Tuesday, January 4
Triassic Sea Monster
A sea monster that lived during the early dinosaur age is so unexpectedly colossal, it reveals that its kind grew to gigantic sizes extremely quickly, evolutionarily speaking at least.
The discovery suggests that such ichthyosaurs — a group of fish-shaped marine reptiles that inhabited the dinosaur-era seas — grew to enormous sizes in a span of only 2.5 million years, the new study finds.
To put that in context, it took whales about 90% of their 55 million-year history to reach the huge sizes that ichthyosaurs evolved to in the first 1% of their 150 million-year history, the researchers said.
"We have discovered that ichthyosaurs evolved gigantism much faster than whales, in a time where the world was recovering from devastating extinction [at the end of the Permian period]," study senior researcher Lars Schmitz, an associate professor of biology at Scripps College in Claremont, California, told Live Science in an email.
"We have discovered that ichthyosaurs evolved gigantism much faster than whales, in a time where the world was recovering from devastating extinction [at the end of the Permian period]," study senior researcher Lars Schmitz, an associate professor of biology at Scripps College in Claremont, California, told Live Science in an email.
"It is a nice glimmer of hope and a sign of the resilience of life — if environmental conditions are right, evolution can happen very fast, and life can bounce back." READ MORE...
A Real Life Warp Drive
A team of physicists has reported the accidental discovery of a real-world "warp bubble" whilst observing the structure of Casimir cavities – a small step towards building a potential warp drive.
The Debrief reports that Dr. Harold G. "Sonny" White and his team stumbled upon the existence of a warp bubble whilst conducting DARPA-funded research into Casimir cavities and the energy density present in those structures. White acknowledged the significance of the fluke findings but asserted that it was only a small step forward in regards to actually building a warp drive.
"Our detailed numerical analysis of our custom Casimir cavities helped us identify a real and manufacturable nano/microstructure that is predicted to generate a negative vacuum energy density such that it would manifest a real nanoscale warp bubble, not an analog, but the real thing," White explained in a statement to the publication.
He emphasized that the findings recorded by his Limitless Space Institute (LSI) team centered around "a real, albeit humble and tiny, warp bubble" as opposed to a warp bubble analog, and confirmed that the structure "predicts negative energy density distribution that closely matches requirements for the Alcubierre metric," hence the significance of the observation.
IGN previously referred to the Alcubierre metric and the possibility of warp drives becoming a reality, as Space.com noted that "a concept for a real-life warp drive was suggested in 1994 by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre; however, subsequent calculations found that such a device would require prohibitive amounts of energy." READ MORE...
Life's Little Ironies (Just Another Brick in the Wall)
Middle Class Americans and I am talking about those who earn an annual salary of somewhere between $35,000 to $60,000 and we could push that up to $75,000 or even $100,000 if you just focus on households and not necessarily individuals.
IRONY: the purchases of the Middle Class create the Millionaires and Billionaires in this great, full of opportunities America or USA which would be more accurate, since we have Central America and South America as well.
IRONY COROLLARY # 1: 80% of the population with create the wealth for 20% of the population.
It is not just the record that the middle class purchases, but it is:
- Concert Tickets
- Records/CD's/Downloads
- Musical Groups/Individuals Memorabelia
- Silver Screen Movie Tickets
- Professional Athletic Events
- Professional Athlete Memorabelia
- Painters, Sculpters, Print Makers, Photographers, etc.
- Fiction/Nonfiction Authors
IRONY COROLLARY #2: the middle class will continue to buy these songs about what if feels like to be poor from the Millionaires because their lyrics make them temporarily feel better even though their purchases simply make them wealthier.
Monday, January 3
Late Nite Cooking
Once a month, I go in for my IVIG infusion to strengthen my immune system and once a month I receive premeds that prevents me from going to bed and accomplishing my evening's goal of falling asleep, and every month I forget to take 2 benadryl in the early evening so I fall asleep somewhere around the time that I am supposed to fall asleep.
Once a month, I either watch something stupid on HULU or Netflix or Amazon Prime that I am not interested or I decide to get ahead on my blogs researching, writing, and then set a publishing date sometime in the future... But tonight, I decided to do neither of those activities after taking my 2 benadryl... instead, I decided to COOK... imagine that...Black Bean & Lentil Soup Without Diced Tomatoes
I measured out a cup of black beans and lentils and dumped them into our instant pot and after pouring in the required water, I closed the lid, set the device on top not to release the pressure and set the timer for 10 minutes.
During those 10 minutes, I cut up 2 onions, 1 pepper, and took our two frozen turkey burgers and placed them in a frying pan with olive oil and a generous amount of pepper. As the burgers cooked on one side, I would turn them over and scrap off the top cooked layer until there was nothing left to scrap off.
I poured in the diced onions and peppers and added a large tablespoon of minced garlic and put a lid overtop of the mixture so that greese would not splatter out and up onto our cabinets.
The beans cooked, I released the pressure and when it was safe to release the top, I did so and poured in the cooked mixture from the frying pan along with a can of diced tomatoes as I do not like big chunks of tomatoes in my soups.
Everything is pretty much cooked and chopped in around 15 minutes but I want to slow cook it for another hour for the juice to thicken while I wait for my 2 benadryls to complete their work on my body.
When that hour is completed, I will let the soup cooled down while I wash ewverything except for the inside liner pot of the instant pot. Once somewhat cooled, the soup is then ladled into 4-5 plastic containers (it usually fills after 3 ladles) and I have just cooked enough soup to last for 4-5 meals with each meal either 325 calories or less.
Bean and Lentil soup is an excellent source of protein, an excellent way to warm the body on a cold or chilly day, and an excellent way to maintain my blood sugar levels so that I am not always craving food. Actually the trick is to eat 5 small meals throughout the day or have some have suggested eat small portions every 3 hours. For me that would be at 9:00 am, noon, 3:00 pm, and 6:00 pm with maybe an apple or banana snack at 9:00 pm although it is not a good idea to eat anything after 7:00 pm.
A easy remedy for me would be to simply start my 3 hour meal plan at 10:00 am instead of 9:00 am.
IVIG Day
Every three weeks, I receive my IVIG infusion which lasts about 2 hours for the purpose of boosting my immune system which has been destroyed by my 13 years of cancer treatments... My port is accessed so an hour before the procedure, I put on some cream over the port which minimizes the pain of using a rather large needle.
I usually request an early morning time slot (7 or 7:30) so that I will be assured of finding a parking slot close by and don't mind paying the price of getting up early to have that opportunity. My drive is just under an hour, so I am up at 5:30 am.
However, this morning I was up at 3:30 because I woke up to pee and could not fall back to sleep, so I laid in the bed until 4:30 and when I looked outside saw that snow had fallen and remebered being told that we would be getting 3-5 inches.
As a result, I decided to leave the house 30 minutes early and if there were no problems, I did not mind waiting for 30 minutes in the car which is exactly what happened. The snow was falling so fast that at times, it was blinding but the road was clear because the temps were somewhere between 32 and 34 degrees which is not cold enough to do any damage, even if ice had fallen previously.
This was our first snow of the year, and I was the first patient to check in for 2022 whatever the hell that means or does not mean....
I have 3 weeks off until my next doctor's appointment...
China Surprises USA With Hypersonic Missiles
China’s recent test of a hypersonic missile – a weapon described as faster, more maneuverable and a greater threat to air-defense systems than a conventional intercontinental ballistic missile – has increased tension between the U.S. and China.
It’s “a very significant event of a test of a hypersonic weapon system, and is very concerning,” Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a Bloomberg TV interview Oct. 28. Milley's statement was the first official U.S. acknowledgement of the test.
Hypersonic missiles travel at Mach 5, five times the speed of sound while maneuvering in the atmosphere. That's faster than 3,800 mph. Ballistic missiles can reach 15,000 mph while ascending into space. Warheads travel at about 2,000 mph once they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
China's test in August was initially reported by the Financial Times on Oct. 16. The Times said the missile circled the Earth at a low altitude before descending to its target, which it missed by about 19 miles.
Trajectory of China's hypersonic and ballistic missiles
The test is significant because it shows China has made unexpected progress on its hypersonic weapons systems and may initiate a new arms race, the Guardian reported.
The test prompted comparison of a "Sputnik moment," an historical reference to the 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union. That was a shock to Americans who were forced to realize the U.S. was being challenged for technological superiority.
“I don’t know if it’s quite a Sputnik moment, but I think it’s very close to that. It has all of our attention,” Milley told Bloomberg.
However, it's not just the hypersonic vehicle and its maneuverability that has attracted attention, as Foreign Policy reports: It's how the vehicle entered orbit.
It used a version of the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, a low-orbit missile delivery method developed by the Soviets during the Cold War. A missile descending from low orbit gives less time to be detected.
That method of delivery also means the U.S. could be attacked by flights over the South Pole. American defense systems concentrate on missile attacks from the north. READ MORE...
Being Happier
Buying things won’t make you happier. But research shows that buying time can, as long as you do it the right way.
In 1930, the influential economist John Maynard Keynes assessed how technological and economic advances had reduced the number of hours the average person worked. He predicted that within two generations, most people would work only three hours a day.
Working hard wouldn’t be a problem. Filling all that free time would, for most people, be the problem.
While Keynes got a lot of things right, he swung and missed on that one. Technological advances have not freed up the average person’s time. Neither have broader economic advances.
Nor has increased wealth. In fact, some studies show that the more money people make, the less time they think they have.Add it all up, and money can’t buy you happiness.Unless, purposefully and consciously, you use a little money to buy a little time.
In a 2017 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers surveyed thousands of people who sometimes paid other people to perform tasks they didn’t enjoy or didn’t want to do. Like mowing the lawn. Or cleaning the house. Or running errands. Stuff they needed to do, but didn’t particularly want to do.
Unsurprisingly, people who were willing to spend a little money to buy a little time were happier and felt greater overall life satisfaction than those who did not.
Correlation isn’t always causation, though. Maybe the people who spend money to buy time are happier simply because they have the money to buy time?
Nope. While relatively wealthy people who spent money to buy a little time were happier than relatively wealthy people who did not, people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum who spent money to buy a little time were happier than those at the bottom end of the economic spectrum who did not. READ MORE...
In 1930, the influential economist John Maynard Keynes assessed how technological and economic advances had reduced the number of hours the average person worked. He predicted that within two generations, most people would work only three hours a day.
Working hard wouldn’t be a problem. Filling all that free time would, for most people, be the problem.
While Keynes got a lot of things right, he swung and missed on that one. Technological advances have not freed up the average person’s time. Neither have broader economic advances.
Nor has increased wealth. In fact, some studies show that the more money people make, the less time they think they have.Add it all up, and money can’t buy you happiness.Unless, purposefully and consciously, you use a little money to buy a little time.
In a 2017 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers surveyed thousands of people who sometimes paid other people to perform tasks they didn’t enjoy or didn’t want to do. Like mowing the lawn. Or cleaning the house. Or running errands. Stuff they needed to do, but didn’t particularly want to do.
Unsurprisingly, people who were willing to spend a little money to buy a little time were happier and felt greater overall life satisfaction than those who did not.
Correlation isn’t always causation, though. Maybe the people who spend money to buy time are happier simply because they have the money to buy time?
Nope. While relatively wealthy people who spent money to buy a little time were happier than relatively wealthy people who did not, people at the bottom end of the economic spectrum who spent money to buy a little time were happier than those at the bottom end of the economic spectrum who did not. READ MORE...
Most Important Archaelogical Discoveries in 2021
Every year, we delve back through our coverage to find the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the year, whether by a complete amateur, or as the result of years of careful study by a team of experts.
As always, archaeology news takes us around the globe and throughout the ages, from the earliest days of human history through to the contemporary era. Here are our picks for the 2021 archaeological stories worth revisiting.
Stonehenge Revelations
Stonehenge at sunrise in 2015. Photo by Freesally, public domain.
The ancient circle of stone monoliths on the U.K.’s Salisbury Plain is one of history’s most enduring mysteries. But while we may never fully understand this ancient structure, experts are learning more and more about it each year.
Thanks in no small part to the late Robert Phillips, a diamond cutter who made repairs to a fallen stone at the site in 1958, we now know that the massive monoliths are made from a nearly indestructible matrix of interlocking quartz crystals—which is why the monument has stood for millennia. Phillips drilled a three-and-a-half foot core sample during his work, which he was allowed to keep as a souvenir. He returned it in 2019, allowing scientists to conduct valuable testing on the stones, which are now protected under English heritage law and cannot be sampled.
This year also saw archaeologists discover a former stone circle in Wales that closely matches the dimensions of Stonehenge’s inner ring. That suggests that the site’s inner stone circle was originally erected 175 miles away and moved to Salisbury Plain—and carbon dating shows it was built 400 years before Stonehenge proper. If this all seems too unbelievable to be true, just wait: it perfectly matches a Stonehenge legend that Merlin stole the monument and moved it to England.
Original Flavor Pompeii—and a New Version in Egypt
The lost city discovered by archaeologists near Luxor in Egypt. Photo by Zahi Hawass, courtesy
As always, archaeology news takes us around the globe and throughout the ages, from the earliest days of human history through to the contemporary era. Here are our picks for the 2021 archaeological stories worth revisiting.
Stonehenge Revelations
Stonehenge at sunrise in 2015. Photo by Freesally, public domain.
The ancient circle of stone monoliths on the U.K.’s Salisbury Plain is one of history’s most enduring mysteries. But while we may never fully understand this ancient structure, experts are learning more and more about it each year.
Thanks in no small part to the late Robert Phillips, a diamond cutter who made repairs to a fallen stone at the site in 1958, we now know that the massive monoliths are made from a nearly indestructible matrix of interlocking quartz crystals—which is why the monument has stood for millennia. Phillips drilled a three-and-a-half foot core sample during his work, which he was allowed to keep as a souvenir. He returned it in 2019, allowing scientists to conduct valuable testing on the stones, which are now protected under English heritage law and cannot be sampled.
This year also saw archaeologists discover a former stone circle in Wales that closely matches the dimensions of Stonehenge’s inner ring. That suggests that the site’s inner stone circle was originally erected 175 miles away and moved to Salisbury Plain—and carbon dating shows it was built 400 years before Stonehenge proper. If this all seems too unbelievable to be true, just wait: it perfectly matches a Stonehenge legend that Merlin stole the monument and moved it to England.
Original Flavor Pompeii—and a New Version in Egypt
The lost city discovered by archaeologists near Luxor in Egypt. Photo by Zahi Hawass, courtesy
of the Center for Egyptology.
Do the discoveries ever seem to stop in Pompeii? A newly excavated thermopolium, a kind of Roman fast food restaurant, began welcoming visitors this summer. Archaeologists were able to identify the space in part because it was decorated with frescoes featuring some popular ingredients in Pompeii cuisine, such as roosters.
Other Pompeii finds this year included an intact chariot, slaves’ quarters, and evidence of thriving Greek theater scene.
But Pompeii isn’t the only ancient city found nearly intact. In fact, a smaller “mini” Pompeii was found hidden beneath vines in Verona by construction workers. And in Egypt, another wellspring of ancient treasures, 2021 saw what’s being hailed as the nation’s most significant discovery since Howard Carter uncovered King Tut’s golden tomb nearly a century ago: the abandoned city of Luxor.
The city was a royal metropolis outside the city of Thebes built by Tutankhamun’s grandfather, King Amenhotep III. His son, Akhenaten, appears to have abandoned the city when he started a new religion worshipping only the sun god, Aten. READ MORE...
Do the discoveries ever seem to stop in Pompeii? A newly excavated thermopolium, a kind of Roman fast food restaurant, began welcoming visitors this summer. Archaeologists were able to identify the space in part because it was decorated with frescoes featuring some popular ingredients in Pompeii cuisine, such as roosters.
Other Pompeii finds this year included an intact chariot, slaves’ quarters, and evidence of thriving Greek theater scene.
But Pompeii isn’t the only ancient city found nearly intact. In fact, a smaller “mini” Pompeii was found hidden beneath vines in Verona by construction workers. And in Egypt, another wellspring of ancient treasures, 2021 saw what’s being hailed as the nation’s most significant discovery since Howard Carter uncovered King Tut’s golden tomb nearly a century ago: the abandoned city of Luxor.
The city was a royal metropolis outside the city of Thebes built by Tutankhamun’s grandfather, King Amenhotep III. His son, Akhenaten, appears to have abandoned the city when he started a new religion worshipping only the sun god, Aten. READ MORE...
Sunday, January 2
Our Global Community
Average Global Individual Income is less than $20,000/year
9.5% of the Global Population live in extreme poverty of $1.90/day
400 Million people in the world lack access to basic healthcare
20% of the Global Population lack access to adequate housing
Less than 20% of the Global Population live in a free country
8.4% of the Global Population live in a full democracy
56 million global individuals have a net worth of over $1,000,000
How does that make you feel?
In other words does any of this data bother you at all?
Are you just glad that none of this data pertains to you?
I have lived in the USA for 70 years and lived in Cairo, Egypt for 4 years and the quality of life is substantially different in each of those 2 locations... most of us take for granted life in the USA with our access to damn near anything that we want, when we want it...
Perhaps this is a naive point-of-view, but shouldn't life be about human beings taking care of human beings?
Shouldn't those that have give to those that don't have... but, that is not to say that those people to whom we are giving simply stop trying because we are giving to them... that is a mentality that is unacceptable...
Most of the people that HAVE do not want to share what they have with those who HAVE NOT...
Not only do we have these basic problems globally, but we still have wars and conflicts because stronger people want to take away from weaker people which is how the animals in nature live... or is it?
Do the animals in nature KILL for pleasure and because they are stronger or do they kill to survive?
Some of us believe in God...
Some of us believe that God is an extraterrestrial...
Some of us believe that extraterrestrials visited earth and share their knowledge with us to help us evolve faster...
Some of us believe that extraterrestrials will return one day to see how we have evolved...
Are these extraterrestrials only going to be concerned with those that HAVE or will they look at how we treated each other???
My 2022 Resolutions
I have decided that for 2022, I will make he following resolutions but not necessarily listed in rank order of importance:
1. Maintain a average daily calorie intake of no more than 1,600 calories...
2. Be more tolerant of my relatives...
3. Not become obessess with stupid, liberal politics...
4. Exercise 3 times each week for at least 30 minutes...
5. Accept people for who they are not necessarily what I think they should be...
6. Shower and Shave every other day...
7. Stop biting my fingernails...
8. Be more tolerant of the LGBTQ+ people...
Saturday, January 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)