BREAKING NEWS: Physicists Have Detected The Background Hum of The Universe
2023/06/28
Todays Thought
What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?
-Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher and author (28 Jun 1712-1778)
2023/06/26
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Scientists do not join hands every Sunday and sing “Yes gravity is real! I know gravity is real! I will have faith! I believe in my heart that what goes up, up, up must come down, down, down. Amen!” If they did, we would think they were pretty insecure about the concept.-Dan Barker, activist, musician, and former preacher (b. 25 Jun 1949)
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I believe the greatest gift I can conceive of having from anyone is to be seen, heard, understood, and touched by them. The greatest gift I can give is to see, hear, understand, and touch another person.-Virginia Satir, psychotherapist and author (26 Jun 1916-1988)
2023/06/25
2023/06/23
Arecibo message
Description
The content of the Arecibo message was designed by Frank Drake, then at Cornell University and creator of the Drake equation, who wrote the message with help from Carl Sagan and others.[1] The message was meant more as a demonstration of human technological achievement than a serious attempt to enter into a conversation with possible extraterrestrials.[1] As globular cluster M13, at which the message was aimed, is more than 25,000 light-years from Earth, the message, traveling at the speed of light, will take at least 25,000 years to arrive there. By that time, the core of M13 will no longer be in precisely the same location because of the orbit of the star cluster around the galactic center.[1] Even so, the proper motion of M13 is small, so the message will still arrive near the center of the cluster.[5]
The message consists of seven parts that encode the following (from the top down in the image):[4]
- The numbers one to ten (white)
- The atomic numbers of the elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus, which make up deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (purple)
- The formulas for the chemical compounds that make up the nucleotides of DNA (green)
- The estimated number of DNA nucleotides in the human genome, and a graphic of the double helix structure of DNA (white and blue, respectively)
- The dimension (physical height) of an average man (blue/white), a graphic figure of a human being (red), and the human population of Earth (white)
- A graphic of the Solar System, indicating which of the planets the message is coming from (yellow)
- A graphic of the Arecibo radio telescope and the dimension (the physical diameter) of the transmitting antenna dish (purple, white, and blue)
The entire message consisted of 1,679 binary digits, approximately 210 bytes, transmitted at a frequency of 2,380 MHz and modulated by shifting the frequency by 10 Hz, with a power of 450 kW. The "ones" and "zeros" were transmitted by frequency shifting at the rate of 10 bits per second. The total broadcast was less than three minutes.[1][6]
The number 1,679 was chosen because it is a semiprime (the product of two prime numbers), to be arranged rectangularly as 73 rows by 23 columns.[7] The alternative arrangement, 23 rows by 73 columns, produces an unintelligible set of characters.
Water hole (radio)
The waterhole, or water hole, is an especially quiet band of the electromagnetic spectrum between 1420 and 1662 megahertz, corresponding to wavelengths of 21 and 18 centimeters, respectively. It is a popular observing frequency used by radio telescopes in radio astronomy.[1]
Plot of Earth's atmospheric transmittance (or opacity) to various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation
The strongest hydroxyl radical spectral line radiates at 18 centimeters, and atomic hydrogen at 21 centimeters (the hydrogen line). These two molecules, which combine to form water, are widespread in interstellar gas, which means this gas tends to absorb radio noise at these frequencies. Therefore, the spectrum between these frequencies forms a relatively "quiet" channel in the interstellar radio noise background.
Bernard M. Oliver, who coined the term in 1971, theorized that the waterhole would be an obvious band for communication with extraterrestrial intelligence,[2] hence the name, which is a pun: in English, a watering hole is a vernacular reference to a common place to meet and talk. Several programs involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, including SETI@home, search in the waterhole radio frequencies.
Visualized: The 4 Billion Year Path of Human Evolution
Visualized: The 4 Billion Year Path of Human Evolution
The 4 Billion Year Path of Human Evolution
The story of human evolution is a fascinating one, stretching back in an unbroken chain over millions of years.
From the tiniest protocells to modern humans, our species has undergone a remarkable journey of adaptation, innovation, and survival.
In this article, we take a look at the key developmental stages in the evolution of life on Earth that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens—us!
2023/06/22
The Æsop for Children
About the Æsop for Children
Aesop for Children contains the text of selected fables, color pictures, video, and interactive animations, and will be enjoyed by readers of any age.
“Aesop's Fables”—also called “the Aesopica”—are a collection of stories designed to teach moral lessons credited to Aesop, a Greek slave and story-teller thought to have lived between 620 and 560 BCE.
Aesop's fables are some of the most well known in the world and have been translated in multiple languages and become popular in dozens of cultures through the course of five centuries. They have been told and retold in a variety of media, from oral tradition to written storybooks to stage, film and animated cartoon versions—even in architecture.
The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Younger scholars will be able to trace the origin of aphorisms such as “sour grapes” and “a bird in the hand.”
This interactive book is presented by the Library of Congress, adapted from the book “The Aesop for Children: with Pictures by Milo Winter,” published by Rand, McNally & Co in 1919. This work is considered to be in the public domain in the United States.
Milo Winter’s pictures have been transformed for this interactive book, and now readers can interact with the charming illustrations to see and hear them move: a choosy heron eyes the fish swimming at his feet, a fox swishes his tail, a mouse chews a rope and frees a lion.
2023/06/20
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?-Lillian Hellman, playwright (20 Jun 1905-1984)
2023/06/14
Private equity bought out your doctor and bankrupted Toys“R”Us — here’s why that matters
Private equity bought out your doctor and bankrupted Toys“R”Us — here’s why that matters
Author and federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou explains why private equity is buying everything from vet offices to tech conglomerates, how this system is broken, and what can be done to fix it.
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.-Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and novelist (14 Jun 1811-1896)
2023/06/13
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Adults who are racked with death anxiety are not odd birds who have contracted some exotic disease, but men and women whose family and culture have failed to knit the proper protective clothing for them to withstand the icy chill of mortality.-Irvin D. Yalom, psychiatrist and professor (b. 13 Jun 1931)
2023/06/12
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
No one has ever become poor by giving.-Anne Frank, Holocaust diarist (12 Jun 1929-1945)
2023/06/09
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Ethics, decency, and morality are the real soldiers.-Kiran Bedi, police officer and social activist (b. 9 Jun 1949)
2023/06/07
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to save the world, I do think it's not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary, and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair, and disrespect.-Nikki Giovanni, poet and professor (b. 7 Jun 1943)
2023/06/06
2023/06/05
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Words ought to be a little wild, for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking.-John Maynard Keynes, economist (5 Jun 1883-1946)
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness -- and call it love -- true love.-Robert Fulghum, author (b. 4 Jun 1937)
2023/06/02
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie.-Cornel West, author and philosopher (b. 2 Jun 1953)
2023/06/01
Todays Thought
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night.-Marilyn Monroe, actress (1 Jun 1926-1962)
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