Summary of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - November 28, 2012

Return of the Jedi, motion picture about the young warrior Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his compatriots battling a tyrannical government called the Galactic Empire. Released in 1983, this box-office hit won an Academy Award for special achievement in visual effects. This is the third movie in the Star Wars series of science-fiction movies, continuing the story of Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Luke, Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher), and her robot comrades C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from the palace of the criminal underlord Jabba the Hutt. Then they set out to destroy the Galactic Empire’s new space station, called the Death Star. An army of furry little creatures called ewoks helps them.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - 1983 Trailer

Summary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - November 27, 2012

The Empire Strikes Back, motion picture about the adventures of Luke Skywalker and his space-age swashbuckling friends, continuing the story from the film Star Wars (1977). Released in 1980, this Academy Award-winning hit film was the second to be released in the six-episode series of Star Wars movies. The movie features Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) traveling to a distant planet to learn more about his mystical Jedi powers from a diminutive teacher named Yoda (a puppet voiced by Frank Oz). Meanwhile, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) evade the forces of Darth Vader and the evil empire and hide out with Solo’s disreputable friend Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). Sensing that his friends are in trouble, Skywalker leaves his training with Yoda and goes to Calrissian’s Cloud City to help his friends, falling into a trap set by Vader.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - 30th Anniversary Trailer

Summary of Star Wars: A New Hope - November 26, 2012

Star Wars, science-fiction movie about a young man who joins a rebel group and helps them battle the evil empire. Released in 1977, this box-office hit was written and directed by George Lucas. It won Academy Awards for special effects, musical score, art direction, film editing, and costume design. A farm boy named Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) meets two robots, a warrior (Alec Guinness), and a pilot (Harrison Ford). With help from his friends, Skywalker frees the rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) from the empire’s space station, the Death Star. In a sequence packed with innovative special effects, Skywalker and the other rebel pilots attack and destroy the Death Star.

The film, subtitled A New Hope, inspired two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). All three films were rereleased in 1997 with new, digitally enhanced special effects. In 1999 Lucas released the first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace, followed by Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The prequels follow the story of Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker.

Star Wars: A New Hope - 1977 Trailer

Sleep - November 25, 2012

Sleep, natural state of rest characterized by reduced body movement and decreased awareness of surroundings. Sleep is distinguished from other sleeplike states, for instance, hibernation or coma, because it is easily interrupted by external stimulation, such as a loud noise. While the exact purpose of sleep remains a mystery, sleep researchers have made enormous strides in understanding how sleep occurs in humans and other animals, and the nature of sleep disorders.

All mammals and birds sleep, but scientists are unsure if reptiles, fish, insects, and other life forms sleep. Total sleep amounts differ greatly across species. In general, large mammals tend to sleep less than small mammals. The giraffe and elephant, for instance, sleep only 2 to 4 hours a day, while bats, opossums, and armadillos sleep 18 hours a day or more.

While sleeping, most animals close their eyes and adopt particular positions referred to as sleep postures. Humans typically lie down to sleep, for example, while giraffes kneel and bend their long necks around to rest their heads in the crook of their hind knee. Some animals, such as dolphins, can sleep while they are moving.

Scientists measure sleep by placing metal electrodes on the scalp to record the electrical activity of the brain. This procedure, called electroencephalography (EEG), enables sleep researchers to evaluate levels of brain activity at different times during sleep. Researchers use similar electrodes to record a sleeping person’s body muscle activity and rate of eye movement.

Sleep is imperative for the development of young minds.



Pluto (Planets) - November 24, 2012

Pluto, planetary body counted as the ninth planet in the solar system after its discovery in 1930. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. The new IAU definition of a planet that changed Pluto's status is not accepted by some scientists, who continue to recognize Pluto as the

ninth planet. Pluto revolves about the Sun once in 247.9 Earth years at an average distance of 5,880 million km (3,650 million mi). Pluto’s orbit is so eccentric that at certain points along its path Pluto is slightly closer to the Sun than is Neptune. Pluto is about 2,360 km (1,475 mi) in diameter, about two-thirds the size of Earth’s moon. Its composition links Pluto with Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), icy bodies found beyond Neptune in the outer solar system. The first space mission to explore Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, was launched in January 2006 and is scheduled to fly by Pluto in 2015. Pluto was named after the god of the underworld in Roman mythology.

Pluto - the former ninth planet.

Neptune (Planet) - November 24, 2012

Eighth planet in distance from the Sun, fourth largest planet in diameter, and third largest in mass in the solar system. Neptune’s gravity has a major influence on the Kuiper Belt, a region of icy bodies in the outer solar system that is a source of comets and includes the dwarf planet Pluto, formerly counted as the ninth planet.

Because of its great size and mass, scientists classify Neptune as one of the giant or Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets—along with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Like Uranus, Neptune is also classified as an ice giant planet, mainly made of the ice-forming molecules water, ammonia, and methane as a liquid mixture above what is thought to be a rocky core. Its atmosphere is mainly hydrogen and helium, along with methane gas that gives the planet a blue-green color.

Neptune orbits the Sun at an average distance of about 4,490 million km (about 2,790 million mi) in a period of 165 Earth years and only receives about 1/900th the amount of sunlight that Earth does. Neptune’s diameter at the equator is about 49,520 km (about

 30,767 mi). Even though Neptune’s volume is 72 times Earth’s volume, its mass is only 17.15 times Earth’s mass.

Neptune has four rings and 13 known moons. The planet is named after the sea god Neptune in Roman mythology.

Neptune - the eighth planet.

Uranus (Planet) - November 23, 2012

Seventh planet in distance from the Sun, third largest planet in diameter, and fourth largest in mass in the solar system. Unlike other major planets, Uranus is tipped sideways on its axis of rotation. It experiences extreme seasons, and its 13 rings and 27 known moons revolve around its equator nearly vertically to the plane of its orbit around the Sun.

Because of its great size and mass, scientists classify Uranus as one of the giant or Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets—along with Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Like more distant Neptune, Uranus is also classified as an ice giant planet, mainly made of the ice-forming molecules water, ammonia, and methane as a liquid mixture above what is thought to be a rocky core. Its atmosphere is mainly hydrogen and helium, along with methane gas that gives the planet a blue-green color.

Uranus looks like a star to the naked eye, but appears as a blue-green disk through a large telescope—Uranus was the first planet discovered by using a telescope. A flyby by the Voyager 2 space probe in 1986 provided most of the information we have about the planet, its rings, and its moons. Uranus is named after the god of the heavens in Greek and Roman mythology.

Uranus orbits the Sun at an average distance of 2,860 million km (1,780 million mi) in a period of 84 Earth years. The planet only receives about 1/400th of the sunlight that Earth does. The diameter of Uranus at its equator is 51,118 km (31,763 mi). The planet’s mass is 14.54 times greater than the mass of Earth, and its volume is 67 times greater than that of Earth. The force of gravity at the surface of Uranus is 1.17 times the force of gravity on Earth.

Uranus - the seventh planet.