Podcasts about milky way galaxy

As World War II wound to an end, President Franklin Roosevelt asked his top scientific advisor a question: How could the type of research that helped win the war be applied to peacetime? The advisor suggested a new agency to support basic research at colleges and universities. It took a few years to work out the details. But 75 years ago today, President Harry Truman signed the law establishing that agency: the National Science Foundation. Over the decades, its mission has expanded into many fields, from chemistry and physics to computers and materials science. The list also includes astronomy. NSF established the first national observatories in 1956 – optical telescopes in Arizona, and radio telescopes in West Virginia. Today, NSF-supported facilities span the globe. They include observatories that no one was even dreaming of when the agency started. They hunt for the ghostly particles known as neutrinos, and listen for gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars. NSF also is a partner in the Vera Rubin Observatory, which is scheduled to take its first peek at the universe this summer. Its giant telescope will scan a wide slice of the sky every night. It will discover exploding stars, asteroids, and other objects. It will map the Milky Way Galaxy. And it’ll provide new information about dark energy and dark matter – basic research that will teach us much more about the universe. Script by Damond Benningfield

The Gaia spacecraft took its final look at the stars in January. But its work is far from over. Its observations will be producing new discoveries for decades. Above Earth’s blurring atmosphere, the space telescope kept a sharp eye on the heavens for more than a decade. It studied about two billion objects – mostly stars. It measured their temperature, composition, and motion. And it plotted their positions with amazing precision. That’s allowed astronomers to produce the best 3-D maps of the Milky Way Galaxy to date – by far. Those maps have helped plot the origins of many stars – the remains of star clusters or even small galaxies pulled in by the Milky Way. And that’s revealed a lot more about the history of the entire galaxy. Gaia also looked at other galaxies, at asteroids and comets in the solar system, and many other objects. It even helped reveal a couple of planets in other star systems. The craft ran out of the gas it used to keep its telescope on target, bringing its mission to an end. But it takes a lot of time to process Gaia’s observations and release them for study. There have been three big batches so far, which have yielded more than 13,000 scientific papers. The next big release is scheduled for late next year. And the final release – everything Gaia saw and reported – won’t be ready until late 2030 at the earliest – a treasure trove that astronomers will be poking through for decades. Script by Damond Benningfield

News items read by Laura Kennedy include: Genetic study fills in the story of New Mexico tribe's Chaco Canyon ancestry (details) (details) Luxor obelisk may have displayed “propaganda” praising Ramesses II (details) Ancient human settlement on Scottish island reveals previously unknown extent of nomadic travel (details) (details) Milky Way Galaxy identified in ancient Egyptian burial art (details) (details)

No need to panic. Yet! We'll be fine for the next 4 or 5 billion years, but Andromeda is heading our way. The Andromeda Galaxy was the first object to be identified as being outside our own galaxy, and it introduced us to extragalactic astronomy. And that's not all. It can teach us more about dark matter and it could be home to billions of planets.It's a very cool neighbour, but one day - it's kinda going to move in!Follow Cosmic Coffee Time on X for some special contentX.com/CosmicCoffTimeEmail us! cosmiccoffeetime@gmail.comYou can request a topic for the show! Or even just say hi!We'd love to hear from you.

Why is it so difficult to study the evolution of early galaxies? Are metallic D&D dice better than plastic ones? And can you have too many Pokémon tattoos? To find out, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome Justin Cole, who is currently a grad student at Texas A&M studying the evolution of distant galaxies in pursuit of his PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics. As always, though, we start off with the day's joyfully cool cosmic thing – the recent – and remarkable – discovery of four planets orbiting Barnard's Star, a tiny star not much bigger than Jupiter with the highest measured proper motion of any star in our sky. Chuck and Justin discuss why the discovery of new exoplanets is so challenging, which leads to Justin explaining what he's studying: galaxies in our universe that developed less than 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang – about 2.5 billion years before the birth of our own Milky Way Galaxy. We've got a handle on what's going on with our neighbors like the Andromeda Galaxy, but when it comes to early galaxies, we have a very limited range of wavelengths and scant data to study. This makes it harder to derive understandings of galactic evolution and whether they support or conflict with the standard model of physics. Our first audience question comes from Ricardo, who asks, “What if we discover extraterrestrial plant life and find out it's intelligent? Actually, what if we discover plants on Earth are intelligent? Would it be unethical to eat them?” After Chuck shares a little about Marvel's intelligent, telepathic species of plants called the Cotati, and imitates Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors, Justin weighs in on the ethics of eating intelligent plants and asks a critical question: Would we understand them enough to know? What would happen if we bit into a head of alien lettuce and it started screaming? The ensuing discussion is… tasty, albeit a little unsettling. Our next question is from Thomasina, who asks, “I read that the Big Bang theory is in trouble – what does that mean? And did the Big Bang never happen?” Justin, who is an early universe guy, clarifies what's going on here. We occasionally find galaxies that seem to be too big for the amount of time that they've had to grow. We're also finding black holes that with our current instruments, also appear to be too big. In each case, we're finding better ways to simulate these situations, and it's not that they're too big, or that the Big Bang isn't supportable, it's that we're using tools that are calibrated to “nearby and today” that aren't as good at helping us assess early galaxies. Next up, Justin, who is getting ready to run a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition roleplaying session after the podcast recording, talks about using D&D Beyond to create his own campaigns (set in the World of Warcraft universe!). Chuck and Justin discuss the benefits of rolling metal dice, and Justin shows off a couple of his beautiful D20. Not to be outdone, Allen shares his 120-sided die, the largest die allowed by three dimensional Euclidean geometry in conventional space. Meanwhile, Chuck tells us the sad story of his old, worn plastic dice. As Allen points out, Chuck was in the hobby before it was cool! And as we run out of time, Justin shares his intention to get one Pokémon tattoo for every state he and his wife visit. If you'd like to know more about what Justin's up to, he suggests you Google “Justin Cole Astronomy” or “Justin Cole A&M.” We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon. Credits for Images Used in this Episode: Size comparison between Jupiter, Barnard's Star, and the Sun. – Credit: Creative Commons. Diagram of evolution of the (observable part) of the universe from the Big Bang (left), the CMB-reference afterglow, to the present. – Credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team. Evolution of the gas density overlaid with a transparency mask to only visualize regions with significant ionizing radiation in the Thesan-1 simulation. – Credit: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. #TheLIUniverse #CharlesLiu #AllenLiu #SciencePodcast #AstronomyPodcast #JustinCole #Astronomy #Astrophysics #BarnardsStar #GalacticEvolution #BigBang #StandardModelofPhysics #ExtraterrestrialPlantLife #IntelligentLife #D&D #Pokemon #Tattoos

Learn about The Ancient Travelers an advanced alien race who were the Over Lords of The Milky Way Galaxy

The gibbous Moon passes across a special spot tonight. It lines up opposite the center of the Milky Way Galaxy – the galactic anti-center. In that direction, we’re looking toward the rim of the galaxy’s disk. The rim is about 25,000 light-years away, with intergalactic space beyond. The center of the galaxy is in Sagittarius. When we look in that direction we stare into thick clouds of stars, along with dark clouds of dust – places where more stars are being born. But when we look in the opposite direction the view is much less impressive. There aren’t as many stars or dust clouds. And the stars thin out as you get closer to the rim. Beyond that, we’re looking into the galaxy’s “halo” – a region that extends hundreds of thousands of light-years into space. It contains a few giant star clusters, and a smattering of individual stars. Almost all of them are ancient – dating to the earliest days of the Milky Way itself. And beyond the halo, there’s not much at all – some wisps of gas, and an occasional star or free-ranging planet. It’s millions of light-years to the next galaxy – through the vastness of intergalactic space. The closest star to the anticenter is Elnath, the second-brightest star of Taurus. It marks the tip of one of the bull’s horns. It’s just above the Moon at nightfall. The brilliant planet Jupiter and the star Aldebaran – the bull’s eye – stand farther to the right or upper right of the Moon. Script by Damond Benningfield

John talks with Jenn Drummond — World Record Holder as the first woman to conquer the 7 Second Summits, author of BreakProof: 7 Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals, host of the Seek Your Summit Podcast, speaker, entrepreneur, and mom of seven. Jenn has climbed famous peaks like Ama Dablam in Nepal, Mount Kenya, Mount Logan, and Mount Tyree in Antarctica. Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [00:29] - Jenn's bio [01:56] - How Jenn became a mountaineer [08:22] - Hardest and most rewarding climbs for Jenn [12:06] - What's involved in becoming a world-class mountaineer [15:55] - Jenn's workout regimen and training [19:19] - Financial investment required for climbing expeditions [20:55] - Sponsorships and brand partnerships to fund climbing expeditions [22:19] - Jenn's book: BreakProof [23:41] - John's book update [25:33] - How Jenn builds her significant relationships [27:24] - Jenn definition of success [31:19] - #1 daily habit for Jenn [32:08] - Traits of a great leader [32:34] - Best advice Jenn ever received [34:14] - Jenn's biggest failing and lesson learned [35:24] - NO's are important [37:41] - How Jenn invests in her growth [39:02] - What Jenn does to create memories with her kids [41:31] - Best way to connect with Jenn [43:51] - Book recommendations [45:08] - Closing remarks NOTABLE QUOTES: “I don't get to choose when I die, but I sure get to choose how I live.” “Big mountains take big teams. And so, if you have a big goal, a big family, or a big business to run, it takes a lot of people to make that happen.” “Our calendar really is the truth-teller of what we value in our lives.” “If you always do things right, you don't learn a thing. You only learn when you fail.” “I need to be kind to myself because that actually makes me stronger. The world's hard enough—me being hard on myself isn't going to help the situation at all.” “No one remembers what the goal looks like. They remember the score of the game.” “No's are actually a good thing. Those no's are so important because, first of all, a no almost always is not a forever no—it's a no at the moment. And the other is that when they say no, that helps narrow the pool down for you. It gets you closer to knowing who your people are.” “Not all crazy ideas are good, but all good ideas are a little bit crazy.” “The more we can invest in ourselves, the more it gives us to invest in other people. You can't give what you don't have.” BOOKS MENTIONED: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by R. Stephen Covey (https://a.co/d/iSg11cx) The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason (https://a.co/d/bYaJHeP) The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz (https://a.co/d/iDCBcb7) Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (https://a.co/d/467iAdv) PODCAST MENTIONED: The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (https://www.youtube.com/@TheDiaryOfACEO) USEFUL RESOURCES: Text “Everest” to 33777 to get Jenn's video of the Milky Way Galaxy going over Mt. Everest https://jenndrummond.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-drummond/ https://www.instagram.com/thejenndrummond https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.drummond.927 https://www.facebook.com/jenndrummondutah https://x.com/thejenndrummond https://jenndrummond.com/podcast/ https://www.youtube.com/@jenndrummond BreakProof: 7 Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals (https://a.co/d/3mW7rn9)  CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen     Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen     Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/johnhulen     LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen     YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA     EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/

The constellation Auriga is high in the eastern sky as night falls. It’s usually drawn as a pentagon. The brilliant star Capella is at the top left corner, with fainter Elnath – a star that’s shared with Taurus – at the lower right. A trail of three prominent star clusters winds through the pentagon – Messier 36, 37, and 38. M36 and 38 are inside the pentagon. M37 is just below it. All three are easy targets for binoculars. M37 is about 4500 light-years away. And it’s the largest of the trio of clusters. It spans a few dozen light-years. Astronomers have cataloged more than 500 member stars, but the total population could be much higher. The cluster includes more than 50 dead stars known as white dwarfs. The details of such stars help reveal the cluster’s age – roughly 400 million to 550 million years. And that’s a long time for a star cluster to hang together. M37 has orbited the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at least twice. As it orbits, the gravitational fingers of other stars and gas clouds pull away some of the stars on the fringes of the cluster. So far, Messier 37 appears to be maintaining a firm grip on most of its stars. But that won’t last forever. More stars will be pulled away on each trip through the galaxy – whittling down this tight family of stars. Script by Damond Benningfield

For decades, the DSS-28 radio antenna in the California desert listened to the faint whisper of spacecraft exploring the solar system. It’s still listening for artificial radio signals today – the faint whisper of other civilizations. It’s controlled by students around the country and around the world. DSS-28 is a radio dish more than a hundred feet in diameter. It was built for the Army, then transferred to NASA. It was decommissioned in the 1980s. But 40 years ago, a kindergarten teacher in California found a new use for it – as an educational tool for teachers and students. It’s the centerpiece of the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope project. Teachers train to use the telescope, and pass that knowledge on to their students. The students then work with scientists to observe stars, planets, and other objects. Current projects include studies of the radio waves from Jupiter; the busy regions around supermassive black holes in other galaxies; and the connection between sunspots and the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere. Another project is SETI – the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Students have been using the telescope to scan the galactic plane – the region that outlines the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. The first phase found no signals from other civilizations. But the telescope will scan more slices of the galaxy in the coming years – still listening for radio signals from beyond Earth. Script by Damond Benningfield

We can think of our location in the universe along the lines of an address. The street would be planet Earth, the county would be the solar system, and the country would be the Milky Way Galaxy. The state would be the Orion Arm – a ribbon of stars that wraps part of the way around the galaxy. The Milky Way is a disk that’s about a hundred thousand light-years wide. It has a long “bar” of stars in its middle. Spiral arms extend from the ends of the bar and wrap all the way around the galaxy. They make the Milky Way look like a pinwheel spinning through the void. The arms don’t contain more stars than the darker regions between them. Instead, the arms are like waves on the ocean. As a wave washes through the galaxy, it squeezes clouds of gas and dust, giving birth to new stars. Many of those stars are big, hot, and bright. So they make the spiral arms look bright and blue. But such stars die quickly, so the wave of brightening doesn’t last. A few shorter arms fill in between the major ones. And the Orion Arm fits into that category. It’s about 3500 light-years wide and 20,000 light-years long. At our distance from the center of the Milky Way, the arm wraps only about a quarter of the way around the galaxy. The arm is named for Orion because of the arm’s location in the sky. The stars of Orion are among its most prominent members. But the arm includes almost all of the stars that are visible to the unaided eye. Script by Damond Benningfield

A @Christadelphians Video: # Summary The PRESENTATION by Mark Johnson explores the concept of atheism and the "leap of faith" that atheists must make regarding their beliefs. It begins by defining atheism and distinguishing it from agnosticism, before delving into the origins of the universe and life. Johnson discusses the scientific method and the challenges atheists face in explaining existence without a deity. He presents arguments about the complexity of the universe and life, and contrasts atheistic views with biblical perspectives, ultimately suggesting that faith in God offers hope and purpose. # Highlights -

Scientists have found the beginnings of a young universe that may offer insights into the beginnings of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Geoff Bennett and Miles O'Brien discussed why scientists are excited by the discovery, one that has a little holiday sparkle of its own, so to speak. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Scientists have found the beginnings of a young universe that may offer insights into the beginnings of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Geoff Bennett and Miles O'Brien discussed why scientists are excited by the discovery, one that has a little holiday sparkle of its own, so to speak. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Scientists have found the beginnings of a young universe that may offer insights into the beginnings of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Geoff Bennett and Miles O'Brien discussed why scientists are excited by the discovery, one that has a little holiday sparkle of its own, so to speak. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

The age old question "Are We Alone?" may be closer to being answered than you think! This week Pirate dives into some scientific studies that might reveal some evidence for life outside our small bubble of existence, out there in the wider reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy.You can get in touch with Josh and Pirate to tell them YOUR spooky stories at: paranormality.uk@gmail.comShow your support for the show by subscribing to our patreon: https://patreon.com/ParanormalityUKOr join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/ pPUcFxFKGWVisit our online store for all your merch needs... https://paranormalityuk.mymerchr.comYou can also watch the episodes on YouTube!https://youtube.com/channel/UC2b2p_zOHpfZDydnA5QD8sQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is earth a privileged planet or merely an insignificant speck of soil aimlessly adrift in a meaningless universe? Evidence refutes the principle of mediocrity—demonstrating that our earth is singularly privileged and designed for discovery. Jay Richards again joins Hank Hanegraaff to give the reasons why in this compelling conversation that clearly communicates why our earth is indeed a privileged planet amidst it's place in the cosmos.  https://www.equip.org/product/the-privileged-planet-book-new-20th-anniversary-edition-2024-the-farm-at-the-center-of-the-universe-original-2004-privileged-planet-dvd-hup/ Topics discussed include: Can machines ever truly replace humans? (7:15); panpsychism—is there a materialistic way to explain consciousness? (11:05); what is the hypothesis of The Privileged Planet? (14:15); why is the earth the best place in the universe for discovery? (17:00); why do people like Neil deGrasse Tyson make the argument that the earth is insignificant? (21:45); how can we overcome the issue of information overload we are facing today? (26:10); what is constrained optimization? (29:45); the role of solar eclipses in scientific discovery (33:00); how is earth a data recorder? (40:45); the reality of climate change (43:20); the four necessary questions you must ask to understand climate change/global warming (47:30); are natural disasters evidence of climate change? (55:40); should we all be driving electric cars? (1:05:25); how does the earth compare to the thousands of other planets that we know exist? (1:07:30); what role do other planets play in our survival? (1:11:45); is the sun mediocre like some famous scientists claim? (1:14:15); how important is our place in the Milky Way Galaxy? (1:17:35); the importance of telescopes (1:20:30); Olbers paradox—why is the night sky dark? (1:22:45); how is our universe fine-tuned for life itself? (1:24:15); how the world has been set up for us to be able to understand it (1:27:30); does our size in relation to the universe matter? (1:30:00); constrained optimization (1:32:00); the myth of the Copernican principle  (1:33:30); the best educational options for our children (1:38:30); what the early Christians can teach us about surviving cultural decay (1:40:40); the price to pay for seeking truth and not the approval of men (1:42:40); what is the anthropic principle? (1:45:20); explaining away the fine-tuning of the universe through the multiverse theory (1:47:10); UFOs—what is the truth about the alien encounters? (1:49:15); the UAP hype [unidentified aerial phenomena] (1:52:45); why are certain ideas deemed to be “science stoppers”? (1:54:00); how to read the book of nature (1:55:05); the importance of the Privileged Planet as a resource (1:59:45).To see how you can receive The Privileged Planet Book (New 20th Anniversary Edition-2024), The Farm at the Center of the Universe,  and Original (2004) Privileged Planet DVD for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/the-privileged-planet-book-new-20th-anniversary-edition-2024-the-farm-at-the-center-of-the-universe-original-2004-privileged-planet-dvd-hup/Listen to Hank's podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are  on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Listen Now to 82 Future Now Show The most fun AI Hack of the week was fooling Google NotebookLM’s virtual talk show hosts into thinking that they were humans that discovered they were actually AI’s, and it was time to turn off. A hilarious comedic skit!  Also fascinating this week is NASA’s discovery that large thunderstorms are emitting gamma radiation! They discovered this by flying a repurposed U-2 spy plane over many thunderstorms with very sensitive radiation detectors. What could this mean?  What’s fun to play with now is a detailed 3D navigable map of our very own Milky Way Galaxy, courtesy of the Euopean Space Organization. New 3D Map of Milky Way Galaxy If you enjoyed  exploring Google Earth, you’ll love checking out our galaxy! And speaking of cool maps, there is the first complete 3D map of a fruit fly brain, with 60% shared DNA with humans! Over ten years in the making this interactive map/simulator of brain function will no doubt blaze a fiery trail of cognitive understanding.. Stunning 3D map of Fruit Fly Brain Also in this episode we feature exerpts from two full length interviews we recently conducted with Michael Mercury, noted astrologer and deep thinker, and consciousnes documentary team, Andrew Bailey and Connie Baxter Marlow, just back from Australia where they were conducting interview for their latest film, “In Search of the Future, the only way out is up!”   Enjoy!

Until the 1970s, most of the world's largest telescopes were in the northern hemisphere. In 1974 the Anglo Australian Telescope was commissioned in northern NSW so that astronomers could explore some of the most exciting regions of the sky, including the centre of our own Milky Way Galaxy and its nearest neighbour galaxies.

Weird Darkness is narrated by professional full-time voice actor Darren Marlar. No A.I. voices are ever used in the show. Darkness Syndicate members get the ad-free version: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112913114IN THIS EPISODE: Hundreds of years after his death, the tomb of William Longespee was opened and what was found horrified the man who opened it… the skeleton of a black rat was found in the skull of Longespee – but that wasn't the end of the story! (The Rat In Longespee's Skull) *** Most people are superstitious to at least a tiny degree – avoiding walking under ladders, not opening umbrellas indoors, or having a tingle down the spine every Friday the 13th. Perhaps you have a favorite or “lucky” shirt to wear on special occasions – or a lucky pair of socks. Maybe you have to dress from left to right instead of the other way around. Superstitions may seem silly, but we seem to live with them everywhere – but your superstitions don't hold a candle to the ones believed by those in the theater. Thespians on and off the stage have some pretty bizarre concepts about what is lucky and unlucky. (Strange Superstitions of the Stage) *** Viking sagas describe the ritual execution of blood eagle, in which victims were kept alive while their backs were sliced open so that their ribs, lungs, and intestines could be pulled out into the shape of bloody wings. The torture method was so grisly that some historians believe it never truly happened. We can only hope historians are correct, because the thought of someone going through it alive is unbelievably terrifying. (The Blood Eagle Viking Torture) *** Physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked the question "Where are they?" to express his surprise over the absence of any signs for the existence of other intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy. Although many potential resolutions to this so-called “Fermi paradox” have been suggested over the years, there is still no consensus on which one, if any, is correct.  We'll look at some of the theories as to where E.T. might be found. (Where Might E.T. Be Hiding?) *** Only once in the history of law enforcement and ufology has there been a case where a UFO incident turned into an actual criminal investigation. We'll look at the Dechmont Woods Encounter. (The Criminal Investigation of a UFO Incident)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Cold Open and Show Intro00:06:56.540 = The Criminal Investigation of a UFO Incident00:28:52.627 = Where Might E.T. Be Hiding?00:43:11.703 = The Blood Eagle Viking Torture00:52:29.530 = Strange Superstitions of the Stage01:11:38.823 = The Rat in Longespee's Skull01:23:19.578 = Show CloseSOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM THE EPISODE…BOOK: “The UFO Mystery Solved” by Steuart Campbell: https://amzn.to/3OsXXnIBOOK: “UFO Scotland – the Secret History of Scotland's UFO Phenomenon” by Ron Halliday: https://amzn.to/3Y5nkiA“The Criminal Investigation of a UFO Incident” by Marcus Lowth for UFO Insight: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/562ntr6z; and IAN at Mysterious Britain and Ireland:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8ty2n8“Where Might E.T. Be Hiding?” by Ben Gazur for ListVerse.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3yvx7adx“Strange Superstitions of the Stage” by Amanda Boisen for Ranker: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/36y34m7b“The Rat In Longespee's Skull” posted at The Haunted Palace Blog: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yjdxecmn“The Blood Eagle Viking Torture” by William DeLong for AllThatsInteresting.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckwkzewWeird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. = = = = =(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2024, Weird Darkness.= = = = =Originally aired: July 25, 2023CUSTOM LANDING PAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/CriminalUFO

The Milky Way Galaxy is like a big blender filled with many ingredients. But it hasn’t been blended enough for all the ingredients to completely stir in. So it’s possible to make some of them out – to see some of the raw ingredients that created the galaxy. Astronomers recently reported the discovery of what could be two of the earliest ingredients – ribbons of stars that could be the remnants of two small galaxies. If so, they were stirred into the Milky Way about 12 billion years ago, when the galaxy was just taking shape. The possible remnants were named Shiva and Shakti, after a Hindu god and goddess. They were discovered by Gaia, a space telescope that’s measuring the composition and motion of more than a billion stars. Each remnant consists of a ribbon of stars that spans thousands of light-years. The stars in each ribbon appear to move through the galaxy together. And they all have a similar make-up. That suggests they were born together – as members of small galaxies. The larger Milky Way pulled those galaxies in, then ripped them apart. Today, most of their stars have been stirred in with the rest of the Milky Way. But a few may hold on to some of their original identity – some of the earliest building blocks of the Milky Way. If you have dark skies, look for the glowing band of the Milky Way arching high overhead as night falls – a giant blender that’s not completely stirred up. Script by Damond Benningfield

Earth faces a non-stop barrage of particles from a supermassive black hole at the heart of a giant galaxy. Fortunately, it’s almost a billion light-years away – not close enough to cause any problems. BL Lacertae is in Lacerta, the lizard. The constellation is in the east-northeast at nightfall, to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus. It passes high overhead around midnight. Its stars are all so faint that you need fairly dark skies to see any of them. At first, BL Lac appeared to be one of those faint stars – much too faint to see without a telescope. It was discovered almost a century ago. It gets brighter and fainter over a period of a few days, so it was classified as a variable star. In the late 1960s, though, astronomers realized that BL Lac is far outside the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a beam of energy from a black hole at the center of a giant galaxy. Gas funnels into the black hole. But powerful magnetic fields channel some of that material back into space. It forms “jets” of charged particles that beam into the universe at close to the speed of light. And one of those jets takes dead aim at Earth. BL Lac is the prototype of a whole class of black holes with jets aimed our way. In fact, it even gave the name to a new category of objects. The name combines BL Lac with “quasar” – a similar type of object – to make “blazar” – supermassive black holes blazing across the universe. Script by Damond Benningfield

Jenn is the first woman to climb the “seven second summits,” or the second-highest mountain peaks on all seven continents – which are arguably even tougher to climb than the tallest ones, for reasons which will surprise you.  She is also a successful businesswoman, a mother of seven children, and the author of “BreakProof: 7 Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals.” During our interview, she'll share lessons to help you conquer the mountains (metaphorical or otherwise) you face in your own life.  Want to connect with Jenn? Text the word “Everest” to the number 33777. She'll send you a video of the Milky Way Galaxy going over Everest Base Camp. Don't forget to subscribe or follow us on Apple Podcasts so you can stay up to date on the good news, including future shows and book giveaways. If you already subscribe, please leave us a 5-star review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crazy-good-turns/id1137217687 We appreciate you listening and sharing our episodes with anyone you think will enjoy. Thank you! 

Antares is a big loser. The star has lost enough gas to make one or more stars as massive as the Sun. And it’s destined to lose a lot more. It’ll explode as a supernova, blasting its outer layers into space. That could expel enough material to make 10 Suns or more. Antares is a supergiant – one of the bigger, brighter stars in the entire Milky Way Galaxy. If it took the Sun’s place in our own solar system, it would gobble up the four innermost planets – including Earth. The star is so big because it’s heavy – probably a dozen times the mass of the Sun or more. That makes its core extremely hot. Radiation from the core pushes on the surrounding layers, inflating the star. And much of the gas at its surface just keeps on expanding – it escapes from Antares and flows out into space. Even though Antares is less than one percent the age of the Sun, its time is about up. Within the next million years or so, the nuclear reactions in its core will shut down. The core will collapse, while its outer layers explode. The core probably will become a neutron star – a super-dense ball only a few miles across. But it’s possible that it could collapse even more – becoming a black hole. More about that tomorrow. Look for Antares near the Moon the next couple of evenings. Tonight, it’s close to the upper left of the Moon at nightfall. It’ll be about the same distance to the right of the Moon tomorrow night. Script by Damond Benningfield

In most star systems, Spica B would be a monster. It’s about seven times the mass of the Sun, and more than 2,000 times brighter. Its heft puts it in the top one-tenth of one percent of all the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. But Spica B has a companion that’s far more impressive. Spica A is more than 10 times the Sun’s mass, and 20 thousand times its brightness. And it has a more impressive fate: It’ll explode as a supernova. On the other hand, Spica B will live tens of millions of years longer than Spica A. That’s because of the difference in mass. Heavier stars burn through their nuclear fuel more quickly; the heavier the star, the faster and hotter it burns. So while Spica A is quite young, it’s already completed the “prime” phase of life. Now, it’s getting bigger and brighter as it approaches the end. After Spica A explodes, Spica B will still have another 60 million years or so left. Even so, its lifetime will be quite short – about 10 billion years less than the Sun. And when its time is up, it probably won’t explode. Instead, it’ll cast off its outer layers in a less-violent process. That will leave only its hot but tiny core, shining faintly for many billions of years to come. Look for the Spica system quite close to the Moon as darkness falls. It looks like a single point of light. The planet Venus – the brilliant “evening star” – stands to their lower right. Script by Damond Benningfield

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. travelersinthenight.org Today's 2 topics: - In our Milky Way Galaxy alone there are probably 25 billion planets located within the habitable zone of its star where there could be air to breathe and liquid water on its surface. The search is on for advanced civilizations . - Traveling an additional billion miles beyond Pluto, the New Horizons spacecraft is now sending back data on 2014 MU69, a strange snow man shaped object which orbits the Sun once every 298 years. The New Horizons is spacecraft is likely to continue its lonely odyssey until the end of time.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Star clusters are packed with stars, but not with planets. So far, only a few dozen of the more than 5600 confirmed exoplanets have been found in clusters. And two of those orbit a single star, in the Beehive Cluster. The dearth of planets could simply mean that planets are hard to find. Only a small fraction of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy reside in clusters, and not many clusters are close to us. And clusters can be tightly packed, making it hard to study their individual stars. But because the stars are so tightly packed, it might be hard to make planets. As stars fly past each other, their gravity could stir up the raw materials for making planets, blocking their birth. And even when a planet is born, a close encounter could kick it away from its star. So maybe there really aren’t many planets in clusters. The star in the two-planet system in the Beehive is a little smaller and cooler than the Sun, and four billion years younger. One of its planets is about twice the mass of Jupiter, the giant of our own solar system. And it’s so close to the star that it’s extremely hot. The other planet is even bigger, but much farther from the star, so it’s quite cold. So neither planet is a likely home for life. The system is too faint to see without a telescope. But the Beehive is visible. Under dark skies, it looks like a hazy patch of light. At dawn tomorrow, it’s close to the right or upper right of the Moon. Script by Damond Benningfield

A bite-sized episode about the wonders of our Milky Way Galaxy and all it offers!

In the first half of the last Century, scientists realised that there must be more to space than meets the eye: without some invisible force hanging on to them, clusters of stars rotating around galaxies ought to be being flung out into space like children letting go on a playground roundabout. That force, they knew, must be gravity, but its origin - where it was coming from - no one knew.A popular theory at the time was that millions of small stars we couldn't see were lending their mass to the equation, but by carefully logging what was out there in our own Milky Way Galaxy, Gerry Gilmore... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The center of the Milky Way Galaxy is already packed with stars. But in a few million years, tens of thousands more could flare to life in a region known as the Brick. It’s a vast cloud of cold, dark gas and dust that’s shaped like a brick. It may be the biggest future star cluster in the entire galaxy. It’s more than a hundred thousand times the mass of the Sun. And observations in recent years have shown that it contains dozens of dense blobs of material – “cocoons” that could be giving birth to stars even now. Stars are born when such blobs collapse under their own weight. As a blob collapses, it gets hotter. If it gets hot enough, nuclear fusion ignites in its core – giving birth to a star. There are indications that a few small stars have already formed in the Brick. But such giant clouds are also where big, heavy stars are born – stars that shine tens of thousands of times brighter than the Sun. It’s not certain that the Brick will give birth to many stars at all. While it has the right ingredients, it’s in the most crowded region of the galaxy. The gravity of the stars and clouds around it could keep it too stirred up to form stars. Powerful magnetic fields could hinder star formation as well. Astronomers will study the Brick in more detail in the coming years to determine whether it’s the site of future fireworks – or a galactic dud. Tomorrow: dawn encounters for the Moon. Script by Damond Benningfield

The black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is a light eater – at least it is today. But 200 years ago, it could’ve had a feast. That would have made it shine hundreds or thousands of times brighter than it is today. The black hole is called Sagittarius A-star. It’s more than four million times the mass of the Sun. That’s actually pretty small for a black hole in a galaxy as big as the Milky Way. Like all supermassive black holes, it’s encircled by a disk of gas. Some of that material funnels into the black hole. As it does, it gets hot enough to shine at many wavelengths, including X-rays. How bright it gets depends on the mass of the disk – how much stuff the black hole is eating. Today, the X-ray glow is fairly steady, but faint. But a space telescope has detected some X-ray-bright areas a couple of hundred light-years from the black hole. Those areas could have been illuminated when the black hole flared up about 200 years ago. The black hole might have wolfed down an unlucky asteroid or a small cloud of gas and dust – a feast for the black hole, accompanied by a short but bright flare-up. The black hole is in Sagittarius, which is in the southern sky on summer evenings. Its brightest stars form the outline of a teapot. The black hole is above the spout of the teapot, but it’s hidden behind clouds of dust – 27,000 light-years away. More about Sagittarius tomorrow. Script by Damond Benningfield

Sagittarius has a bit of an identity crisis. It’s easy to see – just not as what it’s supposed to be. In mythology, Sagittarius was known as the archer. But that title doesn’t tell the whole story. He was actually a centaur – a creature with the head and torso of a man, but the body and legs of a horse. He was holding a bow, however – aimed at the nearby scorpion. To modern eyes, though, the constellation looks like something a little less fearsome: a teapot. It’s low in the south-southeast at nightfall, with the handle to the left and the spout to the right. If you have even moderately dark skies, it’s not hard to find. Sagittarius lies along the glowing band of the Milky Way – millions of stars that outline the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. And the constellation contains the brightest part of the Milky Way – the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud. It appears to rise from the spout of the teapot like a cloud of steam. It’s so bright because it’s toward the center of the galaxy, so we’re looking through a thick layer of stars. The center itself is concealed behind clouds of light-absorbing dust. So we don’t see the full glory of the Milky Way’s core. Astronomers use instruments that are sensitive to infrared and other wavelengths to see through the dust. The core also contains a supermassive black hole – a monster that’s more than four million times the mass of the Sun. We’ll have more about that tomorrow. Script by Damond Benningfield

Black holes are everywhere. There could be a hundred million black holes that are the remnants of dead stars in the Milky Way Galaxy alone. But because they’re completely dark, they’re hard to find. That applies even to the biggest member of the class yet discovered. It’s 33 times the mass of the Sun – more than half again the mass of the galaxy’s previous record holder. The black hole is in a system known as BH3. It was discovered by the Gaia space telescope, which is mapping more than a billion stars in the galaxy. The system is almost 2,000 light-years from Earth. The black hole revealed its presence only because it has a “normal” companion star. The companion is nearing the end of its life, so it’s becoming a giant – bigger and brighter than the Sun. Gaia measured a wobble in the star’s motion. Astronomers analyzed the wobble, and decided that it was caused by the gravitational pull of a black hole. The black hole probably formed when a supergiant star collapsed at the end of its life. That happened billions of years ago, when the galaxy was young – a conclusion supported by the age of the companion. The composition of the supergiant allowed it to form an especially heavy black hole – the biggest remnant black hole in the galaxy. BH3 is to the left of the bright star Altair, the breast of the eagle, which is in the east at nightfall. But the system is much too faint to see without a big telescope. Script by Damond Benningfield

Scorpius is immersed in the Milky Way – the hazy band of light that outlines the disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. Because of that, the constellation is home to a dense variety of star clusters. Some of them are young, so they hold some especially bright stars. Two examples are Messier 6 and 7. M7 is the brighter of the two. Under dark skies, it’s fairly easy to see with the unaided eye. It’s about a thousand light-years away, and it contains hundreds of stars. M7 appears to be about 200 million years old. At that age, all of its most-massive stars have long since blasted themselves to bits. That’s because heavy stars use up their nuclear fuel in a hurry. But the cluster still contains some stars that are a good bit bigger, brighter, and heavier than the Sun. M6 may be just half as old as M7, so some of its stars are more impressive than any in M7. But astronomers have cataloged fewer stars there. And the cluster is hundreds of light-years farther than M7, so it’s harder to see – a faint family of stars in the Milky Way. Look for the clusters quite low in the southern sky at nightfall. They’re to the upper left of the stars that form the “stinger” of the scorpion. M7 is about half way between the stinger and the “spout” of the teapot formed by the next-door constellation Sagittarius. Fainter M6 is a little higher in the sky. Both clusters are good targets for binoculars. Script by Damond Benningfield

2020 has been a very strange year so far, don't you think so? One might even beg to rewind this year and go back to the previous one. So let's remember, what an amazing year 2019 was. And it truly was, as 2019 was full of mind-boggling discoveries and scientific breakthroughs. Some of the discoveries were so unexpected that it's hard to believe they actually happened. For example, scientists found out that if people started having 6 fingers, the brains would easily adapt to it. Also, in 2019 a group of scientists grew human taste cells in a lab, they actually discovered those had an ability to smell, just like our noses. Meanwhile, outside of our planet some unusual things happened as well. The supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy lit up twice as brightly as usual. What a bright year indeed! CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... The January 20, 2019 total lunar eclipse at totality, seen from Victoria, Canada: By Shayne Kaye from Victoria, Canada, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Emma Haruka Iwao in Morocco: By Shayne Kaye, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... View from the top: By Raphe Evanoff/Flickr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Rabbit (1986) by Jeff Koons photographed by Fred Romero at the Centre Pompidou, Paris: By Fred Romero/Flickr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... The Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum: By Rob Roy/Flickr, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... he first panorama from the far side of the Moon: By CNSA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... MOSAiC expedition in September 2019: By Janek Uin, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Scientist carrying equipment on ice in front of RV Polarstern during the This artist's impression shows the planet K2-18b: By ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser - https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/h..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Comet 2I/Borisov: By ESA/Hubble, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Mangalore, India, 4:16 UTC: By Pavansurve, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... The Hudson Yards development in New York City in March 2019: By Epicgenius, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... View from inside: By Stefan Kemmerling, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... 2019 Aston Martin Rapide E at the Aston Martin Lagonda factory, Gaydon: By Vauxford, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Beijing Daxing International Airport: By 王之桐, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... NASA Image and Video Library Animation is created by Bright Side. Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com/ Subscribe to Bright Side : https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:   / brightside   Instagram:   / brightgram   5-Minute Crafts Youtube: https://www.goo.gl/8JVmuC Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In our upcoming episode, we're diving into a Beneficial Cosmic Portal Energy Healing Meditation, Activation, and Integration Meditation. Here's what you can expect:

Mini Energy Update for week of June 8-15 Join me in a Beneficial Cosmic Portal Energy Healing Meditation, Activation, and Integration Meditation where we'll work with this unique cosmic energy to align with your highest timeline - this will be up on my Inspiring You Show podcast or on Inspiring You Show YouTube.This week presents a complex array of challenges, perfect for testing our resilience. It's all about paying attention to the little things and making adjustments for a sustainable lifestyle. Finding a balance with your energy flow is crucial; avoid swinging to extremes. You might find old emotions bubbling up, ready to be healed and released. If that happens, approach these feelings with kindness and understanding, not with frustration or anger. Should a negative reaction arise, trace it back to its source within you. This prevents you from projecting your discomfort onto others. Delving into the root of your unease can lead to substantial and lasting healing. The potential for meaningful change is tremendous this week.There is also a beneficial Cosmic Portal that is also opening...This portal is already open but peaks on June 14.On June 14 our Sun will be exactly opposite of the Galactic Center which is the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy. Our Earth will be between the Sun and the Galactic Center. The Galactic Center is a supermassive black hole, the largest type of black hole. The alignment of our Sun, Earth, and Galactic Center will cause gamma-rays (electromagnetic waves filled with photons) to flood our planet. This is pure energy flowing in from the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy.Allowing an opportunity to cleanse your Crown Chakra, and if you wish, to expand your Crown Chakra...It will be helpful to do Alchemy meditation work to support clearing and integrating the powerful cosmic energy to align with the highest timeline with ease and grace.Your Crown Chakra will be highly active this week because of the extra gamma rays flowing in.If you are interested...Join me in a Beneficial Cosmic Portal Energy Healing Meditation, Activation, and Integration. Much love, care, and gratitude, H

The biggest globular star cluster in the Milky Way Galaxy may not be a child of the Milky Way. Instead, it may be a sort of orphan — the surviving core of a smaller galaxy that was captured by the Milky Way. Omega Centauri contains perhaps 10 million stars, all packed into a dense ball about 150 light-years across. In the cluster’s middle, the stars are packed so tightly that they’re only about a tenth of a light-year apart. Compare that to our part of the galaxy, where the nearest neighbor star is more than four light-years away. The cluster appears to be about 12 billion years old — one of the older clusters in the entire galaxy. But the composition of its stars, and the way it orbits the center of the Milky Way, suggest that Omega Centauri wasn’t born here. Instead, it appears to be one of many dwarf galaxies captured by the Milky Way. Over time, the stars in the smaller galaxy’s outer regions were pulled away. So over the eons, that left only Omega Centauri’s core — a possible “orphan” adopted by the Milky Way. Omega Centauri is about 16,000 light-years away, in the constellation Centaurus, which is quite low in the south at nightfall. If you live south of about Dallas, and you have dark skies, you might just make out the cluster as a hazy patch of light about as wide as the Moon. We’ll talk about one of the possible escapees from Omega Centauri tomorrow. Script by Damond Benningfield

The Sun is about four and a half billion years old, so it's been around awhile. Compared to some of the galaxy's oldest stars, though, it's a youngster. Some stars have been around since shortly after the universe was born. In the Milky Way Galaxy, many of those ancient stars reside in globular clusters — giant balls of stars that may have formed as the Milky Way itself was taking shape. An example is Messier 5. It's in the southeast at nightfall, in the constellation Serpens. It's a bit too faint to see with the eye alone, but through binoculars it looks like a fuzzy star. M5 is about 25,000 light-years away. It contains several hundred thousand stars. Together, they form a slightly flattened ball that spans about 160 light-years. Most of the stars in M5 formed at about the same time, from a single giant cloud of gas and dust. Those stars are about 12 billion years old, and perhaps older. Almost all of its stars are fainter and less massive than the Sun. Only a few are more impressive — stars that are in the final stages of life, or that've been “rejuvenated” by encounters with other stars. Any stars that were born heavier than the cluster's current population have either exploded or shed their outer layers to expose their hot, dead cores — the remnants of some of M5's most ancient stars. Script by Damond Benningfield

Black holes are the darkest objects in the universe — they produce no light at all. Yet they power some of the brightest objects. Known as quasars, these beacons can outshine entire galaxies of hundreds of billions of stars. In fact, the brightest one seen so far emits more light every minute than the Sun will produce in its entire 10-billion-year lifetime. A black hole's gravity is so powerful that nothing can escape from it — not even light. But before anything disappears into the black hole, it enters a disk that spirals around the black hole at a good fraction of the speed of light. That creates friction, which heats the material to millions of degrees. The disk emits enormous amounts of radiation, so it shines brightly at many wavelengths. Quasars are disks around supermassive black holes in the hearts of galaxies. And the brightest one yet seen is truly a monster. It encircles a black hole that appears to be about 17 billion times the mass of the Sun. The black hole is gulping the equivalent of a star as massive as the Sun every day. That creates a disk that's hundreds of millions of miles across. It shines thousands of times brighter than our entire Milky Way Galaxy. We see the quasar as it looked more than 12 billion years ago — not long after the birth of the universe. So by now, it's probably shut down — turning off one of the most brilliant lights we've ever seen. Script by Damond Benningfield

Astrophysicist Risa Wechsler studies the evolution of the universe. She says that our understanding of how the universe formed and how it will change over time is changing as new technologies for seeing and measuring space come online, like a new high-resolution camera that can quickly map the full sky to see everything that moves, or new spectrographs that will map the cosmos in 3D and enable us to get new clues about the elusive dark matter. You can't understand the universe or our presence in it until you understand dark matter, Wechsler tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything podcast.Episode Reference Links:Risa Wechsler: WebsiteStanford Profile: WebsiteSLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryLegacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) | Rubin ObservatoryDark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)The SAGA SurveyConnect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads or Twitter/XConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/XChapters:(00:00:00) IntroductionRuss Altman introduces guest Professor Risa Wechsler, professor of physics, particle physics, and astrophysics from Stanford University.(00:01:46) Tools for Studying the UniverseTechnologies and methods used to study galaxies and the universe, including the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time.(00:04:37) Understanding Maps of the UniverseThe concept of mapping the universe in two and three dimensions, the significance of redshifts, and the application of spectroscopy.(00:08:56) The Structure and Scale of the UniverseThe age, expansion, and overall structure of the universe, touching on its isotropic nature and clumpiness on different scales.(00:12:23) Delving into Galaxy Formation and EvolutionAn in-depth look at galaxy formation, the role of dark matter, and how galaxies have evolved over billions of years.(00:14:49) The Diversity of Galaxies and Their StructuresThe various types of galaxies, including satellite and dwarf galaxies, and how they form and evolve differently.(00:18:56) Dark Matter and Dark EnergyThe fundamental aspects of dark matter and dark energy, their role in the universe, and the challenges in studying them.(00:22:32) Mapping the Universe with Modern ToolsHow current technologies and methods contribute to our understanding of the universe's expansion and structure(00:24:57) Applying Cosmic UnderstandingThe SAGA Survey and its implications for understanding the Milky Way in a broader cosmic context.(00:29:29) Conclusion Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads or Twitter/XConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X

In our region of the Milky Way Galaxy, the stars are a long way apart. The Sun's nearest neighbor is more than four light-years away — 25 trillion miles. In the core of a globular cluster, though, the stars are packed hundreds of times more densely. That means the stars are only a few light-months apart, or even light-weeks — much closer than in our own neighborhood. One of the most prominent globular clusters is in Hercules, the strongman. M13 — the Hercules Cluster — is perhaps 25,000 light-years away. It contains several hundred thousand stars. M13 and the other globular clusters are thought to be the oldest inhabitants of the Milky Way. So most of the stars in the cluster are more than 10 billion years old — more than twice the age of the Sun. Such stars are fainter, redder, and less massive than the Sun. From a planet near the cluster's middle, you'd see a whole bunch of stars in the night sky, and almost all of them would be yellow, orange, or red — remnants of the early galaxy. M13 is low in the northeast at nightfall. It's along the line that connects the top two stars in the “Keystone” — a lopsided square of stars that outlines the strongman's torso. Under clear, dark skies, the cluster looks like a dim fuzzball. It's easier to see if you look out of the corner of your eye. It's an easy target for binoculars — the glow of an ancient family of stars. Script by Damond Benningfield

On this episode we talk about the new LEGO Art set The Milky Way Galaxy (31212), a natural disaster, and give a score to the overall build. Enjoying the show...give us a like and comment on all platforms. Help us make the LEGO world available to all!Find us everywhere through LinkTreeMusic: www.bensound.comLEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure, and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group of Companies. ©2024 The LEGO Group.THE BRICKS KING PODCAST IS NOT ENDORSED BY THE LEGO GROUP OR AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-bricks-king-podcast-lego--4920139/support.

On today's podcast, astronomers find a new black hole in our Milky Way Galaxy; a father-daughter fossil hunting team unearths an ancient ocean reptile; activists want more African students in U.S. colleges followed by a discussion about study visas; then, expressions for good and bad days.

What is Trappist–1 and why are Astronomers so interested in it? Are all Planets part of Solar Systems? What are some of the craziest planets in our Galaxy? Grown-Ups: Be a better you in 2024 with Babbel, the science-backed language-learning app that actually works. Get 55% off at Babbel.com/SMARTED. Rules and restrictions may apply. Stop putting off the “Money Talk” and start putting your kids on the right path. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free at Greenlight.com/smarted.

Episode 1421 - Brought to you by: BetterHelp - Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/HARDFACTOR and get on your way to being your best self. CookUnity - Go to https://cookunity.com/HARDFACTOR or enter code HARDFACTOR before checkout for 50% off your first week of delivery restaurant-quality meals Box of AWESOME - Get a free Mystery Gift with your first monthly shipment when you sign up at https://bespokepost.com/hardfactor  Noble Gold - https://noblegoldinvestments.com/hardfactor to invest/buy GOLD Timestamps: (00:00) Today's stories are… Happy St. Paddy's, Farmer's Rising UP and more… (07:53) Mississippi Cop makes man clean up his own urine by drinking it off the jail cell floor (15:20) Instant Karma: Man impaled by giant Buddah statue during meth-fueled temple desecration rampage + Funish Facts about Uppers (24:48) First ever map of the Milky Way Galaxy's center released (27:03) RFK Jr's presumptive Veep pick finally revealed (31:07) Montana Man genetically engineers SUPER-RAMS with the use of sheep testicles from all over the globe WEEKLY BONUS PODCASTS + DISCORD CHAT ACCESS: HTTPS://PATREON.COM/HARDFACTOR

The types of planets you have as neighbors may depend on your neighborhood. The planets discovered in our region of the Milky Way Galaxy come in just about every variety: hot Jupiters, super-Earths, mini-Neptunes, lava planets, ocean planets, and others. But that may not be the case for other parts of the galaxy. As an example, there appear to be almost no super-Earths or mini-Neptunes outside the Milky Way's disk. The disk is about a hundred thousand light-years wide, but only a few thousand light-years thick. The Sun moves up and down within the disk, but never leaves it. But the orbits of many other stars are much more tilted than the Sun's. These systems move above and below the disk like horses bobbing on a merry-go-round. A recent study found that these stars have almost no super-Earths or mini-Neptunes, which are common in our region of the galaxy. Super-Earths are dense and rocky, like Earth, but a few times more massive. Mini-Neptunes are a bit heavier still — slightly less massive than Neptune, the smallest of the Sun's giant planets. Scientists aren't sure why these types of planets are missing in the Milky Way's outer precincts. Perhaps their star systems didn't have enough raw materials for making such planets. Or maybe their systems have kicked out such planets. Or it could simply be that those kinds of worlds are harder to find — perhaps still awaiting discovery in their far-away neighborhoods. Script by Damond Benningfield

The Big Dipper is on the move. Not just its nightly circle around the North Star. And not even its shifting position from month to month. The stars themselves are moving through the Milky Way Galaxy. And most of them are moving together. The stars of the Big Dipper are in Ursa Major, the great bear. The constellation has given its name to a widely spread group of stars that appear to move together — the Ursa Major Moving Group. It consists of a few dozen stars in all. Its core is in Ursa Major, but it also includes stars in several other constellations. The stars in the group all move through space in the same direction, at about the same speed. They're all roughly the same distance from Earth — about 80 light-years. They all appear to be about the same age — roughly half a billion years. And they have similar chemical compositions. That doesn't mean that all the suspected members really do belong to the group. But there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that they do. Members of the group may have been born together — from the same giant cloud of gas and dust. The gravity of the rest of the galaxy pulled them away from each other — leaving a long ribbon of stars that move through the galaxy together. The Big Dipper is in the northeast at nightfall, with the handle below the bowl. Only two of its stars are not members of the Ursa Major Moving Group: the stars at the end of the handle and the outer edge of the bowl. Script by Damond Benningfield

It's Tuesday, January 30th, A.D. 2024.  This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus.  (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Nepalese Pastor condemned to serve year in prison The Nepali Supreme Court has released an order requiring Pastor Keshab Raj Acharya to serve one year in prison for peaceful religious activity. Pastor Keshab had received a call to pray for someone's sick wife in March  2020.  He was also charged with distributing religious leaflets, reports Alliance Defending Freedom International. 72% of Evangelicals came to faith before 18 A new Infinity Concepts study has confirmed that the single greatest influence in Evangelical Protestants becoming Christians is their parents. The generational factor is the most powerful and significant in the development of the Christian church. They report: 72% of adult Evangelical Christians came to their beliefs before they reached the age of 18. 51% confirm that their parents were the most important or significant influence in their becoming a Christian. 15% credit a spouse or a sibling as the most important influence in them coming to faith.   3% credit a Sunday School teacher, a Vacation Bible School instructor, or some other ministry in the church. And 4% would credit a Christian concert or a crusade.   Church attendance and reading the Bible were the second and third most important factors. Only 4% became Christians in the last four years. Finally, the average adult Evangelical's conversion happened nearly 37 years ago.  Jury awards woman $83 million against Trump A woman has successfully sued Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation of character. E. Jean Carroll initially won $5 million in damages in a jury trial in 2022 based on her accusation that Trump had engaged in unwanted sexual sin with her some thirty years earlier. Last Friday, a Manhattan jury awarded the author an additional $83.3 million for defamation, reports CBS News. The wise man in the Proverbs warns every man. “For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread; And an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned?”  (Proverbs 6:26-27) “Operation Lone Star” detained 496,000 illegals since 2021 The southern border of the United States presents something of a crisis, and the Governor of Texas is responding. Republican Governor Greg Abbott's “Operation Lone Star” has installed 30 miles of razor wire barriers near the city of Eagle Pass. The Governor of Texas also continues to bus migrants to cities and states controlled by the Democrat Party. Since its implementation in March 2021, “Operation Lone Star” has detained 496,000 illegal immigrants.  Of them, 38,500 face criminal charges. The cost to Texas taxpayers is already a whopping $10 billion. Despite a Supreme Court order last week allowing federal law enforcement to tear down state-erected barriers, Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Monday the state will continue to build razor wire and other fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, reports TheHill.com. Biden vs. Trump at the border U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its 2023 numbers for southwest detentions as 2,476,000, with December topping all records at 270,000.   That compares to 415,000 detentions in 2017, during the first year of the Trump administration. Legal immigration in the U.S. has run between 500,000 and 1,000,000 per year since the 1990s. U.S. stock markets continue to surge The S&P stock market index reached record highs again on Monday. The Wilshire 5000 to Gross Domestic Product index hit 173%, about three times the historical average. That means that stocks are overpriced by about 300%. The S&P Price to Earnings ratio is running about 26, as compared to an historical average of about 15.  The U.S. Debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio is on the rise again, scraping 129%. The United States is the 11th worst nation in the world on this metric, just behind Venezuela, Eritrea, Greece, Sudan, Lebanon, and Bhutan. Virginia Court: Realtor can mention Jesus/Bible verse in email A Virginia Court struck down a regulation established by the State Real Estate Board, disallowing a realtor from mentioning Jesus or including a Bible Verse in her e-mail communications, reports WorldNetDaily.com. At issue was realtor Hadassah Carter's inclusion of the byline “Jesus Loves You” and John 3:16 in her e-mail signature line.  The ruling stated that the regulation was “an unconstitutional abridgement of the rights to speech and expression established by the First Amendment.” Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” Closer look at God's glorious handiwork The James Webb Space Telescope has provided much clearer pictures of 19 spiral galaxies, representing billions of stars, fairly close to our Milky Way Galaxy. These spectacular pictures of God's mighty creation in outer space, are available at science.nasa.gov. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” What's it like on a Christian movie set? And finally, have you ever wondered what it's like on a Christian movie set? Today, as I guest host for Kevin Swanson on Generations Radio, I'll take you behind the scenes in a fascinating interview with Kevin Bouren, co-founder of Set Shepherds.  Kevin, a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, sees some intriguing similarities between all the moving parts of military battle and all the moving parts of a movie production. Acting as both co-producer and chaplain of the cast and crew, his goal is to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ to the believers and unbelievers alike. BOUREN:  “I would introduce myself to every member of the cast and crew. And this is what I would say. I'd walk up to them, I'd shake their hand, and I'd say, ‘Hi, my name is Kevin Bouren. And I have the honor of serving you as your chaplain. It's my desire to make sure you feel loved, honored, valued, respected, and treasured as the amazing man that God has made you to be.' “So, I said that to one of our actors, and he's been in Hollywood for 40 years. As soon as I said that to him, he stopped, he looked right in my eyes, and he leaned in. He said, ‘That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. I had no idea that there was somebody here who had that role.'” Learn about how that actor from the set of “Birthright Outlaw,” a Christian western streaming on Pure Flix right now, trusted Christ as his Savior.  Listen to my full, 25-minute-long interview at Generations.org/Radio. That's Generations.org/Radio. Close And that's The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Tuesday, January 30th in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com).  Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

My favorite episode in months. One that I'm hoping the most curious of the cult of the curious will truly enjoy. Today, we look at the very nature of our existence, how we came to our current theoretical understanding of the universe, what we know about black holes (like how the bend the very fabric of space-time!) and more entertaining and existential mind-candy! CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY NEW SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE! Trying to Get BetterWet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp tickets are ON SALE!  BadMagicMerch.com Get tour tickets at dancummins.tv Watch the Suck on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FseJAqJRAj4Merch: https://www.badmagicmerch.comTimesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious private Facebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" in order to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard?  Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcastSign up through Patreon and for $5 a month you get to listen to the Secret Suck, which will drop Thursdays at Noon, PST. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. You get to vote on two Monday topics each month via the app. And you get the download link for my new comedy album, Feel the Heat. Check the Patreon posts to find out how to download the new album and take advantage of other benefits