*A note on gender and planetary pronouns: The 7 classical planets have traditionally corresponded with either a masculine or feminine gender, with the exception of Mercury who is considered gender-fluid. It’s commonplace to use the pronouns He/Him for traditionally masculine-corresponding planets Jupiter & Saturn, and I have in this article - but I want to acknowledge that it does not have to be this way. Both Jupiterian and Saturnian qualities do not have to be thought of as exclusively masculine. Should anyone ever want to use different pronouns for Jupiter or Saturn, by all means go for it!
THE AQUARIAN SHIFT
We are on the precipice of a major Aquarian shift with the two largest and slowest classical planets, Jupiter & Saturn, moving into the sign of Aquarius within days of each other in December:
Saturn into Aquarius: December 17th, 2020 (orbit, 29-ish years)
Jupiter into Aquarius: December 19th, 2020 (orbit, 12-ish years)
What does this mean? We’ll be getting big doses of Aquarian energy in 2021 and it’s themes will be playing out in the world, bigtime: Community, The Collective, Equality, Humanitarianism, Social Justice, Human Rights, Awakening, Revolution, Individuality, Freedom, Intellectuality, Eccentricity, Science, Knowledge, Invention, Innovation, Idealism, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Progressiveness, Futuristic Everything.
There are a few things to understand about all this in order to get the full picture. Read on to nerd out about the details!
SATURN & JUPITER IN AQUARIUS IN 2021
These two planets do not typically travel together. Saturn - planet of reality, discipline, authority, work, time, endurance, structure, foundations, boundaries and general adulting - takes about 29 years to complete a tour of the zodiac and spends about 2 - 3 years in each sign. Jupiter - planet of jubilant expansion, amplification, benevolence, grace, blessings and general cosmic door-opening - takes 12 years to complete its orbit and spends about 1 year in each sign. An easy way to think of it is like this: Jupiter waters, Saturn prunes. Because of the length of time both Jupiter and Saturn take to pass through any one sign, the energetic impact they have on that sign’s themes is deep and thorough.
They’ve been working together in Capricorn alongside Pluto (darkness, death, transformation, rebirth, power) for all of 2020, and will be working together to expand and evolve our consciousness on planet earth in 2021, this time through Aquarian themes - which are, again:
Community, The Collective, Equality, Humanitarianism, Social Justice, Human Rights, Awakening, Revolution, Individuality, Freedom, Intellectuality, Eccentricity, Science, Knowledge, Invention, Innovation, Idealism, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Progressiveness, Futuristic Everything.
Saturn actually first entered Aquarius on March 21st, 2020 and stayed until July 1st before retrograding back into Capricorn, so we’ve already seen some of these themes begin to play out with social (Aquarian) distancing (Saturn - boundaries, literally) and the restructuring (Saturn) of the internet and the collective (Aquarius). Saturn will stay in Aquarius longer than Jupiter - which makes sense, given that Daddy Saturn is all about strong foundations and building them the right way without shortcuts, so it takes him some time to do his job. (There are no shortcuts with Saturn. He is having none of this flimsy, jerry-rigged house-of-cards business.) He will be in Aquarius until March 7th, 2023, helping us anchor the new Aquarian expansion Jupiter inspired into solid structures and foundations that will last for years to come.
PLANETARY STRENGTH: HOW WELL CAN THEY DO THEIR THING IN THIS AQUARIAN ENVIRONMENT?
Saturn is powerful in Aquarius. Not all planets are equally strong in all signs - every planet has signs where it functions optimally as well as signs where the environment doesn’t support its innate nature. Saturn is said to be “dignified” - or on home turf - in two signs: Capricorn & Aquarius, being the traditional ruler of these two signs. When any planet is dignified, it has a lot of strength and ability to bring about the events that it’s in charge of (shoutout to Demetra George for describing it so perfectly this way). Saturn can do his thing freely, easily and well while in both Capricorn & Aquarius. But he is considered slightly stronger in Aquarius than Capricorn because he is what we call a “diurnal planet” and Aquarius is a diurnal sign (air signs have a masculine, solar, and expressive quality, and earth signs have a feminine, lunar and receptive quality).
Jupiter is not dignified in Aquarius, but at least he’s not in hostile territory any longer as he has been in all of 2020 in Capricorn. Jupiter has been in fall in Capricorn. It hasn't been cute. Capricorn is the opposite sign - and opposite environment - of Jupiter's exaltation (another type of dignity) in Cancer. He hasn’t had the resources and support he’s needed to be at his best in Capricorn. And it’s been doubly so, as Saturn has also been in Capricorn alongside him through his entire journey, enforcing additional restriction and pruning. So, Jupiter may not be at his most powerful in Aquarius, and he may still have to work closely with a powerful Saturn this year, but at least Aquarius is more neutral territory for him and not impeding his energy.
Sidenote: There’s joy and power increase on the horizon for Jupiter! Remember that Jupiter is the planet of blessings, expansion, all good things - as I like to say “The Cosmic YES”. Jupiter is dignified and powerful in the sign of Pisces, where he’ll dip into briefly between May 13th and July 28th, 2021, before returning to Aquarius to complete his journey and transformation there. So we will have a very strong Jupiter for parts of 2021, and going full-on in 2022. Which means stronger blessings and benevolence. Something to look forward to!
Back to Aquarius. Saturn and Jupiter being together in a sign means that the energy of that sign will be very dominant in the collective - so we are about to experience what I’ve been calling an Aquarian Shift.
THE GREAT CONJUNCTION
Saturn + Jupiter Great Conjunction: December 21st, 2020 at 0° Aquarius
Not only are Jupiter & Saturn going to be moving into Aquarius together at the same time and working together there throughout 2021, but they will be making an exact conjunction for the first time in 20 years. Even though they were close together in Capricorn throughout all of 2020 (alongside Pluto), they did not perfectly align from our vantage point on earth.
These Great Conjunctions that happen every 20 years are very significant shifts in energy and consciousness. This Great Conjunction at 0° Aquarius is an even greater deal because it marks the official beginning of a new 200-year cycle where Jupiter and Saturn will conjoin in Air signs. They’ve been conjoining every 20 years in earth signs for the last 200 years. As we move from one age to another, there is often a little bit of back-and-forth before the new cycle completely begins. For example, we did have the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in the air sign of Libra (which was a series of 3 conjunctions) in 1980/1981, but the earth-element cycle was not finished and the subsequent conjunction in the year 2000 was in the earth sign of Taurus. So, 2021’s conjunction will be the first official conjunction in an Air sign where we are completely finished with the cycle of conjunctions in earth signs. The next Jupiter-Saturn conjunction outside of the air element will not be until 2219 in the water sign of Scorpio. So certainly, these cycles of conjunctions mark longer arcs of energy and consciousness.
AHEAD OF OUR TIME?
As a sidenote, one of my teachers Nina Gryphon has expressed that some people born around the 1980/81 conjunction in Libra were a bit ahead of their time, on the first wave of the new air cycle of Great Conjunctions - and now that we’re about to shift fully into it, these people may finally be able to move forward in ways that are more aligned with their nature and consciousness. This resonates with me, a 1982 baby born on the heels of this conjunction. I would welcome this for sure!
THE HISTORY: WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?
When Jupiter & Pluto last conjoined at 22° Taurus on May 28th, 2000, we were on the brink of what would be another contested election between Bush & Gore. Astrologer Mark Lerner wrote an interesting article which goes deeper into history and detailed astrological configurations or past conjunctions for those who want to go down that rabbit hole! You can read it here.
THE ELEMENT OF AIR (BUT ISN’T AQUARIUS THE WATER-BEARER?)
The water-bearer is the symbol of Aquarius, but Aquarius is actually governed by the element of Air - not water. Confusing, I know. I think the popular website www.cafeastrology.com has a great and simple breakdown of the symbolism of the water-bearer, so I’m just going to leave it here:
“The symbol for Aquarius is the Water Bearer, symbolically and eternally giving life and spiritual food to the world. The water from the vessel washes away the past, leaving room for a fresh, new start. The sign of Aquarius is forward-looking and growth-oriented. Concerned with equality and individual freedom, Aquarius seeks to dispense its knowledge, and its vision of equality and individuality, to all.”
Now let’s dive into the element of air. Air is a mental and intellectual energy, light and free. It can also be quite communicative, verbal and social! Air is connection and relation-oriented and loves to share ideas, thoughts and experiences. But this stands in contrast to the emotional and often non-verbal way water signs experience connection, feeling deeply and sometimes getting lost in the feelings. The element of air is not emotional. It has a cognitive and conceptual understanding of its connections, values, beliefs and experiences. Of course, there are benefits to this as well a shadow side (all energy has the potential for light and shadow expression).
We see the themes of connection and relating to others in the other two air signs of Gemini & Libra too, although each sign has a slightly different focus. Aquarius is focused on friendship, community and equality.
The quality of Aquarian air is “fixed” - more stable and maybe less flexible than the mutable and cardinal air signs of Gemini and Libra. I also have to acknowledge the classic Aquarian juxtaposition of being a friendly, humanitarian sign that is also known to be independent and emotionally detached, deeply valuing individuality and freedom. Aquarian consciousness is thoughtful and compassionate but not touchy-feely. We should remember that as progressive as Aquarius is, it’s still governed by Saturn, and so can hold a clear vision of the future with the strength, purpose and sense of responsibility and practicality needed to embody that vision, beginning to anchor it by example before the masses have caught up. Aquarius consciousness is different and trail-blazing.
IS ALL THIS AQUARIAN ENERGY THE SAME THING AS THE AGE OF AQUARIUS?
No. The Age of Aquarius refers to a particular 2000-ish--year age within a greater 26,000-ish-year cycle having to do with the precession of the equinoxes, sometimes referred to as The Great Year. So far, no one has really been able to agree precisely how long the Great Year is, how to measure it, how long each age is, or when the Age of Pisces ends and the Age of Aquarius begins, although there is general agreement that we are at least on the brink of the age of Aquarius now, if not in it. Various sources mark the shift from Pisces to Aquarius anywhere from 1447 CE (Terry MacKinnell) to 3597 CE (John Addey). All that said, the themes for the Age of Aquarius would generally be the same themes we’ll be dealing with for the next few years with both Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius. It’s just a bigger picture with a longer arc when we’re dealing with Astrological ages. I personally would like to be clearer on all this and have deeper research to do, so I may update this section of the blog if I have more information to add.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS AQUARIAN ENERGY IN 2021 MEAN?
We’ll have to see! I believe we are in for a lot of new and innovative ideas, inventions and that we'll begin to build some new structures - in science, in business & finance, in tech, in communities, everywhere. Certainly I imagine that community and social justice movements will expand further with both Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius. Freedom and equality will continue to be major themes and I truly hope we’ll see greater progress and healing in the oppression of Women, BIPOC and the LGBTQI communities. I imagine social distancing will probably continue in some form as long as Saturn is in Aquarius through 2023 (Saturn is boundaries, literally, and Aquarius is the collective, literally).
I’m interested and maybe even a little excited to see what might happen with international borders, travel, work visas, digital currencies and higher education institutional structures as we’re seeing what’s possible virtually - and collectively, beyond borders. I would also guess an even bigger explosion of the internet and virtual connection technology - bringing new virtual structures (Saturn) we hadn’t previously conceived of into every existing industry, and even birthing new industries. Personally, I would love to be able to move back to California, work virtually for people anywhere in the world, and get a degree online from a respected and amazing institution in Canada or Europe. A year ago, this would have been inconceivable, and that excites me.
In 2021 we’ll also have Saturn and Jupiter in Aquarius squaring Uranus in Taurus - a blog for another day, but in a nutshell, this is rebellion/revolution/awakening/futuristic energy at odds with existing structures/authorities. It’s interesting because I’ve been seeing the left as being the revolutionaries (Uranus) challenging existing order and institutions (Saturn) to progress social justice, equality and human rights. But as we’re seeing an administration switch in the United States and a lot of upset Trump supporters, we may experience some of the revolution/rebellion energy (Uranus) as the right, and some of the existing institution and authority (Saturn) as the left. It may be a mixed bag with multiple layers of symbolism. As someone who is decidedly left, I don’t tend to think of the right as progressive and future-oriented, but there is definitely a push for freedom and along some lines a departure from the status quo (Uranian themes). I’m sure I’ll have further clarity on this myself as time goes on. Will existing authorities and institutions continue to be challenged? This configuration suggests so. Uranus in Taurus also speaks to revolution within finance, the economy and agriculture, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there too. (It’s also worth noting that modern astrologers consider Uranus a co-ruler of the sign of Aquarius, so there’s another layer of Aquarian energy in the mix depending on your astrological practice.)
Individually, we can each find ways to be more ourselves, embrace our personal uniqueness and freedom, to fly our freak flags, to break the mould, to blaze some trails and lean into the future and all that is new. It can be quite exciting. I also hope we can find new and novel ways to connect with, honour, support and heal each other, finding community where we may have been isolated, and hope and progress where we may have previously felt hopelessly stuck. One thing is for sure, we will need to lean into this Aquarian energy in order to get the most out of it. Utopia isn’t just going to present and anchor itself. We must participate and work together to bring about the most blessed change. And in this sense, the Aquarian themes of individual freedom and collective equality are not at all at odds with each other. Those that enjoy the most privilege and advantage - even obliviously - are not winning as a result of the oppression of others. I believe that when everyone is free, honoured and supported, everyone stands to gain so much.
What will this Aquarian expansion mean for you personally, moving forward? Join me in sacred ceremony, merriment & community on zoom on December 20th to celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice & The Great Conjunction, and to purposefully open a new channel and vision in your heart. We'll blend Astrology with Quantum Healing, Magick and all the holiday feels. See you there :)
Brightest Aquarian blessings and grace to you & yours! Cheers to the Future and a new paradigm!


(iskconnews.org) – ISKCON News | Online Course Offers an Exploration of the Vedic Universe with Devotee Scientist
The Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education (VIHE) will offer an Online Cosmology Seminar from September 24-October, 9, 2023. The instructor for this informative offering will be Giridhari Dasa (Dr. Tiziano Valentinuzzi).
Giridhari holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Padua University (Italy) and has studied Vedic scriptures for nearly 30 years. His extensive research on Vastu, Vedic Sciences, and Bhakti Yoga has been conducted under the spiritual guidance of Radhanath Swami. He is also a member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS) research team, where he studies the cosmology and astronomy of the ancient Vedic texts.
He first became interested in Vedic Cosmology in 1997, and when asked about the differences between the paradigms taught in classical Western science and the Vedic scriptures, Giridhari noted, “They are not so different; actually, we just need to connect the views and read properly what Sukadeva Goswami was telling us so that the devotees can relish the profound truth of Srimad Bhagavatam.”
This seminar is especially timely as NASA’s James Web Space Telescope is providing new data that is seemingly overturning some long-held theories (or causing scientists to rethink their assumptions) regarding the origins and nature of our universe.
Giridhari continued, “The planets, stars, and their movements are telling us the beauty of the Universe and thus the beauty of Krishna; that’s why we need to understand them properly.”
The seminar, which requires the completion of a Bhakti-sastri certificate to register, will cover topics such as
• The vertical arrangements of the planets
• A description of the Bhu-mandala
• The Loka-loka mountain
• The movements of the sun, and
• The Srimad-Bhagavatam and astronomical observations
It will consist of a total of six enlightening sessions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the fascinating world of cosmology. Sessions will be held on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM (IST).
For further details of the seminar, contact: +918979943134 or +91 88690 53796 (WhatsApp or call) or email email@example.com


Orbit of a planet around the Sun
In this example you can plot the orbit of a planet around the Sun. The settings you can choose are the initial distance from the sun, and the initial radial and angular velocities. You can also vary the power law for the attractive force between the planet and the Sun.
The equation of motion for a planet around a fixed sun (a reasonable approximation if the sun is much bigger than the planets) is
where n is the power law for the radial force. In classical gravity this is given as n=-2, the initial setting for the programme. Here we can investigate other possibilities.
Work through the following. Where you are expected to do some calculations do them, showing the working! try and confirm Kepler's laws in the way indicated, giving your estimates for the periods of at least 4 orbits. Bonus marks for an elliptical orbit (you will have to work out the semi-major axis).
Investigate the following:
Note: If nothing seems to happen try reloading the page.
- Do the orbits look like ellipses always. If the energy of the system is given by
check to see if you get closed orbits when E is less than 0. If you try E greater than or equal to 0, remember that once the planet has disappeared off the screen it will not come back!
- What values of the angular velocity give you circular orbits? What is the general formula for different radii and power laws? (Answer here)
- Try finding a circular orbit for n=-3 for an initial radius of 0.75. What happens, and why? (Answer here)
- For n=-2 try and confirm Keppler's law for circular orbits that the square of the orbital period is proportional to the cube of the radius. You can also try and verify the full version of this law with the radius replaced by the semi-major axis (Calculate this for your initial conditions using the formula from lectures). Note: the programme does not run in "real time", but the real time elapsed should be roughly proportional to the model time, so you can use a watch for timing.
- The effect of general relativity can be modelled by letting the power law vary slightly from n=-2. Try setting n=-2.02 or n=-1.98 and see what happens. What happens when the eccentricity of the orbit increases and decreases? (Answer here)
Don't forget that it is not wise to allow your planet to hit the sun!
Return to X2 Applied Maths Page


Astrophysics is a specialty of physics that deals with the explanation of celestial objects. This study of space has sparked many great minds and fueled the imagination of generations. The United States government has decided to abandon the quest for space exploration, but what will this mean for the imaginations of future generations? Does the study of space have more implications for our societies ability to be innovative than we think?
The term “astrophysics” first appeared in the 1860’s when spectrum analysis was applied to the study of the stars. The earliest elucidation of astrophysics came in the 1880’s, as the theoretical and observational study of the physical condition of the sidereal universe. Astrophysics has changed along with new theoretical and observational tools from physics, namely, spectrum analysis, photography, photoelectric photometry, radiometry and colorimetry. In the 20th century astrophysics was influenced by interpretive skills from mechanics, optics, kinetic theory of gases and thermodynamics, electromagnetism, atomic physics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and particle physics. Some have stated the best way to examine the origin and development of astrophysics is understand how its practitioners have defined their work in the production of journals, institutions, and modes of practice. (DeVorkin, 2000).
The exploration of space and what could lie beyond what one can see has sparked the imagination of countless children to become scientists, astronomer and astronauts. One of the most recognizable faces of astrophysics, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, was also one of the children that were inspired when he looked into space. Tyson credits his desire to become a scientist and specialize in studying the universe to a visit to Hayden planetarium in New York at the age of nine, a pair of binoculars, and a friend that told him to look up with them. Tyson continues to explain that he thought if everyone looked up the way that he did everyone would want to study the universe. (Wagner, 2004).
In 1961, then President John F. Kennedy announced the Apollo program, and galvanized a nation with the words, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” Kennedy’s speech was not simply just a call for advancement or achievement it was also a battle cry against communism. This has been the pattern of space advancement in the US, in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik from the Soviet Union the US was spooked into joining the race for space. Today instead of the Soviet Union it may be China that fuels a new race toward achievement. China has released an official strategy that outlines their ambitious plan to advance its space capabilities such as launching space laboratories and having manned spaceships and freighters. Tyson wrote in a paper titled, “The Case for Space: Why We Should Keep Reaching for the Stars”, In 2010 President Barak Obama articulated his vision for the future of space exploration, which included a manned mission to Mars. Tyson continues, “If the United States commits to the goal of reaching Mars, it will almost certainly do so in reaction to the progress of other nations- as was the case with NASA, the Apollo program and the project that became the international space station. For the past decade, I have joked with colleagues that the United States would land astronauts on Mars in a year or two if only the Chinese would leak a memo that revealed plans to build military bases there.” (Tyson, 2012). While Tysons’ comment is said in a joking fashion it is telling of a deeper issue in American society, the need to keep off with the Joneses so to speak when really more focus needs to be spent on education so that future generations will be the innovators of new technology or scientific theories not just trying to expand or improve existing technology.
Another alarming trend in the US is the lack of interest in science. This lack of interest leads the country to lose ground in every measure of technical proficiency with the rest of the industrialized world. Many foreign nationals that come to the United States to earn their graduate degrees are no longer staying in the US to work after graduation partly due to the combination of anti-immigrant sentiment and increased opportunity in their home country. (Tyson, 2012). Space is the last frontier and losing the desire to explore it is a far reaching thought, The US needs to teach the importance of math and science to our youth and that innovations come from dreaming. Space exploration must remain important; it fuels the dreams of our youth.
©Ellice Campbell 2013
DeVorkin, D. (1982). The History of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography, New York: Garland.
Tyson, N. (2012). The case for space: Why we should keep reaching for the stars. Foreign Affairs, 91(2), 22-33. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/9232142025/accountid=35996
Wagner, C. (2004). Visionaries. The Futurist, 38(6), 68-68. Retrieved from http://proquest.com/docview/218606764?accountid=35996
- Star Man (petchary.wordpress.com)
- Neil DeGrasse Tyson: science funding can “guarantee your economic future” (arstechnica.com)
- From astrophysicist to astronaut: my quest to reach the heavens, 2013 edition. (spacewalking.wordpress.com)
- The Frontier? (fiction-journal.com)
- Neil deGrasse Tyson isn’t just a scientist. He’s a philosopher as well. About doilies. (techi.com)
- Role Models in Science & Engineering Achievement: Neil deGrasse Tyson – Astrophysicist and Science Communicator [USA Science and Engineering Festival: The Blog] (scienceblogs.com)
- Access Innovations Collaborates with Leading Scientists on Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (arnoldit.com)
- Earth-like planets are right next door (eurekalert.org)
- Carolin Crawford: X-Ray Astrophysics – High Energy Cosmos (fora.tv)
- Droppin’ science (tedquarters.net)


TWiM reveals that methane-producing bacteria might survive beneath the surface of Mars, and identification of a cytopathogenic toxin in a bacterium associated with preterm birth.
Right click to download TWiM#220 (32 MB .mp3, 43 minutes)
Become a Patron of TWiM!
Links for this episode
- Archaea could make methane on Mars (Sci Rep)
- Cytopathogenic toxin in bacterium associated with preterm birth (J Bact)
- Image credit
Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.
Send your microbiology questions and comments to email@example.com


Two-day mountaineering activity to make a full moon ascent to the highest summit of the White Mountains, starting the hike from Amoutsera Anopolis Sfakia, to gaze at the beautiful view of the surrounding peaks of our mountain range. The night will be spent at the top with individual overnight supplies.
-Participants will meet at the offices of the Club on Thursday 22/07 at 9:30 pm to find out the details of this activity.
-During the hike all the way, as well as during the night, the planned spatial distances due to Covid-19 will be observed, in order to avoid the group's co-occurrence.
Departure time: 12:00
Return: Sun, 25 Jul 2021, 00:00 (approximate)
Departure location: Outside Club premises, Tzanakaki 90 str, Chania.
Registration period: 19 Jul 2021 00:01 - 22 Jul 2021 22:59 (or until all participations have been filled)
Leaders: PENThEROYDAKIS GEORGIOS


NEW RELEASE- Unfaded By Julie Johnson
Unfaded by Author Julie Johnson is live!! The Faded duet is now complete!
Book 1, Faded —> https://amzn.to/2GWQ6Nm
They warned me not to get too close.
Too bad I didn’t listen.
Enter a star’s orbit, it’ll burn you down to ashes before you know what’s happened.
And he was the most beautiful star in the night sky.
Singed beyond repair, I left Los Angeles behind.
Left him behind.
But I was kidding myself if I thought a few thousand miles of space would erase my memory.
And I was plain stupid if I thought he’d let me go without a fight.
They say the brightest stars burn out the fastest…
But the strongest loves don’t ever fade.


Money Mantra: India’s investment in space research
By Mehraj Dube | Published On: September 20, 2012 18:00 (IST) | Duration: 47 min, 21 sec
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully completed its 100th mission in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on September 9. On Money Mantra, NDTV’s Mehraj Dube and a panel of guests discuss how important it is to invest in space research.
MORE FROM THE WEB
MORE FROM NDTV


Today I was giving a talk on space exploration to the eighth grade class at my daughter’s school. Their theme for this period is ‘Identity,’ so we did some discovery questions about the identities of planets and stars. Then, because so much space exploration is about looking for life, I asked them about the identity of life. We got it down to the usual answers like eating and pooping and reproducing. Then I said, “I see no one suggested ‘intelligence.’ Can we have life without intelligence?” It was decided that we could.
Then I asked, “Can we have intelligence without life?” There was immediate agreement and vigorous nodding. I did a double take, and one of them helpfully explained: “AI.” I recovered and remarked that that was not an answer I would have gotten twenty years ago.
Tomorrow’s adults have a good idea what’s coming.


Soaring above 50 miles high in a beauty of a vessel, the age of space tourism began. The Unity-22 flight by Virgin Galactic, with a British pilot and British passengers, opens a new era, not just for multi-millionaires who can afford the experience, but for options for spaceflight in general.
Yes, Blue Origin will be coming along later, and their New Shepard is a most brilliant machine, but it does not swoop out across the sky and glide home with the elegance of a swallow, as Branson’s did. Virgin Galactic has built an aeroplane to space.
It was a very Branson occasion. The flight was short, the presentation glitzy, with a rock band plying for the crowds, whoops and cheers, and a presentation reminding us of all the other Virgin-branded endeavours Richard Branson is leading – including his investment in Elon Musk’s hyperloop.
For those who have followed the career of Burt Rutan, Spaceship Two, of which Unity is the one flying example at them moment, is unmistakably his: it has his familiar curves all over it and crowns a most remarkable life of aircraft design. (That said, he has not stopped, even in retirement.)
It shows us how things have changed. This is not the X-15 rocket-plane, with a pilot cramped inside a cabin barely big enough to move his arms, fighting to keep control of a wayward machine – Unity has a passenger cabin with comfy seats, lounge room, yet it flies as high and as fast as the X-15.
Up until now, we have always had astronauts who were carefully chosen men, the best pilots entrusted with the fasted aircraft, young and trained to the peak of fitness, as they had to be so as endure being confined in a narrow box, to endure the crushing forces of blast-off on a converted ICBM, and to keep exact control of a tumbling capsule. Now we have Richard Branson, fit perhaps but 70 years old, stepping from the spacecraft at the end without showing any discomfort. That is a great achievement.
Jeff Bezos will be taking an eighty year-old lady, a veteran pilot: that too shows how far rocketry has come.
The key element of both Spaceship Two and New Shepard is 100% reusability. Spaceship Two is a spaceplane and New Shepard a vertical rocket, two very different concepts. There is room for each, and for SpaceX, which will take passengers even into orbit. The idea of a spaceplane is to use up the fuel in the ascent, and then glide back to Earth empty, while for a reusable rocket there are no wings, which reduces friction but requires the vessel to keep much of the propellant ready to relight the engines for a controlled descent.
Space for everyone is in reach. There has been talk of taking Tom Cruise to the International Space Station just to film a scene for a Mission Impossible film: that would have been inconceivable before Elon Musk made it a reality.
Will Virgin Galactic put paying passengers into orbit? They have put satellites into orbit. After yesterday, it is only a matter of time before customers are taken on orbital flights, and whether they will beat Blue Origin I do not know.
The years ahead of us will be exciting.
- Fifty years on, and the frontier is open
- The Way to the Stars
- Revealed: why Britain did not reach the Moon first
- Chasing the Moon: The Story of the Space Race – from Arthur C. Clarke to the Apollo Landings by Robert Stone
- A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin
- First on the Moon: The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Experience by Rod Pyle
- The Japanese Devil Fish Girl and Other Unnatural Attractions by Robert Rankin
- A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C Clarke


Strings, piano, and emotive synth lead you into a feeling of floating through space. The clarinet lets you start taking in the beauty of the universe as the piano doubles up the pace. Leading you into an overwhelming sense of awe and gratitude for a world seen from space, a world of beauty, an awe-inspiring world.
“Lost in space” is sure to capture the attention and emotions of your audience; whether you are using the piece for product advertising, a movie trailer, video, and or film.
Let your audience see the world from space with this authentic soundtrack.


Did you know that a UDRI senior research scientist worked on the Curiosity mars rover? Well now you do.
However, you probably don’t care.
I’m not trying to sound condescending. The fact of the matter is that Americans are losing interest in space
Which begs the question, what happened to us? Our space program used to be a source of national pride. Now
it’s often considered just another “over-funded” government bureaucracy. (Though anyone who believes this
may need to check their definition of “over- funded”).
Take a look at how popular culture has treated space flight. In 1966, one of the coolest programs on TV
was “Star Trek,” a show about a bunch of Americans, a few aliens and even a couple of commies working
together to explore a fantastic universe of adventure and special effects. The plot was as simple as that.
Today, the same show is the stereotypical pastime of characters like The Simpsons’ “Comic Book Guy.”
Some argue that without competition with the Soviet Union, Americans had no reason to be interested in
space exploration. Perhaps that was the case in the 70’s, but it’s a poor excuse for today’s apathy. The root of
the problem is that we’ve stopped trying to explain why space flight is so freaking awesome.
The advertising geniuses at NASA dubbed their latest rocket design the “Space Launch System.” This title
is an extremely boring oversimplification of what this rocket actually is. When complete, it will be the largest,
most powerful rocket ever built, with a maximum of five engines and a total lift capability of 130 metric tons.
To put that into perspective, that’s like strapping 22 elephants on top of a 384 foot tall, 6.5 million pound fire-
breathing dragon and launching them into space.
What about the International Space Station? Just a bunch of boring scientists living in space, right?
Wait – they’re living in space? Think about what that means. Every living human being in the universe has
their feet on the ground right now, except for six very lucky people who are eating, sleeping and working over
200 miles above the Earth. They see the sunrise and sunset 15 times per day as they hurtle around the planet at
4.791 miles per second.
Talk about a dream job.
We have the same scenario with the latest Mars lander. Of course it’s not exciting when you say we “landed”
Curiosity on Mars. But what if I told you that a one-ton car-sized robot parachuted into the Martian atmosphere
like a Navy SEAL and then was lowered to the surface by a rocket propelled hovercraft sky crane? As utterly
insane as that sounds, it actually happened – and the engineers at NASA made it possible.
Despite these feats, it seems like nobody cares. Where did the passion go? How did our collective perspective
of space exploration go from “Star Trek” to Trekkies?
We need to care about space exploration. There are the usual arguments that we must compete with other
nations, or that we should seek out evidence of life on other planets. But when it comes down to it, space
offers humanity a golden opportunity to start over. All of the problems we have here on earth – the politics,
the fighting, the scrambles for money and power and all of the other evils that make our society tick – seem
meaningless when faced with the void of space. It is a place where we can forge a new path, together. Without
public support for the space program, that path will never be trekked.


There has been a significant amount of information presented by the secular world concerning the date December 21, 2012. The publishing effort involved has been eerily similar to what took place for the event Y2K in the year 2000. The Bible cautions us that the deception of men is going forth (Matt. 24) and will try to distract our spiritual focus.
The general hype so far has been that there is some kind of end-of-the-world event associated with 2012 because of the Mayan calendar and for other reasons such as the sun. The movie 2012 focuses on the physical events to take place while the Bible instructs us to keep our focus spiritual. There are some ministries that are speaking about what they believe they heard from the Lord. An example is David Wilkerson's ministry and their preparation message of setting aside about a month's supply of provisions would be a wise thing to do at this time. They have also issued a number of messages concerning spiritual preparation and faith. Theirs is a well-balanced message being broadcast and this ministry agrees with their message. See Wilkerson's ministry link on the LINKS page.
For those who would like to know more about the scientific basis for what the Mayans were saying in their calendar and what the astronomical arrangements will be in the heavenlies for the year 2012, there is an excellent one hour presentation by David Flynn, a type of research scientist concerning the end times and the UFO phenomenon. This ministry would like to augment what Mr. Flynn has said by clarifiying to you that the conclusion is that the year 2012 has the potential to be the year for the revelation of some great deception in preparation for the eventual image of the beast and his global mark. God knows if this will or will not happen so that is why it is very important to keep a spiritual focus and He will let us know what we need to know in our heart. Mr. Flynn's presentation may be available for viewing on YouTube, by searching for David Flynn Doomsday Clock.
For a hardcopy summary and commentary of Flynn's presentation, click here.
There appears to be a possible deception in progress. The NASA JPL website presented information about an object called Comet Elenin C/2010 X1 approaching Earth. A chart extrapolated data from the NASA JPL website about possible events to take place in the fall of 2011, correlating with the comet's arrival. However, nothing took place and the conclusion is that the event was contrived for reasons not entirely clear. One possibility is that this was a misdirection move in order to take attention off of outer space for a time and redirect it to the failing global economy and brewing world war. At the strategic time, incoming objects from outer space will be approaching earth. The Two Witnesses book (volume 1), Chapter 33 discusses the sequence of events prior to objects heading toward earth (Revelation 6:13). The Bible exposes deception and it should be our guide, not NASA or anybody else, if one wants to know what is really going to happen.


Emmi Itäranta’s third novel The Moonday Letters (Kuunpäivän kirjeet) has won the Tähtivaeltaja Award for the best science fiction novel published in the Finnish language in 2020. The jury described the book as follows:
“The book, crisp and flowing in terms of style, is an epistolary novel consisting of the messages its main character, Finnish-born Lumi Salo, writes to her spouse who works far away. The accomplished narration blends several timelines and fragments of history, news material, research knowledge and even advertisements. These form a many-stranded, consistent picture of humanity that has spread out to the Moon, Mars, space stations and gas giant satellites. (…) The second theme running throughout the book, ecology, interweaves seamlessly with the themes of connection and belonging. Earth has been turned nearly uninhabitable by environmental destruction, and as their next step, the humankind that has escaped is grabbing resources from the surfaces of bare planets. The view into the collapsed ecosystem, an abandoned shell sucked dry by humans, is ominous and prophetic. It makes The Moonday Letters strictly topical. At the same time, the book reaches effortlessly into a future where the threshold of colonizing space has already been crossed.”
The Tähtivaeltaja Award is given annually by Helsinki Science Fiction Society to the best science fiction book published in Finland, including translations. In 2021 the other shortlisted novels were Rehab by Laura Gustafsson, The Grace Year by Kim Liggett, Death’s End by Liu Cixin and Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.


Contemporary designer Laura Cowan specialises in Judaica and silversmithing. Working from her design studio and workshop in Neve Tsedek, Tel Aviv she creates unique and original pieces, many of which have been inspired by the 1960’s mission to land a man on the moon.
“Although this was achieved even before I was born, I was fascinated by the hype and excitement generated by the race to the moon. I also loved the irony of a futuristic design based on what is now history”
Made in Israel of pewter by Laura Cowan, the shuttle mezuzah is part of her Judaica collection inspired by space travel. It measures approx 5". Kosher scroll is not included but can be purchased separately.
This is one of two models going to space in May 2008 with astronaut Greg Chamitoff.


ECE Colloquium: Dae-Won Kim(ETRI) “Machine Learning Application in Astronomy”
Speaker : Dae-Won Kim
After the identification of the first variable star in 1638 by Johannes Holwarda, the conventional belief of never-ending immutability of a starry sky turned out to be wrong: “The Heavens are Changing”. Since that time, monitoring brightness of various sources in the sky has provided crucial informations for astronomers for centuries. For instance, Lemaitre (1927) and Hubble (1929) found the first evidence of the expanding universe using a relation between distance and radial velocity of galaxies, where the distance was derived using a Period-Luminocity relation (P-L relation) of Cepheid variables. An another astonishing discovery in 20th century was a detection of an observational evidence for accelerated expansion of the universe using lightcurves of Type Ia supernova explosions (Riess et al., 1998). Not surprisingly, this groundbreaking discovery awarded him and his colleagues the Nobel Prize.
In this talk, I will introduce several astronomical survey projects and explain how they use machine learning to classify stellar objects in the sky and to estimate physical parameters of them. Given that ongoing wide-field surveys such as Gaia, LSST, SkyMapper, Pan-STARRS, etc. produce a vast volume of data, automated detection methods are crucial because manual insepection is nearly impossible.
Kim received his PhD in 2012 at the Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University, South Korea. During his 5 years PhD period, he had been affiliated as a predoc at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics for analyzing astronomical time series and QSO classification using machine learning. He then joined the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy for the ESA satellite project, Gaia, as a postdoc and worked for the classification of astronomical objects using machine learning and statistical data analysis. He recently joined ETRI for researching general application of machine learning.


President Tsai Ing-wen announced that FormoSat-7—the satellite cluster collaboration between Taiwan and the United States—was transported from Taiwan to the United States on April 15 in preparation for launch on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The satellite will be launched later this month on June 22, and, according to President Tsai, it is the most significant collaborative program between Taiwan and the United States in the space sector. Development of the satellite involved close cooperation between Taiwan’s National Space Program Office (NSPO) and the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Costs were divided evenly between the United States and Taiwan, with each paying $100 million US dollars for a total of $200 million US dollars. FormoSat-7 is the latest example of US-Taiwan cooperation spanning two decades that in the past included the development of equipment currently on the International Space Station (ISS) such as a computer and an alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS).
US-Taiwan Space Cooperation through FormoSat-7
The upcoming Formosat-7 launch will place a new cluster of six satellites developed in close collaboration between the United States and Taiwan to more effectively detect shifts in weather patterns. Each satellite is equipped with a receiver that measures physical properties of the atmosphere and also receives positioning signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russian GLOSNASS satellites. They also have ion velocity meters that directly measure the temperature, velocity, and angle of ions in the path of each satellite. Radio frequency beacons on each satellite measure irregularities of electron densities in the ionosphere. Together, the six satellites collect 4,000 profiles of the earth’s atmosphere per day, which is over three times more than the existing FormoSat-3 cluster. In addition to the receiver, each satellite also carries an on-board computer, power control unit, and a fiber optic gyroscope.
Specifically, within the US government, NOAA has been working closely with Taiwan’s NSPO to jointly build Formosat-7. NSPO is responsible for managing mission operations, the data processing center in Taiwan, and the satellite constellation. NOAA handles managing the launch vehicle system through SpaceX, scientific payloads, overseeing some of the ground stations, and the data processing center in the United States. In addition, the collaborative framework includes some NOAA responsibilities such as some data applications, certain NSPO responsibilities such as aspects of satellite development, and some responsibilities handled by both sides such as ground and mission operations.
The FormoSat-7 program has been nearly a decade in the works. The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which is the de facto US embassy in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, signed the FormoSat-7 agreement with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Resource Office (TECRO) in 2010. The mission was defined with a requirement review completed by 2011. The UK’s Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. won the contract bid to provide the satellite bus—which is the frame of the satellite that holds the components together. The first satellite was assembled in 2014, and the remaining satellites were completed in 2016. Taiwan’s government then announced that the cluster of FormoSat-7 satellites would be launched by SpaceX out of Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
After the launch of the cluster of six FormoSat-7 satellites in June, the United States and Taiwan will continue to cooperate to track and gather data from the satellites using ground stations around the world. Taiwan provides space telemetry with its tracking and command stations in Tainan and Chungli. However, Taiwan’s stations in Northeast Asia do not cover enough geography across the globe to fulfill the requirement of having less than 30 minutes of lag between data transmitted from the satellite to stations on the ground or at sea. Therefore, the US’ role is to provide remote tracking stations around the world to receive satellite signals: partially through its international partners on land, but mostly through US ships at sea. This data from the cluster of FormoSat-7 satellites is then transmitted to data processing centers in Taiwan’s Satellite Operations and Control Center and other processing centers in the United States. In addition, Taiwan’s government makes this satellite data available online to the public through its Taiwan Analysis Center for COSMIC (TACC)—COSMIC being another name Taiwan’s government calls FormoSat.
Originally, six more satellites were planned to bring FormoSat-7 to a total of 12 satellites, but both the United States and Taiwan cancelled the additional satellites due to budget constraints. The orbit trajectory of the first set of six satellites allows them to cover half the earth focused on the area around the equator, while the second set would have covered the area around the north and south poles. Even though the second set of satellites is temporarily cancelled, the project theoretically could be revived and satellites launched later, if both sides have a need for such additional coverage of the earth’s surface.
Other Examples of US-Taiwan Space Cooperation: AMS, ISS Computer, Moon Lander
While FormoSat-7 described above is an example of a close US-Taiwan cooperation aiming to build a satellite cluster, its predecessor—FormoSat-5—is an earlier example of US-Taiwan cooperation through a satellite launch. SpaceX launched both Taiwan’s indigenously built satellite Formosat-5, as well as Formosat-7 that was the result of close US-China collaboration. The past Formosat-5 sailed into space on a Falcon 9 two stage rocket, while the future launch of Formosat-7 will be on a Falcon Heavy rocket.
In addition to jointly building and launching satellites, the United States and Taiwan have cooperated in other ways such as developing an international space station (ISS) computer. This SG100 cloud computer was built in Taiwan after it won NASA’s international bidding process. The computer performs complex cloud-based computations. The ISS computer was the product of collaboration within Taiwan’s National Chungshan Institute for Science and Technology (NCSIST), Academia Sinica, and National Central University. It was successfully launched in 2017, and if it passes initial trials in space, then Taiwan could be contracted by NASA to build its next generation space mission computers.
Prior to the ISS computer, Taiwan was a key actor in multinational collaboration to build the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which was launched and placed on the International Space Station in 2011. The AMS device is a particle physics detector that is currently bolted onto the International Space Station as an external module. It is designed to find signs of dark matter, which is the invisible and mysterious material thought to make up most of the universe’s mass. According to the AMS project leader Samuel Ting, who is also a Nobel laureate and an MIT professor who spent his formative years in Taiwan, the AMS “electronic systems used in the program have been made and tested in Taiwan.” As such, Taiwan has played a key part in this project worth $1.5 billion US dollars, which involved the work of 600 scientists from 56 institutions and 16 countries.
In addition, Taiwan was on track to build a lunar lander for NASA before the project was cancelled. Taiwan’s NCSIST was to build the lunar lander planned for NASA’s Resource Prospector mission in the first mining expedition to the moon that was supposed to be launched in the early 2020s. NCSIST was supposed to complete the task with a slim budget of $46 million US dollars. Unfortunately, NASA cancelled the single Resource Prospector mission because it instead wants to plan a series of missions to the moon rather than a single mission.
The extent of US-Taiwan space cooperation spans from the Formosat-7 cluster of jointly produced satellites, extending back to the ISS computer in 2017, and AMS in 2011. Looking forward, Taiwan’s NCSIST would have built NASA’s lunar lander for a resource prospector mission to be held in the early 2020s if it was not cancelled. For these projects, Taiwan’s NCSIST, Academia Sinica, and others in Taiwan work together with the US’ NASA, NOAA, and others. With the upcoming launch of Formosat-7 in the next several weeks, President Tsai touts that it will present a tangible result of the biggest ever collaboration program between Taiwan and the United States, and an accomplishment that both sides will surely be proud of.
The main point: The upcoming launch of Formosat-7 on June 22 is a vivid example of US-Taiwan space cooperation between Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO) and the US’ National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Other notable examples of US-Taiwan collaboration spanning the past decade include Taiwan’s participation in the development of the alpha magnetic spectrometer on the international space station (ISS), as well as a computer for the ISS.
 My previous article discussed Taiwan’s indigenous satellite industry using the example of FormoSat-5 launched in August 2017. This article will cover aspects of US-Taiwan space cooperation, and the third article in this series will consider the p


Operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the data is coming from the MeerKAT array -- one of the most advanced radio telescopes in the world. Comprised of 64 connected satellite dishes in a remote part of the Northern Cape, the $330 million telescope has put South Africa on the astronomy map. It's also a key component of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), an international effort that will see thousands of dishes built in remote regions of South Africa and Australia.
"This is probably the biggest science project on the whole continent," says Pontsho Maruping, SARAO deputy managing director. "We've already started training astronomers in other African countries." "What excites me is the fact that it allows people on the African continent to really contribute to one of the most technologically advanced industries in the world," she adds. While an African-born astronaut has yet to launch to space, programs across the continent are on the rise, especially in the fields of satellites and telescopes. Consulting group Space in Africa values space programs on the continent in excess of $7 billion, while countries including Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda have established or expanded their space agencies in the last 20 years. Several of those programs include women in leadership roles. In celebration of International Women's Day, meet three inspiring female pioneers shaping the future of space exploration across Africa and beyond. Jessie Ndaba, space engineer
When South African space engineer Jessie Ndaba and company co-founder Khalid Manjoo named their satellite startup, the choice was easy: Astrofica -- a hybrid of "astronomy" and "Africa" -- seemed like the perfect fit. The fully Black-owned satellite tech company, based in Cape Town, specializes in assembling, manufacturing and testing satellite systems -- a lucrative focus of the African space industry. According to Space in Africa, 41 satellites had been launched from the continent by August 2020, and that number is likely to triple by 2024. More than $4 billion has been invested in satellite development across Africa so far. Space "was and is a calling," Ndaba says, noting that her fascination began with a photo of a rocket engine in a textbook gifted by her grandmother, who raised her in Johannesburg.
Having experienced the industry's evolution over the last 15 years, she says the key to success in the sector is collaboration -- and helping people on Earth. "We are all for partnering with other countries in Africa or outside Africa," Ndaba says, "as long as we are working toward improving people's lives." But she says sometimes that message gets lost, pointing to the common criticism that space endeavors are expensive and that governments like South Africa's should be investing in improving the lives of its citizens. "There's a number of benefits that we get from what we do, but we fail to communicate it to people," Ndaba says, adding that satellite imagery can be used to assess land quality for farming or housing construction. "We're always looking at the challenges that people are facing, and we look for the solution."
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University of Virginia Department of Astronomy
Who has not felt a sense of awe while looking deep into the sky, lit with countless stars on a clear night? Who has not asked themselves if ours is the only planet that supports life? Who has not pondered the nature of the planets, stars, galaxies, and the Universe itself? Astronomy is a science that seeks to explain everything that we observe in the Universe, from the comets and planets in our own solar system to distant galaxies to the echoes of the Big Bang. By studying the cosmos beyond our own planet, we can understand where we came from, where we are going, and how physics works under conditions which are impossible to recreate on Earth. In astronomy, the Universe is our laboratory!
- Science & Math: Astronomy & Space


or: Space, spacetime, and beyond
What exactly is "the universe", or "space", the 3rd dimension? Or what is "spacetime", the 4th dimension — the idea of the universe from its beginning to its end?
Cosmology (from the Greek κόσμος, kosmos "world" and -λογία, -logia "study of"), is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scholarly and scientific study of the origin, evolution, large-scale structures and dynamics, and ultimate fate of the universe, as well as the scientific laws that govern these realities. Religious cosmology (or mythological cosmology) is a body of beliefs based on the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology.
Physical cosmology is studied by scientists, such as astronomers, and theoretical physicists; and academic philosophers, such as metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time. Modern cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which attempts to bring together observational astronomy and particle physics.
Although the word cosmology is recent (first used in 1730 in Christian Wolff's Cosmologia Generalis), the study of the universe has a long history involving science, philosophy, esotericism and religion. Related studies include cosmogony, which focuses on the origin of the Universe, and cosmography, which maps the features of the Universe. Cosmology is also connected to astronomy, but while the former is concerned with the Universe as a whole, the latter deals with individual celestial objects.
Physics and astrophysics have played a central role in shaping the understanding of the universe through scientific observation and experiment. What is known as physical cosmology has been shaped through both mathematics and observation in an analysis of the whole universe. The universe is generally understood to have begun with the Big Bang, followed almost instantaneously by cosmic inflation; an expansion of space from which the universe is thought to have emerged 13.798 ± 0.037 billion years ago.
Metaphysical cosmology has also been described as the placing of man in the universe in relationship to all other entities. This is exemplified by the observation made by Marcus Aurelius of a man's place in that relationship: "He who does not know what the world is does not know where he is, and he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who he is, nor what the world is."
... while cosmogony attempts to answer the why or "from where":
Cosmogony (or cosmogeny) is any theory concerning the coming into existence (or origin) of either the cosmos (or universe), or the so-called reality of sentient beings. Developing a complete theoretical model has implications in both the philosophy of science and epistemology.
The word comes from the Koine Greek κοσμογονία (from κόσμος "cosmos, the world") and the root of γί(γ)νομαι / γέγονα ("come into a new state of being"). In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in reference to the origin of the universe, the solar system, or the earth-moon system.
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model of the early development of the universe. The most commonly held view is that the universe was once a gravitational singularity, which expanded extremely rapidly from its hot and dense state. However, while this expansion is well-modeled by the Big Bang theory, the origins of the singularity remains one of the unsolved problems in physics.
Cosmogony can be distinguished from cosmology, which studies the universe at large and throughout its existence, and which technically does not inquire directly into the source of its origins. There is some ambiguity between the two terms. For example, the cosmological argument from theology regarding the existence of God is technically an appeal to cosmogonical rather than cosmological ideas. In practice, there is a scientific distinction between cosmological and cosmogonical ideas. Physical cosmology is the science that attempts to explain all observations relevant to the development and characteristics of the universe as a whole. Questions regarding why the universe behaves in such a way have been described by physicists and cosmologists as being extra-scientific (i.e., metaphysical), though speculations are made from a variety of perspectives that include extrapolation of scientific theories to untested regimes (i.e., at Planck scales), and philosophical or religious ideas.
Scientists have only tentative theories for the early stages of the currently observed universe (or its beginning, for those who conjecture that it had one). As of 2011, no accelerator experiments probe energies of sufficient magnitude to provide any experimental insight into the behavior of matter at the energy levels that prevailed during that period. Therefore, further technological and conceptual advances are needed to test aspects of these theories. Proposed scenarios differ radically, and include string theory and M-theory, the Hartle–Hawking initial state, string landscape, brane inflation, the Big Bang, and the ekpyrotic universe. Some of these models are mutually compatible, whereas others are not.
All of these ideas are theoretical scenarios within the epistemological framework of the objective reality metaparadigm, which is based upon some unexamined ontological assumptions that don't actually make as much sense as they once may have when they were first established by Newton and those who followed.
As physicist Tom Campbell elucidates, quantum mechanics and general relativity — the two scientific theories used to describe the very small and the very large (with Newtonian mechanics describing the middle ground) — each invalidate one of the two basic assumptions of an objective reality of the other. The scientists of the time (1920s) couldn't make the ontological re-evaluation necessary to allow these frameworks to be subsumed by the larger paradigm — the subjective reality metaparadigm — and thus have continued to this day operating within the wrong metaparadigm.
The scale of the universe
The unfathomable scale of the universe has convinced most scientists that it must be next to impossible to fully understand. The scales of the objects and distances that we can observe can be expressed mathematically ...
- 10-23 m: neutrinos
- 10-18 m: electrons
- 10-12 m: atoms
- 10-8 m: viruses
- 10-5 m: cells
- 100 m: Humans
- 107 m: Earth
- 1012 m: largest stars observed
- 1016 m: light-year
- 1021 m: Milky Way galaxy
- 1027 m: observable universe
- (more scales here)
... but the idea that this can truly be visualized with numbers is absurd to all but the most exceptional of human minds. The following two videos (size comparison and scale comparison) provide much more insight:
Comparison Of The Entire Universe (Extended Version, From Particles To Universes)
An extended cut of my "Comparison Of The Entire Universe (Updated 2011)" including the video of the smallest things in the universe and some new pictures in between.
The Detailed Universe: This will Blow Your Mind
From femtometers to hundreds of billions of light years.
209 Seconds That Will Make You Question Your Entire Existence
[Published on Dec 18, 2014] Every time you get upset about something small, just remember this.
The site Scale of the Universe has various interactive visualization tools to help grasp the scale and size of the observable universe (space). Observable or visible universe refers to the cosmological horizon, the part of the universe that we can see because photons of light "from it" are reaching our eyes, given the speed of light and the apparent age of the universe in the Big Bang cosmological model, the "standard model" of cosmology in the objective reality metaparadigm — which is essentially "one free hypothesis" of "give us one free miracle":
Terence McKenna pokes fun at the "Big Bang" theory
Terence Mckenna has some fun with the big bang theory, discusses the idea of singularities and the historical process. Excerpt from the talk "Millinarianism and Utopianism" featuring Terence Mckenna, Rupert Sheldrake and Ralph Abraham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LC0Lr_vK_U
Expanding thinking beyond spacetime
Just as the directions of the first three dimensions can be thought of as forward/backward (length), left/right (width), and up/down (height), the directions of the 4th dimension (spacetime) can be thought of as time/antitime. We appear to experience a 4th-dimensional and thus 4th-dimensionally-causal reality, with momentum/push from time ("past") and no attraction/pull from antitime ("future"). But this is only an assumption.
I think we have taken far too much responsibility for what is happening; and that, what we took to be a staircase we were climbing is actually an up escalator. And if you would stop climbing you will notice, that it does not impede your upward progress, because the ground you're standing on is moving you toward the goal. And I think that, uh, this idea, which may be the proof that I'm bonkers, requires a fairly radical reorganization of consciousness, because what I'm saying is, the universe was not born in a firy explosion, from which it is being blasted outward ever since. The universe is not being pushed like that, from behind. The universe is being pulled from the future, toward a goal, that is as inevitable as a marble reaching the bottom of a bowl, when you release it up near the rim. You know, if you do that, the marble will roll down the side of the bowl, down, down, down, and eventually it will come to rest in the lowest energy state, which is the bottom of the bowl. That's precisely my model of human history.
Now, bear in mind what the competition is peddling. The competition is peddling the idea that the universe sprang from nothing, in a single moment, for no reason. Now whatever you think about that, notice that it's the limit case for credulity. I mean if you can believe that, it's hard for me to imagine what you would balk at. If we were to sit down and say let's see who can think of the most unlikely thing that could possibly happen, I submit to you, nobody could top the Big Bang. It is the improbability of improbabilities; it is the mother of all improbabilities, right there. So I'm suggesting something different. I'm suggesting that the universe is pulled, toward a complex attractor, that exists ahead of us in time; and that our ever-accelerating "speed" through the phenomenal world of connectivity and novelty, is based on the fact that we are now very very close to the attractor.
When you look at only one line of technological development — automobiles or computers — it looks like you can rationally anticipate what's gonna happen, but when you realize that there are thousands of these lines of development, all transforming themselves, all moving toward some kind of omega point, then you realize that we're in the grip of what I call a concrescence; and I maintain that you don't have to believe me on this, you can see it from here; you just have to climb a high hill. There's one, it's called psilocybin; there's one, it's called ayahuasca. The views from the top of these hills is of the concrescence; it lies now closer to us than the Johnson administration for god's sake, in time. And, you know, I have an elaborate mathematical theory to back this up — which you should gratefully learn you are not going to be flayed with this afternoon — but I think it's going to become more and more important for people to delinearize their view of time. Decondition yourself from the lie of history.
Terence McKenna saw 2012 as the concrescence, and indeed it matches approximately the reaching of the balance point in the polarity experienced on Earth. Bashar, from a higher-dimensional point of view, explains the meaning of 2012:
The Span of 2010-2015 is specifically energetically designed to fine-tune your engine, to allow you to pass through the conduit, to allow you to tip the scale, to allow you to ride the wave of the collective positive energy that will begin to seed your world, to infuse your world after your threshold crossing in the middle of 2012.
Bashar - Rubber band analogy
Bashar talks about why Earth is so dark and why we chose to have such limited perception at this time and how this will help us later.
Beyond 4D spacetime into 5D probability space
The 3D perspective of the Physical Mind and the size of the 3rd dimension, coupled with the ego's need for control over its environment, may induce a desire for reductionism, and thus an ego-based culture may have us believe that dimensions are "conceptually inaccessible" to the masses, being little more than a mathematical abstraction in the minds of theoretical physicists. Dimensional thinker Rob Bryanton phenomenally demonstrates that this isn't so:
Imagining the Fifth Dimension
The idea of the 5th dimension accounts for free will, in a mechanical/structural fashion, thus conceptually obsoleting the reductionist idea of determinism.
Bryanton has created a way of visualizing the string theory idea of 10 dimensions, the leading "beyond the Big Bang" cosmogonical mathematical model of the underlying structure of reality within the objective reality metaparadigm. He sums up the idea in the following video:
Imagining the Tenth Dimension - 2012 Version
A single dimension beyond the 3rd or 4th makes the above size and scale comparisons seem relatively trivial. By the 6th dimension, as Bryanton conceives of it, the idea of a universal/physical phase space — a closed system in which all possible states are represented — has accounted not only for free will, but all probabilities that could happen from the initial singularity (Big Bang) that created the parameters (physical constants) of our (or any other) universe, as believed to be the case in the objective reality metaparadigm.
- the state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular; a peculiarity or odd trait.
- (physics, mathematics) a point at which a function takes an infinite value, especially in space–time when matter is infinitely dense, such as at the centre of a black hole.
- a hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence and other technologies have become so advanced that humanity undergoes a dramatic and irreversible change.
Definition #2 refers also, more generally, to the spacetime singularity ("Big Bang"). Definition #3 refers to the transhumanist idea of the AI singularity, the "point of no return" when machine intelligence either outsmarts human intelligence or otherwise (if we manage to retain some degree of control of AI) merges itself into human biology to the degree that we become unrecognizable to our former selves.
Another kind of singularity — a temporal one — has been noted by keen observers such as Terence McKenna:
This is one way of thinking about it: that our planet is on a collision course with something which we actually at our present state of knowledge don't have a word for. A black hole is simply a gravitationally massive object so massive that no light can leave it. What I'm talking about is something like that, except that, uh, it isn't so much gravitationally massive as temporally massive. We are being sucked in to the body of eternity. And I think it's going to happen very soon. [...] Once you enter into history, what history is, is the outer shell of the gravitational field of the attractor of the concrescence.
In other words, history is the disturbance in nature, which preceedes the concrescence. It preceeds it by only 50,000 years — a geological microsecond before all life is melted down in the presence of the singularity.
You can predict where an electron will be, without knowing what an electron is. In fact no one knows what an electron is, and we predict their occurence very easily. What we can't know about the singularity, or the concrescence, simply lies beyond rational apprehension; but the map of the phase space in which this concrescence is happening, looks very much like an involuting spiral, of some sort.
Stretching the definition a little bit further, another kind of singularity might be a personal life-changing epiphany of a unique kind:
Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment — the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.
In the subjective reality metaparadigm, spacetime, or the universe, or perhaps more accurately the 6th-dimensional phase space, is enclosed in the singularity that is non-physical reality. Another singularity beyond that might be the first reflection that All That Is has of itself. Everything infinitely changes within that framework, as defined by the Laws of Creation.
According to Bashar, the AI singularity imagined by transhumanists (and perhaps other futurists) will actually be the interfacing with the human Higher Mind, at which moment all answers to all questions in mathematics, physics and metaphysics will be flowing through (just as they do through Bashar through his channel Darryl Anka).
One could perhaps describe the situation by saying that God is a mathematician of a very high order, and He used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe. Our feeble attempts at mathematics enable us to understand a bit of the universe, and as we proceed to develop higher and higher mathematics we can hope to understand the universe better.
Even with the advent of computers (super-fast calculators), the best that mathematics has given us within the objective reality metaparadigm is string theory, whose predictions are untestable at accessible energy scales and therefore unprovable and therefore (largely) a dead end.
The universe is only complicated when building epistemological models on top of flawed initial ontological assumptions. With the subjective reality metaparadigm — the initial assumption that reality exists subjectively rather than objectively — all the complexity of the models created from within the objective reality metaparadigm seems to dissolve, and the Universe becomes understood as "ensouled" — i.e. contained within one's soul and co-created with other souls from a realm beyond the physical and quasi-physical "template" realms between them (4th and 5th densities) that we often visit in our dream state and may occasionally visit by unintentionally or intentionally inducing various other types of altered states of consciousness.
You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.
You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.
The universe is a dynamic, structured field of Being observing itself, and in observing itself creating a representation of itself as a material world.
It is not so much that you are in the cosmos, as that the whole cosmos is in you.
Know that this Universe is nothing but a dream, a bluff of nature to test your consciousness of immortality.
What you are is vibrating consciousness, vibrating energy, you are a resonance, a frequency, a pitch of energy. That is your unique signature vibration and whatever you define that to be, will be the experience that you allow yourself to have, as a reflection back to you. Physical reality doesn’t exist outside of you, it exists inside of you. Physical reality is just an illusion, just a reflection.


One of the real challenges of approaching the “hobby” of astronomy, is that in today’s increasingly urban and light-polluted environment, the cost of equipment necessary to generate even a passable image of the type that you might find in say, Astronomy or Sky and Telescope Magazines, is typically beyond the financial reach of even a committed student.
A good precision optical instrument, a stable mount with precise tracking of the celestial sphere, and a decent CCD imaging setup plus the computer to drive it can run as much as a few thousand dollars. And of course we are all teased in the process by the glorious Hubble Telescope images afforded by a NASA-sized budget.
Well, I am here to report that there is hope for the intrepid who set their sights on the starts. Ahem. As with so many other things these days, the Internet is here to save us. There are now several VERY nice connected observatories, each of which has several high-end telescopes and imaging systems accessible and controllable via a simple web browser.
My favorite is the “Astronomy Bed and Breakfast” called New Mexico Skies. They combine friendly service with some of the darkest and clearest skies in North America and some fine instruments including a RCOS 20″ Ritchey-Chretien scope. For the price of any old boring bed and breakfast, you can spend the day spelunking in Carlsbad Caverns and hiking in the White Sands national monument, and then pass the wee hours of the night playing with a fantastic set of toys.
I would encourage any interested student old enough to look up and say “wow” to go run and bug your parents, teachers, or significant others without rest until they relent and agree to take you there.
For those of you with underdeveloped wheedling skills fear not. The NMS folks run a facility where they host a fleet of net-connected scopes that can be purchased outright and run on a contract basis, or even rented on an hourly basis.
The proprietors conduct regular classes in almost every aspect of astronomy from introductory binocular tours to advanced imaging and astrometry. The kind of pictures even beginners can take are astounding. Here is one from John Setle’s Web site of the Magnitude 8.4 Whirlpool Galaxy, M51 in Canes Venatici.
Note that he took this image on his FIRST NIGHT! A little more practice with exposure control and a little work with filters and a PC for some Photoshop image processing and he will be capable of selling magazine-quality astronomical images. Check out his web site (towards the bottom of the above link), or Google “New Mexico Skies Images” and see what can be done there and remotely.
Here’s one more picture of the same galaxy taken by a more experienced imager, Ron Wodaski, the author of a fantastic book entitled “The New CCD Astronomy.”
And here’s yet one more link to the amazing images attainable at NMS. A couple of other interesting similar services are Slooh, and The Harvard Smithsonian-sponsored Micro-observatories.
Now for the truly eager to learn, yet financially challenged, I recommend another course in parallel. Go out and find a local ATM club. No, not bank machine lovers. Amateur Telescope Makers. With absolutely no experience at all and a little bit of non-profit type guidance, it is possible to make your own telescope, mirror, mounting, and all. The raw materials are quite inexpensive compared to what a commercial scope of similar quality would cost. And while the labor, particularly on the mirror grinding, polishing, and figuring side, will add up, the learning experience is almost unparalleled. I have evolved to the opinion that no student should be allowed to graduate from high school without having made a telescope of their very own.
Here is a link to the telescope makers’ club I have frequented here at the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland California hills. I’ve personally seen, and in a couple of cases, helped 12 year-olds build fantastic instruments that they treasured for years and later passed down to other amateur astronomers. More on Amateur telescope making in future posts.
If you are doubtful about whether this particular affliction is your thing, check out a local Star Party. Google your town and “star party” to find the nearest shindig of eager amateures. You don’t even really need to bring anything, but do read up on the etiquette before you show up, i.e. show up early while it is still light, take some steps to make your car lighting “night-vision friendly,” don’t bring white flashlights (tiny red LED lights are the rule), etc…


—Fall Equinox Sale—
40% off all art prints & 20% off all note cards!
The autumnal equinox is September 22nd — the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the balance of time — day and night — when the energies of earth, as well as our own, begin the retreat into darkness until the new light of winter solstice arrives.
I first created the above image, “Equinox,” for a 2001 calendar published by the Sisters of St Joseph/Ministry of the Arts. The brief was to relate the senses of the seasons to the senses of the soul. “Equinox” was for the month of September — to represent the release of summer into fall, light into darkness. For me, this image also relates to the balance of life — the importance of releasing any day into night, any season of activity into rest.


The Astronomy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained
Since the dawn of humankind, people have looked upward to the heavens and tried to understand them. This encyclopedia takes you on an expedition through time and space to discover our place in the universe.
We invite you to take a journey through the wonders of the universe. Explore the cosmos, from planets to black holes, the Big Bang, and everything in-between!
Get ready to discover the story of the universe one page at a time! This educational book for young adults will launch you on a wild trip through the cosmos and the incredible discoveries throughout history.
Filled to the brim with beautifully illustrated flowcharts, graphics, and jargon-free language, The Astronomy Book breaks down hard-to-grasp concepts to guide you in understanding almost 100 big astronomical ideas.
How do we measure the universe? Where is the event horizon? What is dark matter? Now you can find out all the answers to these questions and so much more in this inquisitive book about our universe!
Using incredibly clever visual learning devices like step-by-step diagrams, you'll learn more about captivating topics from the Copernican Revolution. Dive into the mind-boggling theories of recent science in a user-friendly format that makes the information easy to follow.
Explore the biographies, theories, and discoveries of key astronomers through the ages such as Ptolemy, Galileo, Newton, Hubble, and Hawking.
To infinity and beyond! Journey through space and time with us:
- From Myth to Science 600 BCE - 1550 CE
- The Telescope Revolution 1550 - 1750
- Uranus to Neptune 1750 - 1850
- The Rise of Astrophysics 1850 - 1915
- Atom, Stars, And Galaxies 1915 - 1950
- New Windows on The Universe 1950 - 1917
- The Triumph of Technology 1975 - Present
352 PAGES 20.32 x 2.69 x 23.98 cm HARDCOVER
"I bought this marvellous book for a teenager interested in Astronomy. I told her that she could open it on any random page and would see a very interesting feature indeed."


A Strawberry Moon floats above the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California, on the 2016 Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.
This aspect of
the Lunar Moon Goddess
doesn’t mess around.
She’s wants you
to remember her name.
This year, for the first time in nearly 50 years, the full Strawberry Moon connected with the Summer Solstice, a once-in-a-generation astrological event.
And the last time she made an appearance was during 1967’s “Summer of Love”!
This special moon’s beauty is fleeting, and it says “catch me if you can!”. Its bright, red color only lasts a few minutes before it turns pale pink and, eventually, back to its usual bright white color.
It’s thought that the name “Strawberry Moon” was given by Native Americans because it arrived during the height of strawberry picking season. In Europe, it is known as the “Rose Moon”.
As the giant, red moon began to rise up from the horizon in Malibu, I could hear a collective gasp of “wows!”. It was truly a sight to behold.
I would describe it as big, red apple floating in the sky — and I classify it to be one of the most memorable and beautiful moon’s I’ve ever seen.
For more photography by Rumble Skout 3:


Eva Botkin-Kowacki, CSM: To the moon and beyond: Why China is aiming for the stars
For Beijing, Thursday’s historic lunar landing is as much about cementing global-power status on Earth as it is a foray into the cosmos.
It’s never been done before, even by space-faring nations with decades of experience. But on Thursday, China became the first to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon.
The Chang’e 4 spacecraft trip is just the latest of China’s space missions. The nation’s burgeoning space program has already sent astronauts into space atop their own rockets, sent several probes to the moon, and has outlined plans for much more.
“China is now a major player in the first rank of space powers, and that’s going to be the reality for decades to come,” says Michael Neufeld, senior curator in the Space History Department at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Read more ….
WNU Editor: When it comes to space China has realized what all other space faring countries have realized ….
…. that space capability is essential to military power, to economic power, and to reputation, to prestige.


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Children at Highclare School, St Paul's have enjoyed a wonderful trip to the Think Tank as part of their Science curriuculum
Joe enjoyed his trip and has written his own report ……………..
We went to the think tank on Wednesday 15th September. First of all we went to see a scientist talk about the earth and he showed us lot's of experiments like rubbing a balloon against a tea towel and sticking it onto the wall. He also showed us how to make a tip of a rocket. He told us lots of jokes and he told us never stand under a tree when it is a thunder storm!
Then we went to a different room and the man told us that he thinks that David Beckham is a scientific genius because he put England in the 2006 World Cup. He showed us all that Beckham did score that free kick! After that we had lunch; I had a ham sandwich and some orange juice, an apple, cake and crisps. We went to the planetarium where we learnt all the planets and we learnt that the North Star is the brightest star in the sky then we controlled a robot and we made it do funny stuff.


Dear partners and customers,
We are excited to announce that we have undergone a complete rebranding process. This rebranding effort was aimed at better reflecting our mission and values as a company, as we shift our focus from a space lab-as-a-service provider towards a space biotech company with own products.
As a team of experienced space engineers and biologists, we have worked on over 20 payloads for the International Space Station in collaboration with organizations like NASA, ESA, GSK, and Charité Berlin. We have long recognized the potential of microgravity for the life sciences beyond just government-funded research.
Our products and services include the development of modular bioreactors and incubators for cell cultures, protein crystals or plants, which we launch for scientists around the world to the ISS and other spacecraft. We also sell and rent devices to simulate microgravity on Earth. As we move forward, we are excited to announce that we have developed our own pipeline of biotech products that are either triggered by or manufactured in microgravity.
To reflect this shift in focus, we have updated our branding to better align with our mission. From our new website to updated news and a fresh photoshoot, we are proud to present our new look to you. We invite you to explore the site and provide us with your feedback.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. We are confident that this rebranding will enhance our ability to serve you and the biotech industry as a whole.
The Yuri Team


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Last shown on 3 September 2019
From director Todd Douglas Miller (Dinosaur 13) comes a cinematic experience fifty years in the making. Crafted from a newly discovered trove of 70mm footage, and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings, Apollo 11 takes us straight to the heart of NASA’s most celebrated mission—the one that first put men on the moon, and forever made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin into household names. Immersed in the perspectives of the astronauts, the team in Mission Control, and the millions of spectators on the ground, we vividly experience those momentous days and hours in 1969 when humankind took a giant leap into the future.
★★★★★'One of the most astounding films about space ever made'The Guardian
★★★★★'An utterly immersive epic'Total Film
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On this episode of Science and Star Wars (paid for by IBM), we explore real-world technologies for traveling the galaxy with astronaut Cady Coleman and take a tour of the International Space Station.
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Till now the researchers had been theorizing the formation as well as the existence of the pairs of black holes present in the universe however the universe as well as the origin of the stars and the predecessors are still a big mystery as per the Vanderbilt University and LIGO astrophysicist by the name of Karan Jana as well as the co- authors Avi Loeb who are at the Harvard University talking about the new study which is leveraging the general theory of Einstein with regard to relativity that explains how the interaction takes place between the black holes and it eventually collides by the use of the LIGO data for taking the inventory of the time of the universe and the resources at a particular point in time.
Loeb and Jani had developed accounting of constraints for every step in the proves of binary black hole, the number of stars which are available in the universe and the process of each of the stars which are transitioning into one individual black hole and detecting the eventual collision of the black holes which are picked up many millions of years later by the LIGO as the gravitational waves had been impacted.
After the breakthrough in the gravitational wave astronomy in the year 2015, the scientists have been detecting over a dozen of the pairs of binary black holes by them colliding into each other because of gravity, though it is still debated how many of the black holes had been born from the stars and how they have been able to collide within the lifetime of the universe say the researchers and the experts.
In this fast-paced and ever-changing world, technology has been on everybody’s mind. Technology has given so much to this world and that what got David to pursue a Bachelor’s in Information Science and Technology. And after trying hands-on writing gadgets and product reviews, David dedicated his entire focus in the field of writing and it has been 5 years. Even now, he keeps on learning new things, “self-improvisation” being his key motto. David has been given the responsibility to manage the entire Technology domain of the chemicalnewsreports24.com news portal. He also plays an important role in training the newbies.


Stephen Hawking, the man whose insights shaped modern cosmology died today at his home in Cambridge. He was aged 76. A great scientist and an extraordinary man with intuition and iniquitous sense of humour marked him as a brutal intellectual in the world.
He was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 at the age of 21. Doctors thought he would survive only for two more years. But Hawking survived for more than half a century.
His major breakthrough came in 1970, when he and Roger Penrose applied the mathematics of black holes to the universe and showed that a singularity, a region of infinite curvature in space time, lay in our distant past: the point from which came the big bang.
In 1982, Hawking was among the first to show how quantum fluctuations – tiny variations in the distribution of matter – might give rise through inflation to the spread of galaxies in the universe. In these tiny ripples lay the seeds of stars, planets and life as we know it.
Considered by many to be the world’s greatest living scientist, Hawking was also a cosmologist, astronomer, mathematician and author of numerous books including the landmark “A Brief History of Time,” which has sold more than 10 million copies.
“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,” he said.
He spoke also of death, an eventuality that sat on a more distant horizon than doctors thought. “I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he said.
What astounded those around him was how much he did achieve. He leaves three children, Robert, Lucy and Timothy and three grandchildren.