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The first waves of President Obama's announced "surge" of up to 30,000 more U.S. troops made their way to Afghanistan this month. The troops will be joined by a smaller but important "civilian surge", bumping the number of U.S. civilians serving one-year tours in Afghanistan up from the current leve ...

Five years ago, on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake hit the seafloor of the Indian Ocean, causing tremendous waves of seawater to rush ashore as devastating tsunamis that left 230,000 people dead across 13 different countries - the fifth deadliest natural disaster in recor ...

Friday, the 25th, was Christmas Day, the Christian commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated in many places around the world with prayers, singing, gift-giving and charity. Modern Christmas traditions originate from many backgrounds, combining several historic holidays and celebrations ...

Last Monday was December 21st - the Winter Solstice, or the shortest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere). The 21st would also have also been the first day of Nivôse, the first winter month of the long-abandoned French Republican Calendar, named after the Latin word nivosus, which, appropria ...

Hi everyone, sorry about there being no entry for today - to be honest, I woke up this morning feeling rather sick, and have spent most of the day in bed already. Hopefully I will have something for you all on Wednesday. In the meantime, don't forget about the still-updating Hubble Advent Calendar . ...