Monday, January 13
Negative Time
Negative time is a peculiar quirk of quantum mechanics, like the possibility of an object being in two places at one time (think: Schrodinger’s cat) or two particles existing in the same state when far apart (aka quantum entanglement). Quantum mechanics is the world of atoms, electrons, and photons and at times, can appear to be at odds with what we see in the world around us. As for negative time, it refers to a period of time that is less than zero.
The concept was explored earlier this year by scientists at the University of Toronto. As IFLScience reported at the time, researchers released a study on the preprint server arXiv (meaning it is yet to be peer-reviewed) that demonstrates how objects can emit light in so-called negative time. The piece of research involved looking at how long it takes a pulse of light to travel through a cloud of atoms.
As light passes through the cloud, the atoms temporarily absorb the photons, triggering an “excited” state before releasing the photons. The team measured the amount of time atoms remained in this excited state. Curiously, there were instances where the time was negative, i.e. less than zero. READ MORE...
Sunday, January 12
In The NEWS
US hiring in December surges past economists' expectations.
The US labor market ended 2024 with robust job growth, adding 256,000 jobs in December and surpassing forecasts of 155,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year. Analysts say the data suggest continued economic strength and may provide the Federal Reserve less incentive to cut interest rates this year. See all data here.
Constellation Energy agrees to buy Calpine for roughly $16B.
The cash-and-stock transaction values Calpine at nearly $27B when including debt and creates the largest clean energy provider in the US. The acquisition combines Constellation's nuclear expertise with Calpine's natural gas and geothermal assets while expanding Constellation's presence in markets like Texas and California—America's two most populous, energy-consuming states.
US Supreme Court appears likely to uphold federal TikTok law.
Supreme Court justices on Friday appeared to lean toward upholding a federal law ordering TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to either divest the video-sharing app or face a national ban. Justices signaled the primary concern was national security issues related to the app's Chinese ownership and said because the law targets its foreign owner, TikTok may not be able to claim First Amendment protections.
US announces $25M reward for arrest of Venezuela's president.
The US imposed new sanctions on high-ranking Venezuelan officials and increased the reward for information leading to President Nicolás Maduro's arrest to $25M, coinciding with Maduro's third-term inauguration following a disputed election. The sanctions include visa restrictions. The Biden administration also extended temporary protected status for certain Venezuelan migrants in the US.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to attempt first orbital flight tomorrow.
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' aerospace company, is set to launch its New Glenn rocket tomorrow from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking its long-awaited debut after more than a decade of development. The launch, initially intended for 2020, will carry a test version of Blue Origin's Blue Ring spacecraft platform and aims to validate its communications and tracking capabilities during a six-hour mission.
Global temperature rise breached 1.5 degrees Celsius for first time in 2024.
Last year was Earth's hottest year on record since preindustrial times, with global temperatures temporarily surpassing a critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold set in a 2015 internationally agreed-upon pact. See an overview of the benchmark here. See data from scientists here.
Traits of Successful eople
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Successful people have a variety of traits, including:
- Persistence: They don't give up easily and use setbacks as motivation to keep going.
- Resilience: They can get back up when they fall and are able to overcome challenges.
- Positive attitude: They maintain an optimistic outlook and view obstacles as opportunities for growth.
- Goal setting: They set specific, challenging, and achievable goals.
- Discipline: They are highly disciplined and dedicated to their craft.
- Creativity: They are imaginative and can see the potential in something others would pass by.
- Adaptability: They can excel in adapting to changing circumstances.
- Patience: They are able to deal with delays and obstacles without becoming stressed or frustrated.
- Curiosity: They have a desire to learn and understand new things.
- Confidence: They believe in themselves and their abilities.
- Passion: They are motivated by their work.
- Focus: They have a clear plan and concise objectives.
- Integrity: They have integrity.
- Willingness to learn: They are willing to learn.
- Responsibility: They are responsible.
- Self-reliance: They are self-reliant.
Effort
Talent
A bit of luck
I remember someone telling me that they do not believe in LUCK because of the following statement:
LUCK FAVORS THE PREPARED
However, you can plan all you want but sometimes you are simply in the right place at the right time.
Regardless of all of philosophical mumbo jumbo, it will not hurt anyone, who wants to be successful, to pay attention to the above 16 points and incorporate them into your personality and behavior plans for the future...
Dark Energy Does Not Exist NOW
One of the biggest mysteries in science—dark energy—doesn't actually exist, according to researchers looking to solve the riddle of how the universe is expanding.
Their analysis has been published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters.
For the past 100 years, physicists have generally assumed that the cosmos is growing equally in all directions. They employed the concept of dark energy as a placeholder to explain unknown physics they couldn't understand, but the contentious theory has always had its problems.
Now a team of physicists and astronomers at the university of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand are challenging the status quo, using improved analysis of supernovae light curves to show that the universe is expanding in a more varied, "lumpier" way. READ MORE...
Saturday, January 11
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Notre Dame tops Penn State 27-24 to advance to college football national championship; Texas takes on Ohio State tonight (7:30 pm ET, ESPN) in the other semifinal matchup (More) | NFL postseason kicks off tomorrow with the Wild Card round (More)
> "Wicked" hauls in $70M in its first week of video-on-demand sales, a record for a Universal release (More) | WWE's "Monday Night Raw" brings in 2.6 million US viewers in its Netflix debut, more than double their 2024 average (More)
> NBA postpones Los Angeles Lakers-Charlotte Hornets game last night due to wildfires; Lakers head coach JJ Redick loses home in fire (More) | Actress Jamie Lee Curtis donates $1M to fire relief efforts (More)
Science & Technology
> Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin delays first launch of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from early this morning to Sunday; see updates here (More)
> New study suggests the outer ear structure of mammals evolved from the gills of ancient fishes and marine invertebrates (More)
> Researchers engineer two new CRISPR enzymes that operate without triggering an immune system response; results may lead to safer, more efficient gene editing technologies (More) | How CRISPR splices and dices our genes (More)
Business & Markets
> December US jobs report to be released today; economists expect a gain of 155,000 jobs, down from 227,000 jobs in November, with the unemployment rate forecast to hold steady at 4.2% (More)
> Kroger to pay $110M to settle Kentucky lawsuit accusing the supermarket chain's pharmacies of helping to fuel the opioid epidemic between 2006 and 2019 (More) | Dive deeper into opioids, including how the drug works (More)
> JCPenny merges with Sparc Group, owner of brands including Aéropostale and Brooks Brothers, to form new joint venture called Catalyst Brands (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> President-elect Donald Trump faces sentencing in New York today in criminal hush money case; he was found guilty in May for falsifying business records to cover up payments made to Stormy Daniels in run-up to the 2016 election (More)
> Accused mastermind of 9/11 attacks scheduled to plead guilty today in war court on Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba; details of plea deal haven't been publicly released but include avoiding the death penalty (More)
> Lebanon's army chief, Joseph Aoun, elected as country's president after 12 failed attempts to fill the role since October 2022, when the former president's term ended (More) | Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrested following antigovernment protests on eve of President Nicolás Maduro's inauguration (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Fascism in America
What is FASCISM?
Fascism is a far-right form of government in which most of the country's power is held by one ruler or a small group, under a single party. Fascist governments are usually totalitarian and authoritarian one-party states.
Let's break this down...
- Far right thinking
- Dictator
- Single party
- Nationalism
- Militarism
- No Individual interest
What this tells me is that there is:
- No Congress
- No Constitution
- No State Governors/legislators
- No Supreme Court/Judges
- Govt owns all business
- Complete military control
- Individuals own nothing
Of course, this is my opinion and interpretation of the above definitions, so I might be off a little bit, but most of what I think is probably accurate.
Therefore, I would conclude that FASCISM CANNOT EXIST IN AMERICA...
Yes, it is true that our current govt on Jan 20, 2025, leans to the far right and is somewhat influenced by wealth but wealth has influenced politics for decades. Wealth has never been POTUS so that is new.
NON-LIBERAL VIEWS are always seen as being on the far right of politics, but we are not financially prepared to become a totally liberal focused nation.
Our liberal views and social programs are financed by Capitalism... and yes, it is true that Capitalism creates multimillionaires and billionaires, but it is Capitalism that is totally responsible for our quality of life.
Billionaires are allowed by Congress to shelter their money away from taxes because they created Capitalism and their taxes could finance additional social programs but so far Congress has said no to that.
Still, there is little indication that there is little to no FASCISM in America.
An Engine That Burns WATER
AVL RACETECH, the motorsport division of AVL, unveiled in 2022 a groundbreaking prototype of a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine. This 2-liter turbocharged engine is fueled by hydrogen and incorporates advanced water injection technology, pushing the boundaries of performance to new heights.
The release of the engine marked the first time AVL RACETECH designed and constructed a racing engine entirely in-house, showcasing their commitment to innovation in motorsport technology.
Changing the way hydrogen engines operate
AVL RACETECH’s hydrogen internal combustion engine release three years ago was designed to outperform other hydrogen engines, which typically operate with lean-burn, resulting in lower performance.
Unlike those traditional hydrogen engines, this engine uses only a slight lean-burn, achieving an impressive 150 kW per liter of output. This level of performance puts the 2-liter turbocharged hydrogen engine on par with today’s high-performance racing engines that are close to production models. READ MORE...
Friday, January 10
TRUMP IS A SENTENCED FELON
POTUS elect Donald Trump was sentenced today by Judge Merchan to a penalty free unconditional discharge as a convicted felon.
Consequently, Trump cannot:
- vote in an election
- own a firearm or even a bullet
- cannot get a loan without stating that he is a felon
I am sure that there are other things that he cannot do...
HOWEVER, Trump is:
- POTUS
- controls the nuclear launch codes
- control the most powerful country in the world
- controls the most powerful military in the world
- can institute tariffs on countries
- write executive orders
In the 2024 November election, Trump won all 7 swing states, giving him the popular vote along with 312 electoral votes when he only needed 270.
The American people did not believe the felony charges or conviction in NYC for a variety of reasons. One of which was that misdemeanor charges that has passed the statute of limitations were used to claim that Trump tried to change the results of the 2020 election.
No other DA in NYC would touch this case but Bragg did because he ran on a platform of:
I WILL GET DONALD TRUMP. This politicized the office of the DA from the getgo.
Of course, these charges will be appealed and there are at least 12 areas where the JUDGE and DA acted unconstitutionally during the trial.
But, it is a sad day for the USA because one of our political parties tried to weaponize our judicial system to get Trump from winning the election.
This is what history will remember, not the conviction...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Olivia Rodrigo, Luke Combs, and Tyler, the Creator among headliners tapped for 2025 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee (June 12-15); see full lineup (More)
> NHL postpones Los Angeles Kings' game due to wildfires; NFL officials monitoring fire ahead of Monday's NFC wild-card matchup (More)
> "Wicked" and "Shogun" lead 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations with five apiece (More) | Critics Choice Awards rescheduled for Jan. 26 due to Los Angeles wildfires (More) | Mark Hamill, Eugene Levy, and James Woods among Hollywood stars whose homes were impacted by fires (More)
Science & Technology
> Researchers discover two exceptionally well-preserved, 430-million-year-old mollusk fossils with intricate spike structures; scientists name species "punk" and "emo" (More)
> AI-powered analysis determines the best time to begin hormonal injections into eggs during the in-vitro fertilization process, leading to increased yield of mature eggs (More) | The technique that may one day replace IVF (More, w/video)
> First large-scale assessment of its type finds roughly 25% of the world's freshwater animals are vulnerable to or at risk of extinction; such ecosystems make up 1% of the Earth's surface but support 10% of its animal populations (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.2%, Dow +0.3%, Nasdaq -0.1%) after Federal Reserve's meeting minutes from December show officials support gradual pace of interest rate cuts (More)
> EBay shares close up nearly 10% to highest level since November 2021 after Meta says it will allow some eBay listings to appear on Facebook Marketplace (More) | Quantum computing stocks, including Rigetti (-45%) and IonQ (-30%), plunge as Nvidia CEO says useful applications of the tech is 15-30 years away (More)
> OpenAI's Sam Altman denies sexual abuse accusations from his sister, Ann, who filed a lawsuit this week alleging he abused her regularly from 1997 to 2006 (More) | OpenAI's rise to power (More, w/video)
Politics & World Affairs
> Justice Department to release report related to President-elect Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case, will withhold information on classified documents case (More) | CIA releases documents from 1968 to 1983 showing past surveillance of Latino civil rights groups (More)
> Southern US braces for first major snow storm in years, beginning today through the weekend; weather warnings and advisories stretch across 10 states from Texas to Tennessee (More) | The polar vortex, explained (More, w/visual)
> Former President Jimmy Carter's funeral to be held today in Washington, DC, concluding three days of services; Carter died last week at age 100 (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
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