So, unlike modern pundits, Newton and Feynman knew a lot about the actual carefully thought-out views of ancient astronomers. But what, after all, did they really know? None of those people had smartphones.
Astronomy
Pondering the universe’s geometry
Why would a spherical Earth be “unfathomable”? Once the Sun and the Moon were seen as spheres, whatever the universe as a whole might be like, it seems logical that Earth would be a sphere too.
Galileo’s contemporary science opponents made a lot of sense
Christopher Graney: “… seen from Earth, stars appear as dots of certain sizes or magnitudes. The only way stars could be so incredibly distant and have such sizes was if they were all incredibly huge, every last one dwarfing the Sun. Tycho Brahe, the most prominent astronomer of the era and a favourite of the Establishment, thought this was absurd, … ” The true history is a warning to thoughtful people to avoid popular science written by the village atheist; he knows just enough to get it all wrong.
Betelgeuse begins to re-brighten
. . . and that, at about the suggested time for an up-turn. Astronomy telegram clip: >>The Fall and Rise in Brightness of Betelgeuse ATel #13512; Edward Guinan, Richard Wasatonic (Villanova University),Thomas Calderwood (AAVSO) and Donald Carona (Texas A& M University) on 22 Feb 2020; 12:59 UTCredential Certification: Edward Guinan (edward.guinan@villanova.edu) As previously reported (see Read More…
Betelgeuse watch, 2: Has it finally stopped dimming?
Mebbe, for now. According to Forbes: >>The red supergiant star Betelgeuse appears to have finally stopped its unprecedented dimming, Villanova University astronomer Edward Guinan told me [ Bruce Dorminey] this afternoon. He says that although he’s unsure what has caused its strange brightness fluctuations, Betelgeuse is not likely to undergo a supernova explosion anytime soon. “The Read More…
Betelgeuse dims, astrophysicists speculate
Since about October 2019, Betelgeuse (the bright reddish star at Orion’s shoulder in the brightest constellation in the sky that is about 600 – 700 ly distant from us) has begun a sharp dimming that has now gone beyond what has been seen in modern observations. As of the end of January, it was down Read More…
Harvard astronomer tells us why ultra-complex physics theories come to exist
They are not principally data-driven. “In today’s fierce job market, fledgling scientists sometimes attempt to impress their senior colleagues with lengthy derivations marked by challenging mathematical complexity.” If he thinks evidence is important, that should rule out the multiverse.
Growing evidence of giant structures connecting the universe?
A large-scale structure is thought to ”transcend local interactions.”
Live Event: On Life in the Universe
At Youtube, here: Note, the assumption that the cosmos is a closed system, which is philosophically loaded. Let us monitor — note, several hours from the beginning. END
Alarm! Galaxies are being “killed”!
Just for fun, here is a pop sci headline we might not have expected.
At The Conversation: Why DO astronomers believe dark matter exists?
Is dark matter the Higgs boson, hard to find but eventually found, or the ether, once believed to pervade the universe? If twenty years pass with no dark matter, unfortunately, the needle will tilt a bit more toward the ether.
The Code 1202 glitch during the LM descent to the Moon
Why did the LM’s “mini” computer throw a restart glitch during the descent? Eyles — who wrote the code — tells the story: We are here discussing the LM’s mini computer, which used IC’s to effect an unprecedented small size (and “only” 70 lbs, in a box Eyles describes as 1 ft x 2 ft Read More…
Apollo 11 Moon landing + 50 years today
A moment of triumph and a giant leap for mankind. Live stream: Let us remember and let us learn. Hopefully, back to the Moon then onward to Mars, the Asteroid belt and solar system colonisation across this century — our real hope. And, a positive focus going forward. END
New measurement keeps the discrepancy around the Hubble constant alive
So if there is something fundamentally wrong with our picture of the universe, there still is, more or less, and we will have to live with it for now.
NASA says the moon is shaking, shrinking
Moonquakes happen, and they are shaking up lunar geology, Also, SkyNet reveals, “NASA announced earlier this year that it wants to send the first woman, and the next man, to the moon by 2024.” They can call in at the Chinese lunar base for tea… ;