As I was going through my morning routine today, I found three articles that inspired me to think about the darkness and the light of our own lives--the colors with which we paint our canvases, and I wanted to share them with you. Each of them is a facet of the dark and the light in our world today, and I'm actually really excited to show you why.
The Rosetta Spacecraft
Yesterday, the European Space Agency (ESA) received a signal from the Rosetta spacecraft. It had been dormant since 2011, conserving energy while on its long flight to meet up with a comet named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The Dark Side
The Rosetta has been traveling through space since 2004; scientists and engineers have had to contend with the possibility that all their hard work, hopes, and dreams might not even make it. For nearly three years, they've been having to wait--in the dark--hoping that Rosetta would wake up to begin its mission later this year.
The Light Side
The explorers of our universe--scientists, engineers, and everyone who works for space exploration around the world--will be benefitting from the information gleaned by the Rosetta spacecraft. Its mission is to enter orbit around 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and to study its surface by delivering a lander there named Philae. The information we retrieve from this meteor may bring to light new scientific discoveries, lend credence to hypotheses and theories currently held, and hopefully garner more funding and more interest in future space exploration projects.
To learn more about the Rosetta Spacecraft, its mission, and the people who put it all together, you can visit their webpage here. I also want to offer a special thanks to MSN and their news team for posting up this article that caught my attention.
Oxfam's Recent Study on Global Wealth Inequality
According to Oxfam's recent study, apparently 85 people have as much wealth as 3.5 billion other people have combined. To put that in math-like terms:
The Dark Side
Eight-five people own as much money as almost half the world's population. Think about that for a moment.
That means that a very small percentage of people are controlling the lives and livelihoods of almost half the population of the earth. It is also very likely that the laws being put into place protect that small few and may, in fact, be hurting the chances of anyone else trying to better their situations in the world.
The Light Side
We are not without hope.
The report gives several suggestions on how to end these disparities--suggestions that have worked in the past to ensure that the rights of all people are protected and to give poor people a chance to better their lives and their situations.
Not only that, but people have the ability to help others, and not all rich people care only for themselves. Donations and volunteer work do help, and I would like to believe that we all would prefer to have happy, educated people in the world--instead of depressed men and women who have to worry about where they're going to get their next meal, or clothes, or shelter.
To find out more about Oxfam and what they do, check out their web page. And again, a special thanks to MSN and Li Anne Wong for the article they posted today.
Game of Thrones on HBO
While this may seem a flight of fancy, this television show spawned from George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series shares the compelling stories of several characters caught in a web of past political intrigues and feuds. There are several diverse cultures expressed in the books; and while there is magic, and there are dragons, Game of Thrones shares the struggle of light and darkness within all of us.
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War is a dominant fixture in the series, as well as political and social upheaval. No character is safe from the inevitable reaping blade of death, and sometimes good people don't always win. Just as sometimes doing the right thing isn't always rewarded. Still, the way that the characters grow and develop based on their personal experiences says a great deal about how our own experiences can shape the darkness within us all.
The Light Side
No man is an island.... The interconnectedness of our global world may be more evident because of technology, but Martin's portrayal of a global story gives us a sense that nothing happens in a vacuum. What happens in the north has consequences for the south, and what happens on one side of the world will come to play in the lives of the people elsewhere. Not only that, but the story is pretty awesome.
Rather than continue to try and convince you myself, however, I figure I'll let the actors and the people working on the series itself give you their impressions of the upcoming season 4 of Game of Thrones.
You can find out more about the book series, Song of Ice and Fire here, and more about George R. R. Martin by visiting his official website.
And you can find out more about Game of Thrones on HBO by checking out their page!
Last, but not least, a special thank you to The Mary Sue for posting up that wonderful Behind the Scenes video today.
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