail for South Georgia a 750 mile trip. They reached the island after 17 days in stormy seas.

On May 20, 1916 after trekking the mountainous island they reached the whaling station.  Three days later they depart and return to Elephant island to rescue the stranded crew.  After several attempts using different boats, they reached Elephant island on August 30, 1916.  On September 3, 1916 Shackleton and his crew arrived at Punta Arenas, Chile. 

 

All 28 men survived! 

Even though the Endurance has been at a depth of 3000 meters of water, it is preserved in a remarkable condition with its timbers very much together, and the name - Endurance - clearly visible on the stern.

George Marston painting depicting Shackleton and the James Caird landing on South Georgia by Royal Geographic Society.

Long live Ukraine

The world enters the Nuclear age when the U.S. drops two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII.

Four years later the USSR tests successfully its nuclear bomb and the nuclear age starts in earnest.

The world came close to nuclear war when the USSR wished to install intercontinental missiles in Cuba the range of which covered the entire U.S.  President Khrushchev asked his fleet to return to Russia when American warships moved to intercept them and thus a nuclear holocaust was averted.

President George Bush of the U.S. and the Secretary General of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev signed the historic nonproliferation treaty in 1991 which was the end of the Cold War between the two superpowers.

On Feb 21,2022 Russia recognises the two break away republics Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's Dombas region.  Three days later Russia invades Ukraine from the North, East and South.

On Feb 28, 2022 President Putin places Russia's nuclear forces on high alert following a comment by the UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

I hope Ukraine and Russia reach an agreement in the United Nations session to be held soon allowing Ukraine to stay an independent country.  Then the US and EU lift their sanctions against Russia and the world to avoids a nuclear catastrophe.

The Year of the Tiger

February 1, 2022 is the first day of the Chinese New Year which according to the Chinese zodiac in 2022 is the Year of the Tiger.

Before the new year celebration was established, ancient Chinese gathered and celebrated the end of harvest in the autumn. 

Legends tell us that the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called Nian which would eat villagers and their children and destroy their houses in the middle of the night.  Luck had that an an elderly man put red papers and set off firecrackers in the middle of the night after discovering what Nian was afraid off.  Following that night Nian never return to that village thus the Chinese prospered and multiplied.

The first mention of celebrating the start of a new year was recorded during the Han dynasty (220 BC - 220 AD).  in a book written by Cui Shi, "a celebration is described in which commemoration of ancestors and especially his father". The practice of worshiping ancestors on New Year's Eve is maintained in China to this day.  Also, on the days before the New Year, Chinese families clean their homes thoroughly as it is believed the cleaning sweeps bad luck and makes homes ready for good luck.

Chinese people believe that what you do at the beginning of the new year will affect your luck in the coming year.  Saying good wishes to family and friends when the clock strikes 12 will certainly bring good luck, so

Happy New Year my friends!

James Webb; looking into the Genesis of our Universe

 

The James Webb telescope is on its month-long journey to Lagrange point L2 after its successful launch on December 25, 2021.  Point L2 is almost 1 million miles away from the Earth.

The Webb will look beyond to what the Hubble has already looked at.  As more distant objects are more redshifted and their light is in the near-infrared their observation requires an infrared telescope this is why the Webb was designed for.

The Webb will be able to look at the first galaxies and the first stars after the Big Bang, at the Genesis of our Universe .

View of the Andromeda galaxy taken by the Herschel Space Observatory an infrared telescope built by the European Space Agency.  The primary difference between the Webb and Herschel is their wavelength range and also the diameter of Webb's mirror is 6.5 meters and the Herschel's 3.5 meters.  The Hubble, the Webb and the Herschel will provide information that will allow astronomers to look and understand the early phases of our Universe.

The James Webb on Jan 24, 2022 reached its orbit 1 million miles from Earth and will begin looking back to the time the first starts and galaxies were forming 13.7 billion years ago and provide information about the origin of our Universe. 

                                     Credit to all images is due to NASA and ESA.