![]() Spin: It takes Neptune about 16 hours to complete one rotation.Orbit: It takes Neptune about 165 Earth years to orbit around the Sun.Each planet also spins, or rotates, about its center. Neptune orbits the Sun slower than any other planet in the solar system. The orbit is the path it takes as it travels around the Sun. Like all planets, Neptune has two types of motion: orbit and spin. However, because of a force called gravity, Neptune may have pulled Triton into its orbit. Scientists believe that Triton might have formed as an independent planet. The largest moon, Triton, is nearly as big as Earth’s Moon. The rings are not as large as the rings of the planet Saturn. Scientists think that Neptune has hot, thick liquids deep inside it. Small amounts of methane makes Neptune appear blue. Neptune is the smallest of the gas giants, but it’s still very big-57 Earths could fit inside it! The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. (SOUNDBITE OF BRENT FAIYAZ, DRAKE AND THE NEPTUNES' "WASTING TIME")Ĭopyright © 2024 NPR. For NPR News, I'm Audrey McGlinchy in Austin. MCGLINCHY: She's been sleeping in her roommate's old room for the past couple of weeks, just her sheets, an alarm clock and, yeah, a window. MAHAVIER: I literally just took my bedding and plopped it on here and my alarm clock, and that's it. Recently, one of Mahavier's roommates moved out, leaving behind a bedroom with a window. To get a sense of what it's like living in a windowless bedroom, I asked her to turn off the lights. MCGLINCHY: It was sunny the day I met Mahavier at her apartment. JULIA MAHAVIER: I'm waking up and it's completely pitch-black. The senior at UT Austin rents a windowless bedroom at a private building off campus. Without a window, you can lose sense of time. MCGLINCHY: Numerous studies by psychologists show that natural light helps people feel more alert, less depressed and regulates our carcadian rhythm, the internal clock that tells us when it's time to sleep or wake up. QADRI: I think it really does affect the mental wellbeing and the mental stress of the student. Qadri says she sometimes asks to spend the night at his apartment. Both lived in windowless bedrooms as students, one still does. When councilmember Qadri took up this item, he thought of his two sisters. Developers will be able to build windows that let in, quote, "borrowed light," so a window that faces another room with natural light. The change goes into effect next month with one exception. Last week, the city council passed the ordinance. After years of advocacy from Miro and students, Qadri led the effort to prohibit the construction of windowless bedrooms. MCGLINCHY: This is Austin councilmember Zo Qadri. ZO QADRI: And I remember thinking to myself, oh, my God, that's awful. The plan was eventually scrapped after a huge public outcry. MCGLINCHY: In 2021, the University of California at Santa Barbara announced it would build a mostly windowless dorm with the help of a wealthy donor. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thought your college dorm was bad? Check out this proposed windowless mega dorm at UC Santa Barbara. KUT reached out to half a dozen developers who have built windowless bedrooms in Austin. More bedrooms means more housing and also more profit for the builder. If you don't need a window, you can build more bedrooms. ![]() MCGLINCHY: Since natural light is not required in bedrooms, developers have built thousands of windowless ones, mostly in student apartments. MIRO: They say, you need to have natural light according to this section - da, da, da - or artificial light according to this section. The city's building code gives developers an option. He knows having a bedroom with no access to natural light is illegal in many places - Mexico City, New York, Chicago - but not in Austin. MCGLINCHY: Miro is originally from Spain. I'd say, what do you mean? That's impossible. JUAN MIRO: I had students that'd tell me, I don't have a window in my bedroom. Every year, he gives his undergrads an assignment - draw the window in your bedroom. But as Audrey McGlinchy with member station KUT reports, Austin is now taking aim at bedrooms without windows.ĪUDREY MCGLINCHY, BYLINE: Juan Miro teaches architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. Have you ever lived in a bedroom without a window? They're not rare, especially in student housing, including in Austin, Texas, where developers have built thousands of them.
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