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People are complaining about Mercury in retrograde. But what does it actually mean?

<p>Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, whipping around <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/index.html">our star every 88 days compared to Earth’s 365.25 days</a>. Mercury will also be the first planet destroyed when the Sun expands on its way to becoming <a href="https://www.space.com/22471-red-giant-stars.html">a red giant in about 5 billion years</a>.</p> <p>So it seems a bit rough that we <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/health-fitness/mercury-retrograde-2023">blame Mercury for all our problems</a> three to four times a year when it’s in retrograde. But what does it mean when we say Mercury is “in retrograde”?</p> <h2>A matter of orbits</h2> <p>Retrograde motion means a planet is moving in the opposite direction to normal around the Sun. However, the planets never actually change direction. What we are talking about is apparent retrograde motion, when to us on Earth it looks like a planet is moving across the sky in the opposite direction to its usual movement.</p> <p>Because Mercury is closest to the Sun and has the fastest orbit, it appears to move backwards in the sky more often than any other planet.</p> <p>Let’s use my dog Astro to help explain what’s happening when we see a planet in retrograde. Astro is a whippet, or a mini-greyhound, and he has a need for speed. If I take Astro for a run on my local cricket oval, he does super-speed laps on the inside while I run much more slowly around the outside.</p> <p>If we’re both going anti-clockwise around the cricket pitch, when Astro is on the opposite side of the oval to me it looks like he’s going left while I’m jogging right. But when he gets to the same side of the oval as me, it suddenly looks like he’s running right instead of left (retrograde).</p> <p>This happens because Astro is going much faster than me, and is inside my “orbit” of the oval.</p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2023/05/astro-Laura.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p>Because Mercury’s orbit is inside Earth’s orbit, seeing it from our planet is like me watching Astro run.</p> <p>But Mercury isn’t the only planet to do this. Venus also orbits inside our orbit of the Sun, zipping around <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/index.html">once every 224.7 days</a>. This means Venus is in retrograde twice every three years.</p> <h2>The other retrograde</h2> <p>It works the other way around, too. The planets outside our orbit (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) also go into retrograde.</p> <p>To work this out, we need to swap our perspective. Astro is definitely not a deep thinker, but let’s imagine for a moment that he is and think about what he sees as he runs around the oval.</p> <p>He’s running around the oval and he starts catching me up from behind. At this moment it seems like we’re both going the same direction, to the right. But as he starts to pass me, it seems like I’m going backwards or left (retrograde) while he continues to run forwards to the right.</p> <p>This is what happens when we look up at the sky and see one of the outer planets in retrograde.</p> <p>Mars is in retrograde once every two years. The other planets are so far from the Sun and travelling so slowly compared to Earth that it’s almost like they’re standing still. So we see them in retrograde approximately once a year as we whip around the Sun so much faster than they do.</p> <h2>A well-known illusion</h2> <p>Retrograde motion bamboozled ancient astronomers since humans started looking up in space, and we only officially figured it out when Copernicus proposed in 1543 that the planets are <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/OrbitsHistory">orbiting the Sun</a> (though he wasn’t the first astronomer <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Aristarchus_of_Samos/">to propose this heliocentric model</a>).</p> <p>Before Copernicus, many astronomers thought Earth was the centre of the universe and the planets were spinning around us. Astronomers like <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2017/07/planetary-astronomy-ancient-greece/">Apollonius</a>around 300 BCE saw the planets going backwards, and explained this by adding more circles called epicycles.</p> <p>So, humans found out retrograde motion was an optical illusion 500 years ago. However, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-astronomy-a-science-but-astrology-is-not-192376">pseudoscientific practice of astrology</a> continues to ascribe a deeper meaning to this illusion.</p> <h2>There’s a retrograde most of the time</h2> <p>If we consider the seven planets other than Earth, at least one planet is in retrograde for 244 days of 2023 – that’s around two-thirds of the year.</p> <p>If we include the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres (and exclude the other seven dwarf planets in the Solar System), at least one planet or dwarf planet is in retrograde for 354 days of 2023, leaving only 11 days without any retrograde motion. </p> <p>I like to think the biggest impact the planets have on Earth is bringing wonder and joy every time we turn our eyes (and our telescopes) to the night sky. Astro, on the other hand, is happy as long as he gets to run around the oval and bark at possums.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/people-are-complaining-about-mercury-in-retrograde-but-what-does-it-actually-mean-205032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

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Lost Freddie Mercury song released by Queen

<p dir="ltr">Queen has released a lost song that was originally recorded in 1988, which features the late frontman Freddie Mercury.</p> <p dir="ltr">The track, titled <em>Face It Alone</em>, was written and recorded for the band’s album called <em>The Miracle</em>, but didn’t make it onto the final track listing and was shelved. </p> <p dir="ltr">The song was later rediscovered when the band’s production and archive team returned to the sessions to work on the upcoming reissue of the album. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Face It Alone</em> is the first new song released featuring Freddie Mercury since 2014’s <em>Queen Forever</em> album. </p> <p dir="ltr">The 2014 album included three previously unheard tracks with the singer: <em>Let Me In Your Heart Again</em>, <em>Love Kills</em> and <em>There Must Be More to Life Than This</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking of the rediscovered track, Queen guitarist Brian May said: “I’m happy that our team were able to find this track.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us, yes, (former bass player) Deacy is there too, working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed... until now.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Drummer Roger Taylor added, “We’d kind of forgotten about this track but there it was, this little gem.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The song’s resurgence comes ahead of the reissue of the band’s 13th album <em>The Miracle</em>, which was first released in 1989.</p> <p dir="ltr">The album - which included tracks<em> I Want It All</em>, <em>Breakthru</em> and <em>The Invisible Man</em> - reached number one in the UK at the time of its initial release. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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“We were like brothers”: Queen’s Brian May opens up about his relationship with Freddie Mercury

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brian May, guitarist and icon of the powerhouse band Queen, recently opened up about his relationship with Freddie Mercury. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brain discussed his bond with the enigmatic Queen frontman with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> host Karl Stefanovic, 30 years after his death. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"We were like brothers. We still are," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"There are moments when he just broke the rules and he broke the rules constantly in what he would wear and what he said to the audiences. The risks that he took."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Freddie Mercury, famously open and proud of his sexuality, died from complications after his diagnosis with AIDS in November 1991. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brian went on to say he still gets overwhelmed at the everlasting success of Queen, and still gets starstruck meeting his own musical inspirations. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"To be honest with you, my heroes are still my heroes," he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"If I bump into Eric Clapton, he is my god in a sense, and I don't find it easy to talk to him because of that."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Between the years 1971 and 1991, Queen became one of the biggest names in music, selling over 200 million records, and continuing to have a huge global presence in popular culture. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brian has just released a remastered version of his debut solo studio album Back to the Light, which was first released in 1992. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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“Too frail to get out of bed”: Elton John shares Freddie Mercury’s last days before passing away

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sir Elton John has shared on Queen legend Freddie Mercury’s final days before he passed away of AIDS at the age of 45.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">John explained in his new book </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Me: Elton John</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that Mercury kept his illness a secret from him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I visited him a lot when he was dying, although I could never stay for much longer than an hour,” John remembered.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It was too upsetting – I didn’t think he wanted me to see him like that."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also detailed Mercury’s appearance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"He was too frail to get out of bed, he was losing his sight, his body was covered in Kaposi's sarcoma lesions, and yet he was still definitely Freddie, gossiping away, completely outrageous.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I couldn’t work out whether he didn’t realise how close to death he was or if he knew perfectly well but was determined not to let what was happening to him stop him being himself."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">John discusses how Mercury also helped him get sober, as they pointedly told John he was overdoing it on cocaine at the height of his addiction in the 1980s.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He has now been clean for nearly three decades.</span></p>

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“We’re not mates”: Rod Stewart speaks out about 50-year feud with Elton John

<p>The long-running feud between Sir Elton John and Rod Stewart has followed the duo as they’ve grown their careers for the last half of a century.</p> <p>Although it was initially tongue-in-cheek, this no longer appears to be the case according to a recent interview in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9180298/rod-stewart-penny-lancaster-sex-kids-great/" target="_blank">The Sun</a>.</p> <p>When Rod Stewart was asked about his thoughts on Elton John’s 300-date farewell tour, he didn’t hold back.</p> <p>“I certainly won’t do 300 dates and then retire. I’ll just fade away like the old soldier I am,” he admitted. </p> <p><span>When the interviewer inquired as to whether or not Elton and Rod have been in touch, Rod replied bluntly: </span><span>“No, we’re not mates any more. We don’t talk to each other.”</span></p> <p>However, it wasn’t always this way. The pair have bantered on and off for the last 50 years.</p> <p>In many ways, the duo are chalk and cheese. With Elton being extravagant and prone to tantrums, Rod is a bit more laidback and a bit cheap.</p> <p>The pair did share a love of football as well as a competitive streak, which is what kept the feud going for so long.</p> <p>The pair have snipped at each other over a variety of things, including Elton’s weight.</p> <p>"I really seriously think he (Elton) has got to lose a little bit of weight. He's looking really large," quipped Rod</p> <p>"He always has a go about my nose and hair, so we just bitch every now and then," Rod admitted to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/inside-rod-stewart-and-elton-johns-hilarious-50yea/3369998/" target="_blank"><em>The Morning Bulletin</em></a>.</p> <p>The pair used to insist that this was their way of showing affection, especially with Elton explaining that he and Rod were “cut from the same cloth”.</p> <p>"We try and publicise the fact that we always have a go at each other in the papers, but in fact we do that for reasons only known to us, really. We're actually very good friends," said Elton.</p> <p>However, that no longer appears to be the case.</p> <p>It seems though that Rod wouldn’t mind following in the footsteps of Elton and his late close friend Freddie Mercury in the form of a biopic being made about his music and life.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsYaJudhZ2R/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BsYaJudhZ2R/" target="_blank">Congratulations to Rami Malek &amp; all those behind Bohemian Rhapsody on their #GoldenGlobe win. You brought the energy, love, and light of the magnetic Freddie Mercury to the big screen in a glorious film worthy of Queen.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/sirrodstewart/" target="_blank"> Sir Rod Stewart</a> (@sirrodstewart) on Jan 8, 2019 at 9:07am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>When Rod was asked whether or not he could bear to watch himself on screen, he quickly replied: <span>“Oh, are you kidding? My ego? I’d love it. Me and my two youngest sons went to see <em>Bohemian Rhapsody</em>.</span></p> <p>"My boys were saying, ‘Dad, I can play you when you were eight’ and ‘I’ll play you when you were 13’.”</p>

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Exploring Freddie Mercury: The man behind the film Bohemian Rhapsody

<p>Freddie Mercury knew he was destined for something more. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KsBq9P3iuM">Classmate Chris Smith</a> recalled that Mercury sat glumly at a pub one night.</p> <p>“I’m not going to be a pop star. I’m going to be a legend!”</p> <p>And become a legend he did.</p> <p>As the front man of <em>Queen</em>, Mercury quickly shot to super stardom. With hits such as “<em>We Are The Champions</em>”, “<em>I Want To Break Free</em>” and much loved classic “<em>Bohemian Rhapsody</em>” showcasing Mercury’s vocal talent, it’s easy to see why these songs resonated with the people.</p> <p>That was just Mercury’s vocal talent. In concert, he was able to capture the attention of thousands, with an odd mix of strength, seduction, outrageous outfits as well as regal glamour in the mix.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_WPhWg5m3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf_WPhWg5m3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">#Queen #freddiemercury #live #legend</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/mercury_motg/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> Freddie Mercury</a> (@mercury_motg) on Mar 6, 2018 at 9:15am PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>It’s been more than 27 years since Mercury died of complications relating to AIDS, but some would argue he’s more popular than ever.</p> <p>This is due to the new release of <em>Bohemian Rhapsody</em>, the blockbuster film with Rami Malek portraying the late singer. The film is the highest-grossing biopic in history, with old and new fans alike falling in love with Queen.</p> <p>BBC broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, a longtime friend, told <a href="https://people.com/music/freddie-mercury-real-story-bohemian-rhapsody-queen-film/"><em>PEOPLE</em></a>:</p> <p>“Queen are even bigger than when they originally put the records out, and Freddie would love it,” Gambaccini said.</p> <p>“He would just flip his hand and say, ‘It’s fabulous, darling!’”</p> <p>As Mercury desperately tried to fill the yawning void in his soul that came with being sent to boarding school in India, which was thousands of miles away from his parents in Zanzibar, music quickly became the answer. Once the family emigrated to London, Mercury wasted no time in throwing himself into the scene of the Swinging Sixties.</p> <p>Mercury had his eyes on a trio called Smile, and once their vocalist quit, he wasted no time in showing off what he could do.</p> <p>It didn’t take long for the band to be renamed to <em>Queen</em>, which of course, was Mercury’s idea. Mercury told <a href="https://people.com/archive/the-mercury-thats-rising-in-rock-is-freddie-the-satiny-seductor-of-queen-vol-8-no-23/"><em>PEOPLE </em>in 1977</a>:</p> <p>“The whole point was to be pompous and provocative, to prompt speculation and controversy.”</p> <p>Mercury’s fashion choices are known for being equally dramatic and androgynous. Designer Zandra Rhodes, who created some of Mercury’s best-known costumes during Queen’s early period explains:</p> <p>“I think he’d seen my chiffons with feathers and exotic sleeves and extreme approach to fashion,” she tells <em>PEOPLE</em>.</p> <p>Rhodes’ most famous look for Mercury was a batwing cape shirt, which initially started off as a wedding dress.</p> <p>“He and Brian came to my tiny Bayswater attic studio, incognito. I asked Freddie to look along my rail of clothes and he chose an exotic pleated bridal top I had on the rail! He danced around in it in my studio.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bog7V7rFq06/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading&amp;utm_campaign=embed_locale_test" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bog7V7rFq06/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading&amp;utm_campaign=embed_locale_test" target="_blank">@ramimalek is Freddie Mercury. • #freddiemercury #queen #bohemianrhapsody @bohemianrhapsodymovie</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/mercury_motg/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading&amp;utm_campaign=embed_locale_test" target="_blank"> Freddie Mercury</a> (@mercury_motg) on Oct 4, 2018 at 7:26am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Despite his outrageous stage presence and incredible vocals, Mercury was known in his close circle to be very shy and private. Brian May told <a href="https://people.com/music/brian-may-queen-in-3d-interview/"><em>PEOPLE </em>in 2017</a>:</p> <p>“Freddie was very extrovert onstage, as we all know, but he was very shy in his private life and liked to be private,” May explained.</p> <p>“He liked those moments of just having a couple of his close friends around. We’d known each other a long time and we were almost like family. We had no airs and graces with each other.”</p> <p>Are you a fan of Queen? Let us know in the comments.</p>

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6 iconic artists whose albums flopped

<p>There’s no doubt about it, the music business is a tough one. One hit single isn’t enough to guarantee artists success – Vanilla Ice, The Knack and countless others may have had one hit album, but it was only downhill from there. For these artists, however, their “flop” album was simply a blip on an otherwise perfect record. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest and most unexpected album flops (both commercial and critical) of all time.</p> <p><strong>1. <em>Mr Bad Gu</em>y by Freddie Mercury</strong></p> <p>It’s hard to believe that the Queen front man could do anything wrong when it comes to music, but Mercury’s first solo album <em>Mr Bad Guy</em> definitely didn’t live up to expectations. While Queen’s highest-selling album cracked 7,500,000 sales, Mercury’s 1985 offering sold less than 1 million.</p> <p><strong>2. <em>Pop</em> by U2</strong></p> <p>Following the success of their previous hit albums <em>The Joshua Tree</em> and<em> Achtung Baby</em>, U2 broke away from their well-known sound in favour of more electronic- and dance-inspired elements. Despite reaching number one in 35 countries, it was poorly received by critics and sold 18 million copies less than their highest seller.</p> <p><strong>3. <em>Invincible</em> by Michael Jackson</strong></p> <p>He may have been the King of Pop, but Jackson’s final album was his most unsuccessful in his more than 40-year career. Even though it still reached number one in 11 countries, Invincible sold 10 million copies. It sounds like a lot, but when you consider <em>Thriller</em> sold 65,000,000 copies, this definitely a “flop” by the King’s standard.</p> <p><strong>4. <em>Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic</em> by Prince</strong></p> <p>Released in 1999 when he went by the unpronounceable “Love Symbol”, this album was without a doubt one of Prince’s most polarising. It received mixed reviews, failed to chart in the top 10 except for in Canada and sold less than 1 million copies, compared to the more than 20 million for Purple Rain.</p> <p><strong>5. <em>“The Spaghetti Incident?”</em> by Guns N’ Roses</strong></p> <p>They brought us the iconic 1987 song “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, but then again, they also brought us… this. Released in 1993, <em>"The Spaghetti Incident?"</em> was the last album by the band to feature Slash and Duff McKagan. It sold around five to six million copies, a poor effort compared to the more than 30 million sales of their debut.</p> <p><strong>6. <em>Self Portrait</em> by Bob Dylan</strong></p> <p>Could this be the first ever intentionally bad album in music history? 1970’s <em>Self Portrait</em> was absolutely slaughtered by critics but still managed to go gold in the US. Dylan later told Rolling Stone he made the album as a joke. “I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something that can’t possibly like, they can’t relate to.”</p> <p>Do you own any of these albums? Tell us what you think of them in the comments below.</p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/entertainment/music/2016/06/unforgettable-songs-of-the-60s/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Unforgettable songs of the '60s</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="/entertainment/music/2016/05/actors-turned-musicians/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">7 actors we didn’t know were also musicians</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/entertainment/music/2016/05/one-hit-wonders-today/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>One-hit wonders: where are they now?</strong></em></span></a></p>

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Aussie scientists discover how to remove mercury from water

<p>Australian scientists at Flinders University might have found a solution to the growing problem of mercury contamination in the world’s major waterways. The answer? Orange peels.</p><p>Synthetic chemist, Dr Justin Chalker, and his team of scientists have discovered a material that can be used to remove mercury from water. The material is made out of orange peels, as well as industrial waste that is widely available but currently unused in many parts of the world.</p><p>Dr Chalker elaborates on the discovery: "We take sulphur, which is a by-product of the petroleum industry, and we take limonene, which is the main component of orange oil, so is produced in large quantities by the citrus industry, and we're able to react them together to form a type of soft red rubber, and what this material does is that it can grab mercury out of the water. So we are taking waste material and making a polymer from it that can remove mercury from water."</p><p><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10178/water-mercury-orange-peels_497x280.jpg" alt="Water Mercury Orange Peels" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p><p><em>A block made out of the orange peel-waste polymer.&nbsp;</em><em>Image Credit: Flinders University</em></p><p>Because the materials are so widely available (and inexpensive) there is potential for them to be deployed at major sites and reclaim contaminated rivers and lakes.&nbsp;</p><p>Mercury contamination is a huge problem for major waterways. Many deep-water fish now display levels of mercury commonly associated with a range of health problems, which could have a huge impact, particularly in parts of the third world which rely heavily on fish for nutrition.</p><p>Dr Chalker and his team are currently exploring plans to develop this material on a larger scale, and the initial results look promising, “We've also done toxicity studies to make sure that the polymer itself is not harmful to the environment so that gives us hope that we'll be able to commercialise and actually use this in the environment.”</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="/health/wellbeing/2015/09/why-people-get-grumpy-when-hungry/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The science behind why people get grumpy when hungry</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="/lifestyle/pets/2015/10/cats-better-than-dogs-study/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Science reveals cats are better than dogs</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="/finance/insurance/2015/10/healing-power-of-music/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The truth behind the healing power of music</strong></em></span></a></p>

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Aussie scientists discover how to remove mercury from water

<p>Australian scientists at Flinders University might have found a solution to the growing problem of mercury contamination in the world’s major waterways. The answer? Orange peels.</p><p>Synthetic chemist, Dr Justin Chalker, and his team of scientists have discovered a material that can be used to remove mercury from water. The material is made out of orange peels, as well as industrial waste that is widely available but currently unused in many parts of the world.</p><p>Dr Chalker elaborates on the discovery: "We take sulphur, which is a by-product of the petroleum industry, and we take limonene, which is the main component of orange oil, so is produced in large quantities by the citrus industry, and we're able to react them together to form a type of soft red rubber, and what this material does is that it can grab mercury out of the water. So we are taking waste material and making a polymer from it that can remove mercury from water."</p><p><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/10178/water-mercury-orange-peels_497x280.jpg" alt="Water Mercury Orange Peels" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></p><p><em>A block made out of the orange peel-waste polymer.&nbsp;</em><em>Image Credit: Flinders University</em></p><p>Because the materials are so widely available (and inexpensive) there is potential for them to be deployed at major sites and reclaim contaminated rivers and lakes.&nbsp;</p><p>Mercury contamination is a huge problem for major waterways. Many deep-water fish now display levels of mercury commonly associated with a range of health problems, which could have a huge impact, particularly in parts of the third world which rely heavily on fish for nutrition.</p><p>Dr Chalker and his team are currently exploring plans to develop this material on a larger scale, and the initial results look promising, “We've also done toxicity studies to make sure that the polymer itself is not harmful to the environment so that gives us hope that we'll be able to commercialise and actually use this in the environment.”</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="/health/wellbeing/2015/09/why-people-get-grumpy-when-hungry/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The science behind why people get grumpy when hungry</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="/lifestyle/pets/2015/10/cats-better-than-dogs-study/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Science reveals cats are better than dogs</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="/finance/insurance/2015/10/healing-power-of-music/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>The truth behind the healing power of music</strong></em></span></a></p>

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