Saturday, May 16, 2020

Quarantining with a ghost? It’s scary - Baltimore Sun

In mid-April, Gomez was in bed when a nearby window shade began shaking against the window frame so intensely — despite the fact that the window was closed, an adjacent window shade remained perfectly still, the cats were all accounted for, and no bug nor bird nor any other small creature had gotten stuck there — that Gomez thought it was an earthquake.

"I very seriously hid myself under the comforter, like you see in horror movies, because it really did freak me out," he said.

Publisher: baltimoresun.com
Date: AAC9C18F70AC386BC4DCF4DDF9BF1786
Author: Molly Fitzpatrick
Twitter: @baltimoresun
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And here's another article:

Elon Musk Starlink satellites: how to spot them in the UK this weekend - and why they've been

If you haven't managed to spot them yet, there will be a chance to see them flash across the night sky again over the next few days.

The firm sends satellites up into the Earth's orbit in batches of 60, with the most recent launch taking place in mid-March.

* * *

So far, the firm has deployed more than 300 satellites into space and is working towards a network of 12,000, with the aim of improving global internet coverage.

Twitter: @TheScotsman
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UFO sightings are on rise in western Pennsylvania - The Morning Call

While the Kecksburg UFO sighting has become a quaint part of local lore, more recent reports of unexplained aerial phenomena are getting serious attention from Congress, the U.S. military and longtime UFO watchers.

"It's not going away," retired journalist Bob Gatty said. "Whether you believe or don't believe in this stuff, the fact remains there is a lot happening for some reason."

Gatty, who originally reported on the Kecksburg incident for the Tribune-Review in 1965, recently noted on his blog NotFakeNews.biz that the Navy issued new guidelines to fighter pilots regarding UFO sightings, and members of Congress are seeking more frequent briefings on the subject.

Publisher: mcall.com
Date: 5BD4D8882CFBE697785FCAC5BBA5F612
Author: Stephen Huba
Twitter: @mcall
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Coronavirus to blame for record number of UFO sightings in Belgium

Coronavirus and tech tycoon Elon Musk have been blamed for a record number of UFO sightings in Belgium.

There were 87 reports of potential alien spaceships in March in Belgium, most of them in Dutch-speaking Flanders, and 188 in the first three months of the year.

From March 28 to April 1, more than 50 Belgians in Flanders reported a row of moving lights flying from west to east

Publisher: The Telegraph
Date: 2020-04-02 14:09
Author: James Crisp
Twitter: @TelegraphNews
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Many things are taking place:

UFO Sightings by US State: February 2020 - The Grey Area News

In February 2020 , around 400 US UFO sightings were reported to either the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) or the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) — while there is overlap, some reports are only in one database or the other.

These are the reported sightings. Note that sightings are sometimes reported months or years later, and these numbers may go up over time.

To search the MUFON database and read details of reported accounts, or to report your own sighting of a flying object you could not identify, visit www.mufon.com . Membership is available for those interested in more intensive database searches and access to other MUFON resources.

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Publisher: The Grey Area News
Date: 2020-03-12T09:28:17 00:00
Author: https www facebook com TheGreyAreaNews
Twitter: @TheGreyAreaNC
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The Navy tracks UFO sightings. Scientists explain what's really going on.

No one doubts that the pilots are seeing something, but psychologists and specialists in aviation medicine say there are plenty of reasonable explanations for such sightings other than extraterrestrial beings. Earthly sources of light reflected by clouds or haze, for example, or optical illusions wrought by fatigue after staring through a cockpit window for hours on end.

* * *

Though we treat our sense of vision as if it provides an exact representation of our surroundings, it is far from perfect in many respects, said Alan Stocker, a University of Pennsylvania associate professor of psychology who studies the neuroscience of perception.

Publisher: https://www.inquirer.com
Date: 2019-06-01T09:00:56.530Z
Author: Tom Avril
Twitter: @PhillyInquirer
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US Navy confirms presence of UFOs spotted in videos released two years ago | Technology News,The

The US Navy has confirmed the video footages that sighted UFO in December 2017. Though the officials said that they did not know what the objects are, they also did not give any hints, CNN has reported.

The objects which were seen in the three video clips of declassified military footage are termed as “unidentified aerial phenomena”, the report said quoting US Navy spokesperson Joe Gradisher.

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Publisher: The Indian Express
Date: 2019-09-21T16:11:10 05:30
Twitter: @The Indian Express
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'We're watching': Trump stokes UFO rumors during ABC News interview | US news | The Guardian

Earlier this year, the US navy revised its pilot guidelines on how to document "unauthorised and/or unidentified aircraft", after a spike in such reports.

"If naval pilots are running into unexplained interference in the air, that's a safety concern Senator Warner believes we need to get to the bottom of," a spokesperson said.

Interest in unidentified aerial phenomena has been building since 2017, when the Pentagon established a programme dedicated to analysing the subject, interviewing sailors and pilots about their experiences.

Publisher: the Guardian
Date: 2019-06-22T05:00:04.000Z
Author: Miranda Bryant
Twitter: @guardian
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A soft touch for robotic hardware: Combined muscles and sensors made from soft materials allow

Robots can be made from soft materials, but the flexibility of such robots is limited by the inclusion of rigid sensors necessary for their control. Researchers created embedded sensors, to replace rigid sensors, that offer the same functionality but afford the robot greater flexibility. Soft robots can be more adaptable and resilient than more traditional rigid designs. The team used cutting-edge machine learning techniques to create their design.

Automation is an increasingly important subject, and core to this concept are the often paired fields of robotics and machine learning. The relationship between machine learning and robotics is not just limited to the behavioral control of robots, but is also important for their design and core functions. A robot which operates in the real world needs to understand its environment and itself in order to navigate and perform tasks.

Publisher: ScienceDaily
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This may worth something:

Remote Retail: Avatar Robots Are Great At Selling Art. Now, What Else Can They Do?

The avatar robot, Andy the Avantar, at the Avant Gallery in Hudson Yards in New York viewing the ... [+] Skyler Grey painting "Andy $ sign".

When the coronavirus crisis closed Dmitry Prut's Avant art galleries in Miami and New York's Hudson Yards, he took remote selling to a new level, with robots that buyers control remotely from their laptops or mobile devices.

The robots have turned out to be pretty good salespeople. They helped close two major transactions – the sale of a $70,000 sculpture, and a $80,000 commission for a second sculpture – and led to sales of several paintings worth five figures.

Publisher: Forbes
Date: 2020-05-15
Author: Joan Verdon
Twitter: @forbes
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Moxie robot for kids costs $1,500, backed by Amazon and Sony - Business Insider

California startup Embodied announced that it will release a new robot for children. Embodied calls the robot, Moxie, an "animate," because it's designed as a companion for children, capable of listening, interacting, and recognizing people. It's designed for children between five and 10 years old.

Embodied says it worked with child development experts to tailor Moxie specifically to the way children learn. A limited number of Moxie robots are available to preorder now for $50, with a full price of $1,500.

Publisher: Business Insider
Date: 2020-05-16
Author: Mary Meisenzahl
Twitter: @sai
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Moxie is a $1,500 robot for kids - The Verge

Privacy and security issues have been a big concern when it comes to making educational tech for kids, and Moxie is unlikely to be an exception. Moxie's data will be encrypted, with parents or guardians being the only ones able to access the data for their particular unit, Embodied founder Paolo Pirjanian said during an interview with Fast Company.

Moxie is slated to be released sometime this fall. Fast Company did a deep dive into Embodied's design process behind the product.

Publisher: The Verge
Date: 2020-05-13T17:34:42-04:00
Author: Taylor Lyles
Twitter: @verge
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This may worth something:

Boston Dynamics' dog-like robot Spot used on social distancing patrol

Boston Dynamics ' dog-like robot, Spot , is being used in a park in Singapore to help encourage social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

The robot can operate itself, but that's not how it's being used in Singapore, Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert said Friday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"The robot isn't really enforcing in Singapore. It's just giving people information and encouraging them," he said. "There's a human nearby who can do whatever enforcement they decide is appropriate."

Publisher: CNBC
Date: 2020-05-15T12:58:58 0000
Author: https www facebook com CNBC
Twitter: @CNBC
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Inspired by cheetahs, researchers build fastest soft robots yet | NSF - National Science

Inspired by the biomechanics of cheetahs, National Science Foundation -funded researchers have developed a new type of soft robot that is capable of moving more quickly on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots.

"Cheetahs are the fastest creatures on land, and they derive their speed and power from the flexing of their spines," says Jie Yin, a mechanical and aerospace engineer at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of a paper on the new soft robots. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances .

Date: 05/15/2020
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Scientists make artificial skin for robotic androids

Robots can outthink humans, but can they understand what it is to be human?

Scientists are moving robots along on that continuum by developing robotic skin that helps them gain the sense of touch. Researchers from Munich to Japan to Boston are currently looking into how to give robots tactile sensation and in some cases, feel pain.

Expanding a robot's ability to feel ushers in more practical applications. A sensing robot can discern the texture of a surface and the amount of force on contact. Some robots can also detect temperature changes.

Publisher: CNBC
Date: 2020-05-02T15:21:46 0000
Author: https www facebook com CNBC
Twitter: @CNBC
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Pandemic-era robots shop, talk and even clean the loo -

TOKYO -- One robot can use a toilet brush to scrub porcelain bowls all by itself. Another lets humans work on faraway assembly lines with fine motor skills, thanks to virtual reality gloves.

Avatars, or remotely controlled robots, are gaining traction as the COVID-19 pandemic turns even the most mundane tasks into risky undertakings.

The machines have mostly handled less-tactile functions until now, such as communications, monitoring and transportation. But Japanese developers are leveraging their strengths to take the technology to another level.

Publisher: Nikkei Asian Review
Date: 2020-05-16 07:05:12
Twitter: @NAR
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Babbage - Is there anybody out there?

Publisher: The Economist
Twitter: @TheEconomist
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Not to change the topic here:

Little Green People? Unlikely. But The Navy Says UFOs Are Real. | 1A
Publisher: 1A
Date: 2020-05-15T13:08:29 00:00
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'Proximity' Review | Hollywood Reporter

At the helm of a feature for the first time, visual effects vet Eric Demeusy — whose credits include Stranger Things , Game of Thrones and  Tron: Legacy — builds a certain level of mystery in an assured first half-hour. But the answers prove less interesting than the setup in this tale (available on demand via cable carriers and digital platforms including Apple TV+, Amazon and Vudu).

From there, Isaac's story turns into a search for people who believe him. Enter Sara (Highdee Kuan), a frustratingly undeveloped love interest/kindred spirit. When they rendezvous in a diner after Isaac has read one of her online posts, she doesn't seem to know why she's there. The audience certainly doesn't — until she mentions something she read that brings the movie's Alaska-set prologue into play.

Publisher: The Hollywood Reporter
Twitter: @THR
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Army-funded rover with wheels that move like legs could help explore the solar system - U.S.

A robotic Mini Rover developed by Georgia Tech and NASA, with Army funding, traverses a bed of poppy seeds designed to mimic the loose sand found on Mars and the moon. The robot was used to study how to climb sandy planetary or lunar hills without getting stuck, an Army statement said May 14, 2020.

* * *

The robot, known as the Mini Rover, can climb hills of loose sand without getting stuck by using wheels that can spin, wiggle and walk, an Army statement said.

Publisher: Stars and Stripes
Twitter: @starsandstripes
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In case you are keeping track:

NFL teams can reopen facilities Tuesday with provisions | WTGS
Publisher: WTGS
Date: 2020-05-15T17:54:53 00:00
Author: BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer
Twitter: @WTGSFOX28
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Proximity review – campy sci-fi close encounters | Film | The Guardian
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Publisher: the Guardian
Date: 2020-05-13T15:00:44.000Z
Author: Leslie Felperin
Twitter: @guardian
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Brazilian mystics say they're sent by aliens to 'jump-start human evolution' – but their vision

As the Sun's first rays appear over the horizon, the members, in fairy-tale-like garments , chant their personal "emissions" – a ritual invocation of cosmic forces that fills the air with a collective drone.

Valley of the Dawn adherents "manipulate" cosmic energies to heal themselves and others. They describe themselves as members of a spiritual tribe called the Jaguars, who are the reincarnated descendants of highly advanced extraterrestrials sent by God some 32,000 years ago to jump-start human evolution.

Publisher: The Conversation
Author: Kelly E Hayes
Twitter: @ConversationUS
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The Pentagon Released U.F.O. Videos. Don’t Hold Your Breath for a Breakthrough.

[radio transmission] "Whoa, got it — woo-hoo!" "Roger —" "What the [expletive] is that?" "Did you box a moving target?" "No, I took an auto track." "Oh, OK." "Oh my gosh, dude. Wow" "What is that man?" "There's a whole screen of them. My gosh." "They're all going against the wind. The wind's 120 knots from west." "Dude." "That's not — is it?" "[inaudible]" "Look at that thing."

* * *

On Monday, the Pentagon released three Navy videos that have driven speculation about unidentified flying objects for years, saying it meant to " clear up any misconceptions " about whether the unclassified footage was real or complete.

Date: 2020-04-28T18:41:26.000Z
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Quite a lot has been going on:

READ: US releases UFO documents - CNNPolitics

(CNN) Newly released incident reports detailing encounters between US Navy aircraft and "unidentified aerial phenomena" reveal new details about incidents, which were thrust into the spotlight when the Pentagon officially declassified and released videos of three encounters late last month.

Publisher: CNN
Date: 2020-05-14T00:15:14Z
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US Navy Releases New Details on Pilots' UFO Encounters | khou.com
Publisher: khou.com
Date: 5/15/2020 9:48:09 AM
Twitter: @KHOU
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Navy admits UFO videos are real, but would like to stop using 'UFO' - The Washington Post

In December 2017, two videos emerged that showed Navy pilots encountering mysterious spherical objects that appeared, at first glance, to move through the air in ways that baffled experts. A third, released in March 2018, depicted a similar encounter.

Everyone who watched — including the pilots who filmed them — had the same question: What, exactly, are these things?

Last week, a Navy official publicly called these mysterious objects "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)," giving name to the inscrutable little dots and reigniting scrutiny around the unidentified flying objects (a term the Navy does not want to use even though the objects that are flying cannot be identified.)

Publisher: Washington Post
Date: 2019-09-18T20:59:46.076Z
Twitter: @WashingtonPost
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Were you following this:

No Cookies | Gold Coast Bulletin
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'It was behaving erratically': US Navy pilot speaks out about UFO sighting 15 years on | US News

The US navy pilot who filmed a UFO behaving "erratically" in the sky has spoken publicly for the first time since the sighting in 2004.

Chad Underwood recorded the oblong-shaped object, which he nicknamed the "Tic Tac", from an infrared camera on the left wing of his F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Speaking in an interview with New York magazine, Mr Underwood said he had not spoken out since making the recording because he did not want to be associated with people who believe in "alien beings",

Publisher: Sky News
Twitter: @skynews
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Happening on Twitter

Friday, May 15, 2020

Mars may be wetter than we thought (but still not that habitable) | Space

Liquid fresh water can't exist for long on the frigid Martian surface; the stuff quickly freezes or boils away into the planet's thin atmosphere . But brines — supersalty water — have much lower freezing points and can persist in liquid form on the Red Planet for longer stretches.

Scientists have seen possible evidence of such liquid brines over the years in the form of dark streaks on warm Red Planet slopes imaged by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. ( Not everyone is convinced that liquid water is involved in the formation of these " recurring slope lineae ," however.)

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-12T12:09:20 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Quite a lot has been going on:

Image: Sculpted by nature on Mars

Such a phenomenon is at play in this image from Mars Express, which shows part of Tempe Fossae, a series of faults that cuts across the region of Tempe Terra in Mars' northern highlands.

Upon first glance, it is difficult to tell if ground is rising up, sinking down, or a mix of both. The landscape here is scratched, scored, and wrinkled: ridges slice across the frame, interspersed with the odd impact crater, and the entire region is full of cliffs and chasms.

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Mind-blowing photo series of Mars surface published by Nasa – revealing stunning alien landscapes

Snapped by a Nasa probe orbiting the Red Planet, the pictures show some of the breathtaking scenery of Earth's mysterious neighbour.

* * *

In one photo, cascading sedimentary rock is pictured in stunning orange and blue at the Meridiani Planum region, near the Martian equator.

In another, a topographical heat map of the planet's surface reveals the many hills and craters that dot its barren landscape.

One snap even shows Curiosity - Nasa's $2billion rover that has roamed the planet since 2012 - trundling across Martian soil on one of its missions.

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Publisher: The Sun
Date: 2020-05-14T11:30:04 00:00
Author: https www facebook com thesunstuff
Twitter: @thesun
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Your salad, grown on Mars, may soon be a reality - world news - Hindustan Times

New insights released on Friday show that plant seeds taken to Mars on the International Space Station (ISS) and spent six months there grow only slightly slower when back on Earth, raising the prospect of growing food on the red planet.

Two kg of rocket seeds were on board the ISS with British European Space Agency astronaut, Tim Peake, as part of his Principia mission. They absorbed up to 100 times more radiation than on Earth and were subjected to intense vibrations from the stresses and strains of space travel.

Publisher: Hindustan Times
Date: 2020-05-15T17:30:57 05:30
Twitter: @httweets
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Other things to check out:

NASA Perseverance Mars Rover Scientists Train in the Nevada Desert – NASA's Mars Exploration

Rather than bringing a car-sized rover, the seven field team members stood in for it. Wielding cameras and portable spectrometers during simulated operations spread out over a two-week period, they received instructions from the scientists located elsewhere, just as the rover will after it lands on Feb. 18, 2021.

Like all Mars rovers, Perseverance will be run by a distributed team of scientists and engineers — some located in the operations center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which leads the new mission, and some located at research institutions around the world. They will discuss where to go, which samples to study, and — for the first time — which rocks to collect in metal tubes for eventual return to Earth for deeper study.

Publisher: NASA's Mars Exploration Program
Date: 2020-05-08 00:56:03 UTC
Author: mars nasa gov
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Sols 2763-2764: Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is Getting Ready – NASA's Mars Exploration Program

There was a hiccup with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument in Monday’s plan preventing it from running the “preconditioning” steps to get ready for sample analysis, but after studying the issue the SAM team says that everything looks ok. So, we’re planning to try again with SAM preconditioning on the afternoon of sol 2763, so that we can go ahead with a SAM analysis of the "Glasgow" drill sample over the weekend.

These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public.

Publisher: NASA's Mars Exploration Program
Author: Ryan Anderson
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NASA starts packing Mars rover Perseverance ahead of July launch | Space

NASA continues to gear up for the launch of its next Mars rover, which is now just over two months away.

Engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida have begun stacking the Perseverance Mars rover and its associated hardware in the right configuration for liftoff, which will occur during a three-week window that opens on July 17.

The stacking process began on April 23, NASA officials said. On that day, the car-size rover was integrated with its "sky crane" descent stage, which will lower Perseverance to the Martian surface on cables. (This sci-fi-seeming strategy already has one successful touchdown under its belt — the landing of Perseverance's predecessor, the Mars rover Curiosity , in August 2012.)

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-08T17:50:39 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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NASA's bold Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, could open the skies on other worlds - CNET

CNET science editor Jackson Ryan breaks down how the high-risk, high-reward technology demonstration could change the way we learn about worlds beyond our own.

NASA hopes Ingenuity will become the first example of powered flight on another planet. It won't be easy considering how different conditions on Mars are from Earth.

Perseverance and its chopper buddy are prepared to launch as early as July for a scheduled Mars arrival in February 2021. Does Mars have friendly skies? Hopefully, we'll find out next year.

Publisher: CNET
Author: Amanda Kooser
Twitter: @CNET
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A Black Hole’s Boomerangs - The New York Times

Astronomers have deciphered the dynamics of yet another great trick that monster black holes can play.

In many galaxies, jets of energy are squeezed outward by the black hole that lurks at the center, and go shooting off in opposite directions into space.

But in a few bizarre-looking galaxies, the jets take the form of four beams in the shape of an X. Now, radio astronomy observations have shown how that happens.

Astronomers have no trouble understanding how black holes — objects so dense that not even light can escape the tombstone grip of their gravity — can become the most luminous objects in the universe, powering quasars. The pressure in the fat, fiery swirl of doom that surrounds a black hole expels high-energy particles from the top and bottom of the doughnut.

Date: 2020-05-14T09:00:26.000Z
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Other things to check out:

New Possible Explanation of Strange Black Hole Merger Revealed

In addition, the discovery paper (released in Australia on April 19, 2020) reported that at least one of the merging black holes had to be spinning: rotating around its axis. However, gravitational waves do not allow accurate measurement of individual spins.  Only a specific spin combination can be measured. Therefore, to infer individual spins, assumptions must be made based on scientific models.

Within 24 hours of the discovery’s announcement, OzGrav Chief Investigator Ilya Mandel, from Monash University, and collaborator Tassos Fragos, from the University of Geneva, wrote a follow-up paper which has just been accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Publisher: SciTechDaily
Date: 2020-05-12T04:33:24-07:00
Author: Mike O
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The Mystery of a Strange X-Galaxy Powered by a Monster Black Hole Is Finally Solved

A team of US and South African researchers has published highly detailed images of the largest X-shaped "radio galaxy" ever discovered – PKS 2014-55.

* * *

The spectacular new images were taken using the 64-antenna MeerKAT telescope in South Africa, by an international research team led by Bill Cotton of the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Our research team also took detailed images of galaxy PKS 2014-55 last year, as part of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe project led by astrophysicist Ray Norris . We used CSIRO's Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope in Western Australia, which just completed its first set of pilot astronomical surveys.

Publisher: ScienceAlert
Author: Baerbel Koribalski The Conversation
Twitter: @ScienceAlert
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Nearest-Known Black Hole Discovered, Inviting Refresher on Black Holes

According to NPR, the black hole was found by astronomers at the European Southern Observatory. “They found it hiding in a double-star system known as HR 6819, where scientists say the black hole—rendered effectively invisible by gravity so strong that even light cannot escape—revealed itself in the curious orbit of the star nearer the center of the system,” the article said.

“The black hole is not anywhere near close enough for the average observer on Earth to feel its effects. But it is close enough that, during winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the two stars that are believed to compose its solar system can be seen without a telescope as a single point of light in the constellation Telescopium.”

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Publisher: The Great Courses Daily
Date: 2020-05-14T13:30:00 00:00
Twitter: @TheGreatCourses
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And here's another article:

Three Million Light-Year Long Bridge Between Two Galaxy Clusters Warped by Supermassive Black Hole

A composite view of the Abell 2384 system, comprising two galaxy clusters located 1.2 billion light years from Earth.

Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the Universe held together by gravity. They contain hundreds or thousands of galaxies, vast amounts of multi-million-degree gas that shines brightly in X-rays, and enormous reservoirs of unseen dark matter.

The system portrayed in these images, called Abell 2384, is located 1.2 billion light years from Earth and comprises an overall mass of over 260 trillion times the mass of the Sun. In this case, the two galaxy clusters collided and then passed through each other, releasing a flood of hot gas from each cluster that formed an unusual bridge between the two objects.

Publisher: SciTechDaily
Date: 2020-05-12T13:34:44-07:00
Author: Mike O
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A small black hole at a small distance | Deccan Herald

Right from the day the word 'black hole' was coined, people have been looking at the cosmic phenomenon as a mysterious monster, just waiting to swallow everything near it. Science fiction movies and books also created an atmosphere of fear. The relief, however, came when we took a closer look at the numbers, the mass, the distance - all running to nine or ten digits. Then there were estimates about how close a black hole should be for us to really worry about it. The answer: thirty light

And we now know there are no such "monsters" within this distance, near the earth. This also implies that there are no black holes at a "respectable" distance to be seen by a common person, or even astronomers and theoreticians.

Publisher: Deccan Herald
Date: 2020-05-13T15:48:02 05:30
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The Closest Black Hole Is 1,000 Light-Years Away - Eos

Supermassive black holes—millions or even billions of times more massive than the Sun—anchor the centers of most galaxies. But smaller black holes, at just a few solar masses, should theoretically pepper galaxies in droves. A few hundred candidates have been found in the Milky Way. Now researchers have spotted another one of these stellar mass black holes, and it holds a special honor: It's the closest black hole to Earth yet discovered.

It's much harder to spot the many black holes that aren't consuming matter—they don't produce X-rays. But sometimes the universe aligns itself just right to reveal these wallflower black holes. That's what Rivinius and his collaborators found when they examined HR 6819, a seemingly ordinary pair of stars about 1,000 light-years away in the constellation Telescopium.

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Publisher: Eos
Twitter: @AGU_Eos
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This Star Survived Being Swallowed by a Black Hole | HowStuffWorks

If you get into a cage match with a black hole , well, it won't be pretty. That's one of the universe's defining traits – black holes have such an immense gravitational pull that they can swallow stars whole. Except, one lucky star managed to escape a black hole's wrath, at least for a moment.

Still, the black hole's immense mass (about 400,000 times that of our sun) and gravitational pull has caused the star to be stuck in an elliptical orbit around it. Originally a red giant, the star's hydrogen-rich outer layers have been stripped by the black hole, leaving just a helium-rich core (called a white dwarf ). It orbits the black hole once every nine hours, and as pieces are stripped away, they blend with other material circling the black hole.

Publisher: HowStuffWorks
Date: 2020-05-04T08:00:06-04:00
Author: https www howstuffworks com about author htm
Twitter: @howstuffworks
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Happening on Twitter

Thursday, May 14, 2020

See Mars meet the last-quarter moon in the predawn sky Friday | Space

Mars and the moon will meet up in the early morning sky on Friday (May 15). If you're up at least an hour before sunrise, you can spot the pair huddled together just above the southeast horizon.

The last-quarter moon will be in conjunction with the Red Planet, meaning they will share the same celestial longitude, tonight (May 14) at 10:02 p.m. EDT (0202 GMT on May 15). At that time, the moon will be 2.75 degrees to the south of Mars. (For reference, 10 degrees is about as wide as your fist held at arm's length.)

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-14T22:12:30 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Check out this next:

Mars and the moon will appear 'tangled' on May 14 as Earth's satellite enters its last quarter

In a world full of disheartening events, one wondrous cosmic display is set to take place Thursday morning that is sure to lift our spirits.

Just before sunrise on May 14, the moon will be entering its last quarter phase and appear 'tangled' with Mars.

Although the pair will appeared next to each together, Mars is 425 times further from Earth than its natural satellite that is at a distance of 247,000 miles.

The closest pass between Mars and the last quarter moon will happen around 10pm EST Wednesday, when both are still below the horizon – but will only be visible in the pre-dawn sky.

Publisher: Mail Online
Date: 2020-05-13T22:39:38 0100
Author: Stacy Liberatore
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New image captures 'impossible' view of the moon's surface | Space

According to photographer Andrew McCarthy, who posted the stunning image to his Instagram in April, there's a simple explanation for the unprecedented level of detail in his work — this lunar view is actually "impossible."

"This moon might look a little funny to you, and that's because it is an impossible scene," McCarthy wrote on Instagram. "From two weeks of images of the waxing moon, I took the section of the picture that has the most contrast … aligned and blended them to show the rich texture across the entire surface."

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-08T11:53:02 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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Future Mars and moon rovers may paddle their way out of sand traps | Space

In 2015, for example, engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston built a prototype rover for the agency's Resource Prospector lunar-exploration project. This 660-lb. (300 kilograms) robot, called Resource Prospector 15 (RP15), could lift and sweep its four wheels, allowing it to crawl when rolling alone would not suffice.

* * *

The Resource Prospector project was cancelled in 2018 . But a team of researchers from JSC and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) recently took a new look at the RP15 and its novel locomotory strategies.

Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-13T18:14:42 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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See the moon near Jupiter and Saturn in the predawn sky Tuesday | Space

Early-bird skywatchers have a chance to can see the moon swing by two bright planets in the predawn sky on Tuesday (May 12).

The waning, gibbous moon will meet up with the planets Jupiter and Saturn , and you can catch the celestial trio above the southern horizon just before they fade into the daylight.

Over the course of the next few days, the moon will scoot eastward in the morning sky. On Tuesday, it will be in the constellation of Sagittarius (the archer), along with Jupiter. By Wednesday, it will be in the constellation Capricornus (the sea goat), where Saturn is currently located, and by Friday morning the moon will be snuggling up to Mars in the constellation Aquarius (the water bearer).

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Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-11T22:25:04 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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The full moon reminds me | Tri City Times

Moonlight cast mullion shadows upon my bedroom floor. The Man in the Moon had sneaked up on me again.

Thirty-one years sleeping in the same place, I've learned lunar cycles from my southward view. Yet, somehow I'd lost track of the moon's waxing and waning.

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For the previous day under the shade of our solitary crabapple tree, Mary Ellen and I knelt in my perennial island.

"If these pests return next spring, I promise to incinerate them with one of those flame weeders. We have better things to do with our time," I said.

Author: Iris Lee Underwood
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This "All Terminator" Image of the Moon isn't Actually Possible to See.

“This moon might look a little funny to you, and that’s because it is an impossible scene,” wrote photographer Andrew McCarthy on Instagram.

He was talking about his other-wordly, almost Shakesperean image of the Moon. And that’s because this is an ‘all-terminator’ image.

The terminator is the line between light and dark—or day and night—on the Moon. (Or on any other body.) At that edge, everything is lit up and sharp detail comes into view. The light from the Sun creates elongated shadows at the terminator, and features like craters pop into view. If you have an opportunity to look at the Moon through a telescope, you’ll see for yourself.

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Publisher: Universe Today
Date: 2020-05-13T15:05:13-04:00
Author: https www facebook com evan gough 3
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The moon isn't 'dead': Ridges on lunar surface show signs of recent tectonic activity | Space

The moon isn't "dead" after all. Newly discovered ridges on the moon's surface are leading scientists to think that the moon might have an active tectonic system.

Using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), researchers have discovered a number of ridges with exposed bedrock, free of lunar regolith , or powdery lunar "soil," spread across the moon's nearside surface. These ridges, speckled with boulders, could be evidence that, not too long ago, tectonic activity broke apart the moon's surface.

Publisher: Space.com
Date: 2020-05-04T11:53:13 00:00
Author: https www facebook com spacecom
Twitter: @SPACEdotcom
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