ipanda.com: 24hrs Chinese online channel on giant pandas

. It’s probably the only such 24-hour online reality show in the world where the stars are not men and women out to prove their intelligence or guts but cuddly giant pandas going about their daily lives in gardens reserved for them. The new panda online channel – ipanda.com -- was officially launched in Beijing on Tuesday amid officials of the Communist Party of China (CPC), NGOs working on animal protection and foreign diplomats. It’s the world’s only round-the-clock and real time live broadcast of giant pandas. The panda is unique to China and the channel’s goal, as state media described it on Tuesday, was to convey the idea of “peace, friendliness and the greater public good.” The China Network Television (CNTV), a state-owned entity, has installed 28 high-definition video cameras in five garden areas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest China’s Sichuan province to follow the animals, hugely popular worldwide for their cute looks and soft nature. A fully equipped on-site television control room will ensure that the directors will be able to watch and switch between the different cameras. “Program directors will pick 11 cameras that capture the best footage for broadcast online,” CNTV officials told state-run Xinhua news agency. “Apart from live broadcasts, ipanda.com will also offer a new 30-minute...

Read More........→March 16, 2014

Quadrantid meteor shower to be seen overnight on Jan 3, 4: Watch Live

The annual Quadrantid meteor shower will occur overnight on January 3 and 4. The Quadrantids (QUA) are one of the heaviest meteor showers. If you watch the northern part of the sky dome you will see meteor flares twice a minute. According to a popular belief, if you wish upon a shooting star your wish will come true. During a meteor shower a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point of the night sky. The point from where the Quadrantid meteors appear to radiate is located within the extinct constellation Quadrans Muralis. On modern star charts, this radiant is located where the constellations Hercules, Boötes, and Draco meet in the sky. Meteors, which are small parts of a tail of the disintegrated comet, move along their orbit and cross the Earth orbit once a year, Vladimir Surdin, astrophysicist of the Steinberg Astronomy institute under the Moscow State University, says. "Approaching the Sun comets lose their outer shell. Evaporation of gas occurs and the comet loses dust layers. When those small dust particles enter Earth atmosphere at a speed of more than 40 km per second and their air friction causes meteor flares. None of those particles reaches Earth and that is why they do not pose danger to us of aircraft." With every Video streaming by Ustream (Watch live webcast of the Quadrantid meteor shower...

Read More........→January 03, 2013