Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Life sentence for Galileo
Natural EnvironmentsIn the trial against the mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (68), the verdict has been reached. The judges of the Catholic Church agree: Galileo’s “Copernican world view” contradicts the Bible. Galileo’s claim that the earth revolves around the sun was declared false and not proven. In the Roman Dominican monastery of Santa Maria, the professor
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Buried alive!
Natural EnvironmentsAt midday on 24 August 79 AD, the summit of the volcano Vesuvius explodes. The terrible volcanic eruption claims thousands of lives. Hail of rock, lava flows and ash rain bury the inhabitants of Pompeii beneath them. The two cities on the Gulf of Naples are completely destroyed. Until 24 August, Pompeii is a flourishing
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Compass in the body
Natural EnvironmentsRobins can perceive a magnetic field and use it for their orientation. Wolfgang Wiltschko, an ornithologist from Frankfurt, has proven this in experiments. Exactly how the migratory birds’ magnetic sense works is still unexplored. In autumn, many robins regularly migrate to warmer latitudes – to the southwest towards Spain and northern Africa. To find their
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Climate disaster at the North Pole
Natural EnvironmentsThe polar bear’s floe is melting away under its paws. Global warming is causing the sea ice around the North Pole to disappear, and faster and faster. The greenhouse effect, caused by the emission of carbon dioxide and other climate-damaging gases, is to blame. In 1980, the Arctic Ocean was still frozen over on 7.8
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
California’s Gold Rush
Natural EnvironmentsIt happened on 24 January last year in a sawmill on the American River: During construction work on a sawmill, James Wilson Marshall discovered a gold nugget. Although attempts were made to keep the find a secret, the story quickly got around: there is gold on the American River! Soon the first gold prospectors from
Posted on December 2, 2022 (Updated on July 9, 2025)
Millennium flood causes Dresden to sink
Natural EnvironmentsHeavy flooding and huge mudslides wreak havoc throughout Saxony. After the torrential rains of the past weeks, a huge flood wave rolls down the Elbe. Tens of thousands of helpers, including Bundeswehr soldiers, try to stop the masses of water with sandbags. The water of the Elbe has risen from 2 metres to a destructive