Morning Fog

Mar's Largest Mountain

We often marvel at the largest peaks that grace our planet—Everest, K2, Denali—but there is a mountain that dwarfs all these giants not just by a little, but by an astronomical margin. Olympus Mons, is the largest volcano in our solar system. It’s located not on Earth, but on Mars.

Olympus Mons stands at a staggering height of about 22 kilometers (13.6 miles) with a base diameter of approximately 600 kilometers (373 miles). 

To put that into perspective, Mount Everest, Earth’s highest peak at approximately 8.8 kilometers (5.5 miles), is nearly 2.5 times shorter than Olympus Mons. 

The sheer scale of this Martian giant is not just impressive in terms of its height but also in its volume and area. Olympus Mons covers an area similar to the size of Arizona or Italy!  READ MORE...

Revolution

 

Sunday Misc

Sunday May 19 OpEd

 

The Universe

 

First Prehistoric Monument Found

A team of French archaeologists have discovered a prehistoric site in the commune of Marliens, just 12 miles southeast of Dijon—the first of its kind to be found in France.

Researchers from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) excavated a 15-acre site with the remnants of numerous enclosures, all scattered with relics dating to disparate eras, from prehistory through the early Iron Age (1200–500 B.C.E.) “This type of monument seems unprecedented and currently no comparison has been possible,” Inrap said in a statement.

Excavations concluded in February. The most visually compelling subject the team is examining is a potentially prehistoric network of interlocking enclosures. The circular one in the center measures over 36 feet in diameter. It has a horseshoe-shaped enclosure jutting off over 26 feet to the north, as well as an open-ended southern appendage.       READ MORE...

Sweet Home Alabama

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> The 2024 WNBA season kicks off; see biggest storylines (More) | ... and season predictions (More) | NFL's regular season schedule released tonight (8 pm ET, NFL Network) (More)

> Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-winning short story writer, dies at 92 (More) | Filmmaker Roman Polanski acquitted in French court of defaming actress who accused Polanski of sexual assault (More)

> George Clooney to debut on Broadway in spring 2025 in stage adaptation of "Good Night, and Good Luck" (More) | Pop culture edition of "Jeopardy!" tapped for Amazon Prime Video (More)



Science & Technology
> Google reveals Project Astra, an AI-powered app that can answer queries based on an object in the camera's field of vision (More) | See all updates from Google I/O conference (More)

> Climate analysis finds 2023 was the warmest summer in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 2,000 years; tree ring analysis was used to supplement instrumental evidence, which dates back to 1850 (More) | How tree ring analysis provides climate data (More)

> Human embryos primarily develop from only one of two cells created during the first division of a fertilized egg, while the second cell develops into the yolk sac; discovery expected to help improve in-vitro fertilization treatments (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.3%, Nasdaq +0.8%) despite news of higher-than-expected wholesale prices in April, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell comments indicating interest rates to remain steady (More)

> Boeing allegedly violated a 2021 settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution over deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving its 737 Max aircraft, US Justice Department says in court filing (More)

> UK mining firm Anglo American plans to spin off or sell diamond company De Beers as it works to fend off $43B takeover bid from Australian rival BHP Group (More) | Walmart to lay off hundreds of corporate employees, require majority of remote workers to return to office most days (More)

SOURCE:  1440 News

Life's Been Good

 

I grew up (before high school) in Alexandria, Virginia - actually we lived 4 miles outside the city limits of Alexandria towards Mount Vernon.

There were several rural suburban communities around us that were separated by heavily wooded areas which made it perfect for young males.

There were two shopping centers on either side of our community about a half mile to a mile apart where we spent lots of our time in the drug stores drinking cherry cokes.  We would catch the bus into Alexandria to take in a movie, especially on Saturdays when they had cowboy movies in the morning.

High school was spent in Cairo, Egypt because my father worked for the American Embassy and when I graduated, there were only 28 students in our class from 14 different nationalities.  In the summers we would travel through Europe in groups buying Eurail passes for a month.

College was in North Carolina and after three years I left to join the military.  I joined the Navy Reserves, so my active-duty time was only two years, just like getting drafted.

After college, I worked locally until being offered an opportunity that could not be turned down in Tennessee and remained there ever since the relocation.  I prefer TN to NC because it is more akin to my simple lifestyle.

Kids today whether in Northern Virginia, the Piedmont of North Carolina, or the East Tennessee Valley, do not really have the same opportunities that we had in the 1950s and 1960s.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but what is different today than back then is that we spent most of our time outside - this is no longer done.

So far, we have not been bothered by ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, but I am sure that this will change very shortly.

Most of the people around us in our community are retired but the only time we see each other is if we happen to be outside at the same time.  We don't make a point of going over to each other's house.

Financially, my wife and I are secure for the rest of our lives even if inflation continues.  We are lucky in that regard as there are many others in East TN that are not that fortunate even though they are still working.  Mainly it is because of their lifestyles that they are not yet, willing to change or modify.

Each day above ground is a good day for us and we try to enjoy it as best we can.  We stay busy and seldom sit around with nothing to do, except maybe when we got out for lunch or dinner or go on vacation.

Speaking of vacation, we are currently in St. Agustine, Florida and while we have never been here before, it is nice, but we like Myrtle Beach, SC better.  Still, it is a vacation, and we are making the most of it.

Somewhat Political

 

AI Controlled Aircraft

The X-62A VISTA aircraft, an experimental AI-enabled Air Force F-16 fighter jet, takes off on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The flight, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall riding in the front seat, is serving as a public statement of confidence in the future role of AI in air combat. The military is planning to use the technology to operate an unmanned fleet of 1,000 aircraft. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall rode in the cockpit of a fighter jet on Friday, which flew over the desert in California and was controlled by artificial intelligence.

Last month, Kendall announced his plans to fly in an AI-controlled F-16 to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, while speaking about the future of air warfare being dependent on autonomously operated drones.

On Friday, the senior Air Force leader followed through with his plans, making what could be one of the biggest advances in military aviation since stealth planes were introduced in the early 1990s.      READ MORE...

Led Zeppelin

 

Creation

 

A Better SIRI is Coming

It would be easy to think that Apple is late to the game on AI. Since late 2022, when ChatGPT took the world by storm, most of Apple’s competitors have fallen over themselves to catch up. While Apple has certainly talked about AI and even released some products with AI in mind, it seemed to be dipping a toe in rather than diving in headfirst.


But over the last few months, rumors and reports have suggested that Apple has, in fact, just been biding its time, waiting to make its move. There have been reports in recent weeks that Apple is talking to both OpenAI and Google about powering some of its AI features, and the company has also been working on its own model, called Ajax.        READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Our New Society

Sometime between 2030 and 2050, not only with the USA change but the entire world is going to change.  This change will be dramatic and will be sustaining until the next big change comes along.

What is behind this change?

Technology...

More specifically, humanoid robots with artificial intelligence...

Robots will change:

• the way we work
• the way we live
• our transportation
• our safety and security
• our healthcare
• our education

Our military and the way we fight wars, if there are any wars, will be accomplished by robots.

Robots will be our doctors, teachers, drivers, and the workers in our factories.

Robots will drive our trains, pilot our aircraft, and our spacecraft.

Robots will build our colonies on Mars and other planets.

Sometime after 2030, there will be no more wars because there will be no need of wars.  The world will belong to its inhabitants, not to countries and their leaders.  All religions will be seen as historical myths that provided us with nice stories, lessons, and truths about the way we should live and treat each other.

All illegal drugs will be controlled by a world government so that anyone who wants to try can have the high without the fear of addiction or going into debt as EVERYTHING WILL BE FREE.

There will be no more Democracies, no more Dictatorships, no more Communism or Socialism - there will be one world government that represents everyone.

Robots will build robots, repair robots, update programs for robots, write and install algorithms, and perform the research to make robots even better than they were before.

There will be a group of people that want to live on earth, a group of people that want to live on Mars o other planets, and there will be a group of people that want to explore the VAST UNIVERSE.

THE ONLY OBSTACLE TO THIS TYPE OF GROWTH IN THE USA IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THAT WANTS TO PERPETUATE CAPITALISM...

Capitalism NO LONGER works for us.  It was great from WWI until the present time to build and rebuild the world, but its time has expired.

We don't need millionaires and billionaires to push us forward anymore.  We just need our government to provide for everything so that NO ONE is really anymore wealthy than someone else.  Everyone gets what they need to survive and live a quality of life.  If you want more, you give more but even that has its limits.

Boxes

 

Faberge Eggs

During the Easter celebrations of 1887, Russian emperor Alexander III presented his wife Marie Feodorovna with a jewel-covered Easter egg containing a ruby pendant. 

The egg, designed by the renowned jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé, was such a success with the imperial family that Fabergé went on to produce dozens more. By the turn of the century, his creation had become a symbol of Russian autocracy itself.

That same period also saw various revolutionary groups struggling to overthrow that autocracy. When one of these groups, Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks, took over the country in 1917, most of the Romanovs’ gold, jewels, and other treasure was confiscated and placed inside the Kremlin Armory. 

Although Lenin had authorized the doing away of the czar and his family, his appreciation for fine art prevented him from pawning or destroying their inheritance.   READ MORE...

Grand Funk Railroad