Our new 'Word Of The Day' article update : mistletoe , n :
(countable, uncountable) Any of several hemiparasitic evergreen plants of the order Santalales with white berries that grow in the crowns of apple trees, oaks, and other trees, such as the European mistletoe (Viscum album) and American mistletoe or eastern mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum). (uncountable) A sprig of one such plant used as a Christmas decoration, associated with the custom that a man may kiss any woman standing beneath it. Have yourself a merry little Christmas Eve!

Astronomy news update from NASA :
About 12 seconds into this video, something unusual happens. The Earth begins to rise. Never seen by humans before, the rise of the Earth over the limb of the Moon occurred 50 years ago tomorrow and surprised and amazed the crew of Apollo 8. The crew immediately scrambled to take still images of the stunning vista caused by Apollo 8's orbit around the Moon. The featured video is a modern reconstruction of the event as it would have looked were it recorded with a modern movie camera. The colorful orb of our Earth stood out as a familiar icon rising above a distant and unfamiliar moonscape, the whole scene the conceptual reverse of a more familiar moonrise as seen from Earth. To many, the scene also spoke about the unity of humanity: that big blue marble -- that's us -- we all live there. The two-minute video is not time-lapse -- this is the real speed of the Earth rising through the windows of Apollo 8. Seven months and three missions later, Apollo 11 astronauts would not only circle Earth's moon, but land on it.

from NASA https://go.nasa.gov/2rSGQRc
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Our new 'Word Of The Day' article update : parse , v :
(transitive, linguistics) To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically. [from mid 16th c.] (transitive, by extension) To examine closely; to scrutinize. (transitive, by extension, computing) To resolve (a string of code or text) into its elements to determine if it conforms to a particular grammar. (transitive, by extension, computing) To split a file or other input into pieces of data that can be easily manipulated or stored. (intransitive, computing, linguistics) Of a string of code or text, sentence, etc.: to conform to rules of grammar, to be syntactically valid.

By NATASHA SINGER from NYT Technology https://nyti.ms/2CuM4Zp
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Astronomy news update from NASA :
They say Orion always comes up sideways, and he does seem to on this cold December night. The bright stars of the familiar northern winter constellation lie just above the snowy tree tops surrounding a cozy cottage near the town of Ustupky in the Czech Republic. But Gemini's meteors also seem to rain on the wintry landscape. The meteor streaks are captured in exposures made near last Friday's peak of the annual Geminid meteor shower. They stream away from the shower's radiant above the trees, near the two bright stars of the zodiacal constellation of the Twins. Comet Wirtanen, a visitor to planet Earth's skies, is visible too. Look for its telltale greenish coma near the stars of the seven sisters.

from NASA https://go.nasa.gov/2SevPVO
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Our new 'Word Of The Day' article update : oneiromancy , n :
(uncountable, divination) Divination by the interpretation of dreams. (uncountable, in a weak sense) The interpretation of dreams. (countable, divination) An act of such divination or dream-interpretation.

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