#Maya in her spacesuit

[reverend-dog]

Beneath the Sand

A low, wavering moan resonated through Maya’s helmet, almost too low to be heard. She knelt on the rocky soil, the nozzle of her hand vacuum just above a pocket of sand sheltered by the surrounding rock. A hazy day, the sky overhead nearly matched the color of the ground, while the pinhead-sized sun struggled to deliver light.

“Sound drives me crazy,” Lamont’s voice crackled through her speakers. “Reminds me of a really old film, Ghosts of Mars. How do you stand it?”

“Just wind,” Maya supplied without interruption. “You get used to it.”

“What if it kicks up into a sandstorm?” Lamont worried.

Maya snorted. “Did you sleep through orientation? The only danger from sandstorms is solar panels getting dirty. The atmosphere’s too thin to generate any real wind. Just relax and enjoy the moment. Or would you rather be back at base, at another of Meissner’s ‘voluntary’ team-building exercises? I heard it’s mime karaoke night.”

Lamont groaned in disgust. “Point taken,” he conceded.

The vacuum sucked up the sand with enough force to overcome its natural static-adhesive properties. The excavated depression revealed a tubular shape of startling symmetry, and no hint of a bottom yet.

“So what are we looking for out here?” Lamont inquired.

“Not sure,” Maya replied. “But drone radar found exactly four thousand holes all around this butte. All the same diameter, all evenly spaced.”

“’And though the holes were rather small,’” Lamont sang. “So, what? Are you saying they’re man-made?” Lamont’s tone betrayed his skepticism. “Oh, sorry. Martian-made?”

Maya shrugged, forgetting that her suit muffled the motion. “Natural forces have been known to produce symmetrical formations,” she conceded. “But there’s really only one way to find out.”

“Well,” Lamont concluded, “I’ll grant it does beat mime karaoke.” He realized that Maya had pulled the vacuum up, and knelt motionless by the hole. “Maya?”

A raised hand to beckon Lamont forward was Maya’s only reply. He clambered from the rover, covered the distance to her in one bound, and bent to look down into the hole. “Holy shit,” he breathed.

Both of them stared down. Smooth, white, dome-shaped, with two round sockets close together on one side, a triangular gap between and just below them. Sand buried it further down, but no doubt existed in either of their minds as to the thing they saw.

Lamont tried, though. “Impossible!” he cried. “No fucking way!” He straightened and spun away, but in his panic forgot about Martian gravity.

Lamont’s scream overloaded Maya’s helmet speakers. She rose more cautiously and looked up, to see Lamont in the middle of a somersault twist. A reflexive calculation told her he would most likely land face-first, and the ground here sported enough jagged rocks to crack even an impact-resistant faceplate.

“Lamont!” Maya called, and leaped. She caught him around the midsection and wrapped her arms around, and kicked with both legs to pull them down. “Oh shit!” she cried as she glanced down, to see another of the mysterious holes too close beneath them for a course correction. Her boots sank into the sand, she felt something brittle crunch underfoot, but she kept going. “Lamont!” she cried. “Spread out! Try to grab the edges!”

A panicked howl crackled in Maya’s speakers, and the sand rose over her faceplate as she sank further, blinding her. Lamont’s landing jolted through her, and her grip around his waist slipped free. “My faceplate!” Lamont screamed, and the most terrifying sound for a spacesuit to make, decompression, drowned out whatever else he had to say.

Vision suddenly returned, but the sight offered little comfort. Open space yawned beneath Maya, and even in Mars’ weak gravity, she knew a fall could be dangerous, even lethal. Light bloomed below, green, blue, purple, too faint to paint any details at this height.

Ground appeared below, with just enough warning for Maya to brace for impact. She rolled as she hit, careful to protect her faceplate, and wheezed as the breath exploded from her lungs. She came to a stop on her back, gasping, unable to inhale, eyes wide as she stared upward.

She could not see the dome of the grotto, but tiny, brilliant specks covered it to give the illusion of a night sky. The sight further confounded her, and her mind offered its best approximation of a rational explanation, that she had fallen completely through the planet and come out the far side.

Motion from all sides caught her attention, and Maya’s eyes slid to follow it. Dark, bulbous eyes stared at her, pair after pair bulging from round heads. No other features presented themselves, but tentacles sprouted beneath each head, coiled or writhing, and one set wrapped around a multicolored ball.

Maya was trained in how to recover lost breath, but panic overrode everything else at the moment. She gasped a few more times, then slumped as darkness overtook her.

Maya awoke with a cry, and sprang to a sitting position before she realized she could breathe. She looked around, and recognized the infirmary. A transparent plastic tent draped over the next bed, and she saw Lamont under it, a breathing mask over his nose and mouth.

“You’re awake!” A voice full of relief cried from the infirmary entrance. Maya’s eyes snapped that direction, to see Dr. Marian Lazarus. The base doctor hustled forward and wrapped both hands around the rail of Maya’s bed. “What happened out there? No,” Marian interrupted herself, “save it. Rest now. I’ll let Director Meissner know. Don’t worry,” she counseled, “I’ll keep him and everybody else out until you’re ready for visitors.” She turned and jogged toward the door.

“Marian!” Maya called. “How did we get here?” she asked when the doctor turned.

“Lamont’s suit alarm went off when his faceplate cracked,” Marian explained. “Rescue found you both just past the base perimeter. I guess you carried him that far before you collapsed. Did the rover fail?”

Maya opened her mouth, paused, then shut it and nodded. “I couldn’t get it start,” she offered. “Maybe I was too panicked by Lamont.”

“Well,” Marian accepted, “you’ll be glad to know he’ll be okay.” She nodded at Lamont. “He’s just sedated while we flush his system with pure air. Now, you rest too!” She waggled a finger at Maya before vanishing through the door.

Maya lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “I know where you are,” she murmured. “And it’s not going to stop here. Just too many questions.”

[coraldreamersandwich]

“Breathless in the Abyss”

In the vast, silent expanse of space, the Orion Station orbited a distant star, a beacon of human ingenuity. Its metallic hull gleamed like a silver jewel against the cosmic backdrop. Inside, a crew of six astronauts lived and worked, their lives a delicate ballet of routine and research.

But one night, as the crew lay in slumber, dreaming of blue skies and gravity’s gentle pull, disaster struck. A rogue asteroid, no bigger than a suitcase, collided with Orion. The impact was silent but violent, tearing a hole in the station’s side.

The station’s AI, Athena, immediately sounded the alarm. Red lights flashed, and sirens wailed, jolting the crew from their sleep. Captain Eva Ramirez was the first to her feet, her heart racing as she assessed the situation. The oxygen levels were dropping, the life support systems were failing, and the station was losing power.

“Everyone, suit up!” Eva commanded, her voice steady despite the fear that clawed at her insides. The crew scrambled into their spacesuits, their movements hurried but precise. They gathered in the main module, where Athena displayed the damage on the screen.

“We have less than two hours of oxygen left,” said Dr. Leo Zhang, the station’s engineer. His fingers flew over the control panel, trying to reroute power to the life support systems.

Eva’s mind raced. They needed to repair the station, but they also needed to find out what had hit them. “Athena, any visual on the asteroid?” she asked.

“No visual confirmation, Captain. The impact occurred on the blind side of the station,” Athena replied, her voice a calm contrast to the chaos.

Eva made a decision. “Leo, you’re with me. We’re going outside to patch the hole. Maya, you and Raj work on the life support. Hiro and Zara, try to get a visual on that asteroid. We need to know if there’s more coming.”

The crew split up, each member moving with purpose. Eva and Leo suited up for the spacewalk, their hands steady as they attached the safety tethers. The cold of space greeted them as they exited the airlock, the stars unblinking witnesses to their plight.

They worked in silence, the only sound the hiss of their breaths in the radio. Eva applied the sealant to the station’s skin, her movements precise. Leo held the patch in place, his eyes on the oxygen readout. Time was slipping away like sand through their fingers.

Meanwhile, inside, Maya and Raj fought with wires and code, their brows furrowed in concentration. Hiro and Zara scanned the void, searching for the rogue rock that had brought them to the brink.

Minutes turned to hours, and slowly, the station came back to life. The hole was sealed, the oxygen stabilized, and power returned to the vital systems. The crew let out a collective sigh of relief, their breaths fogging up the visors of their helmets.

Eva looked out into space, her eyes searching for the asteroid. There it was, a small, dark shape drifting away from them. It was just a random chunk of rock, but it had almost been the end of them.

Back inside, the crew gathered, their faces tired but triumphant. They had faced the abyss and survived. They were more than colleagues; they were a family, bound by the thin air they shared and the endless night that surrounded them.

As they settled back into their routines, the Orion Station continued its orbit, a little battered but unbroken. The crew knew that space was unforgiving, but they also knew that together, they could breathe life into the void.

And so, they lived on, their voices a symphony of clicks and beeps, their hearts beating in time with the pulse of the universe. They were breathless no more.

[flowers--girl]

[rockislandadultreads]

Fantasy, Drama, & World Building: book recs

Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world, in the start of Django Wexler’s new epic fantasy trilogy Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order. Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move. As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human. While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . ."

Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

For the crime of stealing bread, fourteen-year-old May receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater—a shunned woman, brutally marked, whose fate is to hear the final confessions of the dying, eat ritual foods symbolizing their sins as a funeral rite, and thereby shoulder their transgressions to grant their souls access to heaven. Orphaned and friendless, apprenticed to an older Sin Eater who cannot speak to her, May must make her way in a dangerous and cruel world she barely understands. When a deer heart appears on the coffin of a royal governess who did not confess to the dreadful sin it represents, the older Sin Eater refuses to eat it. She is taken to prison, tortured, and killed. To avenge her death, May must find out who placed the deer heart on the coffin and why. The Sin Eater walks among us, unseen, unheard Sins of our flesh become sins of Hers Following Her to the grave, unseen, unheard The Sin Eater Walks Among Us.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle. But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims. Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them. To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

The Last Human by Zack Jordan

The last human in the universe is on the run from a godlike intelligence in this rip-roaring debut space opera. Sarya is the civilized galaxy's worst nightmare: a Human. Most days, Sarya doesn't feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again. And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered. Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity?

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

After her mother's mysterious death, a young woman is summoned to the floating city of Sky in order to claim a royal inheritance she never knew existed in the first book in this award-winning fantasy trilogy from the NYT bestselling author of The Fifth Season. Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with cousins she never knew she had. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother's death and her family's bloody history. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate -- and gods and mortals -- are bound inseparably together.

[ryanmeft]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Movie Review

There are times when all you really need is more of what worked, which is exactly what The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part delivers. Emmett, Lucy, Batman and a host of characters both original and taken from other franchises now live in a post-apocalyptic Lego wasteland called, ahem, Apocalypseberg. This came about after a seemingly insurmountable attack of Duplos, which appeared to prey on anything bright and shiny. Anyone who has the slightest experience with young kids will recognize that these are basically Baby’s First Legos, and therefore pick up on the real-world source of the movie’s events faster than the children in the audience.

Those events involve the greatest threat to all young boys: a little sister. A mysterious stranger in a spacesuit (Stephanie Beatriz) shows up to “invite” community leaders such as Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), spaceship-obsessed Benny (Charlie Day), Metalbeard the Cyborg Pirate (Nick Offerman) and Princess Unikitty (Alison Brie) to a mysterious “matrimonial ceremony. The event is being given by Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (say it quickly), who is a shape-shifting mass of multi-colored Legos, voiced by Tiffany Hadish stealing every scene she’s in. Particularly spectacular is her musical number “Not Evil”, a send-up of the simple fact that the villain in family movies is always incredibly obvious (not that most adult movie villains are less so). Emmett (Chris Pratt) is left behind, forsaken for possessing no leadership qualities, and sets off alone to rescue the others. Along the way he is saved and befriended by the rebellious free spirit Rex Dangervest. If you’ve been to a few movies and you pay attention to Rex’s mannerisms and the references he makes, you may get a clue as to the movie’s ending.

The surprise ending of the original movie was that all of the action was taking place on a ridiculously ornate and detailed real-world Lego set run by an obsessive father, but since that cat is obviously out of the bag, director Mike Mitchell and returning screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller couldn’t rely on that again. Instead, they make it clear, to the adults at least, what is going on: the conflict this time mirrors a real world conflict between an older brother (Jadon Sand) and his younger sister (Brooklynn Prince) over the most ancient disagreement in all the world: getting to play with your older siblings’ toys. I won’t detail the exact relation the real world has to the Lego one, but Mitchell, Miller and Lord have fun with the concept. I can say, however, that more could have been done with the fact the Lego characters are aware of the real world in this one. The original, which most expected to be a crass cash-in, surprised pretty much across the board by being inventive, clever, surprising and a blast to ride along with. This sequel rests well on the series’ laurels, but unlike the spin-off Lego Batman it does not add to them. The joke-a-minute format pitches a few more dirtballs than it did before. Perfectly timed quips about Radiohead and Rex Dangervest’s satirizing of action hero tropes hit well, while “Not Evil” is nearly as infectious as “Everything Is Awesome”; I desperately want it to get an Oscar nomination, just so I can see it performed live in front of a bunch of rich people in expensive suits. Meanwhile, a tune spoofing pop music is a bit of a misfire, and the first half of the movie simply drags a bit more than the last one. It is the second half that really livens things up, containing a chase through a Lego asteroid belt, an over-the-top “wedding”, and a great real-world finale. Beck, Robyn and Lonely Island have contributed a song called “Super Cool” to the credits that is worth sticking around for.

The minor characters---from Superman to Abraham Lincoln---are voiced by a toy bin full of talent, including Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Jason Momoa, Cobie Smulders, Ike Barinholtz, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Will Forte and Bruce Willis, while the always welcome Maya Rudolph gets a surprise cameo. That, of course, is the fun of a Lego movie---seeing what surprises, references and little hidden nods the filmmakers will slip in. This one has enough of that to keep us going, but it also may make the old fogeys in the audience wish for The Lego Movie 3: The Third Part to up the ante a bit.

Verdict: Recommended

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

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 All images are property of the people what own the movie.

[bigyack-com]

The Decade's Most Memorable Events In 10 Minutes

2010-2019: A Decade In Review - Highlights of events from around the world between 2010 and 2019New Delhi: While most of us have been busy on our phones, a decade has gone by. How significant has it been? Well, the manner in which the way of life has changed this decade has been the most significant in over a century. The way we live, work, eat, travel, and entertain has changed almost entirely - and our smartphones are what is leading the way. From getting a cab to ordering groceries, banking to making reservations, everything became just-a-click-away in the last ten years. But while we might have been busy in the virtual world, tapping away on our screens, a lot has happened in the real world too, and even out in space.Here is a comprehensive list of the decade's most memorable events for you to journey through, in nostalgia, thinking about the better moments fondly, learning from the mistakes made, celebrating the achievements, and remembering all those who won't journey on with us to the next decade.2010: The Year In Review Apple founder Steve Jobs unveils the world's first iPad; Instagram is launched; WhatsApp comes to India; Uber and Ola make debut; Netflix starts expanding its streaming service to the international market; WikiLeaks is founded by Julian Assange; Burj Khalifa becomes the tallest building in the world; Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions cause enormous disruption to air travel; Scientists in a South African cave discover 2-million-year-old fossils of a new species called Australopithecus Sediba, which are potentially the ancestors to Humans. India's BrahMos missile, jointly developed with Russia, sets the world record for becoming the world's first and fastest supersonic cruise missile; Arab Spring protests spread across the middle-east and north Africa; Pakistan is devastated by massive floods resulting in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the country's history as 20 million are affected, 14 million left homeless; Ireland and Greece face a grave economic crisis; BP oil spill, also known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico becomes the largest maritime oil spill in history; 16-year-old Justin Bieber becomes the youngest solo male to hit #1 on the album chart since 13-year-old Stevie Wonder in 1963; Australia elects its first female prime minister; Indian-American Ajay Banga takes over as CEO of Mastercard; Dozens of asylum seekers drown as the boat they were in crashed into rocks near Christmas IslandThose who left us in 2010: Jyoti Basu 5-time chief minister, and arguably West Bengal's tallest leader after India's independence.2011: The Year In Review Operation Geronimo: Osama Bin Laden is killed; India wins the cricket world cup; Scientists discover Kepler-22b - An extrasolar planet orbiting within the Goldilocks zone or habitable zone of the Sun-like star Kepler-22. The planet is nearly 2.5 times the size of Earth and has a 290-day year; Formula One comes to India - Indian Grand Prix held at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida; Anna Hazare's Lokpal movement leads anti-corruption drive, protests; Royal Wedding: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge marry; Dominique Strauss-Kahn is arrested for assault in the US; Japan is hit be a massive earthquake and tsunami, which leads to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in the country; News of the World shuts down; Occupy Wall Street protests surge; SpaceX announces plan for the world's first fully reusable rocket; Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer becomes the second most respected, admired and trusted individual in the world after Nelson Mandela.Those who left us in 2011: Apple founder Steve Jobs; Elizabeth Taylor, one of Hollywood's most iconic actresses dies at 79; Grammy Award winner Amy Winehouse2012: The Year In Review Nirbhaya gang rape in Delhi; The rise of Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party; Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was one of the terrorists in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks hanged; Scientists discover the existence of the Higgs boson or God particle; NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft becomes the first human-made object to leave the solar system and venture into interstellar space; Facebook goes public, launches IPO; Barack Obama re-elected as US President; Vladimir Putin is re-elected as Russia's President; Elon Musk first mentions the concept for a "fifth mode of transport", calling it Hyperloop; Hurricane Sandy causes widespread disaster in the US; Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting leaves 27 dead in US; Red Bull Stratos: Millions watched LIVE as Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner jumps from the edge of space (128,100 feet) wearing a spacesuit - Records set: Balloon altitude record and sound barrier broken.Those who left us in 2012: Nirbhaya dies two weeks after the attack; American singer Whitney Houston dies at 48; Neil Armstrong, US Astronaut and first person to walk on the Moon, dies at 822013: The Year In Review Sachin Tendulkar retires from all forms of cricket; Commander Abhilash Tomy of the Indian Navy becomes the first Indian to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world under sail; Massive floods across north India leaves nearly 6,000 dead, becoming India's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami; Kedarnath flood: Large-scale destruction in surrounding areas, but Kedarnath temple unaffected; Video shows massive Chelyabinsk meteor entering Earth's atmosphere over Russia; Scientists study the air trapped in the Antarctic ice and find that 2013 is the first time in 800,000 years that we have over 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere; Boston Marathon Bombing: 2 homemade pressure cooker bombs detonated 14 seconds and 210 yards apart leave more than 264 injured; Black Lives Matter movement gains momentum; Coup overthrows Egyptian government; Malala Yousafzai survives assassination attempt; Xi Jinping is elected as the President of China; Edward Snowden exposes US's NSA surveillance program; Bitcoin demand surges; Jeff Bezos buys Washington Post; Twitter goes public, launches IPO; Alibaba goes public, launches IPO.Those who left us in 2013: Former South African President and global icon Nelson Mandela dies; The Fast and the Furious star Paul Walker tragically dies in a high-speed car accident; 'Lawrence of Arabia' star Peter O'Toole dies at 812014: The Year In Review "Modi Wave" across the country; Narendra Modi is elected Prime Minister of India, forms a majority government after the World's largest ever elections held till now; MH370 disappears: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 mysteriously disappearance mid-flight; India becomes the first nation to successfully reach Mars in the first attempt; ISIS takes Mosul, expansion of ISIS gains momentum; The Ice Bucket Challenge goes viral on social media, to promote awareness about ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis); Sydney hostage crisis: A gunman with an ISIS flag takes dozens of people hostage at a Lindt Cafe in Sydney; ISIS offshoot Boko Haram spreads across north Africa, especially Nigeria; Boko Haram kidnaps 276 girls from a college in Nigeria's Chibok; Over a hundred missing even today, many feared dead; India safely brings back 46 nurses from ISIS captivity in Iraq; Mount Everest Avalanche: Ice avalanche kills 16 climbing sherpas, injures 9 others; Satya Nadella takes over as Microsoft CEO; Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar found dead in her hotel room in Delhi; Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation; Rosetta's Philae lander becomes the first space probe to soft land on a comet (Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko); Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine; North Korea hacks Sony Pictures.Those who left us in 2014: Robin Williams commits suicide; American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou dies; Lauren Bacall, one of Hollywood's iconic actresses dies at 89; American comedian and actress Joan Rivers dies2015: The Year In Review Nepal is devastated by a massive 7.8 earthquake - nearly 9,000 dead, 22,000 injured, 3.5 million people homeless; Himalayan earthquake leads to avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 22 people, making it the deadliest avalanche to hit the world's highest peak; Operation Raahat: Indian Armed Forces and the Ministry of External Affairs evacuate more than 5,600 people, including 960 foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies; Wing Commander Pooja Thakur of the Indian Air Force becomes the first female officer to lead the Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the visit of then US President Barack Obama; Sheena Bora murder case: Indrani and Peter Mukerjea arrested; Volkswagen emission scandal - findings cover 482,000 cars in the US alone; US legalises same-sex marriage; Greece plunges into severe debt, pressuring EU; Dramatic visuals of the TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crash in Taiwan shocks the world; 'Je suis Charlie': Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in France condemned globally; India initiates the International Solar Alliance in major step towards green energy, 121 other countries join; Sundar Pichai takes over as Google CEO.Those who left us in 2015: Renowned scientist, teacher and former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam dies at 83; Grammy-winning blues legend BB King dies at 89; Leonard Nimoy, Spock from Star Trek, dies at 832016: The Year In Review Demonetisation in India; India carries out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir; Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav abducted from Iran, held captive by Pakistan; Mother Teresa canonised posthumously as 'Saint Teresa of Calcutta' by Pope Francis at a ceremony in St Peter's Square in Vatican City; Brexit Vote: Britain votes to leave the EU - The British Exit is termed Brexit; 'Obama Out': President Obama drops mic on stage as a symbol of the end of his presidency; Donald Trump is elected as US President; Amazon Prime Video launches worldwide; The historic Paris Climate Agreement in signed to take effective measures against Climate Change; Scientists invent the Crispr-Cas9, a unique technology that enables medical researchers to edit and delete DNA, thereby allowing effective genetic engineering; Florida nightclub shooting: Omar Mateen kills 49 people and wounds 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando; Dhaka Cafe Attack: 5 terrorists take dozens hostage at the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka, kill 22 civilians, 2 cops; Scientists and researchers successfully detect the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory or LIGO - The existence of gravitational waves was first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916; Pokemon Go, an augmented reality mobile game, got millions of people out on the street; Leonardo DiCaprio wins Oscar for The Revenant; Brangelina divorce: Angeline Jolie files for divorce from Brad Pitt.Those who left us in 2016: Tamil icon and former chief minister Jayalalithaa dies at 68; American singer-songwriter Prince dies at 57; English singer-songwriter George Michael found dead in his bed in his home in England; Singer-songwriter David Bowie dies at 69; Alan Rickman, who played Hogwarts professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter dies at 69; Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali dies at 74; Cuban communist revolutionary Fidel Castro dies at 902017: The Year In Review One nation, one tax - India adopts GST, biggest reform since opening of the economy; Kulbhushan Jadhav sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court - India, denied consular access on multiple occasions, takes Pakistan to UN court ICJ; India's ISRO set the world record  for the largest number of satellites ever launched successfully on a single rocket - 104 satellites; The India-China border standoff at Doklam lasts 73 days; SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket becomes the world's first reusable rocket to successfully complete a mission; Phase 1 of the Iran-India Chabahar Port opens; Indian priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil rescued from ISIS captivity in Yemen, returns safely to India; London's Grenfell Tower fire: 72 people die, 70 others critical in one of Britain's worst fires; Texas church shooting - 26 people killed in mass shooting by Devin Patrick Kelley in Sutherland Springs in US; Las Vegas Strip shooting: Stephen Paddock opens fire on a crowd of concert-goers, killing 58 people and wounding 413; Charlottesville white supremacy march gathers momentum; Australia legalises same-sex marriage; #MeToo movement spreads across the world; Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases - Dozens of women reveal they were raped, assaulted and sexually abused by Weinstein over a 30 year period; Oscars faux pas: La La Land was given the Best Picture award, only to be take away and given to Moonlight, causing a massive embarrassment at the Oscars;Those who left us in 2017: Legendary comedian Don Rickles dies at 90; Playboy founder Hugh Hefner dies at 91; Rock 'n' roll music pioneer Chuck Berry dies at 90; Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington commits suicide; American musician Tom Petty dies at 492018: The Year In Review Tesla Motors' sports car orbits Earth with astronaut at the wheel; India decriminalises section 377 - consensual homosexual sex between adults; India and Oman sign agreement under which India gets access to the facilities at Duqm for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy; India completes nuclear triad (Air, land and sea, undersea ballistic missile capability): Completion of the nuclear triad with the first successful deterrence patrol by INS Arihant; Kerala devastated by floods: Nearly 500 dead, 140 missing, over 2 lakh people homeless; India brings back the mortal remains of 39 Indians killed by ISIS in Iraq's Mosul; Air India makes history, becomes first and only airline in the world to fly to Israel over Saudi airspace; India's 'Statue of Unity' becomes the tallest statue in the world; Roger Federer becomes the first male tennis player to win 20 grand slams; The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal; Royal Wedding: Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex marry; Indra Nooyi steps down as CEO of PepsiCo Inc after 12 years in office; California wildfires in the US; Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh faces sexual assault allegations; US-China trade war begins; Saudi author and columnist Jamal Khashoggi who fled in 2017, killed in Turkey; Tham Luang cave rescue: The miraculous cave rescue in Thailand - 12 boys of a football team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach enter a cave which gets flooded. The rescue ops take 18 days; US House of Representatives passes bill and allocates funds to build the US-Mexico border wall.Those who left us in 2018: Former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee dies at 93; Tamil icon and former chief minister Karunanidhi dies at 94; Bollywood actress Sridevi dies at 54; Legendary American comic book writer Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, and many more, dies at 95; Celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain commits suicide at 61; Swedish DJ and electronic artist Avicii (real name: Tim Bergling) commits suicide at 28; Former US President George HW Bush dies at 94; Former US Senator John McCain dies at 82.2019: The Year In Review World celebrates the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi's birth; Narendra Modi is re-elected Prime Minister of India, forms a 2nd majority government after the World's largest ever elections till now; Supreme Court of India delivers its verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute case, settling one of the longest disputes globally; India sends its second lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-2; India-American Abhijit Banerjee wins the Nobel Prize in the field of Economic Sciences; Balakot airstrikes: India carries out pre-emptive airstrikes on a JeM terror training facility in Pakistan's Balakot; Parliament of India declares the practice of Triple Talaq illegal and unconstitutional; Kulbhushan Jadhav case: International Court of Justice rules in favour of India - 16-judge UN court bench ruled 15-1 in favour of India, stops Kulbhushan Jadhav's execution, tells Islamabad to give consular access; India revokes the "temporary" Article 370 from its Constitution; Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh become union territories; India successfully tests anti-satellite or ASAT weapon under the mission code-named Mission Shakti, becomes a space power; Sundar Pichai takes over as CEO of Alphabet - Google's parent company; Notre-Dame de Paris fire: Massive fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in France; Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth become India's first woman air force pilot to qualify to undertake combat missions on a fighter jet; Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi of the Indian Navy becomes its first woman pilot; Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar designated a global terrorist by the UN Security Council; Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to set foot in North Korea; Operation Kayla Mueller: ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed by the US military; India's fastest train - Train 18, also known as Vande Bharat Express, flagged off by PM Modi; India announces plan to launch its own space station; missions to Mars, Venus, and Sun; Sri Lanka Easter bombings: 259 people killed, over 500 injured after 3 churches and 3 luxury hotels are targeted in a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings; New Zealand's Christchurch mosque shootings: Gunman kills 51 people, injures 49, live-streams the attack on Facebook; American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein commits suicide; Walmart shooting: El Paso, Texas - A gunman shot and killed 22 people and injured 24 others; Families of illegal migrants separated at the US-Mexico border - Children separated from parents; Hong Kong Protests: Anti-China protests rock Hong Kong; First black hole image captured on camera, viewed by 2 billion people worldwide; Climate activist Greta Thunberg makes powerful speech at the UN Climate Change summit; Students across the world protest demanding climate action; Anti-CAA, Anti-NRC Protests: Protests across India over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens; Donald Trump Impeached, becomes the 3rd US President to be impeached in the House of Representatives after .Those who left us in 2019: Former Defence Minister and Chief Minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar dies at 63; Former chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit dies at 81; Former Foreign Minister and senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj dies at 67; Former Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley dies at 66; Renowned lawyer Ram Jethmalani dies at 95.   Read the full article