Artemis II was one of the highlights of 2026. It helped us escape the overwhelming obsession with AI and take shelter in the depths of outer space – the furthest point humankind has ever reached flesh and blood, so to speak. Hakan Oztunc in this issue explains the importance of this mission and its implications with an emphasis on the human condition which does not change in space, or perhaps even come to the surface more than it does on earth. The death of a loved one, the pain of separation, and the humbling realization that Earth itself is a spacecraft carrying us through the universe remind us that our deepest human experiences accompany us wherever we go. Oztunc’s piece offers some bounty to contemplate on our lives.
Following Artemis II, we go with another piece on the Moon. Amna Majid writes on one major secret of our satellite, that it has water! It has been confirmed in 2018 that there is frozen water in the Moon’s craters. What was thought impossible before, water on the moon theory was first proposed in 1961 by Kenneth Watson. Majid gives a brief panorama of the past research up until 2025, and projects a possible future where the Moon could be a permanent space station.
Pope Francis and Fethullah Gülen. Mustafa Cenap Aydin gives a brief account of these two giant men of faith, one the leader of the Catholic world and the other a prominent Muslim scholar, whose lives and missions overlapped in many aspects. Born and died not so far apart from each other, both men have contributed to the promotion of peace, education, and community connections around the world. Through their examples, Aydin shows how one can remain deeply committed to one’s own faith while building genuine bridges with members of other traditions.
This issue also brings one strong document from the depths of history that helped build a peaceful society from among warring tribes: The Medina Charter. Yetkin Yildirim et al explains how this Charter, considered by many as the first constitution in history, enabled the formation of a single entity from different faith groups and ethnicities, while recognizing their respective cultural and belief traits. The Charter’s message is reinforced by Aaron Y. Ryan who wrote about racism and how it reveals at the societal level in “Racism: Egoism of Societies.” Ryan quotes Nursi for whom racism is an external projection of an enlarged ego and that racist ideologies rise “just as latent diseases emerge when the body’s immune system is weakened.”
In “Anger Is Never Sudden,” Naim Yilmaz draws an analogy between anger and allergic reactions. When we are hit by a car and immediately become furious, there is in fact something that was already growing deep down. Yilmaz says that anger appears instantly, but it is built slowly. In his piece, he offers good advice on how to control anger and guard ourselves from such allergic reactions.
