Polaris was much closer to Earth

Polaris appears that is closer to Earth than previously thought. According to recent studies, it is not 434 light years away, as previously thought, but "only" 323 light years. This small but important scientifically discovery was made by a group of European, Canadian and American scientists. According to researchers, the exact information about the distance to Polaris possible to determine more precisely many cosmic distances because they are derived. Currently Polaris is located less than 1 ° from the north pole of the Earth, and it is almost immobile in the daily rotation of the stars. It is very convenient for orientation - direction and almost coincides with the direction north, and its height above the horizon equal to the latitude of the observation. Polaris is the brightest and closest to Earth pulsating variable star Delta Cepheus with a period of 3.97 days. In fact, it is a triple star system. In the center is a supergiant (Polaris A), which is 2,000 times brighter than the Sun.      Polaris B is located a great distance from A, so you can see through a telescope is not difficult even from Earth. A dwarf - a star which is companion to the central star - Polaris Ab - so close that it was possible to be shot a few years ago by space telescope "Hubble" and only after resetting the equipment.

Sinking island nation of Kiribati

The authorities of the island nation of Kiribati have worried: sea level rise has already led to the loss of more than 30 coral atolls that rose above the water a few meters. President Tong of Kiribati Aton said the government is working on plans for a mass exodus of residents, but also blamed the international community in postponing a decision on this issue. Tong said in an interview with AFP: "Some villages were forced to move to new locations as the former has disappeared under the water. In early November, there was a great tide that is literally washed away several villages. These tides are more and more often. This suggests that time is running out. '    Kiribati is one of the island nations - along with Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Maldives - which can remain "stateless", according to the Commission on Human Rights at the United Nations as a result of climate change.

New Seven Wonders of the World

Well-known Table Mountain in Cape Town (South Africa) officially became one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature, which were selected through a world vote. The founder of the Fund for the seven new wonders of nature Bernard Weber noted that South Africa should be proud of the choice of Table Mountain, which is "a great business card for Cape Town. "Mountain" wonders of the world are faced with fierce competition are such natural wonders as the Grand Canyon and the Dead Sea. Some days you can see the clouds hug the Table Mountain as a tablecloth.      The list of the new Seven Wonders of the World are also included: the Amazon jungle in South America, Iguazu Falls in South America, Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo National Park in Indonesia, Halong Bay in Vietnam and Puerto Princess Underground River National Park in the Philippines.

The first SMS - message is sent exactly 20 years ago

On December 3 the world marked exactly 20 years since the launch of the "short messages" - SMS. On the eve of the anniversary, the inventor of this technology Papuort Neil talks about the first message that forever changed the world of mobile communications. Briton still can not believe that the proposed method of communication can seriously compete with the usual calls from mobile phones. "20 years ago, testing technology, I had no idea about the future and value - Papuort said. Only after 10 years of existence, SMS-mails, I began to realize that this is really a great discovery. Now, another 10 years have passed and the possibilities for using the service are much higher. ' First "message" in its present form is sent to the December 3, 1992 when 22-year-old employee of Sema Group Neil Papuort test new technology for mobile operator Vodafone. The message text contains only two words - Merry Christmas ("Merry Christmas") to the screen of your phone Orbitel 901 reads a fellow of the engineer. Remarkably, the original SMS could be sent to a PC, and only later found a direct link between mobile devices.    Originally nor Sema Group, nor mobile operators realize the importance of their discovery will be a few years. And use the new service subscribers and reluctant - until 2000, providers allow their customers to send SMS to users of other mobile networks. This greatly increases the attractiveness of cheap service that immediately assesses the target audience - quickly and forever doing many things at the same time young people. Messages up to 160 characters are the ideal choice for young people who do not want to spend extra money for long conversations. In 2011, Britain sent more than 150 billion text messages - three times more than five years ago. Most often the service is used by young people aged 12 to 15 years: they send an average of 193 messages a week, and representatives of other age groups use the SMS service four times less.