Monday, December 16, 2024

“Firefly Sparkle” Reveals Early Galaxy - YouTube - NASA Goddard - cosmology

Dr.Johnathan Gardner,Former Deputy Senior Project Scientist for JWST,presents the latest JWST images of the "Firefly Sparkle" galaxy,showcasing intricate details and structures.There is so much going on in this seemingly tiny galaxy,it appears like a swarm of fireflies on a warm summer night.This galaxy is gleaming with star clusters.This is the first time the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has detected a galaxy that existed around 600 million years after the Big Bang.This was made possible by a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing that was predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity,in which the gravity of a large celestial object is strong enough to warp spacetime,allowing us to peer at a very distant celestial object.*Credit:NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland.*Cosmology is the study of the origin,evolution and structures of the universe.*Text by NASA Goddard and edited and augmented by Andrew Taylor

Sunday, December 15, 2024

McConnell decries ‘dangerous’ polio vaccine skeptics amid RFK Jr. report - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

with Chris Hayes and Brandy Zadrozny,NBC News Senior Reporter*Commentary:RFK Jr. is an evil creep.If approved,he would cause an untold number of deaths from preventable diseases.Trump must withdraw his nomination immediately.

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Space to Ground: A Wooden Satellite Dec. 13, 2024

with Sandra Jones

From the Team: Recovering the Artemis Spacecraft & Crew - YouTube - Orion Program Update - 13 DEC 2024

This week in 2022,the NASA Exploration Ground Systems Landing and Recovery Team and partners with the Department of Defense recovered a mock-up of the Lockheed Martin Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean.Since then,teams and the Artemis II astronauts conducted Underway Recovery Test 11 in 2023 where they practiced reovering crew and the Orion spacecraft.Further tests are planned.*The Artemis II mission will launch from NASA Kennedy Space Center in April 2026.Its 10 day mission around the Moon will take humans farther from Earth than ever before.Crew members are NASA Commander Reid Wiseman,NASA Pilot Victor Glover,NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch and CSA Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.*The recovery ship will be a Landing Dock Ship such as the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49).Landing Dock Ships are amphibious warfare ships equipped with a well deck for launching and recovering amphibious landing craft.*In this video,meet some of the Landing and Recovery team members.*Lockheed Martin (LMT)*Text by NASA Kennedy and edited and augmented by Andrew Taylor

Friday, December 13, 2024

What Does An Electron ACTUALLY Look Like? - YouTube - PBS Space Time - physics - new episode

An electron is a ball of energy.As Einstein discovered in his General Theory of Relativity,bound energy also has mass.An electron's classical radius is 2.818x10 (-15)m;but its true size is 10 (-17)m,or at least 100x smaller than the classical radius.Photons are excitations of the Electromagnetic Field.Electron and Positron pairs are excitations of the Electron Field and may annihilate one another.In Quantum Field Theory,each elementary particle,such as an electron,is an excitation of its own quantum field.Quantum particles consist of waves,but when we examine a specific particle,it becomes a point.*Dr. Matt O'Dowd is an Australian astrophysicist and presenter of PBS Space time and wrote this episode.

Thursday, December 12, 2024

Corruption by a ‘narcissistic sociopath’: George Conway details warnings of Trump autocracy - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

with Joy Reid,Ruth Ben-Ghiat,New York University Professor and expert on authoritarianism,and George Conway,Conservative attorney and contributor to The Atlantic magazine*Commentary:Trump is a national disgrace obsessed with aggregating authoritarian power.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Raskin reacts to Trump saying Jan. 6 committee members ‘should go to jail’ - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

with Chris Hayes and Rep.Jaimie Raskin (D-Maryland),who is running unapposed for ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.*Commentary:Trump is a national disgrace for his attempted coups at the Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Lucy Spacecraft’s Second Slingshot of Earth - YouTube - NASA Goddard - solar system studies

Lucy is a NASA space probe that is on a twelve year mission to eight different asteroids.It is slated to visit two Main Belt Asteroids,as well as six Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun.All encounters will be flyby encounters.The mission is named for the Lucy hominim fossils,because the study of the Trojans could reveal the fossils of planetary formation:materials that clumped together in the early history of the solar system to form planets and other bodies.*Lucy's instruments are:Long Range Reconaissance Imager (L'LORRI);Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (L'RALPH) and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer( L'TES).Principal Investigator is Harold F. Levison of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder,Colorado.Simone Marchi of SRI is the Mission's Deputy Principal Investigator.NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland executes the mission under the direction of the Planetary Mission Program Office at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.*The Lucy spacecraft was launched from what is now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex-41 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket on 16 October 2021.*United Launch Alliance is a joint venture of Boeing Space and Defense and Lockheed Martin Space.Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

'Wants retribution on political enemies': Ex-Trump staffer reacts to Trump's plans - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

President-elect Donald Trump detailed the sweepimg changes he has planned once he enters the White House with NBC News' Kristen Welker.A discussion with Ana Cabrera,NBC News Correspondent Dasha Burns,MSNBC Legal Analyst Lisa Rubin,and Former Trump White House Deputy Press Secretary Sara Matthews.Commentary:Trump's fascist plans include persecuting his perceived enemies,celebrating criminality by pardoning January 6 Insurrectionists,and violating the Constitution by denying birthright citizenship,which he lied about when he said the US is the only country that grants it.In fact,at least 30 other countries grant it.

Monday, December 9, 2024

Justice and the Law:Valedictorian and Ivy League graduate named as person of interest in New York City CEO Killing - YouTube - MSNBC

Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace and NBC News Correspondent Sam Brock*Arrested on firearms charges in Altoona,Pennsylvania,after a McDonald's worker recognized him, was Luigi Mangione,son of a wealthy Baltimore family that owns multiple country clubs.He attended Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania,from which he received a Master's degree in engineering.He wrote a three page manifesto attacking the health insurance business in particular and capitalism in general.Update:Mangione has been charged with murder and is being held without bail.

Artemis II Rocket Stacking Begins at NASA's Kennedy Space Center - YouTube - Orion Program Update - O6 December 2024

Engineers and techinicians with the NASA Exploration Ground Systems Program completed stacking of the first Moon rocket segment-the left and right aft assemblies for the agencie's Artemis II Boeing Space and Defense Space Launch System solid rocket boosters (SRB)-onto Mobile Launcher I in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).The first of 10 booster segments will help support the remaining rocket components,the Orion spacecraft and the European Service Module during final assembly of the Artemis II Lockheed Martin Orion spacecraft and Boeing Space and Defense Space Launch System rocket.Liftoff will be from Space Launch Complex 39B at Nasa Kennedy Space Center in April 2026.Note:Because of heat shield damage found on the Artemis I Orion spacecraft,it took engineers several months to devise a correction for the problem.Hence the mission will be delayed from November 2025 to April 2026.It will send humans farther from Earth than ever before.The Artemis II crew consists of NASA Commander Reid Wiseman,NASA Pilot Victor Glover,NASA Mission Specialist Christina Koch,and CSA Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.*Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)*Text by NASA Kennedy and edited and augmented by Andrew Taylor

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Democrats shuffle leadership in prep for Trump fight; Raskin takes mantle of democratic lodestar - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

Alex Wagner Tonight:Rep.Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland),raking democrat on the House Judiciary Committee,talks with Alex Wagner about the Democratic Party's resistance to Trump's authoritarianism.Rep.Alexandra Ocasio-Ortez (D-New York) is vying for being the leading democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee with Rep.Gerald Connelly (D-Virginia).

Trump cabinet picks Hegseth and Gabbard are 'in real trouble': Fmr. rep. - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

with Peter Alexander,Garret Haake NBC News Sr.Capitol Hill Correspondent,Former Rep. Carlos Carbelo MSNBC Political Analyst and When We Win with Maya Rupert podcast host Maya Rupert*Commentary:Not only Hegseth and Gabbard,but RFK Jr. is also in trouble.

Friday, December 6, 2024

The NEW Ultimate Energy Limit of the Universe - YouTube - PBS Space Time - astrophysics - new episode

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Soace Telescope has discovered a new energy limit for the universe.It did so while studying supermassive black holes in the early universe,finding the new energy limit is 4,000 times greater than the old one,by studying the supermassive black hole LIG-568.The supermassive black hole's accretion disk (Active Galactic Nucleus) set the new record with its brightness.Sir Arthur Eddington is considered the father of astrophysics.He was the first scientist to verify Einstein's Theory of General Relativity by observing the bending of light caused by the Sun's gravity during a solar eclipse,which General Relativity predicted.He went on to develop the Eddington Limit.This holds that the maximum luminosity a body such as a star can achieve is balanced by the star's gravity going in.The state of balance is called hydrostatic equilibrium.There is a balance of the gas pressure pushing out and the gravity pulling in.In addition,photons,which Einstein described as packets of light,bounce off of electrons,a phenomenon called Thompson's scattering.In the most massive stars,this outward pressure starts to dominate.*This episode was presented and written by the Australian astrophysicist Dr.Matt O'Dowd.

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Michael Bloomberg slams Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace,Dr.Peter Hotez,Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Chidren's Hospital and Tim Miller,former RNC spokesperson*Commentary:RFK Jr.is a small,evil person who would cause an untold number of deaths as HHS Secretary.

James Webb Space Telescope delivers amazing view of spiral galaxy - See in 4K - YouTube - Space.com - astrophysics

First is shown spiral galaxy NGC 2090 by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.Next is shown NGC 2090 by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope usinf its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIDI) and Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam).NGC is about 37 million light years from Earth in the constellation Columbia,so right next door.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Justice and the Law:How Donald Trump’s favorite children's book author, Kash Patel got tapped to lead the FBI - YouTube - MSNBC

Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace and Mary McCord,Former Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security*Commentary:Kash Patel is a MAGA goon,QAnon conspiracy theorist and election denier who would destroy the FBI and our National Security along with it.He would seek to prosecute journalists and Trump's other perceived enemies in Trump's fascist vendetta.

Monday, December 2, 2024

Take a 360 Tour of COBE's Cosmic Baby Picture - YouTube - NASA Goddard - cosmology

The NASA COBE satellite operated from 1989-1993.It took the first baby picture of the universe,revealing slight temperature variations when the universe was just 380,000 years old.In the aftermath of the Big Bang,the universe was hotter and much smaller than it is now.As time went on,it cooled off and expanded to a huge extent,using the dark matter and energy residue of the Big Bang.This image shows the entire sky using four years of observations using COBE's Differential Microwave Radiometer.The central plane of our Milky Way galaxy runs across the middle and its center is marked by a white X.Red indicates hotter regions,blue colder.The fluctuations are very faint,varying by only one part in a 100,000 from the average temperature.They represent density variations in the early universe thought to have given rise to the structures that we see today.After stripping away foreground emmission arising from dust,hot gas and charged particles interacting with magnetic fields in our galaxy,COBE data revealed tiny variations in the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)-the oldest light in the universe-for the first time.*Cosmology is the study of the origin,evolution and structures of the universe.*Credit:NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland*Image credit:NASA/COBE Science Team*Narrator:Thomas Essinger Hileman (NASA/GSFC)*Science Writer:Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park)*Text by NASA Goddard and edited and augmented by Andrew Taylor

Sunday, December 1, 2024

“A great big MAGA science experiment’: Trump’s health agency choices shock medical professionals - YouTube - MSNBC - political science

Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace and Dr.Micheal Anderson,a critical care physician and pediatrician*Commentary:It is completely irresponsible of Trump to appoint these merchants of death.They are MAGA kooks,quacks and creeps.