keep up with astrophysics news and improve your cultural literacy 
.... now in its 7^th year

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

last updated:  7 am  December 31, 2019

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 December 2019 looking for the best 10 lists of the year (or decade) instead?
Ring-of-fire eclipse dazzles Asia (NY Times) happy winter solstice, 12/21 The 10 things to know about the shortest day of the year (Vox) Celebrate it at Stonehenge (English Heritage) Winter solstice is story-telling time for native Americans (Smithsonian) ---------------------- The citizen scientists who helped map Bennu (Planetary Science Institute) and helped determine the sampling site 4 young asteroid families ID'd (phys.org} a result of asteroid collisions and spin fission What the isotopic dichotomy of meteorites tells us about the early solar system (Lawrence Berkeley Lab) Earth's North magnetic pole: moving toward Russia (Forbes) Widespread water ice inches below Mars's surface (Astronomy) easy to get to, but is it enough for future Mars explorers? need a Xmas gift? how about a 3-D- printed replica of Mars' Jezero crater? (U Texas) get your print file here 🔥  yes, there is a  climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture The Amazon tipping point is here (Science Advances) last chance for action is now How we know global warming is real (Washington Post) Ben Franklin, Mutiny on the Bounty, and centuries of records among many others 2019: a year of climate disaster (The Guardian) a catalog of climate disasters yet still our leaders procrastinate November 2019: 2nd warmest Nov. in recorded history (NOAA) climate consequences Australia's angry summer (Scientific American) what climate change looks like on the ground Australia: on land, rising heat is apocalyptic (Washington Post) in the ocean, it's even worse ⅔ of N. American bird species are at increasing risk of extinction due to global warming (Audubon) put in your zip code and find out what local birds are in trouble Climate facts are not enough: nudges are required to change behavior (Scientific American) by the author of the published paper (Nature Communications) Climate effects on human health are numerous (Scientific American) but few med schools are teaching it Has the rise of CO2 concentration affected human cognition? (The Atlantic) our brains evolved with less CO2 "substantial but inconsistent evidence" based on to-be-published: Fossil-fuel combustion is driving indoor CO2 to levels harmful to human cognition (EarthArXiv) Another warning: a Russian ice cap in collapse (Scientific American) Hundreds of bird species are migrating earlier (Scientific American) by 2 days/decade published article: Nocturnal avian migration has shifted on a continental scale (Nature Climate Change) free to read, but not save Waters off California acidifying faster than rest of oceans (NY Times) spiny lobster, squid, & Dungeness crab struggle to make their shells Ocean acidification: bad news for sharks (Science News) published article (Nature) climate solutions The political strategy to get your city or state to pass clean energy policy (Vox) elect Democrats because it works The climate learning tree (Nautil.us) re-thinking how to talk about climate solutions The geoengineering question (Vox, 1.5-hr podcast) (Plant) burgers for a better planet (NY Times) What it will take to clean up the U.S. electric grid (NY Times) an effort comparable to FDR's electrification of rural America Geoengineering's gender problem (Wired) could put the planet at risk climate idiocy Electric cars still don't live up to the hype (Washington Post) is wrong on so many counts and non-solutions Clean energy loses out in year-end spending bill (Washington Post) climate future Where is fusion? (Neurolgica) climate politics The U.S. budget: a swing and a miss for climate (Rhodium Group) Climate and the Environment surge as voter priorities (Environmental Voter Project) but will those who say so actually vote? environment Trump administration rolls back energy efficiency rule (NY Times) for light bulbs which could cost Americans $14 billion extra in energy costs How oil companies evaded their responsibility for ~11 million gallons spilled (Pro Publica)	the Betelgeuse supernova rumors Is Betelgeuse about to explode? (Starts with a Bang) it's dropped out of the top 20 brightest-stars list It's now the faintest it's been in a century (Astronomy) maybe just at a minimum in its natural variability? On the brink of a supernova? (Washington Post) it's not as if we'd all die which would happen if our Sun supernova-ed (Starts with a Bang) which CAN'T happen is this meant to distract us from Trump? ---------------------- 2nd-fastest pulsar seen in γ-rays (Sky & Telescope) some answers and some new puzzles Mapping the surface of a pulsar: a first (Earth & Sky) it's complicated 'Forced magnetic reconnection': the video (NASA) a new kind of solar explosion "as tangled magnetic field lines erupt and recombine" Did 100+ stars vanish in a century?   (Air & Space Museum) most ridiculous explanation: something to do with ET	HD 118203b: a delayed transiter (Astrobites) Why are there so many sub-Neptune exoplanets? (Astrobites) because of a fugacity crisis say the authors ok, larger ones have insufficient gas to force a hydrogen-magma ocean that interacts with its atmosphere or 'Why some planets eat their own skies' (U Chicago) Will Icarus-like ablating planets shed light on planets' formation and evolution? (Scientific American) and 3 free papers from the Dispersed Matter Planet Project (Nature Astronomy) paper #1 paper #2 paper #3 Alone in a Crowded Milky Way (Scientific American, January 2020 issue) even in a star- hopping galaxy teeming with alien civilizations,  isolated, unvisited planets should exist ET life How intelligent aliens might behave (Smithsonian) an excerpt from Imagined Life A 2nd genesis?: if there's life on Europa or Enceladus (Space) it's extraordinarily hard for microbes to get from Earth or Mars to the Galilean moons and the transit times are 2 Gyr or longer The smell of life (MIT) if there's phosphine, there's life? If we believe in dark matter, why not in ET life? (Nautil.us) the role of prejudice in science	beginnings at the end of the year How did the universe begin? (BackReaction) "we have no idea" but that answer isn't publishable so here's 6 (or more) ideas Starts with a Bang has a different sort of answer not living up to its title? and still another: The universe: fine- tuned for humans (Starts with a Bang) or maybe humans are fine-tuned for the universe? or maybe we're living in a computer simulation (Vox) idiots  --------------------- Are magnetic fields the origin of spiral galaxies' arms? (Scientific American) When the Milky Way was a starbust galaxy (Astronomy) a billion years ago its center erupted in a burst of star formation that produced 100,000 supernovae preprint of article published in Nature Astronomy Did giant gas halos feed the rapid growth of SMBHs? (ESO) and how young galaxies grew? (Sky & Telescope) and Max Planck Institute calls them the first quasars Darkness made visible (Science) M87's SMBH image: Science Breakthrough of the Year and an oldie on the Milky Way's SMBH (Ap J Letters) from 2000	Quantum gravity needs more experiments (Nautil.us) math is not enough no dark energy? No dark energy? No chance say (some) cosmologists (Quanta) preprint: Is the expansion of the universe accelerating? (arXiv) all signs still point to 'yes' and a rebuttal to the above rebuttal (arXiv) all of above is a response to a claim of expansion anistropy and NO dark energy (U Oxford) published article (Astronomy & Astrophysics) ------------------------ Antimatter, cosmic rays, the galactic center, & the AMS experiment A pulsar origin for the AMS  γ-ray excess? (NASA Goddard) Antimatter mystery likely due to pulsars (Starts with a Bang) and not dark matter annihilation Revival of the dark-matter explanation for the galactic-center  -ray excess (Phys. Rev. Letters) it may be dark matter after all paywall --------------------- B-meson anomalies: hints of new physics? (CERN Courier) The triple slit experiment (Scientific American, January 2020 issue) a novel strategy for quantum computing? paywall but more quantum mystery than the double-slit experiment? (Feynman Lectures Vol I, chapter 37 & Vol III, chapter 1) seems unlikely read with intense skepticism Paradox-free time travel (arXiv) Can anything come out of a black hole? (Starts with a Bang) Ethan is still hawking Hawking radiation despite absolutely zero evidence for it	DHS finally speaks: no evidence of Russian hacking in 2016 Durham election (Raleigh N&O) instead, "human error in preparation of poll books" A gangster in the White House (The Atlantic) Trump breaks the law by tweeting whistleblower's identity which the law charges him to protect... where is Charles Grassley, R-IA, who wrote the law? The Attorney General and rise of religious nationalism (NY Times) It's the (anti-) immigration, stupid (Vox) why evangelicals love Trump divided America What we already know about the 2020 election (The Atlantic) increasingly divided America Rethinking polarization (National Affairs) emotional polarization is on the rise, not ideological polarization How to stop a U.S. civil war (The Atlantic, December 2019 issue) in 3 parts,   and 12 articles Rural NC is shrinking at the expense of cities (Raleigh N&O) an 8-part series a right to vote? U.S. District Court set to temporarily block NC's voter-ID (Raleigh N&O) will it be in effect for the primary? How close did Russia come to hacking the 2016 election? (Politico) what the public still doesn't know beginning with what happened in Durham on Election Day, Nov 2016 Who's running for NC office in 2020 (Raleigh N&O) both state-wide offices and NC House/Senate candidates Durham NC Senate districts:  20, 22 Durham NC House:  29-31 "Traditionally, it's always been Republicans suppressing votes" says Trump advisor (Wisconsin State Journal) but now, "let's start playing offense" which explains why there was a consent degree against the Republican National Committee for interfering with people voting (lifted, alas, in 2018) The gerrymanderer's daughter (NC Policy Watch) Stephanie Hofeller: the interview about life, family, & the files that changed NC politics Will your 2020 vote actually get counted? (LA Times) and why it might not Georgia and Wisconsin purge hundreds of thousands of voters (Washington Post) this week except, at least 22,000 in GA were a mistake (Election Law Blog) Wisconsin purge now on temporary hold (Milwaukee Journal- Sentinel) as of 12/30/2019 but Georgia judge gives go ahead to GA purge (Atlanta Journal Constitution) NC voting machines Divided NC Elections Board approves untested voting machines for 2020 (Carolina Public Press) ES&S:  Chinese parts & hidden ownership (NBC) and the maker of most of NC's (and America's) voting machines Clear Ballot (voting-machine maker) to leave NC (Carolina Public Press) says NC rules perpetuate monopoly by competitor ES&S ------------------- whose economy? Trump's, the GOP's, or ??? (Washington Post) and Trump's stock market rally lags both Obama's and Clinton's An economy that should make voters prefer Democrats (Washington Post) the charts that prove it the best gift Americans got this year? (Washington Post) well, maybe not all Americans: Stock market is booming.... working class is struggling (NY Times) A brutal year for American farmers (Vox) record flooding, delayed harvests, trade war with China... bailouts & handouts shouldn't be a surprise on the other hand, Congress/Trump give health-care industry a multi-billion Xmas gift (Washington Post) no special interest left behind pharmaceutical, hospital, & insurance companies get huge gifts in 2020 budget shame on Schumer & McConnell, the enablers   USA: one of only a handful of countries with no paid leave (Vox) our bedfellows: Suriname, India, Papua New Guinea, and Pakistan Need a job? The Census wants you (Raleigh N&O) 10,000 workers needed in Triangle @$15 - $19/hr how & where to apply, before the end of January; work starts in May 2020 -------------------------- foreign affairs Russia is a mess. Putin had his best year yet. (NY Times) why is Putin such a formidable adversary? Putin: liberal democracy "has outlived its purpose" Mockery of justice (The Guardian) the Khashoggi killing Defrocked (for sex abuse) DC cardinal paid off popes and Vatican clerics to look the other way (Washington Post) over decades will the Catholic Church respond?  where is their outrage?  where is their demand for jail time? -------------------------- Impeachment continued Is Trump above the law? (NY Books) the implications of impeachment Will she or won't she? (Vox) send the articles of impeachment to the Senate? Impeachment is not enough (The Guardian) the case for conviction The dire threat to the U.S. (William Webster, only director of both CIA and FBI) disrespect for the rule of law:  by Trump, Barr, & Giuliani Et tu, Christianity? (Christianity Today) Trump's defense, annotated (NY Times) the letter to Pelosi Fact-checking the President's defense (Washington Post) How impeachment could end badly (The Atlantic) for Dems & America even though appropriate, it may be a bad idea Impeachment day: the 5 hallmarks of Trump governance (Washington Post) on display ...and we still den't know what happened (The Atlantic) or why Impeachment is incredibly popular? (The Atlantic) 50% (for) vs 48% (against) means incredibly popular?!? denial of reality continues to plague the left ---------------------- Democrats:  still debating All you need to know (Politico) at least the top few screens All you need to know, part 2 (Politico) the fireworks The candidates' health plans (Vox) the real differences, explained Nuclear power and climate change (Vox) finally comes up at the debate Buttagieg's billionaire wine-cave owner is distraught (NY Times) too bad... as Andrew Yang and others have said: 'billionaires should not be determining our President' maybe a fundraiser at Wind Cave NP instead? (National Park Service) and it's free (except for the cave tours) ----------------------- The overnight shift in the E.R. (NY Times) a diary The forgotten glories of department stores (The Atlantic) the convenience of a limited selection of well-chosen options   U.S. is entitled to Edward Snowden's memoir profits (NY Times) says a judge, despite the fact that Snowden exposed the secret and unwarranted U.S. surveillance of its citizens books  Antimony, Gold, and Jupiter's wolf (New Yorker) histories hidden in the Periodic Table The Finance Curse: how global finance is making us poorer (Washington Post) ⅓ of all profits now flow to financial institutions lots of claims, but where's the proof of malfeasance? What were dinosaurs for? (NY Books) just another successful experiment in the enterprise of living? a review of 5 dinosaur books Uncanny Valley (The Atlantic) a 20-something wonders why she didn't wake up to the grandiose myopia of the tech world self-absorprtion? The Government-Citizen Disconnect (Vox) why so many people who need the government hate it they think other, more- undeserving people are getting more welfare than they are Trump and His Generals (The Guardian) the greatest hits and multiple failures of Trump's foreign policy -------------------------- art/travel/museums travel Svalbard, Arctic desert (NY Times) Earth's most northernmost settlement -- and home of the Global Seed Vault Experience  Christmas in January (NY Times) on the cheap in Chicago, KC, NYC, San Antonio, and London 36 hours in Kings Cross (NY Times) crossroads of London A tale of 2 metros (The Guardian) London's won metro of the year ... NYC's declared a state of emergency art Felix Vallotton, painter of disquiet (Metropolitan Museum of Art) an exhibition not to be missed (Washington Post) Verrocchio (National Gallery of Art) first-ever U.S. exhibit teacher of Leonardo a review (Washington Post) and another two (NY Books) An insider's guide to van Gogh's Arles (Art Newspaper) or closer to home: Van Gogh and his inspirations (Columbia Museum of Art) The dynamics of dust (Smithsonian) photographs from North Africa not art the most anticipated movie of all time gets pretty bad or mediocre reviews The opposite of 'The Last Jedi' (Vox) What happens when a franchise gives up (Vox) "a colossal failure of imagination" 2* out of 5 Giving fans what they want (Washington Post) not the story they deserved 2* out of 4 The most incoherent Star Wars movie ever made (The Atlantic) drowning in a sea of nostalgia and infinite plot points One of the best in the series... and one of the worst (NY Times) in a 9-way tie for 4½th place among all Star Wars movies An overloaded finale (Time) safe and formulaic The send-off the saga deserves (The Guardian) but also the send-off expected 3* out of 5 and a very positive one! (The Guardian) "the thrill is tangible" 5* out of 5 but, oh, the excuses	science Sidelining scientists and their work (NY Times) Trump's actions will linger decades The United States is about to lose the sky -- and universe (NY Times) its dominance in astronomy is about to slip away its 2 largest telescope projects are mired in financial difficulties and political controversies Your professional decline is coming (much) sooner than you think (The Atlantic) or do you get happier after 50?  70? Christina Koch sets record for space longevity by a woman (Raleigh N&O) aka Christina Hammock, NCSSM '97 Why are complex numbers needed in quantum mechanics? (American Journal of Physics) some answers for the 'introductory' level paywall a free alternative (U Illinois) but not as comprehensive A tale of 3 Nobels (Scientific American) the lesson: train young (& old!) scientists to be more open-minded How to get the most out of your exercise (Vox) according to science A grand unified theory (Quanta) of snowflakes! who knew we needed one? Entropy: driver of disorder (New Scientist) so why can't everybody agree on what is is? paywall We need a science of the night (Nature) The physics of ice skating (Nature) why is ice so slippery? Have Euler's fluid equations sprung a leak? (Quanta) a scenario where they fail The tree of life: 2 domains, or 3? (Ars Technica) No winter break for scientists (NY Times) it's still publish or perish  How humans came to America (Smithsonian) a story still evolving science and government Science agency budgets are looking up (Physics Today) in year-end spending bill just passed and especially compared to Trump admin request  Stop the government's  suppression of science (Chuck Hagel, via Scientific American) 60+ threats to scientific integrity over the course of the last 3 administrations but White House considering order to free federally-funded science from paywalls (Vox) AAAS & others warn against changing publishing rules (Science) if we the public paid for the research, why don't we get to read the results (free)? and scientific publishers and societies object with a letter to Trump Could open access upend scientific publishers? (Physics Today) education A math teacher does the math -- on NC teacher pay (Raleigh N&O) documenting the lack of educational support from the NC GA and giving the lie to NC poised to become education innovation leader (Raleigh N&O) "laser focus"? certainly not on teacher salaries nor support for education Betsy De Vos: an Education Secretary opposed to public education (The Guardian) the queen of vouchers A new way to make quadratic solutions easier (MIT Tech Review) maybe more intuitive, but not easier not education Silent Sam (Raleigh N&O) The 'moral, cultural, legal, and academic abyss' UNC created UNC system gave Confederates $75,000 to stop Silent Sam protests the UNC Board of Governors defense --------------------- bad tech The architects of our digital hellscape are very sorry (Wired) that's sarcasm, folks Fbook will bar ads & posts spreading disinformation about the census (Washington Post) but not ads & posts  that spread disinformation about Presidential candidates so, selective lying is ok Spacelink claims 'no one thought reflective satellites would be a problem' (Scientific American) will treat 1 (!) satellite with less reflective coating in late Dec. to 'lessen impact on astronomy' Boeing Boeing gone (ScienceAlert) Starliner lands safely on Earth after ISS docking failure The Internet Privacy Project (NY Times) The spies to whom your smartphone reports How your phone betrays democracy How to protect your phone privacy Why you should be freaking out about privacy ---------------------- The decade when tech lost its way (NY Times) an oral history of the 2010s
limited time?  read the most interesting & important stories from  early December 2019: 1)   Impeachment  what else? 2)  climate warnings: 2019 Arctic Report Card has more bad news Climate scientists predictions have been on target since the 1970s climate records set in 2019 COP25 ends without substantive progress what will save us? carbon capture and storage carbon pricing: taxes, caps, or trades? supertrees? 3)   the secret Afghan War papers  4) progress in understanding the Sun 5) science news a Bennu suprise why whales are so big (and not bigger?) a new way to transfer energy across a vacuum  whence speech and language?  before or after humans? 6)  NC education is woefully unfunded and is at the bottom of states in funding    while UNC wastes money supporting Confederate groups 7)   are physics laws inevitable? 8) unmissable art Leonardo 500th anniversary  at the Louvre Matisse/Picasso  in Australia
early December 2019
Mars Martian global wind patterns mapped (U Maryland - BC) a first Marsquakes (322 of them): revealing the red planet's interior? (Nature) or just more mysteries? Have we explained the strange Martian landslides? (The Conversation) not ice-related, but "inevitable features of rapid granular sliding" asteroids Landing on asteroid Bennu will not be easy (Sky & Telescope) surface is a jumble of boulders a nasty shock for   OSIRIS-Rex scientists and the landing sites that would have been worse (Science News) Why Bennu is spewing out particles (NASA Goddard) meteoroid impacts, water vapor release, or thermal stress fracturing The micro-organisms that like to eat meteorites (Earth & Sky) the lithotrophs that prefer ET food over Earthly nutrients moons Galilean moons formed by accretion of pebbles? (Astronomy) How Enceladus got its stripes (Sky & Telescope) a crack in its icy crust starts a cascade Earth & Sky has more details Why Titan's lakes are fizzing nitrogen bubbles (AGU) a just-right combo of N2, CH4, C2H6, at just the right temperature and Earth How life survived Snowball Earth? (NY Times) oxygenated meltwater oases beneath the ice sheets The 5-planet lineup is still happening (Earth & Sky) but not for long: Saturn-Venus-Jupiter just after sunset... Mars-Mercury before sunrise, but now much closer to the horizon A return to Pluto? (Astronomy. December 2019 issue) lots of reasons, but right now, a fantasy 🔥  yes, there is a  climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture 2019 Arctic Report Card Executive Summary (NOAA) What's new this year (NOAA) Permafrost and the global carbon cycle (NOAA) Have unstoppable emissions from melting permafrost already started? (Vox) a ticking time bomb -------------------- 2019 records Record-high CO2 emissions in 2019 (Carbon Brief) a 0.6% rise over last year, despite fading coal a rise mostly due to China rise threatens Paris agreements & planet's health (Environmental Research Letters) and Earth System Science Data has more details NY Times comments A decade of exceptional global heat(ing) (WMO) and 5 big trends that have increased carbon emissions (The Atlantic) coal use growing in China renewables not growing fast enough top the list Global coal power set for a record fall in 2019 (Carbon Brief) a drop of 3% ----------------------- Making methane from the super-emitters visible (NY Times) a hidden climate threat made visible in the IR Explaining extreme weather events from a climate perspective (American Meteorological Society) the fingerprints of climate change are there Cracks in Greenland ice sheet trigger waterfall leakage (Washington Post) and further ice loss and sea-level rise published paper (PNAS) paywall Greenland ice sheet losing 7x more ice/yr than in 1990s (Nature) cumulative ice losses from Greenland are close to IPCC predictions for high-end warming scenario paywall Carbon emissions from volcanic rocks can cause global warming (EurekaAlert) climate solutions or not Multiple methods of CO2 removal are needed to avert the worst (The Conversation) Measuring the success of climate change mitigation and adaptation in terrestrial ecosystems (Science) Supertrees 3 supertrees that can save us from climate collapse (Vox) can we protect them? the Brazil nut helping the rainforest make its own rain  the stilt mangrove Indonesia's carbon guardian and protector from tsunamis & typhoons the afrormosia Congo's carbon sink and keeper of the forest ---------------------   Livestock production (aka 'peak meat') must peak by 2030 (The Guardian) to tackle climate crisis published paper (The Lancet) Can industrial policy meet the climate challenge? (American Prospect)   The rail industry's secret, decades- long fight against the climate (The Atlantic) Carbon capture and storage a 4-part series (Vox) part 2: Pros and cons of Enhanced Oil Recovery part 1: Various methods of carbon capture and how the removed CO2 might be used ------------------------ NC needs an independent science panel (Raleigh N&O) focused on climate change and its impact carbon pricing Carbon dividends and the Green New Deal (American Prospect) Carbon emissions: should they be taxed, capped, or traded? (Physics Today) Can tax credits tackle climate change? (Rhodium Group) Nope, electric cars are not dirtier than fossil-fuel ones (Ars Technica) previous study wrong by factor of 2 Want to help fight climate change? (Vox) where to donate your money effectively Should you be ashamed to fly? (Vox) short flights are the worst... voting for candidates concerned about climate is more important A downside to solar energy? (Scientific American) their waste products -- can the be recycled? costs of free shipping Free shipping is not free (The Atlantic) 1-day shipping is a disaster for the environment (Vox) Click, click, emit. (Scientific American) the carbon cost of online shopping climate past Climate scientists' predictions of global warming have been spot on since the 1970s (Vox) and ditto says USA Today based on published paper: Evaluating the performance of past climate models (AGU) the first systematic review of the predictions finds them to have been remarkably accurate why hasn't anyone done this study before? free to read, but not to save U.S. bears the greatest responsibility for global warming (Vox) because cumulative emissions are what counts   climate future Getting to a carbon- free economy (American Prospect) urgent, attainable, and entirely affordable Beyond the 2 °C limit, continued (Washington Post) A photographic portrait of climate change Alaska faces catastrophic climate change but they still can't quit Big Oil Dangerous new hot zones spreading across the planet Fires, floods, and free parking California's unending fight v. climate change Santa Barbara area is warming at 2-3x rate of overall U.S. ----------------------  CMP6: the next generation of climate models (Carbon Brief) explained climate politics & policy Green New Deal An assessment of the GREEN Act (Rhodium Group) implications for emissions and clear energy development but even if enacted, it won't get us to 2025 Paris goals Green New Deal: the urgent realism of radical change (American Prospect) A climate case for the industrial heartland (American Prospect) --------------------- COP25 The U.N. climate summit COP25 starts 12/2/2019 (Politico) 6 things to know and ended 12/14/19: Finger pointing, hard feelings, and few results (Washington Post) and worst, deferring action on carbon pricing to Glasgow 2020 as Big polluters block stronger action (NY Times) here's looking at you: U.S., China, India, & Brazil among others or was it really a compromise? (BBC) 6 takeaways (Politico) ------------------------- Are farmers waking up on climate change? (Politico) not if only 16% of them think global warming is caused by human activities a very long read The 5 corrupt pillars of climate denial (The Conversation) Greenpeace rates the 2020 candidates on climate except for Trump Sanders at the top with the only A+ Climate platforms of 2020 candidates (League of Conservation Voters) environment Why are so many whales ended up stranded on beaches? (Vox) duh... why are so many humans still throwing away plastic?	What the interstellar medium tells us about the early universe (Knowable) from molecules containing noble gases, e.g., ArH+ and HeH+ Parker solar probe (Nature) first results surprise magnetic reversals and a fast rotating wind A step closer to the sun's secrets with more details each with links to 4 research papers (paywall) and shedding light on our star (Earth & Sky) Rogue plasma waves and magnetic islands (Science News) Sun is hopping with high- energy particles (Princeton U) Tracing the solar wind to its source: coronal holes (UC Berkeley) ------------------ Are abnornally-massive (stellar- mass) black holes made in the cores of giant galaxies? (Scientific American) Progress in understanding solar coronal heating (Queens U Belfast) "magnetic waves strengthen and grow" due to 'temperature changes in a magnetic resonance cavity' A new theory for how neutron stars and black holes shine (Columbia U) chaotic electron motions in strong magnetic fields	Breathable atmospheres may be more common than thought (The Conversation) planetary oxygenation may be inevitable once photosynthesis starts helped out by phosphorus A boost for chances of complex life? (Earth & Sky) in exoplanet systems orbiting a binary A short cut to finding exoplanet atmospheres (Sky & Telescope) using measured daytime temperatures with links to 4 preprints A Neptune-sized planet around a white dwarf (Astronomy) who ordered that? first-ever and it's being vaporized as it spirals in (Earth & Sky) A belated Physics Nobel Prize 2019 tribute (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) the exoplanet half	The mystery of the vanishing quasars (Scientific American) is apparently caused by rapid changes in the disk accretion rate Milky Way A new mass for the Milky Way (arXiv) 8.9 (+ 1.0) x 1011 Msun 2 SMBHs in the Milky Way? (The Conversation) our galaxy wouldn't be the only one at least one galaxy has 3 SMBHs (Astronomy) Milky Way's thick disk: 10 Gyr old (Science in Public) age deduced via astroseismology and solving a long- standing mystery ----------------------- 19 more galaxies missing their dark matter (Astronomy) How the furthest galaxies get magnified by a flat accelerating universe (Starts with a Bang) like ours How quantum physics created the universe's largest structures (Starts with a Bang) H0 wars: a new hope: lensed gravitational wave events (Astrobites) estimated ETA: ? A belated Physics Nobel Prize 2019 tribute (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) the cosmology half	Dark matter strikes back? (Gizmodo) a revival of a hypothesis explaining the γ-ray excess at the Milky Way center with links to 2 new papers Thanksgiving, this year, for space (Preposterous Universe) Why only simple problems can be solved (exactly) in General Relativity (Starts with a Bang) coupled differential equations   The shadow of a spherically accreting black hole (Ap J Letters) which relates how to the image of M87's SMBH? commentary by Sky & Telescope Escape from a black hole (Scientific American, December 2019 issue) to save QM, info must break free from black holes... but how? paywall an intro to the black hole information paradox (Prof Matt Strassler) "don't expect this 40-year-old paradox to be solved soon" but, Black hole singularities: as inescapable as expected? (Quanta) caution: progress without quantum gravity? The universe has been permanently deformed by black-hole mergers (Space) but it will take 2000 more detected mergers before we see the pattern Winners and losers in quantum computing? (Ars Technica) have materials and costs (engineering) beat principles (physics)? Is the Anthropic Principle scientific? (BackReaction) the weak is correct and useful... the strong one, unproven & useless Sick of quantum computing hype? (Wired) check the quantum bullshit detector physics escapism are the laws of physics inevitable? How simple rules bootstrap physics (Quanta) but utter nonsense say others: Why the laws of nature are not inevitable (BackReaction) and never have been, and never will be Physicists have NOT "rederived the four known forces" (John Baez, via Twitter) and the original Quanta article presents no evidence for such and a longer response, questioning the seriousness of the Quanta article (Not Even Wrong) and related Do physics laws require mathematical elegance? (Quanta) read with caution Does dark energy cancel the law of conservation of energy? (Nautil.us) and On the status of conservation laws in physics (arXiv) particularly conservation of energy debating nonsense Why multiverse theories are bad for science (Scientific American) it's escapism or 'Many Worlds' is neither convincing nor useful (Discover) instead, it's completely content-less and a nonsensical, lame defense (Scientific American) a multiverse passes Occam's razor test? in what universe? read with caution Can octonions unlock how reality works? (Starts with a Bang)	Labour's UK defeat is a warning to the Left everywhere (American Prospect)   Lessons from Brexit & Trump (NY Times) nationalism reigns supreme; globalization is suspect Impeachment The articles of impeachment (NY Times) How the Constitution defines impeachable (NY Times) word by word Impeach the President (USA Today) et tu, middle America? what say others the hearings 6 takeaways from the Judiciary Committee hearings (Washington Post) Historic histrionics (Washington Post) by Trump defenders Talking impeachment to death (New Yorker) The lies have it (The Guardian) a GOP counter- offensive that runs on fake news and conspiracy theories The Senate is on trial, too (Politico) the alternatives Impeachment is better than exile (The Conversation) exiling Trump would be far better (for us) With impeachment, Trump is getting off easy (Rolling Stone) Vindication for Trump? (Washington Post) let's hear it for idiocy --------------------- The Secret History of the Afghan War (Washington Post) part 1: A war with the truth for 18 years, U.S. leaders misled us about Afghanistan part 2: Stranded without a strategy Bush and Obama had polar-opposite plans to win the war.  Both failed. part 3: Built to fail U.S. wasted billions on nation-building part 4: Consumed by corruption the U.S. flooded the country with money -- then turned a blind eye to the graft it fueled part 5: Unguarded nation Afghan security forces were dogged by incompetence and corruption part 6: Overwhelmed by opium the U.S. war on drugs imploded at nearly every turn and The Afghan agony: not only political self-delusion (The Guardian) but also public indifference Lies can kill people (Chicago Tribune) here's looking at you, Bush and Obama Why are we still in Afghanistan? (Rolling Stone) --------------------- not Trump Millennials are leaving religion  and not coming back (538) so they're finally do something productive? Decline of Christianity in the U.S. continues at rapid pace (PEW Research) 'unaffiliated' rises by 63% in 12 years 90% of recent tech job growth happening in only 5 metro areas (Vox) Boston, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, & San Diego RDU shows a job decrease An end to magical thinking in the Middle East (The Atlantic) with 3 proposals that have just a tiny bit less of magical thinking Bougainville: world's newest nation (Washington Post) wins independence from Papua New Guinea to become the 194th U.N. member Why politics is broken (Indy Week) 4 questions about child-rearing  --  the answers to which tell all about your life and your politics Prius or pick-up? revisited the right to vote The fight to vote (The Guardian) should 230,00 registered voters be purged in Wisconsin? The states that make it hardest to vote (The Guardian) why are almost all the states where it's difficult to vote also GOP-dominated? U.S. House passes Voting Rights Bill (NY Times) despite near- unanimous GOP opposition and hopeless in the Senate? Challenges remain to voting in the U.S. -- and particularly in Georgia (Scholars Strategy Network) voter id laws; removal of eligible voters from registration lists; hours spent waiting in lines; outdated voting systems, ... less affluent voters and those of color face disproportionate economic costs voting in NC Civil rights groups seek to block new voter ID law (Winston-Salem Journal) judge promises 'quick decision' all the NC state voter-IDs that have been approved (NC BoE) Voting machine maker ES&S tries NC bait-and-switch (Carolina Public Press) ES&S says it has only 15% of machines approved by NC BoE... & now wants to sell NC newer (unapproved) machines but NC BoE approves untested machines anyway (Raleigh N&O) Candidate filing begins 12/2/2019 for 2020 primary candidates in NC (WNCT) including for Congress, as NC Superior Court approves new district maps (Raleigh N&O) Trump Inspector General's report on Russia-Trump investigation: key takeaways (Politico) decision to open investigation into Trump campaign was appropriate, but FBI made 17 substantial errors & inconsistencies What Trump has done to the courts (Vox) no President in recent memory has done more to change the judiciary America after Trump (The Atlantic) even without a 2nd term, the damage will be long-lived What Trump has accomplished in 3 years (Vox) a big tax cut, unprecedented environmental degradation, Wall Street unleashed, and a whole lot of judges Why Trump's base won't budge (The Atlantic) because they don't personally interact with him another day, another theory ...what does it matter? The end of facts? (Indy Week) will they be missed? The framers' answers to three impeachment myths (NY Books) The inside story of Trump, Ukraine, and (alleged) bribery (The Guardian) books The Meritocracy Trap (Vox) how meritocracy hurts everyone  --  even the winners Is our economists learning?  (sic) (American Prospect) review of 2 books: The Economists Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society The Great Reversal: How America Gave Up on Free Markets Harold Edgerton: seeing the unseen (Undark) Good Economics for Hard Times (Vox) by 2 Nobel Prize winners The Universe Speaks in Numbers (Physics World) a fairy-tale defense of string theory Artificial Intelligence: a Guide for Thinking Humans (Undark) St. Joan of New York (Mark Alpert, the author) 'a novel about string theory and God' art/trips/museums Matisse vs. Picasso (The Guardian) review of 'greatest rivalry in pictures' exhibit now at National Gallery of Australia until 13 April 2020 in Canberra Will it rival 2003's Matisse/Picasso? (Museum of Modern Art) Stretching the Canvas (Smithsonian) 8 decades of Native American Art National Museum of the American Indian in NYC Leonardo at 500 Leonardo's unexamined life (The Atlantic) a 500th anniversary exhibit reveals his innermost thoughts at the Louvre until 2/24/2020 a short guide to the exhibition (Art Newspaper) Light, Freedom, Science, Life (Louvre) the entire 121-page exhibition booklet but without the mages, alas In the footsteps of Leonardo (NY Times) what didn't travel to the Paris exhibition	science What does a theoretical physicist actually do? (BackReaction) 99% is learning what other people have done by reading books and papers, going to seminars, attending conferences, listening to lectures, talking with other people and then finding a problem of your own to solve American Geophysical Union meets in San Francisco (AGU) 12/9/2019 - 12/13/2019 Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to need for transformative change (Science) it's not just the consequences of global warming whales Why some whales are giants and others are just big (Science News) but Why aren't they bigger? (The Conversation) by the authors of the research below The biology of big (Science) how whales became the largest animals: giant gulps of 'bite-size' prey Why whales are big but not bigger (Science) physiological drivers and ecological limits in the age of ocean giants -------------------- heat transfer across a vacuum Phonons leap a nanoscale gap (Physics Today) A new way to transfer energy through a vacuum (Scientific American) phonons can do through quantum fluctuations (Science News) Casimir force can induce heat transfer (Nature) --------------------- A superconductivity mystery turns 25 (Nature) involving magnetic (rather than electron) pairing Earth's magnetic field: at least 3.7 Gyr old (Nature) older than thought say Greenland rocks Periodic: A Game of the Elements (Genius Games) an 'action economy' game with 'tactical movement' what? Did a million years of Triassic rain jump start dinosaur evolution? (Nature) Plants squeal when stressed (New Scientist) at ultrasonic frequencies Why mammals are so good at hearing (The Atlantic) and chewing Two looks at the Periodic Table (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) How a tiny leak led to a massive collapse at Kilauea (Scientific American) with links to 3 Science articles paywall Where Christmas trees come from (Washington Post) Ashe County, NC produces 37 million, 2nd most in the U.S. The Kiluaea surpise (Science) paywall, of course Electrocardiography with a smart phone (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) and some electrodes... and a sound app... Vote for Science mag's Breakthrough of the Year (Science) M87 black-hole image; archaic humans; Ebola drug; cystic-fibrosis drug because that's how Aristotle et al. did it humans Ancestors of humans developed ability to make sounds (Smithsonian) and goes back at least 25 million yrs but is language a much more recent development? Which way to the dawn of speech? (Science Advances) free for the moment The oldest story ever told (Washington Post) a cave painting 44.000 years old Sulawesi, Indonesia Is it the oldest portrayal of a mythical story? (Scientific American) U.S. life expectancy has not kept up with other wealthy countries (Journal AMA) and is now decreasing largest increases in mid-life mortality are in the Ohio Valley and New England and Why does falling life expectancy track political orientation? (NY Times) education NC education A summons to boost NC school funding (Raleigh N&O) will legislators follow the law -- or ignore it? 25 years after first being told, NC still doesn't provide enough money for education (Raleigh N&O) state funding has not kept up with needs... NC near the bottom in education spending... which is why academic performance lags in public schools The teachers' pay question the NC GOP is still trying to avoid (Raleigh N&O) why is teacher pay still in the bottom half of the U.S.? Dueling letters, but NC teachers still earn below-average salaries (Raleigh N&O) Lt. Gov. Dan Forest v. Gov. Roy Cooper ---------------------- How professors help rip off students (NY Times) expensive textbooks & digital access codes Want higher student test scores?  Put the phones down (Raleigh N&O) and tablets and computers? Screens in the classroom Tool or temptation? (NY Times) Improving the effectiveness of graduate STEM education in the 21st century (Astrobites) with a link to downloading the full NAP report   What happened to the Common Core? (NY Times) after 10 years of hopea and setbacks Test scores of American kids remain stagnant (NY Times) despite billions of $ spent to close gap with rest of world UNC's betrayal of historical truth (The Atlantic) the Confederate statue UNC surrenders without a fight (Indy Week) to the Sons of the Confederacy Tunnel vision: UNC Board of Governors embarrasses itself with lack of diversity and by bowing to the Confederacy (Raleigh N&O) BoG donates $2.5 million to neo-Confederacy (Indy Week) during closed session (of course) and before even being asked bad media The medium is the mistake (NY Books) the media occupy the same world as politicians a review of 2 books: Audience of One and Hate Inc. ... a prescient article Inside the Fbook hate factory (The Guardian) bad tech Fbook refuses to act on ads lying  about anti-HIV drugs (The Guardian) Prime leverage: how Amazon strip-mines software start-ups (NY Times) America's aristocracy of tech robber barons plays by its own rules (The Guardian) Musk, Bloomberg, Bezos, ... can Musk destroy astronomy? Latest Musk Starlink plans: creating an astronomical emergency? (Starts with a Bang) How Elon Musk could help save astronomy from satellites (LA Times) a problem he helped create will he?  bet not The Musk Starlink disaster (Sky & Telescope) messing up the sky for personal profit because he can  -------------------   Social media: monopoly, pervasive surveillance, and disinformation (American Prospect) how neoliberal policy got us there -- and what to do about it now A cloudy future for self-driving cars (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) what's still needed GPS: easy to hack & the US has no backup (Scientific American, December 2019 issue)
limited time?  read the most interesting & important stories from  late November 2019: 1)   the evil that social media has wrought: 'a conduit for surveillance and electoral manipulation' warping democracy it's time for regulation 2)  climate (bad) news: have we passed tipping points? the economics are worse than thought we've backed ourselves into a corner by not reducing emissions 3)     black holes an unexpectedly massive stellar black hole how to escape from a black hole sadly paywalled 4)   re-rise of a 5th force? and the related  strong CP problem 5)  climates of terrestrial planets 6)   why can't NC legislators draw fair districts? 7)   the true story of Thanksgiving 8)  best books of 2019    and    holiday gifts and a variety of winter exhibitions Troy, Tutankhamen, & Leonardo, among others
late November 2019
A planetary line-up in late November (Earth & Sky) Jupiter-Venus-Saturn & the Moon just after sunset Ryugu's complicated history (Kobe U) from its cratering record Hygiea graduates to a dwarf planet (Eos) it's round! Interstellar intruders (Nature) upending astronomy? but 2 is not nearly enough Water vapor on Europa (Astronomy) detected spectroscopically, but less than thought The first global map of Titan (Nature) shows dunes, lakes, plains, labyrinths, craters, hummocks (Sky & Telescope) What drives plate tectonics (CNRS) First detection of sugar in meteorites (NASA) in Murchison and NWA801 A meteor burst? (Earth & Sky) Thurs night,  11/21, 11:30 pm ET - 12:10 am the alpha Monocerotids but it was the usual no-show (Sky & Telescope) a meteor prediction that's a dud? what a surprise!?! 🔥  yes, there is a  climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture new climate science Life or death for trees? (Scientific American) depends on how rapidly temperatures (and CO2) rises Antarctic ice cores indicate climate transition 1 Myr ago (Eos) N2O danger: an unexpected rise (Nature) since 2009 paywall World has backed itself into dangerous 'climate corner' (Vox) another bleak climate report from the U.N.: An emissions gap report (United Nations) executive summary and full report emissions cuts will need to be deeper & faster there are solutions: we need to start using them (Science News) Iceless in Alaska (Scientific American) What if all that flying is good for the planet? (NY Times) the dangers of a life without tourism? Beyond the 2 °C limit: a water crisis in a once-booming fishing town (Washington Post) the unraveling of Tombwa, Angola climate awareness 2019 Carbon Brief quiz (Carbon Brief) How much do you know about climate change? (Washington Post) a 10-question quiz on which reasonably-informed people should not expect a perfect score sample idiocies: some responses are in °C, some in °F, some without units; what kind of person knows the combined ice-loss rate in Greenland/Antarctica off the top of their heads? A much better quiz... on solutions (CNN) but efforts by individuals are not going to solve a global problem... only countries or groups of countries can do that climate solutions or not Is net zero emissions an impossible goal? (Aeon) what it would take Climate tipping points: too risky to bet against (Nature) the stability of the planet is in peril GAO faults government on climate resilience (GAO) 72-page report E & E News summary Hope for coral reefs (Nature) the corals that could survive climate change -- and save the world's reefs NC loses ground on renewable energy {Raleigh N&O) How Dem candidates want to decarbonize transportation (Scientific American) ever hear of tables, SA? climate economics & migration Sea-level rise and human migration (Nature Climate Change) a policy challenge International migration and climate adaptation in an era of hardening borders (Nature Climate Change) Climate migration myths (Nature Climate Change)   Economic risks of climate change underestimated (Yale Climate) published paper (Earth Institute, Columbia U) energy A breakthrough in solar technology? (Ars Technica) in solar energy collection efficiency The future of energy storage:  nanomaterials (Science) free for the moment	Puzzling 68- Msun black hole (Sky & Telescope) unexpectedly massive: a result of a merger? or is it a pair? or did it swallow its former partner from the inside out? (The Conversation) published article (Nature) free Has Supernova 1987A's remnant been found? (Scientific American) hints of a still -invisible neutron star record γ-ray bursts & first ground detection The most extreme  γ-ray bursts (Nature) a summary of 3 published papers see bottom link for papers γ-ray secrets revealed (Scientific American) radiation produced by inverse Compton scattering Record breaking γ-ray bursts (Science News) Breaking the limits (Max Planck) and even Smithsonian has something to say paper 1 paper 2 paper 3 free to read, but not save courtesy of Smithsonian & Scientific American	Climates of distant terrestrial worlds (AAS Nova) Energy budgets for terrestrial extrasolar planets (ApJ Letters) published paper How large can a planet be? (Universe Today) 20 Earth radii, 13 Jupiter masses but the most massive aren't necessarily the largest size read with caution (another) New class of planets?: Exoplanets around SMBHs (Astrophysical J.) hypothetical only ET life 2020: the year we find ETI? (Space) dream on A PhD in SETI (Scientific American) at Penn State U	Mapping our galaxy's magnetic field (Freshscience) using pulsars Dwarf galaxies & dark matter (arXiv) are there clues in the diversity? The direction of galactic spin depends on mass? (Science in Public) 19 more galaxies without dark matter (Science News) Star ejected by Milky Way's SMBH (Earth & Sky) first ever observed	Escape from a black hole (Scientific American, December 2019 issue) to save QM, info must break free from black holes... but how? paywall The perilous state of high-energy-physics theory (Not Even Wrong) The strong CP problem (Starts with a Bang) physics' most underrated puzzle? What will AI do for (and to) physics? (BackReaction) read with skepticism Dark matter: WIMPs losing ground to the axion? (Quanta) it solves 2 problems re-rise of 5th force? Has a 5th force been discovered? (Prof Matt Strassler) and it's actually a 6th? we'll know within a few years? but believe this author over all others here Why the 'fifth force' probably doesn''t exist (Starts with a Bang) Fifth-force particle seen in helium? (Big Think) the X17 The 17-MeV anomaly that will not die (Science 2.0) and the new preprint (arXiv) Scientific American chimes in 3 weeks late read while smirking Fate of black holes? (Quanta) holograms within a hologram?	Thanksgiving The vicious reality behind the Thanksgiving myth (NY Times) 9 charts to be thankful for this Thanksgiving (Vox) How to talk about climate with your relatives at dinner (The Guardian) pretend it's not a crisis even though it is? How to not die this Thanksgiving (The Atlantic) the dangers of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries ... sitting, alcohol, bathrooms, cars, people... A high holiday (Washington Post) what legal weed has wrought Turkey trouble? (NY Times) Butterball operators are standing by to save your meal 5 things to talk about with relatives (Washington Post) that aren't political --------------------- an election a year away All UNC system schools now approved for 2020 Voter ID (Raleigh N&O) NC sees the writing on the wall? the entire list of NC-approved IDs Northampton County, PA: how Election Day can go incredibly badly wrong (NY TImes) How Michigan activists stopped gerrymandering (The Guardian) where are the equivalent NC-ers? The myth of voter fraud -- and what really threatens our elections (American Prospect) What's a fair redistricting map? (Raleigh N&O) not the one the NC legislature devised Why the new NC congressional districts will be hard to flip (538) the GOP are virtually guaranteed an 9-6 majority even in a Democratic wave year How to run for Congress (Washington Post) Dem debate 5 (Vox) in 6 charts... most of which are silly... the value here is 10 media's sets of winners & losers at the bottom of the page candidates' stands on 50 issues (Politico) ---------------------- the economy The places where the recession never ended (The Atlantic) Idaho v. NYC: an experience gap that's becoming an empathy gap How spices made (and unmade) empires (NY Times) The decline of malls (Washington Post) that don't re-invent themselves and we've entered the era of the post-shopping-mall (NY Times) America: land of the free monopolies (The Guardian) Why a new NAFTA is pointless (NY Times) without a Mexican guarantee of workers' rights Why billionaires don't like capitalism (Alternet) culture Sticky vs. magnetic (The Guardian) which U.S. states attract people and which do they leave? The unfinished Reconstruction (NY Books) Highway to hell (The Guardian) rise and fall of the car The next decade will be just as bad (NY Times) the 2010s: a grifter's paradise or worse?  Does it matter if Stephen Miller is a white nationalist? (NY Times) books Crime in Progress (New Yorker) the inside story of Trump's Steele dossier This land is their land: Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the troubled history of Thanksgiving (Smithsonian) and Thanksgiving belongs to the the Wampanoag tribe (The Atlantic) written by the author, Davd Silverman Money and Government: The Past and Future of Economics (NY Books) repeat after me: economics is not a science will it ever be? 2019 best books Best books of the year (The Guardian) in 10 categories Smithsonian 2019 best books by editors & writers or by scholars and only without an ad blocker 100 notable books of 2019 and The 10 best books of 2019 (NY Times) Best 10 books of 2019 (Washington Post) and 50 notable nonfiction works of 2019 25 National Book Award fnalists (Vox) holiday gifts Black Friday survival guide (Washington Post) how to score the best deals Holiday gift guide (Washington Post) Holiday gift guide (Consumer Reports) Holiday gift guide (NY Times) Holiday gift guide (CNET) art/trips/museums The Art of Science (NY Books) is also the beauty of innovation at London's Science Museum through 20 Jan 2020 along with Top Secret: from Ciphers to Cybersecurity through 23 Feb 2020 The art of looking up (The Guardian) the world's most spectacular ceilings Temples & towers (The Guardian) Historic Photographer of the Year, in pictures Sagrada Familia makes both lists Troy: myth and reality (British Museum) the exhibition: 11/21/2019 - 03/08/2020 and Bearing gifts... without the horse (The Guardian) a review Superstrings, Runes, the Nunes, the Gordian knot (Not Even Wrong) Anselm Kiefer at White Cube, London until 1/26/2020 and The Guardian review The world's most dangerous garden (Smithsonian) the poison garden at Altwick	How our place in the universe might change in 50 years? (The Conversation) dreams or reality? Vote for 'Science Breakthrough of the Year' (Science) by Monday 12/2/2019 Advice for grad students, part 2 (Nature) on mentors & careers Does astronomy really need a taxonomy system? (Astrobites) NC legislature fails democracy (Raleigh N&O) they adjourn rather than address the budget and teacher raises The universe through X-ray eyes (Scientific American) 2 decades of Chandra NC-AAPT meeting @NCSSM, Nov14-15 Science & religion are 'gifts to each other'? (Aeon) new age idiocy Bad luck & inbreeding doomed the Neanderthals? (PLOS One) likely not humans good tech Electrocardiograhpy with a smart phone (Physics Today, December 2019 issue) Top 10 emerging technologies, 2019 (Scientific American) bad tech The crisis of social media (Freedom on the Net) 'a conduit for surveillance and electoral manipulation' 7-page summary US has 5th free-est Internet, but is also one of only 15 countries experiencing election interference full 37-page report Social media are warping democracy (The Atlantic) with 3 remedies that Fbook will never allow and What social media have done to us (WBUR OnPoint 1-hr audio) with the author The Silicon Six spread propaganda (Washington Post) it's time to regulate them Social media's negative impacts for democracy Dinner with Trump, Zuck, and Thiel (New York) 'the most excruciating dinner possible' is there a worse trio? just plain bad Christian conservatives (NY Times) have lost it Nikki Haley: the Confederate flag stood for "service, sacrifice, heritage" (Washington Post) and I'm sure southern slaves thought exactly the same thing
limited time?  read the most interesting & important stories from  early November 2019: 1)   Ukraine & impeachment 2)  climate warnings: ban emergency, say 11,000 scientists a year of bad reports it's not normal 3)   a rare Mercury transit 4)  new NC congressional districts like 2 seats to turn over from R to D in 2020? will Courts approve? 5)  a smaller proton? 6)   Medicare for all, explained
early November 2019
Hayabusa heads home (JAXA) with samples of Ryugu Earth arrival: late 2020 Does Io have a magma ocean? (Eos) Nov 11 transit of Mercury (Sky & Telescope) only 13x a century watch it live here or do citizen science or, if you missed it, see images from 11/11/19 or  watch the whole transit in 1 minute Transits from the past (NY Times) Last chance till 2032 (Washington Post) The view from Voyager 2 (Sky & Telescope) of interstellar space Extant life on Mars (USRA) program of 4-day conference (11/5 - 11/8, 2019) with links 1-page summaries of each talk The asteroid that came within 1 Earth-radius of Africa on Halloween (Earth & Sky) and the high price it paid Ultima Thule renamed 'Arrokoth' (Earth & Sky) to avoid Nazi link 🔥  yes, there is a  climate crisis 🔥 how we know the planet is warming the big picture The year of devastating climate reports (Scientific American) World scientists deliver 'climate emergency' warning (Bioscience) it's a moral imperative Global warming is not part of normal climate variability (Scientific American) science with graphs paywall climate consequences Global warming: and a chain reaction in the Pacific (Washington Post) The U.S. betrayal of the Marshall Islands (LA Times) an impending nuclear disaster caused by rising seas 1-meter sea-level rise by 2300 is now inevitable (Ars Technica) based on Paris pledges for 2030 published paper (PNAS) Global warming is already destroying New England fisheries (New Republic) Restoring nature is the key to limiting climate change (Vox) Even the dead can't escape climate change (Scientific American) floodwaters will make the dead to rise again climate solutions How to cut U.S. carbon emissions by 38% in 10 years (The Atlantic) a carbon tax so why are 70 of 71 sponsors Democrats, and the 1 Republican is retiring? How to remove atmospheric CO2 and make money (Vox) Arresting carbon emissions (The Guardian) with the black alchemy of biochar Ocracoke: time to abandon it? (Washington Post) permanently, due to rising seas The technological and economic prospects for CO2 utilization & renewal (Nature) an 11-page review free Why carbon capture hasn't saved us from climate change (539) yet Trump admin files paperwork to leave Paris climate accords (Vox) climate writing Democratic Presidential candidates: very different paths to clean energy (Scientific American) Republican candidates: no paths? How did scientists get climate change so wrong? (NY Times) few thought the effects would arrive so quickly...now we face once-fringe scenarios Climategate: 10 yrs on... have we learned anything? (The Guardian) Climagate: Science of a Scandal (BBC) premieres on 11/14 on BBC4 environment EPA to limit science used to write public health laws (NY Times) How California leaks global-warming methane (Science News) Plastics outnumber baby fish in (some) coastal nurseries (Science News) by 7 - 1 published article (PNAS)	The changing face of the Sun (Earth & Sky) from Solar Max (2014) to almost Solar Min (2019) A record X-ray burst (Earth & Sky) a thermonuclear flash on a pulsar putting out more energy in 2 seconds than the Sun does in 1 day The Harvard computers (Astrobites) the women who jump-started astronomy The new science of novae (Physics Today, Nov. 2019 issue) A possible trigger for type IA SN explosions (U Connecticut) Tracing interstellar H2 with HF (SRON) scroll down for English A new class of black holes? (Ohio St. U) a stellar-mass black hole in a binary that is not emitting x-rays published article (Science) free for the moment read with caution Is there a mostly-undiscovered population of low-mass black holes? (Starts with a Bang) does finding 1 object justify such a claim?	A bonanza of exoplanets orbiting multiple- star systems (MNRAS) free Lessons from 4 newborn planets (AAS Nova) insight into how planetary systems form and evolve  ET life Has ancient Earth life escaped the solar system? (Earth & Sky) estimate: likely multiple times preprint (arXiv)	Why Li, B, & B are so (relatively) rare (Starts with a Bang) with a nice diagram of which-element-originated-where A correlation of galactic rotations and motions of near neighbors (Vice) over scales of megaparsecs Another day, another H0 measurement (Clemson U) using background  γ-rays: H0 = 67.5 km/s/Mpc Will merging black holes shed light on H0? (AAS Nova) maybe, but not for a while Interstellar C60 formation solved? (U Arizona) buckeyballs come from supernovae-produced SiC Yes, distant galaxies are receding from us faster than light (Starts with a Bang) Does a leaky galaxy help solve the problem of the reionization of the early universe? (Science News) Galactic fountains and carousels: order emerging from chaos (Royal Astronomical Society) simulating galactic evolution Dark energy: the biggest unsolved problem in the universe? (Starts with a Bang) An 850-Myr A.B. shows traces of 'metals' (Max Planck Institute) at least one generation of stars existed before read with caution Hunting for a dark matter wake (AAS Nova) from the LMC as it plows throught Milky Way's halo evidence for a non-flat universe? Curve your enthusiasm (Astrobites) Have we got the shape of the universe wrong? (Quanta) maybe it's Curved, not flat? (The Conversation) by the authors of the preprint (Nature Astronomy) based on CMB data masking a cosmological crisis?	Objective reality doesn't exist? (The Conversation) published paper (Science Advances) Have neutrinos taught us new insights into matrices? (Quanta) a new, quick method of getting eigenvectors from eigenvalues Fusion: inching toward planet-saving reality? (Washington Post) yeah, definitely inching... in 2040? or 2050?  or? and only with much more government funding... you know, like Trump supports Einstein's entanglements (Inference) quantum theory, black holes, & Michele Besso Progress on the proton-radius puzzle (Nature) tipping the scales toward a smaller proton has the puzzle been solved? (Physics Today) 100 years of General Relativity (Smithsonian) it baffled the press and the public, but made Einstein a celebrity Nuclear fusion: when not if? (BBC) Have we detected gravitational waves? (BackReaction) and why this question lingers The 'mindless speculation' of theoretical particle physicists (BackReaction) but that crisis is not only happening in physics Nobel prize, redux Paul Dirac's Nobel Prize (Physics Today, Nov. 2019 issue) read with extreme caution Defending the indefensible: multiverse theory (Slate Star Codex) by "building intuitions on non-empirical arguments in science" aka 'by freeing science from experimental evidence' 3 talks on supergravity (Breakthrough Prize) from the Breakthrough Prize Symposium but keep repeating "there is zero evidence for supergravity" Space and time: discrete or continuous in a quantum universe? (Starts with a Bang) Is an unseen axion messing with dark energy? (Space)	Ukraine & impeachment Impeachment hearings: Day 2 (Vox) 4 takeaways Why Trump isn't subject to impeachment (Wall Street Journal) corruption, bribery, & lying are not cause for presidential removal paywall Impeachment Hearings Day 1 (Vox) 4 takeaways What you learned depended on which TV channel you watched (Washington Post) duh What Biden really did in Ukraine (NY Times) What Trump really did in Ukraine (The Guardian) Who's who in the impeachment hearings on Ukraine (Vox) Fact-checker guide to impeachment hearing spin (Washington Post) ----------------------- Is there no 2020 Democrat for all seasons? (NY Books) How Latinos saved many American cities (Washington Post) Cancel student debt? (American Prospect) or almost all of it a pardon for bad behavior? The 2020 election calendar (Vox) and you thought it hadn't even begun or maybe you thought it began years ago? Warren's Medicare4All How it's pay for (Simon Johnson, via OnPoint) 2 'expert letters' from the Warren camp the plan to play, explained (Vox) does Warren's plan add up? (Washington Post) Election day 2019: 5 winners; 3 losers (Vox) Americans have questions about Medicare4All... Canadians have answers (Washington Post) -------------------- entertainment Yet another 'Midway' movie: is this one a true story? (Smithsonian) codebreakers, sailors, & pilots Marvel movies aren't cinema (Martin Scorsese, NY Times) a tempest in a tiny teapot Declining football participation (NY Times) How to save football? (Raleigh N&O) ----------------- not entertainment The suffocation of democracy (NY Books) the current situation vs. the rise of fascism in the interwar period: troubling similarities & differences How American ends (The Atlantic) American billionaires rise again (Washington Post) Bloomberg, Gates, Z-berg et al. vs. the populist Democrats 5 better uses for Bloomberg's money (Washington Post) The damage done to the nation will outlast Trump (The Atlantic) The betrayal of the Kurds (NY Books) The defeat of General Mattis (NY Books) Slander: the last refuge of the scoundrel (Washington Post) The GOP defense against impeachment (Washington Post) falsehoods now there's a surprise ----------------- voter suppression New GOP plan for NC congressional districts: 8/5  GOP majority for equal Dem-Rep votes (Raleigh N&O) and GOP leaders think it's fair Is American a democracy? If so, why does it deny millions the vote? (The Guardian) voter unsuppression NC legislature approves new congressional districts (Raleigh N&O) on party line vote... will Courts approve? plaintiffs to appeal... GOP: 'we did our best' "it isn't about 'fair'" ok, GOP: what is it about? 7 non-partisan redistricting bills have been filed in NC this year (NC NonProfits) although you wouldn't know it from the lame reporting NC GOP throws in towel: accepts non-partisan redistricting (Raleigh N&O) finally, the end of NC partisan gerrymandering? Re-draw starts Tuesday 11/5 (WRAL) or Wednesday 11/13? Will now-in-charge-of-VA Dems ban gerrymandering by constitutional amendment? (Washington Post) books The Man Who Solved the Market (Not Even Wrong) why James Simons gave up studying math and found $23 billion on Wall Street Don't Be Evil (WBUR OnPoint, 1-hour audio) here's looking at you Big Tech Lessons in survival (NY Books) moving inland, due to climate change Blowout by Rachel Maddow (NY Times review) how Western bankers and fossil-fuel companies paved the way for Putin's power uh, that would be the fossil-fuel industry art/trips/museums Apollo 12 flew 50 years ago: the photos (The Atlantic) Venice underwater (The Atlantic) highest tide in 50 yrs King Tut leaves Egypt again (Saatchi Gallery) Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, in London, until May 2020 Paris and its bridges (NY Times) Take down the Mona Lisa? (NY Times) a security hazard and educational obstacle? or 7 other suggestions (Washington Post) e.g., make finding it a scavenger hunt Is Salvator Mundi really on a yacht? (Art Newspaper) Searching for the rectangular Sun (NY Times) above the Arctic circle	No raises for you, NC teachers (Raleigh N&O) Still waiting on the NC legislature to do the right thing (Raleigh N&O) more money for education and higher teacher salaries Is college worth it? (Washington Post) some surprising results physics Astrophysicist Virginia Trimble: the interview (Quanta) on big discoveries, modeling for Feynman, and sexual harassment in science Physics tops Finance in economic impact (CERN) in Europe at least Fluid dynamics of wildfires (Physics Today, Nov. 2019 issue) The 4th state of water (Inference) math Why writing a number as the sum of 3 cubes is a hard problem (Quanta) but high-school math helps nature The end of Florida orange juice? (Washington Post) it's coming 90% of groves infected; 70% drop in growers since 2004 The importance of sleep (Scientific American) sleep power-washes the brain How planets colonized land (NY Times) with the help of the algae? The intelligence of trees (Nautil.us) should not be underestimated none of the above How the medieval Catholic Church's ban on incest made the modern world (Science News) Nature at 150 blasts from the past Detection of a strange partilcle 1947 The structure of DNA 1953 The discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole 1985 First exoplanet around a sun-like star 1995 bad tech Yes! Robots are stealing your jobs (Andrew Yang, via NY Times) good for GDP; bad for people Health records of 50 million Americans at risk (The Guardian) says the the Google whistle-blower Uber fined $650 million for saying its drivers are not employees (NY Times) and that's just by New Jersey Elon Musk & co.: destroying the night sky (NY Times) a threat to astronomy Facebook: not just allowing lies (NY Times) it's prioritizing them Digital Disaster (Issue One) the failures of the political-ad transparency policies at Fbook, Google, and Twitter a 22-page report bad media The media's big bias: centrism (Vox) The right-wing bias of the media (New Republic) bad billionaires Bill Gates et al. warn that higher taxes would lead to lower growth (NY Times) they have their facts backward
limited time?  read the most interesting & important stories from  late October 2019: 1)   a(nother) epic Facebook fail assaulting the truth while pretending to defend free speech 2)  climate news rising seas will endanger 3x more people than thought the dinosaur-killing asteroid lowered ocean pH drastically and likely was the trigger for mass extinction bad news for our warming climate? the 4 worst climate criminal countries another impact-caused climate event? 3)  do neutron stars explain everything? 4)  another interstellar comet visitor? 5)  voter suppression still 6) millennials vs. boomers 7)  Google claims quantum supremacy .... others disagree