This is our home:
Marvel at the most detailed image of our pretty little planet ever made. It's still blue, our home. I hope we manage to maintain it alive.
Yes, our home has many faces, much like the human being.
See Earth's west face below, and while you do that, please remember that the planet is one single thing. That is, even if we live in opposite sides we're sharing the same home.
We're one large family, the humanity.
Note: Err, maybe I got too emotional on this one, no? This pictures were taken by a bunch of Nasa satellites and put together by their amazing scientists. You can see these and other images of the visible Earth here.
This is exactly why astronauts are so emotional and so world-oriented (as opposed to nation-oriented) when they return to earth. I once heard Roberta Bondar speak & she said it's the most life changing thing. She's gone on to photography & has toured the earth spreading the "we are one" message. Awesome.
ReplyDeletePS - I get sappy too :)
If you look closely you might see me waving at you! Hee-hee.
ReplyDeleteIt's not being too emotional; humanity's home is beautiful and everything in it makes it so, including its people!
Yay to the "we are the one" message Jemi! Thanks for sharing that. I feel less woosy now, heh.
ReplyDelete*waving back* to my Mari-girl sister. :D
Totally agree with you Marisa! Our world is beautiful, our people are beautiful, and our many cultures and points of view are gorgeous in their own way. :)
I love these photos! I never tire of looking at them. It is hard to comprehend where we really are and the vast universe out there. I will share with you one of my favorite science videos
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U
I love these photos too. And I can't think of a better message, or a better reason to get emotional about something. Well done!
ReplyDeleteMariana,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea that we all live on the same planet; so really, we're neighbors. :)
Dawn
Great photos, Mariana! I often think the key to our survival is to evolve toward an greater understanding of our essential "one-ness". Excellent post!
ReplyDelete-- Anne: Ohhh, the journey back home got me near tears. Thanks so much for sharing it!
ReplyDelete-- Everyone: Here's a link to Anne's fantastic video, The Known Universe. Can't miss it!
-- Phyl: Thanks so much. I get emotional about a lot of things, but I agree with you that this is a worthy reason, heh. Glad you liked the post. :)
-- Dawn: *waving* to you as well. We are neighbors indeed! Would you like to stop by for some tea? Or maybe a prosecco? heh (Hey, mari-girl, you're in too, aren't you? ;)
-- Anne (again): Dawn is right; we're neighbors. That's how we fit in the universe (our universe, that is). Maybe some day we'll get to know our outer neighbors? I hope I'm alive to see this. (and that they're friendly, uh, heh)
-- Donna: Yeah, I couldn't resist sharing, so beautiful they are. I agree with you wholeheartedly; if we're one in essence, all arguing is nothing less than petty fight between brothers. I hope human kind realizes that some day.
Those are beautiful pictures, MAriana. I'm so glad we can view them without being stuck inside a little space craft, I'll just read about it when you come back. :)
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that the astronauts experience that more so when they return. Makes sense, though.
Another thought that keeps going round my head, (I think Bill Bryson wrote about in his book A Short History of Nearly Everything?) is how very ego centric it is to think that we can destroy the Earth. It will be just fine in one form or another, it's been around for billions of years. We'll only destroy ourselves...puts it into focus for me. Kristi
Of course there must be billions of other planets in the cosmos but right now this is by far the most beautiful we know. Is will be our home for the foreseeable future and we have a duty to take good care of it for our children's children
ReplyDelete-- Kristi: You bet I'll share the pics when I come back from space! But I hope we'll have comfortable ships for clean and awesome tourism then. ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I don't think the human race has the ability (yet? uh) to destroy the planet. We are this arrogant, heh.
-- Simon: Hey, thanks for stopping by! Yes, it's indeed a duty. Too bad most of us is so self-centered, and egoistic, to realize how important it is to do basic maintenance in our home. As Kristi says, the Earth will move on living, human kind present or extinct.
The first image looks like the earth is frowning.
ReplyDelete-- Sarah: How interesting that each person has a different view of the same thing, eh? No matter how I try, I can't see the Earth frowning.
ReplyDeleteForcing a bit my imagination, I can see, on the second image, the clouds over Canada as superman-like hair, over the US the eyebrows, Mexico is a nose, and the ones over Pacific Ocean, near South America, form a smirk.
Maybe our moods interfere in our view? I think about this hypothesis frequently, you know? ;)