#and has a secret background in astrophysics

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Linda Flynn-Fletcher

I think Linda Flynn-Fletcher is potentially one of the most misunderstood characters in the show.

It think comes from a natural enough place. Her role in the show is of course, to act as the potential threat to their summers of fun. While they boys never see her as a threat, narratively she's the big bad. If she sees it, its game over.

Here's the thing though. She's a not a bad mom. Her children LOVE her. Similarly to how Phineas and Ferb absolutely adore Candace and would do nearly anything she asked, Phineas, Ferb and Candace all love and respect their mother and don't disobey her. Now a bit of this is clearly Linda being a more permissive parent, but any rules that Linda has Phineas and Ferb never do anything to disobey their mother. While I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two instances where Candace disobeyed her mother willfully, the closest I can think off off hand is Candace not doing a bunch of chores that she was supposed to do. Really, the fact that all her kids love her, shows how much all her kids feel loved in their household. And I think that's super important. Candace wrote a song about how much she feels loved by her mom, even if her mom is dismissive of Candace. But she still goes with Candace to see what the boys are up to even if she doesn't believe it. She sets boundaries on how often Candace can bust the boys sure. But she hasn't forbidden Candace from doing it altogether. Nor does she punish Candace for presumably lying?

At MOST Linda will say something like: "let's get you out of the sun" after a failed bust. The worst of it I think is probably the time Linda made her promise not to try or suffer the Pharaohs curse. Which, was just some guy in a Pharaoh costume telling Candace curse you. Linda goes out of her way to read books to try and deal with her daughter. She and Candace still clearly hold a lot of affection for each other and do spend a decent amount of mother daughter time together. Linda gives books to her daughter, tries to direct her to other activities, and finds her sleep busting cute, and sometimes goes out of her way to do activities her daughter wants to do with her. All things considered Linda is REALLY patient about Candace's busting. Could she be doing more to get to the bottom of why Candace is presumably acting out? Sure. But Doofensmirtz could also be doing a better job of listening to his daughter and not insulting her (or do we not remember why Vanessa wears earbuds around the house) but we all call him a really good dad.

A LOT of shows have kids hiding a secret from a parent for one reason of another. But while the crux of the show rests on Linda not knowing what her sons are doing, its not because its a secret. The boys aren't hiding it from her. The boys genuinely believe she knows. Lawrence genuinely believes she knows. Candace is the only one in the family who really grasps the situation.

Linda's ignorance, her disbelief of the wild shenanigans that her children get into is easily mistakable for normality. For representing the oppressive day to day. The same thematic antagonist as school. A mom who wants whats best for her kids, and thinks that whats best for them is them being normal, without realizing what's really best for them. After all why else we saw what would happen if she found out in Quantum Boogaloo. But the fact of the matter is aside from that one future (which also featured an effectively evil leader in Doofensmirtz, and therefore implies more factors at play than just Doofensmirtz and Linda's characters), we don't really know how it would play out in the long term. Future Linda even just kinda moves on after discovering the truth.

Linda is exactly like her kids. She just does the same things on a less physics breaking scale. The woman has like 37 different hobbies. She takes a cooking class, donated an art sculpture, is part of a jazz group. She has a background in astrophysics. She was a pop star. She won a meatloaf contest. She takes french lessons. The fact that Linda has several hobbies is part of the reason the formula works at all. Linda is constantly trying new things which gets her out of the house, while her sons are trying their own new things. Her absence is what prompts Candace to have to go looking for her. Also, What Do It Do when the moment Linda gets put in Candace's position she acts the exact same way.

Also it's why she and Lawrence are so compatible. They have a lot of weird hobbies they spend together. She likes Lawrence's history references. They watch car racing together. They went spelunking together. They go bowling regularly enough to have equipment. She has played the bagpipes while Lawrence danced (which sidenote: do you think she taught Candace how to play the bagpipes?).

Not to mention her extended family. Think about it. Her mom was a competitive roller derby skater who once bit a skate and shook it like a dog with a chew toy and pulls elaborate pranks with her identical twin. Really she's a lot like Candace with her aggressive passion. Her dad apparently won a balloon race, but tells the story in the most straightforward way possible, sometimes very oblivious, but is overall a lot like Phineas. Her sister is an adrenaline junky. And back to Quantum Boogaloo for a minute: Her granddaughter is just like Candace, Grown up Candace is a lot like Linda. Do you not see the implications!!?!?!? LIKE???? DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT LINDA WAS PROBABLY A LOT LIKE CANDACE AND PHINEAS WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER?!!?! YOU THINK IT SKIPPED A GENERATION OR SOMETHING???

Do you think Linda used to complain about Tiana??? Do you think Linda thought her family was weird and was embarrassed by them??? Do you think Linda ever called herself the only mature/normal member of her family?? LIKE CANDACE DOES????

Anyway, Linda is just like her family. Sure, she is RELATIVELY more normal, but that's relative, and probably simply because the universe bends itself around to keep her from knowing. Linda literally cannot find out about the real nature of her universe. Linda is just a grown up version of her children, seeking to make the most of each day, but within the bounds the universe has set upon her, both as an adult woman and mother, but also in the laws of physics expected of her. But she still makes the most of her life. You don't have to build a roller coaster to make the most of each day and all that.

I think if Linda is representing anything its that even parents can have rich fulfilling lives. Where they make the most out of each day. Having fun with your life doesn't stop with adulthood. Even if you have more responsibilities doesn't mean you can't have fun? Sure childhood is something you can't get back but growing up isn't inherently bad either?

#pnf #phineas and ferb #linda flynn fletcher #The woman is a former pop star #and has a secret background in astrophysics #you would think that would be enough but nooo #i generally don't care to comment on the suspected neurodivergent status of cartoon characters #because neurodivergency exists in the context of society #and cartoon characters exist in a completely different context #and when characters are inspired by real people (like Linda being inspired by Dan's sister) it can get messy #but if Phineas and Candace and Doofensmirtz are ADHD so is Linda #she just has adult woman flavor ADHD #aka the reason that woman and girls go underdiagnosed or are often diagnosed with anxiety instead #I think we often don't recognize how frequently she forgets things #I'm thinking back to that one time she forgot the “stuff” at the grocery store #she stayed up all night making last minute pies #working up to the deadline on an art sculpture #at one point runs out of contacts (presumably because she forgot to get more) #gets overwhelmed when planning the block party #and that's just what I can think of off hand #anyway I will not stand for Linda slander

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Monday....

SpaceTime 20240325 Series 27 Episode 37

A new spin on the red supergiant star Betelgeuse

A new study suggests that evidence of a faster than expected rotation observed in the red supergiant star Betelgeuse could instead be its violently boiling surface.

How asteroid and comet bombardment changed the Moon forever

A new study has found that the Earth’s moon may have been subjected to far more asteroid comet and meteor impact events than previously thought.

Electron’s first NRO launch from Wallops Island

Rocket Lab have finally undertaken their first Electron mission for the United States National Reconnaissance Office from their new launch complex at NASA’s Wallops Island flight Facility on the Virginian mid Atlantic coast.

The Science Report

Climate change smashes records for greenhouse gas levels, temperatures and sea level rise.

Studies show people aren’t getting enough sleep.

Is Havana Syndrome all in your head.

Skeptics guide to secret women’s business

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. Later, Gary became part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and was one of its first presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #esa #astrophysics #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff #spacetime #nasa photos

[tortelette]

I present to all of you the Player Picture profiles of all the characters in the main player roster for my original team for my Supa Strikas Dual Teams AU, Raging Zephyre FC.

Garuda (21)

Role: Defender

Information: A quiet man with the affinity to glare at people who he saw as “uninteresting” or even “a problem to his family.” He may seem cruel but he is actually a very kind hearted person, the problem is that he is not quite good in showing how to do it properly due to his upbringing. He came from a very wealthy family in Taiwan and is the next in line heir for his family business of famous automobiles, it is quite unknown how he manage to become a player for the Raging Zephyre in the Super League.

At-Law (6)

Role: Defender

Information: The loud one between the defender twins of the Raging Zephyre. The voice of the team, he loves to share stuff and is not afraid to speak out his thoughts no matter how offending or weird they are. He plays the drums and can sing ballads very well. He came from a very poor family at the forest outskirts of Myanmar and became a soccer player when he met Sir Chief and saw it as an opportunity to get out of poverty with his family. He always use jokes to brighten up the mood especially in extremely problematic situations.

Bul-Han (9)

Role: Defender

Information: The secretive one of the defender twins of Raging Zephyre. He is quiet yet calculating and cautious in nature, he doesn’t let his guard down since that he is protective around his vocal brother. If his brother is the Voice of Initiation, Bul-Han is the Voice of Reason. He loves listening to classical music with a mug of hot chocolate in hand and is very good playing the guitar from electric to acoustic types. As the one who “experience reality” during his time with his poor family, he lean on his whole life as a player of the Super League and play with his whole heart and spirit.

Blank Eyes Ashraf (19)

Role: Attacking Midfielder

Information: Born blind, he live his life not knowing the colors and wonders of the world. Despite that, he realize that his disability as a blessing rather than a curse and use it as a way to “see” what others cannot see. His family can not afford of him being a player for the Super League since that he is “fragile” and can bring humiliation to him. But he is quite resilient and continues on playing for Raging Zephyre no matter what people think of him. He always remove his blindfold to show to the Super League officials that he has no rigged devices and to bring proof that he is actually blind.

Lucky Gou (7)

Role: Defending Midfielder

Information: A master graduate of the degree of Astrophysics, he is smart, sweet, and very observant. Despite those, he is really unusually unlucky in physical accidents. One time he was walking down a sidewalk near their stadium in a sunny morning when he almost got hit by a very large ice block that fell from the clear sky. There is a long list of his misfortunes experienced in his life, but the only lucky charms he had are his girlfriend that he kept in touch with every day and the pujoks she made for him as luck for his soccer games.

Shining Moda (22)

Role: Defending Midfielder

Information: Cheeky and childish, he is the more gullible player in the Raging Zephyre and he is always with Lucky Gou to understand more the atmosphere he is in. He loves to eat and drink in Bakunawa’s shop and tend to sleep the most during rest times after their rigorous practices. His favorite places are the fields that surrounds their stadium and The Bell Tower of the Ox since they are the most peaceful places that he can set his mind to ease. Somehow, during Christmas break, he doesn’t want to return back his home and decide to stay always in the stadium and train lightly during spare time.

Lumahangin Agabato (3)

Role: Striker

Information: A curious yet determined man who is actually a chieftain’s son of a very secluded tribe. He has no education background hence he is not that good in communicating and understanding the things around him. The time when he became a Super League player is his time where he starts learning of the outside world, he bugs everyone and everything that seems alien to him just so that he can learn. When he first experience snow is when the players of the Raging Zephyre called “The time when Agabato’s brain fried using ice.”

Lukas Pearce (10)

Role: Striker

Information: A half Norwegian-half Singaporean player of the Raging Zephyre who is very sensitive about his appearance. Being the tallest and burliest of the team, he trained rigorously as the powerhouse of his team’s goals. He loves old school retro games and tends to religously collect things from trading cards to limited edition toys. He is also Agabato’s mentor about the outside world and Hilmi’s mediator when things get too rowdy. He plays passionately, it is quite unknown what is the inspiration that cause him to play so well.

Hilmi Hop (14)

Role: Striker

Information: A hot-tempered player who likes to make things problematic in order to assess the situation by his own rules. Even though he can be playful and jovial at times, he is actually a very rude player to those who would belittle him. He has lots of “friends” and “businesses” in his country and is not respectful to a lot people because he believe that respect should only be gained and not given. When there is some animal being brought in the stadium no matter how big or small they are, he always kept on petting them to the point of being bitten. He has a punk-like personality and an attention seeker.

Echo (8)

Role: Attacking Midfielder / Captain

Information: He is talkative and a story sharer to everyone who keeps on listening. Between At-Law and Echo, Echo would be more careful in being vocal while the other is more reckless. He is the oldest in the team and a father figure of most of the younger aged players like the twins and Agabato to name a few. His captaining skills is more on supporting everyone to do than ordering around to do something in the field. He always taunts and tease people in order to make them go crazy making it an advantageous skill against opposing players. He smiles a lot, even to situations that doesn’t need to smile.

Bakunawa (4)

Role: Goalkeeper / Vice-Captain

Information: The only female player in Raging Zephyre FC, she is stern, cold, and serious, yet she is also caring, adaptive, and cheerful. She owns a shop near the stadium where it sells the best meals and even drinks that can rival 5-star restaurants around the world. She is very sympathetic to those who cannot hold on their own especially children. She may seem that she lived a very good life, but she actually lived quite worse from the rest of the Raging Zephyre players. She is extremely secretive and dismissive when it comes talking about her life and all, which makes her as one of the most difficult players to get their trust.

Sir Chief

Role: Coach

Information: Not much is known about Sir Chief other than that she is very calculative, posh, and stern. She always hold a horse head handle cane that is used to hit someone out of spite or even to point towards the next objective. She is extremely considerate and also taught them in the most unusual manner that can question to some of the best coaches in the Super League like using the dirty slums as a training course and even initiate the common Epiphany Talks. Her value of “trust amongst talents” is applied to her team no matter what.

#supa strikas #supa strikas dual teams au #supa strikas au #supa strikas fan team #supa strikas oc

[greenie-teaa]

Stuff I Played In 2023: HOPE LEFT ME

I’ve had this game for a couple months, but only just now got around to playing it. Way to go, me. Great habit I got, there. Should I even put a spoiler warning...? It’s not a long game. Whatever.

First, a little background. This game is based on an album of the same name. Maybe the other way around? Who knows, but the album came first. Said album, as well as the game’s story, were made by Astrophysics. I really like his music, though I can’t remember how I found him. I think just by pure chance in one of those playlists Spotify randomly makes for you every day. The game, however, was pure coincidence. I saw one of my Steam friends add it to their wishlist. Curious as to what a game called “hope left me” in all caps could be, I was surprised to see that same girl from the album’s cover art. I wishlisted it immediately, and bought it the same day it released.

Enough exposition though. The game is very short, it won’t last you longer than 45 minutes, mainly due to the fact there’s no button to skip through text you’ve already read to go through other options. I’m just now realizing I’m playing a lot of visual novels this year... weird. The soundtrack is split between the album’s full tracks and other versions made to fit the game, giving you an option at the very beginning. I personally went with the EP cut, just because. The story is very vague, has a mysterious air, and is full of a lonely, empty, oppressive air through both the dialogue and setting. A strange post apocalyptic world that’s always snowing, with everyone seemingly having just disappeared, save for one girl.

You begin by apparently just appearing out of nowhere right next to her. She eventually tells you her name is Sasha, and though she seems very... I guess apathetic would be the word, over time, you learn she does seem to still hold at least a little concern for what happened, where she is, and why everything is the way it is. Though, at the same time, she doesn’t really care, which even the protagonist points out in her head. The entire thing is very surreal and almost macabre, which are two things I personally enjoy. The protagonist - whose official name is Noir which I’m only saying so I don’t have to keep typing that - is confused, panicked, and is clearly succumbing to how bleak everything seems to be, while Sasha, through her poker face, tries to help Noir feel better about the entire thing, through depressingly effective view points and even just plain being polite.

There’s no big reveal or secret at the end. Just a choice to get a glimpse of the world from the depressing, snow covered, brutalist(?) concrete jungle the pair finds themselves in. Or to remain ignorant out of fear. It isn’t exactly a plot that lets you leave with a smile, and I’m very okay with that because it’s the kind of thing I enjoy for some reason. It reminds me of Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk (god the title is so long) with its tone. Surreal, eerie visual novels that give very little info and don’t last too long. I liked it, it felt familiar.

Story and music aside, the art uses a very basic color palette of black, white, red, and indigo. It’s hard to tell what things are sometimes, mainly with the VHS filter on, but the monochrome backgrounds are coherent enough to make out what it’s supposed to be. Without the filter, anyway.

It’s only 2 bucks, so if you enjoy things like this, I recommend it. At the very least to support Astrophysics. Or even just listen to the album! Whatever!!

#2023 #hope left me #rambles

[theaniko]

Unveiling the Mystery: Dark Matter

 In the grand cosmic tapestry, dark matter is the elusive thread that weaves through the universe, binding galaxies together yet remaining invisible to our eyes and instruments. It is a substance that does not emit, absorb, or reflect light, making it incredibly difficult to detect. Despite its ghostly presence, dark matter exerts a gravitational pull, influencing the motion of stars and galaxies, and playing a crucial role in the structure and evolution of the cosmos.

What We Know About Dark Matter

Gravitational Effects: Dark matter's existence was first inferred by Fritz Zwicky in the 1930s and later supported by Vera Rubin's work in the 1970s. They observed that galaxies in clusters moved as if they were under the influence of more mass than could be accounted for by visible matter alone.

Cosmic Web: Dark matter forms a cosmic web, with filaments that stretch across the universe, guiding the formation of galaxies and galaxy clusters along its invisible scaffolds.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): Observations of the CMB, the afterglow of the Big Bang, have provided indirect evidence of dark matter. The slight fluctuations in temperature across the CMB map indicate the presence of dark matter affecting the early universe's density.

Bullet Cluster: The Bullet Cluster, a pair of colliding galaxy clusters, has given us one of the best pieces of visual evidence for dark matter. The separation of visible matter from the mass (detected via gravitational lensing) suggests that most of the mass is dark.

The Nature of Dark Matter

Despite its pervasive influence, the true nature of dark matter remains one of the greatest mysteries in modern astrophysics. There are several candidates for what dark matter could be:

WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles): These are hypothetical particles that would interact with normal matter via gravity and the weak nuclear force but not electromagnetism, making them difficult to detect.

Axions: Another theoretical particle, axions are light and could be formed in large numbers in the early universe. They are also a potential dark matter candidate.

MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects): These include objects like black holes, neutron stars, and faint white dwarfs. However, searches for MACHOs have not found enough to account for all the dark matter.

The Search Continues

Scientists are employing a variety of methods to detect dark matter:

Direct Detection Experiments: These experiments, often located deep underground, aim to observe the rare interactions between dark matter particles and normal matter.

Indirect Detection: By looking for excesses of gamma rays, neutrinos, or other particles that might result from the annihilation of dark matter particles in space, researchers hope to infer their presence.

Particle Accelerators: Facilities like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) could create dark matter particles in high-energy collisions, providing insights into their properties.

Conclusion

Dark matter is a fundamental component of the universe, and understanding it is key to unlocking the secrets of cosmic evolution and structure. As technology advances, we edge closer to uncovering the nature of this mysterious substance. The quest to comprehend dark matter is not just a scientific endeavor; it is a journey to grasp the very fabric of the universe itself.

[spacenutspod]

This image shows the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097, as seen by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Sand, K. Sheth As NASA explores the unknown in air and space, a new mission to survey ultraviolet light across the entire sky will provide the agency with more insight into how galaxies and stars evolve. The space telescope, called UVEX (UltraViolet EXplorer), is targeted to launch in 2030 as NASA’s next Astrophysics Medium-Class Explorer mission. In addition to conducting a highly sensitive all-sky survey, UVEX will be able to quickly point toward sources of ultraviolet light in the universe. This will enable it to capture the explosions that follow bursts of gravitational waves caused by merging neutron stars. The telescope also will carry an ultraviolet spectrograph to study stellar explosions and massive stars. “NASA’s UVEX will help us better understand the nature of both nearby and distant galaxies, as well as follow up on dynamic events in our changing universe,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This mission will bring key capabilities in near-and far-ultraviolet light to our fleet of space telescopes, delivering a wealth of survey data that will open new avenues in exploring the secrets of the cosmos.” The telescope’s ultraviolet survey will complement data from other missions conducting wide surveys in this decade, including the Euclid mission led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions, and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch by May 2027. Together, these missions will help create a modern, multi-wavelength map of our universe. “With the innovative new UVEX mission joining our portfolio, we will gain an important legacy archive of data that will be of lasting value to the science community,” said Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “This new telescope will contribute to our understanding of the universe across multiple wavelengths and address one of the major priorities in Astrophysics today: studying fleeting changes in the cosmos.” NASA selected the UVEX Medium-Class Explorer concept to continue into development after detailed review of two Medium-Class Explorer and two Mission of Opportunity concept proposals by a panel of scientists and engineers, and after evaluation based on NASA’s current astrophysics portfolio coupled with available resources. The UVEX mission was selected for a two-year mission and will cost approximately $300 million, not including launch costs. The mission’s principal investigator is Fiona Harrison at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Other institutions involved in the mission include University of California at Berkeley, Northrop Grumman, and Space Dynamics Laboratory. The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program. The program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the agency’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the launch of Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators. The program is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system, and the universe. For more information about the Explorers Program, visit: https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov -end- Alise FisherHeadquarters, [email protected] Share Details Last Updated Feb 13, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA Headquarters

#space #astronomy #news #science

[fumpkins]

Uncovering the secret law of the evolution of galaxy clusters

Osaka – As science lovers around the globe quote goodbye to famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking, scientists continue to make essential discoveries about the advancement of galaxy clusters that catch the creativity.

Now, a worldwide partnership in between Yutaka Fujita at Osaka University and scientists from Taiwan, Italy, Japan, and the United States discovered a brand-new basic law that states the advancement of galaxy clusters. They just recently reported the research study in The Astrophysical Journal

Galaxy clusters are the biggest heavenly body in deep space (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, it has actually been challenging to determine their size and mass properly due to the fact that they generally include dark matter that we can not observe straight. One method to observe the dark matter indirectly is to utilize the gravitational lensing impact based upon Einstein’s theory of relativity. Light rays from a galaxy behind a cluster are pulled by the gravity of the cluster as they go through it, and their courses are bent (Fig. 2). This is precisely the very same impact as a lens, focusing the light of the far-off galaxy and misshaping its shape. If we can determine the distortion of the shape for lots of background galaxies, we can expose the gravitational field of the cluster, and as an outcome, we can properly determine its size and mass.

” One problem in our research study,” describes Keiichi Umetsu at Academic Community Sinica in Taiwan, “was that precise measurements of the distortion were needed.” To conquer this issue, the research study group has actually utilized accurate observational information from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope run by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

Integrating with gas temperature level information from the Chandra X-ray satellite, the research study group statistically took a look at those newest information and discovered that they comply with an easy law represented just by the size, mass, and gas temperature level of clusters. Additionally, by making complete usage of computer system simulations, they revealed that clusters have actually grown over 4 to 8 billion years inning accordance with the law. In theory, the law suggests that those enormous clusters are still in teenage years, growing by drawing a big quantity of surrounding compounds with their strong gravity (Fig. 3).

” We have actually found the law that manages the development of clusters of galaxies,” Fujita states. “Clusters have an internal structure distinctively produced in an early development spurt.”

The law is so basic that we can utilize it to adjust cluster mass-observable relations, which are an essential active ingredient for studying the cosmological laws of deep space.

” Our research study draws us closer to describing the evolutionary history of clusters and deep space,” Fujita includes.

###

. Osaka University was established in 1931 as one of the 7 royal universities of Japan and now has actually broadened to among Japan’s leading extensive universities. The University has actually now started open research study transformation from a position as Japan’s many ingenious university and amongst the most ingenious organizations on the planet inning accordance with Reuters 2015 Leading 100 Ingenious Universities and the Nature Index Development2017 The university’s capability to innovate from the phase of basic research study through the development of helpful technology with financial effect originates from its broad disciplinary spectrum. .

Site: http://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/top .

Disclaimer: We can make errors too. Have a good day.

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2018/04/25/uncovering-the-secret-law-of-the-evolution-of-galaxy-clusters/

#ALGORITHMS/MODELS #astronomy #astrophysics #CALCULATIONS/PROBLEM-SOLVING #CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS/MATERIALS SCIENCES

[inessencedevided]

A very overdue cql/mdzs fic rec list

for @accidental-child ​

I am so sorry this took me so long Axel! The pandemic has really done a number on my time-management skills and things like this often fall behind :/

The fics complied here are the ones i have not recced in the list for @helianthus21 before. You can find that one here, so you can check it out as well :)

The Wei Wuxian makes a wish series by natcat5

My attempt at a summary: this is a madoka magica AU (which i had not watched prior to reading this fic). Cultivators, in this universe, are created when a teenager makes a wish to the creature named Kyubey, which than grants them their wish and the power to fight witches, strange and destructive creatures of despair that lure people into their labyrinths. Wei Wuxian, at the beginning of the story is not a cultivator, but his friends are and so is the mysterious new student at his school, lan wangji, who follows him everywhere and seems to be obsessed with preventing him from making a contract.

My comment: my attempt at a summary does not do this story justice and is really just a setup. Honestly i cannot put into words how much I loved this story. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It made me laugh, it made me cry for entire chapters, it drew me into it's world so much that I freaking dreamed about it! (I'm not kidding, I really did) Honestly, this fic deserves so much more attention than it is currently getting. Not only is the plot expertly crafted, with reveals that shock you and leave you reading, but the author also just gets the characters. The best thing an AU can do, in my opinion, is take familiar characters, put them in unfamiliar situations and then manage to make the way they react believable. And this AU nails that! The conclusion and the choices that Wei wuxian and lan Wangji make in the end felt exactly right. Not to mention, it has a stellar ensemble cast! Everyone is here (except Xichen sadly and I kind of think it is deliberate because without him, Lan Wangji lacks a support system). Again, I cannot recommend this story enough. It is, without doubt, my favourite fic series in this entire fandom. (Caution however: Do read the warnings in the tags and notes and take them seriously. They are there for a very good reason.)

Agapé (home is in your arms) by estel_willow

Author’s summary: Lan Xichen is in isolation. Wei Wuxian visits him. Together they find their way back to happiness, to clarity and to home. 

My comment: This one focuses on both Lan Xichen’s and Wei Wuxian’s issues and lets them resolve them together. I am such a fan of their characterisations in this fic, as well as Lan Wangji’s even though he is not the focus. I love it when non-romantic relationships are the focus of fics and especially when they are central to the character’s resolving their own issues and moving forward in life and that is exactly what happens here.

until you're big enough by lostin_space      

Author’s summary: Lan Zhan is sad and not hungry; Lan Xichen asks Nie Mingjue to help him. 

My comment: This one is a really short and sweet read about how Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue parent the their younger brothers. I just really liked how the author portrayed todler Lan Zhan, as well as these two teenagers doing their best to be the parents that both he and Nie huaisang lack. 

Night Music by Manogahela                

Author’s summary: There is a music that plays in the night at Cloud Recess....but there isn't suppose to be. Lan Xichen investigates the mysterious dizi music that can be heard from the Jingshi at night following the Siege of the Burial mounds.

My comment: I absolutely adored this one, mainly for two reasons: 1. I love an outsider perspective and Lan Xichen’s, at this point and with his limited knowledge is absolutely wonderful. First, he isn’t even sure is what he thinks is happening really is happening and when he is sure, his feelings are, understandably very conflicted. 2. The author’s style compliments this fic so well. Since most of it happens at night and Xichen isn’t entirely sure that he can trust his senses, there is a certain dreamlike quality to it that the author writes beautifully. This fic is part one in a series. Part two is a WIP, but also very much worth the read!

Company by WithBroomBefore                

My summary: In which Wei Wuxian is whipped within an inch of his life by Madam Yu when he is fourteen and comes to stay at the cloud recesses. He and Lan Zhan become friends.

My comment: My summary once again does not do this fic justice. Because it is so much more than just that. It’s such a beautful exploration of friendship and love and bodily autonomy. Wei Wuxian has a lot to work through in this fic, but really, so has Lan Zhan who has the opportunity to make friends at a much more mellow pace than in the novel/show and panics a little less because of it. The war still happens but has much less dire consequences. All in all, this fic left me with a wonderful warm feeling in my chest.

you are safe / loved / worthy / enough by everythingispoetry                

Author’s summary: One of the more timid-looking posts, in pale greens and creams and yellows, says Hello, I'm managing to be fairly high functioning right now but I'm really not doing as well as it may appear, and Lan Zhan feels as if someone sneaked into his mind and read his most secret thoughts, the ones he's never even dared to admit to himself.

(In which Lan Zhan, to his own dismay, finds himself with the help of the most obnoxious, cheerful, cheesy self-care instagram account known to men.)

(And Wei Ying.)

My comment: Listen, I have a complicated relationship with fics that depict mental health struggles in characters. They are all so incredibly valid and I’m glad they exist (every single one of them, no matter if i like them or not) but due to the fact that they tend to come from the author projecting their own issues onto characters (which is NOT a bad thing! that is what fanfic is for!) they are often hit-and-miss when it comes to characterisation. But this story ... it just GETS Lan Wangji. If someone told me a scenario in a modern AU that leads to him developing an anxiety disorder and depression, this is what I would have come up with. Because let’s be real, Lan Wangji is a perfectionist to boot, insanely competitive and needs to live up to his family’s expectations, while also not having much of an emotional support system outside of his brother and uncle. That’s a dangerous cocktail in the modern world and just screams of a burnout waiting to happen. So Lan Wangji, off to university, living alone in a strange city for the frst time, spends all his time in a carefully calculated study routine but slowly realises that the path he set out on was not one he chose because he liked it but simply the one that was laid out for him by his background and family, which then leads to him questioning the reason behind what he does. That reads as incredibly real to me. A good AU, in my opinion, takes the characters and their inherent characteristics and lets them meet new and unique challenges that they never would have encountered in canon, which then leads to new and interesting character developement. And this AU manages that perfectly! (Plus, if you are a university student like me who sometimes suffers from crushing anxiety about the path they chose in life, this is insanely relatable. What? I never said I wasn’t biased :P)

porn (but not actually) and waiting (a lot of it) by hyacinth4maria    

Author’s summary: Lan Xichen sighs as he settles into the couch next to Lan Wangji.

"What are you looking at?"

Lan Wangji, without pausing from typing the names Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in the Love Calculator 3000, says, "Porn."

Lan Xichen chokes.

- Lan Wangji has a crush. Lan Xichen hadn't realized his little brother was growing up.    

My comment: this one was hilarious! Just Lan Xichen being both absolutely exasperated and amused by wangxian’s pre-teen drama. I almost choked laughing at the line that coined the title. The author has these characters down to a T and they used their powers to attack my laugh-musccles :D

the field meets the wood by astronicht     

Author’s summary: Wei Wuxian is a dark shadow in the barley. Wei Wuxian is sorry for the kind of compassion that he is about to hand out.

(in which Lan Wangji is stolen for salt, and Wei Wuxian unravels the world, a little)

My Comment: HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS SO GOOD. Do you ever read a story and just marvel at the author’s mind? This is one of those. The sheer genius of giving Wei Wuxian the ability to pull entire beings into non-being! The absolute galaxy-brain idea to link the canon mythology to modern astrophysics!!! Wei Wuxian creates a motherfucking black hole in this one!!! And it’s SO well written, too! The author does not shy away from Wei Wuxian’s sharp edges and his darker side but goddamn if he is not still loveable anyway. Just GO READ THIS FIC!

Abandon your post by StarsAlignNomore        

Author’s summary: After months as Chief Cultivator and separated from his soulmate, Lan Wangji follows Wei Wuxian out into the world. He searches for him. He finds him. He kisses him. They reunite, they talk, they resolve. Sometimes Bichen lends emotional support. Chenqing bites. Little Apple is there too.

Your typical Post-Canon-Reunion-Fic with much more emphasis on their spiritual weapons than expected.

My comments: This one just left me with a lot of mushy feelings. Also I adore the way the author emphasised the relationship between Lan Wangji and Bichen. And by the end, Wangxian finally figure shit out through actual open communication. Absolutely beautiful!

#cql fic #cql fic rec #mdzs fic #mdzs fic rec #mdzs #cql #wangxian #wangxian fic rec #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan xichen

[freudensteins-monster]

You Say “Mad Scientist” Like It’s A Bad Thing

Based on my own tumblr post: 3am thoughts… Has anyone written Jane Foster as a mad scientist, I mean like a villain?

Chaotic neutral Darcy and Jane featuring modern/human SHIELD Agent Bucky.

Available on AO3.

Content Warnings: Implied/Referenced Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Amnesia, Memory Suppressing Machine | The Chair (Marvel), Dark, Sort Of, Ambiguous/Open Ending...

In a world full of megalomaniacs, straight up supervillains, and fricking aliens, mad scientists were a dime a dozen. Dr Foster was one such scientist who was quickly moving from mildly irritating to SHIELD’s Most Wanted.

Dr Foster’s gimmick was portals. She first gained international attention when she claimed responsibility (via an untraceable Instagram account, @dr-mthrfckng-foster) for diverting LA’s 405 to a dirt road in rural Australia. Then came a string of impossible robberies – bank vaults and the private collections of the world's richest assholes stripped bare in seconds. Then she created a portal that caused an Indonesian typhoon to bear down on Wall Street, flooding the trading floor. And then she robbed a top secret government black site of some classified technology.

And that’s when Director Nick Fury made finding and stopping Dr Foster SHIELD’s number one priority.

Agent James Barnes had been stuck on suspension for two weeks, with two more to go, and was itching to get back into the field. He had way too much free time on his hands: he’d caught up on his sleep and everything in his Netflix queue. He’d cleaned out his refrigerator, done laundry and enough meal prep to last him until next month. He’d caught up with his family, cleaned his whole goddamn apartment twice, and now he was well and truly bored.

He was out for his fifth run of the week (and it wasn’t even Wednesday) when his work phone rang.

“Thank Christ,” he muttered before answering.

“Barnes.”

“It’s Hill. How’s the arm?”

“Fine,” Barnes grunted, rotating his metal shoulder irritably. “You got something for me?”

“Are you up for a recon mission?”

Usually he would have protested. He headed tactical units. He was an elite ‘first through the door’ kind of field agent. Not that he couldn’t be stealthy and patient - he’d been a sniper in the army for christ's sake - but going unnoticed in public was kind of a problem for him these days; he’d have to wear jackets and gloves in the middle of August to hide his prosthetic for starters.

On the other hand, his mother had been calling him every second day to feed him carb-heavy meals in exchange for help around the house, all while dropping not-so-subtle hints that he should start dating again. Requests for more grandchildren couldn’t be far behind.

“I’ll be there in thirty.”

Thirty-five minutes later Agent Barnes was back at his desk at SHIELD HQ perusing through the increasingly large file of one Dr Jane Foster. 

She had been a brilliant student and had earned a PhD in Astrophysics from Culver University by the age of 25. By all accounts she should have been one of the leading researchers in her field, and if doctoral programs handed out superlatives Dr Foster’s would have been “Most Likely To Win a Nobel Prize By 30”. 

Unfortunately for Dr Foster, and the rest of the world, she had been forced from that path by a sexist tenured professor who publicly denounced her theories, and the woman herself, as crazy, discredited her published work, and used his influence to ensure she was denied all of the more lucrative research grants.

When federal agents went to interview him after the 405 incident they found his office looking like a tornado had gone through it and the professor himself was nowhere to be found. A few weeks later he stumbled into a US Embassy in Russia after being found wandering in from the forests outside Vladivostok, half mad and still decrying the evils of allowing women into scientific fields.

He had been placed into witness protection and promptly admitted into a psychiatric facility under his new name, and was being monitored by several undercover agents in case Dr Foster felt like punishing him some more. 

Anyone else who had a part in ruining Dr Foster’s legitimate career was also under surveillance, as was her mother in London, a terrified ex-boyfriend in Boston, and a handful of known associates, though Dr Foster hadn’t been in contact with any of them in years.

SHIELD and other federal agencies had tried the usual methods of tracking down a rogue mad scientist. They tried to find out where her base of operations was, firstly by looking for any properties in her name, but Dr Foster had been a broke student with an impressive amount of debt (until the day she decided to wipe it, and the rest of Culver’s student debt, out). So if she had property it would definitely not be in her legal name and all but impossible to trace back to her. Then they tried to look for drains on the powergrid. However she managed to generate her portals - SHIELD scientists still hadn’t figured that out - it surely had to be using huge amounts of electricity. So far they’d found six grow labs and two server rooms running illegal god-knows-what, but no Dr Foster.

Agent Barnes read the file twice, reviewed all the transcripts of the interviews with her known associates, and came to one very important conclusion: she had an accomplice. 

As smart as Dr Foster was there was nothing in her academic history to suggest that she had a background in computer science that would account for the notable hacks and the untraceable nature of her activities. To add to that several interviewees had made passing remarks about her not having a cell phone for most of her academic career, and how she had zero interest in social media.

Two days later, after getting the okay for a field trip from Hill, Agent Barnes made his way to Culver University to speak to anyone who had even the vaguest recollection of Dr Foster. And that’s how he learnt about the intern.

He’d started by dropping by one of the physics labs where Dr Foster had spent most of her time, and by pure chance met a doctoral candidate who remembered her, and her intern.

“I think her name was Darlene. Glasses. Always on her phone.”

…which led him to the academic advisor who put the two of them together...

“Darcy. Darcy Lewis. She was actually a PoliSci major but left it too late and Dr Foster’s internship was the only one available. She had only been working with her for a few weeks before… before Dr Foster’s funding was revoked and she was asked to leave.”

...who pointed him to one of Darcy’s former professors…

“Average student. Good debater. Often late, and always had a coffee in her hand.”

...who gave him a few names of some former classmates who might remember her…

“Not the worst person to be stuck with on a group assignment. Pulled her weight. Obsessed with her stupid iPod.”

“I swear she lived off pop tarts and coffee. And not Starbucks either. Some stupid hipster chain.”

“Deja Brew. Serious problem. Went through one of those loyalty punch cards every week. Always complained about having to go home for the holidays and resort to big chain coffee shops.”

...which had him driving out to Darcy Lewis’ hometown, located a few hours south of Roanoke, Virginia, stopping first at the local high school to speak to the school principal…

“She’d always been good with computers but wasn’t allowed to use them at home for some reason so she spent a lot of time at the local library using theirs. We had to suspend her once. One of her classmates accused her of accepting payment from other students to hack the school’s records and alter their grades. Their grades were definitely getting altered, but we couldn’t get any concrete proof it was her.”

...who was able to find a photo of 16 year old Darcy in an old yearbook and told him what bar he could find Darcy’s mother in.

“She knows not to come to me if she’s in the shit, because I would call the cops in a heartbeat. Especially after that stunt she pulled before she went off to college…”

“What stunt was that, Ms Bennett?” Agent Barnes asked patiently, hoping he wouldn’t have to enable her alcoholism to get some useful information. 

“I made some mistakes, okay,” she slurred defensively. “I was having an affair with my boss. Don’t know how Darcy knew. She told her stepfather but he didn’t believe her. Then a few weeks later we went out to dinner for my boss’s birthday... all the tv’s in the bar start showing security camera footage of us falling into offices and motel rooms. Took her all of a minute to ruin two marriages and a law firm.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied diplomatically. “Is there anyone she could turn to for help? Her father, perhaps.”

“He died when she was about twelve. They were as thick as thieves,” she recalled with a tinge of bitterness.

“Was there any place that was special to them? Someone she might go to ground?”

She shook her head. “He used to rent this old cabin near the Catskills off a buddy of his every other year. Winter or summer, Darcy loved it. But it's long gone. Forest fire, I think, the year before his accident.”

Back in his car Agent Barnes reviewed the data points.

Dr Foster had a base of operations somewhere. Had to be private, and as best SHIELD could guess it must be off the grid and Dr Foster must be generating her own power.

Dr Foster was a space nut at heart, and while an abandoned observatory might be too much to ask for, she’d probably want somewhere with minimal light pollution.

And while they could portal anywhere, neither of them spoke any other languages and had no familiarity with any international locations, so they were most likely still State-side. (Dr Foster’s mother had moved to London when Jane was twenty-three, but she’d never found the time to visit.)

Miss Lewis was familiar with the Catskills area. A base of operations there could be very isolated.

Dr Foster was most likely building and modifying her own own equipment so she had to be able to access materials. Sure, she could portal to her local hardware store, but having Darcy drive into the nearest town for supplies would attract less attention.

Miss Lewis had an addiction to coffee procured from Deja Brew, a small hipster chain with only a handful of locations along on the east coast. While she could have found another way to get her caffeine fix, people were creatures of habit.

Miss Lewis was also known for stocking up on poptarts. In one of the only images of the other side of one of Dr Foster’s portals there was what appeared to be, if one squinted, a box of limited edition pop tarts on a counter.

He plugged it all into SHIELD fancy search engines and got a few results back. The most promising was an abandoned ski chalet turned abandoned research station halfway up a mountain, an hour drive away from an up and coming tourist town, whose main street hosted a Deja Brew cafe. They also had a small mom and pop hardware store, as well as a post office, and a grocery store that had still been selling pumpkin pie pop tarts around the time Dr Foster’s portal had been caught on camera.

Agent Barnes came to with a groan. The flesh of his shoulder where it met his prosthetic felt like it was on fire, and he was pretty sure he could smell fried wiring.

The research station had come up in SHIELD’s initial search for a potential mad scientist's lair, but had been dismissed for not using any power and for not sending back any heat signature readings. Perhaps they’d found a way to fool the scanners. Or maybe they just weren’t in the day the readings were taken. Whatever the reason, Agent Barnes had a good feeling about it. He filled his tank up at the nearest gas station and got on the highway, forgoing checking in at the Triskelion on his way past in favour of driving all night. He’d call Hill when he had something solid. 

** *** **

“Fuck…”

He willed his eyes open and came face to face with Darth Vader.

Barnes reeled back at the sound of the synthesized voice. “Who sent you? Who do you work for?! The Rebellion?” 

“What the fuck!”

It took him until his eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lighting to realise that Darth Vader was wearing a grey knit dress and black tights. Darth Vader laughed and ripped off his mask to reveal a smiling bespectacled brunette underneath. The accomplice. Darcy Lewis.

“Sorry, I was just messing with you, dude,” she teased, tossing the mask over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do that. But seriously, who do you work for? Who knows you’re here?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he lied. “I was just camping in the woods, man. I saw the lights and decided to check it out,” he rambled in a lazy Canadian accent. “How the hell did I get here? Did you electrocute me?”

He used his not-quite fake panic to test the limits of his restraints. He’d been strapped into some sort of junkstore barber chair, with thick metal shackles locked around his wrists, ankles, and chest. His metal arm could probably make quick work of them but the damn thing was not responding. His panic became a little less fake.

“Just camping, huh?” she echoed back with a raised eyebrow, leaning forward to the point where Barnes couldn’t avoid getting a good look down her top and the 15-carat pink diamond (worth about 40mil and reported stolen in one of Dr Foster’s vault heists two months ago) hanging around her neck. “So that wasn’t you poking around town this morning?” she asked pointedly, drawing his attention to the wall of monitors he hadn’t noticed showing various street cameras around the town. “I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, dude. You got into town bright and early in a beat up looking truck with plates that didn’t exist two weeks ago and started flashing my yearbook photo around. So, who do you work for?”

He levelled his best steely-eyed agent stare at her and switched back to his native pissed-off Brooklynite accent. “I ain’t tellin you shit, sweetheart.”

“C’mon now,” she cooed, taking a seat on his lap. “Who do you work for? FBI? Interpol? SHIELD? Crawford County Library Services? Listen, I was totally going to return Eat Pray Love, but we had to skip town in a hurry and it got lost in the move. I will totally pay to replace it.”

Years of training (and regular poker games with the Black Widow) had taught him to school his features, even if that last one threw him for a loop.

“Nothing? You sure you don’t want to talk to me? Fine,” she whined. “Jane!”

It was only then that Barnes switched his focus from his captor to his surroundings and realised that there was another occupant puttering about on the other side of the large telescope that took pride of place on a hydraulic platform underneath the research station's retractable roof. The infamous Dr Foster.

“Jane!”

“What?” came the irritated reply. 

“Come over here and practise your monologue. Look! You’ve got a captive audience and everything!” she announced, laughing at her own joke. 

“I don’t have time, Darcy,” the disgruntled voice argued. 

“Hey! I spent two days writing up that monologue, the least you can do is spend twenty-five minutes reading it out loud so I can make sure it doesn’t make you sound too much like a cartoon villain.” 

“Twenty-five minutes?! Are you kidding me?” Dr Foster stormed out from behind the telescope to wave a wrench at her assistant. She looked less put together than her ID photo, appearing to be long overdue for both a shower and a nap. “I’m in the middle of something. I’ve almost figured the problem with the mobile portal generator, and… Darcy, why is there a man tied to a chair in my lab?”

“This man?” Darcy snorted, taking Barnes’s chin in her hands and wiggling it about. “This is the intruder. You remember the intruder alert, like fifteen minutes ago? Lots of flashing lights and alarms? Well, I found this guy passed out on the lawn. For most people, hitting my force field would be like getting lightly tased, but this bad boy,” she continued, tapping a fingernail against his dead metal arm, “meant you ended up getting the full 50,000 volts to your heart. Thanks for letting me practice my CPR by the way,” she added with a wink.

“It’s not a force field, Darcy. It’s a glorified invisible pet fence, upsized and modified so it reacts to the electrical impulses in the human body.”

“It keeps people out; I’m calling it a force field.”

This was definitely the weirdest interrogation he had endured by a large margin, Barnes mused as he followed their bickering like a pingpong game.

“Who is he, Darcy?” Jane sighed wearily. “What is he doing here?”

“Fiiiine. Janey, meet Agent James Barnes of SHIELD.”

“What?! SHIELD?!!”Jane screeched. “Why did you bring him here?”

“He found us, Jane. What was I supposed to do?”

“Something other than bringing him inside our secret hideout.”

“I am not killing him and burying him in the woods; I just did my nails.”

Jane scowled, turning the full force of her overtired fury on James. “Why can’t you SHIELD issue jackbooted thugs just leave me alone? Can’t you understand how important my work is? I am challenging the very foundations of modern science - of the laws of the universe! I am on the verge of a breakthrough! And if you or Nick Fury think you can stop me, you’ve got another thing coming!”

Before his mouth could betray him and ask how the hell they knew his boss Darcy spoke up.

“A little off script, but I like the energy, Jane. Very much the mad scientist vibe we’re going for. But next time, try not to make it so personal – we’ve got to hide the target of our frustrations, remember? Instead of saying “SHIELD” say “government”, instead of saying “Nick Fury” say “president”.”

“Right, right,” Jane nodded absently, tapping the side of her head with the wrench she had just been waving around like a weapon.

“Now, go back to work. I’ll handle this.”

“Okay, thanks Darce. Oh, have you seen my soldering iron around?”

“It’s in the locked cabinet because you’re not allowed to use it unsupervised, you know that. Gimme ten minutes, I’ll bring it to you.”

Jane wandered back to her side of the observatory, muttering under her breath, leaving Barnes at Darcy’s mercy.

“She’s not the criminal mastermind here, is she?” he wondered, his eyes roaming over the strange cupcake of a woman in his lap.

“Not exactly,” Darcy admitted. “I mean, it’s not like she set out to be a mad scientist. I kind of rebranded her after that little freeway incident.”

“Rebranded?”

“Yeah. She was in a bad way after New Mexico and then when the first live test of her portal engine went a little sideways I didn’t want dudebros on the internet coming after her, so I changed the narrative. Instead of ‘girl scientist makes mistake, should stick to making sandwiches’ I changed it to ‘Dr Foster, genius astrophysicist, causes chaos, totally on purpose.’”

“And all those robberies?”

“I may have encouraged that. I’m all for sticking it to the one percenters, and Jane needed to fund her experiments somehow,” she added with a shrug.

“So Jane’s the absent-minded professor and you’re the brains behind this operation, huh?”

Darcy laughed and slid out of his lap causing a distracting amount of friction. “I’m really not. So you, Coulson, and Fury should be really, really scared.”

“How do you know those names?” he had to know, cover be damned.

“You don’t know? Of course you don’t,” she huffed. “Fury and his clearance levels. I’d tell you to ask him about New Mexico sometime, but you’re not going to be able to.”

“Why not? What are you going to do to me?” Barnes fretted, unable to ignore the sinking feeling that he was in big trouble; she wouldn’t have told him anything if she intended on letting him walk out of here.

“Oh, relax. I’m not going to kill you. I’m just gonna scramble your brain a little.”

She circled his chair, flipping switches as she went, and something behind him started humming ominously.

“So, admittedly I didn’t major in hard sciences. I had an ex who did, but he also fancied himself something of a cat burglar, so when he went to jail I liberated all his college textbooks and gave myself a crash course in electrical engineering. And it helped that those HYDRA designs were really easy to follow.”

“HYDRA?” Barnes cursed.

HYDRA had been the scientific branch of the Nazi regime and believed that discovery required (human) experimentation. They were supposedly eradicated at the end of WWII but Project Paperclip saved some of HYDRA’s greatest minds, giving them immunity in exchange for their genius. If Foster or, more worryingly, Darcy had aligned themselves with some surviving HYDRA faction the results could be catastrophic.

“Yeah, I found them in that SHIELD warehouse when we recovered Jane’s stolen research.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They just call it ‘The Chair’, which is totally not creepy at all,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “And this is the Halo,” she added, drawing Barnes’s attention to the whirring circle of metal that was lowering itself over his head.

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, renewing his efforts to break free of his restraints. “Get that piece of scrap metal the fuck away from me!”

“Hey! Don’t mock my work. It may look like I raided a junkyard for the components - and I did - but my welding game is on point. It’s totally safe. Mostly safe. It’s just going to send focused electrical pulses to your…” she paused to consult some smudged writing on her hand, “hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.”

The Halo stopped moving and two metal plates extended, pressing against the sides of his head, holding it like a vice.

“Please… don’t do this,” he begged as she approached him with a rubber mouthguard.

“C’mon, open wide. You don’t want to end up braindead and unable to chew your food,” she jested, waving the thing in front of him. “Oh, just one question before I fry your brain,” she added just when he was about to give in. “How did you find us? I was so careful,” she whined.

Agent Barnes, terrified as he was, still managed to look smug at his small, short lived success. “Deja Brew coffee.”

“Curses!” she wailed theatrically. “Betrayed by my one true love!” 

Darcy huffed and quickly returned her attention to the matter at hand. 

“Thanks for that,” she said with a smile as she forced him to bite down on the mouthguard. “I’ll know better for next time. Start making my own coffee at home… but it never tastes as good,” she muttered to herself.

She stepped away from him and bent down to pick up a similarly frankensteined industrial remote with long wires snaking back to the chair and a clichéd big red button at its centre. He began struggling anew, screaming around the foul tasting rubber, begging for mercy.

She took great delight in his terrified expression and put on her best supervillain voice, “Give my regards to Nick Fury.”

Nick Fury observed his agent from behind a two way mirror as he sat behind a table in an interrogation room. Barnes had been sitting there for the past hour as still as a statue, except for his unfocused eyes which flitted about the room. 

In true horror movie fashion, Agent Barnes’ screams echoed down the mountainside like an avalanche, sending animals fleeing in terror for miles around.

** *** **

Local LEO’s had found him wandering aimlessly down a stretch of highway just outside the ruins of what had previously been Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, and ten minutes after they ran his prints Agent Romanoff had been on a quinjet to collect him. She’d been directed to the nearest hospital and found him sitting up on a bed but not responding or reacting to any of the medical staff as they buzzed around him. Agent Romanoff took a cautious step forward and held her breath as his unfocused eyes settled on her. 

“Hello James...”

An excruciating minute later the veil lifted and he attempted a smile. 

“Hey Tasha.”

She’d brought him back to base and dragged him to SHIELD’s medical bay for more tests - not that Barnes put up much of a fight, in fact he was terrifyingly compliant. The SHIELD doctors confirmed what the New Mexico doctors suspected: the bruising and electrical burns around his temples and his memory loss were indicative of some back alley version of electroshock therapy. His memories should come back in time - how long was anybody’s guess - but for the moment Agent James Barnes had no memory of the last four weeks.

Fury picked up a tablet with depressingly little information on its screen and stepped into the room, waiting for Barnes eyes to focus on him before taking a seat. 

“Agent Barnes.”

“Director.”

“I know you’re probably sick of questions by now, but I have a few more for you, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah, sure…”

It rankled Fury to no end how meak and passive Barnes seemed. Heaven help him, he missed the argumentative sonofabitch.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Being called into your office.”

“What for?”

“I punched Rumlow.”

“Why?”

“He was bragging about taking advantage of a drunk woman at a club when he was last on leave. He didn’t like me calling out his shitty behaviour. He punched me, I punched him back.”

Fury sighed. He hadn't gotten a straight answer out of Barnes at the time of the incident and he couldn’t feel happy about getting one now. 

“Do you remember what happened once I called you into my office?”

His brow creased and his eyes zipped back and forth like the carriage of a printer as his mind searched for the elusive memory.

“You suspended me?”

“I did,” Fury confirmed. “For a whole month. But two weeks into it I pulled you in for a special assignment.”

Barnes tensed, shrinking in on himself. The confusion about his lost time seemed to be the only thing that got under his skin, but only when someone brought it up. Once the moment passed he forgot to be concerned about it.

Fury took pity on him. “For the past two weeks I had you running down leads on the whereabouts of Dr Jane Foster.”

“The scientist with the portals? Did she do this to me?”

“It’s not exactly her MO, but then again no law enforcement agency’s ever managed to have a confrontation with her. Never had the chance. Those portals of hers let her keep at a distance. You might have been the first person to have a face to face with her, but I can’t confirm it because I don’t know where the hell you were when this happened,” he grumbled, letting a little more of his usual exasperated tone filter through. “You missed check in by two days. The last we heard from you, you were at Culver running down leads on what you said was a potential accomplice. We found your car in Tromso, Norway, a day after you were found on the side of a road in New Mexico. You don’t appear on any security footage or speed cameras in the area. There’s no activity on your work or personal credit cards. Your activity logs on our highly secure system for the last two weeks are nonexistent, as are your call logs on your work phone. Even the messages you sent Romanoff from your personal phone complaining about your assignment have since been deleted - from her phone too. She’s real pissed about it. As far as your digital footprint is concerned you disappeared from a gas station outside Roanoke, Virginia, last week - do you know how weird it is to know you were headed out towards a place called Roanoke only to up and vanish?” He sighed at Barnes’ painful silence. “Is there anything you can remember, anything at all about Dr Foster or her accomplice? Anything that will help us catch up to you without talking to everyone on campus to figure out what you discovered?”

Barnes’ brow creased in painful confusion.

“I think… I think I saw Darth Vadar.”

Director Fury blinked. “Right…” He took a deep breath to stop himself from venting his frustrations at Barnes, the sorry bastard looked like a kicked puppy as it was. Instead he got up and tapped the tablet against the metal tabletop harder than strictly necessary. “Well, I’ll just go put out a BOLO out for Darth Vadar then.”

“Okay,” Barnes murmured, and promptly zoned out again.

Agent Romanoff exited the viewing room looking uncharacteristically unsettled. 

“I want a full detail on him at all times,” Fury ordered as he stormed off towards the elevators. Hill had just stepped off and was looking even more grim than usual. “Until his memories come back he’s vulnerable, and once they do he’ll be a target.”

“I’ll get a STRIKE team on it. Not Rumlow’s.”

“Get another one along with any assets currently not on assignment. Flood that campus, interrogate everybody. I wanna know who the hell Dr Foster’s accomplice is, and I wanna know yesterday. Understood?”

“I think we might have more pressing concerns, sir,” Hill reported, tapping at her tablet as it beeped erratically. “Coulson’s said there’s an issue with the Tesseract. Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from it fifteen minutes ago.”

“NASA didn't authorise Selvig to test phase,” he grunted, taking the tablet from Hill.

“He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement.”

“Motherfucker.”

#you say mad scientist like it's a bad thing #freudensteins-fics #mad scientist jane foster #competent assistant darcy lewis #shield agent bucky barnes #torture #aftermath of torture #amnesia #winter soldier memory wipe chair #darcy lewis #jane foster #bucky barnes #natasha romanoff #nick fury #maria hill

[ubemango]

commission 5: otiyr!hoseok

note: for anon who was so kind to help me back in November! I am so sorry this took so long to get out v_v;;; ........... I hope you enjoy ;_;!!!!!

note 2: U kno when person A be like *super tough on the outside AND has no Knowledge of baring themselves to someone AT ALL AND!!!!!! IS SOFT TO ONLY ONE PERSON BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY CAN BARE THEMSELVES TO THEM* and then person B be like *I am the only person they can bare themselves to so I try really hard to get them to come out of their shell ONLY IF THEY WANT TO this is a healthy relationship I like to poke at them sometimes, it’s fine*? Yea this is that but make it more pine-y. Best friends to lovers? It’s more likely than you think!

Coach Park blew the whistle. Obviously this meant that practice had finished, but Hoseok was convinced it’s what called upon the bad omen.

The hockey team’s time at the rink ended right at 3pm. This gave Hoseok exactly ten minutes to shower, three minutes to fend off a nagging Yoongi for practice again the next day, and twenty seconds to realize he had one minute to reject Soojin if he wanted to make it to class on time.

He had no idea how long she’d been there. She sat like a flower, right at the edge of the bleachers, cardigan wrought so tight around her shoulders as if to fend off the tundras. He wondered if she was waiting for Jeongyeon—the figure skaters got the rink for the next three hours now—and that is when he made the fateful mistake of catching Soojin’s eye right when he was about to slip through the exit.

“H-Hoseok!”

First, the freeze-up. Hoseok adjusted his gym bag for the sake of fidgeting; he didn’t even get the chance to pretend he didn’t see her, creep away unnoticed. She’s fast, anyhow, hopping over the bench and standing shy in front of him just as he’s turned around.

“Hey,” she greeted.

Hoseok nodded, only slightly pained. “Needed something?”

Behind her, Hoseok watched Jeongguk coming up, wiggling his eyebrows at him right as he passed by and out the door. Flaunting that exit like it was meant to encourage him to stay just a little longer. Hoseok felt threatened. Soojin took no notice.

“Yeah… it’s—well. How are you?”

“Fine.”

(Soojin most likely had no idea he had class at 3:15.)

“Oh! That’s… good. Well—I don’t want to keep you for long, and I-I know… i-it’s kind of sudden, but. We’ve been talking for a while now and I just—wanted to ask if you wanted to—just—hang out, someday. Like go out, or whatever.”

Ah, Hoseok thought sadly, I’m going to die, right here.

The first response he considered was to refute her claim that they’d been talking for a while—Soojin had offered help with chemistry homework when Jimin wasn’t available for tutoring anymore. He wasn’t aware that discussing the halogenations of alkanes over text qualified as the talking stage. That made him feel weirdly old.

Something else he considered: she was very pretty. He could admit to that. Soojin had eyes like raindrops, small ears with moon-shaped studs. An easy gait except for when she was nervous—and she looked very, very nervous.

Soojin was a nice person. Soojin deserved a nice answer.

“I don’t want to,” he said, which was not a nice answer.

He realized this the second Soojin’s gaze dropped to the floor. It reminded Hoseok of those sparkly cartoon girls, the teardrops that teased, never fell. She wouldn’t cry. No one ever cried for him like that.

“Ah—sure, that’s… fine.”

Hoseok never prided himself for being curt. He was just consistent at saying the wrong things, he remembered you saying, and he had lecture starting in less than a minute. Combine all these together, mix in the inability to read a situation properly, and you got the everlasting unease of being Utterly and Ridiculously Fucked. He felt very pained now.

Hoseok watched Soojin fidget again, shifting her stance. Contemplating that exit Hoseok just wanted to go through.

He was supposed to say something now.

“You can delete my number, if you want. I don’t mind. You don’t need it anymore, right? Since we already handed in that assignment.”

She was quiet. Slowly, Hoseok watched her face transform into what he could only guess was unabated anger. Her nose scrunched.

Then she slapped him.

Hoseok, holding his cheek (which did not ache at all, Soojin wasn’t strong like that), watched her stomp out, shoving the doors open with an animosity he didn’t think she had.

He was most definitely going to be late for class.

.

.

.

The astrophysics study commons is a quaint, aggressive space. There’s posters of Saturn and chalkboard lining the walls with confusing equations scribbled in white and at least five people arguing about velocity in the corner farthest away. This is where people find answers and actually make sense of situations. Hoseok  discusses his tragedy here for this exact purpose.

You sit back in your chair, playing with your slide rule. “She text you after?”

“Nope.”

“Did you want me to give my opinion?”

“Sure.”

You slap him.

“What—!” Now Hoseok has had plenty of time to dwell on his follies last night. But a second time? He wonders if he actually deserves good things in his life. He rubs at the poor spot on his cheek. “You didn’t need to resort to violence!”

“You’re so stupid!”

It’s not unlike you to tell it as it is. He’s known you for seventeen years now, the nicest thing you’ve ever said to him was back in fourth grade when you’d called him a good co-parent of your pet caterpillar. “Damn.”

“I mean you’ve always been bad with these things but I didn’t think you’d do something like that.”

“Like what?”

“Be a complete asshole,” you deadpan.

“I didn’t think it was that bad—“

“You told her to delete your number!”

So it was a bad move. He recognizes this. “It’s not like I don’t feel bad.”

The silence lingers as you catch your breath, watch him pensively. Something about the speed of light is being discussed in the background. He feels weirdly exposed.

“I want to try something,” you say finally.

Hoseok’s eyes narrow at you. “What.”

You stare at him blankly. For a second he thinks you’re going to slap him a second time, but instead comes—

“Hoseok, I really like you.”

The coldest, startling feeling runs up his spine. He reflexively says, “That’s disgusting,” and comes to the conclusion that the universe hates him.

“See! You can’t just say that!” You squawk.

“Why not?!”

“What if I had secret feelings for you that had been festering for years and you broke my heart?!”

“Do you?” Hoseok says, slightly alarmed.

“Wha—would you be mad if I did?”

“I would be mad if you did.”

“See, that’s what I’m saying. You’re so mean about feelings.” He watches you focus on the chalkboard behind his ear. He briefly remembers drawing a loopy spaceship on it. “Look. I’m gonna pretend to be a girl confessing to you, and I want you to be more—sentimental. Okay?”

This is the weirdest thing about you. For someone so annoyingly logical about science, you still somehow kept in touch with romance. The dewy-eyed. Everything Hoseok didn’t know. He remembers junior year and the slow dance with Yubok, and how he accidentally fumbled his knuckles against her back—too low, she’d whispered harshly—and how you’d come back from hiding behind one of those big planters near the entrance, looking sparkly and gentle, mussed up, and somehow he knew you were having the best night of your life, and he’d just accidentally ruined his. He remembers that he has never been cut out for this.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Hoseok sneers, thinking about how the universe loved you.

“Too bad,” you say. “I’m gonna start. Hoseok?”

He might get smacked a third time if he doesn’t comply, so he replies, “Yeah?”

You feign shyness. Casting your eyes down, fidgeting with your shirt. “I-I… Well, I just wanted to… tell you something.”

“Sure,” he says.

Your timidness slips into anger in a blink. “I said be sentimental!”

“What—did you want to tell me?” He tries again, shrinking.

“I think—Well, I think you’re really cute—and—“ you cross your arms, and he so badly wants to yell at you to stop— “and… I was wondering. If. You wanted to grab coffee sometime?”

His answer rolls down his tongue too fast for him to catch. “No,” he says flatly, and instantly he flinches to block your slap against his arm.

“Hoseok!”

“I can’t take this seriously.”

“But I want you to be in tune with your feelings,” you whine.

“I’m plenty in tune with my feelings,” he argues. “And I’m feeling invaded right now.”

“There’s a good two feet between us right now.”

“You’re breathing in my direction, it’s enough.”

You ignore this, and reach for his hand lain flat on the table. “How does this feel?”

Surprisingly, the first word that comes to his mind is safe. But that is not a safe response. “Feels—like you’re holding my hand?”

“Ugh. Just—look into my eyes,” you urge next.

“Okay.”

They don’t curve into softness like Soojin’s does. Your gaze is hard, strikes him so hard it’s almost mortifying. Then your hand squeezes his. He discovers that he likes it.

“I really like you, Hoseok,” you say, oozing sweetness in your voice. Subdued, something you were not. Hoseok wants to throw up. “So please just consider me, okay?”

He nods, speechless.

You revert right back to your previous stance and let go of his hand. It’s almost like a betrayal. Hoseok wonders why his heart is leaping. “So how was that?”

“You’re so fucking weird,” he spits.

“I’m helping you. Look. Let’s make it a thing! I’ll teach you how to be romantic and all that stuff.”

“I’m not trusting the expert of Tiger Beat romance, thank you very much.”

You ignore his quip. “You’re a good guy, Hoseok. Soojin might’ve come on a little too strong and so did you but—really! You’re a good guy! Who deserves love and stuff because it’s just nice to have!”

Hoseok sighs. It’s not that he hated the idea of being in love, he just couldn’t help but be unavailable. Pre-occupied. He said things he didn’t mean. You know this about it him.

“Fine.” And before you can cheer, he adds, “But don’t… tell anyone about this.”

“But the big scary hockey man getting slapped by the tiniest person on campus story is so—“

“Don’t push it,” he says.

“Whatever.” You snort. “Yes, fine, it stays between us. Yay! Okay. Tomorrow I have a study group so we might need to meet up two days from now, let me check my schedule…”

You grab your planner from your bag, scanning the pages. Hoseok has the vaguest feeling that he’s in trouble.

#bts scenarios #hoseok scenarios #bts #hoseok #ubemango fic #f: commissions

[aziraphales-library]

I would like to submit my own Human-AU fic since it’s my first I’m posting in a public space. It’s called Agnes Nutter’s Nice And Accurate Horoscope under my AO3 name sandstone_kitty. Rated M and is my NaNoWriMo for 2019 posting around every 5-7 days. (The only warning is mild non-con touching). I copied the summary here:

Supermodel Anthony Crowley loves his career but not the world Celestial Bodies Modeling Agency has built for him. His provocative image of 'the Demon' doesn't allow for his astrophysics background or soft days spent with his children. His horoscope obsessed ex-husband still micro-manages him, and his manager's just plain creepy.

When he meets Aziraphale Fell, antiquarian bookseller, he wonders if he can build a relationship away from the spotlight. But Aziraphale has his own secret he's hiding. Only his two closest friends know him by his pseudonym, the reclusive but internationally published Astrologist, Agnes Nutter. Can a secret astronomer and shy astrologist find common ground beneath their public faces to change their lives for the better?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22849585/chapters/54611233

#fic rec #good omens #adult omens #submission

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New SpaceTime out Monday

SpaceTime 20231023 Series 26 Episode 127

Astronomers discover newborn galaxies

Astronomers have now been able to look so far back in space-time that they are witnessing the very birth of galaxies.

Psyche blasts off bound for a metal asteroid

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is finally on its way undertaking a six year 3.6 billion kilometre voyage to a mysterious metal-rich asteroid that could hold secrets about the formation of planets like the Earth.

Annular eclipse mesmerizes the Americas

On October 14, 2023, the Moon aligned with the Sun and Earth to produce an annular solar eclipse.

The Science Report

New Studies show 20 percent of Australian teenagers are now vaping.

Ozempic associated with an increased risk of gastrointestinal issues.

A new study shows that the likelihood of hail storms has dropped dramatically in most of Australia.

Skeptics guide to peer review problems

SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences.

The show is available every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com

SpaceTime is also broadcast through the National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio and on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/

SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary

SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary

SpaceTime YouTube: @SpaceTimewithStuartGary

SpaceTime -- A brief history

SpaceTime is Australia’s most popular and respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads every year. We’re also number five in the United States.  The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, space flight, and science.  SpaceTime features weekly interviews with leading Australian scientists about their research.  The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) NewsRadio network.  Award winning investigative reporter Stuart Gary created the program during more than fifteen years as NewsRadio’s evening anchor and Science Editor.  Gary’s always loved science. He studied astronomy at university and was invited to undertake a PHD in astrophysics, but instead focused on his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. He worked as an announcer and music DJ in commercial radio, before becoming a journalist and eventually joining ABC News and Current Affairs. Later, Gary became part of the team that set up ABC NewsRadio and was one of its first presenters. When asked to put his science background to use, Gary developed StarStuff which he wrote, produced and hosted, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience based on the ABC’s Nielsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.  The StarStuff podcast was published on line by ABC Science -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually.  However, after some 20 years, the show finally wrapped up in December 2015 following ABC funding cuts, and a redirection of available finances to increase sports and horse racing coverage.  Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary resigned so that he could keep the show going independently.  StarStuff was rebranded as “SpaceTime”, with the first episode being broadcast in February 2016.  Over the years, SpaceTime has grown, more than doubling its former ABC audience numbers and expanding to include new segments such as the Science Report -- which provides a wrap of general science news, weekly skeptical science features, special reports looking at the latest computer and technology news, and Skywatch – which provides a monthly guide to the night skies. The show is published three times weekly (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and available from the United States National Science Foundation on Science Zone Radio, and through both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio.

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #esa #astrophysics #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff #spacetime

[thistangledbrain]

Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month

Day 5!

“Special Interests”

Have a quiet Autie in your life? That won’t last long if you tap into their special interest. We can’t shut UP when we find someone who’s genuinely curious about what lights us up.

Every older Autie I know has at least one special interest, sometimes several.

Mine? Dogs. Primarily.

And I mean EVERYTHING dog, but starting with behavior. Then in no particular order, health/genetics, various breeds and their traits, training....literally everything. Even the genes that define coat color & pattern, and what physical genetics are tied to behavior (if you’re curious about that, start with the Russian studies about domesticated foxes and what happened to their red coats, the more tame they became). It was horses when I was younger, but I soon moved to dogs when getting into my late teens (more affordable and accessible I guess lol). And if I don’t know the answer to your questions, we find out together, because I *need* to know, too. 😉 I can talk dogs with you literally all day and never get bored...which helps socially, too (I’ve mentioned that most of my closest friends are dog people) - I have a larger network of friends than most other auties I know, and it’s because of a shared passion for all things dog. 
Then there’s the sciences, but particularly quantum & theoretical physics. I. Fucking. Love. Physics. LOVE IT. Unfortunately, my brain hits a wall with more advanced mathematics, so I can’t “do” physics on the level I want to. Luckily for me, my oldest son is also pretty obsessed with it, and he is now pursuing a degree in physics....so when he comes home, we sit down with his notes and he breaks it down for me (the language behind the experiment or action). I have pictures of his notes saved on my phone, for simply the silly reason that I like the patterns of the math (it’s the “universal language”, if you didn’t know), and like to daydream about understanding it. (He struggles with the math as well...we are both HEAVILY right brained...but he manages.) If there’s a documentary out there about physics (plus many lectures), I’ve probably seen it multiple times. Idk why quantum physics in particular interests me...maybe because it’s almost like magic. ☺️ Quantum entanglement fascinates me, and the theory that things aren’t what they are unless/until you observe them...I can get stuck absolutely obsessing over these things.

Nature/animals are the big background special interest that the specifics tie into, though (and this ranges from astrophysics to the life cycle and structure of an ant colony - and even human psychology). Concerning observable animal/plant nature though (and this is a big one for me), Sir David Attenborough is my hero lol- no one else answers the questions I have, and opens up the natural world for me, like that dude. It was Mutual of Omaha’s nature shows when I was a kid, now it’s him. Sorry not sorry, but a doc on the secret life of plants is *fucking riveting* to me. Science is my JAM! 😆 I am happy to recommend any docs to any other fellow science nerds (Through the Wormhole, The Elegant Universe, and Cosmos are all MUST SEE - if you’re a nature nerd, of course Blue Planet, Our Planet, Life...gosh. So many great series). When I get on a science kick, I get the same feelings I get when I’ve tapped into a difficult dog’s psyche, and we start to figure things out. It’s an absolute thrilling obsession, and I am very restless until all my “why/how” is answered. It’s never enough - I never know enough, and I never will.

It’s also an area where my perpetual 2-3 year old is consistently mostly satisfied. I mean that’s the whole scientific community in a nutshell LOL! “WHY?” “HOW?!” When I was a kid, I’d have to write down all my questions that weren’t answered by our Encyclopedias, and wait till the weekly library trip to find the answers I sought. Now, I have a smartphone and Google LOL....and I cannot even begin to describe how consciously thankful I am for that quick access to answers!! Questions will *eat me alive* sometimes, so answering them in a timely fashion is sooooo satisfying 😆

I guess I’m a bit of an artist/creative personality. I’m unhappy when I don’t have space to create....but that space is pretty damn large, because I’m into almost all of it (you can’t exactly fit a miter and bandsaw into your apartment studio, so I’m very grateful I have the space for the power tools LOL...)

From building things to fabric crafts, I love it all. I get way burned out if one of those things become a “job”, though (ehh except being paid as a regular employee of a historic renovation construction firm LOL) - something I HAVE to do. Then it’s not enjoyable anymore. I had started down a path of marketable creations, and they were in high demand...but then it became something I HAD to do for money, instead of wanting to do for enjoyment - and I haven’t touched that particular craft in 8 years or more now (which frustrates people, because I was good at it). 🤷🏻‍♀️ That’s one of those things I really can’t help. My oldest son seems to be sort of similar....he’s commissioned several pieces (and secured his first few at a VERY young age), but he also tends to get a little frustrated when he’s expected to create something, instead of the urge naturally striking him. The whole beauty and satisfaction from art - for me anyway - stems from pure imagination without constraints. When you’re doing something to please someone, it ceases being art, and turns into just...a skilled task you completed. That’s how I look at it, anyway. So even though I could actually make my art into a career (at least supplementary income), it ceases to be enjoyable for me *at all*, unless I’m creating something for someone who means a lot to me. That, and I really just prefer to give my stuff as gifts. It makes me feel good to see people light up with joy over what I’ve made for them, whatever it was. (I also do a shitload of remote training with people and their dogs, for free. I point folks towards the trainers I respect if they need extensive in person work, but lots of folks don’t have several hundred bucks to sink into understanding their dogs better...so...I just help where I can, now. I think it *used to* frustrate my husband, but he absolutely understands now & is cool with it.)

Oh. And rocks and minerals. I’m an obsessive rockhound LOL - and a cousin is a geologist, so he can break down how and why each is so unique, how it formed & why, etc. I’m actually currently converting a large yard sale antique wardrobe into a piece that can showcase Sir Tommy on one side, and my extensive rock and mineral collection on the other (waaaay not extensive enough, but you might be surprised how expensive quality specimens are. Take moldavite for example...fascinating thing...little chip of it about the size of your pinky nail will run you $20 +, because it’s rare. And yes I am fascinated by the metaphysical value attached to these minerals, and why that’s even a thing.) The way minerals form - let’s cite Aragonite as an example - just captivates me.

So I guess those are my main special interests! If you have a *young* Autie in your life, try to expose them to various things. To find a “special interest” is to find a way to ground ourselves. Special interests are a bit different than...well, I’m not sure what words work for stim interests that you can escape into for NT’s, but it’s less of an interest, and more of an obsession for us. It consumes us.

So anyway, EVERY Autie has a special interest. It could be science, it could be gaming (that’s a big one with lots of males, and not a small one for Autie women either, because it’s an escape you actually have to engage your brain in) or computers; it could be mathematics or art. It could be animals and nature. But eventually (for those of you with wee Auties), Your Pet Autie ™️ will find something that they absolutely obsess over & gets them excited to share their knowledge or creations with you. I encourage parents of auties to help them explore the world and find their niche. It helps us navigate your world, and find a way to be at home in it. It also gives us something to fixate on other than our bumbling attempts at fitting in to a world not built for us.

Circling back - if you know an autistic in your life that you want an “in” to get to know, start with their special interest. (Of course we recognize when you’re doing it just for the merits, versus when you actually want to learn something from us, but we appreciate both, really. It gives us a chance to ...idk. Feel important, maybe. At least that’s what it is to me, and my boys. We love to feel needed for our knowledge!)

Special interests are truly your “in” to an Autie, regardless of what their subject is.

So that’s MY take on the special interests. What lights your beloved Autie up?

#asd #autism #autistic #acceptance

[ofsunnys]

BASIC INFORMATION.

Full name: Sunshine Reyes Pronunciation: Sun-shyne Rey-ehs Nickname(s): Sunny, Sun Birthdate: 2nd January 1988 Age: 32 Zodiac: Capricorn Sun, Gemini Moon Gender: Female Pronouns: she/her Romantic orientation: Biromantic Sexual orientation: Bisexual Nationality: British Filipino Ethnicity: Filipino Current location: London, UK Living conditions: Sunny lives in a flat above a phone repair shop in Paddington. She moved in about six months ago and it’s the first time she’s lived alone. Her furniture is a mish-mash of various items she’s gathered over the years, including a couple of hand-me-downs from her parents. Yet to buy a bookshelf, her books (non-fiction, for the most part) lay scattered in piles on most surfaces. A tent and a set of instruments including a telescope sit in a crate by the door; every so often she travels out of the city by train to camp in the countryside to better see the night sky.

BACKGROUND.

Birthplace: London, UK Hometown: London, UK  Social Class: Lower middle Educational achievements: BSc Theoretical Physics; MSc Astrophyisics; PhD Astronomy & Astrophysics  Father: Danilo Reyes Mother: Alma Reyes (née Martin) Sibling(s): Luna Reyes (deceased) Birth order: Sunny is the older sibling, Luna was three years younger Pets: None. Her parents own a dog. Previous relationships: Various, sporadic and short-lived Arrests: None Prison time: None

OCCUPATION & INCOME

Current occupation: UK Space Agency Research Scientist in Stellar Cluster Evolution Dream occupation: Head of Research (Science & Exploration department) at the UK Space Agency Past job(s): Multiple Research Assistant and Research Associate roles Spending habits: Good at saving, tends to splash out on technology  In debt?: Student loans Most valuable possession: Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerised Telescope

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Physical strength: Average  Speed: Average Intelligence: Above Average Accuracy: Above Average Agility: Average Stamina: Below Average Teamwork: Adapts well to teamwork given her career has relied on working well with others. She likes hearing other people’s opinions but can become difficult if forced to work with someone she doesn’t get along with. Talents: Stargazing. Keen chess player. Knows the phonetic alphabet off by heart. Can tie a cherry stalk with her tongue.  Shortcomings: Doesn’t always consider how her words may make others feel; can have difficulty coherently expressing how she feels; is more likely to ask questions than answer them; can be judgemental Languages spoken: English, some Ilocano and Tagalog picked up from her parents Drive?: No Jump-start a car?: No Change a flat tyre?: No Ride a bicycle?: Yes Swim?: Yes Play an instrument?: No Play chess?: Yes Braid hair?: Yes Tie a tie?: No Pick a lock?: No Cook?: Yes

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS

Faceclaim: Maja Salvador Eye colour: Brown Hair colour: Dark brown Hair type/style/length: Long, 1A straight hair that reaches her mid-back. Tends to tie it up in a high ponytail when working. Glasses/contacts?: No Dominant hand: Right Height: 5′1″ Weight: 110lbs Build: Petite slim Exercise habits: Occasionally goes jogging and then remembers that she hates jogging and doesn’t do it again for a few weeks Skin tone: Golden fair Tattoos: An intricate inner arm half sleeve on her right arm with various nocturnal creatures including a bat and an owl amongst the phases of the moon (similar to this). She saved up a fair amount to have it done, patient with the mechnical buzz of the artist’s needle gun.  Piercings: Double lobe piercings. Pierced nipples that she got ten years ago while drunk.  Marks/scars: A silvery scar just below her thumb on her left palm from picking up broken glass. Clothing style: Mostly black or dark tones. Typically a jumpsuit or button up shirt and high waisted jeans. Relaxes in a university hoodie and leggings.  Jewellery: Thin and gold. Hoops in her ears and a disc pendant chain around her neck. Allergies: None known Diet: Sporadically vegetarian which she’ll conveniently forget when she’s in the mood for fried fish. Prefers savoury to sweet. Likes anything peanut flavoured. Takes daily vitamin supplements. Physical ailments: None

PSYCHOLOGY

MBTI type: INTJ The Architect (strategic, confident, independent, overly analytical, insensitive) Enneagram type: The Investigator (perceptive, innovative, secretive, isolated) Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral Temperament: Choleric Element: Earth Emotional stability: Tries not to think about it Introvert or Extrovert?: Introvert Obsession(s): Achieving time travel  Compulsion(s): None known Phobia(s): People who wear Crocs in the lab Addiction(s): Proving people wrong Drug use: Cannabis but rarely. Hates nicotine. Alcohol use: Frequent Prone to violence?: No Prone to crying?: No Believe in love at first sight?: No

MANNERISMS

Accent: Estuary English Speech quirks: None of note Hobbies: Stargazing; beating strangers at chess online; reading gossip columns Habits: Grits her teeth when concentrating; fiddles with her necklace; rests her head in her hand when tired. Nervous ticks: Shutting down emotionally; providing one word answers; avoiding eye contact. Drives/motivations: Save her sister Fears: Failure; letting loss swallow her life Sense of humour?: Often quite dry and sarcastic. Quick to tease people for her own amusement. Do they curse often?: Occasionally when stressed.

FAVOURITES

Animal: Ocelot Beverage: Banana milkshake Book: His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman Colour: Dark green Food: Vegetable kare-kare Flower: Passionflower Gem: Opal Mode of transportation: Train Scent: Vanilla Sport: Rugby Weather: Thunderstorm Vacation destination: Hungary

ATTITUDES

Greatest dream: Travel back in time to save her sister from being killed Greatest fear: Realise that she’s wasted her entire life so far chasing an unreachable dream Most at ease when: Cutting someone’s ego down to size with a witty comment Least as ease when: Talking about her feelings Worst possible thing that could happen: See greatest fear Biggest achievement: Her career thus far Biggest regret: The death of her sister. Having a name that doesn’t match her personality

#h. #timejumptalk

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 29: Academy Spock

Well, well, well, what’s this? A new HAICG story. I’m gonna call it a story because it’s (somehow???) 1500 words. Don’t know how that happened lol. Will be up on AO3... sometime idk.

This is for @senseofenterprise who asked for Spock and Sevin in San Francisco, Starfleet Academy era.

*

The cafe down the street from Spock's apartment plays recorded Terran music during the day, and hosts live musical performances in the evening. Spock has been to three such concerts: one by himself, one with a group of second-year Cadets, and one, last weekend, with Cadet Lawrence. This last event he is still turning over, carefully considering, in the back of his mind. Cadet Lawrence is a human, blond and blue-eyed, with an easy, lop-sided smile. He's in the Engineering program, and his favorite topics of conversation are the latest developments in transporter technology, and the history of Federation space travel. Spock has seen history books mixed in among his textbooks, when they study together in the library, which they started doing only because they both enjoy the same room on the third floor. They both like to sit beneath the round window that always lets in a peculiar light, green-tinted as it streams through the leaves of the tree outside.

Another reason they study together is because Spock quite enjoys Cadet Lawrence’s company. Once, three days before the evening together at the cafe, Spock dedicated several hours to teaching Cadet Lawrence how to write simple phrases in Vulcan. His hand was so unsteady, Spock had to help him grip his stylus, to trace out the exact curls and circles of his native script. Only when he was done did he realize how closely they were sitting, and the unfamiliar, soft, human expression that had taken the place of Cadet Lawrence’s usual smile.

None of which is worth thinking about now. He has his Astrophysics reading and his weak, Terran tea, and all he needs is to focus his thoughts on his work again. Somehow, he had found himself staring at a row of maps on the wall across from him, depicting the capital cities of the four original Federation planets. His own home city is second from the left. Cadet Lawrence has never left Earth before—"Never even been on a shuttle before I came to San Francisco," he'd said, grinning, glancing over at Spock like he was expecting him to laugh.

From the chair next to him, a small hand reaches out, and taps at the edge of his PADD. "Father! Time to work!"

Spock raises his eyebrows, a show of amusement for his son, who is staring at him with the most serious of expressions. Sevin is balanced on top of an unsteady pile of pillows, in order to be tall enough to reach the tabletop, where he has arranged his own version of work: his toy spaceship and three large plastic blocks, out of which he has created a complicated, but inscrutable game. He's still holding the spaceship in his other hand.

"I appreciate how you keep me focused, small one," Spock answers, and gently moves his hand out of the way. Then he turns back to his reading again, but his boy won't be deterred.

"When will we go to the park?" Sevin asks. Usually, he enjoys the cafe: all of the people, mostly Starfleet Cadets and officers, chattering in different languages all around them; the music; the interesting maps and other artwork on the walls; and especially the light fixtures, which hang like crystals at intervals along the ceiling, and never cease to amaze and delight him. He is also fond of the baristas, who think he is the most adorable little boy in the galaxy. But they've been here a long afternoon, and Spock has promised his son an evening at the playground after he has finished his reading.

"Soon," he answers, which is close enough to the truth.

"When?"

Spock sighs. Then he leans in close, as if he were sharing a secret, and says quietly, "When I finish this chapter."

"Then you'll tell me about it?"

He nods. "Yes. And you will tell me about what you have been doing."

Just as they always do. Sevin doesn't understand anything that Spock shares of his studies, and Spock doesn't understand most of what Sevin describes of his games, but they enjoy each other's interest. That is enough.

He has managed to read another three pages, enough to bring him back into a proper, focused, studious mindset again, when an unexpected noise rises above the general background hum of conversation and twenty-second century acoustic guitar, and rouses him again. This time, it is his name. "Cadet Spock," someone says, from right in front of him and somewhat above, and he looks up, briefly startled to see Captain Pike standing next to his chair. He's holding a to-go cup of coffee, and looks like he stopped abruptly, as if he too were caught by surprise.

"Captain," Spock answers. "Good afternoon. I did not notice you passing by."

"No, I can see you're busy. I almost didn't notice you, either." His eyes flick briefly to Sevin, then back to Spock again. Spock can feel the tips of his ears turning hot. He bluffed his way into an advanced level course taught by Captain Pike during his second semester at the Academy, unwilling to take the chance that it would not be offered again, and by the end of the year had convinced the Captain to supervise an additional independent study course for him. This would allow him to get Command track credit, despite being in the Science division. Hoping to make Captain one day, Spock? Pike had asked, in a tone that Spock did not know how to read: friendly, and fond, but slightly teasing too.

I merely wish to expand my understanding of Starfleet as much as possible, Sir.

All right. Well, you know First Officers come from every division, not just Command—

It had felt like a promise, some potential inside him that not even he could see, suddenly laid bare, and he'd blushed at that suggestion too. He’d felt a certain pride filling his chest, squaring his shoulders.

Yet for all their work together, he'd never once mentioned his son.

"So, who's this little guy?" Pike asks now, gesturing with his coffee cup to Sevin. Pike is smiling yet another variant of human smile now, one Spock recognizes well: the expression adults always direct toward his child, to show that they are trustworthy. Sevin is staring back at him, wide-eyed and silent.

"This is Sevin," Spock answers, and on a whim, picks the boy up and settles him on his lap. "My son."

Perhaps he has already hypothesized as much, but Pike lets only the slightest surprise show. His eyebrows rise briefly, and his mouth opens, but he turns the expression back into a smile smoothly enough. "Sevin," he repeats. "And how old are you, Sevin?"

"He's two and a half," Spock answers, when the boy himself doesn't speak. He's still watching Pike with steady curiosity, but seems to consider himself no more than an observer to the conversation.

"And shy?" Pike asks.

"Sometimes."

"Mmm. Well, I can't say I blame him for that." He turns his gaze back to Spock, nods once, and adds, "Nice running into you both. I'll see you on Friday?"

"As always, Sir."

Before he leaves, Pike waves goodbye to Sevin, a small wave for a small boy. Then, when he sees Sevin reaching out for his hand, he holds it out, a shade of uncertainty now across his expression that Spock cannot dispel quickly enough. He knows what Sevin wants to do. But he has no time to pull him back or to give any sort of warning a human would understand, before Sevin has placed his palm on Captain Pike's palm.

A strange jolt passes across his features, only a second, there and gone and in its wake, a confused frown, the slightest parting of his lips. Pike jerks his hand back again, and Spock pulls Sevin close against his chest. "I apologize," he says quickly. "He—he is still leaning to control his telepathic abilities."

Pike is staring down at his hand, as if expecting some physical aftermath there on his skin. He looks up at Spock's words, and his frown deepens. "Oh," he answers, faint and slightly dazed. "Is that what that was. I have to say, Spock," and his tone lightens again, perhaps with effort, perhaps with that innate ability humans seem to have, to rebound quickly from the surprise of any new discovery. "I have to say, I've never experienced anything quite like that before."

"I assure you, he was not trying to read your thoughts, only to share—"

"It's all right." Pike smiles again. "That's a bright little boy you have there. I hope I see you both around again." He waves once more, and Spock offers a faint goodbye, and then Captain Pike is disappearing again into the crowd.

Only then does Spock let out a breath he did not realize he was holding. "We have discussed this, small one," he says, and hugs Sevin closer again. "We—"

"Don't use telepathy with humans," Sevin finishes. "I'm sorry, Father. I just wanted—"

"I know. I understand." The temptation is great sometimes for him, too: a shortcut to communication with these strange, emotional, confusing aliens, who remain always a mystery, even as some of what they are is part of him and his son, too. "I understand," he says again, and presses a kiss to the top of Sevin's head.

#home also i cannot go #haicg #mine #my writing #the year 2020 #2020: free write #2020: answers

[spacenutspod]

One of the main objectives of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to use its powerful optics and advanced instruments to observe the earliest galaxies in the Universe. These galaxies formed about 1 billion years after the Big Bang, coinciding with the end of what is known as the “Cosmic Dark Ages.” This epoch is inaccessible for conventional optical telescopes because the only sources of photons were largely associated with the relic radiation of the Big Bang – visible today as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) – or were the result of the reionization of neutral hydrogen (visible today the 21 cm line). Thanks to its advanced optics and infrared imaging capabilities, Webb has pushed the boundaries of how far astronomers and cosmologists can see. One of the most interesting finds was Maisie’s galaxy, which appeared to have existed roughly 390 million years after the Big Bang. According to a new study by the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS) that recently appeared in Nature, these results have since been confirmed. This makes Maisie’s galaxy one of the farthest (and earliest) confirmed galaxies ever observed by human eyes. The team was composed of astronomers and astrophysicists from the NSF National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), the University of Texas at Austin, the Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics (RIT-LMA), the Royal Observatory’s Institute for Astronomy, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Instituto de Investigación Multidisciplinar en Ciencia y Tecnología, the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), the Niels Bohr Institute, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), the NASA Goddard Astrophysics Science Division, and multiple universities and institutes. By observing the earliest stars and galaxies, astronomers hope to unlock some of the most profound secrets of cosmic evolution. This includes how the earliest stars seeded the galaxy with heavy elements, when and where the first supermassive black holes (SMBHs) formed, and how the cosmic structure has since evolved. The answers these observations will reveal will help scientists address other profound questions regarding the formation of planet systems and the building blocks of life. Maisie’s galaxy first became apparent to astronomers using the JWST last summer. At the time, observations placed this galaxy at an apparent distance of about 13.5 billion light-years. For many years, the record for the farthest galaxy was held by Gz-11, observed by the venerable Hubble Space Telescope in 2016. In 2020, observations by the NOIRLab and the Cosmic DAWN center pushed the limit further with their observations of EGS77, a galaxy that existed when the Universe was just 680 million years old. By 2021, the record was broken again by researchers led by the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, which identified GN-z11 – which existed when the Universe was roughly 400 million years old. Last summer, the CEERS collaboration believed they spotted an earlier candidate with the discovery of Maisie’s galaxy. This campaign was led by Steven Finkelstein, a professor of astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, the principal investigator for the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey (CEERS), and a co-author of this latest paper. Finkelstein named the galaxy after his daughter, as it was discovered on her birthday. Based on their analysis, they estimated that the galaxy formed just 250 million years after the Big Bang. The latest analysis, led by NOIRLab postdoctoral research associate Pablo Arrabal Haro, confirms that Maisie’s galaxy existed when the Universe was 390 million years old. While not as young as the CEERS team initially thought, Maisie’s galaxy is still one of the four earliest confirmed galaxies. “The exciting thing about Maisie’s galaxy is that it was one of the first distant galaxies identified by JWST, and of that set, it’s the first to actually be spectroscopically confirmed,” he said in a UT News release. Image of Maisie’s galaxy, named after Steven Finkelstein’s daughter, taken by the JWST. Credit: NASA/STScI/CEERS/TACC/UT Austin/S. Finkelstein/M. Bagley. The original estimates of redshifts were based on photometry measurement of data collected by CEERS during its allotted time for Webb‘s Cycle 1 General Observers (GO) programs. To get a more accurate estimate, the CEERS team conducted follow-up measurements with the JWST Near-infrared Spectrometer (NIRSpec). According to their analysis of its spectra, Maisie’s galaxy has a redshift value of z=11.4. For this latest study, the collaboration also looked at CEERS-93316, a galaxy originally found in 2022 as part of a CEERS study led by astronomers from the University of Edinburgh. At the time, the team estimated that the galaxy had a record-setting redshift of z = 16.7, indicating that it formed just 250 million years after the Big Bang. Upon further analysis, they found that their results were confounded by the presence of hot gas in the galaxy, which made it appear much bluer than it actually was – and much brighter than our models predict for early galaxies. The blue tint mimicked the signature the CEERS team expected to see in very early galaxies, which were populated by particularly massive and intensely bright blue stars. Their latest analysis determined that CEERS-93316 has a more modest redshift of z=4.9, corresponding to an age of about 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Said Finkelstein: “This was a kind of weird case. Of the many tens of high redshift candidates that have been observed spectroscopically, this is the only instance of the true redshift being much less than our initial guess. It would have been really challenging to explain how the universe could create such a massive galaxy so soon. So, I think this was probably always the most likely outcome, because it was so extreme, so bright, at such an apparent high redshift.” The CEERS team’s paper, “Confirmation and refutation of very luminous galaxies in the early universe,” appeared in Nature on August 14th, 2023. The CEERS team is currently evaluating several other galaxies that might predate Maisie’s galaxy, pushing the study of the early Universe even further. Further Reading: UT News, Nature The post You’re Looking at the Farthest Confirmed Galaxies Found by JWST appeared first on Universe Today.

#space #astronomy #news #science