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The Huygens probe was launched from the Cassini space craft, and on January 14th, 2005 the probe landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

Titan is about 746 million miles (1.2 billion kilometres) from Earth and the largest of Saturn’s moons. The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

This picture was taken from the Cassini spacecraft as it sped outward from Saturn on its first orbit. At the left, Saturn’s shadow stretches almost completely across the rings, while at the right, the planet’s face is illuminated by the far-off sun.

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Spiders were some of the first creatures to live on land. Evolving over 400 million years ago, spiders are from the Arachnid family. Scorpions, mites and ticks are also Arachnids. Spiders are commonly thought to be insects, but they are not!

Spiders have two body parts, the thorax and the abdomen. They also have four pairs of legs (eight total), and do not have the ability to fly. Insects on the other hand have three main body-parts, three pair of legs (six total) and most likely have wings for flight.

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Encircled by large rings and more than 18 moons, Saturn is a unique planet that has been a mystery to us Earthlings for hundreds of years. Known as the “Jewel of the Solar System,” the planet was formed over four billion years ago and is the second largest planet in our solar system, and the sixth planet from the sun.

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Saturn is a fascinating planet, and we’ll learn more and more about it with information that comes back to earth from the Cassini space craft, which is now orbiting Saturn. In this article you’ll find some interesting facts about Saturn, the “windy planet.”

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There are very few people who have heard of the Blind Dolphins that are found in the Indus region and the Ganges, in south Asia. Unlike other dolphins, blind dolphins are found in rivers and not the sea!

These river dolphins are the only species in the world to have eyes without lenses! Instead, they have sound imaging skills called echolocation, which is a very sophisticated sonar system that helps them swim through the muddy rivers. They swim on one side underwater, and keep close to the bottom of the riverbed, which helps them navigate and find food. Aren’t they clever with their advanced “technology”?

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Did you know that more than 80 percent of the Earth’s surface has come from volcanoes? And that the sea floor and mountains were formed by countless volcanic eruptions, while the gases released from volcanoes formed the earth’s atmosphere?

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Just when you thought T-rex was the mother-of-all-monsters, scientists found the 65 million year old bones of a new species of dinosaur in the Narmada River region in western India.

The Rajasaurus narmadensis, which means “regal dinosaur from the Narmada”, was a huge, horned carnivore, or meat -eating creature, that hunted other dinosaurs.

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About 60 million years ago a small mammal called Miacis, much like a weasel, lived in the area that’s now called Asia. It was the ancestor of the canids or the family of animals known today as dogs, jackals, wolves, and foxes.

Around 30 to 40 million years ago, Miacis evolved into the “real” dog, the Cynodictis, which was a medium-size animal with a long tail and a bushy coat. Millions of years later, it evolved into wolves, dogs, and foxes.

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Have you ever thought about what it might be like on another planet?

People have wondered about Mars for hundreds of years. Often known as the Red Planet because of its color in the sky, Mars was seen throughout history as a suspicious omen — a symbol of war and agression. Today, scientists are studying Mars for signs of past life on the planet.

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What words do you think of when you hear “ice cream”? Does the word delicious come to mind? Perhaps cold, yummy, refreshing or sweet treat are your adjectives of choice to describe ice cream. What about headache or brain freeze? These don’t sound like pleasant descriptions of ice cream, but they are exactly what some people think of when they hear the words ice cream.

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During the 4th century AD, the royal city of Alexandria where Cleopatra, the last queen of ancient Egypt ruled was covered by water due to a series of earthquakes and tidal waves. For 20 centuries a large part of this city was lost in the east harbor of Alexandria. It wasn’t until 1996 when the ancient city began to be uncovered.

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Successful accomplishments come in all shapes and sizes. Take the gigantic feat of the mysterious Coral Castle in Florida for example. Weighing in at 100 pounds and only standing at 5 feet tall, Ed Leedskalnin began building massive structures out of coral in 1920. Heartbroken that his true love had left him, Ed decided that he was going to build a castle out of coral and dedicate it to her.

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