Photo Of The Day: Drama Over Cowboy Land

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day was taken in Monument Valley, Utah, and comes from Gadling Flickr pool member oilfighter. It is titled “Drama Over Cowboy Land.”

“I’ve been to Monument Valley a few times, but the sky was usually cloudless,” says oilfighter. “Boy, what a sunset. The clouds broke, and the wind sent them flying. The last light of the day gave the sky a pastel pink hue.”

Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as Photos of the Day.

Tips for getting featured: in your Flickr account check “Privacy and Permissions,” and check “yes” on “Allow others to share your stuff.” Adding information about your image does not hurt your chances either.

Along with “Drama Over Cowboy Land,” oilfighter tells us, “I used a 2 stop graduated ND filter to balance the exposure, and thus bring out the colors in the clouds. What a beauty!”

New York Celebrates Gay Pride With Two Months Of LGBT Events

by Jessica Festa on

It’s been almost a year since the passage of same-sex marriage in New York, and to help celebrate, the city is working with NYC & Company to bring two months of pride-related events. During June and July, 2012, the five boroughs will be presenting programming revolving around the flagship Heritage of Pride festival from June 16-24 in Manhattan, with motivational speakers, dancers, civil rights demonstrations, parades, street fairs and more. Some events include:

Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival– On June 3 in Jackson Heights, there will be a parade starting at noon, making its way down 37th from 84th. There will be special guests, including the cast of Wicked and a festival at 11:00 a.m. at 75th Avenue and 37th Road.

The Rally– On June 13 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., well known performers and speakers from the LGBT community will come together at the East River Bandshell to entertain and enlighten.

The March– On June 24 at noon, a civil rights demonstration celebrating gay rights and recognizing causes will begin at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Bronx Pride Festival– Taking place July 21 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Crotona Park, will offer entertainment, a health fair and memorabilia.

To see a full listing of events for NYC Pride 2012, click here.

[Flickr photo via Guillaume Paumier]

Historic Space Travel Event Signals Start Of New Space Race

by Chris Owen on

Space travel gets farther from the dream stage and closer to reality every day. Today, SpaceX will attempt to become the first private company to dock a capsule with the International Space Station. It’s a critical step in NASA’s plan for private contractors to transport cargo and crew into space and another step towards a new generation of space travel.

Called the Commercial Crew Development Program, NASA’s goal is “to accelerate the availability of U.S. commercial crew transportation capabilities and reduce the gap in American human spaceflight capability. Through this activity, NASA also may be able to spur economic growth as potential new space markets are created,” the space agency said in a press release.

Just one such space market hopes to mine Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals employing cost-effective exploration technologies.

“Water is perhaps the most valuable resource in space. Accessing a water-rich asteroid will greatly enable the large-scale exploration of the solar system. In addition to supporting life, water will also be separated into oxygen and hydrogen for breathable air and rocket propellant,” said Eric Anderson, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Planetary Resources, Inc., in a multi-media news release earlier this month.

Touting benefits in the tens of billions of dollars, Planetary Resources says a single 500-meter platinum-rich asteroid contains the equivalent of all the platinum mined in history.

Late last month, SpaceX webcast a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine powerful Merlin engines in preparation for the company’s upcoming launch. Engines ran for two seconds before a planned abort.

The launch will be webcast live early Saturday morning, with commentary from SpaceX corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, California, at www.spacex.com.

Saturday’s flight by SpaceX is “a thoroughly exciting moment in the history of spaceflight, but is just the beginning of a new way of doing business for NASA,” said President Barack Obama’s chief science adviser, John Holdren in the Washington Times.

The webcast will begin approximately 40 minutes before launch when SpaceX hosts will provide information specific to the flight, an overview of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, and commentary on the launch and flight sequences.


Photo Of The Day – Arizona Desert

by Alex Robertson Textor on

The Arizona desert seduces. When I was a kid, my grandparents collected a magazine called Arizona Highways, which featured honest-to-God, awe-inspiring vistas of the Grand Canyon State. (As you can see from the link, the periodical still exists.) I wouldn’t get to Arizona until I was 25, barreling down 93 from Las Vegas and crossing into New Mexico quickly. Those highways didn’t look like the highways of Arizona Highways. It would take a few additional visits before I got to see the intense beauty that filled the pages of my grandparents’ back copies.

Flickr user Styggiti captured this curious geological object on a hiking trail in Camp Creek Falls, Arizona.

Upload your favorite images to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. We choose our favorites from the bunch as Photos of the Day.

Expedia Launches Flip Flop Report On Beach Behavior Around The World

by Jessica Festa on

Have you ever wondered what country enjoys the beach most? Or what culture is most likely to sunbathe in the nude? To help unravel the mystery of beach behavior around the world, Expedia has shared the results of a global study that looked at 21 countries on five continents. Some areas the study examined include what things people look at when choosing a beach, preferred beach activities and what makes people most nervous about going to the beach. Some of the findings from the study include:

  • The average beach vacation lasts 7.7 days, although this is less true of Koreans, Japanese and Singaporeans, who seem to prefer beach weekends.
  • For Americans, one of the least important criteria when selecting a beach destination is a desire to find a new location. This is the opposite for Indians, who view finding a new location to be one of the highest priorities.
  • Germans are the most likely to sunbathe nude, and are also the most likely to spend time at the beach with a stranger.
  • Fifty percent of travelers keep the presence of sharks in mind when deciding on a beach location. Likewise, 68 percent of beach vacationers admit to not swimming at a beach due to the possibility of sharks.

Click here for the full report. If you’re having trouble viewing the infographic, click here for the interactive version.