Last night I heard a Radiolab episode that first aired in June of last year. It was about a theory that a very tiny black hole may have caused the Tunguska blast. A black hole the size of a hydrogen atom. Tiny black holes like this are theoretically possible, according to Radiolab guest Dr. Matt O'Dowd (our favorite NPR Spacetime video series physicist). These tiny black holes may have formed shortly after the Big Bang, before stars started forming. If a tiny black hole was the cause of 800 square miles of flattened Russian forest, it would have shot straight through the earth leaving a tiny crater, carving a tunnel of magma, and depending on the angle of descent, probably exited through an ocean.
Do you want to know more?
It was my 8yos choirs concert today. It was weird that there was someone chopping onions in there…
Unfortunately, there are several strong counter-arguments to the black hole hypothesis. While they looked, no exit point or barograph record exists that would indicate a black hole strike. Also, there was a bright white light seen all over Europe, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis.
So horses, not zebras, I think.
Someone remastered the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis! :chefs kiss:
Unfortunately, there are several strong counter-arguments to the black hole hypothesis.
Fine, then. Clearly it was a missile of alien provenance, fired millions of years ago in another part of the galaxy. It missed its target and hurtled through space until the dance of the celestial bodies guided it here. After heating up in the atmosphere, its deadly payload finally detonated mere kilometers above the surface of the earth.
For some schadenfreude, I mentioned The Final Experiment here before, a trip being held to take a bunch of Flat Earthers to Antarctica to once and for all disprove Flat Earth-
They arrived in Antarctica this weekend and are livestreaming themselves coping with and trying to rationalize something they thought would never actually happen, especially since many Flat Earthers think the NASA-controlled world government won’t allow anyone to visit Antarctica due to their misunderstanding of an old treaty which prevents countries and businesses from exploiting the continent for resources.
Yesterday one of them mentioned on stream that during orientation they had been told to avoid a specific area near camp because it contained “crevasses that can swallow a car,” and he now thinks “they” are hiding something over there. His chat was urging him to sneak over and check it out. I would not be surprised if not everyone makes it back from this trip.
I think my favorite take on the Tunguska event is in the book Earth by David Brin.
Though it occurs to me now that this is one of those "near future" novels that we're rapidly catching up to. I should take another look at it... my memory is it actually isn't too far off from where we really seem to be headed.
Just got my last grade in - officially graduated with my MBA. Looking forward to having my weekends back!
Congrats!
Good job Doctor Professor Sally!
So my wife and I were invited by the Dutch Embassy here in Athens, Greece to participate in the Living Library at the Goulandris museum. As in, we were each there as "books" and people could check us out for a conversation for 20-30 minutes (our choice). It was a...transformative experience. If you ever have a chance to participate in any way (volunteer, reader, book) jump at the chance.
There were many volunteers taking care of us, and the embassy provided a "break room" filled with treats, coffee, juice, etc. And then my volunteer would come in and ask my permission to take me to a reader (and ask if I needed a longer break or more time), and then they bring me to one or two people and find us a nook in the library to speak in.
I was there as "Dad of an LGBTQ kid" and I had such an insane variety of conversations. From LGBTQ young adults who had me stereotyped as "a guy this old can't possibly be all cool and progressive like me" to a gay couple, who were psychologists, who really wanted to ask me psychology research type questions, to a spectrum of people with no connection to my stories at all who just wanted to learn.
So therapeutic. So...freeing. It was like being given permission, not to "trauma dump" but to "truth barrage" and I very matter-of-factly gave me stories and my truth. Some people wanted to be asked questions, some only wanted to ask me questions.
The volunteers who were my "matchmaker" started each of the two six-hour days (Sat/Sun) being very kind, protective, and professional. But being in Greece, some of my readers could understand English quite well but needed a translator to ask me complex questions that I'd understand. This meant my volunteer would stay and translate, instead of leaving us to ourselves. And both days, different volunteers, forgot to translate what I was saying half of the time because they got so emotionally caught up in listening to me. And after that...I felt like they traded "professional" for "family member forever." Amazing.
Similar thing happened to me and for me when I was in the break room and speaking with other books, or embassy staff and museum staff who were volunteering. Big family by the end. The head of events for the museum told me and my wife to let him know in advance if/when we take our kids to the museum, because he will make sure we are treated very right. And the embassy staff let us know we'd be invited to all future events involving inclusion, LGBT rights, civil rights, and anything else they could think of. VIPs for life...for telling our truths. I'm getting choked up writing this now.
Just a beautiful experience. I had Greek men my age apologizing for crying...I thanked them instead. Beautiful.
Amazing story, that sounds like a great experience, Roo.
The Great Deku Tree Lego set came with some extra Korok faces, and the bodies are pretty easy to find parts for, so now there are a couple of the little guys hiding in Rivendell...
Visiting family on the edges of the Lake District the UK and going for a walk after Christmas Dinner and present opening.
What's that in the sky... is it... DRONES?!
Stars! Nature’s drones. Similar but they’re ten miles or so further away.
Can't be that far, they'd be blurred by the dome.
Can't be that far, they'd be blurred by the dome.
And that's why you need the microchips in the COVID vaccines, so the dome knows to unblur whenever someone looks up.
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance most Fowl was a delight from start to finish. That is all.
Edit: coming to Netflix on 3rd January apparently.
The 10th Annual Tucker Awards for Excellence in Swearing
(spoilered for spicy language)
(You can follow Strong Language on Bluesky)
The 10th Annual Tucker Awards for Excellence in Swearing
(spoilered for spicy language)
Spoiler:
(You can follow Strong Language on Bluesky)
Looks like we're only 2-3 albums away from it being nothing but obscenities...
We have an Arctic Blast going on (deeply cold weather descending from on high due to changes in the jet stream) and this morning after I finished breakfast and dishes it was 23F (-5C). I took some recycles out to the bin in pants and short sleeves, and sat down to play some games once back inside, but my body drove me back outside.
I stood on the deck for about 5 minutes, enjoying the cold air sliding around me, then did some good exercises for another 5 minutes or so, then just basked in the sunshine for about another five minutes. You know that feeling you get when it's 100F/38C out and you plunge into the ocean? That's what it felt like. Incredible. Not a shiver and no sense of urgency to get out of the cold. When I did go back inside, I felt incredibly refreshed, and the 68F/20C air felt like a steam bath.
I've been this way all my life. This is why I like Winter. Naturally, I can't do this all day, I don't think, but a nice cold session that can be had just by walking out the door is incredibly refreshing and boosts my mood to the sky.
Anyone else do this?
Having received a pass for a few hours I am sat in an imax cinema with a coffee all on my own about to watch the Robert Eggers. Nosferatu.
Enjoy! 
Having received a pass for a few hours I am sat in an imax cinema with a coffee all on my own about to watch the Robert Eggers. Nosferatu.
How was it?
bbk1980 wrote:Having received a pass for a few hours I am sat in an imax cinema with a coffee all on my own about to watch the Robert Eggers. Nosferatu.
How was it?
I was about to write up in the movies thread but short answer it was mid range Eggers which is still brilliant for me. The peace and quiet was also just what I needed prior to the great return to normality after the Christmas/hogmanay break.
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I returned to Winamp and my personal music collection (last updated... 10+ years ago?) and I have no regrets
Yeah I went through and did a FLAC burn of most of my CDs like 11-12 years ago. Sold a few things after that to reduce clutter. And backed it up to external drives.
Then our car played MP3s so I made a few mix CDs for that with tons of songs. Then the new car we got around kid 1 did not have a CD player anymore. But the car we got after kid 2 did again. So I'm back!
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