last updated: 2 pm April 30, 2020
This month's guide to the bright planets or the This Week's Sky-at-a-glance
and remember that many publications now have monthly article limits; plan ahead!
(including: NY Times, Washington Post, Raleigh N&O, The Atlantic, Science, Scientific American, Nautil.us)
| solar system |
stars and in between |
exoplanets (and ET life) |
galaxies & cosmology |
relativity, quantum, & particle physics |
cultural literacy |
teaching/education, science & tech |
late April 2020 |
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Comet Atlas has broken into ~30 pieces (Earth & Sky) so much for the 1st comet of the 21st century Why are Venus's clouds so weird? (Astronomy) the atmosphere rotates 60x faster than the planet the short answer: atmospheric tidal waves A new geoWlogic map of the Moon (USGS) Origin of Earth's atmospheric nitrogen (Nature) Earth's mantle N2 has been there from formation not delivered later deposited during its accretion small bodies? other summaries from UCLA and Science Daily seem to confuse the issue interstellar interlopers The Centaur asteroids: not from around here (CNRS) originally, at least, from another solar system Interstellar visitor Borisov is unusually CO-rich (BBC) commentary by Earth & Sky Borisov formed beyond the snow line around a red dwarf? published paper (Nature Astronomy) free to read but not save On the origins of interstellar objects (Sky & Telescope) ------------------- No need for Planet 9? (Astrobites) TNO distribution might be isotropic after all Rushing back to the Moon is a mistake (Gizmodo) better places to spend money 🔥 climate crisis 🔥   how we know the planet is warming the big picture Rising CO2 levels are making us dumber (GeoHealth) impairing human cognition How hot will it get by 2100? (Nature) a suite of scenarios representing the range of futures for humanity 1st quarter of 2020 is 2nd hottest on record (Carbon Brief) NC: hottest year ever so far (E & E News) 49.7 °F ties 1990 record A crash course in climate change (NY Times) 6 questions answered Extreme weather & climate change (Carbon Brief) 3rd edition update: 69% of extreme events made more likely/severe by global warming with a comprehensive database Greenland ice loss Projected future Greenland ice melt underestimate by half? (Forbes) published paper: 2019: Exceptional melting of Greenland ice (The Cryosphere) Blame cloud-free skies over Greenland (Scientific American) plus warmer temps, & little summer snowfall ------------------------ Western U.S. locked in grips of first human-caused mega-drought (Washington Post) 30-50% caused by humans' carbon emissions climate economics Renewable energy could power recovery from Covid-19 (The Guardian) full report: Global Renewables Outlook (International Renewable Energy) released 4/15/2020, 292 pages and 54-page summary A green stimulus can tackle both covid and climate crises (The Guardian) and a detailed plan instead of Wasting CV stimulus money on fossil fuels (Vox) how stupid are we? and the details or corporate climate lobbying during the pandemic (Influence Map) The end of climate stability? (The Conversation) and economic stability heat waves, drought, wildfires, locusts, ... it's already here climate messaging Changing a bogus climate message: Individual actions do matter! (Politico) big companies & the government are not the only ones at fault for global warming hypocrisy matters vs. Reducing your carbon footprint is not as effective as calling governments and corporations to account (Nature) perhaps climate activists need to get their strategy straight? Attitudes on climate change are the best predictor of who does social distancing (Vox) both are about collective action for the public good environment EPA weakens controls on Mercury (NY Times) along with those on auto & industrial emissions and a victory for friends of Trump |
an unbalanced black-hole merger A unprecedented black-hole merger (Albert Einstein Institute) between 2 of very different masses: 8 and 31 Msun -- and the first detection of a gravitational wave harmonic and there are still 50+ candidate events still unreported by LIGO from its latest run Data summary (LIGO) places stringent limits on larger black hole's spin published paper (LIGO) --------------------- Solar surprise: million-degree plasma threads in the solar atmosphere (Astronomy) |
A suspected exoplanet bites the dust? (Earth & Sky) was Fomalhaut b just a collision of icy/dusty rocks? A rhythmic 6-planet system (U of Geneva) 6 planets: orbital periods of adjacent planets are all ~2:3 ET Why aliens won't fit our definition of life (Massive Science) No such thing as an Earth-like exoplanet? (Starts with a Bang) our biases prejudice where and how we look How will we discover ET life? (Michigan Tech U) 16 possible answers in remembrance of the Shapley-Curtis debate 80 years ago An Astrobiology pandemic series (U New South Wales) ~ 15 minute videos Aliens made of gas? How to find aliens Is water the universal solvent for life? Is there life in alien oceans? Where did life begin? |
Evidence against the Planck value of H0 (Ruhr U.) from gravitational lensing + IR data but a clear explanation is lost in translation GR wins again: S2's orbital precession around the Milky Way SMBH (Ars Technica) by the group that first measured its gravitational redshift but a rival group is more cautious (Sky & Telescope) Rotating galaxies in the early universe (Caltech) ~1.5 Gyr A.B., are they spiral-to-be? |
lepton CP violation finally? Evidence of lepton matter-antimatter asymmetry (Nature) summary of published paper (Nature) potentially groundbreaking paywall and an editorial (!) caution (Nature) results are good to only 2-3σ (95 - 99% confidence) so far a definitive answer is 15 years away? Neutrino asymmetry crosses threshold (Quanta) And an unusually lucid summary (NY Times) ----------------------- Can Milky Way's satellite test dark matter properties? (UC - Riverside) read with caution 3 explanations for resolving the Hubble tension (Quanta) none particularly satisfying decaying dark matter; early dark energy; modified gravity Zero-point energy of space, dark energy, & quantum fields (Starts with a Bang) rampant speculation, few actual facts Space needs to be continuous and not discrete (Starts with a Bang) and somehow relevant to CPT-invariance experiments quite unconvincing |
remaking America after the pandemic A lasting remedy for the Covid-19 pandemic economic crisis (Joseph Stiglitz, @ NY Books) more funding for: small businesses; revenue-deprived states & cities, nonprofits, education; restructuring the economy and a look at some undeserving villains: big banks (again), big hotel chains, & credit card companies free for a limited time Shorten the work week upon re-opening (The Atlantic) and keep it shorter The America we need (NY Times) how to reduce inequality and build a better America a many-part series A plan for America to rise again (NY Times) a stimulus for clean energy; high-speed internet, physical & manufacturing infrastructure -------------------- Billionaires making billions on coronavirus (NY Times) is there no shame? lock them up What, you expect the President to read the Presidential daily briefing? (Washington Post) how many lives did it cost America? The end of retail? (The Atlantic) big business takes over; the death of malls; will nearly all shopping be virtual? and then a rebirth? The Trump administration's assault on journalists (Committee to Protect Journalists) a detailed history of the prosecution of journalists for leaks a very long read Mitch McConnell McConnell to every state: Drop dead (NY Times) aka 'Go bankrupt' Mitch McConnell: Trump's enabler-in-chief (The New Yorker) a very long read and an interview with the article's author, Jane Mayer (FreshAir, 50-min podcast) --------------------- Living in a failed state (The Atlantic) coronavirus didn't break America, it only revealed what was already broken the best description of reality The death of local newspapers (OnPoint 50-min podcast) will Fbook & Google ever be held responsible for destroying papers' revenue? or Don't waste stimulus money on newspapers (Politico) How Trump's policies have hurt ACA health-care enrollment (Center for American Progress) particularly the decline of American leadership and the 'rise of the rest' Richard Burr, R-NC: not just a friend to the health-care industry (Pro Publica) but a stockholder in it The pandemic will accelerate history, and not reshape it (Richard Haas, in Foreign Affairs) not every crisis is a turning point Bipartisan Senate report: Russia intended to benefit Trump in 2016 (Politico) delayed CV effects elections America's elections will never be the same again (The Atlantic) but will we be ready? How to avoid a Wisconsin-style meltdown on Election Day (Politico) the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot which already exists for the military "They should have done something" ... Documenting the Wisconsin disaster, post-election (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) sorry Wisconsin, but you can't just blame the USPS...it's you CoVis-19 should be a legitimate 'excuse' to vote by mail (Brennan Center) A Guide for Safe Voting (Free Speech for People) during the CoVid crisis... and a short review Texas state judge says people can vote by mail if they fear CV (Dallas Morning News) Texas AG to appeal Will pandemic keep 3rd parties off the ballot (Politico) education How remote learning is breaking parents (NY Times) lots of parental whining; and a near total lack of empathy for what teachers do (except in the comments) Schools now online demand more of teachers (NY Times) the underpaid face even more unreasonable demands extra work, longer hours A costly closure for students (Vox) especially for younger and low-income students This is not home schooling, distance learning, or on-line schooling (Atlanta Journal Constitution) and it's unethical to pretend it is College students protest full tuition after classes go online (Washington Post) 'protest' = law suits Long-lasting changes to NC higher ed? (NC Policy Watch) A lost generation of students? (NY Times) on-line education can't replace the real thing books Finding the right book to read about climate change (NY Times) art/trips/museums Andy Warhol (Tate Modern) "There are good and bad Warhols" (The Guardian) a 3-star review there are good Warhols? ...news to me |
science Chemistry solved? (Chemistry World) almost exact solutions to the Schrodinger equation for simple atoms & molecules on the horizon? Using cosmic rays to predict volcanic eruptions (Eos) by mapping volcanic interiors with muons Will Asia rewrite human history? (Sapiens) did humans take a short cut through Arabia? best offer of the week: Demonstrate quantum levitation (Boaz) for only $6499 but a 15% discount for educators coronavirus local news Cooper's new plan to re-open NC (Raleigh N&O) in 3 phases NC tops in drinking while working from home (Raleigh N&O) Have NC residents stopped traveling? (Raleigh N&O) in the Triangle, yes; elsewhere, nope the South thinks they're exempt from 'stay at home' Artsplosure postponed, Gotto- be-NC canceled (Raleigh N&O) medical Fauci: a 2nd CV wave is inevitable (Washington Post) The science of how coronavirus tests work (Scientific American) Trump v. Science Vaccine chief fired (NY Times) for not supporting Trump's favorite (fake) medicine Scientists can speak, but only if the mostly toe Trump's line (Washington Post) ------------------ Your #1 death destination: Georgia (Washington Post) get it at a massage parlor, nail salon, bowling alley, or a tattoo lunge Largest hydroxyquine study so far finds no benefit for Covid (Politico) in fact more died using it than not How the CDC lab contaminated its test kits with the actual virus (Washington Post) and resulted in huge testing delays an unparalleled CDC debacle that led to thousands of unnecessary deaths What we now know about coronavirus (The Guardian) 5 months on What we don't know about CV is alarming (Nature) insufficient testing, unreliable testing, ⛬ unknown infection & mortality rates Why it's not the flu (New Atlantis) and not car crashes  CV origin theories (Washington Post) economics Why much of corporate America deserve no bailout money (NY Times) stock buybacks Trump & Mnuchin need a course in financial literacy (Washington Post) and need to stop being "ludicrously, offensively" insulting to average Americans The end of a world economy? (NY Times) will any nation now want to be reliant on another? The end of the department store? (NY Times) CV only quickened it and of malls? planning for the future The year ahead (NY Times) 20 experts guess immunity cards; no quick vaccine; more trillion spent; lockdowns come and go political hypocrisy Trump defunds WHO for doing what he did: mismanaging and covering up pandemic crisis" (Vanity Fair) Conservative heads would have exploded if Obama said "I have total authority" (Mediaite) and said by Fox, no less When Democrats were in charge, Mike Pence hated executive overreach (USA Today) he's special; we're not and then there's Texas (NY Times) or, more accurately, Texas Republicans |
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limited time? read the most interesting & important stories from early April 2020: 1) coronavirus reigns 2) future effects of coronavirus 4) asymmetry in universe's expansion? or just another false signal? 5) climate news the potentially rapid pace of biodiversity loss how to get to nearly 100% clean energy the missing piece 6) Mercury's surface and potential for life |
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early April 2020
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A stronger case for life on Mars? (Air & Space) nope, stromatolites are proof of nothing just hot 'Air' Oh no! Is Comet Atlas breaking up? (Sky & Telescope) and it's dimmed A new origin story for Oumuamua (UC-Santa Cruz) shard of a fragmented planet? and another view (Earth & Sky) published paper (Nature Astronomy) free to read but not save Earth Help measure how bad light pollution is in your community (Astronomy) April 19-26 is International Dark-Sky Week submit you data here id Earth's magnetic field more than 3.5 Gyr ago? (MIT) jury still out but beware of trusting zircon Why Earth is spiraling away from the Sun (now) (Starts with a Bang) but will eventually crash into it Why is Earth the solar system's densest planet? (Starts with a Bang) sufficient mass for gravitational compression What NASA could be doing with the $35 billion it's using to send humans to the Moon (Ars Technica) 10 alternatives Is NASA's SOFIA worth its pricetag? (Nature) clearly not -------------------- Mercury 5 Mercury mysteries that BepiColombo (ESA) dead or alive (inside); origin; presence of water; its magnetic field; its dark surface Why have parts of Mercury's surface deflated? (Sky & Telescope) its chaotic terrain -- which fueled the habitability rumors of last month Was Mercury once habitable? (Earth & Sky) -------------------- Uranus's oddities, explained (Earth-Life Science Institute) a Earth+-sized icy planet hit Uranus when young -- accounting for its axial tilt, rapid rotation, and idiosyncratic moon/ring system 🔥 climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture The impending risk of sudden and severe biodiversity loss due to climate change (Nature) a summary of the published article (Nature) paywall Urban heat islands are warming the Arctic (Eos) Nonscientists are much worse at identifying false statements about climate change (Eos) than they are about general science and overly confident about their answers climate economics Where is the climate stimulus? (Nature) if we can do it for coronavirus, why not climate? The missing puzzle piece in getting to clean energy (Vox) how to deal with the variability of solar, wind, & water sources environment EPA head Andrew Wheeler vs. the environment (Washington Post) an ironic Earth Day The legacy and policy of Earth Day (WAMU The 1A, 50-min podcast) Wheeler vs. the environmentalists Greenhouse gas footprints (Physics Teacher, April 2020 issue) how to quantify the greenhouse footprint of a campus paywall Great Barrier Reef is bleaching again (NY Times) and it's becoming more widespread due to overheating |
Supernova 2016aps breaks records for mass, luminosity, & energy release (Starts with a Bang) a 150 Msun progenitor? a merger? collapsed magnetar? tidal disruption event? Sky & Telescope comments are we sure it's a SN? a bridge between SM and γ-ray bursts? Black holes in binaries: formed there or captured? (AAS Nova) black holes in binaries are 5x more likely to have similar mass than not 1st observational evidence that a black hole can bend light back on itself (Caltech) 1st measurement of wind speed on a brown dwarf (NRAO) 230 mph! The 1st double helium-core white dwarf binary (CFA Harvard) a 20-min orbit period that is decreasing presumably due to gravitational-wave emission preprint (arXiv) accepted by ApJ Letters Why global C14 spiked worldwide 1200 years ago (Forbes) the Sun did it with a nice C14 tutorial |
The atmosphere of the hottest planet known (AAS Nova) T = 4500 K on KELT-9b hope you have a taste for Ca+ Sulfur: the spice of life in alien atmospheres (Johns Hopkins) ET New search methods for ETI ramp up (Science News) 60 years after the search began read with extreme caution Could giants lurk beneath Europa's icy shell? (Hakai) gigantism has helped colossal squid, isopods, & jellyfish survive in harsh terrestrial depths |
is the universe expanding asymmetrically? More data suggest universe's expansion not same in all directions (Chandra) or maybe dark energy is not isotropically distributed? but authors caution about dust and other possible systematic errors commentary by Astrobites pre-published paper (arXiv) but Starts with a Bang is skeptical b/c, there may be a correlation between x-ray luminosity and temperature, but cluster metallicity changes the correlation correlation seems to be observatory-dependent, and study conflicts with most other data & has no underlying theory, and as always there's the issue of dust A lopsided universe? (Scientific American) "astonishing and depressing" but 'look at the data, don't worry about the cause' say authors ----------------------- Best evidence yet of an intermediate size black hole (Hubble) 50,000 Msun, it was found off-center in a galaxy a bit more science-y (AAS Nova) with the signature of a star-shredding event The origin of SMBH jets in the early universe (Astronomy) if it looks like a gun, ..... Is Modern Cosmology in Crisis? (Physics Teacher, April 2020 issue) a solid review, but no new ground broken |
Will CV freeze search for dark matter? (NY Times) Grand Sasso, in Italy Detecting cosmic neutrinos with radar? (Physics Today) radar reflection from high-energy-neutrino-induced ionization trails Gravity's inverse-square-law down to 50 μm (Ars Technica) Mirror symmetry violated in ground states of mirror-pair nuclei (Nature) in Sr73/Br73 Faster-than-light travel ruled out for 100s of TeV photons (Gizmodo) atop a Mexican volcano Starts with a Bang "explains" how this places constraints on Lorentz invariance, string theory, & quantum gravity How the world's biggest experiments are faring during the pandemic (Nature) some off, some on but JWST and U.S. moon program delayed (Scientific American) The particle beams behind physics discoveries (Physics Today, April 2020 issue) Philip Anderson: a physics giant (Not Even Wrong) passes away at 96 a Nobel prize winner for condensed matter... should he have earned another for the Higgs? read with caution Does time really flow? (Quanta) math and speculation 'intuitionist mathematics', yes; actual science, no |
The Re-Open hypocrites (NC Policy Watch) ignorance and cynicism in action Supreme inequality (Washington Post) the high court has sided with the rich since Lewis Powell was appointed by Nixon Why don't we have a world-class health system? (NY Times) health insurance considered as an employee benefit; limited access to the medical profession; hospital monopolies but public anger is building The troubling truth about NC's surpluses (NC Policy Watch) it was built by years of under-funding public education, environmental protection, healthcare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance (stingiest in the nation) How Trump undermines independent watchdog agencies, again (Washington Post) by not filling vacancies Mapping the corruption in Trump's executive branch (American Prospect) a monumental task health care It's time to end employer-based health insurance (Vox) actually the time was long ago The U.S. approach to public health: Neglect, panic, repeat (NY Times) a society that prizes individual liberty above all else is bound never to treat health as a public matter Sanders drops out Bernie's real achievement (The Atlantic) not just moving ideas from radical to mainstream, but inspiring people to carry his message forward The difference that Bernie Sanders made (Washington Post) but Biden moves closer to Sanders on health care and student debt (Washington Post) Why Biden will have trouble winning over the Berniesphere (Vox) it's that he's not trusted Bernie's legacy hangs in the balance (Politico) the next few months will tell ---------------------- elections in the time of a virus Supreme Court threatens legitimacy of elections and the courts themselves Supreme Court chooses not to protect voting rights (Slate) but it's nothing new for the Roberts court Supreme Court fails America (NY Times) again, and spectacularly Court makes voters choose between voting and their health (The Atlantic) on 'party' lines, 5-4 tell us again, Chief Justice Roberts that there are no R judges and no D judges and the brazenly hypocrisy: the Court postponed all its scheduled court hearings for 2 months: too dangerous to hold court, but not to vote? Judicial partisanship? (NY Times) or judicial philosophy? does it really matter, if people are deprived of their right to vote? --------------------- Wisconsin Republicans can't even win with voter suppression (Washington Post) sad! but it's still no way to run an election and we now know that tens of thousands of WI voters were disenfranchised (NY Times) and maybe hundreds The culture wars behind Wisconsin's election disaster (Politico) Wisconsin: the start of a national battle over virus-era voting (NY Times) a mess that is the culmination of a decade of GOP efforts to make voting harder The Wisconsin primary: a worst-case election scenario (Washington Post) judge rules no results released until 1 week after Voting during a pandemic: Wisconsin's warning (The Atlantic) how are people supposed to vote if their not supposed to leave their homes? North Carolina NC prepares for a surge of absentee voting (Raleigh N&O) NC BoE presents legislature with 15 changes to state's elections (Raleigh N&O) full list of BoE chair's requests to legislature (via WRAL) Texas Texas Dems sue (again) for absentee voting rights (Texas Tribune) How the Texas absentee-voting law could disenfranchise millions (Vox) expanding the vote or not Conservatives have been suppressing the vote for 150 years (NY Times) The facts abouot vote-by-mail (NY Times) Another day, another bogus Trump claim of voter fraud (Washington Post) & gets 4 Pinocchios Colorado has proved that vote-at-home works (John Hickenlooper, Governor of CO, Washington Post) it needs to be implemented nationally Does vote-by-mail favor Democrats? (Salt Lake Tribune) Utah begs to differ Trump campaign declares war on Dems over voting rules for November (Politico) suits filed to limit mail voting in PA, NM, & GA and to preserve id checks in WI A coming legal nightmare in November? (Politico) The fear and politics around expanding voting by mail (Washington Post) Using the pandemic to suppress the vote (LA Times) the GOP's bag of tricks Will the pandemic threaten monster turnout in November (Politico) election hypocrisy Trump: voting by mail is "corrupt" and the process is "horrible" (Washington Post) guess who just voted by mail in the FL primary? Oregon Rep says mail-in voting is a recipe for disaster (Politico) Oregon - first state to do all-mail voting Trump directs GOP to fight mail-in voting (Politico) b/c "it doesn't work out well for Republicans" education Educational catastrophe: Millions of public school students will suffer from school closures (Washington Post) the switch to on-line 'learning' has been a disaster summer school for all? After CV, will students come back to college? (NY Times) College students demand coronavirus refunds (Wall St. Journal) because of switch to online learning paywall 5 tips for moving teaching online (Nature) Claim: on-line & blended education provides 'similar' outcomes as in-person, with less cost (Science Advances) not my experience Less than half of students are 'showing up' for online classes (NY Times) particularly low-income students with limited technology and internet access Student inequality on display on Zoom (NY Times) Americans were clearly not bothered by inequality in education before CV; why are we now? books Epidemics and Society (Vox) is CV an opportunity to build a better world? art/trips/museums 13 travel podcasts (NY Times) for the travel-inhibited Americans (NMAI Smithsonian) examining representations of Native Americans in American culture a review (Washington Post) |
science Astronomy in the time of CoVid-19 (Sky & Telescope) amateurs, pros, & satellites Human evolution (New Scientist) the story of the origin of our species is being rewritten a long read paywall Walk more, life longer (National Institute of Aging, NIH) 8000 steps lowers mortality 51% cf to 4000 steps; 12,000 steps lowers it by 65% but study warns that causality cannot be proved; also, step intensity irrelevant to mortality Why the 3-body problem can't be time reversed (Starts with a Bang) blame quantum uncertainties are there implications for cosmology or is this a result that applies to only a small portion of the universe? Celebrating 30 years of Hubble (Physics Today, April 2020 issue) a data visualization of its targets fit for a poster or in somewhat more detail Hubble: the blurry years The 'proof' of othe abc conjecture will be published (Nature) but is there a flaw in the proof? -------------------- coronavirus continued what's new locally Social distancing to last through 2022? (Science) without a quick vaccine Durham's mayor: stay-at-home will continue through end of May? (YouTube via IndyWeek) 4/14/20 New retail guidelines in NC (Raleigh N&O) as of 4/13/20 Triangle farmers markets try to stay open (Indy Week) Carrboro still open; Durham will not open till at least May medical Symptoms of coronavirus (Vox) cough & fever stand out A web tool for diagnosing CoVid symptoms (Scientific American) find it @ C19checkcom 4 things that must happen before a state lifts quarantine restrictions (Scientific American) downward trend in infections for 2 weeks; sufficient PPE; diagnostic random testing; ability to contact trace infection What the federal & state governments need to do now (Medium) Tomas Pueyo continues a very long read a 2nd pandemic Pandemic ends mass vaccinations (Science) are measles, polio, ... epidemics around the corner? a 2nd pandemic will follow the end of CV (Washington Post) taking care of all the medical problems that were ignored during the CV pandemic CV and race CV is infecting & killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate (Washington Post) a legacy of growing up poor with limited access to good health options saying it's exacerbated by Trump's policies (Vox) is true, but it didn't begin with Trump more accurately: 4 reasons why (Washington Post) Racism and misinformation fuel CV in NC (Raleigh N&O) -------------------- Inside America's 2-decade failure to prepare for coronavirus (Politico) The false hope of hydroxychloroquine (Washington Post) and the consequences posted 4/13 Trump's comments: 4 Pinocchios Hydroxychloroquine update, 4/6/2020 (Science) still not passing muster Keep the parks open! (The Atlantic) exercise, sunshine, & fresh air are good for both physical and mental health Yes to keeping parks open! (Washington Post) fresh air benefits outweigh risk of infection Hidden CV infection hotspots in the US (Scientific American) published 4/2 What are you waiting for? (NY Times) the 8 states where governors have not issued stay-at-home orders In the South, a looming disaster (NY Times) uninsured citizens; few hospitals; no Medicaid buy-in; no Stay-at-Home order from GOP governors Fauci calls for nationwide stay-at-home order (Washington Post) Trump resists "because it's only a recommendation"... so much for leading by example Why CV slipped past disease detectives (Scientific American) pandemic experts & resources stretched too far and too thin Bad news wrapped in protein (NY Times) inside the coronavirus CV spread by just breathing? (Science) and even talking Is CV airborne? (Nature) experts can't agree models & statistics NC real-time data" infections & deaths by county (Raleigh N&O) updated 4/8/2020 Why CoVid case counts are meaningless (538) unless you know a lot about what's been tested (and/or testing strategies) CDC recommends everyone wear masks in public (NY Times) but not for Trump the proud Where in the U.S. people were not staying home (NY Times) i.e., a map of idiocy in America the South and the Plains states Don't believe the Covid models (The Atlantic) they aren't supposed to be right Why country comparisons are pointless right now (The Conversation) unless these biases are taken into account face masks Face masks protect others from the wearer (Washington Post) of course Trump wouldn't wear one The mask fiasco (NY Times) so masks are important after all? The mask market is a total mess (NY Times) scams and prices are soaring Everyone thinks they're right about face masks (The Atlantic) Everything you need to know about making mask (Vox) a tutorial Should everyone be wearing masks? (Vox) but nurses & doctors must get them first the evidence, explained coronavirus economics an eye-opener: A lasting remedy for the Covid-19 pandemic economic crisis (Joseph Stiglitz, @ NY Books) more funding for: small businesses; revenue-deprived states & cities, nonprofits, education; restructuring the economy and a look at some undeserving villains: big banks (again), big hotel chains, & credit card companies free for a limited time After the pandemic: a big reset? (NY Times) on health care, paid family leave, climate, & food insecurity Tackling climate change: a big enough project to revive the economy (NY Times) The pandemic exposes America's devastating inequalities (Vox) rather than an equalizer, CV hurts marginalized people the most Why America will struggle economically after coronavirus (NY Times) in multiple charts The looming crisis in states and cities (Washington Post) which must balance their budgets State governors ask Congress for $500 million (Washington Post) The scary plan(s) to reopen the economy (Vox) Big banks took free money during the 2008 recession; now they're trying to screw small businesses out of it (Washington Post) Why the wealthy fear pandemics (NY Times) like other plagues before it, it could shift the balance between rich and poor The coming recession's effect on the NC state budget (Raleigh N&O) We aren't close to reopening the economy (NY Times) what's needed first: more data; more testing; more stimulus and fantasy A framework for opening (NY Times) but, still, more data needed first How to put millions back to work safely (Washington Post) --------------------- Businesses sue to stay open (NY Times) so there's a constitutional right to infect other people? The economics of saving lives in a shutdown (NY Times) The 4 rules of pandemic economics (The Atlantic) Why ending social distancing too soon would only hurt the economy (Vox) writing history as it happens (Washington Post) Economic shocks undermine stimulus small business-loan confusion; unfilled vacancies in top positions; stimulus checks delay; last-minute rule changes American, unprepared for a crisis, again this time exacerbated by unfilled vacancies, incompetent political employees, & hostility toward career officials In what circle of hell is losing 200,000 American lives 'doing a good job' the self-promotion one Inside the CV testing failure a comprehensive summary scientists kept warning, but the government kept setting up new roadblocks Denial and dysfunction, from the Oval Office to the CDC a comprehensive look at multiple failures China's obstruction; Trump's incompetence; a leadership vacuum the damning timeline How did CoVid-19 begin? the shaky origin stories Whatever happened to the CDC? rethinking the future It's no longer September 12 (The Atlantic) we need to change our attitude about government: stop the assault that devalues expertise & disdains career civil service a long read A make-or-break test for American diplomacy (William Burns, in The Atlantic) America's moment of reckoning has been building since the early 1990s bad leadership the 3 smoking guns Trump's litany of failures (NY Times) week-by-week a very long read The chronology of Trump's misdirections, misinformation, & outright lies (Washington Post) the first 2-months edition and what 'fake news' really means (Washington Post) Trump administration and the media (Committee to Protect Journalism) a very very very long read ---------------------- We are all paying the price for Trump's failure (The Atlantic) Trump's wasted briefings (Wall St. Journal) have become a boring show of Trump vs. the press (and the press is winning) et tu, WSJ? paywall Explaining Trump's incoherence (NY Books) paranoia and risk dominate the right-wing mindset a long read Trump admin didn't order ventilators or masks until 3/12 (Vox) for delivery on 4/30 despite the first warning from China on 1/3/2020 When a narcissist runs a crisis (NY Times) Exposed: treachery of Jared Kushner: the bogus claim that DPA stockpiles were not intended for the states (Washington Post) and the DPA description changes magically overnight after he says so Exposed: Trump's total lack of empathy (Washington Post) bragging about his TV ratings during a pandemic Exposed: the real source of DC gridlock (The Atlantic) the GOP's insistence that only they should be allowed to govern Trump: ball of confusion (Washington Post) master of doublespeak World in medical crisis; Defense Sec'y Esper wants to talk about illegal drugs (Politico) what an idiot Dr. Fauci gets death threats: why isn't Trump speaking out? (Politico) The Trump breakdown (Politico) his previous tactics of bluster, defiance, & self-promotion, have failed to work in a national crisis Trump has used the Defense Production Act to make war millions of times (NY Times) but to save lives in a pandemic? ooh, too hard The 6 best -- and 6 worst governors on coronavirus (Politico) When Trump finally realized his mistake (The Atlantic) the benefits of preventing deaths hyperbolic discounting? bad media How the right-wing media turned coronavirus into an us-vs-them battle (NY Times) Limbaugh's and Hannity's contribution to the decline of America Raleigh N&O and Charlotte Observer put a paywall back up on coronavirus reporting (Indy Week) money-grubbers at heart the conservative spin A road map to re-opening (American Enterprise Institute) why would anyone trust the premier anti-science and anti-government fake news source? Shelter-in-place isn't sustainable (Carolina Journal) because "North Carolinians won't shelter in place for months. They can't" because? |
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limited time? read the most interesting & important stories from late March 2020: 1) coronavirus holds sway the future: how/when will it end?
as if the virus weren't bad enough: 2) future effects of coronavirus education
5) climate news
6) planetary updates |
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late March 2020 |
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No global magma ocean in Mars's past? (Astronomy) say only 2 (?) meteorites from Mars Instead of Planet 9, maybe it's a far-out disk? (Astrobites) to explain the TNO clustering Pluto How an impact on one side of Pluto created chaotic terrain on the other (Scientific American) Pluto's subsurface ocean: old & deep? (Science News) assuming there is one Do ripples on Pluto's surface hint at an underlying ocean? (Earth & Sky) Sky & Telescope has the best graphics the K-T extinction: An impact with a dash of volcanism? (Quanta) the asteroid impact started it, but the Deccan volcanism guided it Mercury the latest hot idea: past life on Mercury? (NY Times) transient subsurface volatile release from solar heating but only if there was H2O ice? (Planetary Sci Inst) published article (Nature) Comet Atlas: a future star at the end of May? (Earth & Sky) as bright as Venus, visible in daytime??? but just remember how many times you've been promised comet excitement before Earth Coronavirus has changed Earth's movement (Nature) a seismic noise reduction Earth has lost its mini-moon (The Atlantic) but for one shining moment... Surely you haven't forgotten the vernal equinox (Vox) Thursday, 3/19/20, 11:49 pm EDT Ryugu Ryugu: a surface only 9 Myr old (Science) based on artificial impact crater data Ryugu: a likely link in planetary formation (German Aerospace) it's formed entirely of fragments of a shattered body 🔥 climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture World Meteorological Report on the State of the Global Climate in 2019 (WMO) published March 2020 one of the more concise summaries at 44 pages Greenland's melting ice sheet raised global sea levels by 2.2 mm in 2 months (The Guardian) as Arctic experienced its hottest year ever to be published article (Geophysics Research Letters) open access What the coronavirus curve teaches us about climate change (Politico) or at least what it should be teaching us about exponential growth Antarctica A new vulnerability in the Antarctic ice sheet (Washington Post) the retreat of Denman glacier Antartica special issue (Science) virtually all behind a paywall, of course, including: History, mass loss, structure, and dynamic behavior of the Antarctica ice sheet The southern ocean and its interaction with the Antarctic ice sheet The uncertain future of the Antarctic ice sheet -------------------- climate & economics Banking on climate change (RAN) documenting how the 4 biggest U.S. banks lead the way in funding global warming a 116-page report Global Electricity Review (Ember) 43-page report on transitioning to carbon-free electricity key findings: 1) coal not falling fast enough; reaching 1.5 C target unlikely 2) US coal collapse undermined by switch to gas, whereas EU jumped to wind/solar 3) Wind/solar rose by 15% in 2019, now generating 8% of electricity Coal mines emit more than fossil-fuel sector (Carbon Brief) Trump makes the U.S. dirtier Lower mileage standards to be finalized (Washington Post) Loosening clean- air rules in the time of an airborne pandemic (Washington Post) just, wow environment A big ozone hole opens -- over the Arctic (Nature) National parks & monuments increase economic growth and jobs in the West (Science) sorry, conservatives |
Does electron-capturing neon cause type II SN collapse? (Kavli IPMU) in 8 - 10 Msun stars is the Crab Nebula SN one of these? how researchers figured this out (Gizmodo) |
Will clouds hide atmospheric H2O from JWST? (AAS Nova) likely ET Search for ET goes on hold (NY Times) SETI@home ends 3/31/2020 Exotic places to find (Starts with a Bang) 'ingredients for life' ≠life |
Distant metals reveal universe's evolution (AAS Nova) is a drop in neutral O absorption at z ~ 6.6 due to the start of reionization? but the data is a bit shaky Winds triggered by quasar SMBHs trigger galaxy-wide tsunamis (Earth & Sky) FRBs: signals from neutron-star binaries? (AAS Nova) Milky Way news found at last?: The edge of the Milky Way (Science News) 950,000 cyrs away from the center; 35x farther than the sun pre-published article (arXiv) A New View of the Milky Way (Scientific American, April 2020 issue) the cosmic neighborhood; 4 spiral arms; & more mysteries free for a limited time The Milky Way's warp twirls every 600 Myr (Sky & Telescope) ----------------------- When the universe wasn't so big (Starts with a Bang) but if it's infinite now, wasn't it always so? We still don't know the geometry of the universe? (Quanta) Creating a star-bursting galaxy (AAS Nova) from a collision of dwarf galaxies |
Why matter particles come in threes? (Quanta) Steven Weinberg's thoughts well, at least a a few come in threes The transition from quantum to reality (New Scientist) has quantum theory's greatest mystery been solved? new experiments undermine Many Worlds paywall A new battle over a dark matter claim (Science) is there a 'sterile neutrino' glow? the 3.5-keV signal seen in other galaxies does not show up in ours and another: a correlation between gravitational lensing and γ-rays (Physics World) mostly explainable by blazars but not entirely CPT: the one symmetry the universe may not violate (Starts with a Bang) so we think Still no evidence for Hawking radiation (Starts with a Bang) if anything, there is evidence against it sorry, Stephen H. Can physics turn back time? (Astronomie) not always, at least in calculations a black hole's countless rings Do countless rings of light encircle black holes? (Sky & Telescope) The path to razor-sharp black hole images (Harvard Smithsonian) published article (Science Advances) how it will lead to more precise measurements of black hole mass & spin free for the moment and if you want flowery prose with little content (NY Times) you can always count on NYT ----------------------- Where does mass get its energy from? (Starts with a Bang) read with caution The still-unobserved axions solving problems (Quanta) again and again and Sky & Telescope has more but the latest, most sensitive search turned up nothing (Chandra) and why this story is likely just hype (Not Even Wrong) read with even more caution String theory put to an experimental test at last? (Scientific American) another day, another hyped claim no, don't believe it (Not Even Wrong) says the prime skeptic |
election security The plot to block the vote and sow mistrust in elections (Indy Week) part 1 part 2 How to steal an election (The Atlantic) An unintended admission?: GOP hurt when it's easier to vote (Washington Post) coronavirus' effect on elections Nationwide voting by mail will be a massive undertaking (Washington Post) says those who have done it How to save the election (The Atlantic) nationwide vote-by-mail Federal corona-virus relief package includes $400M for elections (The Hill) Voting
by mail would reduce coronavirus
transmission, but it has other
risks
(Pro Publica) the consensus is that it is the method most susceptible to fraud Vote-by-mail or nothing in 2020? (Washington Post) Can the President cancel the Nov elections? (Vox) and who's in charge if they're postponed? it's devilishly complicated Lessons from the pandemic primaries (American Prospect) The disgraceful pandemic primaries (Jacobin) here's looking at you, Democrats Voting in the time of coronavirus (The New Yorker) & social distancing Voting by mail is the hot new idea: is there time to make it work? (NY Times) How to protect the 2020 vote (Brennan Center for Justice) 5 recommendations How to reduce one source of potential election meltdown (Lawfare) what if the winner on election night is not the winner 2 weeks later? when all mail ballots have come in How the 2020 election could be altered (538) no rallies; narrowly tailored media messages MD becomes 5th state to delay primary till after June (Politico) Ohio shuts down elections at 11:30 pm, night before (Politico) a health emergency Cancel elections (NY Times) or vote by mail? (Washington Post) Polling places are full of old people ... and coronavirus (538) needed: gloves; younger workers; better locations Recommendations for elections sites (CDC) not at nursing homes or schools Postponing primary elections sets a dangerous precedent (Washington Post) Elections in the time of coronavirus (MIT ElectionLab) resources, research, & experts Mail-in ballots to avoid coronavirus (Washington Post) how to avoid chaos and unfairness We aren't ready for elections in a pandemic (Washington Post) We held an election during the 1918 flu epidemic (Slate) and the burning of Washington in 1814, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and WW II we can hold one now Voting in the time of the virus (Franita & Foley 50-min podcast) The Vote@Home campaign for 2020 (Vote@Home) books new climate books The national and global challenge of climate change (Nature) a review of 2 climate manifestos The Future We Choose (Amazon) surviving the climate crisis We have 10 years to save the world (New Scientist) book review -------------------- Let the People Pick the President (NY Times) the case for abolishing the Electoral College a review Fresh Air 50-min podcast with author The Dream Universe (NY Times) how fundamental physics lost its way; a review art/trips/museums Titian: Love, desire, death (UK National Gallery) now behind closed doors... the Ovid series is together again after 3 centuries apart through June 14, 2020? Titian: wild at heart (The Guardian) a 5* review & another 5* one (The Guardian) 12 art & nature sites to visit virtually (Washington Post) Frank Stella (NY Times) the maximal minimalist Liangzhu: the city that time forgot (New Scientist) 5.5 millennia ago in the lower Yangtze delta paywall A World Heritage site (UNESCO) The jades of Liangzhu (China's Palace Museum) a 2019 exhibit 5 art-heist films to take your mind off coronavirus (Art Newspaper) great art online Jacob Lawrence's Migration series (MOMA) from a 2015 exhibition A virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel (Vatican Museum) |
coronavirus continued facts WOW! Science magazine gives open access to CV commentary & research (Science) the apocalypse must be near but a bit late to the crisis Everything to know about coronavirus (Indy Week) 16 things Updated guide to coronovirus (The Guardian) symptoms; flu vs. virus; mortality rate; updated 3/22 Coronavirus remains for hours on surfaces (The Guardian) No, coronavirus was not created in a lab (Science News) genetic analysis shows it's from nature CoVid-19 risks for different age groups (Vox) explained updated 3/23 the practical Buying groceries in a pandemic (Vox) or Buying food during a pandemic (NY Times) Homeschooling during coronavirus will set back a generation (Washington Post) long breaks are damaging; virtual learning is erratic How to freeze just about anything (NY Times) Sanitizing the stuff you bring home (Vox) mail, groceries, take-out Triangle restaurants doing takeout or delivery (Indy Week) How to be a science expert (Scientific American) watch Dr. Anthony Fauci And how not to be (Vox) listen to the suck-up Dr. Deborah Brix NC and social distancing? NC is one of the 5 slowest states o adopt social distancing (NY Times) and the other 4 were also in the South or maybe NC gets a B? (Unacast) site has interactive data or Carolinas "slow" to adopt social distancing (Raleigh N&O) based on phone GPS records models & statistics We're #1!: in disease spreading (Washington Post) thank you, President Trump Which country has flattened their coronavirus curve? (NY Times) yes for China and South Korea; but not the U.S. The model that caused the US & the UK to rethink coronavirus control (Ars Technica) U.S. lags in coronavirus tests per capita (NY Times) we trail Greece, Czech Republic, & Austria New statistics on hospitalization, ICU admission, & death rates by age (Science News) published 3/20/20 what next 12 smart things to do now to mitigate coronavirus impact (Washington Post) Durham starts shelter-in-place 3/26 @ 6 pm (Indy Week) details here what's allowed; what's not (Raleigh N&O) 14 days left to defeat coronavirus (NY Times) or else says Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, 3/23/20 Now is the time to over-react (The Atlantic) 3 things: follow WHO advice; open & published research; international cooperation (Nature) It's time to nationalize the airlines (American Prospect) the irony of the most consumer-abusing and environmentally- degrading industry asking for a bailout Ohio governor's response to crisis has been a national guide (Washington Post) Andrew Cuomo is the control freak we need right now (NY Times) Send Americans cash. now. (Vox) 'Shelter in place' shuts down nearly everything in the Bay Area (San Francisco Examiner) the past The lesson from the 1918 pandemic (Vox) tell the truth that means you, Mr. President What went wrong with coronavirus testing in the U.S. (New Yorker) it's complicated A brief history of coronavirus (Indy Week) with emphasis on NC if only Kellyanne Conway weren't a serial liar (Washington Post) Trump walks in her footprints Lockdowns in Europe could have prevented tens of thousands of deaths (Nature) If Trump really wants to restart the economy, let him go first (Politico) let him relocate WH operations to NYC If only we had started sooner (The Atlantic) the scale of death and economic damage in the U.S. could have been avoided Would this have happened if Trump had lost to Clinton? (Washington Post) The epidemics that American got wrong (The Atlantic) the future The hammer and the dance (Medium) the future, in graphs the follow-up to Why we must act now (Medium) or people will die warning: the author has no expertise in this area, but those who do can't find fault Scientists know how to end the pandemic (Vox) will Trump et al. listen? 4 timelines (The Atlantic) shortest: 1 -2 months longest: 18 months, and longer? How it ends (The Atlantic) When will the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing end? (Science News) with herd immunity 6 ways the pandemic could end (The Hill) misinformation. lies, & profit a bad President Trump to desperate hospitals: "Let them (Politico) not! "These are ^ great companies" (The Guardian) great companies don't suck up to liars on national TV Mike Lindell shows his true colors "Only" 2220,000 Americans might die because Trump thinks he's done "a very good job" (Vox) it's called 'moving the goalposts' How Trump failed the biggest test of his life (The Guardian) MIA for 6 weeks The road to coronavirus hell was paved by evangelicals (NY Times) who promoted science denial almost makes you wish for an afterlife in which they could suffer With Trump, the buck always stops somewhere else (Indy Week) Sadly, no new Trump (Washington Post) every day is an opportunity to belittle others State & local governments stepped up as Trump dithered (Washington Post) does Trump finally recognize the magnitude of the crisis? Trump: the tone-deaf Herbert Hoover of our time (Politico) bad media Fox News changes its tune (MSN) with a straight face? and only months late and starts social distancing (Politico) bad tech The evil that Uber and Lyft do (The Guardian) defying the law is only the start How Google gave cover to Trump's coronavirus lies (NY Times) bad corporations Kroger relents: gives sick leave to all employees (Popular Info) Amazon, the world's most profitable, solicits donations from public to fund worker sick leave (Popular Info) Are we rewarding bad behavior? (NY Times) bailing out corporations that spent the last decade enriching themselves If we're bailing out corporations, they should bail out the planet (The New Yorker) attach some strings, Democrats! Congress to bail out firms that avoided taxes& safety regulations (Washington Post) because that's what Congress is good at looking at you: airlines; hotel chains; cruise lines; coal companies 5 principles for just & fair CoViD-19 relief and stimulus (350) to save us from greedy corporations Don't feel sorry for the airlines (NY Times) and don't bail them out until they treat their employees and customers better and The airlines do not need a bailout (Washington Post) bad Congressmen NC Senator Richard Burr warned private businessmen in February how dangerous the virus would be (Raleigh N&O) but he didn't bother to warn us, the public... and he sold off his hotel stocks big-time no wonder he was oppsed to a ban on insider trading by Congressmen... even Tucker Carlson think you should resign the details (Pro Publica) You could write Burr a message Tucker Carlson on Richard Burr: there is no greater crime (Washington Post) and Sen Kelly Loefler, R-GA is worse (Daily Beast) she bought stock in a telework company... wonder why? Burr and Loefler: they could have made a difference (NY Times) instead, they sold their stock and why the Feinstein, Johnson, & Imhope situations are different But Rand Paul's is even worse (Washington Post) totally selfish Pretending the past never happened (Vox) Thomas Massie, R-KY, "monster" (Washington Post) social chaos The social-distancing culture war has begun (The Atlantic) Trump to states: fend for yourselves (The Atlantic) CDC recommends canceling gatherings of > 10 3/16 Next for NC?: (NY Times) How coronavirus will destroy the economy (NY Times) and make us regret record levels of debt postponements & cancellations Real ID postponed to 10/1/2021 (Washington Post) Special shopping hours for old folks (Indy Week) Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, etc. NC Science Festival canceled Durham Farmers Market closed until further notice but Carrboro remains open Tax filing deadline extended (IRS) until 7/15 The lost school year (Politico) other NC UNC orders students off campuses (Raleigh N&O) Cooper orders NC bars & restaurants closed (Raleigh N&O) as of 3/17/2020 except for takeout & delivery "I miss sports so, so, so much" (The Atlantic) "what am I going do?" read a book, you selfish child science And you thought saber-toothed tigers were big (NY Times) |
limited time? read the most interesting & important stories from early March 2020: 1) Coronavirus tops the charts the facts what to do next misinformation, lies, & profits cancellations & postponements the switch to online education 2) climate urgency the climate future in NC climate and transportation 3) when Earth was young(er) 4) the golden age of neutron stars 5) Starlink tries to destroy astronomy 6) blockbuster art: Raphael, Rembrandt, Richter, Sargent, and Lawrence |
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early March 2020 |
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NASA Inspector General: U.S. return to the Moon would cost $50 billion (Washington Post) lax oversight by NASA & poor performance by Boeing the details (NASA) in 57 pages earlier Earth New study claims Earth's obliquity is most important trigger in ice age termination (Cosmos) published paper (Science) paywall but note: a previous paper (Nature) claimed precession did it Did Earth's volatiles arrive late during planet-building? (Nature) Learning about Earth from other planets (Nature Reviews, Earth & Environment) a comparison of Earth, Moon, Mars, & Venus histories Earth and Moon rocks are more different than we thought -- say the oxygen isotopes (Eos) still unknown: why the Moon is more like Earth than the hypothesized Theia Apollo rock samples heat up lunar formation debate (Scientific American) the deeper you go in the Moon, the more it's different than Earth When our day was a half-hour shorter (AGU) 70 million years ago Ancient Earth: 'a water world' with no dry land? (Astronomy) with clues to the origin of life? ------------------------ Volcanism: a solar system of fire & ice (The Atlantic) which volcanoes will NASA visit: Io, Venus, Triton? Juno at Jupiter: is Jupiter a waterworld? (Forbes) producing some of the best images (Astronomy) Help NASA save the night sky (SciStarter) by torpedoing Musk's absurd Starlink Astronomy comments ~⅓ of new Rubin Observatory (ex-LSST) images will have a Starlink streak (Gizmodo) and will therefore be unusable A new study of satellite constellations (ESO) large telescopes will be 'moderately affected'; for long exposures, it's worse NASA needs astronauts (USA Jobs) applications close 3/31/2020 Tilting Uranus another way (Astrobites) with a spin-orbit resonance caused by a massive circumplanetary disk Astronomy on Mauna Kea: a duty not a desecration (Nautil.us) Mars' Curiosity Rover's highest-resolution panorama (NASA JPL) A new way to test for life on Mars (Air & Space) look for thiophenes: but is their origin biotic or abiotic? by one of the co-authors The surface of Pallas (Nature Astronomy) dimpled like a golf ball Destination: Uranus & Neptune (Nature) a rare chance for a dual-shot visit but planning must begin now 🔥 climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture What coronavirus is doing to global carbon emissions (Washington Post) in 3 charts North Carolina Climate Report (NC Institute for Climate Studies) Executive summary 13 pages Plain-language summary 5 pages Full report 236 pages Climate crisis coming home to roost (NC Policy Watch) with some charts & graphs NC will become hotter and more humid (Raleigh N&O) with more hurricanes and rising seas --------------------- No polar vortex this spring? (Washington Post) a deceleration is forecast -- but expect the unexpected climate urgency The oceans will be irreversibly depleted -- if nothing changes (Scientific American) A wasted decade on climate change (Nature) the world now has 4x the work or one-third the time -- to fix things the gap is so huge now that governments et al. need to switch to crisis mode Tropical warning: rainforests are losing the ability to help humanity (Nature) the Amazon rainforest has been absorbing less and less CO2 since the early 1990s in a decade it will be down another 14% Washington Post comments Earliest recorded arrival of spring in the U.S. South (National Phenology Network) What caused the disastrous Australian wildfires? (Physics Today, March 2020 issue) it's complicated Australian wildfires linked to human-caused climate change (Science News) published article (World Weather Attribution) climate solutions or not The 4 big differences between Biden's & Sanders' climate plans (Washington Post) A climate policy showdown in this year's elections? (Nature) Why ride-hailing is a problem for the climate (Got Science) 50% more emissions than private cars published article (Union of Concerned Scientists) Are frequent-flier miles killing the planet? (NY Times) Why aren't we treating global warming with the same urgency as coronavirus? (The Guardian) Climate litigation (Nature) despite defeats, optimism remains climate wrong Paper blaming sun for global warming retracted (Retraction Watch) environment PG&E pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Camp Fire (NY Times) Burger and steak lovers are draining America's rivers (Nature Sustainability) and imperiling its fish Science advisers slam EPA's new stream and wetlands protection downgrade (Science) |
4 promising new black-hole mergers (Max Planck Institute) from old LIGO data but no binary neutron star mergers Stellar activity is determined by both rotation and convection (Max Planck Institute) Dimming Betelgeuse: it's not getting colder, just dustier (U Washington) with a simulation of its giant convection cells Why dying red giants produce bi-polar, hour- glass-shaped nebulae (ALMA) neutron stars A new theory of magnetar formation (Max Planck Institute) 1015-gauss fields generated during neutron-star formation? and not amplification of pre-existing fields The golden age of neutron-star physics (Nature) has arrived? the atmosphere, outer & inner crusts are likely known, but the outer & inner cores remain a mystery Closing in on the sizes of neutron stars (Max Planck Institute) ~ 11 km for a typical one Earth & Sky comments: The force is strong in neutron stars with clues to the inner structure of neutron stars Are there hyperons at the centers of neutron stars? (Science News) hypertritons have the same mass as the anti-hypertritons hypertriton = p + n + Λ... and a hurrah for CPT! Physics Today chimes in late, but more substantively --------------------------- Two white dwarfs merge into a bigger white dwarf (U Warwick) mass = 1.16 Msun |
Dust safety zone can save moons from plunging into their planet (CfCA, Japan) it's how Titan survived Saturn (NY Times) Life beyond the habitable zone? (AAS Nova) can internal radioactivity heat a planet sufficiently to provide liquid water beyond the HZ? stars aren't everything Heavy metal rain falling on planet WASP-76b? (Science News) Astrobites reviews the paper ET life We should be messaging ET civilizations, not just listening for them (Scientific American) Detecting multi-cellular life on exoplanets (Astrobites) it's in the shadows Some skepticism of 'first ET protein' (New Scientist) Earth & Sky has more details SETI@home ends March 31 (Wired) |
Help astronomers understand how galaxies evolve (NC Museum of Natural Sciences) citizen science with Spiral Graph resolving H0 Type Ia supernova scenarios need rethinking (Max Planck Institute) bad news for SN cosmologists?: type Ia scenarios may have very different luminosities could it resolve the Hubble tension? but read with caution Maybe we live in a Hubble bubble (Motherboard) where the matter density is less than average published article (Physics Letters B) ---------------------- 9 new repeating FRBs (AAS Nova) Milky Way's warp caused by ongoing collision with another galaxy (ESA) and we don't even know which one it is How the Cosmic Dark Ages snuffed out all light (Quanta) but we still haven't seen the first galaxies, nor do we know what ended the dark ages Do all galaxies have dark matter? (Astronomy, March 2020 issue) Gravitational-lensing measurements push H0-discrepancy past 5σ (Physics Today, March 2020 issue) IceCube identifies 4 galaxies as sources of its cosmic rays (Physics World) but no apparent connection between FRBs and IceCube neutrinos (IceCube) read with caution No galaxy will truly disappear in an accelerating universe? (Starts with a Bang) even in a universe with dark energy |
B0 flavor-changing anomalies persist at CERN (CERN Courier) data doubles; effect persists; but only at 3.3σ confidence level Axion mass window narrows (Science News) Probing the nuclear force at short distances (Nature) published paper (Nature) free to read but not save read with caution Axions: the solution to 3 of the universe's big unsolved problems (Institute for Advanced Study) what's the dark matter? why matter dominates over antimatter; origin of CP symmetry anticipating the publishing of an Axiogenesis paper in PRL on 3/17/20 Yet another dark-matter candidate (U of York) the d-star hexaquark Gizmodo piles on but Starts with a Bang thinks hexaquarks as dark matter is absurd the Big Bang's radiation would have destroyed them |
So why are almost all states that require paid sick leave Democrat-dominated? (National Conference of State Legislatures) If Jeff Bezos wants to fight climate change, he should just pay his taxes (The Guardian) Left behind: death and despair in America (NY Books) the U.S. health care crisis free for a limited time Working-class life is killing Americans -- or, can a college degree save your life? (NY TImes) in 6 charts: marriage, death, and church-going rates... and more chronic pain, more drinking, and more unhappiness super-tuesday wrap-up Why are we putting up with these god- forsaken, endless elections? (Washington Post) the media? 538 says Biden is odds-on favorite at convention Sanders has a window, but it's small no-delegate-majority drops to 1 in 100 chance but will anyone younger than 45 vote for Biden? (American Prospect) Warren's downfall says something terrible about America in 2020 (Washington Post) Warren's new outpouring of support (NY Times) but where was it when she needed it? The many elegies for Elizabeth Warren (American Prospect) The establishment strikes back (The Atlantic) A tough Tuesday for progressives (American Prospect) The huge risk of betting on a washed-up Biden (The Week) as in endless wars; saving banks but not homeowners; favoring credit-card companies; free- trade deals, cutting Social Security and Medicare to have a balanced budget; and on an on says The Nation and Jacbobin The making of Joe Biden, conservative (Jacobin) but Sanders can't lead Democrats if his campaign treats them like the enemy (Vox) What Bloomberg got wrong (Politico) money can buy a lot, but it can't erase your record How to win the purple states (Michael Bennet, via NY Books) free for a limited time ---------------------- How to destroy a government (The Atlantic) the President is winning his war on American institutions North Carolina NC primary results (NC BoE) for Council of State Durham County primary election results (Raleigh N&O) for County Commission and Board of Education 2nd-amendment sanctuaries jeopardize public safety (WRAL) NC budget impasse continues (NC Policy Watch) now in 9th month Raleigh's 10 essential restaurants (Raleigh N&O) and 10 esential restaurants in Durham/Chapel Hill (Raleigh N&O) election updates Where to vote on primary Election Day in Durham Co. (Durham Co Votes) Erica Smith, NC Dem Senate candidate (Washington Post) beset on all sides Election-related websites running on old, vulnerable software (Pro Publica) including Johnston County, NC Appeals court overturns massive WI voter purge (Chicago Tribune) Dropouts increase chance of a contested convention (538) odds are up to 69% Redistricting 2020 (Duke U) a 3-day conference at Duke, 3/2 - 344 foreign policy The end of American exceptionalism (Foreign Affairs) what the U.S. should learn from its peers paywall The U.S. wanated peace. The Taliban wanted an emirate. (Foreign Policy) what next in Afghanistan? America's longest war (Wall Street Journal) a visual history of 18 years in Afghanistan paywall books MBS (NY Times review) chronicling the life of the young, powerful, and ruthless Saudi prince and in real news, MBS comes out of hiding (NY Times) 4 more royals detained, and a new energy war with Russia art/trips/museums The Silk Road (NY Times) 12 days on the most storied highway ever blockbuster art Raphael at 500 blockbuster (Scuderie del Quirinale) in Rome through June 2 Rome celebrates his short, beautiful life (NY Times) amid coronavirus restrictions a review Gerhard Richter: Painting after All (Metropolitan Musem of Art) through 7/5/2020 and the last Met exhibit at the Breuer Gerhard Richter, Master of Doubt: a review (NY Times) the last exhibit in his lifetime? John Singer Sergeant: Portraits in Charcoal (National Portrait Gallery) through May 31 Painting more than the 1% (Washington Post) a review of Sergeant at the NPG Young Rembrandt (Oxford Ashmolean) through 6/7/20 How a master learned from his mistakes (The Guardian) a review of Young Rembrandt Jacob Lawrence: the American struggle (Peabody Essex) his panels are together for the first time in 60 years and 4 more museums to come through Sept 2021 Andy Warhol (Tate Modern) through 9/6/2020 but is it art? Sex, drag, the Velvets, and 50 Marilyn Monroes (The Guardian) a Warhol review |
coronavirus, continued the facts finally: Fauci to the elderly and sick: "no large crowds, no long travel, and no cruise ships" (Politico) and why did this advice take weeks? HR 6201: Putting Families First (U.S. House of Representatives) rather than corporations -- for a change 7 deadly (Vox) The pandemic numbers visualized (The Guardian) in charts & graphs Fauci vs. Trump: who do you believe? (Washington Post) How we know coronavirus didn't start in a Chinese lab (Vox) but started in nature A science experiment to show why isolation can stop coronavirus (Starts with a Bang) The science behind washing your hands and using hand sanitizer (Smithsonian) Never mind the above: it IS sparing kids (Washington Post) relatively speaking Why coronavirus spreads so easily among people (Nature) a protein on its surface? What coronavirus does to the body (NY Times) as of 3/12 Why CoViD-19 is so dangerous to elderly seniors (Vox) a 10% fatality rate of for those in their 70s; 18% for those in their 80s A second, deadlier strain of the virus has emerged (LA Times) say Chinese scientists How coronavirus is hampering science (Scientific American) missed meetings & conferences important for younger scientists How much worse the it could get (NY Times) in charts and graphs what we should be doing Best practices at home (CDC) otherwise, social distancing & washing your hands when you return The rules of social distancing (Vox) the ethics of self-quarantining 12 steps to stopping the virus (NY Times) but we aren't doing many yet How canceled events and self- quarantines save lives (Vox) Social distancing -- not travel bans -- are crucial to virus containment (Science News) Who should be avoiding crowds (The Atlantic) those with asthma and similar conditions, and older Americans in poor general health It's now or never -- for stopping coronavirus (Tom Bossert, Washington Post) Cancel everything! (The Atlantic) social distancing is the only way to stop this misinformation. lies, & profit Best evidence of GOP idiocy (NY Times) concern about coronavirus the dumbest state: Arkansas U.S. intelligence warned of a pandemic in Jan/Feb (Washington Post) Trump ignored the warnings Republicans, all of them, built this moment (Washington Post) then looked the other way Trump: relax, we're doing great; Experts: the worst is yet to come (The Guardian) Is the Trump presidency over? (The Atlantic) if only Trump: from complacency to emergency (Politico) after ignoring it for 2 months, it took only 2 days Infighting, missteps, and Jared Kushner (Washington Post) Do us a favor, Mr. President (Science) start respecting science & its principles Trump: "I don't take responsibility at all" (Vox) says it all Nope, Google is not building a nationwide screening web site (The Verge) contrary to Trump's claims An indictment of our (capitalist) way of life (Washington Post) profit first Trump's misinformation regime reigns (Scientific American) lying is one thing; silencing scientists is another Anthony Fauci prevented from speaking without express permission Trump's guiding principle: How can I make this worse? (The Atlantic) the March 11 speech was the worst yet Yes, John Bolton (in the Trump admin) disbanded the Pandemic Response team in 2018 (Snopes) but does the buck stop with Bolton? The failure of CDC testing (NY Times) and Azar in the crosshairs (Politico) and 4 reasons the U.S. is behind on testing (The Atlantic) but the tests keep not coming (3/10) (The Atlantic) The strongest evidence that the U.S. is botching coronavirus (The Atlantic) and still fewer than 2000 tests (3/7/20) How CDC's decision to forego a WHO test allowed coronavirus to sweep the U.S. (Politico) idiocy triumphs again Biggest challenge to America's response to coronavirus (Vox) Trump and again (WaPost) Trump's 8 coronavirus failures (CNN) and counting education turns to on-line learning Teachers face hercucean task (NY Times) and not just in NYC Coronavirus home schooling: a setback to a generation of students? (Washington Post) social chaos America: starved of moral vision & drained of scientific expertise (The Atlantic) acting like a failed state when executive and legislative branch leaders aren't speaking to each other The bill for America's public health-care failure is coming due (Washington Post) lack of paid sick leave, universal health care, quality child care Healthcare for some is a recipe for disaster (NY Times) The insanity of making sick people work (Jacobin) If schools close for days, weeks, months (The Atlantic) what happens Preparing for coronavirus to strike: America is not ready (Scientific American) but not just family preparation: we need massive isolation centers; plans to deliver money to people who can't work; plans for school and work closings; etc. A coronavirus quarantine is equivalent to class warfare (NY Times) a boon for 'hermit tech' workplace flexibility... but too bad for everyone else The rich are preparing for coronavirus differently than the rest of us (NY Times) yachts, private planes, and other germ-free hideaways How much more evidence do you need that cruises are stupid? (Vox) Iran: the only country that botched its coronavirus response worse than the U.S. (NY Times) what might have been from October 2019: Lessons from a practice coronavirus simulation -- 5 months ago (Politico) what they found from November 2019: America's program to fight pandemics has been canceled (The Hill) from May 2018: Bolton fires official in charge of fighting pandemics (Washington Post) the cancellations 3//14 update: All NC public schools closed until 3/27 (Raleigh N&O) Why are NYC schools still open? (NY Times) the hypocrisy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo Why LA schools are closed (NY Times) an LA BoE member explains Only 1 player with coronavirus shut down all of sports (538) in 24 hours Elections during a pandemic? (Washington Post) and ditto Duke doubles spring break; cancels in-person classes for rest of semester (Duke Chronicle) students must vacate housing by 3/22 or belongings get mailed ditto UNC system (UNC) including NCSSM but Does shutting down colleges just shift the burden to others? (Washington Post) selfish minds Coachella throws in the towel (Coachella) one day after saying it wouldn't and maybe b/c Riverside Co said they had to Coronavirus cancels Raleigh's International Festival (Raleigh N&O) or... 'postponed' to Feb 2021 SXSW cancels March events (Vox) APS cancels biggest physics meeting of the year (Science) just 24 hours before it was supposed to start registration fees refunded, but hotels and airfare? will it move to the Internet? (Physics Today) other science small wonder The brain of a 2-gram dinosaur (Nature) preserved in amber --------------------- The biggest risk in science: not looking (Starts with a Bang) Should we send humans into space? (Scientific American) pro: uplifting the human spirit; national pride; acquisition of raw materials con: it's cheaper; unmanned missions are getting more capable; the fragility of people; no contamination of other places best choice at the moment: unmanned exploration Sorry, invisible man: how invisibility would destroy your DNA (Syfy) and wreak havoc with your body The fall and rise of the Doppler effect (Physics Today, March 2020 issue) What causes light to redshift/blueshift)? (Starts with a Bang) 5 causes Rainbows: the complete graphical approach (Physics Teacher, March 2020 issue) Does musics improve cognitive performance? (Scientific American) it depends on your personality seems unlikely science pettiness Does gravity produce parabolic trajectories? (Starts with a Bang) sorry Siegel, if you had a decent teacher you would have learned that parabolas only occur in constant gravity fields science publishing Frightened publishers now rolling out alternatives to open access (Science) in response to Trump might free science behind paywalls (Vox) education college teaching moves online while 70% of students strongly prefer in-person learning Is American ready for online learning? (NY Times) teaching in the time of coronavirus What's gained and lost with online learning (Scientific American) Is everybody ready for the migration to online learning? (NY Times) uh, no Preparing for emergency on-line teaching (Chronicle of Higher Education) with links to online teaching resources Are colleges prepared to move all of their classes online? (Chronicle of Higher Educaton) paywall -------------------- A bleak job landscape for PhDs? (NY Times) or mostly in the humanities? 210 university libraries petition White House for an open access policy (SPARC) including Duke, NCSU, & UNC-CH bad media Internet not working for women & girls (Tim Berners-Lee, via The Guardian) actually it's not working for most people Trump -- with the media's help -- is promoting a false and dangerous spin (Washington Post) on the coronavirus |
limited time? read the most interesting & important stories from late February 2020: 1) Insight on Mars: the first publications 2) climate news big climate tipping points current methane emissions: higher than expected methane from melting permafrost: not a danger? rising seas: faster than expected 3) coronavirus takes hold 4) the NC early primary looms 5) America today the nuclear family: pro and con billionaires identity politics: pro and con 6) Hubble tension is always here 7) the re-brightening of Betelgeuse 8) splashy art exhibitions Donald Judd in New York Jan van Eyck in Ghent Belgium |
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