Your adjudicated newspaper for Riverside County
desert
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of PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID Desert Hot Springs, CA PERMIT NO 00005
W E E K L Y
July 4, 2018 Vol. 12 No. 53
Cousin of Earth? Life on Kepler-186f? Scientists discover the planet is even more like Earth than we thought By Desert Star Staff Scientists have discovered Kepler-186f is even more like Earth than previously understood, and could be habitable. The planet appears to have seasons and a climate, thanks to its stable axial tilt. Kepler-186f is an
exoplanet, meaning it’s located outside our solar system, 500 light years away. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology used simulations to analyze and identify the exoplanet’s spin-axis dynamics, which determine to what extent a planet tilts on its axis and
how this changes over time. The study shows Kepler186f’s axial tilt appears to be stable, like Earth’s. A planet’s axial tilt creates seasons and climates because of how it affects the sunlight hitting the surface, so the research suggests it may
have regular seasons. The same is thought to be true for Kepler-62f, a super-Earth-sized planet orbiting around a star about 1,200 light-years away from us. Kepler-62f was believed to be the most Earth-like exoplanet until Kepler-186f
was discovered in 2014. It orbits a star in the habitable zone, meaning its distance from its star is enough for water to pool on the surface. Scientists believe the variability of an axial tilt can
By Desert Star Staff OKLAHOMA CITY, Starting a new school year can be a stressful time for a child, especially if they don’t have the required supplies. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there were more than 1.3 million homeless school-age children living in the U.S. in 2015-2016. Feed the Children is working to make a difference in the lives of these children through its Homeless Education and Literacy Program (H.E.L.P.). Because education is one of the best ways to help children escape the cycle of poverty, Feed the Children has promoted school attendance and completion through
this program since 2006, distributing more than one million backpacks to homeless and at-risk youth across the U.S. in all 50 states. Each backpack is filled with school supplies, personal care items, books and snacks. These backpacks provide children with a fighting chance to have a brighter future. “Many families are worried about just getting the next meal for their families or trying to find a place to stay for the night,” says Kathy Brown, the homeless education coordinator for Oklahoma public schools. “The child’s school supplies are the least of their worries when the families are in survival mode.” Many of these children
move between hotel rooms, shelters, and relatives’ houses. Some stay with friends couch-surfing until they
have to find a new place to sleep. They have no stability and no place to keep their belongings – so they carry
everything with them at all times. And, because many
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Feed the Children Distributes H.E.L.P. Backpacks Across U.S.
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