The Big Bang Means Something Different Now

If there’s one hallmark inherent to science, it’s that our understanding of how the Universe works is always open to revision in the face of new evidence. 

Whenever our prevailing picture of reality — including the rules it plays by, the physical contents of a system, and how it evolved from its initial conditions to the present time — gets challenged by new experimental or observational data, we must open our minds to changing our conceptual picture of the cosmos. 

This has happened many times since the dawn of the 20th century, and the words we use to describe our Universe have shifted in meaning as our understanding has evolved.

Yet, there are always those who cling to the old definitions, much like linguistic prescriptivists, who refuse to acknowledge that these changes have occurred. 

But unlike the evolution of colloquial language, which is largely arbitrary, the evolution of scientific terms must reflect our current understanding of reality. 

Whenever we talk about the origin of our Universe, the term “the Big Bang” comes to mind, but our understanding of our cosmic origins have evolved tremendously since the idea that our Universe even had an origin, scientifically, was first put forth. 

Here’s how to resolve the confusion and bring you up to speed on what the Big Bang originally meant versus what it means today.  READ MORE...

Hungry Fish

 

FOX News - Most Watched by Americans

 Why?

It may be because Fox News presents more truthful news than the other media outlets...

We know that ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN are not talking about what is happening at our Southern Borders...  about all the illegal immigration and illegal drugs that are coming across the border...

We know that ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN have been reporting that the Hunter Biden Laptop Story was MISINFORMATION...  when in reality it was not and even Zuckerberg now has admitted that the FBI asked him to present it as misinformation...

We watch FOX News because we want news that is not just truthful but news that is not censored...

FOX News is reporting that the FBI has been politicized by the Democratic Party especially with the raid at Mar-a-largo in the hopes that it would prevent Trump from running for President in 2024...  This sounds like the same kind of shit that countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran like to do in their countries...

So, is the USA trying to become like them now???

What is TRUTH?

The truth is what we believe and we believe it because someone said it is the truth.  But, just because they said it was the truth does not necessarily make it the truth.

Former President Trump was accused of colluding with the Russians and the Democrats said that was the truth...  and, the mainstream media reported it as being the truth...

But, once Trump left office, we found out that this truth was in fact a lie and not the truth at all.

Facebook reported last year that the story about Hunter Biden's Laptop was not the truth that is was misinformation.  the mainstream media again reported that the Hunter Biden Laptop story was not the truth.

A year later, we find out that the Hunter Biden Laptop was the truth and Facebook said that the FBI suggested that they report it as misinformation so that people would believe it was not the truth.

If our leaders are not telling us the truth then who are we going to believe?

today's lie is tomorrow's truth and today Truth is tomorrow's lie. 

This is how we now must live our lives.

Sunday Morning

 

It is a no-brainer that Sunday comes around once a week, but the question is this:

Is Sunday the beginning of the week or the ending of the week?

Not that it makes any difference but it is a curious question.

I personally favor the ending of the week but what the hell do I know?

Sundays in the Valley

Not really a whole lot to do actually outside of going to Church in the morning.  But then there is going out to lunch which is fine as long as you go before Church gets out...  After that, it is all up for grabs:

• Stay at home
• go to a movie
• go to the mall
• go to the park
• go to the lake
• visit with friends

I suppose it is this way everywhere as the Valley is no different than anywhere else...

Still,

the valley is different...

It is not like the city nor is it like the country except that there is lots of land around everywhere...  and, not all of it is being farmed or cultivated for suburban communities.

Maybe,

It is all the lakes and parks that we have that are not necessarily found in other areas of this state or other states for that matter.

Maybe,

it is all the walking trails that we have that are available to exercise, leisure, or serious hiking and camping.

Maybe,

it is all the farmer's markets that we have selling homegrown fruits and vegetables that are better than store bought.

Being retired,

the Valley suits my LAZY ASS ATTITUDE as I drift in and out of consciousness on my back porch sitting in one of them thar lounge chairs we purchased from Wally World.

I look out my suburban house window out into the field across the street and I see a family of deer just slowly walking around as if they have nothing to fear...

Deer are beautiful creatures and it is very enjoyable to watch them.  

From my back porch, I can see hummingbirds swarming around our feeders...  I can see squirrels and rabbits scampering from one side of the yard to the other side...  I suppose just to see if they can go there...

And, there are all kinds of birds that fly around and into the trees that are in our yard...  Ironically, we planted trees in our yard 20 years ago while our neighbors cut all of their trees down...  now they complain they have no animals to look at.

Our Valley is not for everyone.  It may be too slow of a lifestyle for most people who are used to the fast pace of the city.  The only fast pace I see in the city is dodging cars as you try to cross.

Did You Know?

That working out in a gym is not really going to help you lose weight...

This is a NO SHIT statement!!!

The only way that you are going to lose weight is to EAT LESS...

I mean we have diets that have you counting FAT GRAMS and then there are diets that have you counting CARBOHYDRATES and there are other diets that have you counting CALORIES...

These are all bullshit...

Just eat less.

In fact, many nutritionalists say you should eat 5 small meals a day and while that is fine, they don't really define small.

Others say your plate should be divided this way:

• 1/4 for meat
• 1/4 for starch (rice or potato for example)
• 1/2 for vegetables

NOTE: the meal is considered to be 4 oz and the starch is considered to be 1 cup or less...

I have also heard from some specialists that you should drink 8 ounzes of water before each meal so you won't eat that much.

But first you have to admit that there is a reason and a need for you to lose weight otherwise all you are doing is spitting in the wind and fooling yourself that you are serious.

And, the whole deal is up to you...  

Are you determined?

Are you disciplined?

Are you serious?

August is Dying Quickly

The month of August is rapidly coming to a close...  after today, there are only 3 more days left and then we open up the month of September and while the temps are still like summer, we are heading into the fall and more than likely a cold winter...

I saw a woolly bear today while I was walking and tried to remember what my grandmother said about it being a precursor for a hard or mild winter...

Woolly Bear Folklore:

According to folklore, the amount of black on the woolly bear in autumn varies proportionately with the severity of the coming winter in the locality where the caterpillar is found. The longer the woolly bear's black bands, the longer, colder, snowier, and more severe the winter will be. Similarly, the wider the middle brown band is associated with a milder upcoming winter. The position of the longest dark bands supposedly indicates which part of winter will be coldest or hardest. If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold. In addition, the woolly bear caterpillar has 13 segments to its body, which traditional forecasters say correspond to the 13 weeks of winter.

Personally, I don't think much of folklore although at times it seems to be a pretty good predictor...  still...  folklore is folklore...  is it not?

What I do know...  is that for the past several years, the months of September, October, November, and December in the Valley have been relatively mild temperature wise and that January, February, and March have been typically cold months with some years being colder than others...  

In this valley we can pretty much count on 12-15 weeks of cold weather before it feels like spring has returned and we can start wearing our tennis shoes and sandals again.  These 12-15 weeks can include December as well as April...  as winter tends to flip-flop once in a while.

Animal Bridge

 

Tracing Earth's Path Through the Galaxy

"To see a world in a grain of sand," the opening sentence of the poem by William Blake, is an oft-used phrase that also captures some of what geologists do.




We observe the composition of mineral grains, smaller than the width of a human hair. Then, we extrapolate the chemical processes they suggest to ponder the construction of our planet itself.

Now, we've taken that minute attention to new heights, connecting tiny grains to Earth's place in the galactic environment.

Looking out to the universe
At an even larger scale, astrophysicists seek to understand the universe and our place in it. They use laws of physics to develop models that describe the orbits of astronomical objects.

Although we may think of the planet's surface as something shaped by processes entirely within Earth itself, our planet has undoubtedly felt the effects of its cosmic environment. This includes periodic changes in Earth's orbit, variations in the sun's output, gamma ray bursts, and of course meteorite impacts.

Just looking at the Moon and its pockmarked surface should remind us of that, given Earth is more than 80 times more massive than its gray satellite. In fact, recent work has pointed to the importance of meteorite impacts in the production of continental crust on Earth, helping to form buoyant "seeds" that floated on the outermost layer of our planet in its youth.

We and our international team of colleagues have now identified a rhythm in the production of this early continental crust, and the tempo points to a truly grand driving mechanism. This work has just been published in the journal Geology.  READ MORE...

Classic Sunday Morning Newspaper Cartoons

 

A Common Infection May Cause Cancer

A new study suggests that Clostridioides difficile is responsible for certain colorectal cancers.

According to data gathered by scientists at the Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the bacterial species Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, which is well known for causing serious diarrheal infections, may also cause colorectal cancer.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Cancer Discovery, may reveal another problematic role for this microbe, which causes over 500,000 infections annually in the United States, many of which are very challenging to treat.

“The uptick of individuals under age 50 being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in recent years has been shocking. 

We found that this bacterium appears to be a very unexpected contributor to colon malignancy, the process by which normal cells become cancer,” says Cynthia Sears, M.D., Bloomberg~Kimmel Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Researchers in the Sears Lab reported several years ago that more than half of colorectal cancer patients had bacterial biofilms — dense colonies of bacteria on the colon surface — while only 10% to 15% of healthy people without tumors had biofilms. 

However, one sample stood out to the researchers when they infected mice with biofilm samples originating from specific colorectal cancer patients because it significantly raised colorectal tumors in the mice. This slurry caused tumors in 85% of the mice, while in most controls, tumor development is less than 5%.  READ MORE...

Drummer

 

Medival Graves Found in Germany

Early medieval weapons and jewelry found in southwestern Germany near the Danube River. 

(Image credit: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the RPS / Yvonne Mühlei)

Archaeological treasures, including Stone Age pottery and medieval graves with swords and jewelry, have revealed a long history of human habitation near the Danube River in Germany.

At the site, in the Geisingen-Gutmadingen district of Tuttlingen, in southwestern Germany, archaeologists discovered one grave from the Neolithic, or Stone Age, that dates to the third millennium B.C. and contains distinctive pottery from the Corded Ware culture. They also found 140 early medieval graves, dating to between A.D. 500 and 600, that contain goods including swords, lances, shields, bone combs, drinking glasses and earrings.

"Our Gutmadingen district is probably much older than we previously assumed," Mayor Martin Numberger said in a statement. The district had previously been dated to 1273 based on the first written records of settlement there.

The finds were made by a team from archaeology firm ArchaeoTask GmbH in an area near the Danube river where a rainwater retention pond is planned. The Stone Age grave points to the presence of a The Corded Ware people, who are now known mostly for their pottery decorated by geometric lines formed by pressing cord into clay and leaving the impressions to dry. These people were probably pastoralists who kept animals such as cows and sheep, and some also practiced early farming of crops such as barley. Graves from this period are rare in southwestern Germany, according to local officials.

The early medieval graves date to the century after the end of the Western Roman Empire, which fell in 476 A.D. when the German warlord Odoacer deposed the Roman emperor Romulus Augustus. This period is part of what is known as the Migration Period, or the Völkerwanderung, when various tribes in Europe moved around, often conquering one another and pushing each other into new territories. Historians consider this period the transition between antiquity and the early Middle Ages.  READ MORE...

Pandas

 

What If?

If what you believed to be true, turned out not to be true, when would you want to know?

This should be a wake-up call if you don’t already know this.

A recent poll was conducted by a national polling outfit. Names don't matter. They are all the same. This one was "YouGov.” Results to these questions asked of average people on the street.

What percentage of the country is black? Answers 41% . . . Actual 12%. If you watch commercials, you will think it is 90%.

What percentage of marriages are mixed race? Answer 50% . . . Actual 8.4%. If you watch commercials, you will think it is 90%.

What percentage is "Latino?” Answers 39% . . . Actual numbers 19%.

How many families make more than $500,000 a year? Answers 26% . . . Actual figure 1%. We think a quarter of the country is rich.

What percent of Americans are vegetarians? Response? 30%… Actual 5%.

What percent of Americans live in NY City? Answers? 30% . . . Actual 3%.

What percentage of Americans are 'transgender? 22% . . . Actual number 0.5 % (People believe this BS!).

What percentage of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or something other than straight or heterosexual? Result? 30% . . . Actual 7.1%

So why do people have such inaccurate thoughts on these counts? THE MEDIA! The media run race, gender, and wealth stories constantly. Result? You are being brainwashed by the national left with the media. Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels would be proud if he had half the success.

Disney just went full-on "gender" They will no longer welcome guests with the traditional "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" Why? Because 1% of the population dictates to the other 99% (that would be the vast majority) and corporate America falls for it.

Regardless of what you think. Less than 20% of Americans use "Twitter" yet Twitter controls 80% of public opinion, why? The media.

Next time you are thinking Americans have changed and not in a good way, remember, it's fake. It's all a lie . . . Most people think just like you do but the media has brainwashed Americans with constant broadcasting of “LIES.”

Life is Just a Dream

 

I saw a man the other day and he was lying on the side of the road dying...  he wanted to know if I had faith and would I be willing to trade place with him...   I thought about his proposal for a while but by the time I was ready to give an answer, he was dead.  I walked home and thought about what had happened and why i had waited so long to give an answer...  and, then i realized that I had doubted my own faith and in so doing I allowed another man to die instead of myself...

A few minutes later, I woke up and remembered the dream and my hesitation and knew that my hesitation was intentional because I did not want to sacrifice my life for a stranger...  the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would not want to sacrifice my life for someone I knew either...  although, I am sure there might be a situation where I would change my mind.

My dream taught me two lessons:

1.  Dreams are not real

2.  Dreams are not precusors for reality

We may have families...  brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, neices, and nephews, and parents but we are not them and they are not us, we are uniquely individual and different.  And, to think we need to emulate others is a crazy waste of time as we will never be like them otherwise we would have already been like them and there would have been no need to think about a change.

We don't choose our lives...  our lives choose us...  we become that which we are supposed to have become whether we like it or not, and no matter how many choices we make.  We are what we always were intended to be and we got that way by living minute to minute so the speak and simply letting it unfold around us.

Time leaves us aging, growing old gradually although the older we get the faster time moves by us and the closer we get to the person we were intended to be.

Sadly, we never take the time to think about this...  we just live life and try to enjoy it and forget the times when we were sad and lonely.  Oddly enough, we can be around people and still feel lonely and why we never realize this is beyond me.  

A Fishbowl of Ignorance

 

Who are you?

What kind of a person are you?

What are your thoughts...  fears... concerns?

What do you like/dislike?

Are you creative?

Are you imaginative?

What foods do you like?

What do you do on vacation?

Do you like animals?

Are you obsessed with sports?

Many of us spend our entire lives just living our lives without ever thinking about what kind of a person we are...  mainly because nobody gives a shit...  but, that does not mean that we should not think about it.  Our spouses sometimes want to know what kind of a person we are before they agree to marry us, but once the deed it done, they don't give a shit either...  they just live with us hoping we will show them a good time and help out with the finances.

We seem to be living life in a fish bowl of ignorance...  a fish bowl because most of us really do care about what others think of us and ignorance because we don't want to look out around us and see what is going on...  many of us don't even know who our current President is and what he is doing or if he is doing what we want him to do...  who really cares about anything outside of what we are currently doing?

I have neighbors on all sides of me and hardly ever see them and really cannot remember their names if they even shared them with me.  How many of you are in the same situation?

What we do

• You go to work and go home.
• You watch TV, listen to the radio or read a book.
• You go to bed and begin again the next day.
• On the weekends you might work in the yard.
• You might go to the store.
• You might go to church.
• You might go play golf or go fishing or shopping.
• You may drive your kids around to their activities.
• You may go out to dinner or visit with friends.
• You talk about what you do and the weather
• You don't talk about culture or global issues or work
• You drink alcohol, play pool or cards

The sad thing about all of this is that you let others do your thinking and consequently follow their advice - so in reality they are telling you what to do...  you are hollow inside and just do what you need to do to survive and get along...  never wanting to rock the boat or try to inact change.

You are a perfect citizen for the WEALTHY TO CONTROL...

Birds Above Water

 

Monks Riddled with Worms

A STUDY BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE HAS FOUND THAT MONKS WITHIN THE CAMBRIDGE AREA WERE ‘RIDDLED WITH WORMS’ DURING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD.

The population of medieval Cambridge consisted of residents of monasteries, friaries and nunneries of various major Christian orders, along with merchants, traders, craftsmen, labourers, farmers, and staff and students at the early university.

The study published in the International Journal of Paleopathology revealed that the monks were twice as likely as ordinary townspeople to have high levels of intestinal worms. This is despite most Augustinian monasteries having far better sanitary conditions, latrine blocks and handwashing facilities, compared to the dwellings or ordinary working people.

A possible explanation for the parasitic infection may be down to monks using their own faeces, fertilisers containing human fertiliser, or pig excrement for manuring their crops in the friary gardens.

Cambridge archaeologists investigated samples of soil taken from around the pelvises of adult remains from the former cemetery of All Saints by the Castle parish church, as well as from the grounds where the city’s Augustinian Friary once stood.

Most of the parish church burials date from the 12-14th century, and those interred within were primarily of a lower socio-economic status, mainly agricultural workers.

The Augustinian friary in Cambridge was an international study house, known as a studium generale, where clergy from across Britain and Europe would come to read manuscripts. It was founded in the 1280s and lasted until 1538 before suffering the fate of most English monasteries: closed or destroyed as part of Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Church.  READ MORE...

Collection Day