A Galaxy Deeper Back in Time

Data from the Webb Space Telescope has only gotten into the hands of astronomers over the last few weeks, but they've been waiting for years for this, and apparently had analyses set to go. The result has been something like a race back in time, as new discoveries find objects that formed ever closer to the Big Bang that produced our Universe. 

Last week, one of these searches turned up a galaxy that was present less than 400 million years after the Big Bang. This week, a new analysis has picked out a galaxy as it appeared only 233 million years after the Universe popped into existence.

The discovery is a happy byproduct of work that was designed to answer a more general question: How many galaxies should we expect to see at different time points after the Big Bang?

Back in time
As we mentioned last week, the early Universe was opaque to light at any wavelengths that carry more energy than is needed to ionize hydrogen. That energy is in the UV portion of the spectrum, but the red shift caused by 13 billion years of an expanding Universe has shifted that cutoff point into the infrared portion of the spectrum. 

To find galaxies from this time, we have to look for objects that aren't visible at shorter infrared wavelengths (meaning that light was once above the hydrogen cutoff), but do appear at lower-energy wavelengths.

The deeper into the infrared the boundary between invisible and visible is, the stronger the redshift, and the more distant the object is. The more distant the object, the closer in time it is to the Big Bang.  READ MORE...

Modeling Muscles

 

$2,000 Chinese Electric Mini Pickup

Last year I found an awesome-looking electric mini-truck on a Chinese shopping website and decided I simply had to have it. With a $2,000 sticker price, I figured it was risky, but that I wouldn’t lose the farm if the transaction went tires up. And so I embarked on one of the weirdest vehicle purchases of my life.


China’s little electric vehicles
I’ve spent years watching the Chinese electric vehicle industry develop. I’m not talking about the Tesla imitators and other mainstream Chinese EVs. I’m talking about the quirky, weird, and funny little mini-EV industry that has been absolutely dominated by China.

Not only do I write a fun tongue-in-cheek column every weekend tracking the silliest of these mini-EVs, but sometimes I even put my own skin in the game by buying the ones that I can’t resist or can hide from my wife.

First of all, this cute little thing turned into the electric truck that broke the internet. Millions of Electrek readers scrolled through to read about the experience. Millions more tuned in for the videos. I’m not quite sure what it is. Maybe the mini-truck size (it’s just under 5:8 scale, or 11 feet long compared to a Rivian at 18 feet). Maybe it’s the affordable price, as I could buy a garage full of these for the price of an F150 Lightning. But everyone seems to love the little electric truck, neighbors included!

Since then I’ve gifted the truck to my parents for use on their Florida ranch. There it serves all sorts of roles from garbage collection to landscaping duty. Stop by on the right day and you’ll see my dad toting his grandkids around hayride style in the back. The 25 mph (40 km/h) speed isn’t an issue for the type of off-road utility use my parents put it through.  READ MORE...

Young Bears

 

Flashy Bishop Robbed of ONE MILLION in Jewelry

A preacher known for his flamboyant lifestyle was robbed of more than $1m (£840,000) in jewellery during a livestreamed sermon in the city of New York.


Lamor Whitehead, 44, has vowed that the culprits "won't get away with it"


Among the items taken from the flashy, Rolls Royce-driving clergyman were Rolexes, diamonds and emeralds.


Police are still investigating the incident. No suspects have so far been named or apprehended.


In the video Mr Whitehead is heard asking "How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?" moments before several black-clad gunmen entered the church in Brooklyn.


It is not clear how many people were in attendance during the service.


"When I see them come into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody [to] get down, everybody just get down," he later said on Instagram.


"I didn't know if they wanted to shoot the church up or if they were just coming for a robbery."


According to Mr Whitehead, the masked thieves escaped in a Mercedes.


Following the robbery, the New York Post reported that the items taken from him and his wife included $75,000 Rolex and Cavalier watches, a $25,000 Episcopal ruby and diamond ring and a $25,000 pair of earrings - and even his wedding band.


"For you to kick in a church door and come with guns in the middle of service - what God is gonna do to y'all is above my paygrade,'' he said of the thieves on Instagram.


The BBC has reached out to Mr Whitehead for comment.  READ MORE...

The Dog Who Walks

 

Did You Know?

In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are 'limbs,' therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the expression, 'Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg.' (Artists know hands and arms are more difficult to paint)






*******
As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year (May and October) Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool. They couldn't wash the wigs, so to clean them they would carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term 'big wig.' Today we often use the term 'here comes the Big Wig' because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

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In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the wall, and was used for dining. The 'head of the household' always sat in the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair the 'chair man.' Today in business, we use the expression or title 'Chairman' or 'Chairman of the Board..'

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Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told, 'mind your own bee's wax.' Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term 'crack a smile'. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . Therefore, the expression 'losing face.'

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Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in 'straight laced'. . Wore a tightly tied lace.

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Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the 'Ace of Spades.' To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't 'playing with a full deck.'

*******

Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people considered important. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars. They were told to 'go sip some ale' and listen to people's conversations and political concerns.. Many assistants were dispatched at different times. 'You go sip here' and 'You go sip there.' The two words 'go sip' were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and, thus we have the term 'gossip.'

*******
At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in 'quarts,' hence the term minding your 'P's and 'Q's

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One more and betting you didn't know this!

In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon. However, how to prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round indentations.

However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make 'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts much more and much faster than iron when chilled.

Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.' (All this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't you.)

Window Floor

 

Will Pelosi Go To Taiwan?

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has confirmed a visit to Asia this week but questions remain over whether it will include a stop in Taiwan.

In a press release on Sunday, Pelosi said a delegation would travel to the Indo-Pacific “to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region”.

The delegation left Hawaii on Sunday and there will be stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. Pelosi said they would hold “high-level meetings” in those countries to discuss the advancement of “shared interests and values” including peace and security. The press release did not mention Taiwan.

Pelosi was supposed to visit Taiwan in April but the trip was postponed after she contracted Covid-19. Recent reports suggesting Pelosi intended to visit in August have angered Beijing and prompted threats of military countermeasures. Some analysts have said it is one of the most dangerous moments in cross-strait relations in decades.

China considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province destined for reunification, and strongly objects to all acts that appear to support Taiwan as an independent sovereign state. In a phone call lasting more than two hours, China’s president, Xi Jinping, warned Joe Biden over what he considers China’s “territorial integrity”. “Those who play with fire will perish by it,” Xi said.  READ MORE...

Dog Likes Cow

 

Asia Stops Buying Oil From Russia

Asia's biggest oil refiner has slashed its purchases of Russian crude this month as it was unwilling to pay higher prices other buyers elsewhere, were offering, Reuters reported.

China-based Sinopec has been the largest buyer of ESPO, a type of Russian crude, in the past two months, acquiring about 20 million barrels. 

But in July, the company is expected to snap up fewer cargoes after offering lower bids to Russian exporters.

"Sinopec may only lift a very small amount as their bids were too low for the Russians," a trade source told Reuters.

Sinopec bid for Russian crude at $20 a barrel below the price of the Middle East benchmark price for July cargoes, according to the outlet. 

Dubai-based trader Coral Energy, state-owned companies CNOOC, PetroChina and Shandong Port International Trade, however, outbid Sinopec for this month's shipments.  READ MORE...

String Mowing

 

Ancient Egyptian Foreign Mercenaries

A team of archaeologists from the Czech institute of Egyptology have unearthed a tomb in the Abusir necropolis, near to modern-day Cairo, Egypt.

The tomb belongs to an Egyptian dignitary named Wahibre-mery-Neith, who lived during the 26th or 27th Dynasty (5th century BC).

Inscriptions in the burial shaft describe him as a “Commander of Foreign Mercenaries”, suggesting that he supervised the mercenaries from the Aegean islands and Asia Minor.

The site was first excavated in 2021, where archaeologists found the largest ancient embalming cache in Egypt, containing 370 pottery storage jars that held materials used in the mummification of Wahibre-mery-Neith.

In the latest season of excavations, the team focused on the burial shaft and excavated 14 metres of material to a depth 6 metres below ground level. They found that the shaft was orientated east-west and measures approximately 6.5 by 3.3 metres.

At the bottom of the shaft the researchers found a double sarcophagus situated directly on a filling of sand, but discovered that the tomb had already been robbed in late antiquity during the 4th to 5th century AD (indicated by two early Coptic vessels found in the main shaft).

The outer sarcophagus is made of two massive blocks of white limestone that contains an inner sarcophagus made of basalt and is inscribed with the Book of the Dead, chapter 72, describing the resurrection of the deceased and his departure to the afterlife.  READ MORE...

Waves Shock Bird

 

Globally Weak Biden

 

Ever since the world witnessed President Biden's pitiful withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent subordination to Vladamir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, he has been given a weakened global status by the world leaders, especially from those who are relying on American support should they be attacked or invaded...  case in point - TAIWAN...

Xi Jinping of China has warned the US not to send Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan or the US will suffer serious consequences and if her aircraft is escorted by fighter jets to Taiwan then China will consider that an act of war...

Conveniently, President Biden's doctors have announced that his COVID symptoms have returned...  so, he will be able to blame COVID if he makes the wrong move...

Sadly last week, the Republicans WERE PLAYED by Manchin and the Democrats and a huge spending bill is about to become passed by the Senate...  Economists say that governments do not spend their way out of inflation...  and since Janet Yellen says we are not in a recession despite to quarters of economic downturns...  then spending will only worsen our already present inflation...  but, I am not an economist...

Back to Taiwan and Biden's approval rating among Americans and the rest of the world...

To say it sucks is an understatement.

Pelosi MUST visit Taiwan, especially after China gave us an ultimatum otherwise Biden will be China's pork belly pig for the next two years...

• Is Biden mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress?
• Is Kamala Harris mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress should Biden crap out physically?
• Is Nancy Pelosi mentally equipped to handle this kind of stress if DO NOTHING HARRIS cannot stop laughing?

This country could be in a world of hurt very shortly if our current administration makes the wrong moves here...

From The Back Porch

 

It has been a while since I had time to sit on my backporch and reflect upon the day in front of me...  and perhaps some of the days behind me are worth mentioning...  who knows?

I am a Tarheel born and raised but am completely partial to east Tennessee after living here for 32 years.  It don't make me a volunteer or nothing but I do like the area.

I am a retired educator who is also a veteran (not that it makes much difference other than having the "balls" to defend this country) and most of my days are spent in the quiet solitude of my own environment trying to pull thoughts out of my head that I use to write novels.

I flip flop on whether or not I should try and have them published but if I did, it would be through Amazon...  I write about 200 pages in MS Word (8X11 format) but I would have to reformat to 6X9 which would make them about 400 pages.  

I have found that it is not that difficult to write as novel... as much as it takes to edit the damn thing.  Editing is necessary but it really is a pain in the ass and seems like it takes more time than it does to write it...   of course, if I had the money I could just pay someone to do it for me.

And, I will do that once I make some money of my first one...   LOL there...

I seem to spend most of my time these days wondering what the hell is going through the minds of the Biden administration as some, if not all of their decisions for that last year and a have been dumb and dumber and whatever word comes after that last one...  dumbest...

While my wife and I have sufficient funds to withstand this inflation, it seems rather stupid to pay $2 more for a meal or a gallon of gasoline when we really did not need to...  just because those democratic assholes want to stop using fossil fuels... for gasoline...

And, I have checked into electric vehicles and you ain't really gonna save any money there because the charging fees are going to be very similar to our current gasoline prices...  plus the cost of the vehicle at $60,000+ is not the kind of money that most of us have lying around the house or under the mattress.

• Does the USA have the electric power grid strong enough to withstand everyone owning electric cars?
• Are there enough charging stations already constructed to meet the charging demand of electric cars?
• When the battery dies, there is no neutral gear to push the car off to the side of the road.

My other rather large concern are these damn ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS...  now, I am not opposed to people wanting to come to this country but if they are going to break the law to get here, how many laws are they going to break after they arrive?

• Illegal immigrants have no jobs
• Where are they going to live?
• How are they going to eat?
• How are they going to buy clothes?
• How are they going to pay for healthcare?
• How do they feed their babies and children?
• Do they even speak English?
• Have they been checked for diseases?
• Will they create slums here?

Inflation and Immigration are two key issues for me and that bother me on a daily basis and while neither of them are hurting my retirement they still are of concern.

America is a strange place...  we don't put up a traffic light at an intersection until several people have been killed.

Being patient does not always have positive results...

Planting Potatoes

 

Monkeypox is a Public Health Concern

(CNN) --  The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

The decision was announced Saturday morning after WHO convened its second emergency committee on the issue on Thursday.

“I have decided that the global monkeypox outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Saturday morning.

Tedros said while the committee was unable to reach a consensus, he came to the decision after considering the five elements required on deciding whether an outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.

He added that while he was declaring monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, “For the moment this is an outbreak that’s concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those who have multiple partners, that means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right right groups.”

WHO initially stopped short of declaring the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after its first emergency committee meeting on June 23. At the time, Tedros said the emergency committee advised that at the moment, “the event does not constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern” but acknowledged the “evolving health threat” that WHO would be following extremely closely.  READ MORE...

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

Develop the Growth Mindset

Illustration: Getty Images

Where success is concerned, growth and fixed mindset aren't an either/or proposition. Instead, you need a bit of both.

According to research on achievement and success by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, most people embrace -- whether consciously or not -- one of two mental perspectives where talent is concerned:

Fixed mindset: The belief that intelligence, ability, and talent are inborn and relatively fixed.

Someone with a fixed mindset might think, "Numbers have never been my thing... so I probably shouldn't try to start a business."

Growth mindset: The belief that intelligence, ability, and talent can be learned and improved with effort.

Someone with a growth mindset might think, you're likely to think things like, "I didn't do well in math in school, but with a little time and effort I can understand the financial side of running a business."

Clearly, embracing a growth mindset is advantageous.

Assume you are what you are, and you can't change what you are -- that you aren't smart, or aren't talented, or aren't a natural leader, etc. -- and when the going gets tough and you start to struggle, you almost immediately feel overwhelmed and even helpless, because what you "are" just isn't good enough.

So you stop trying. (Or you never started trying in the first place, because you assumed that you're just not cut out for whatever you imagined achieving.)

But here's the thing. While fixed and growth mindset are usually considered as opposites -- you possess either one or the other -- fixed and growth mindset are separate mindsets.

You can have both. In fact, you want to have both.  READ MORE...