STAY OUT OF THE SUN, IT IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE!

 

In 1980 ...



The SPF factor was 8+



1995 onwards is 50+



In 1980 ...



It took ALL DAY to get a sunburn.



1995 onwards it takes 20 minutes.



In 1980 ...



It took TWO WEEKS for a newspaper to turn yellow in the sun.



1995 onwards it takes one day.



In 1980 the children drew the YELLOW sun in pictures.



1995 onwards they design it BLUE OR WHITE



In 1980 you could look directly at the sun even at noon without 

being blinded if you did it for 10 seconds or less.



From 1995 onwards you cannot even look in its GENERAL DIRECTION.

ASTRONOMERS HAVE DISCOVERED ANOTHER EARTH

 

It’s big news, set to shock, amaze, and entertain the world.

But unfortunately, it has nothing to do with a second Earth or better with that planet

Earth.

However, since you are now reading, you will almost certainly be interested in this 

research which examined the click and share behavior of social media users who read 

(or not) the content and then share it on social media. We are here on Sci-Tech 

Universe has long noticed that many of our followers will appreciate, share and 

offer a happy opinion on an article, all without ever reading it. We are not alone 

in noticing this. Last April, NPR shared an article on their Facebook page asking 

"Why does America no longer read?". The joke, of course, is that there were no 

articles. They waited to see if their followers would have pondered an opinion 

without clicking on the link and were not disappointed.

We hoped for an opportunity to try it ourselves and this seemed the perfect 

opportunity.

A team of computer scientists from Columbia University and the French National 

Institute examined a dataset of over 2.8 million online news articles shared via 

Twitter. The study found that up to 59 percent of the links shared on Twitter were 

never actually clicked on by that person's followers, suggesting that social media 

users prefer to share content rather than clicking on it and reading it.

"People are more willing to share an article than to read it," said study co-author 

Arnaud Legout in a statement, the Washington Post reports. “This is typical of modern

information consumption. People form an opinion based on a summary or summary of 

summaries, without making the effort to investigate. "

This study examines the psychology behind what makes people want to share content. 

Research conducted by the New York Times Customer Insight Group investigated what 

motivates people to share information. Just under half of the people surveyed said 

they shared information on social media to inform people and "enrich" those around 

them. Instead, they found 68 percent of the odds to reinforce and project their image

- in a way, to "define" them

In the words of a participant in the study: "I try to share only information that will
strengthen the image I would like to present: thoughtful, reasoned, kind, interested 
and passionate about certain things".
This also raises the question of whether online media is just a massive "echo chamber"
where we all like only pages and views that reinforce our beliefs and are not 
interested in information for information purposes. Social media site algorithms 
also mean that the individuals or pages you tend to click, like or share - which 
are often the articles or views you agree with - will appear more frequently in your 
feed than news.

As an online media user, you are probably quite aware of this.

So if you are one of the lucky few who managed to click and read this article, we 
congratulate you! Although sorry for the misleading title. In the meantime, have fun 
sharing the article and see who can chair a discussion on Earth 2.0 without ever 
reading it.

Astronomers Have Spotted The Birth Of Planets For The First Time

 

For the first time ever, scientists have been able to detect the formation of a planetary 

system. A research paper, published in Nature, proposes that the detected objects are newly 

born planets, which are currently put together by tremendously hot gas and dust. By means of

the system images captured between 2009 and 2015, the group of astronomers was able to 

detect two protoplanets - small objects that continue to form planets - together with a 

third potential, in orbit around a LkCa 15 star in an elliptical orbit, as expected by the 

planets.

Image Credit: Artist's Illustration of Planets Developing in a Transition Disc like LkCa 15.

The planets within the disc clearing collect material that would otherwise have fallen on 

the star, NASA / JPL-Caltech

Identifying the formation of planets is a rather difficult task. Newborn star systems are 

generally shielded in a cloud of dust that blocks our view, making normal observation 

methods inadequate. As a result, the team of astronomers had to come up with a different 

method for studying the system. Newly formed stars produce large discs of material from 

which planets are formed. As developing planets move over this protoplanetary disk, they 

generate gaps in swirling debris, which astronomers can locate using infrared light. 

Numerous protoplanet candidates have been identified in this way. For this recent discovery,

the team gathered infrared observations from the large binocular telescope, with 

alpha-hydrogen examination by the Magellan Telescope.

The gap around the parent star LkCa 15 was first detected in 2011, which showed the 

potential for the star to have at least one exoplanet. For this new study, astronomers 

were able to detect the hot gas (9,700 ° C [17,500 ° F]) that sinks to the nearest planet 

LkCa 15b. By examining the data from the system, astronomers realized that there were other 

discharges in the gap: a signal was recognized as a second planet after being observed 

numerous times. A third discharge should be another planet but it has yet to be confirmed.

This discovery and the success of this method offer new opportunities to study how planetary

systems are formed and how new planets connect with the disc of material around the star.

“PROVE” 2 = 0. CAN YOU FIND THE MISTAKE?

 

I received an email I wanted to share with you. Wolfgang came up with a false proof that 2 = 0. No one in his class, not even his teacher, could figure out the mistake. Can you?

I present the false proof and the mistake in a new video.

“Prove” 2 = 0. Can You Find The Mistake?

Here is the “proof” in text.

2 = 1 + 1
2 = 1 + √(1)
2 = 1 + √(-1 * -1)
2 = 1 + √(-1)√(-1)
2 = 1 + i(i)
2 = 1 + i2
2 = 1 + (-1)
2 = 0

Or keep reading for a text explanation.

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False Proof 2 = 0

2 = 1 + 1
2 = 1 + √(1)
2 = 1 + √(-1 * -1)
2 = 1 + √(-1)√(-1)
2 = 1 + i(i)
2 = 1 + i2
2 = 1 + (-1)
2 = 0

The mistake is between lines 3 and 4.

√(-1 * -1) ≠ √(-1)√(-1)

This is a misapplication of the product rule for square roots. The product rule is guaranteed to work only when both values are positive.

If x, y ≥ 0, then
√(xy) = √(x)√(y)

When x = y = -1, the product rule may not apply, and as demonstrated, it is not a valid step because it leads to the conclusion that 2 = 0.

When you learn a property in math class, make sure to pay attention to the specific conditions when it applies. If you don’t you could end up with an absurd result like 2 = 0!

So how are we supposed to simplify a square root of a negative number? It is actually a mistake to use the product rule (which KhanAcademy teaches):

√(-52) = √(-1)√(52) = i √(52)

This is a mistake! You should not use the product rule unless both terms are positive–although in this case you do get the correct answer.

The correct way is that we define the square root of negative numbers as follows (see page 529 in here):

If b is a real number greater than 0 , then
√(-b) = i √b

So the correct way to find the answer is by definition:

√(-52) = i √(52)

You might think this is a nit-picking distinction as the KhanAcademy method gets to the correct answer. But remember that the process matters in math–it is not about getting the correct answer, it’s about getting the correct answer by the correct method.

THE BIG BANG IS NOT THE BEGINNING OF OUR UNIVERSE — IT’S ACTUALLY THE END OF SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY

 

Sean Carroll is a Caltech physicist. His research includes 

theoretical and astrophysical physics, in particular cosmology, field theory 

and gravitation. He has published numerous research papers on dark matter and dark energy, 

modified gravity, violations of Lorentz invariance, extra dimensions, topological defects, 

cosmic microwave anisotropies, violation of causality, black holes and the problem of the 

cosmological constant.

It is currently focused on the origin of the universe and 

the arrow of time, including the roles of inflation, the 

child's universes and quantum gravity. In his recent Techinsider video, he 

explains what existed before the Big Bang and actually means. 

So watch and learn:

'All Systems Are Go' For SpaceX's Most Ambitious Astronaut Launch Yet. Watch Live Now

 NASA has given SpaceX the go-ahead to launch its first full crew of 4 astronauts toward the International space laboratory (ISS).

If all goes per plan, the company's Falcon 9 rocket will set forth its historic launchpad at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Sunday night, careen through Earth's atmosphere, and jettison a Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit with the astronauts tucked inside.

"All systems are select tonight's launch at 7:27 pm EST [0027 UTC] of Crew Dragon's first operational mission," SpaceX tweeted on Sunday morning.

You can watch live below:

After 27 hours of flying around Earth, the spaceship is scheduled to sync up with the ISS on Monday and dock to the power at 11 pm ET. 'Resilience', as astronauts named their ship, will stay for 6 months while the crew lives and works in orbit.

The planned flight would constitute NASA's longest human spaceflight ever because the US$150 billion, football field-size laboratory enters its 20th year of continuous human habitation.

"This is that the culmination of years of labor and energy from lots of individuals, and lots of your time, and that we have built I believe what I might call is one in all the safest… launch vehicles and spacecraft ever," Benji Reed, SpaceX's director of crew mission management, said during a Friday press briefing.

The Crew-1 astronauts sit inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft during training. (SpaceX/NASA)

NASA, SpaceX 'ready to go' after months of delays

The mission, called Crew-1, is that the first of six round trips that the agency has contracted from SpaceX. NASA tapped astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi to hold out the historic flight.

In a final launch-readiness review on Friday, NASA gave SpaceX it's an official blessing for Sunday's liftoff.

The launch had been scheduled for Saturday evening, but mission managers decided to delay the flight. NASA cited "onshore winds" and "first-stage booster recovery readiness" because the reasons - the latter refers to the Falcon 9 rocket's booster, which is programmed to land itself on a ship confounded after it releases the Crew Dragon into orbit.

The booster will be reused in future launches, including crewed flights.

This is the fourth time NASA has pushed back the launch of Crew-1 because of numerous hiccups. The mission was originally scheduled to fly in late September.

"We're able to go," Norm Knight, a flight operations manager for NASA, said during the briefing.

"The journey to urge here is one in every of resilience, and it had been a tough journey with lots of stuff happening and COVID affecting the teams."

Crew Dragon Resilience and its Falcon 9 rocket, NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, November 9, 2020. (Spacex)

Final checks for the primary commercial spaceflight system

With the review complete, SpaceX will do its final preparations and keep a detailed eye on the weather. Rain, high winds, or too many puffy clouds could make conditions unsafe for launch.

The skies and seas must even be clear at potential splashdown sites across the ocean, just in case the rocket malfunctions and also the Crew Dragon should speed away.

As of Sunday morning, the Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron projected a 50 percent chance of poor weather delaying launch. NASA and SpaceX are because of the meeting for a weather briefing around 3 pm ET, during which they'll plan to prolong or try again some days later, on Wednesday night.

Technical issues could abort the mission at the last moment. That happened to a Falcon 9 launch on October 2: Just some seconds before liftoff an automatic flight computer shut everything down.

It clad that lacquer from a corrosion-resistance treatment had clogged a little borehole on a safety valve for one amongst the engines. this might have resulted in an excessive amount of fuel entering the engines at the incorrect time, caused an uncontrolled explosion, and damaged the engines, almost like a car backfiring - though with far more power and potential consequences.

SpaceX says it's examined the whole rocket for Crew-1 to create sure no small crevices were clogged with lacquer.

Saturday's launch is that the fruit of a decade-long effort to revive NASA's human spaceflight abilities, which have lain dormant since the Space Shuttles were retired in 2011. Through the Commercial Crew Program, NASA funded the event of the Crew Dragon to fulfill its requirements for flying astronauts.

On Tuesday the agency finally awarded SpaceX its human-spaceflight certification, making the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 the primary commercial launch system to receive the designation.

"Thank you to NASA for his or her continued support of SpaceX and partnership in achieving this goal," Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, said during a statement on the certification.

"This may be a great honor that inspires confidence in our endeavor to return to the moon, travel Mars, and ultimately help humanity become multi-planetary."

Nerves 'pile on' as launch approaches

SpaceX proved its ability to securely fly humans and return them to Earth with an illustration flight, called Demo-2, that launched this summer.

That mission launched NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken within the world's first commercial human spaceflight. the boys spent two months on the ISS before climbing into the Crew Dragon, screaming through Earth's atmosphere, and parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico.

Bob Behnken (left) and Doug Hurley wish their families goodnight from inside the Crew Dragon capsule, May 30, 2020. (SpaceX)

The Crew-1 astronauts are on the brink of whether the identical ordeal, with a full-length ISS shift of half a year.

"The nerves start to essentially pile on as you catch up with to launch," Hopkins told reporters in an exceedingly invoke Monday.

But the astronauts are busy with final preparations at NASA's facilities in the foreland, Florida. They completed a dry run on Thursday, putting on their spacesuits, driving bent on the launchpad, and boarding the Crew Dragon to practice for launch day.

"I think that helps keep the nerves down a bit bit," Hopkins said of the week's preparations. "Because you're just reasonably going like clockwork through the procedure and therefore the timeline."

Michael Lopez-Alegria, a retired astronaut who's flown to space fourfold and is slated to command SpaceX's first all-private flight next year for Axiom Space, said he had "no concerns" about the crew or ship earlier than launch.

"I became inured, almost, to SpaceX launches," Lopez-Alegria told Business Insider.

"They just still make incredible things look routine… But our mission, AX-1 one goes flying with the identical capsule that's visiting get on Crew-1. So we'll be definitely taking note and wishing the crew and teams from NASA and SpaceX all the simplest."

The Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks on Monday Night, Here's What to Expect

We witnessed a tremendous astronomical spectacle within the early morning skies over the Kuwaiti desert in November 1998. That year, the Leonid meteors placed on a spectacular display, topping an estimated 1,000 meteors per hour near sunrise.

In most years, however, the Lion whimpers with some paltry meteors per hour, but once every 33 years more or less, the mighty Leonids can roar with a tremendous display reaching storm level proportions.

Prospects for the 2020 Leonids

Unfortunately, 2020 isn't projected to be such a year, but it is often worth keeping a watch out during the first morning hours in mid-November. The 2020 peak for the Leonids is anticipated to arrive on Tuesday, November 17th, at around ~4:00 GMT (UT) or 11:00 PM EST (on the 16th).

The Moon could be a waxing crescent just two days after new at this time, ideal for meteor watching. This also favors the longitude of Europe and Africa at dawn, another plus. The 2020 Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is predicted to hit a moderate 15-20 meteors per hour.

The source of the Leonid meteors is periodic comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which is on a 33-year orbit around the Sun. the subsequent major peak for the Leonids is anticipated for the first 2030s around 2032-33, though circumstances this point around may convince be but favorable.

The orbit of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. (NASA/JPL)

It's worth noting that within the late 1990s we were seeing enhanced rates over several years leading up to 1998, so what we see from the Leonids within the coming decade could also be indicative of what we would be sure, come 2032.

The Leonids are one of the foremost notorious meteor storm producers. On the morning of 13 November 1833, residents of the US Eastern Seaboard awoke to a very terrifying sight, because the sky looked as if it would be awash with meteors, falling like rain.

1889 depiction of the 1833 Leonids, based on a first-hand account. (Adolf Vollmy/Public Domain)

Keep in mind, nobody truly knew what meteors actually were until the late 19th century, or how they were associated with the dust trails laid down by comets. In fact, the 1833 Leonids are cited as contributing to several of the religious fundamentalist revivals of the 1830s within the US… they were that influential.

Will the Leonids 'ramp up' within the coming decade? confine mind, the quoted zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) for a given shower is that the number you'd see with optimal conditions, under a dark, moonless sky with the radiant directly overhead… most folks will see considerably less.

Many neophyte observers get excited about the hype leading up to a meteor stream, only to be frustrated by the truth of seeing few if any meteors under light-polluted skies.

Be patient, and draw a decent dark sky site for best results. Tracing a meteor trail back to the 'Sickle of Leo' asterism identifies its membership as a Leonid… otherwise, the meteor is also a background sporadic, or a member of another shower.

Its meteor trails appears to originate from the Leo constellation. (Stellarium)

In November, the Taurids are active, and therefore the December Geminids are spooling up. For best results, watch within the early morning hours, when the world is meeting the Leonid atmospheric phenomenon head-on.

In recent years, the Leonids have produced an observed peak of 29 (2019), 24 (2018), and 20 (2017) meteors per hour.

Observing a meteor stream is as simple as bundling up, laying back, watching, and waiting. We value more highly to look about 45 degrees off to 1 side of the radiant for a shower to work out meteors in profile, though honestly, they'll appear anywhere within the sky.

If you're observing with an exponent, make sure to look at in opposite directions, to double your sky coverage. Also, make sure to stay a group of binoculars handy, as a superb fireball can often leave a lingering smoke train which will remain visible for over a second roughly.

You can also 'hear' meteors, or more accurately, the ionized reflection crackling in their wake along vacant swaths of the FM radio dial. You hear an analogous phenomenon along with the FM band during an intense lightning storm. Very occasionally, the radio reflections off of a meteor passage might even briefly bring a foreign station into focus.

But are you able to actually hear meteors? this can be a real and protracted phenomenon reported over the years by observers… as a child, I remember hearing a definite 'hiss' accompanying an excellent Perseid.

Now, meteors are just dust grains burning up high within the atmosphere, aloof from the bottom and unable to hold sound to the viewer… plus, unlike the clap of thunder you hear several seconds after you see a flash of lightning, the effect seems to be instantaneous.

The culprit appears to be what's called electrophonic sound, a neighborhood current induction founded off of nearby telephone wires, aluminum siding, and even damp dewy grass surrounding the observer during the passage of a meteor.

Imaging meteors is additionally a simple affair: a tripod-mounted DSLR camera with a wide-lens covering a decent swath of sky will do the trick. Use the manual 'bulb' setting to require a series of 1-3 minute exposures, and see what turns up.

Be sure to require a series of test exposures first, to urge the balance of shutter speed/f-ratio/and ISO exposure good versus the local sky conditions. take care to carefully examine the shots afterward… nearly every meteor we've caught on camera was missed during oculus observing.

 I like to use a distant intervalometer to automate the method by setting the camera to record a series of 3-minute exposures, freeing me up to easily sit back and watch the show. Also, keep an additional set of camera batteries handy, preferably during a warm pocket; long exposures and cold November temperatures can drain camera batteries in a very hurry.

Finally, remember to stay a count of what number of meteors you see, and report your observations to the International Meteor Organization. Amateur visual and radio observations of meteor showers all contribute to our efforts to grasp how particular meteor showers evolve, and should even uncover new meteor streams.

Sure, the sky won't come ablaze with a Leonid meteor storm in 2020, but it is often worth waiting for the stray streaks from the Sickle this coming week and marveling at what is.