As the first quarter ends

 

That tiny, faint dot at the lower left portion of the picture, framed by the trees' branches, is Venus.  Took the photo shortly after sunset, two Sundays ago, after taking Sam out for her evening walk.  The sky was clear, though with a bit of a haze.  The air is starting to turn heavy and warm, after several windy days with cool early morning breezes.  Hasn't rained for weeks now.  So summer could just be around the corner.  In Cebu, after our workshop sessions two weeks ago, a colleague was pointing out that the El Niño phenomenon had already set in and would bring back dreaded spells of drought.

Meanwhile, read this online article yesterday about plans by other Earthlings to send another inter-planetary probe through the thick Venusian atmosphere and onto its alien surface with its lead-melting temperatures, bone-crushing pressure, and sulfuric acid drizzles.  The proposition was for a probe that looked much like the Soviet-era Veneras but which could survive in the planet's hostile (hellish) environment for more than two hundred days instead of just an hour and a few minutes - a record set by one of the Veneras.  Now that would really be something.  Another stride for Venusian planetology that hasn't received as much attention as that of the Earth's moon and Mars in recent decades.  That is, if all goes well, the said proposal gets approved and receives sufficient funding.

Incomprehensible how such push for exploration beyond Gaia is happening in times of open armed conflict among nations (with the United States government, egged on by Israel and its Arab allies, now contemplating a ground invasion of Iran; the conflict has been going on for almost eight weeks now and has brought devastation to people's homes and lives in Iran, Gaza, and Lebanon, while detrimentally impacting on livelihoods in other parts of the globe).  In fact, a craft carrying four people was launched a few days back and is now on its way for a rendezvous with Luna.  Decades ago, in 1969, men set foot on the moon while American bombers were trying to send the Vietnamese back to the stone age.  And so that's pretty much the same way we'll close this year's first quarter.  With such madness from Earthlings who dream of greatness.