ZWF: A time zone for the moon?
Zander's Weekend Facts #114: Sunday, April 14, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, the race to get back to the moon is heating up, and a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, April 14, 2024:
The moon could soon get its own time zone
While there are 24 hours in a day, there are actually 38 different time zones across the world. (Which is a story for another day, but this article sums up why that is pretty well.) The continental U.S. has four different time zones which means those in Pacific time are always three hours behind those in the Eastern time zone.
But these time zones only apply while on Earth. What about when you’re on the moon?
As several countries around the world, including the U.S., gear up to head back to the moon, the Biden administration has asked the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop a time zone for the moon.
The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a memo earlier this month that outlines why a new lunar time zone, known as Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) is needed. The biggest issue is that time does not tick the same on the moon as it does on Earth. Time actually passes 56 microseconds faster on the moon than each Earth day, which while definitely a small number, can add up. And since space flight needs exact measurements to be successful, any little number matters.
The U.S. is not the only country gearing up for future adventures into space either. The U.S. government has actually partnered with 35 other countries on the Artemis Accords, which were first signed in 2020. These non-binding agreements propose an American-led return to the moon by 2026, with future efforts being to explore further into space and on Mars. This is all being led by NASA’s Artemis mission, which seeks to put humans on the moon for the first time since 1972. Some of the more notable nations to have joined the U.S. in this agreement are Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. And of course, other countries such as China and Russia have been expanding their space programs as well.
The moon getting its own time zone is just one small step towards getting humans back on the moon, but it represents a potential giant leap in expanding our capabilities of lunar living conditions and establishing a sustainable infrastructure beyond our planet Earth.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from NPR - NASA has been asked to create a time zone for the moon. Here's how it would work - (Apple News link)
And to learn more about the new space race, check out this podcast from NPR - The New Space Race Is On - And Everyone Is Headed To The Moon
What Zander’s been reading
Tuesday marked the 15th anniversary of the premiere episode of one of television’s hit comedies. To celebrate, the Independent talked to the creators and stars of ‘Parks and Recreation’ to find out how the show came about and get some behind-the-scenes stories.
Check out this week’s featured article at Independent - ‘Nick Offerman and I used to make out every year for the blooper reel’: Oral history of Parks and Recreation - (Apple News link)
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
College Basketball National Championships: The men’s and women’s college basketball national champions were crowned last week, with both games making history. In Monday’s men’s final, UConn became the first school since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win back-to-back national championships, defeating Purdue 75-60. The Huskies did not win a game by less than 14 points on the run to their second-consecutive title. In Sunday’s women’s final, South Carolina completed their quest for a perfect season, beating Iowa 87-75. This year marked the first time in history that the women’s National Championship game averaged more viewers than the men’s game. The women’s game averaged 18.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN while the men’s game averaged 14.8 million viewers on TBS, TNT, and TruTV.
The Masters: The final round of golf’s first major of the year, The Masters, takes place later today. After Saturday’s third round, Scottie Scheffler held a one-stroke lead over second-place Collin Morikawa. Scheffler shot a 70 on Saturday to stand at -7, while Morikawa is at -6. Max Homa sits in third at -5, with Ludvig Åberg, who could become the first debutant to win the Masters in 45 years, at -4. Bryson DeChambeau hit an unlikely 77-foot birdie shot on the 18th hole to solely capture fifth place at -3. If Scheffler manages to hold his lead, he’ll have won his second Masters, joining his 2022 victory as his only Major title. Final round coverage begins later today at 2:00 pm ET on CBS, with the final shots expected to be taken around 7:00 pm ET.
NBA Playoffs: The final day of the NBA’s regular season is today with all 30 teams partaking in their final regular season games. All 20 spots for the Playoffs and Play-In Tournament have been clinched in both conferences, however, seeding will be determined by today’s games. In the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota Timberwolves all have a chance at clinching the #1 seed. Every game will tip off at either 1:00 pm ET or 3:30 pm ET. The Play-In Tournament, which will feature the #7-10 seeded teams in each conference, will begin on Tuesday and conclude on Friday. The Playoffs will begin on Saturday with eight teams from each conference, 16 teams in total, seeking to win the NBA championship.
Arizona Coyotes: The National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes are reportedly moving to Salt Lake City, Utah beginning next season. Reports on Friday said that the team’s players were told that the team will be relocating. An official announcement is expected to be made after the regular season ends on Thursday. The Coyotes have failed to find a permanent stadium home in Arizona since leaving Glendale, Arizona’s Desert Diamond Arena. Since the 2022-2023 season, the team has played at Arizona State’s Mullett Arena, which has the smallest capacity in the NHL at 4,600 seats. Efforts to build a new arena in Tempe, Arizona failed last year, leaving the Coyotes’ options to stay in Arizona at a minimum.
Olympics Payments: World Athletics, the governing body for athletics which includes track and field and cross country racing, announced plans to pay Olympic medalists for the first time. The body will award prize money to gold medalists at this summer’s Paris Olympics in 48 track and field events, with athletes getting $50,000 and relay teams splitting a $50,000 pot. The move makes World Athletics the first international governing body to award prize money to athletes at an Olympics. The body also announced that it hopes to extend payments to silver and bronze medalists at the 2028 games in Los Angeles.
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Forever Chemicals Limits: The Environmental Protection Agency announced brand new regulations regarding “forever chemicals” that are found in drinking water. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can be found in air, water, and soil and take thousands of years to break down. The EPA says the new regulations, which will require public water utilities to test for six types of PFAS chemicals to reduce their exposure, will reduce exposure for 100 million Americans and prevent thousands of deaths and illnesses. The EPA notes that there is no safe level of exposure to PFAS without risking any health impacts. To fund the new tests and treatments, the EPA is providing $1 billion from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to states and territories.
U.S.-Japan Relations: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the U.S. last week. Kishida arrived in Washington on Tuesday in an attempt by President Biden to strengthen ties with one of the U.S.’ key allies in the Indo-Pacific region. Biden and Kishida announced plans to upgrade the two countries’ military relationship, with Japan having previously announced it would boost military spending from 1% of its GDP to 2%. Japan has also been an active supporter of Ukraine in their war against Russia and has advocated for increased aid in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Kishida spoke before Congress on Thursday, urging lawmakers to continue funding foreign aid, particularly for Taiwan, where China is seen as a threat to Japan in the region.
FISA Bill: On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a two-year extension to a federal warrantless surveillance law. The reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is set to expire this coming Friday, would continue the program that allows the U.S. government to conduct targeted surveillance of foreigners living outside of the country. The program also collects data on Americans and allows the FBI to search through the data without a warrant. While the vote to approve was bipartisan, significant numbers of both Democrats and Republicans opposed it. The Senate is also expected to approve the bill and President Biden is expected to sign it.
Arizona Abortion: The Arizona Supreme Court allowed an abortion law from 1864 to take effect last week. The court ruled that a 160-year-old law still on the books that makes abortion a felony is enforceable, effectively outlawing the procedure in the state. The ruling overrules a lower court ruling, which claimed that a 2022 law imposing a 15-week ban on abortion superseded the 1864 law. Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said after the ruling that she would not enforce the law. The law, which was codified in 1901 and 1913, comes from before Arizona gained statehood in 1912.
Slovakia Election: Nationalist-left government candidate Peter Pellegrini won Slovakia’s presidential election last week. Most notably, Pellegrini was supported by the country’s prime minister, Robert Fico, who has taken a pro-Russian stance in the Russian-Ukranian war. Slovakia’s outgoing president, Zuzana Caputova, took a more pro-Ukrainian stance and was seen as more aligned with the E.U. and NATO. Slovakia is a member of both bodies after having become an independent country in 1993.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, April 21, 2024.
