I post a weekly diary of the historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I featured this past week in “Cheers & Jeers”. For example …..
OLDER-YOUNGER SISTERS? – Academy Award winner Rita Moreno and California senator Barbara Boxer.
OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.
I just “failed” a comment! And as I looked, the order of fail, meh, fierce in that diary had been reversed.
What the hey?
This is the way we’re used to:
and this is the surprising OTHER way:
Be careful out there!
What is a Supernova?
Stars which are several times more massive than our Sun end their lives in a spectacular explosion called a Supernova. The explosion occurs when the fuel for the fusion process in the core is depleted. This lack of outward pressure, which combats the inward gravitational pull, allows the star to collapse. As it shrinks, the core grows hotter and denser. New nuclear reactions begin and temporarily halt the collapse of the core. When the remaining core nuclear is basically just iron, nothing is left to fuse. Fusion in the core ends. Very quickly, the star begins its final gravitational collapse. The core temperature rises to many billions of degrees. The iron atoms are crushed together. The force of gravity is greater than the repulsive force between the nuclei of iron. The core then recoils. The energy of the recoil produces a shock wave through the star envelope. The envelope material is heated and fuses to form new and heavier elements and radioactive isotopes. The material is exploded away from the star core and is known as a supernova remnant. Many of these are seen. Here are examples.
The smaller supernovae leave behind a spinning neutron core only a few tens of miles across. Larger supernovae exert such tremendous inward shock forces that even the neutron core collapses into a black hole. It is so small and dense, that light is not fast enough to escape.
Turn Up Your Volume before you watch this video. It is an audio rendition of supernovae events in a small part of the sky. How it was done is explained below.
1. First, search for Supernovae over a long time interval.
From April, 2003 until August, 2006, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) watched four parts of the sky as often as possible. Armed with the largest digital camera in the known universe, CFHT monitored these four fields for a special type of Supernova (called Type Ia) which are created by the thermonuclear detonation of white-dwarf stars. These four fields covered roughly 16 times the area of the full Moon on the sky, or roughly 1/10,000 of the entire sky. Even though such a small fraction of the sky was monitored, 241 Type Ia Supernovae were seen during the period of observation.
The positions of all the Supernova are illustrated as time progresses. The animation is rendered at 15 frames per second, and each frame corresponds to just under a single day (1 sec of video = 2 wks of real time).
2. Assign each Supernova a note to play.
Distance to each Supernova determines the volume of the note. Closer is louder. Each Supernova follows a similar pattern of brightening and then fading. But they each also have some variations.
The pitch of the notes used was determined by the Supernova’s “stretch,” a property of how the Supernova brightens and fades. Higher stretch values played higher notes. The pitches were drawn from a Phrygian dominant scale for those who understand music theory.
3. Assign the instruments to be played.
Only two instruments were used. Notes of Supernovae in more massive galaxies were played by upright bass. Those in less massive galaxies were played by piano.
Creators of this Work – Alex H. Parker (University of Victoria) and Melissa L. Graham (University of California Santa Barbara / LCOGT).
We are stardust.
If it weren’t for Supernovae, the heaviest elements would be iron. That is the top rung of the fusion process in star cores. Because of the tremendous shock waves of supernovae, fusions of nucleii of elements heavier that iron are possible, giving us the much wider range of naturally occurring elements. Many of the elements in the rocks and minerals and our bodies came from a Supernova in our vicinity of space.
Be sure and let all your peeps know where you are.
By: Inoljt, http://mypolitikal.com/
In the minds of most Americans, Australia is a great place. The land down under has beautiful weather, a booming economy, and sights ranging from the Great Barrier Reef to kangaroos. What’s more, the culture and the language of Australia are as similar to the United States as any other country in the world, with the exception of perhaps Canada. What’s not to like about living in a country where everybody has cool accents?
Why, then, do so few Americans bother to immigrate to Australia?
More below.
Good morning, everyone. As some of you know, I just returned from 12 days in China. As an archaeologist who works in Europe, the Middle East, and the US, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to visit China. However, one of our Chinese colleagues volunteered to host the biennial meeting of the Worked Bone Research Group. The meeting was scheduled right after the annual archaeology meetings Honolulu, so several of us were able to travel from Hawaii to China. I managed to get a great airfare deal that took me from Newark to Honolulu to Beijing and back for only $1190. It was the trip of a lifetime, so I thought that I would share some of my pictures with you.
The WBRG conference was held in Zhengzhou, but we flew into Beijing and were able to spend a couple of days there before the conference. Here is a view of a temple that overlooks the Forbidden City:
And here is a view of the Forbidden City taken from the top of the temple:
Please follow me below the fold.
From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama says that because Republicans in Congress allowed a series of harmful, automatic budget cuts-called the sequester-to take effect, important programs like Head Start are now forced to reduce their services. After travelers were stuck for hours in airports and on planes this past week, members of Congress passed a temporary band-aid measure to stop the cuts that impact airlines – but they must do more to stop cuts to vital services for the American people. That’s why it’s time for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that makes smarter cuts and reforms in the tax code while creating jobs and strengthening the middle class.
Make sure you let your peeps know where to find you!
When the going gets tough, the tough say “too difficult!!” and throw their hands up in despair claiming “no one cares about the environment or candidates who are passionate about the environment”??!!??
I don’t buy it … and President Obama doesn’t buy it either.
Yesterday this arrived in my Inbox from Organizing for America:
Jan —
Right now, way too many lawmakers in Washington flat-out refuse to face the facts when it comes to climate change.
We’re never going to make real progress on this issue unless members of Congress get serious. Instead, some of them have made a habit of publicly mocking it.
We thought it was time to call them out for denying what’s basic science.
Watch this embarrassing video of climate deniers in Congress — and say you’re ready to help hold them accountable:
The science matters in this.
That’s the message way too many people in Washington need to hear right now.
In 2011, there were 240 members of Congress who voted to say that climate change is a hoax.
Most of them are still around today, and they’re getting away with it — some of them are actually proud of it. They think the whole debate is pretty funny.
If we want to make progress on climate change, we need everyone in Congress on board for a solution. It’s our job to show them there’s a price to pay for being a climate denier.
Take a look at this video and join the fight:
http://my.barackobama.com/Climate-Change
Get ready — more on this coming soon.
Thanks,
Jon
Jon Carson
Executive Director
Organizing for Action
@JonCarsonOFA
An origin myth
At ground level, thistles reached upward, tough and tall. Goldenrod, flowering heads brushed lengthwise, reminded me of ancient brooms, worn down from years sweeping the stone hearth. Queen Anne’s lace had curled into tight clusters, pregnant with seeds waiting to spill forth.
Pelicans were back, flying so high, wingtips reflecting the late afternoon sun. They looked like confetti drifting slowly in a circle, until they wheeled and changed direction, moving closer in view. For me, the pelicans’ appearance always seemed like a gift. Now, with such perfect timing, the pelicans must be a good omen.
I needed a good omen. The year was difficult in many ways, full of extremes, joy marred by illness and tragedy. The cancer and anorexia were merely death threats. The murders were unbearable and incomprehensible, tearing the fragile scrim, the illusion of safety.
I flew, too, but I flew alone. As with the pelicans above me, it was easier to fly than walk, my body awkward and unbalanced on the ground. Like Icarus, I used my wings to escape. Unlike him, I flew low, skimming the rooftops and crowns of trees. The view from above, in motion, removed details I needed to ignore. Instead I could focus, just on moving forward, and then on landing safely.
The sun shifted and blackbirds and pelicans moved on. As the leaves curled and fell, as dew on the dried maize reflected morning light, death hovered around us. The sky became broader still, opening through stark bare branches.
Waiting, I still flew. Crows bossed during the day. In the evenings they settled, scores in stands of trees, chattering odd noises like rusty hinges.
I posed no threat to them, did not disturb them from their roosts, even while I prepared to make my own. Landing, nesting, I had flown past the sorrows of the summer, though they were visible to me when I turned.
Flying snow, flurrying, melting; the fall did not readily concede to death. The rising sun brightened the sky, warming the earth again. And on that day, I gave birth to a flyer.
Fledged now, he flies for us as well as himself. Soon he will fly like the pelicans, broad wingspan carrying him higher, beyond view. Leaving and returning, a good omen.
Cross-posted at Our View from Iowa