astro updates

feedback, questions, broken links, and what not: kolena@gmail.com

last updated: 7 am August 31, 2019

August guide to the bright planets or the Sky This Week

find the asteroid Ceres in July/August 2019

solar system	stars	exoplanets (and ET life)	galaxies & cosmology	relativity, quantum, & particle physics	cultural literacy	teaching/education, science & tech
late August 2019
*About those 'dark absorbers' on Venus* *(Astronomy)* *Enceladus -- the greatest hope for life beyond Earth?* *(Starts with a Bang)* *Did an ancient asteroid impact lift Earth out of a Snowball state?* (Science) 2.2 Byr ago Ryugu news Latest images *(Astronomy)* *more evidence of a violent birth* *but* *few signs of dust* (Science News) where did it go? or is it in hiding? *with surface rocks like carbonaceous chondrite meteorites* *(Science)* *paywall* *-------------------* *Why are Jupiter & Saturn spinning so slowly (sic)?* *(Astrobites)* *yet have most of the solar system's angular momentum?* Why the moon shines brighter in `γ`-rays than the sun (NASA) it has no magnetic field... and it's closer The first Moon rock from Earth (Particle) Arecibo gets the $12 million fix it needs (Earth & Sky) Saturn's rings may only be around for another 100 Myr (Smithsonian) so better look now *and* *A brief history of Saturn's rings* *(The Conversation)* 🔥 yes, there is a climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture Summer weather becomes more persistent in a 2 °C world (Nature Climate Change) in particular, drought, heat, and rainfall extremes Anthropogenic effects appear in global ocean carbon cycle (Nature Climate Change) April tornado frequency linked to ocean temperature (Scientific American) link still murky? published artlcle (Science Advances) free temporarily Is global warming weakening the El Niño - El Niña connection? (Science News) making them more unpredictable published article (Science Advances) free temporarily Goodbye to more big coal plants (Scientific American) closed by economics, not climate policy Why a giant Greenland glacier is melting (CNN) climate policy Sanders' climate plan What's in Bernie Sanders 'Green New Deal' plan (Vox) a lot, but so is the $16 trillion price tag What Sanders says is in it (Bernie Sanders) It's the best way forward (Washington Post) A game-changer (Desmog Blog) A climate plan for the many (Jacobin) not the few and taking control of the energy grid (Jacobin) yes! and from the head-in-the-sand people A plan that will take us nowhere? (Washington Post) because doing nothing is always better than addressing the problem is it worse than a Trumpian wall? (Washington Post) WaPost is sure conflicted on this issue, huh? Yang's climate plan Carbon tax, more nuclear, move away from the coast (Vox) What Yang says is in his plan (Andrew Yang) *--------------------* Trump's new climate plan (Vox) 6 things Is climate change leaving presidential politics? (Vox) Jay Inslee drops out DNC again rejects candidate debate on climate change (The Guardian) Why the DNC needs a climate debate (The Intercept) --------------------- climate solutions Is Big Tech the solution to climate change? (Washington Post) how to extract carbon from the atmosphere but most CO₂ put underground is used to find more fossil fuels: is this progress? Why we're having trouble fixing climate change (Washington Post) we don't have much empathy for our descendants To fix the climate, tell better stories (Nautil.us) a narrative vacuum Why we need an international center for climate modeling (Scientific American) A plan to cut NC's greenhouse-gas emission from electricity production by 70% (Raleigh N&O) by 2030 citizen comments on the proposed plan can be made here by 9/9 RCP8.5: the global-warming future or a scare tactic? (Carbon Brief) the origin of and controversies over RCP8.5 The case for strategic and managed climate retreat (Science) why, where, when, & how should communities relocate pay attention Pacific islands, LA, & Miami Want to avoid extended heat waves and heavy rainfall? (Carbon Brief) stay under 1.5 °C warming climate non-solutions Let the methane run free? (NY Times) EPA rolls back methane regulations Is fracking responsible for the methane rise? (Vox) published paper (Biogeosciences) clues from C¹³H₄ depletion Air conditioning: cooling the room, heating the planet (The Guardian) climate reporting Have scientists underestimated the pace of climate change? (Scientific American) The islands that are sinking (Time cover story) Global warming is here.... denying it is unforgivable (Washington Post) environment The very real threat of nuclear winter (Rutgers U) Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons remains unratified including by the U.S. published article (J Geophysical Research: Atmospheres) paywall Funeral for a glacier (The Guardian) lost to global warming Trump's war on the NC environment (Raleigh N&O) Mapping the strain on the U.S. water supply (Washington Post) World gathers to tackle wildlife extinction crisis (The Guardian) Trump administration is greatest threat to endangered wildlife (Vox) No, paper straws aren't (much) better than plastic ones (The Atlantic)	*An unnoticed kilonova* (U Maryland) 1 year before the famous one published paper *(MNRAS)* *Total annihilation* *(Gemini)* in the supernova death of a super-massive star by pair instability first ever observed? and The supernova that destroyed its star *(Sky & Telescope)* *The definitive theoretical paper on pair-instability supernovas* *(Astrophysical Journal)* *from 2002* *Supernova clues in the Antarctic snow* *(NY Times)*	The surprisingly similar dark-side temperatures of exoplanets (McGill U) why 800 °C? ... and independent of day-side insolation and temperature 1 in 4 sun-like stars has an Earth-like planet in its habitable zone? (Earth & Sky) details in published article (Astronomical Journal) paywall Hot rocky planets orbiting small stars may not retain an atmosphere (Scientific American) if so, the most common planets in the universe are likely lifeless published paper (Nature) free to read but not to save on the other hand, let's not dismiss planets around uv-emitting stars (Astrobites) Extreme solar systems IV meets this week in Iceland (Northwestern U) titles only, no audio, no video summary of Day 5 talks Day 4 talks Day 3 talks Day 2 talks Day 1 talks How Earth might look to alien astronomers (arXiv) from afar more on WASP-121b (Earth & Sky) the hot, heavy-metal planet	Untangling the star streams in the Milky Way (ESA) with GAIA *A history of the intergalactic medium* (Knowable) how galaxies eat, breathe, & die based on The evolution of the intergalactic medium (Annual Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics) "The bulk of cosmic matter resides in ... the space between galaxies" more than half the dark matter and an even larger fraction of the baryons *Do AGNs trigger -- or inhibit -- star formation?* *(Astrobites)* *What if there was no Big Bang?* *(New Scientist)* paywall *The secrets of early-universe hydrogen* (Nature) a history of the universe's first billion years	neutrino masses How galaxies helped us weigh the lightest neutrinos (The Conversation) and why it matters arXiv pre-pub article lightest m_νc² < 0.086 ev Σ of ν mc² < 0.26 ev from cosmological observations and particle physics experiments published article: *An upper bound on the mass of the lightest neutrino?* *(Phys. Rev. Letters)* paywall gravitational waves Probable detection of black hole swallowing neutron star? (ANU) masses still being sorted out the mystery deepens (Gizmodo) if an ns-bh merger, why no E&M signal? if a bh-bh merger, evidence for lightest bh ever? and more rumors: Gravitational waves from a 100-solar -mass black hole? (Quanta) too big to exist? LIGO remains mum on everything 'wait till 2020'? Properties of a bh-ns merger candidate (arXiv) written pre-rumor of the above (but rather about the rumor of 4/26/19) *22 gravitational-* *wave events remain under investigation* *(LIGO)* as part of LIGO run 2 ---------------------- 5 most likely solutions to the black-hole information paradox (BackReaction) out of hundreds How black holes destroy information (BackReaction) and why it matters The muon: particle physics' future? (Starts with a Bang) Qutrits teleported for the first time (Science News) Quantum weirdness isn't real, after all? (Lee Smolin, in New Scientist) can QM be formulated from a set of higher principles? much more coherent than the article immediately below paywall read with caution 3 reasons why GR can't be quite right (BackReaction) wave-particle duality, singularities, and irreversibility why does no one say that QM can't be quite right? and the article is cautioned because of some gross misconceptions -- kind of embarrassing from a once-professional physicist *How we know the size of elementary particles* *(Starts with a Bang)* somewhat muddled as usual... this guy needs an editor why are no-evidence 'preons' in a diagram? ; radio-telescope antennas aren't 'big', their dishes are!; and a badly-flawed (but sadly typical) interpretation of the double-slit experiment read with even greater caution Will dark photons never go away? (LiveScience) despite an intensive search at SPS/CERN, nothing there Can dark matter and black holes interact? (Starts with a Bang) Testing gravitational waves for wave-particle duality? (Starts with a Bang)	futures Catering to the wealthy (The Atlantic) one of America's fastest-growing jobs Be afraid. Be very afraid. (Rolling Stone) Trump 2020 is America stupid enough to do it twice? Corporate consciousness? (Business Roundtable) believe it only when you see it happening greed will no longer be corporations' primary focus? Trump to NRA: don't worry, universal background checks are 'off the table' (Washington Post) Trump caves, again Confused about the ruling class? (The Atlantic) read this ---------------------- Enough of riches, meritocracy, & prizes (The Atlantic) a way out? Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Trump (New Yorker) the road from derision to flattery or Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Hypocrisy (NY Times) gosh, why single out only one secretary? American slavery began 400 years ago the 1619 project (NY Times) awesome content; visually, a disorganized mess and some NYT subset stories: The barbaric history of sugar aka 'white gold' Why American prisons owe their cruelty to slavery Why can't we teach slavery right in American schools? The dawn of American slavery Washington Post responds with their own series Why we should remember 1619 (Washington Post) the arrival of slaves in Jamestown 1619 and the cult of conservative innocence (Vox) How slavery became America's first big business (Vox) Slavery of southern plantations? (Washington Post) some (white) tourists don't want to hear about it Teaching the truth about slavery in schools has always been a failing proposition (Washington Post) 5 things (some) people still get wrong about slavery (Vox) books and docs The fate of food (Kirkus) what we'll eat in the age of climate change up for insects? End Times (Science News) the catastrophic events that could kill us all Something deeply hidden (Not Even Wrong) "you can tear off the cover" which pitches 'multi-world woo' (and) ... "be left with something ... mostly reasonable" American Factory (The Guardian) the new global haves and have-nots premieres this week on Netflix... produced by the Obamas *Race and history in Virgina* *(The Atlantic)* art/trips/museums Richard Serra (NY Times) carrying the weight of the world Who's on fire? (Vox) sadly, many places A visual tour of Greenland (Washington Post) quick! before it melts! ...or someone buys it Lee Krasner, hiding in plain sight (NY Times) colorful, but a mess	education Smart tech choices for teaching your class (Chronicle of Higher Education) far too many choices? College Board drops 'adversity score'? (Forbes) 'good' say the thieving rich sorry Forbes, it's just broadening the score from one number Scientific publications: whither cost and quality? (Physics Today) pay-to-read vs. pay-to-publish Mapmaker: the gerrymandering game that puts the fun in undermining democracy (Ars Technica) yes, it's a real game Why conservatives are turning away from higher ed (The Atlantic) or Why conservatives are afraid of higher education (LA Review of Books) and they sure changed their minds quickly (The Atlantic) Paths out of darkness (Science) a special series of articles on suicide -- and looking for new ways to save lives science & tech Christine (Hammock) Koch, NCSSM '97 and ISS astronaut (Raleigh N&O) Tar Heel of the Month Trump's systematic assault on science (Washington Post) Gerlach, NV: the darkest town in America? (538) oh, and Why is the sky dark at night, anyway? (Starts with a Bang) The quantum revolution is coming (Washington Post) and Chinese scientists are ahead and what 's going to stop Internet attacks by quantum hackers? (Science) when those computers come on line? To the Moon on the cheap? (Politico) but with a contest human origins & behavior No one 'gay gene' (Science News) but yes, evidence of genetic disposition First Americans: were in Idaho? (Science News) 16,500 yrs ago, 1000 yr earlier than thought says the evidence of stone tools and they came by sea from Japan? (Ars Technica) Following the ancient amber road (Smithsonian) from St. Petersburg to Venice Worrying about extinction (The Conversation) because we're alone in the cosmos? hilarious A plague of self-citation? (Nature)
limited time? read the most important stories from early August 2019: 1) guns in America and what the science says about guns and mass killings 2) *what lies hidden by dust: young galaxies and SMBHs* 3) million-$ Breakthrough Prize goes to a theory that doesn't describe reality 4) climate news IPCC special report on land use and food melting (with sea rise), burning, and flooding keep getting worse 5) real-time stellar evolution 6) solar system updates did heavy late bombardment era happen earlier than thought ? did a neptune-sized object collide head-on with proto-Jupiter? a multi-impact lunar origin theory 7) Mauna Kea telescopes return to normal 8) election security: we keep ignoring the danger 9) environmental degradation coming or already here: global desertification & a water crisis it's raining plastics
solar system	stars	exoplanets (and ET life)	galaxies & cosmology	relativity, quantum, & particle physics	cultural literacy	teaching/education, science & tech
early August 2019
*Did a neptune- sized proto-planet collide with Jupiter in the early solar system?* (Rice U) it would explain the low density and large extent of Jupiter's core *Astronomy* *comments* *Earth & Sky* has some helpful figures Solar system's planet migration began 4.5 Gyr ago (U Colorado) causing a very early bombardment era that may have left time niches *for life to start* *the Moon's 3.9-Gyr-old rocks are red herrings* *A multiple-impact hypothesis for the Moon's origin* *(Astrobites)* Mauna Kea news Mauna Kea telescopes re-open (KITV) after 4-week shut-down *previous news:* *Mauna Kea update* *(Astrobites)* *astronomical community split* 30-m telescope to go to Canary Islands, instead? *(AP via MSN)* '*our mountains are not sacred'* *-------------------* *The mountain on Ceres* (Earth & Sky) is not sacred either Venus: a laboratory for exoplanetary science *(arXiv)* *Look around Mars* (Earth & Sky) interactive, courtesy of Curiosity rover Worried about a quick terrestrial magnetic reversal? (Astronomy) calm down... the last one took 22,000 years published paper *(Science Advances)* *free for the moment* *Our best lo ok at Io's volcanoes* *(National Geographic)* *Hayabusa 2 @ Ryugu* *(Astrobites)* Walking on the Moon (The Conversation) are tardigrades, courtesy of a crashed Israeli satellite 🔥 yes, there is a climate crisis 🔥 how we know the big picture IPCC special report Change how we eat and grow food (Vox) or the planet dies Eat less meat (Nature) and change bad land use habits 7 takeaways (The Atlantic) the big one: land can't multitask 4 ways to better land use (Vox) IPCC executive summary and links to full report (IPCC) Q&A takeaways (Carbon Brief) ------------------- The fastest- warming U.S. counties (Washington Post) more than 5 °F in 125 years climate change is already here July 2019: the hottest month in human recorded history (Washington Post) and 2015 - 2019 is the hottest 5-year period Global sea-level rise acceleration began in mid-1960s (Carbon Brief) 30 years earlier than previously thought published article (Nature Climate Change) paywall melting & burning Droughts, heat waves, & floods (Nature) how to tell if climate change is to blame Disappearing Greenland (Washington Post) a historic melting month and day data here (Polar Portal) and just disappearing green (Scientific American) global plant growth continues decrease that began in late 90s due to lower H₂O vapor pressure deficit caused by global warming published paper (Science Advances) free for now Arctic burning, Greenland melting (Science News) and NE Russia is melting too (NY Times) releasing permafrost CH₄ and mammoth bones Wildfires in the Arctic (The Conversation) a planetary warning ...will it go unheeded? A velocity map of Antarctica's melting ice (Science News) climate reporting Millions of times later, and still the 97% consensus is denied (Bulletin, Atomic Scientists) We will pay for climate change (Wired) the questions are 'who' & 'when', not 'how' climate solutions Carbon pricing won't fix climate change (Scientific American) it will help in the U.S., but not in developing countries Want 100% renewable energy? Need cheap batteries. (Vox) what is a reasonable cost? *Should you be ashamed to fly?* *(Vox)* shorter flights are less efficient, but longer ones have a bigger footprint Electric scooters: not as eco-friendly as they seem (The Guardian) *climate adapting* *(Scientific American)* *to floods & fires* *in Alaska* climate stupidity Is fracking the cause of the recent CH₄ spike? *(Biogeosciences)* *U.S. fracking, that is* *Vox* comments Geoengineering isn't the answer *(Prospect)* *we've been messing with the climate since the industrial revolution... what has it got us?* *NC leads in re- building in flood plains* (Raleigh N&O) i.e., NC leads in climate stupidity Climate-denying cherry-picking (Neurologica) to oppose electric cars and deny increasing warming *and the evidence:* *Yes, hybrids are greener than conventional cars* *(How Stuff Works)* *and* the published research environment It's raining plastics (Adventure Journal) in the Rockies, the Arctic, the Alps, ... the US Geological Survey document showing the evidence *Humans vs. Earth* (Nature) defining the Amthropocene? Desertification: the greatest environmental challenge of our time (Carbon Brief) and climate change is making it worse Water crises loom for a quarter of humanity *(NY Times)* *not just LA, but most of the American Midwest and West*	discovery rumor: A black hole swallowing a neutron star? (Science News) would be a first What we might learn about neutron stars from a ns-bh merger (AAS Nova) radius constraints? equation of state? *Real-time stellar evolution in T UMi* (AAVSO) thermal pulses at the end of its nuclear life? *Astronomy* *comments* *Massive stars form like less massive ones, except with jets* *(University College, Dublin)* *An 'impossible' white dwarf* *(AAS Nova)* *Vela pulsar caught in a detailed glitch* *(McGill U)* *does the superfluid core have 2 components?* *The type I SNe zoo* *(arXiv)* *technical* *The most anemic star ever* *(MNRAS)* 10⁶x less iron than in the sun Not so fast: spindown with age becomes more complicated (AAS Nova) A 7-minute eclipsing binary with 2 white dwarfs (Earth & Sky) will their separation grow or shrink? a GR testing ground	*Probability of a rocky planet orbiting a sun-like star in its habitable zone?: 0.03 - 0.40* *(Penn St. U)* Moonetisimals form quickly? *(Astrobites)* *why we don't find circumplanetary disks* A time-lapse video map of the ~4000 exoplanets *(Earth & Sky)* A football-shaped exoplanet trailing heavy metals *(Hubble)* *WASP-121b* *TESS finishes 1st year of science* *(Sky & Telescope)* ~25 new exoplanets sadly, no broadcasts from the recent TESS science conference ET life Finding ET life by looking for biofluoresence *(Cornell U)* *produced by their star's uv flares*	*Youngest SMBH?* (Starts with a Bang) cloaked in dust *A surprising amount of dust is hiding galaxies in the young universe* *(ALMA)* the ancestors of massive elliptical galaxies? discovery is "a challenge" for current theories of galaxy formation *or maybe not?* *(Science)* *technical* *H₀ intrigue and infighting?* *(Quanta)* *and close to home* *There are no Seyfert type IIs* (Astronomy) that aren't Seyfert type Is in disguise *Milky Way in 3D* *(Science News)* *it's warped, say the Cepheids* due to an encounter with a dwarf galaxy? Decoding the mechanism for γ-ray bursts *(Astrophysical J.)* *Magnetic fields span intergalactic space* (Physics Today, August 2019 issue) *the clue: synchrotron radiation emanating from the IGM between merging galaxy clusters*	*A two-black-hole collision may require a little help from a friend* (Quanta) i.e., a third black hole Hunting the sterile neutrino *(Science)* Breakthrough Prize ... awarded to 'discoverers' of supergravity *(Breakthrough Prize)* can you 'discover' something that (*very likely) isn't true?* ...and the prize for speculation goes to (Prospect) Three physicists honored for influential theory... (Nature) ... despite it having no known relation to reality ...the purpose of the prize is to “reward extraordinary ideas" (Andrei Linde, at Scientific American) ...whether they are experimentally proven or not this seems uncomfortably close to saying 'why bother to test physics theories ?' "Sends the message that, in (basic) physics, contact to observation is no longer relevant... (BackReaction) ... by awarding a scientific prize for an idea with no evidence speaking for it..." ... and then it gets nasty ------------------ Do gravitational- wave calculations and simulations on your laptop (AstroBites) in seconds no more waiting for hours on a supercomputer! Decay of charm quark violates CP (charge-parity) symmetry (Physics Today, August 2019 issue) Quantum computing using semiconductor spins (Physics Today, August 2019 issue) read with great caution Energy is conserved in an expanding universe (Starts with a Bang) despite photon redshifts No, energy isn't conserved in an expanding universe (Preposterous Universe) it changes because spacetime does Dark matter may have been produced during inflation (Johns Hopkins) Aiming time's arrow (Quanta) Does time have an arrow? (Aeon) not written by a scientist of course There are no free quarks (Starts with a Bang) except when there are Black holes spin near the speed of light?** (Starts with a Bang) maybe, if you ignore magnetic field effects during their collapse ... as the author seems to have done	*The labor shortage* *(Vox)* why there are more jobs than people to fill them in the U.S. The great land robbery (The Atlantic) how 1 million black families were ripped from their farms Did a nuclear-powered missile explode in Russia? (Vox) it may explain the radioactivity burst guns, again Don't ban assault weapons...tax them *(The Atlantic)* *Profile in cowardice* (Washington Post) the GOP on guns *The $8 billion murder industry* *(Jacobin)* *gun manufacturers* *Guns are the problem* *(Vox)* *Americans do not have a monopoly on hate and mental illness.... we do have a monopoly on guns* *No, Kevin McCarthy, it's not due to video games* *No, Ohio Rep. Keller, it's not transgender people, Obama, Colin Kaepernick, or marijuana either* *(Dayton Daily News)* *How to reduce gun deaths* *(NY Times)* *yet again* *the liberal approach has failed... treat it as a public health issue instead* *American exceptionalism* *(The Atlantic)* the inability to see the correlation between more guns and more killings Other countries warn about traveling to Trump's America (Washington Post) have we become a s*hole country? If conservatives want to keep their guns, they need to find a way to stop mass shootings (Washington Post) what the science says Stop blaming mental illness (Science) the commit less than 4% of violent crimes Can science prevent mass shootings? (Science News) More guns do not stop more crimes (Scientific American) why do so many Americans believe the opposite? The science of gun violence and gun control in the U.S. (Scientific American) a special report Mental illness does not cause gun violence (NIH) mental illness does NOT 'pull the trigger' "violent video games have minimal impact on violent activity in society" (Society for Media Psychology and Technology) and ditto (SagePub) a meta-analysis -------------------- A baby-boomer report card (NY Times) from A to C- Want a better life for your kids? (NY Times) move, generally away from the South Where the opportunities are (Opportunity Atlas) designed by Raj Chetty The moral obtuseness of food delivery services (The Atlantic) election security Did a misogynistic joke save the integrity of NC ballots? (Indy Week) New report details state-by-state funding needs for 2020 elections (Brennan Center for Justice) Voter purge rates remain high (Brennan Center for Justice) especially in states with a history of past discrimination problems NC dithers about new secure voting systems (Raleigh N&O) ~~yes they are?~~ ~~no they're not?~~ ~~yes, they are?~~ ~~... amid scandal and vacancy~~ apparently a decision is coming 8/23 and still the gerrymandering Gerry-font (Ugly Gerry) a font created by your congressional districts Michigan GOP sues for constitutional right to gerrymander (Slate) after Michigan voters pass non-partisan election reform the Michigan lawsuit (Election Law Blog) 4 NC ex-governors speak out against gerrymandering (Raleigh N&O) but not Pat McCrory ------------------ presidential debates & rallies Fear and gloating in Cincinnati (Washington Post) at least there were no un-American chants The wrong debate on health care (NY Times) affordability vs Medicare-for-all Too much time on stuff only that Congress can do (Vox) and not enough time spent on what the President can do The Middle East, Alex, for 30 seconds (The Intercept) no way to choose a President(ial) candidate watch past and future Democratic debates here (Government Hub) Requirements for making debate #3 (Vox) 7 8 have qualified for 9/12/19, in Houston links to all candidates websites ------------------ Are you rich? (NY Times) take the quiz The invention of money (New Yorker) from Kublai Khan to bank bailouts books How carbon-14 revolutionized science (The Guardian) the most important isotope The Ice at the End of the World (American Prospect) the story of climate & Greenland's history ... the most dangerous spy in history (Nature) Klaus Fuchs the Manhattan-project scientist who spied for the Soviets art/trips/museums Manet's last years (NY Times) review of exhibit Manet and Modern Beauty (Art Institute of Chicago) The Forbidden City** (NY Times) opens up See Greenland melt (The Atlantic) during the summer heat wave	teaching The dying art of instruction (NY Books) in the digital age *200+ NC public school teachers laid off* *(Raleigh N&O)* *by NC Virtual Public School* *who screwed up?* learning 12 place to trip on science (Washington Post) including NRAO and Brookhaven NL *NCAA chooses money over academics* (Raleigh N&O) again 'The $300 textbook is dead' (Vox) the shift to digital *is totally unconvincing* *More teens dropping math* (The Conversation) in Australia *The origin of math anxiety* *(in the UK):* *(Cambridge U)* *the summary* *the published work* *science* & nature Without bees, we're in trouble *(NY Times)* *Triumph of the firstborn* (The Atlantic) professional, that is It's the membranes, stupid (The Atlantic) a new clue to the origin of life? published article (PNAS) *TR-4 banana fungus reaches Colombia* (National Geographic) can extinction of Cavendish banana be far behind? *Death of a tectonic plate?* *(Scientific American)* *The high cost of amber (research)* *(The Atlantic)* *human & financial* *The end of beef?* (Outside) or at the beginning of the end *couldn't come soon enough* *Future of the Arctic* (Scientific American, August 2019, entire issue) *paywall* bad tech Death spiral: newspapers losing to digital media *(Washington Post)* *Gannet-Gatehouse merger is only a temporary* *save* *Restoring citizenship to gig-economy workers* (The Nation) the bill that Uber and Lyft hate *Equifax & the FTC fail math* (Washington Post) promising $125 and delivering 20 cents *5G broadband wireless threatens weather forecasting* (Physics Today, August 2019 issue) overlapping frequencies means interference Last gasp (NY Times) another newspaper bites the dust the legacy of GoogleFbook
limited time? read the most important stories from late July 2019: 1) Hubble constant: tension reigns 2) when humans walked on the Moon 3) Milky Way news past: Milky Way's biggest (past) merger present: Sun's distance to galactic center nailed 4) climate news current epoch of anthropogenic global warming is unique in Common Era climate science suppression 5) exoplanet missing link(s) found? 6) what's up in America 7) Wake county gerrymandering trial ends and NC State Election Board drags feet on voting systems choices 8) rumors: a combined neutrino & gravitational-wave event? 9) and because it's ridiculous: death by dark matter?

solar system	stars	exoplanets (and ET life)	galaxies & cosmology	relativity, quantum, & particle physics	cultural literacy	teaching & ed, science & tech
late July 2019
Enceladus's ocean is the right age to support life (Earth & Sky) from Evolution of Saturn's mid-sized moon (Nature Astronomy) paywall A 1000-ft-high tsunami on ancient Mars? *(Astronomy)* Watching Io's active volcanoes *(AAS NOVA)* *for 5 years* Water not invincible in dark, polar lunar craters (NASA Goddard) we think All astronomical viewing on Mauna Kea suspended (Associated Press) (13 observatories) protestors block traffic over telescope construction and now all working personnel have been removed (Hawaii News Now) maintenance of telescopes is jeopardized, as are visits of native Hawaiians to their sacred mountain The native-Hawaiian protest is against process, not science *(Nature)* *well, except for:* A religious, anti-science screed defending the telescope-blockade (Vox) so I guess it's ok to block abortion clinics for religious reasons, or block LGBT people from adopting a child, *buying a wedding cake,* or giving blood, also for religious reasons? *ain't religion great?* --------------------- When they walked on the Moon 50 years ago How they did it (Washington Post) one step at a time The Apollo: the forgotten films (Discovery Channel) supposedly footage seen nowhere else? watch here with cable sign-in Small steps and giant leaps (National Archives) how Apollo shaped our understanding of Earth and beyond watch replay (live discussion, 7/17) (YouTube) premiered 07/17 8 Days: to the Moon and Back (PBS, 1½ hours) beware: this is not reality, but a dramatization free on PBS until 9/11/19 UNC's Morehead Planetarium (Raleigh N&O) where astronauts learned the stars the planetarium and the NC Museum of History celebrate with a 'One Giant Leap Festival' festival this Saturday, 7/20, 11 am - 4 pm The greatest photos ever? (The Guardian) Apollo's artistic masterpieces The science of Apollo (Sky & Telescope) does get the Moon's origin right All about moon rocks (Vox) although it doesn't have the best theory of the Moon's origin ... go here for that Why the Moon is such a cratered place (The Conversation) uh, because it has no atmosphere? Special Issue: Apollo anniversary (Science) does 8 pages really constitute 'a special issue'?!? Moongazing (Science) will humans' return to the Moon inspire a new age of lunar telescopes? Analyzing lunar samples: implications for planetary formation and evolution (Science) paywall China's lunar exploration program (Science) paywall One small step back in time: Reliving the wonder of Apollo (Scientific American) nice pictures & audio but links to substantive articles are all paywalled ...and you can only access the pictures if you haven't used up your 3-a-month allotment Astronaut ice cream? (Vox) never happened The 21 places we successfully landed on the Moon (Smithsonian) crashes don't count? back to the Moon? Daunting (The Verge) the to-do list Fraught (The Atlantic) Hasty (Vox) no plan, no budget details, no roadmap definitely a Trump plan a bit older, but ... If we can figure out how to get there (Washington Post) Not happening (Starts with a Bang) ------------------- the future Moon Moon fever is rising (NY Books) past history The Moon is where the money is (Nautil.us) capitalism in space The next 5 years at the Moon? (Sky & Telescope) maybe, maybe not 🔥 yes, the climate is changing 🔥 how we know the big picture The fingerprints of AGW are unmistakeable (The Guardian) 3 new publications: 'no doubt' left on the scientific consensus of AGW? The current warming is global and unique (Smithsonian) over the past 2000 years AGW -- like no other temperature change (Science News) No evidence for previous global warming/cooling periods (Nature) all free to read, but not to save: Strong evidence (Nature) "that AGW is ... unparalleled (and) unprecedented in the past 2,000 years" The largest warming trends in the common era (Nature Geoscience) occurred during the second half of the 20^th century and A pre-industrial temperature baseline is hard to define (Nature Geoscience) due to multiple volcanoes --------------------- Glaciers melting 10 - 100x faster than expected (Scientific American) 1st direct measurements ever, from sonar uh-oh based on published article (Science) it's challenging current simulations (paywall) Improved temperature coverage gives sharper view of climate trends (Eos) documenting the robustness of warming trends and the lack of a warming hiatus California wildfires: amplified by 5x by anthropogenic climate change (The Atlantic) published article (Earth's Future) free to read, but not save U.S. sets 12-month precipitation record (National Center for Environmental Info) and other bad news climate reporting How each state makes its electricity (NY Times) NC: most is nuclear, with natural gas a close 2^nd coal has dropped by 2.5x in 4 years Remember when: 12 years to save the planet? (BBC) now, more like 18 months and the climate deniers laugh (Science 2.0) How to talk effectively about climate change (Scientific American) with the help of a new book: Creative (Climate) Communications Taking stock 2019 (Rhodium Group) of carbon emissions How to fake an argument against the reality of climate change (Neurologica) or fake an argument denying the scientific consensus (Neurologica) climate consequences Human aerosols and interactions with clouds (Nature) still messy, but climate models are improving Reducing China's CO2 emissions will reduce air pollution in the USA (Environ. Res. Letters) shouldn't we be addressing that in trade talks? it would cut premature deaths in down-wind countires by 2000 over the next 10 years The NC town fighting the climate crisis (The Guardian) one hurricane at a time but one more could turn it into ghost time climate politics White House blocks written climate testimony *(NY Times)* on national security threat *scientist resigns* *over suppression* How to lose your job as a climate scientist in a climate-denying administration (The Guardian) How science got drilled in the rush to Arctic drilling *(Politico)* conclusions first, science second The Democrats' climate death drive (Jacobin) it's time for a Dem-candidate debate on climate change climate problems Expanding airports after you declare a climate emergency? (The Conversation) how about low-carbon options instead? Climate change drives migration from Guatemala (The Guardian) to the U.S. Major U.S. cities leaking methane at 2x rate thought (Science) from homes & businesses climate stupidity While planet overheats, Ohio gives coal a bailout (The Guardian) along with rich owners Why did Ohio just pass the worst energy bill ever? (Vox) bailing out coal plants while gutting energy efficiency and reducing support for renewables How Florida keeps homeowners from installing solar (NY Times) climate solutions A crazy climate fix (Scientific American) convert atmospheric CH₄ to CO₂ The case for a supply-side climate treaty (Science) limiting the supply of fossil fuels 4 automakers reach mpg deal with California -- bypassing Trump's rule relaxation (Washington Post) hurrah for Honda, Ford, Volkswagen, & BMW A new approach to understanding the remaining carbon budget (Carbon Brief) published article (Nature) free to read, but not to save Convert CO₂ to electricity (Scientific American) Why (some) sea- surface temps may need to be corrected (Nature) and likely more fuel for climate deniers who will call it changing the data to fit the claims	Highest-energy photons ever recorded (Astronomy) coming from the Crab, E > 100 TeV Spirali ng solar wind re-created in Earth lab (Quanta) with a short simulation published article (Nature Physics) free to read, but not save How pulsation- pair instability supernovas work (AAS Nova) maybe it also occurs ia pn mergers?	Missing link planets found (UC Riverside) 1 super-Earth and 2 sub-Neptunes First photos of a baby planet (Astrobites) plus a showcase of protoplanetary disks A past crash in an exoplanetary system? (Astrobites) even better, it has a mass-radius diagram for various terrestrial- planet compositions An atmospheric analysis of a sub-Neptune planet (Earth & Sky) GJ 3470b appears to have a H/He-rich atmosphere, with low metallicity and minimal H₂O/CH₄ Astrobites has more detailed data ET life Partially-frozen Earth-like planets can support life? (AGU) if snowball events are only temporary (still) Searching for the origin of life (Smithsonian) are exoplanets helping? U.S. Navy briefs Congress on UFOs (Scientific American) Life on Enceladus? Looking for aliens? (The Guardian) will a million people storm Area 51 on 9/20/2019? the Air Force is not amused VERITAS: a new look for aliens (Astronomy) using visible light The Vatican astronomer dissembles and evades when asked about ET life (Vox) and its implications for Catholicism I thought it was a sin to lie?	Our distance from the Galactic Center (A&A) nailed: d = 8178 + 13 pc using SO2's orbit The Milky Way's cannibalization of Gaia-Enceladus (Astronomy) changed our galaxy forever it happened 10 Gyrs ago Mapping the vast void in our cosmic neighborhood (IFA, Hawaii) with an 11-minute 3-D visualization *with* *a video* sadly, in computer speak or an interactive 3-D model Hubble tension Is it a crisis.... yet? (Science News) with links to several arXiv talk summaries from the following conference: Tensions between the early and late universe (Kavli-Santa Barbara) 3-day conference: videos, podcasts, & slides all publicly available lots on methods & results, not much on resolution to the tension Summary of talks and a section on ways to reconcile the tension (arXiv) semi-technical H₀: constant confusion (Astronomy) non-technical with results from 3 new methods 1) TRGB How the TRGB method works (Astrobites) H₀ = 69.8 + 1.7 km/s/Mpc, sort of tin the middle based on the tip of the red-giant branch, calibrated by Type I SN to-be published article (arXiv) 2) H0liCOW H0LiCOW: a new independent measure of H₀ *(Astrobites)* *from gravitational time-delay data, it agrees with the* *'late universe' value from Cepheids and Type I SN* *H₀ = 73.3 (+ 1.8) km/s/Mpc* *preprint* *(arXiv)* *with a discussion of cosmological implications* *submitted to MNRAS* 3) Megamasers Slides from talk *H₀ = 72.0 (+ 1.9) km/s/Mpc* 4) and another potential one Based on the cosmic horizon *(NRAO)* using gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers --------------------- "stuck in the middle?" (Carnegie) "adding to the mystery" (NASA Goddard) ...but "not so fast with 'new physics'" (Science News) Nature has a few more details Sky & Telescope is late to the story, but has some unique graphs & pictures H₀ tension summary (Astronomy) somewhat older	Rumors: have astronomers hit the trifecta? (Starts with a Bang) photons, cosmic rays and/or neutrinos, AND gravitational waves what LIGO is saying,, seems leaning toward a bh-bh merge r but IceCube silent on has a simultaneous, simul-local neutrino detection A glimpse of quark matter inside neutron stars (Quanta) a hint of exotic-matter formation? but the title is a bit overblown General relativity passes a test at the galactic center (Smithsonian) bending of SO2's light by the SMBH and Sky & Telescope explains the differences between GR and Newtonian redshifts read with some caution We're in the 6th (and final?) era of the universe (Starts with a Bang) perhaps... but we still don't understand dark energy as New Scientist reminds us read with much caution When Earth had two moons (Nautil.us) an attempt to explain the Moon's quite different hemispheres definitely not the standard lunar origin theory Anticipating the next discoveries in particle physics (TASI, U Colorado) so why are there so many talks on supersymmetry? and why are they co-opting the M87 SMBH image? it's got zero to do with particle physics How to get a universe from nothing (Starts with a Bang) there is a free lunch? Quantum supremacy is coming? (Quanta) promises, promises and not for the first time Quantum darwinism passes first test (Quanta) it's an alternative to objective reality A table-top gravitational-wave detector? (Astronomy) OK, a large table Will the the Be⁸ decay anomaly lead to a dark matter discovery? (Starts with a Bang) via a 'dark photon' Searching for dark matter with an SMBH (Physics Central) Dark (matter) stars: the seeds of SMBHs? (Astronomy) Has anyone one been killed by dark matter? (Gizmodo) if so, (some) Dark matter interactions with humans might look link gunshots (arxiv) or 'no' because If they could, they already would have (Science News) says Death by dark matter (arXiv) Parallel universes? don't believe it (Starts with a Bang) or mirror matter, or a dark-matter wind , or ... until you see evidence curious, since he's one of the big supporters of the no-evidence multiverse	local elections State Election Board delays voting systems certification (Raleigh N&O) no clear reason why; what don't they yet know? and chair resigns (Raleigh N&O) delaying the decision further? Georgia chooses Dominion Voting Systems (Georgia Public Broadcasting) Gerrymandering trial ends.... what's next? (Raleigh N&O) an appeal by the loser Judges exclude GOP witness's false testimony at gerrymandering trial (Raleigh N&O) The right to a free and fair election (The Guardian) the eyes of democracy are on Wake County Senators still want answers about the 2016 election in Durham (Raleigh N&O) things to do Stop the resumption of federal executions (Vox) you don't teach people not to kill by killing or else, We are all executioners now (New Republic) Pass Wyden's Voting Security Act (Law 360) that Senate 'leader' McConnell is blocking because we're not ready for foreign interference (Rep. Adam Schiff, Vox Recode) Russians targeted election systems in all 50 states (NY Times) Read the full Senate report on Russian election interference (U. S. Senate) Volume I released 7/25/2019; 4 more to come Hours later, GOP Senators block House-passed Election Security Act (CNN) the excuse: states run elections Robert Mueller: finish the job! (The Atlantic) oops, missed out on that and the media have a 2nd chance to get the reporting correct (Washington Post) Choose the a Democratic Presidential candidate who will beat Trump (Washington Post) by harnessing hope -- and fear Stop NC's partisan gerrymandering (Facing South) with an independent redistricting commission Stop watching democracy burn (Indy Week) part IV of the series Raise the minimum wage to a livable amount (Vox) because (mostly) good things happened after Seattle did it The House has passed it ...Senate, what about you? ...and a $15/per-hr-wage happens only in 2025 -- that's pretty lame America Real Americans? (NY Books) an anachronism? The 3 Democratic parties (NY Times) with different priorities and preferring different policies Raj Chetty: can he save the American dream? (The Atlantic) a very long read What black voters want (Detroit News) the same thing that white voters do What conservative voters want (New York) cultural dominance What millennials want (The Atlantic) everything. now. because they're tired of waiting.... does he mean millennial congresswomen? all 4 of them? or all millennials? in which case they should move out of their parents' home, get real jobs, and start voting,... they're not The long history of insisting that minorities can't criticize America (Washington Post) A guide to the 4 classes in America (Orange County Register) and their political preferences America's indefensible 'defense' budget (NY Books) once again That time, at internment camp... (Washington Post) George Takei, on his WWII internment with other U.S. citizens of Japanese descent The case against war with Iran (NY Books) Who's to blame for escalating tensions with Iran? (Des Moines Register) America. hypocrisy thy name is Trump Trump disavows 'send them back' (WaPost, 7/18) Trump disavows disavowal (WaPost 7/19) Trump outrage cycle (Politico) indignation, rinse, repeat If only we had sent him back when Trump trashed America during his 2017 inauguration address (Raleigh N&O) remember his 'American carnage'? GOP shrugs at huge deficits (Washington Post) after lecturing Obama for 8 years ------------------- art/museums/trips Flying to your own wilderness in the Adirondacks? *(NY Times)* *yeah, screw climate change* *How close Notre Dame came to collapse* *(NY Times)* *and how it was saved* *A different way to see the Holy Land* (Smithsonian) 1 tour, 2 guides (1 Israeli, 1 Palestinian)	teaching Duke students get a raise (Indy Week) after years of organizing... but Duke still won The teaching profession is a financial calamity (The Atlantic) which should not be a surprise education Presenting America (The Guardian) Ken Burns Why Candyland was invented (The Atlantic) for mobility-impaired kids in the hospital and still selling 1 million per year Has college gotten too easy? (The Atlantic) studying is down, GPA's are up based on Why have college completion rates increased? (BYU working paper) How colleges fail unprepared athletes (Raleigh N&O) UNC whistleblower testifies to Congress science The quest for exotic propulsion (Scientific American) beyond chemical Celebrating 20 years of Chandra (Chandra) and its x-ray observations *Is CAESAR buried?* (Scientific American) is there a better way to choose science missions? How science got drilled in the rush to Arctic drilling (Politico) not a surprise when the Secretary of the Interior is an oil-industry lobbyist How neural networks are like the distribution of galaxies in the universe (Nautil.us) Condor comeback (Washington Post) nearly wiped out, how it fought its way back from 22 to 1000+ Archaeology of the 99% (Knowable) commoners didn't own things that would survive as artifacts Did/could neanderthals speak? (Sapiens) depends on their throat anatomy Processed food makes us fat (Washington Post) the evidence is in and the paper (Cell Metabolism) with the key graph right on top The case for diet soda (Washington Post) there's little evidence against it sustainable seafood The best seafood choices (Seafood Watch) to keep the ocean healthy... here's the Southeast guide from Monterey Bay aquarium Eat sustainable fish (Marine Research Council) could be a lot more helpful ------------------ The Arctic (Scientific American, July 2019 issue) the new reality: science & politics Who should pay for 'moonshots? (Scientific American) federal support for science research needs an increase How animals became multi-celled (Quanta) is still debatable Need to know how Durham & vicinity looked like 500 Myrs ago? (Dinosaur Pictures) this map will tell you with city/time options pseudo-science It's time the U.S. had a country had a Psychologist General (Scientific American) the country is in a mental-health crisis bad media A cesspool of racist pseudoscience (Scientific American) the Internet, of course just 'racist'?!? The media have a 2nd chance to get the Mueller report correct (Washington Post) when House members question Mueller this week CNN shows it's learned nothing from 2016 (Vox) the debate draft bad tech Another day, another hack (Washington Post) Capital One: 100 million people *More money than anyone imagined* (The Atlantic) why the tech bubble never burst *Building a digital underclass* (NY Times) here's looking at you, big tech *Fbook and crypto-currency* (Washington Post) what could possibly go wrong? Despite promises, self-driving cars are 'way' in the future (NY Times) because pedestrians, drives, & cyclists are unpredictable praise the lord!
limited time? read the most important stories from early July 2019: 1) The Moon remains the star on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 (7/19/19) news about the Moon humans and the Moon remembering the Apollo missions going back to the Moon? 2) making exoplanets 3) the habitability of Titan and its oceans what will Dragonfly find? 4) a new way to measure the Hubble constant 5) Supreme Court abdicates on gerrymandering will NC courts take action on gerrymandering or also abdicate? 6) a President fans racist fires immigrants at the border 7) the climate news is still bad a battle about reforestation will Presidential candidates come to a climate debate? 8) When did humans arrive in Europe or the Americas? 9) remembering the Central Park 5 10) the battle over July 4^th
early July 2019
The Moon -- the place to be in July ~~When Earth & Moon were one~~ (Scientific American, July 2019 issue) making the Moon with a synestia ~~and it's free!~~ sorry, free access to the article lasted only a week How was the Moon made? (NY Times) we won't know till we go back but, yeah, believe the SA article above Why precious metals are scarcer on the Moon (Nature) published article: Reconstructing the late accretion history of the Moon (Nature) paywall humans & the Moon The lunar eclipse of 7/16/2019 is not visible in N. American (EclipseWise) too bad Keeping time with the Moon (Science News) how ancient humans used the Moon as a calendar Would there be life on Earth without the Moon? (Scientific American) did lunar tides jump-start biology? axial stability, climate moderation, driving species migration & diversity, and more How visualizations of the Moon have changed over time *(Science News)* *in 9 images* *the Apollo missions* The complete guide to Apollo 11 *(Space)* 1969: the year men walked on the Moon (The Atlantic) 45 photos What you don't know about Apollo 11 (Smithsonian) Apollo 11 was almost a joint U.S.-Soviet mission (Nature) What the astronauts left behind on the Moon (Science News) trash, mementos, and experiments More than half of Nature's published authors were inspired to become scientists by Apollo (Nature) from 10 years ago The scientific legacy of Apollo (Physics Today) it's the rocks, stupid! How NASA kept the lunar rocks safe (Science News) from contamination... ... and some surprises they found 4 innovations from the Apollo missions (The Conversation) and we're not talking Tang! The man who knew the way to the Moon (Audible book) John Houbolt, who invented the lunar lander *and* *The unsung hero who made it happen* *(1A 35-min podcast)* *an interview with the author* *To the Moon and back with your smartphone?* (The Conversation) apparently *remembering Apollo* *Best books on Apollo and the Moon landings* *(Smithsonian)* *Books that go beyond a small step* *(Science News)* *on TV* The video of the first 2 minutes of the first moonwalk (Sky & Telescope) is still fuzzy Chasing the Moon (American Experience, PBS) a 3-part history of the space race ...free to watch on PBS until 9/11/19 and a review (Physics Today) Apollo 11 (CNN) *airing 7/20, 9 and 11 pm* review: Apollo 11 gets the documentary it deserves (Physics Today) Apollo: Missions to the Moon (National Geographic) 2-hour documentary premieres on the NatGeo channel ... free to watch with a sign-up account 8 Days: To the Moon and Back (PBS) airs/streams July 17 a 'dramatization' Back to the Moon (1-hr NOVA, PBS) ...free to watch on PBS until 9/11/19 Apollo's Moon Shot *(Smithsonian Channel)* a 6-part series 1998's From Earth to the Moon is the best fictional re-telling? *(Vox)* *Apollo 11: a giant leap for movies, too* *(ABC News)* The best movies & podcasts to watch to remember Apollo 11 (NY Times) *going back* So why are we going back to the Moon, anyway? *(The Guardian)* you knew the moonwalkers were all male, but did you know they were all mid-westerners, all eldest children, and all (but 1) former Boy Scouts? Can NASA return people to the Moon by 2024? *(Nature)* *right now: no rocket, no lunar orbiting station,* *no lander,* and a tepid Congress Quo Vadis, NASA: Moon, Mars, or both? (Physics Today) the technological issues that need to be solved A crucial test of NASA's Orion spacecraft, on Tuesday 7/2/2019 *(Washington Post)* *was successful* -------------------- Saturn & Titan *The habitability of Titan and its ocean* *(Astrobiology)* *a nice review* NASA approves Dragonfly (Washington Post) which will land a drone on Saturn's moon Titan the NASA announcement Dragonfly: exploring Titan (Simons Foundation) 30-min talk by Dragonfly's designer Bathtub rings around Titan's lakes and seas? (Earth & Sky) might be due to acetylene-butane crystals *--------------------* Hayabusa-2 lands again on Ryugu *(NY Times)* *and takes* *another sample* *plus* *some touchdown selfies* *(Science News)* *Ceres is wrinkling* *(Space)* *as it shrinks* *published article* (Nature Astronomy) free to read, but not to save *The natural history of 'Oumuamua* (Nature Astronomy) the last word: it is not an alien spacecraft Insight's 'Mole' is still immobile on Mars *(NASA)* *--------------------* *total solar eclipse* *Tuesday, July 2^nd post-eclipse* *Replay* *(YouTube)* *complete eclipse (partial & total) in real time (I think)* *with magnification* *Another replay* *(WaPost YouTube)* *as above, but with people (clapping & hooting, of course)* 15 photos from Chile or Argentina *(The Atlantic)* *pre-eclipse* Into the dark: in Chile/Argentina *(Astronomy)* *livestream it here* (*Exploratorium) if you can't be there... 4 pm EDT and after or via* *Weather Channel* *app* *NASA* *eclipse flyer* How this eclipse will be different from the 2017 Great American one (Science News) and what it means for science yes, solar eclipses are a shock to plants, too (NY TImes) they're stressed by the sun's sudden reappearance *--------------------* 🔥 yes, the climate is changing 🔥 Earth had warmest June on record (Washington Post) and, so far, it's the hottest-ever July 2019 on track to be 3^rd hottest ever (Climate Central) The end of the world as we know it (Mother Jones) the burden of being a climate scientist Is climate change an 'existential' threat or only a 'catastrophic' one? *(Vox)* *Better estimates of polar ice loss and sea-level rise* (Eos) by measuring Earth's shape *climate problems* *Are we accidentally geoengineering the oceans?* (Climatewire via SciAm) with iron dust *Rising high-tide flooding in American cities* *(Science News)* *says a NOAA report* *Climate as a risk factor for armed conflict* (Nature) it's complicated paywall European heat wave linked to global warming *(Science News)* The human contribution to Europe's 2019 summer heat wave *(World Weather Attribution)* *and it's deadly* *What coal did to West Virginia* *(Vox)* is now happening to Wyoming vulture capitalism runs rampant *Fastest-warming town on Earth* (The Guardian) Longyearbyen, the world's northernmost town, *is 4* *°C hotter than in 1971* About-to-be-built fossil-fuel plants threaten 1.5-°*C goal* *(Science News)* China is 40%+ of the problem; green energy must take over electricity production accelerated preview (Nature) *climate solutions* *Giant batteries and solar power are pushing fossil fuels off the grid* *(Science)* *because the former are now cheaper* *The case for public R&D spending* *(Vox)* *the most neglected climate change solution* *Will flight-shaming work in the U.S.?* *(Washington Post)* How (some) cities are owning up to their climate impacts *(Vox)* *forest restoration? Restoring forests: the most powerful weapon against climate change?* *(Vox)* published article: The global tree restoration potential (Science) *and as a means to many other ends* *paywall* *and* *the costs are low* *(Nature)* *paywall* *wait, say others,* planting more trees won't solve climate change *(Discover)* "not all areas that could be forested should be forested" and worse, There are real risks in exaggerating the benefits of forestation (The Conversation) it deters taking climate action now ---------------------- Making fuel out of thin air (Science) turning CO₂ into gasoline with renewable energy *paywall* *climate politics* *Democrats, the people, the climate, & a Green New Deal* *(American Prospect)* *present (and past) demons* *The consequences of the Trump rollback of fuel standards* (Carbon Brief) including a comparison to the Obama standards *The case for declaring a national climate emergency* *(New Yorker)* *right now* *a climate debate?* *A climate summit for 2020 candidates* (Gizmodo) 9/23/19 in NYC... *but will they come?* sponsored by a coalition of organizations *10 questions to ask in a climate debate* *(Vox)* *and some questions that shouldn't be asked* *well, at least a Democratic-candidate climate debate* Has White House shelved 'adverserial' climate review? *(Science)* *if so, thanks for small favors* *but* *they're removing mentions of bad climate news from USGS reports* *(Science)* *environment* *What lurks in the hearts of city dwellers* *(The Guardian)* billions of air pollution particles Another recent review *(CHEST)* *shows that their in every organ and virtually every cell of humans* *U.S. produces far more waste than other developed countries* *(The Guardian)* *part of* *The United States of Plastic series*	Why are the merging black holes found by LIGO are so (unexpectedly) massive? *(AAS Nova)* *are there 2 different formation processes for stellar black holes?* A new site for the s-process? (Astrobites) *some massive stars can produce elements beyond bismuth* *s-process produces half the heavy elements* *Detecting gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovas?* *(AAS Nova)* *maybe with LIGO, but odds are better with a future detector* *published article:* *Characterizing the gravitational-wave signal from core- collapse supernovas* *(ApJ Letters)* *Left behind?* *(MNRAS)* *3 runaway stars that are survivors of a supernova* *paywall* *Cannonballs on the Sun's surface* (Astrobites) + spicules & surges Astrobites is back! *The fireworks of* *η Carinae* *(Hubble)* *falsely colored red, white, & blue for the occasion?* *A possible connection between solar activity and planetary tides* *(Eos)* *and* *more on the* *Lunar time machine* *(Astrobites)* *is the Sun's history is written in Moon rocks?*	Unraveling the formation history of hot Jupiters *(AAS Nova)* *Adjacent planets in exoplanet systems have similar sizes/masses* *(Astrobites)* explainable by observational bias? Gaps in protoplanetary disks may not always mark newborn planets *(Science News)* *but there sure is diversity in protoplanetary disks* *A cosmic cheat-sheet for exoplanet evolution* *(Cornell University)* *A moon-forming disk around a distant exoplanet* *(Rice University)* A surprise in the atmosphere of a mid-size exoplanet *(NASA Goddard)* "so poor in heavy elements that its composition resembles the H/He-rich composition of the Sun." so maybe this hot Neptune formed in situ? *Lost in Transits* (Esrth & Sky) The Random Transiter: 28 dips of light, and no repeats even more bizarre than Boyajian's star *pre-published paper* *(arXiv)* *Are 'ploonets' real?* *(Science News)* moons that escape their planets ET life Do asteroids play a key role in spreading life? (Harvard University) A peek at possible life on other planets (U Washington) in super-salty sub- zero Arctic water Key early steps for origin of life occur in a variety of simulated atmospheres (Penn State U) *If aliens call...* (Vox) what should we do? *Are We Alone?* *(1-hr NOVA, PBS)* ...free to watch on PBS until 9/11/19 *read with caution* *What's wrong with our definition of 'planet'?* *(Starts With a Bang)* *a few nice diagrams, but mostly a lot of whining*	*Where are the intermediate-mass black holes?* *(LIGO)* H0LiCOW: a new independent measure of H₀ *(Astrobites)* *from gravitational time-delay data, it agrees with the* *'late universe' value from Cepheids and Type I SN* H₀ = 73.3 (+ 1.8) km/s/Mpc *preprint* (arXiv) with a discussion of cosmological implications submitted to MNRAS And another new method on the horizon *(NRAO)* *using gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers* A pair of SMBHs about to merge? *(EurekAlert)* *gravitational waves from similar mergers to arrive 'soon'?* Weighing a galaxy's parts *(Science Daily)* the sum of gas and stars in galaxy clusters is a nearly fixed fraction of the dark matter mass *validating predictions of the* *Λ-CDM model* *published article:* *An anti-correlation between hot and cold baryons in galaxy clusters* *(Nature Communications)* *2^nd FRB located in massive galaxy* *(Astronomy)* 1^st ID happened only last week and now a 3rd (Sky & Telescope) the puzzle of their origin deepens	quantum A first?: Imaging Bell- violating quantum behavior *(Science Advances)* *The visible effects of virtual particles* *(Starts with a Bang)* First evidence for Klein tunneling *(Scientific American)* *making barriers transparent in SmB₆* Quantum trajectory theory beats out the Schrödinger version? *(Quanta)* *in explaining the reversal of "a quantum jump in midflight"* *midflight? maybe mid-jump?* nuclear Where do neutrons (in a nucleus) reside? (Physics Today, July 2019 issue) investigating neutron- rich matter in the heavens and on Earth relativity How *(relatively)* simple symmetries underlie our expanding universe *(Quanta)* *Why gravitational waves travel at the speed of light* *(Starts with a Bang)* *other* Are The laws of physics the same and backwards in time? *(Starts with a Bang)* *spoiler alert: no* *no-evidence 'physics'* *Prospect for contact of string theory with experiment?* *(Not Even Wrong)* *whoops, apparently not* *rats, foiled again* *Why the 'multiverse' is religion, not science* *(BackReaction)* or equivalent to believing in god *just 2 of Hawking's unverified predictions* *(Where) are the primordial black holes?* *(Astronomy)* *but no evidence for such* *Black holes aren't really black* *(Starts with a Bang)* *'sorry', there is absolutely zero evidence* *----------------------* *read with great caution* *The magnon* *(Space)* *another day, another dark-matter solution* *An anti-matter rocket to the stars?* *(Starts with a Bang)* *Chameleon theory* *(Earth & Sky)* (another) alternative to Einstein's GR	not politics "Why don't they go back ..." (NY Times) fanning ... a racial fire 46 years of racism (Vox) from "the least racist person ... ever" Do not tiptoe around racism (Washington Post) report the truth The world speaks out *even Boris Johnson* but, the GOP, not so much (Washington Post) and the cowardice of Jared Kushner (Washington Post) *politics* The 10 Senate seats most likely flip in 2020 (Washington Post) 7 held by GOP; 3 by the Dems A crowded 2nd place in the 2020 Dem p~~rimary~~ polls (538) The Dems VP shortlist (Real Clear Politics) a prediction *isnt it too early?* Pelosi-AOC 'feud'? (The Atlantic) overhyped and only relevant to twitter-nuts ------------------- failure is an option Failure to assimilate (The Atlantic) Tucker Carlson, star Failure to oppose under-age sex-trafficking (Washington Post) Alex Acosta the resigned how many Trump cabinet firings/resignations now? 7? 8? 13? (Cabinet approved positions: 26) Obama at same point: 0 GW Bush at same point: 1 Failure of leadership (Sen. Tina Smith) Mitch McConnell Failure to tell the truth in the census question case (Bloomberg) the Trump administration and 10,000 more lies Failure to unite (NY Times) the Democrats except about Trump *why Swalwell's campaign failed* (538) 16+ more need to follow... soon and why aren't O'Rourke, Hickenlooper, & Bullock running for Senate instead of preening for President? ------------------- gerrymandering & political power A symposium: Partisan gerrymandering after Rucho (Election Law Blog) links to 18 posts The Evenwel gambit (Balkanization) the real point of the citizenship question is to redistrict by citizenship Optimism on overturning gerrymandering (Washington Post) is totally misplaced More on the better-late-than-never Holder campaign (Mother Jones) a very long read Republicans dominate state legislatures (Vox) and therefore political power in America The power to draw maps is at stake in 2020 (NY Times) Dems need to focus on this as much as dumping Trump and in North Carolina Common Cause v. Lewis: NC gerrymandering trial opens in Wake County Superior Court (News & Observer) and a summary of the opposing arguments Superior Court judges: open the Hofeller files on gerrymandering (WRAL) voters should see the depth of GOP electoral manipulation --------------------- Another newspaper folds; we all lose (Washington Post) in Youngstown, OH average Americans Left behind (NY Times) African-Americans, auto workers, rural America, & more The moochers of middle America *(NY Times)* umm... this is irony, maybe even sarcasm What middle-class families want politicians to know (NY Times) 7 stories The perfect answer to complaints about 'white privilege' (Vox) 'This doesn't look like the best economy ever' (Washington Post) 40% of Americans struggle to pay bills The economy: everyday Americans vs. 'the experts' (BankRate) quite different views The people who believe the most in pulling themselves up by their bootstraps are the least able to (NY Times) and they're mostly southerners ------------------------ July 4^th Read the Declaration of Independence (U.S. Archives) or have it read to you (YouTube) Earth is farthest from the Sun today (at 6:11 pm EDT) (Earth & Sky) notice how cool it is!?! 40^th Festival for the Eno (Enofest) July 4 and 6 Fireworks and parades in the Triangle *(Triangle on the Cheap)* Fireworks! (Washington Post) America's favorite face-exploding, dog- torturing, bird-killing way to celebrate Why the American revolution was a mistake (Vox) 3 reasons that July 4th should be a day of mourning yes, he's serious the 4^th now turned into a political rally There will be tanks (Rolling Stone) at Trump's July 4th DC celebration, along with the fireworks but they won't be rolling down PA avenue, and *there won't be Sherman tanks sad! while stealing millions from US Park Service entrance fees (Washington Post) meant for park improvements elections have consequences Time to make American great again? (NY Times, 5 minute audio/video) because it sure isn't right now we are #1 at opiate abuse, prison population, gun ownership, TV watching,* military spending, *& mass shootings, among others* U.S. drops to 48th in World Freedome Index (Reporters without Borders) below South Africa, Slovenia, and Burkino Faso The biggest threat to America -- and future anniversary celebrations - is us (NY Times) not China, not Russia ------------------- immigrants at the border is this really America? The end of asylum at the border (NY Times) at least for Central American migrants The world is 'deeply shocked' by our treatment of migrants (Vox) why aren't we? Ticking time bomb (NY Daily News) headline says 'Shameful' A crime by any other name (The Atlantic) Squalid conditions in border detention centers (NY Times) Trump administration watchdog says DHS finds 'disgusting border conditions' (BuzzFeed) for detained children Grim realities of the border crisis (Washington Post) The secret Fbook group of CBP agents (ProPublica) that makes fun of migrants, Hispanics, & liberal congress members CBP responds *--------------------* Central Park 5 When They See Us (Netflix) 5-hr fictionalization, by Ava Duvernay is it Truth or Fiction? (TV Guide) overwhelmingly true? What the above leaves out (Washington Post) with links to stories, statements, and trial testimony at the time it happened... and the liberties it takes with facts In defense of the Central Park 5 prosecution (NY Law Journal) by Linda Fairstein NYLJ requires registration *2-hr documentary* *(Amazon Prime)* *by Ken Burns (2013)* The "real story" behind the CP5 (Radio Times) an interview with Jim Dwyer, who covered the story at the time Collection of articles on the CP5 going back to 1989 (NY Times) ------------------- foreign policy Ending endless war (Vox) Soros + Koch? *U.S.-Saudi relations* *(The Atlantic)* *on the brink* *Trump has appointed the worst people* (Washington Post) no wonder his foreign policy is a mess *--------------------* books American Carnage How Paul Ryan earned his badge of shame (The Nation) Ryan lies to himself -- and everyone else *Ryan now claims he resigned only to get away from Trump* *(Vanity Fair)* *but he was a fraud all along* *and* *how Republicans made peace with Trump* *(NY Times)* *the ultimate devil's bargain* bonus: "Pence's talent for bootlicking (is) ... obscene" Congratulations, Mr. President (New Yorker) you've mastered sycophancy *wait...* *who's trashing whom?* (The Guardian) Trump responds, with name-calling & lies par for the course *---------------------* Factfulness: Ten Reasons Why We're Wrong about the World *(Skeptical Inquirer)* *or Why Things Are Better Than You Think* *Inside the five-sided box* (Washington Post) Ash Carter's time at the Pentagon Africa's lost kingdoms (NY Books) 5 books reviewed The Weather Machine (New Yorker) why weather-forecasting keeps getting better *--------------------* art/museums/trips The 25 works of art that define the contemporary age *(NY Times)* *are even more embarrassing than you'd expect* *not to mention pretentious* *Why are Ethiopia's treasures still in London?* *(The Atlantic)* particularly at the V&A and the British Museum *Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography* (Metropolitan Museum of Art) 7/3/19 - 9/22/19 Living in a Gaudi house (NY Times) Jews, money, myth (NY Books) terribly durable an exhibition at the London Jewish Museum until 10/17/2019	*science* *anthro/bio* *The late exploration and settlement of the Americas* (Science) by humans during the Pleistocene *and not before 17.5 ka ago* *Humans reached Europe 210,000 yrs ago?* (Washington Post) based on the oldest human fragment found outside Africa but some are cautious How many extinct hominids did our ancestors encounter? *(Discovery)* *spoiler alert: 7* Moonlight shapes the movement, growth, and songs of animals (Science News) *The end of frankincense?* (NY Times) due to overuse and whatever happened to myrrh? *The great insect die-off* (Monga Bay) how to save insects and ourselves *The epic journey of an* *Arctic fox* *(NY Times)* *2175 miles in 76 days* Why did Earth's O₂-rich atmosphere lag the start of photosynthesis by billions of years? *(Georgia Tech)* *physics* The quantum physics that makes fireworks possible *(Starts with a Bang)* Time is running out for sand *(Nature)* *(a nice title pun)* *and fortunately,* *Greenland is melting -- and awash with sand* *(NY Times)* *An MRI of a signle titanium atom* *(NY Times)* *science, sort of* *What is truth?* (Starts with a Bang) to a scientist not Pontius Pilate *The war to free science* (Vox) from paywalls What happens when a scientific theory can't be tested? (The Guardian 26-min podcast) *here's looking at you, string theory* *What the measles epidemics says about America* *(The Atlantic)* historical amnesia, declining faith in institutions, lack of concern for the public good *what about poor science literacy?* *The equation that predicts the end of humanity* (Vox) the Second Coming of Gott's equation education Are NC grades unfair? (News & Observer) legislators may change them don't NC legislators have better things to do? The failure of elementary education? (The Atlantic) emphasizing reading skills over knowledge The education deserts of rural America (The Atlantic) and the growing gap in college completion between urban and rural America Faster and cheaper degrees (News & Observer) a 3 on an AP test now gets you college credit in UNC system yes, this is embarrassing bad tech FTC fines Fbook $5 billion (NY Times) for mishandling personal information Wall Street loves it because it won't change Fbook's business model (Vox) since it's such a tiny drop in the bucket Trump invites right-wing extremists to WH social-media summit (CNN) a dilemma: which is worse: Trump or social media? Conservatives pretend to be suppressed (Vox) by social-media-dominated social media Why are US.mobile speeds so slow? (Vox) and how to make it better than Turkey's (or even just Iran's) bad tech solutions? DASHBOARD act (The Conversation) making tech companies tell you how much your personal data worth
limited time? read the most important stories from late June 2019: 1) The Moon gets a lot of attention as the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 nears 2) U.S. Supreme Court abdicates on gerrymandering 3) An updated understanding of what we're seeing in the ETH image of the M87 SMBH 4) Origin of the universe's gold is still up in the air 5) your choice of climate news: solutions: carbon taxes; solar passes coal; transition to green energy bad news: melting ice in Greenland and Himalayas and melting permafrost arguing with climate-change deniers 6) exoplanet news: straddling the radius gap and formation 7) should we be worried about election security? 8) the Democratic Presidential candidates debate