Why do we have so few real photos of planet Earth?

 For a very long time, there were very few photos of planet Earth showing a fully illuminated hemisphere. The reason is relatively simple: to get a photo of an entire hemisphere of the Earth, you have to be far enough away from Earth, and you have to be positioned between the Sun and the Earth.

If you are too close to Earth, like the astronauts on board the International Space Station, at an altitude of about 400 km, you do not see the entire globe, but only a portion: it is then impossible to take a picture of the planet Earth.

Earth photographed from the ISS, with a Soyuz spacecraft (foreground) and a Progress cargo ship (background). While the photo is magnificent and the Strait of Gibraltar is clearly visible, Earth is nowhere to be seen. Credits: NASA

Conversely, the majority of satellites located far from Earth are rarely situated exactly between the Sun and the Earth, which results in photos of crescent Earths: these photos are sublime too, but they do not show the Earth in its entirety.

Photograph of an Earthrise taken during the Apollo 8 mission. The Earth is not shown in its entirety, but rather a crescent shape. Credits: NASA

The consequence is simple: for a long time, the vast majority of images of the Earth were composites of different photos, in order to present an illuminated hemisphere of the Earth.

In practical terms, this means that several photographs of the Earth from space were retrieved, each being a crescent of the Earth for example, showing an illuminated area of ​​the globe, and these photographs were cut out and pasted together, then the colors were reworked so that the seams would not be visible.

To have continuity in the clouds, I suppose the photographs came from satellites that photographed the Earth at relatively short intervals, but I'm not sure.

Note: This does not mean that all photos were composed this way. One of the most iconic photographs of the Apollo era is a photograph showing the Earth fully illuminated. This photo, titledBlue MarbleThe Blue Marble, or the 80-degree blue marble, is one of the most reproduced images in the world. And it was possible because the astronauts had the Sun behind them at that moment.

Blue Marble: the famous photo taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972, the last mission to the Moon, is not a composite image but a single photograph of our planet Earth. Credits: NASA

Much more recently, NASA launched a climate observation satellite, simply calledClimate Observatory from Deep Space, in EnglishDeep Space Climate Obervatory, abbreviated as DSCOVR. It positioned itself approximately 1 million kilometers from Earth, at the L1 Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system: in practical terms, this means, among other things, that the satellite is permanently located between the Sun and the Earth. And one of its instruments, the EPIC camera, regularly takes pictures of Earth, thus showing photographs of the fully illuminated Earth.

First image of North and Central America returned by the DSCOVR satellite on July 6, 2015. Credits: NASA/EPIC Team

There are several things to know about these photographs.

First, these are not actual photographs as they were taken. In fact, the EPIC camera has several filters, 10 to be exact. Among these filters, several are used for the photographs of Earth seen here: a red filter, a blue filter, and a green filter. Specifically, EPIC takes three photos with very little time between them.

These images are taken in black and white: with a red filter, for example, a white area will be an area where there is a lot of red light, and a black area is an area where there is no red light reflected by the Earth.

These 3 photos are then changed in color to match what they represent: thus, on a photo taken with a red filter, white areas become red, black areas remain black, and shades of grey become shades of red.

Then the three photographs—red, blue, and green—are stacked to create a color image. Incidentally, this type of process is often used for pixel colors in computers, with RGB components.

This can also be seen in some photos, particularly the incredible photographs of the Moon's transit. By zooming in on the Moon's outline, one can often see either a thin green band or a thin red band, because the Moon has moved slightly between the photos: the Moon was positioned in one place during the photo under the green filter and was slightly off-center in the following two, leaving a thin green band in the area that was only covered by one photo.

Photograph of the Moon's transit taken by the EPIC camera aboard the DSCOVR satellite. Zooming in on the Moon, a very thin blue band can be seen on the left, and on the right, two thin red and green bands, remnants of the three superimposed photographs. Credits: NASA/EPIC Team

And that's not all! The images are also processed to correct some distortions, and the colors are then reworked to achieve a rendering similar to what the human eye would perceive.

The EPIC team is also working on color images.augmentedto account for what would be visible without the attenuation of the atmosphere.

What is the most terrifying real image in the Universe?

 This:

Not impressed? Well, you should be. What you see in this image is WR-104, a Wolf-Rayet star located about 8,000 light-years from Earth. Wolf-Rayet stars are massive stars in the pre-supernova phase and when they explode, they produce an intense burst of gamma rays. In the direction of the star's rotation axis, something similar to what you see in this illustration:

And here comes the terrifying part: have you noticed how the star rotates? Its rotation axis is pointing towards us, which means that when it explodes, its gamma-ray burst will hit us squarely.

How different was the real Birbal from folklore?

 The mischievous court jester of South Asian folklore didn't die telling jokes. He was a military commander who led 8,000 soldiers into the bloodiest massacre of Emperor Akbar’s 50-year reign.

Born Mahesh Das in 1528 to a Hindu Brahmin family, he arrived at the Mughal court as a poet and singer writing under the pen name Brahm. His intellect quickly earned Akbar's favor, and the emperor gave him the title Raja Birbal. He became one of the Navaratnas, or Nine Jewels, of the Mughal court.

While folklore paints him as a trickster who constantly poked fun at Islamic orthodoxy, historical records show he was a skilled administrator and Akbar’s closest confidant. Their bond was uniquely strong. When Akbar founded Din-i-Ilahi—a syncretic religion blending elements of Islam, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism—Birbal was the only Hindu courtier to embrace it. This closeness earned him the bitter hatred of orthodox historians like 'Abd al-Qadir Badauni, who frequently insulted Birbal in his chronicles. Badauni's furious accounts of Birbal debating Islamic clerics likely formed the seed of the folk tales where Birbal easily outwits them.

The children's stories never mention his end because it does not fit the narrative of a clever man who outthinks every problem. In 1586, Akbar sent Birbal to lead a military campaign against the rebellious Yusufzai Afghan tribe in the Swat Valley.

Birbal was an administrator, not an experienced field general. In the narrow terrain of the Karakar Pass, his army was ambushed by Afghan forces and utterly destroyed. When news of the slaughter reached Agra, Akbar was so paralyzed by grief over the loss of his friend that he refused food and drink for two days. Birbal's body was never recovered.

A historical Mughal miniature portrait of Raja Birbal, painted during his time in the royal court. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

What photos look Photoshopped but are actually real?

 A photograph is eye of creativity of one behind the lens. A slight alter in perspective can do wonders. Below are some real but great photos that I felt worth sharing.

• Discipline thyself

• A jump from the great Pyramids

• Woah! Gotta balance myself

• Definitely a job well done (Schonbrunn Park)

• Looks like the Republic ships

• Falling book sculpture, Alicia Martin

• Always ready to help ;)

• The only Ice cream I have craving for

• Perfect!!

• Wearing the right shades

• Guess nature never disappoint to surprise us (Landscape Ghansu, China)

Image sources: Google images

How does the real story of Gandhari's marriage differ from what we see in popular adaptations?

Gandhari

The marriage story of Gandhari and Dhritarashtra is just too simple. Bhishma sent a proposal of marriage of Gandhari with Dhritarashtra through a diplomat to King Subala of Gandhara (modern day Kandhara area including Taxila). He was perplexed and anxious as the would be groom was blind but in the end he accepted the proposal because Hastinapur was a very big and prosperous Kingdom and could be a perfect ally for Gandhara.

Shakuni took his sister to Hastinapur and Gandhari knowing her husband is blind decided to not see things her husband couldn't see and she blindfolded herself and vowed to never see any faults in her husband. With her wise and kind behaviour, she won over her in laws.

Source- Mahabharata

What's one of the creepiest real photos you've ever seen?

 Mrs. Andrews baby - 1947.

This photograph of a child appearing above a grave was taken by Mrs. Andrews in 1947. She noticed the ghost when she developed the film, but said it wasn't her daughter in the picture. Although there are several children's graves nearby, the child in the photograph has never been identified.

Girls in Manila - 2000s

The two girls in this photo, taken in Manila, Philippines, reported seeing no one or feeling any presence when the photo was taken. It was also taken with a digital camera, so it cannot have been the result of a double exposure.

A demonic spirit in a hospital bed.

This strange image shows a CCTV camera in a hospital. A demonic spirit appears to be stomping on the bed. Apparently, the person in the bed died shortly afterward. This image could easily appear on our list ofthe most famous monster photographs .

Waverly Hills Sanatorium - 2006.

This picture was taken at an abandoned tuberculosis hospital in Louisville, Kentucky in 2006. As you can imagine, at its peak, the hospital saw an incredible amount of illness and death, leading many to believe in the possibility that it might be haunted.

In recent years, it has become one of the most popular destinations in the United States for ghost hunters.

This disturbing image apparently shows Mary Lee, a nurse who hanged herself in the hospital. The story goes that this poor woman was impregnated by a doctor who worked at the hospital but then wanted nothing more to do with her.

Pawling Fire Department - 1988.

The white figure in this photo is believed to be some kind of angel, looking over Rose Benvenuto, who was involved in the car accident. She said it could only have been a miracle for her to survive the crash, and lo and behold, there is an angel-like figure attending to firefighter Sharon Boo in this photo.

Madonna de Bachelors Grove - 1991.

The Ghost Research Society of America took this photo at Bachelors Cemetery in Illinois, after they noticed strange readings on their equipment.

They didn't see anything at the time, but when this image was revealed, it showed a woman dressed in white sitting on one of the graves.

Bollywood Celebrities Whose Real Names You Might Not Know

 Bollywood mein kai celebrities aise hain jinhone industry mein aane ke baad apna naam change kiya ya short/stage name use kiya. Inke real names jaankar shayad aap bhi surprise ho jaoge.

1. Madhubala-(Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi)

2.Sunny Leone-(Karenjit Kaur Vohra)

3.Salman Khan-(Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan)

4.Amitabh Bachchan-(Inquilaab Srivastava)

5.Dilip Kumar-(Muhammad Yusuf Khan)

6.Rekha-( Bhanurekha Ganesan)

7.Akshay Kumar-(Rajiv Bhatia)

8.Rajinikanth-(Shivaji Rao Gaikwad)

9.Shilpa Shetty-(Ashwini Shetty)

10.Rajesh Khanna —(Jatin Khanna)

11.Johnny Lever-(John Prakash Rao Janumala)

12.Ajay Devgn-( Vishal Veeru Devgan)

13.Bobby Deol-(Vijay Singh Deol)

14.Saif Ali Khan-(Sajid Ali Khan)

15.Govinda-(Govind Arun Ahuja)

Are there really people who have grown real horns?

In some people, like Liang Xiuzhen, such a horn even falls off and grows back, like a deer. The second horn then grew much faster.

These horns are actually made of horn, the same stuff our fingernails are made of: keratin.

Most of the time the horns are harmless, but there is often a fear that they could be tumors.

And in recent years, other elderly people from China have also made headlines with their own impressive growths.

(Wang, a Chinese farmer, the "human unicorn")

Why only Chinese people?

Human horns are not a new phenomenon. In 1930, Robert Ripley brought to the world's attention a Manchurian farmer named Wang, dubbed "The Human Unicorn." Wang's horn was 33 cm long and grew on the back of his head. Wang worked with a group of Chinese fakirs, and a tourist took a picture of him and sent it to Ripley.

Unfortunately, the photo was all Ripley would ever get. For years, Ripley offered a large reward to anyone who could track down Wang and bring him to America.

But the horned farmer proved to be as elusive as a real unicorn and was never to be found again.

(I don't know who this woman is)

Madame Dimanche, a 19th-century Parisian woman, began growing a thick horn on her forehead at the age of seventy. At first, the old woman didn't know what to make of the strange brown lump that appeared like an ash-colored patch in the middle of her head. But she knew she had to hide it, and she developed the habit of avoiding eye contact.

But the stump grew relentlessly, bigger and bigger, until it was as thick and dark as a branch." The horn reached over her face and eventually measured almost 20 cm in length.

Fortunately for Dimanche, an innovative French surgeon successfully removed it using an early form of plastic surgery.

A wax model of her face before the operation was acquired by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter during a visit to Paris and can now be seen in the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

In 2010, a 101-year-old Chinese woman named Zhang became famous because two horns grew from her forehead. The first horn was almost 7 cm long, while the other had only just begun to grow.

I wouldn't have been particularly happy about such an "addition," but she was thrilled and wouldn't let them be removed.

Such horn growth generally begins with a mole, which eventually ruptures.

Many cases of human horns are documented in the 1894 book Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Dr. George Gould and Dr. Walter Pyle.

( Horm in the ear )

They write

"Perhaps the most remarkable case of a horn was that of Paul Rodrigues, a Mexican doorman, who had a horn on the top and side of his head with a circumference of 14 inches, which was divided into three shafts and which he concealed by constantly wearing a peculiarly shaped red cap."

While most horns appear to occur on the head, Gould and Pyle also reported several cases of penis horns.

One of these very unfortunate men grew his horn at the age of 52. He had been circumcised four years earlier – which is painful and frightening enough – only to have a marble-sized horn grow at the surgical site.

Is "Deewangee" based on real events?

 No. The Bollywood hit movie Deewangee (2002) is not based on real events. Though It is an amazing adaptation of Hollywood movie Primal Fear (1996).

In an enterprise that boasts of two powerful performers-Ajay and Akshaye, comparisons are inevitable.

But, to be honest, it's difficult to gauge who's better. Both have belted out powerful smacking performances.

Akshaye Khanna, Bollywood’s very own Charlie Sheen, enacts a suave character with terrific understanding, proving yet again that he's amongst the best in the business till date (as he proved himself in Dhurandar again in 2025).

At the Deewangee movie premiere, in 2002

Urmila Matondkar makes her presence felt in a male-dominated film.

Ajay Devgan essays a complex role with utmost ease, alternating between a simpleton and the shrewd (as part of the split personality!).

The movie reminded me of the recent Ketan, Siya and Chetan triangle and the Ketan Murder