World News for Students of English

11-12-2024 07:00

For most of human history, the night sky was not just for scientists; it was vital for survival.

In the Australian outback, the sky shines with the Milky Way’s 100 billion stars. Aboriginal legends, like those of the Wiradjuri nation, use constellations to guide seasonal activities like collecting eggs. Polynesians were master navigators, exploring over 1,000 Pacific islands by memorizing star patterns. They used specific stars to guide their journeys, switching stars as they rose and set. Europeans also relied on celestial navigation with the sun, moon, and stars to travel the world. Ancient structures like Stonehenge and Newgrange aligned with the solstice, helping track time and organize rituals. Chankillo in Peru offered a solar calendar with its 13 towers.

Today, technologies like GPS replace these methods. However, light pollution hides the stars from most people and disrupts animals like birds that navigate by them. The sky shaped human culture and guided our evolution and identity.

Difficult words: vital (necessary), outback (the remote and usually uninhabited inland districts of Australia), solstice (the longest or the shortest day of the year).

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