AURORAS TO LAST FOR ANOTHER WEEK

By: Oswald

 With auroras all across the dream world at this moment, all good things must come to an end.

The Dimension Weather Prediction Service is predicting that the auroras should persist for about another week. This would mean that this aurora event has lasted longer than the 2001 event in which that particular event lasted eight days.

“Recent data is showing that the peak of the auroras- that is to say in this case, the overall brightness and magnitude of them- is currently underway,” DWPS senior meteorologist Neige told me, “From here, the auroras will slowly get dimmer over the course of the next week or so.”

Weather data is also showing slightly cooler than normal temperature across most dimensions. The DWPS states that the auroras have caused areas of the dream world to turn dark, and in doing so, have slightly lowered the temperatures from their average this time of year.

“Summer’s starting off not so hot compared to other years, but let’s not let our guard down,” Neige said, “Once the aurora event is over, temperatures will begin to get hotter. It is summer, after all, and that’s what we expect.

With the auroras having been seen for a week now, DPEC has reported little to no incidents to the power grid as a result.

“Just as we expected, the power grid remains fine,” DPEC chief Lumière stated, “Our workers have been monitoring the grid closely, but we just haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary. The public can rest assured knowing everything is fine.”

Chief Lumière said that they’ll likely be monitoring the power grid much closer once summer really gets underway.

“If the DWPS’ forecast is correct, we may be seeing another heat wave in the dream world,” the chief told me, “People crank up their air cooling units during the heat and it causes strains in the power grid in sporadic areas of the dream world. We’ll be monitoring the grid when the temperatures crank up too.”

With the aurora event winding down, many residents are grateful and fortunate to witness such an event across the rural dream world.

“In the rural dream world, there is little to no light pollution that obstructs viewing the auroras unlike in the District,” Neige said, “That’s not to say some parts of the District can’t see the auroras. You’re just more fortunate if you’re out in the rural dream world.”

The DWPS says to enjoy the aurora event while it lasts as it may be the last one in many years to come.

“We can’t say for sure when an aurora event as extraordinary as this will occur again as that depends on what the real world holds,” he said, “It may be another two decades or more until the next one or perhaps less than that. No one is sure. Get out there and enjoy the sky. It’s a treat we’re just fortunate to witness.”

For more information on the aurora events, weather forecasts and more, visit the DWPS’ website or your local forecasting office for more information!

FOREST SERVICE SEES UPTICK IN VISITS TO LOCAL PARKS

By: Arial

The Dimension Forest and Parks Service recently announced that the number of people visiting local parks and forests have increased when compared to average numbers.

According to the DFPS, the increase in visits to these areas are attributed to two primary reasons: the summer season and the unprecedented aurora event. Because of this, people are visiting these areas to both relax and view the auroras away from civilization.

“From what we’ve gathered, it looks like people are coming out to the parks to witness the aurora event out here in the wilderness!” DFPS forest ranger Kodia tells me, “It’s one thing to experience this in a populated place, but out here, it’s surreal!”

Kodia says that she’s seen a lot more people in the previous week compared to two weeks ago. Besides the aurora, she acknowledges that the summer season typically sees an increase in park and forest visits.

“People like to come out and visit the parks and wilderness when it's summertime,” Kodia explains, “It’s nice to see people appreciate the beauty of the wilderness, though I wish it wasn’t just during the summer. I guess the weather is better this time of year.”

From the preliminary data, the DFPS says that visits to local parks and forests have increased around 48 percent when compared to two to three weeks ago. They expect to see these numbers continue to increase as summer persists.

“We expect there to be more visits to the local forests and parks in the coming weeks and months as the summer season picks up,” DFPS chief Ahwi said in a statement, “Our forest rangers and employees are always here to assist with anything. Please remember to stay on marked trails and to clean up after yourselves.”

As summer picks up, the DFPS reminds everyone that while visiting the wilderness can be fun, it’s important to stay safe out there.

“Those signs you see around local forests and parks are so important!” Kodia says, “They’re not just there to keep the wilderness safe, but also you! We want to keep everyone safe out here!”

For more information, visit the DFPS’ official website.

Q/A: Ask Nate

Dear Nate, do most people in the dream world wake up and go to bed at the same times?

By: Ty M. Tusleip 

Hiya Ty! You may know that most humans in the dream world wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night, but the dream world is a bit different!

Since time down here is a bit strange, our "mornings" and "nights" are different depending on what you do. For most people who work, it depends on your schedule. Sometimes you may have to go to work in the evening hours and you rest during the morning hours. Maybe it's vice-versa. What you consider early might be someone else's late...pretty strange, right?

That being said, we don't necessarily get up or go to bed at similar times as a whole. There isn't a period of time during a normal day where streets are empty. It can be 8h and you'll see people taking the subway just as it can be 20h and you'll still see people bustling about. People are always coming and going and our wake/rest schedules all differ!

I guess that can make for some dilemmas when you're trying to plan things out with friends and family. You set a time to hang out, but it might interfere with someone else's schedule. It's times like these where I kind of wish schedules were uniform, but would that make day-to-day life less interesting then? I'll have to ask Lucid for his opinion on this!

Dear Nate, how much do we know about outer space?

By: Gal Actsee

Hi Gal! We're going out of this world for this question, huh? Outer space is a subject that's gotten popular in recent decades- I'd say since the late 1970s! For years prior to this, there were a lot of questions and theories about the worlds away from the real world. Luckily, recent knowledge has helped us understand a bit!

From what we know, information about outer space is limited to research that humans have conducted and published. We get those publications in the dream world and research the information that's made available to us. Outer space sounds pretty big! Outside of Earth, there are other planets in the "Solar System" as it's dubbed. However, there are other celestial bodies aside from planets too!

Asteroids, comets, nebulas, black holes, galaxies, stars, and so many other features make up the vast vacuum of space. At the moment, Earth is the only planet sustainable of life in the Solar System. Humans are still actively researching the cosmos and in fact, they know more about outer space than their own oceans. Wow!

On one hand, outer space sounds amazing! So many worlds out there to see some day, but on the other hand… It also sounds kind of terrifying. No one knows if humans are all alone in the universe or if they have neighbors. I think I'm better off here in the dream world! In any case, the Universe dimension is always open to visit if you want to get a taste of space. It's out of this world (not literally)!