Creationists believe that the age of both Earth and Universe can be derived by adding up the "begats" in the Old Testament. That is the methodology of latter-day creationists who, like Sarah Palin recently, have concluded that the age of the universe is about six-thousand years.
The verifiable age of fossils proves Palin wrong. I chose, as an example, the Permian era because I have some personal knowledge of that period having grown up in what is called the 'Permian Basin' in West Texas.
As a child of six, I assembled an interesting collection of fossils that I had found on my own explorations of King Mountain, a long plateau in West Texas, near the town of McCamey. Any ONE of those fossils disproves Sarah Palin. All of them date to a period far, far older than a mere 6,000 years.
A plateau [King Mountain] itself was probably underwater at one time. If you can see King Mountain with Google earth, you have proven Palin both wrong and stupid. Fossils found there are dated to the "Permian period" --a geologic period lasting from about 299.0 million to 251.0 million years ago. It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era. Any one of those fossils disproves Palin. Anyone of them is considerably older that Palin's estimate of some 6,000 years --a mere blink of an eye by comparison.
Two hundred and fifty million years ago, ninety percent of marine species disappeared and life on land suffered greatly during the world's largest mass extinction.
The cause of this great dying-off has baffled scientists for decades. Recent speculations invoke asteroid impacts as a kill mechanism. Yet a new study published in the December issue of Geology provides strong indications that the extinction cause did not come from the heavens but from Earth itself.
Creationism is not science. The distance to Andromeda can be determined precisely.
By comparing the absolute and apparent magnitudes, Ribas's team concluded the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.52±0.14 million light-years from Earth. This agrees perfectly with the Cepheid-based distance to Andromeda: 2.5 million light-years. The newly determined distance, however, does not depend on assuming a distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud. The agreement means astronomers can trust Cepheid distances to more distant galaxies, such as those in the Virgo and Fornax clusters.
--First direct distance to Andromeda...This alone disproves Palinesque nonsense. We can see Andromeda. We can date the age of rocks as well as the rock of ages.
We can also determine very precisely the distance to stars and galaxies. I found the Andromeda Galaxy as a kid in Odessa, TX. I had nothing more than a good pair of hand-me-down binoculars, a shaky tripod and a star map. It is the only Galaxy visible to the naked eye. Merely seeing it disproves Palin's theory that the earth is but a few thousand years old.
If we had discovered no other object but Andromeda --the only Galaxy visible to the naked eye --we must conclude, therefore, that the universe is very, very old. Most scientists are agreed that the age of the universe is some 13.7 billion years. Palin is utterly refuted by impeccable science conducted by reputable scientists and confirmed countless times in many ways by the world-wide scientific community.


For the past decades that the astronauts sent to space by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it has been reported that they have seen some strange sightings. The NASA authorities have instructed their astronauts to abstain from speaking publicly about what they’ve seen in order not cause alarm to the public.
Since the early times, a growing number of people have allegedly seen unidentified flying objects that are now commonly known as UFOs. The NASA UFO sightings in outer space are simply a confirmation that there could really possibly be other creatures out there and that we are not alone in this universe.
These UFO sightings by NASA astronauts began with Major Gordon Cooper in his experience as the last solo mission astronaut who went into space in 1963. While orbiting the earth then, he testified of having seen a green object that continues to glow as it was coming near his spaceship.
Another testimony of UFO sighting was given by Donald Slayton, who was part of the group of astronauts who flew the Apollo, Mercury, Gemini and the Space Shuttle. He reported of having seen a kite-like flying object at more than 10,000 feet altitude while he was then test flying a fighter jet.


Mercury is retrograde between December 26th and January 15th and there is a partial lunar eclipse on the second full moon in December, a Blue Moon!
Mercury is the closest of all the planets to the Sun, taking only 88 earth days to make a complete circuit around the Sun. Since Earth takes about 365 1/4 days to go around the Sun, we observe Mercury's motion from a moving platform, like two cars moving along two different lanes of a racetrack at different speeds. One effect of the two motions is that Mercury appears to us to go backwards (retrograde) in the zodiac for about three weeks at a time, roughly three times a year. This if the fourth Mercury retrograde of 2009 and there will be four in 2010.
Mercury rules thinking and perception, processing and disseminating information and all means of communication, commerce, education and transportation. All the planets, except Sun and Moon, have these retrograde periods, but Mercury is most famous for them, probably because Mercury represents our very essential communication abilities. While people speak of Mercury retrograde periods that screw up computers and television sets, today's astrologers believe the mishaps happen in more personal realms. Mercury rules communication, but more informal communications, like writing, speaking, short shopping sprees and other erranding endeavors. Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde these intellectual faculties may not be as acute.
But do we need to be afraid of Mercury retrograde? If we believe that intention is everything and that we manifest what we focus on, aren't we strengthening the possibility of things going wrong if we believe that Mercury retrograde brings chaos? So how do we change our focus? What universal purpose could this astrological planet of communications and networking possibly serve by appearing to travel backwards in the heavens for 21 days out of every 88-day orbit?
Mercury retrograde is the astrological influence that revisits, retrieves, and reveals everything that managed to elude our conscious awareness in the preceding 88 days, because its one universal purpose is to provide us with an opportunity to reflect on what we have learned, created, and manifested in the previous months. This perspective can change our experience with Mercury retrograde! It becomes a universal instrument for bringing things to our attention; it provides an opportunity to make necessary changes in the way we've been communicating. Good things to do when Mercury is retrograde are: meditate, contemplate, edit the book/poem/song/essay you've been writing, clean house, talk to your pet, listen to music, paint, catch up on sleep!
And as if Mercury retrograde isn't enough, we have a bonus full moon this New Year's Eve! This is the Ice Moon, or the full moon following Yule - which is usually in January. There is much legend and lore about the Blue Moon but this particular one packs a powerful punch so that you can truly make a New Year's resolution and actually keep it!! This full moon in Cancer opposes both Venus and the Sun in Capricorn. This will be a time of remembering great traditions of another time as well as faces and places that speak of honoring our ancestors, a perfect time to be in gratitude for the healing received and the lessons learned in 2009 before ringing in 2010!
During this holiday season may each one of us take the time to appreciate life and reflect on who we are becoming. Take some time to sit quietly and reflect on what you are putting out into the world. Are your attitudes and words healing or is there room for improvement? What changes do you wish to make in your communication with others? Are you sharing healing stories? Are you a victim of circumstances or do you bring hope and inspiration to others? Life is a wonderful journey, filled with a myriad of experiences. The difficult times offer the opportunity to go deep within for strength and clarity, gaining compassion for ourselves and others.
May your holidays be filled with insight and inspiration! Remember that we are not human beings on a spiritual journey; we are spiritual beings on a human journey.


Africa’s largest and most advanced cube satellite is ready for launch, authorities announced on Tuesday. (17 April 2018)
The announcement was made by South African Minister of Science and Technology Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane who took part in a ceremony at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town to send off the satellite to India where it will be launched in July.
The 4 kg satellite, known as ZACUBE-2, was developed by the CPUT in cooperation with the French South African Institute of Technology.
The satellite will track boats along South Africa’s coasts and proactively detect forest fires through an imager payload developed by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The satellite is the precursor to future nanosatellites expected to constitute the next satellite constellation to be launched by the South African government within the framework of its ocean economy blueprint, known as Operation Phakisa.
Funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), the project is managed by the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) in close cooperation with the French University of Montpellier, the French Embassy to South Africa and the Paris Chamber of Commerce.
“SANSA strives to grow the local space industry through product, services and skills development,” SANSA CEO Val Munsami said.
Supporting such programs as ZACube-2 enables the country to benefit from trained and experienced young space engineering experts, said Munsami.
ZACUBE-2 is the second nanosatellite developed by South Africa. ZACUBE-1, the predecessor of ZACUBE-2, was launched in 2013 for space weather research.
The experiences gained then through the French-South African cooperation in satellite engineering have resulted into the completion of ZACUBE-2.


10 January 2017 – Vera Rubin, who transformed modern physics and astronomy with her observations showing that galaxies and stars are immersed in the gravitational grip of vast clouds of dark matter, died this past Christmas Day at the age of 88. She had a lifelong love of the stars, championed women in science and was blunt about the limits of humankind’s vaunted knowledge of nature. She was often quoted “We know very little about the universe. I personally don’t believe it’s uniform and the same everywhere. That’s like saying the earth is flat.”
She was refreshing. Her work was required reading in my recently completed physics symposium. And as the science writer Dennis Overbye noted in his blog:
Her work helped usher in a Copernican-scale change in cosmic consciousness, namely the realization that what astronomers always saw and thought was the universe is just the visible tip of a lumbering iceberg of mystery.
He is speaking about her discovery of “dark matter”, her most celebrated contribution, that invisible stuff that makes up most of the mass in the universe. In the 1930s Fritz Zwicky, an idiosyncratic Swiss astrophysicist, had suggested that the brightly shining stars represented only a part of the cosmic whole. There must also be “dark matter”, unseen but revealed indirectly by the effects of its gravity. That conjecture languished on the margins until Rubin, working with her colleague Kent Ford, examined the puzzle of galactic rotation. Spiral galaxies such as Andromeda, she proved, were spinning so fast that their outer stars should be flying away into the never-never. They weren’t. So either Einstein was wrong about gravity, or gravitational pull from vast amounts of something invisible — dark matter — was holding the stars together.
Rubin and Ford expected the speeds to conform to Newtonian gravitational theory, whereby an object farther from its central mass orbits slower than those closer in. To their surprise, the scientists found that stars far from the center traveled as fast as those near the center. They found that something other than the visible mass was responsible for the stars’ motions. Each spiral galaxy is embedded in a “halo” of dark matter – material that does not emit light and extends beyond the optical galaxy. They found it contains 5 to 10 times as much mass as the luminous galaxy. As a result of Rubin’s groundbreaking work, it has become apparent that more than 90% of the universe is composed of this invisible material.
The discovery reshaped cosmology, though initially her colleagues embraced it unenthusiastically. Astronomers had thought they were studying the whole universe, not just a small luminous fraction of it. New theories developed on what the matter might be – but its fugitive particles escaped all direct detection. Dark matter, which hasn’t been directly observed, led scientists to say “we know what dark matter isn’t rather than what it is”.
And her findings highlighted how much we don’t know. Astronomers thought they were studying the universe, she once said, “and now we learn that we are just studying the 5% or 10% that is luminous.”
The castigation of the Nobel committee has already begun. Why hadn’t Rubin won the prize? (Only the living are eligible; she can’t win now.) Scientists on Twitter howled at the Nobel committee for ignoring her. In fact, no woman has won a Nobel prize in physics for 53 years. And only two women, total, have received Nobel prizes in physics: Maria Goeppert-Mayer (for her work on atomic nuclear structure) and Marie Curie. Last October, after an article on Rubin in the Washington Post, #NobelForVeraRubin started trending on Twitter.
Lisa Randall, professor of physics at Harvard University, is among many who thought Rubin sufficiently deserving and in her obituary she wrote: “Dr Rubin’s insight was revolutionary . The elephant in the room is gender.”
Prizes, after all, are awarded unfairly. This is true of science prizes as literary ones. A small group of people are invited to submit names. To nominate, you must be at least one of the following: a winner of a Nobel Prize in physics; a member of the Nobel committee; a member of the Swedish Academy; a tenured professor at a selected university; or a scientist invited by the committee to submit names. These people are busy and important, and attending to their own careers is enough of a burden. What’s more, to reach their sufficiently “notable” position, they’ve been in the field a while, accumulating allies and enemies. There are grudges to settle and favorites to be rewarded. No prize jury in any field is likely to reward solely on merit.
And even Rubin acknowledged the exceptional hurdles she faced and reportedly chastised conference organizers if they failed to invite female contributors. She advised even the Pope to put more women on his committees. In its review of her work The Economist noted:
– in her youth, when she arrived for a four-day stint at the Palomar Observatory, home of the world’s largest telescope, there were no women’s lavatories. No female astronomer had ever worked there before. How could they “when it would mean walking home late at night?”
– when in 1947 she requested a graduate-school catalog from Princeton, the dean told her not to bother: “women were not accepted for physics and astronomy”.
– George Gamow (later her doctoral adviser) said she could not attend his lecture at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab “because wives were not allowed”
– her master’s thesis was, her Cornell supervisor said, worthy of being presented to the American Astronomical Society. But she was about to give birth, so, he suggested, he would present it – but in his name. She refused. Her parents drove up from Washington, DC and took their 22-year-old daughter, nursing her newborn, on a grueling snowy trip from upstate New York to Philadelphia.
She noted that although all of these gender rows (and many, many more) were unpleasant, defeat was worse: “Protest every all-male meeting, every all-male department, every all-male platform”.
Though Rubin doubtless would have enjoyed the Nobel prize money, she ultimately came away with something more substantial. Elizabeth Lopatto who writes about science for The Verge noted the many subfields her work spawned. True, these are less likely to be written about by journalists than the yearly Nobel pick, but Lopatto noted they tend to leave a more enduring legacy. Every scientist knows their intellectual lineage; Rubin, as the matriarch of dark matter, will doubtless be remembered by those who matter most: the people who owe their careers to her discovery.
Aristotle has suggested that the recognition and appreciation of those in your field is far more valuable than fame itself; interviewed two decades ago, Rubin seemed to agree:
“Fame is fleeting. My numbers mean more to me than my name. If astronomers are still using my data years from now, that’s my greatest compliment.”
And so it shall be.


|Related Symbols:||月 (tsuki: the moon), 太陽(taiyo: the sun)|
|Compound Words:||流星 (ryusei: shooting star), 衛星 (eisei: satellite)|
Japanese symbol for star. If you are a romantist, you might wanna go for this symbol. It would look pretty nice on girls.
日 + 生 = 星
The symbol has two parts. The upper part is “日” meaning the sun, and the lower part is “生” meaning shooting buds. Putting altogether, it indicates the stars lit up by the sun. As widely known, stars shine reflecting the light of the sun. For this reason the sun is considered to be “the mother of stars.”
The symbol is commonly used in daily life. Stars are symbols of dream, hope, and bright future, never to be used for bad expressions.
Who to get this symbol for tattoo
If you like the formation of the symbols, go for it. I’ve never seen people having this symbol for tattoo. Get it soon, then you’ll probably be the first one to have it for tattoo.


In fact, most of Belgians famous inhabitants are imaginary people.
'Hercules Poirot' the detective in Agata Christy's novels; the 'smurfs' by Peyo; and of course Tintin.
Tintin, that's what this topic is about.
One of the most popular albums of Tintin, is "Destination Moon", which was followed by the album "Explorers on the Moon".
Both albums were issued in 1953 and1954. Very remarkable, if you know that the first manned space flight occured much later, and the first man on the Moon, not less then 15 years later!
But since this topic is about stamps, i'll show you a belgian sheet, that was emitted in 2004.
It's dedicated to both albums, and 3 of the 5 stamps, including the sheet itself, were taken out of the albums.
The first two stamps show Hergé and a scale model of the rocket of Tintin, another stamp shows a sketch of one of the albums pictures.
Hergé must have done a lot of research. Images that are 'know' to anyone of us, were not that obvious in the early 50's. As no one ever had left earth at that time.


The Story of the Solar System, Live on stage; well, that’s got to be interesting. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was almost hoping for scantily-clad dancers singing ‘Venus is a hottie but Neptune just is nottie’. Or something like that. I was also a little concerned that I might be dragging my eleven year old along to see an aging lecturer presenting the equivalent of a collection of their favourite holiday photos on PowerPoint. It turned out to be very much like the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, a well-presented and informative talk delivered by Will Gater who has a real passion for his subject and a gift for communicating it, with lots of demonstrations, real meteorite rock and yes, lots of photos. It was great!
The eleven year old was engaged throughout, which is pretty good considering it was around two hours of show-and-tell with just a short break in the middle. We both learnt a lot about moons and asteroids and comets and how scientists worked out that there was once a brook on Mars that was probably around knee-deep and moved at 2-4 miles an hour. We saw demonstrations of large masses ‘bending’ space, and of comets making ray systems and of how much emptiness there is between earth and it’s moon.
Best of all, we have had conversations since then about all these things and others, about hydrothermic vents and life and dry ice and jet propulsion.
I loved this show. I loved seeing a talented science communicator making his knowledge accessible and interesting and passing his enthusiasm to the audience, and I loved that my slightly geeky eleven year old has come away with food for thought and the knowledge that it’s not just his mum who knows that maths is cool, physics is fascinating and that curiosity is a great thing.
I’d definitely recommend seeing this, and it looks like the show tours fairly regularly. You don’t even have to take a child – there’s plenty enough here for adults, and in fact there were less children in this sold-out show that I expected.
Will Gater has a website full of interesting facts and great photos
See What else is coming up at The Redgrave Theatre here


5 Games Similar to Universe Sandbox
Planetarium is an application for exploring the solar system, modeling clusters of stars, and performing space missions. It is available for free for both Windows and macOS, and was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The interface of Planetarium is reminiscent of the popular game Kerbal Space Program, which allows players to manage the launch, flight, and reentry of the game's rocket-powered spacecraft. There are buttons for executing quick tasks, such as making a satellite orbit another planet or performing a flyby, or more complex tasks like building a space station. Planetarium also has an in-depth simulation mode that allows players to explore the solar system using an interactive 3D map.
Proteus is a game developed by Ed Key and David Kanaga, originally released in 2013. The game is designed to be different every time it is played; it is played by navigating an island whose shape is procedurally generated, and the environment is composed of randomly-generated patterns. The player can observe the wildlife of the island, and the game aims to evoke an emotional response in the player. The game was well received by critics, and was nominated for the BAFTA award in 2013 in the category of "Originality".
Lunar Flight is an indie game developed by Ian Allen and David Braben, and released in 2012. The game is set during the Apollo missions, and the player's goal is to land a lunar module on the moon, taking into account the physics of lunar gravity. The player must use the lunar module's thrusters to land safely, slowing to a halt just above the lunar surface, and then firing rockets to touchdown. The game has been well received by critics, with an 85% aggregate score on Metacritic.
SpaceEngine is a space simulator, which allows players to explore the universe from a first-person perspective. The player can explore the solar system, as well as galaxies and nebulae, using a vast database of stars and planets. It was developed by Vladimir Romanyuk, a Ukrainian programmer, and is available for Windows and macOS. The game was well received by critics, and received a positive review from the BBC.
Cosmoteer is a strategy game, where players must build a fleet of spaceships and battle against their opponents. The player can design the layout of their spaceship, as well as the design of their missiles and other weaponry. The player can also design their own levels for the game. The game was well received by critics, with a score of 77% on Metacritic.


Unlike the Terran calander used by the Empire and the Confederation rebellion; the Talesian calander, and that of all worlds allied with the Talesian Star Republic is a pure numeral based calander. There are no months; time is measured only by the year and the day of the year in numerical format.
When the Talesian Great War ended in nuclear apocalypse, civilization broke down and shattered many records of ancient Talesian history; starting a new era which in turn reset the new Talesian calander to 001.001. Most sccurate surviving historical records begin at or just prior to this point; leaving many details of Talesian society or goverments before the great war fuzzy at best. Much of this is intentional, with the start of the new era ushered in by the destruction of the old regime; the history that is taught to all but the Scholars on Talesia starts with the end of the Talesian Great War.
Talesian Standard Year: A standard year in the Republic is based around a year (one rotation around the Talas star) of Talesia. The TSY is the basis for the TSDT. Talesia has a similar orbit around the sun as Earth, but adds another 55 days to a standard calendar year, making the Talesian year 420 days long. Just like Earth, the orbit is not precisely 420 days; instead a leap year occurs every 5 years; which adds an additional day to the calendar; marking the last date of the year as .421 rather then .420.
Talesian Standard Time: Talesia has a rotation nearly identical to that of Earth. Talesians have adopted a 24 hour day nearly identical to what humans use.
Format of TSDT: [year].[date] and [year].[date].[hour]:[minute]. Example: The Talesian year 240 on the first day of the year on the first minute of the year comes out to: 240.001.00:01 in the TSDT format. TST is therefore just used when referencing the time alone, which follows the time format of 00:00 hrs.


You are here
"Telescope pointing program. It analyzes a sky image with a few stars, and calculates the coordinates of the image centre.
What for ? In astrophotography, a common problem is putting the object inside the ccd frame. Often we are near the target, we have an image with stars but we don't know in which direction is the object. The author wrote this program as a help in such situations. If we know exactly the coordinates of the image centre, it will be easy to drive the mount to the object.
Another situation where Elbrus is useful is when we are far from the telescope (remote control) and we don't know where is the tube pointing to. In such a 'lost in space' case, we can find our position by doing a search in a wide region such as a spherical ring or even the full sky.
Elbrus is also successfully used for recentering the scope between captures. Each image is analysed and the offset from the reference one is computed. This offset is used by the mount driving program to recenter the mount. This way we can cature images during hours in despite of the drift in the telescope tracking.
Program type: Star locator.
Object: Help in telescope pointing from a captured image.
Strategy: Search in the database, by distances between stars and image orientation.Building the polygon with more sides. This algorithm is very fast and very robust. There are no false solutions with more than 15 sides.
At the program entry: An image with stars. Size of the analized area: from 10x10 to 20x30 arc minutes.
Image types: FITS and BMP
At the program output: Image center coordinates, GSC numbers of the identified stars, main identified astronomical objects, distance to the target, direction to the target.
Working modes: manual and automatic.
Image analyse: The full image or a part of the image.
Search in the database: Search in a 5x5 degrees sky window. Search in a 30x30 degrees sky window. Search in a spherical ring. Search in the full sky. Search in a 2x2 degrees window for any camera angle... and more
Database: The database was built for containing: - the 5 brightest stars in every 15x10 arc minutes sky window. - the pre-calculated (smaller than 18 arc minutes) distances between these stars.
Stars in the database: 8 155 625
Distances in the database: 60 332 797
Size of the database: about 800 MBytes.
There are some 'holes' without stars in the database.
Communication with others programs: Synchronizes by ASCOM with telescopes supporting this protocol, with Cartes du Ciel - Sky Charts by Patrick Chevalley, with COR by Cristóbal García, with PicGoto by Angel Caparrós. The program has a DDE server."


In the month of October, it will be that time of year when we will see something spectacular. On the night of October 23rd, for North America anyway, the Full Hunter’s Moon will light up our nighttime skies.
While some may use this magnificent moon to do some stargazing or get out their cameras and shoot pictures of this once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence, others use this time to study their own moods and behaviors. Of course, we all know that the full moon has long been associated with strange behavior. Some of us may even say that “lunacy” can be attributed to lunar cycles.
The science behind this phenomenon is actually quite simple (although the psychology aspect is not). The moon’s gravity affects the Earth’s oceans, and as such, everything on its surface. This change in tides is that blood volume fluctuates as well, which can cause chemical changes in our brains that can affect moods and behavior.
Does a full moon make kids go crazy?
Ask your neighborhood police, educators, or the hospital staff what changes they see in people’s characters. They have all noted that when the moon is full, crime rates soar, sleep is disturbed, and we all start acting a little “crazier.”
What makes children become more “hyper” when they usually wouldn’t or make them moody? The answer may be even simpler than you think. Think about when you were a child and how your moods might have been affected by the full moon. If it wasn’t your mood, maybe someone else’s was affected, like a friend or sibling. This demonstrates that children can be even more sensitive to lunar cycles than we give them credit for, which opens possibilities of the unknown (in a good way, of course). Parents might want to keep this in mind when picking out their babysitter for the next full moon.
An international team of researchers, led by Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput from the Eastern Ontario Research Institute, recently studied the effect of the full moon on sleep and behavior in children. Turns out, that no activity or behavior was significantly modified by the full moon. There was one exception: sleep. Participants slept five fewer minutes on nights when the moon was full.
Myths do not die easily though. And it probably won’t be long before another study attempts to link our biology to the lunar cycle. Maybe the moon affects adults more than children. Or perhaps it has special influence on those with mental disorders or physical ailments.
Most people who claim to be affected by the full moon are those who suffer from mental illnesses. However, researchers have found that the full moon can affect these two chemicals in the brain, serotonin, and melatonin. Serotonin is a chemical responsible for your moods, while melatonin controls your sleep/wake cycle. The effects of increased or decreased levels of these chemicals are exhibited as anxiety, depression, or restlessness.
Ways a full moon make your body ache?
Ways it affects health:
- Menstrual Cycle
Women sometimes link up their menstrual cycles with other women menstruating at the same time. This is because of the fluctuations in hormones that happen during the cycle, and it also means that they are more sensitive to lunar changes than usual.
The full moon doesn’t just affect moods and behavior, though. There are reports of people experiencing heightened senses during these times, including scent, hearing, and even sight.
One theory behind this is that since the moon affects the tides on Earth, it also affects other bodies in space such as water on asteroids and mare (or seas) on the moon. This means that the full moon can cause stronger tides in space, which could thus affect our ability to smell odors and hear sounds.
Another theory folks believe is that the full moon affects gravity on things here on Earth, including our bodies. This would mean that each one of us becomes denser or lighter during these lunar events, which affects our senses.
Maybe you’ve never been affected by the full moon before, but this year will be a little different after all. You can still sit outside and enjoy the stars or take a nice walk around your neighborhood under the light of a hunter’s moon. Just make sure that if it does get to be too much for you, you find a quiet place to rest and recuperate. You have all of space to explore under this moon, so don’t let the darkness get you down.


Talk given at Prague (2013)
Talk given at Suwon (2014)
Talk given at Prague 2013
Compact objects like black holes and neutron stars interacting with the relativistic plasma in the sorrounding region are believed to be responsible for many high-energy phenomena in astrophysics. Active galactic nuclei, relativistic jets from compact objects, gamma-ray bursts, extraction of rotational energy from the ergosphere of a Kerr black hole represent physical examples where the interplay between strong magnetic and strong gravitational fields is the crucial factor for understanding their dynamics.
The theoretical framework in which these mechanisms are treated is that of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD). Since relativistic magnetized flows are often associated with the formation of strong shocks at high Lorentz factors, the numerical solution of the GRMHD equations is very efficiently performed through shock-capturing Godunov-type methods, that are based on the conservative formulation of the equations.


|Welcome to www.3DGalaxyMap.com|
3DGalaxyMap is a 3D representation of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. It contains an overview map of the Milky Way Galaxy, as seen from above and a map of the Orion Arm (where our Sun is located) showing its major structures. The Orion Arm map is divided into navigable 10 parsec sectors, where you can explore stars. It contains a total of 142.278 known stars, 478 planets, 1855 pulsars, 31 disks and 14 black holes. Planet, pulsar and multiple stars' orbits can be observed by increasing and decreasing the speed. You can rotate/zoom/pan within each of the scenes for a better view.
More information can be found by clicking on Features.
Working Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Versions between 6 update 10 and 7 update 24 (anything higher won't be compatible due to a Java update).


Hello Moon Can You Hear Me?
A unique audio-visual exploration of the Universe featuring signals from spacecraft at the dawn of the space age, the death throes of an exploding star and the sounds which flooded through the Universe after the Big Bang.
Music producers Jim Spencer and David Tolan have worked with astrophysicist Tim O’Brien to remix sounds from space creating a unique record released on the O Genesis label. The title “Hello Moon” echoes the recording of a voice bounced off the Moon made more than 50 years ago right here at Jodrell Bank.
At bluedot, Tim will talk about the raw materials for the track – the sounds from space – where they come from and how they were recorded, and Jim and Dave will discuss how they used them to create a music track. The track itself will be played out accompanied by bespoke visuals produced by Dan Tombs.
Tim O’Brien is a Professor of Astrophysics at Jodrell Bank who works mostly on exploding stars.
Jim Spencer is a music producer, engineer and mixer working with New Order, The Charlatans, Johnny Marr and more.
David Tolan is a music producer, recording engineer & session musician working with The Charlatans. Tori Amos, Johnny Marr, Denise Johnson and more.
Dan Tombs is a live music video producer and has collaborated with Jon Hopkins, East India Youth, Blanck Mass, Factory Floor, The Charlatans and more.
O Genesis Records – http://www.ogenesisrecordings.com/ @ogenesisrecords
Moon image – Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)


When we talk about explorers great names such as Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, and Juan Ponce de León comes to our mind but for me the greatest explorer world has ever produced is Hubble Space Telescope. Today is the Silver Jubilee of Hubble’s launch and all Astrofreaks like me are very excited about it. It all started in 1946, when astronomer Lyman Spitzer’s launched a paper to discuss the advantages of having space-based observatory. Hubble is not the first space telescope but it is one of a kind, Hubble is huge and versatile and playing a vital role in exploring this amazing universe.
HST was launched into the lower orbit in 1990 and is in operation since then. HST is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble. HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency, and is operated by the Space Telescope Science Institute. Hubble is now out or Earth’s Orbit which allow it to take extremely high-resolution images without distortion. Some of Hubble’s images are extremely detailed and allows scientist to identify the expansion rate of our universe.
Well operation didn’t go well initially, they discovered a major flow in the design of primary mirror after they received first set of images. Hubble initially failed to achieve the desired focus in sharpness and scientist took too much heat from the critics about it. But in 1993 Scientist start working on the Kodak’s ground mirror backup of HST to identify the problem and they managed resolved some focus issues by using COSTAR System.
Hubble was launched in 1990’s so initially HST was storing data in old fashioned reel based system but later on it is replaced by solid storage. HST downlinks approximately 120 gigabytes of data every week and all Hubble data is available for principal investigators. Hubble images are monochromic but have multiple camera filters, later on ground control combine multiple images of different filters and then produced colour images based on their assumptions. One great thing about HST is that it is publically available for everyone but you must need a strong proposal before applying.
In The End, I like to congratulate all the people who are behind this amazing telescope. Keep doing your great work and explore different galaxies and nebulas, and keep us up to date.


History of creation «Cosmonavigator»
"Cosmonavigator" watch is intended to determinate the Earth point which the spacecraft is flying over at the current moment of time. It is fitted with a 24-hour clockwork with a navigation limb. A spacecraft makes 16 circuits around the Earth at a 200-kilometer high circular orbit a day. The orbit period makes T=90 minutes per circuit. During this time the Earth turns to a certain angle. So the start of next circuit falls to new coordinates.
The first circuit is defined by geographic coordinates of the launch site of the particular spacecraft.
Next circuits repeat the first one with a change of number over the Equator 1-2-3…14-15-16… and 1-2-3… again, and so on, forming a beautiful pattern of the spacecraft trajectory on the flat surface of the map.
The "Cosmonavigator" watch is meant for orbits with planes inclined to the Earth equator at an angle of 51 degree. Those are working orbits of the space stations "Salute", "Mir" and the operating International Space Station, spaceships of the "Soyuz" series.
Navigation accuracy depends on the orbit period. With the height increase, the circuit period is increasing as well. This is why the watch is supplied with an option of a simple but regular correction of the limb's sector position related to the hour hand.
Story by Vladimir А. Dzhanibekov, twice the Hero of Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut of USSR::
Falling asleep I idly thinking that it would be great to have a watch with globe like the one at on the central stand. Or, with a map on the dial. But to have it on my hand... and without need to leave the warm sleeping bag to check... and soon getting back in again thinking that I was right and we were actually over clouds and under clouds were waters of the Atlantic ocean... all right,.. water is there where clouds are. Why our planet called the Earth and not the Water?.. This was the way the idea of "COSMONAVIGATOR" was born.
It became possible to realize this project only 18 later with practical help of my old friend Pavel P. Grankin, officer in reserve, who is Head of the "Right move" company now.
Financing was provided by Center of Exploitation Land-based Space
Infrastructure (TSENKI) of Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos).»
"Cosmonavigator" was awarded diploma "Watches of the future" at "Russian Design - 2003" competition.
Limited series - 350 numbered pieces. Part of it is available for sale, another one is kept for cosmonauts.


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How pysynphot works¶
The throughput calibration of the HST observatory is represented in a framework consisting of:
- Component throughput files for every optical component (e.g., mirror, filter, polarizer, disperser, and detector).
- A configuration table describing the allowed combinations of the components.
In pysynphot, a particular observing mode is specified by a list of keywords, which might be familiar names of filters, detectors, and gratings. The keywords are used to trace the light path through the observatory via the configuration graph file (a.k.a. the TMG file) which helps translating the keyword list into a list of pointers to data files that contain the individual component throughput functions. The grand throughput function of the requested observing mode is then formed by multiplying together the individual component throughput at each wavelength. (See Appendix B: OBSMODE Keywords, Appendix C: TMG, TMC, and TMT Files, and Diaz 2012 for more details on the internal structure and functioning of the configuration graph and component throughput tables.)
To retrieve a particular HST passband, you furnish the passband
generator with a couple of keywords, for example,
The passband generator uses the keywords to trace a path through the graph
file, multiplies together the component passbands it encounters along the way,
and returns the passband evaluated on a particular wavelength grid. You can
also generate passband in functional form (see Bandpass).
Passbands can then be convolved with spectral data to simulate HST observations of particular targets. Spectra may come from existing files containing lists of fluxes as a function of wavelength, or may be dynamically generated (individually or in combination) as simple blackbody, power-law, or continuum emission spectra of chosen temperatures and slopes (see Source Spectrum and Appendix A: Catalogs and Spectral Atlases).
Most pysynphot data I/O is done via FITS files with binary table extensions, but ASCII tables can also be used. The HST instrument graph (TMG), component lookup (a.k.a. TMC and TMT tables), and component throughput tables are all in FITS format. Input data files, such as passband throughput and spectral data files, may be in either FITS or ASCII format.
The pysynphot database¶
The pysynphot package is entirely data driven. That is, no information pertaining to the physical description of instruments or their throughput characteristics is contained within the software, but is instead contained within an external “database.” These data must be available in order to run any pysynphot tasks. The data set contains the HST instrument graph, component lookup, and component throughput tables, which are maintained and stored within the HST Calibration Reference Data System (CRDS) at STScI. New versions of these tables are created whenever new or updated calibration information become available for the HST instruments. Users at STScI have automatic access to the pysynphot data set on all science computing clusters. Because the data set is not currently distributed along with this software, off-site users must retrieve and install it separately before they will be able to use pysynphot. This can be done in one of two ways:
- TAR files: Every time a new pysynphot file is delivered to CRDS, a “snapshot” of the current pysynphot data set is copied into a few TAR files, which can then be retrieved, unpacked, and installed on your system. Instructions on how to do this can be found in Installation and Setup. This method offers the convenience of automatically creating the necessary directory tree for the data.
- Individual CRDS files: An alternate method is to transfer the
individual tables using HTTP (
ssb.stsci.edu/trds) to STScI from the directories given also in Installation and Setup.
The best method is perhaps a combination of the two: First-time installers may wish to use the “snapshot” TAR files to initially create and populate the directory structure, and then periodically check the CRDS area at STScI for updates to individual tables.
The instrument graph and component lookup tables are contained in
mtab/ subdirectory and are named
The component throughput tables are logically grouped into
comp/ corresponding to each of the HST
Component throughput table
names contain a three digit suffix indicating their version number.
You can determine which tables are new by comparing either their
names or creation dates with the corresponding set of tables
installed on your machine.
How Accurate are the Synthetic Photometry Results from pysynphot?¶
Because the pysynphot package is entirely data driven, the accuracy of its results depends entirely on the accuracy of the bandpass sensitivity curves, and zero points in the pysynphot database. The accuracy of these values is dependent on the instrument and photometric system under consideration.
As a general rule of thumb, synthetic photometry involving photometric
systems that have been defined from the ground, or photometry that is
vegamag, should only be considered accurate to about 5%. The
accuracy is a strong function of wavelength and in particular for the
available HST Calibration spectra, the accuracy
might be about 5% shortward of \(1700 \AA\), where IUE is used,
and around 2% over the
STIS range. The accuracy is > 5% at the longer IR wavelengths where
the dust ring emission dominates (around 2 microns).
Synthetic photometry with the stable HST instrumentation, flying above
the atmosphere, when used in HST instrument natural systems, without
vegamag, can achieve accuracy much better than 5%; for
example, for ACS broad band filters it can be less or about 1%
(De Marchi et al. 2004).
For more details, see the Data Analysis section in the Data Handbooks
for the respective HST instruments.
Can pysynphot be Used for Other Telescopes?¶
Because the tasks in the pysynphot package are data driven, instrument observing modes can be changed and new instruments added without changing the software. To use pysynphot with non-HST instruments or components you would need to modify (or rebuild) only the instrument graph and component lookup tables. In addition, you also need to set the appropriate telescope collecting area.
For the tables, pysynphot requires:
- One instrument graph table.
- One component lookup table.
- One thermal component lookup table (only needed for thermal background calculations for NICMOS and WFC3)
- One throughput table for each telescope and instrument component that appears in the graph and component lookup tables.
The names of the instrument graph and component lookup tables to
be used by pysynphot are set by
The names of the
individual component throughput tables are contained in the component
lookup table and are located automatically when needed. See
Appendix C: TMG, TMC, and TMT Files for details on the structure of these tables.
To build your own
instrument graph and component lookup tables, it is perhaps the easiest to
either start with a copy of the existing HST tables and modify or add
to them, or at least use the HST tables as a model for your own tables.
To make use of your own custom graph and component lookup tables, and telescope
area in pysynphot, just change the relevant values in


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An artist's concept of the Gaia spacecraft. Radical environmentalism and the New Age ESA Gaia Archive. We Feed the World – The Book – Out Now! A. Warren, B. S. Rubidge, I. G. Stanistreet, H. Stollhofen, A. Wanke, E. M. Latimer, C. A. Marsicano and R. J. Damiani. More specifically, Gaia provides high-quality measurements to produce a stereoscopic and kinematic census of about 1 billion stars in our galaxy (about 1% of the total) and the Local Group, the group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way. The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite will enhance forecasts and provide detailed information on large-scale ocean currents. Amanda Barnett The formation was deposited in a fluvial to lacustrine setting. 26 000 étaient accompagnés, ils sont aujourd’hui plus de 166 000. Galactic crash may have triggered Solar System formation. Final Gaia results in the form of complete datasets are not expected to be publicly available until the early 2020s. Gaia theory is a class of scientific models of the biosphere in which life fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by affecting Earth's environment. Rivers dissolve salt from rocks and carry it to the ocean, yet ocean salinity has remained at about 3.4% for a very long time. We Feed the World – The Book – Out Now!  The white tuff layers within the Gai-As Formation contain very well-preserved former glass shards, now mainly replaced by barite, are rich in potassium feldspar and have a porcelain-like appearance. Dr. Lori Glaze Many evolutionists adopt this theory because they have not found any evidence for gradual undirected evolution as Darwin predicted. Gaia Trust, Denmark is a charitable entity supporting sustainabilty projects around the world. On April 25, 2018, ESA released a second dataset that included the positions for approximately 1.7 billion stars, as well as a measure of their overall brightness at optical wavelengths. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(1):34-39, This page was last edited on 18 August 2020, at 20:30. E15000-004/104, Fregat-MT no. The galaxy in this Hubble image looks more like a cinnamon bun than a megastructure of stars and gas in space. Each of the 1 billion stars that Gaia studies will be observed an average of 70 times over five years to create a record of the brightness and the position of each star over time. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016. Gaia will create an extraordinarily precise three-dimensional map of more than a thousand million stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond, mapping their motions, luminosity, temperature and composition. Gaia hypothesis, model of the Earth in which its living and nonliving parts are viewed as a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism. The Gai-As Formation is an Early to Middle Permian (Kungurian to Wordian) geologic formation correlated with the Ecca Group and designated "Ecca" Group, because it does not belong to the Karoo, in the southwestern Kunene Region and northern Erongo Region of northwestern Namibia. Scientists have confirmed that Near-Earth Object 2020 SO is a 1960’s-Era Centaur rocket booster. More specifically, Gaia provides high-quality measurements to produce a stereoscopic and kinematic census of about 1 billion stars in our galaxy (about 1% of the total) and the Local Group, the group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way. Gaia Guide Revision 1.4 5 2. Final Gaia results in the form of complete datasets are not expected to be publicly available until the early 2020s. The Gai-As Formation is correlated with a series of formations in the Pelotas and Paraná Basins in southeastern Brazil, deposited in a larger basinal area, 150 million years before the break-up of Pangea. GAIA was founded and is managed by leading investment, engineering and strategy experts. This galaxy is intriguing, as over time it has hosted four different observed supernovae. Phillips Davis Sections of the uppermost part show various types of intercalations: silt- and sandstone layers grade laterally into sequences of interbedded shale and sandstone with occasional intercalations of stromatolitic layers, carbonate horizons with molluscs, bone beds of fish scales and white layers rich in authigenic feldspar. Gaia, the Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics, is a European Space Agency astronomical observatory mission. Le SNES / FSU demande que le plan de formation académique réponde aux besoins qu ... Une plateforme intersyndicale pour les AESH dés septembre 2020 présentée au recteur; The remarkably high content of analcime (30 volume percent) in some layers may be indicative of contemporaneous volcanic activity. The occurrence of flaser bedding, oscillation With NASA's Eyes on the Earth web-based app, you can tag along with the U.S.-European satellite as it orbits the globe. represented by fine-grained distal deposits and imply a much larger extent of the formation due to the absence of sediments from marginal environments. NASA Official: The Gai-As Formation is named after the ruins of a colonial German police station located at a spring in the central Huab area. NASA History Program Office, 2018. Gaia Education’s online programme ‘Design for Sustainability’ provides students with whole systems design skills, analytical abilities and a wide range of methods and practical tools to support the redesign of the human presence on Earth – one local community and bioregion at a time. It will observe a billion stars an average of 70 times each over five years. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Director, NASA Planetary Science Division: , The lower part of the succession is formed by approximately 50 metres (160 ft) of thick reddish-violet, slightly calcareous shales. Cliquer ensuite sur le bouton « GAIA ». Gaia definition is - the hypothesis that the living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system in such a way that the living component regulates and maintains conditions (such as the temperature of the ocean or composition of the atmosphere) so as to be suitable for life; also : this system regarded as a single organism. In its observation mode, Gaia spins once every six hours, sweeping its two telescopes across the entire sky and focusing the light it gathers onto a single digital camera—the largest flown in space—with nearly a billion pixels (106 CCDs each with 4,500 × 1,996 pixels). The Gaia hypothesis is named after the Greek goddess for the earth. On Jan. 8, 2014, Gaia entered its operational orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, about 932,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth, when its engine fired to boost the spacecraft into a 163,000 × 439,000-mile (263,000 × 707,000-kilometer) halo orbit with a period of 180 days. , The basal beds grade into a 20 metres (66 ft) thick succession of silty to fine-grained, and eventually medium- to coarse grained, sandstone. GCPS. Original Series. Celebrating the smallholder farmers and fisherfolk who really feed the world, this book is a beautiful work of art and activism not to be missed! Early diagenetic formation of analcime from volcanic glass in an alkaline environment has been described. The calcareous layers also contain small fossiliferous lenses with fishbones. We teach our students how to use energy and resources with greater efficiency, distribute wealth equitably, and … Start Free Trial. Je vous remercie de bien vouloir porter ces informations à l’attention des … The basal beds of the formation are ubiquitously A shift in these cues is already happening. U/Pb SHRIMP dating of zircons from two of several fallout tuff beds in the Gai-As Formation 14 metres (46 ft) above the stereospondyl find gave weighted mean values of 272 ± 1.8 Ma and 265 ± 2.5 Ma. Bill Dunford, Ranger Block II Design (Rangers 3, 4 and 5). Un service civique en école, collège et lycée, c'est possible. Besides extensive sand flats, large playas, several square kilometres in size, must have existed during the final stages of deposition. Launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket, the Fregat upper stage pushed Gaia into a 109 × 10… Mouvement Inter - Académique Mouvement Intra - Académique (Aix-Marseille) Nos enseignements Notre santé au travail Nos catégories. SOHO’s original operating phase was scheduled for two years – and now, through repeated extensions, it is celebrating 25 years in orbit. These layers contain siltstone beds which locally exhibit flaser bedding, oscillation ripples and hummocky cross-bedding. C'est la DAFPEN qui validera les 30 heures de formation à distance toujours selon des modalités définies ultérieurement. C'est au moyen de cette adresse et de ce numen que la formation à distance sera possible. By completing the Gaia Education learning journey and becoming a Certified Trainer , you will enhance your competences for ushering in the transition of our communities – one at a time. Gaia International #beyourownbeautiful #Be Suave #Be You CATEGORIES CONTESTANTS Gaia International Our dream at Gaia is to create a community of strong, independent, kind individuals all focused on seeing the beauty in our world, on striving to make the world a more tolerant place and taking the necessary steps to prove that true… was detected shortly after launch that might degrade the quality of some of the results, especially for the faintest stars, but ESA scientists are confident they can compensate for the problem. Penn State University. The shale frequently exhibits desiccation cracks, whereas root marks are abundant in sandstone. The Gaia Foundation, 6 Heathgate Place, Agincourt Road, London, NW3 2NU .  The formation is a lithological unit with an approximate maximum thickness of 70 metres (230 ft), deposited in the Huab Basin where it overlies the Huab Formation, separated by a significant hiatus, and is unconformably overlain by the Etjo Sandstone, while later authors assign a separate formation to the upper 35 metres (115 ft) of the Gai-As Formation, named Doros Formation. It was founded in 1987 on the initiative of Ross and Hildur Jackson, with the intention of supporting the transition to a sustainable and more spiritual future society through grants and proactive initiatives. Learn about Gaia Herbs sourcing, traceability, extraction and more for all of our Turmeric products in this training. Celebrating the smallholder farmers and fisherfolk who really feed the world, this book is a beautiful work of art and activism not to be missed! Gaia Observation Forecast Tool The Gaia Observation Forecast Tool is intended to aid astronomers in finding out when their targets will be observed by Gaia. Gaia Education is an international organisation active in 55 countries on six continents, with a 15-year track record in education for sustainable development and with more than 25,000 graduates around the world and 146 partner organisations. 25/05/2020 16543 views 122 likes. Entrez votre recherche ici. Wireline & LWD QA/QC. Sep 14, 2016: ESA released its first dataset from Gaia, Apr 25, 2018: ESA released a second dataset from Gaia. Gaia Education is embarking on a path to support Glocalisers in building capacity for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level. Gaia will detect and very accurately measure the motion of each star in its orbit around the center of the galaxy. Robert Crane . Gaia offers the largest online resource of consciousness-expanding videos—over 8,000 informative and enlightening films, original shows, yoga and meditation classes, and more that you won’t find anywhere else. Wireline & LWD QA/QC. A small satellite mission to study the lunar water cycle has received NASA approval to proceed to the next phase of development. Users should note that no observation can be guaranteed as many reasons may lead to situations in which the data for an object at a predicted time will not be available. Site Manager: The Gai-As Formation represents the second-oldest sedimentary unit of the Huab Basin, overlying the Huab Formation. Gaia also helps to explain how the oceans are kept in balance. A new trio of examples of ‘data sonification’ from NASA missions provides a new method to enjoy an arrangement of cosmic objects. Gaia is a space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA), launched in 2013 and expected to operate until c. 2022. The Gai-As Formation gradationally overlies the lacustrine deposits of the Huab Formation in the western part of the basin, but in the east succeeds the fluvial deposits of the Huab Formation with a sharp contact. Gaia is a European space observatory whose goal is to chart a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way galaxy in order to reveal the composition, formation and evolution of the galaxy.  The lowermost part of the formation indicates a fluvio-lacustrine environment. The overlying succession of sandstones, siltstones, stromatolites and emerged horizons reflects the upward shallowing of the formation. Course Type: Earth Systems Science . The spacecraft is designed for astrometry: measuring the positions, distances and motions of stars with unprecedented precision. The Gaia theory was formulated by the British Scientist, James Lovelock in 1970 and James lovelock then believed in sustainability and tree-planting. New research indicates less intense, but longer-lasting solar storms surprisingly have bigger effects on satellites’ orbits than the shorter, more severe ones. Beyond Earth: A Chronicle of Deep Space Exploration, 1958-2016, Sun-Observing SOHO Mission Celebrates a Quarter-Century in Space, Data Confirm Near-Earth Object 2020 SO is Upper Centaur Rocket Booster, NASA Confirms New SIMPLEx Mission Small Satellite to Study Lunar Surface, Data Sonification: A New Cosmic Triad of Sound, Solar Superstorms of the Past Help Identify Risks for Satellites, New Hubble Data Explains Missing Dark Matter, Hubble Snaps Galaxy With Intriguing Supernova Past, Follow Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in Real Time As It Orbits Earth, MOXIE Could Help Future Rockets Launch Off Mars, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite Launched to Monitor Global Ocean, Arctic Animals Shifting Movement Patterns as Earth's Climate Changes, Soyuz-ST-B / Fregat-MT (Soyuz ST-B no. When the Gaia-Movement Living Earth Green World Action USA, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 we chose this name, because we believed and still believe that the Gaia theory is correct. According to Gaia hypothesis, earth itself is a living organism, our “Mother Earth,” as its proponents call it.  Due to increased subsidence in the central Paraná Basin, thicknesses of the correlative units are considerably greater than that of the Gai-As Formation, attaining a maximum of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket, the Fregat upper stage pushed Gaia into a 109 × 109-mile (175 × 175-kilometer) Earth orbit, and then fired again for a long burn into a 214 × 598,200-mile (344 × 962,690-kilometer) orbit at a 15-degree inclination. On Sept. 14, 2016, ESA released its first dataset from Gaia that included positions and G magnitudes for about one billion stars based on observations from July 25, 2014, to Sept. 16, 2015. Vous êtes redirigé.e sur le portail Toutatice de l'académie. A minor anomaly—“a stray light problem”— was detected shortly after launch that might degrade the quality of some of the results, especially for the faintest stars, but ESA scientists are confident they can compensate for the problem. NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. , List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Namibia, Klein Gai-As, lower Gai-As Formation, Huab Basin, Klein Gai-As, upper Gai-As Formation, Huab Basin, Early Permian deposits of the Huab area Namibia: a continental to marine transition, Depositional environments and stratigraphic correlation of the Karoo Sequence in northwestern Damaraland, Karoo-Etendeka Unconformities in NW Namibia and their Tectonic Implications (PhD thesis), The stratigraphy, sedimentology, and age of the Late Palaeozoic Mesosaurus Inland Sea, SW-Gondwana - New implications from studies on sediments and altered pyroclastic layers of the Dwyka and Ecca Group (lower Karoo Supergroup) in southern Namibia (PhD thesis), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gai-As_Formation&oldid=973715652, Paleozoic southern paleotemperate deposits, Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Africa, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, J. M. David, M. G. Simões, L. E. Anelli, R. Rohn, and F. Holzfoerster. The Gai-As Formation has provided fossil bivalves and an indeterminate stereospondylid. In the lower half of this mainly pelitic succession, intercalations of dark brown, very often concretionary calcareous layers up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick, occur. recherche effectuée sur l'ensemble des web académique Gaia will provide unprecedented positional and radial velocity measurements with the accuracies needed to produce a stereoscopic and kinematic census of about one billion stars in our Galaxy and throughout the Local … Gaia is an ambitious mission to chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, in the process revealing the composition, formation and evolution of the Galaxy. Developed c. 1972 largely by British chemist James E. Lovelock and U.S. biologist Lynn Margulis, the Gaia hypothesis is named for the Greek Earth goddess. How To Configure Gaia - Now for setting up Gaia for an optimal experience (this is for first time use, people who have already been using it go to tools, settings, and advanced and skip to step 3) Disclaimer: If you don’t want to set it all up manually I recommend trying the wizard option first and see how it works for you. Fossiliferous stratiform carbonates (10 to 15 centimetres (3.9 to 5.9 in) thick) with molluscs of the Terraia altissima type are transitional to the sand-flat facies which is characterised by sandy, flat and lenticular deposits and occasionally contain abundant root marks. 1039), Gaia is attempting to create the largest, most-precise 3-D map of our galaxy, the Milky Way. This Hubble image shows a close-up view of galaxy NGC 2770. Science Writer: New Hubble data help explain the reason behind the missing dark matter in galaxy NGC 1052-DF4, which is about 45 million light-years away. In August 2015, Gaia completed its first year of science observations, during which it recorded 272 billion positional or astrometric measurements, 54.4 billion photometric data points, and 5.4 billion spectra. , The Gai-As Formation is the most widespread depositional unit within the Huab Basin. FORMATION CONTINUE ACADEMIQUE AESH 2020/2021 L'offre de formation continue à destination des AESH est de nouveau mise en place en cette rentrée, via le plan de formation académique (PAF). Les Inscriptions individuelles ont lieu du 18 août au 19 septembre 2016 sur GAIA. On April 25, 2018, ESA released a second dataset that included the positions for approximately 1.7 billion stars, as well as a measure of their overall brightness at optical wavelengths. The playa deposits are represented by shaly sediments with intercalated feldspar-rich layers (2 to 4 centimetres (0.79 to 1.57 in)), stromatolite horizons (5 to 15 centimetres (2.0 to 5.9 in)) and fish scale bone beds (3 to 5 centimetres (1.2 to 2.0 in)). Formation Salaire et indemnités Nos services, nos statuts Nos mutations, notre mobilité. with nearly a billion pixels (106 CCDs each with 4,500 × 1,996 pixels). The approximately 70 metres (230 ft) thick succession is easily distinguished from all the other units by its characteristic reddish to violet color. 2011. Si vous connaissez déjà vos identifiants de connexion, saisissez-les et connectez-vous. Gaia Education is an international NGO which provides students of all ages and cultural backgrounds with knowledge and skills to design a thriving society. Gaia Earth Group Supporting safe and efficient formation evaluation operations, reducing risk and cost. L’offre de formation continue à destination des AESH est de nouveau mise en place en cette rentrée, via le plan de formation académique (PAF). In its observation mode, Gaia spins once every six hours, sweeping its two telescopes across the entire sky and focusing the light it gathers onto a single digital camera. The Gai-As Formation is named after the ruins of a colonial German police station located at a spring in the central Huab area. This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at. Gaia: Introduction to The Earth System. Social Media Lead: d'AESH ASCOL ; le rectorat pour les AESH ayant signé leur contrat au bureau des AVSi). Oldest Known Stereospondylous Amphibian from the Early Permian of Namibia. The upper half of the basal shaly section contains a few layers, 10 to 20 centimetres (3.9 to 7.9 in) thick, which are whitish and analcime-rich and occasionally thin layers of green chert. GAIA comprises highly skilled actuarial, engineering, project development, and investment professionals. This journey will deepen your understanding of the structure of our shared reality and the importance of your presence. Course Size: Summary. NASA's Perseverance rover carries a device to convert Martian air into oxygen that one day could be used not just for breathing, but also for fuel. Our quality assurance process for your logging operation, anywhere in the world. Seasonal cues tell Arctic animals when to migrate, when to mate, and when and where to find food. Tools . They facilitate exposure for long-term investors to infrastructure investment opportunities. 118 000 élèves en situation de handicap étaient scolarisés en 2006, ils sont 340 000 en 2018. Alcheringa, A.  The fossil assemblages of Glossopteris and Mesosaurus that occur in the underlying Huab Formation are known from other parts of Gondwana; the Vryheid Formation of South Africa and coal deposits of the Lower Permian in Australia. Gaia Cable Protection System. The Gaia Foundation, 6 Heathgate Place, Agincourt Road, London, NW3 2NU . Gaia is a European space observatory whose goal is to chart a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way galaxy in order to reveal the composition, formation and evolution of the galaxy. Access all public data generated by the ESA mission to chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy. Kristen Erickson Permian bivalves from the Gai-As Formation, northern Namibia: systematics, taphonomy, and biostratigraphy. Its goal is to create the largest, most precise three-dimensional map of the Milky Way by surveying about 1% of the galaxy's 100 billion stars. After four months of calibration, alignment and focusing of its telescopes, Gaia began its five-year mission July 25, 2014. ripples and hummocky cross-stratification in silty intercalations indicates that the sediment, surface must have been above the storm wave base. Gaia Hypothesis. In September 2014, ESA announced that Gaia had discovered its first supernova, Gaia14aaa, some 500 million light-years from Earth. Halite crystal moulds have been found locally. Matias De Stefano guides us through the conscious evolution needed to transcend the nine dimensions that make up our reality. Siddiqi, Asif A. , The Gai-As Formation as a whole displays an upward coarsening sequence which starts with distal shallow lacustrine shales. The formation is a lithological unit with an approximate maximum thickness of 70 metres (230 ft), deposited in the Huab Basin where it overlies the Huab Formation, separated by a significant hiatus, and is unconformably overlain by the Etjo Sandstone, while later authors assign a separate formation … Les accompagnants d’élèves en situation de handicap (AESH) sont indispensables tant auprès des élèves que dans les équipes pluriprofessionnelles.  The formation comprises sandstones, siltstones and mudstones deposited in a lacustrine environment. Earth 002: Section 002 is a non-mathematical introduction to the Earth, and to the forces and processes that shape the present-day global environment. 2001. , The following fossils have been reported from the formation:, The lower part of the formation is correlated with the Serra Alta Formation and the upper part with the Teresina Formation of the Paraná and Pelotas Basins in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The abundance of Glossopteris and Mesosaurus fossils in the underlying Huab Formation are characteristic of the Gondwanan correlation across present-day South America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia. Credit: ESA. High alkalinity of the lake water may also have been the reason for the almost complete lack of fossils in this part of the section. We will explore raw material partner farms, including their regenerative farming practices, agroforestry model, conservation efforts and more.  In the Karoo Basin of southern Namibia and the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape, South Africa, the formation is time-equivalent with the Collingham, Ripon and Fort Brown Formations. Les AESH pourront suivre leur demande sur GAIA dans la rubrique prévue à cet effet : Suivi de formation. Besides its primary goal of mapping stars, Gaia also carries out observations of known asteroids within our solar system, providing data on the orbits and physical properties of these bodies.
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MUSIC | MEMORIES | CAMPING | LOVE | LAUGH | LIVE
Outdoor Camping & Music
Subject: Full Moon Fest Update - June 3, 2023
Dear Moonlit Revelers,
We regret to inform you that the Full Moon Fest must be temporarily postponed. The cosmic forces at play have conspired to alter our plans, necessitating a shift in our lunar celebration. We bow to the Full Moon's enchantment and respect the delicate balance of celestial energies.
The Full Moon goddess, in her playful nature, has woven unexpected cosmic ripples, demanding a realignment of our celestial gathering. But fear not, for our commitment to this lunar spectacle remains unwavering. We are diligently working behind the scenes to reschedule the festival, ensuring a truly magical experience under the Full Moon's tender gaze.
The pathway to moonlit wonder shall soon reveal itself once again. Prepare to immerse yourself in a symphony of nocturnal enchantment, featuring captivating performances, mesmerizing rituals, and otherworldly melodies. We implore you to keep your spirits high and stay connected through our secret channels, where updates on the new date and ticket transfers will be shared.
Let the anticipation for this rescheduled event be a catalyst for excitement. Embrace the ebb and flow of cosmic tides, for when the Full Moon's radiance returns, you shall be part of a luminous gathering that transcends mortal boundaries.
Stay attuned to the celestial murmurs that weave through our mystical community. As we
navigate the labyrinthine dimensions of time and space, trust that we are working tirelessly to ensure an unforgettable experience beneath the Full Moon's tender glow.
Keep your senses sharp, your hearts open, and your lunar spirits wild. The Full Moon Fest will rise again, igniting the night sky with celestial energy and enchantment that will leave you spellbound.
Until the Full Moon whispers again, let your anticipation dance beneath the stars.
With lunar reverence
[Oscar] [ Chill Zone Entertaiment]
Full Moon Fest. Owner & Organizer
Michigan Full Moon Fest is a 3 Day 2 Night Outdoor Camping Festival.


Winter solstice is the subject of Saturday’s animated Google doodle. Winter solstice is the day that the maximum elevation of the sun, which gets lower as the winter arrives, reaches its lowest value. After this day, the maximum elevation of the sun starts to increase.
Winter solstice also marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. While the winter solstice occurs in the northern hemisphere in December, the southern hemisphere marks summer solstice on the same day. For regions in the southern hemisphere, the day means the maximum elevation of the sun is at its peak as is the length of the day. The day is also called “December solstice” as a common term for winter and summer solstices across both hemispheres.
Though Winter solstice is often called “the first day of the winter”, it is not the case – other terms used for the day like “mid-winter” or “the shortest day” are in fact correct. The day does mark a seasonal shift in the sense that after Winter solstice, days start to get longer. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates, however, differ from winter solstice as these depend on latitude of the place in question, in addition of course to the time of the year.
Depending on one’s position on the globe, the December solstice (summer or winter, as the case may be) usually occurs on the 21st and the 22nd. However, it is sometimes possible for a solstice to coincide with three different dates. Thus, the December 2016 solstice coincides with 20th of the month in American Samoa, with the 21st in London and with the 22nd at Kirtimati.


Islam and Science
Calling the Qur'an amazing is not something done only by Muslims, who
have an appreciation for the book and who are pleased with it; it has been labeled amazing
by non-Muslims as well. In fact, even people who hate Islam very much have still called it
amazing. One thing which surprises non_muslims who are examining the book very closely is
that the Qur'an does not appear to them to be what they expected.
following extracts are from the well-known book, The Bible, The
Quran and Science
by Dr. Maurice Bucaille.
The Qur'an presents in two verses a brief synthesis of the phenomena that constituted the
basic process of the formation of the Universe.
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined
together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made
from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?" (21:30) God orders the Prophet to speak after inviting him to reflect on
the subject of the earth's creation: "Moreover (God) turned to the Heaven when it was
smoke and said to it and to the earth..." (41:11)
The information the Qur'an provides on Celestial Organization
mainly deals with the solar system. References are however made to phenomena that go
beyond the solar system itself: they have been discovered in recent times.
The Qur'an gives an end to the Sun for its evolution and a destination place. It also
provides the Moon with a settled place. To understand the possible meanings of these
statements, we must remember what modern knowledge has to say about the
evolution of the stars in general and the Sun in particular, and (by extension) the
celestial bodies that automatically followed its movement through space, among them the
When talking of the conquest of space therefore, we have two
passages in the text of the Qur'an: one of them refers to what will one day become a
reality thanks to the powers of intelligence and ingenuity God will give to man, and the
other describes an event that the unbelievers in Makkah will never witness, hence its
character of a condition never to be realized. The event will however be seen by others,
as intimated in the first verse quoted above. It describes the human reactions to the
unexpected spectacle that travelers in space will see: their confused sight, as in
drunkenness, the feeling of being bewitched...


In the evening...
The boardwalk stretches along the shore facing the South China Sea. The best time to go is during the evening, when you'll meet lots of families taking a walk after dinner.
Areas around Mersing have very low light pollution, which is perfect for studying the heavens. Since Mersing is near the Equator, you have a clear view of both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and thus be able see the Big Dipper and the Southern Cross at the same time. The Milky Way is especially beautiful to view here.
Places like Teluk Godek, Teluk Sari and Tanjung Resang are within half an hour's drive from Mersing, and are excellent observation points for astronomy buffs. You can enjoy dinner in Mersing, stock up on necessities and then enjoy a whole night of stargazing.
Fishing by the jetty
From early evening to late night, people come in droves to fish at the jetty. You could watch them, or you could also join them!


Monday and Tuesday : CLOSED
Made From the Earth, Inspired by Earth and Beyond
I have been making pots for over 32 years. My small workshop is based in Oby in rural Norfolk, where I make hand thrown stoneware pots for use in the home & individual raku fired vessels.
The pots in my stoneware range are individually wheel thrown. Each piece is impressed with stamps, cogs, buttons & roulette wheels which form pattern on their surface. They are then glazed with my own glazes to enhance their textural surfaces and fired to stoneware temperatures making them durable, functional pieces designed for everyday use & can be put in the dishwasher if required.
My raku work consists of a range of both ‘naked’ and glazed raku vessels and is inspired by photographic images of planet earth as seen from the International Space Station and also recent images of Jupiter from NASA’s Juno cam. Forms are wheel thrown, then decorated with terra sigillata slips. Layers of decoration are used to illustrate surfaces in a 2-dimensional way as would be seen from outer space. Some pieces are then burnished, some glazed. Raku fired wares are usually still porous after firing, but some of my small ‘planets’ & bottle shapes have been sealed to make them water-tight for flowers. Last year one of my ‘earth’ pots was bought by a customer working for the European Space Agency in the Netherlands. I also had the opportunity to meet ESA Astronaut Tim Peake and was able to gift to him a piece of my work which was inspired by his amazing photography from the International Space Station.
Please contact the gallery to find out about our current stock availability.


|Barred spiral galaxy NGC1672 [Courtesy NASA]
What are the cosmic coincidences?
David H. Bailey
Updated 26 March 2022 (c) 2022
Some of the most remarkable findings of modern physics and cosmology are the "cosmic coincidences," namely indications that our particular universe and its laws seem remarkably tailored for the rise of intelligent life. For example, the expansion of the universe is finely tuned to the long-term existence of the universe -- if gravitation had been very slightly stronger in the early universe, the expansion would have stopped and even reversed long ago, ending the universe in a big crunch long before any sentient creatures would have arisen. On the other hand, if gravitation had been very slightly weaker, stars and galaxies might not have formed until matter was too dispersed, leaving the universe a cold and lifeless place.
A few of these cosmic coincidences that have been noted in previous years now have reasonable explanations. For instance, the knife-edge balance of gravitation and expansion may be explained by the "inflation" theory of cosmology, wherein the early universe underwent an incredible expansion in the first microscopic instances of time. However, the inflationary theory is now being questioned by many in the field, and may have to be substantially revised or even discarded [Steinhardt2011].
Many other of these cosmic coincidences remain inexplicable, and, if anything, recent developments in physics and astronomy have compounded these mysteries. Such paradoxes have even led some leading scientists to resurrect the "anthropic principle": the reason that we see these cosmic coincidences is a selection effect of our very existence. In other words, they propose that if the universe weren't constructed in an exceedingly special way, neither humans nor any other conceivable sentient beings would be around to discuss the issue [Barrow1986]. However, other scientists are extremely uncomfortable with the multiverse-anthropic approach, and view the mere fact that scientists would even suggest such solutions as an indictment of the entire enterprise of modern physics [Smolin2006]. For additional discussion on the anthropic principle, see
Some cosmic coincidences
Here are just a few of the cosmic coincidences that have been noted in the scientific literature:
Additional examples and details are presented in books by Paul Davies, Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes, among others [Davies2007; Lewis2016].
- Carbon resonance and the strong force. Although the laws of physics can readily explain the abundances of hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium (they were formed in the first 100 seconds or so after the big bang), the synthesis of heavier elements, beginning with carbon, was a deep mystery until 1951, when astronomer Fred Hoyle hypothesized and then discovered a resonance that is just energetic enough to permit a triple-helium nuclear reaction to produce a carbon nucleus. If the strong force were slightly stronger or slightly weaker (by just 1% in either direction), then the binding energies of the nuclei would be different, and this resonance would not work. In that case, there would be no carbon or any heavier elements anywhere in the universe, and thus no carbon-based life forms to contemplate this intriguing fact [Davies2007, pg. 133-138; Lewis2016, pg. 114-120; Chown2016].
By the way, although one can imagine living organisms based on other elements, carbon is by far is the most suitable element for the construction of complex molecules, as required for any conceivable form of living or sentient beings [Lewis2016, pg. 268]. In any event, nuclear chemistry precludes any heavier elements (i.e., elements beyond hydrogen, helium, lithium and beryllium) if carbon cannot form.
- The weak force and the proton-neutron balance. Had the weak force been somewhat stronger, primordial neutrons produced in the first few seconds after the big bang would have decayed faster, and there would be little if any carbon or heavier elements in our universe. On the other hand, if the weak force had been somewhat weaker, the amount of hydrogen in the universe would be greatly decreased, starving stars of fuel for nuclear energy and leaving the universe a cold and lifeless place [Davies2007, pg. 142-143].
- The electromagnetic-gravitational strength ratio. In 1974, Brandon Carter noted an interesting relationship between the ratio of the strengths of the electromagnetic and gravitational fields, which is roughly 1040, and the properties of stars. If gravity were slightly stronger (so that the ratio is lower), all stars would be radiative rather than convective, and planets might not form. But if gravity were somewhat weaker (so that the ratio was higher), then all stars would be convective and supernovas might not happen. Since all elements from carbon on up are synthesized in stellar explosions, we might not be here to discuss the issue [Carter1974; Davies2007, pg. 144].
- Neutrons and the proton-to-electron mass ratio. The ratio of the mass of the proton to that of the electron is approximately 1836.15, according to latest measurements. The ratio of the mass of the neutron to the mass of the proton is approximately 1.0013784. In other words, the neutron's mass is slightly more than the combined mass of a proton, an electron and a neutrino. As a result, free neutrons (neutrons that are not tied up in the nucleus of an atom) spontaneously decay with a half life of about 10 minutes. If the neutron were very slightly less massive, then it could not decay without energy input. If its mass were lower by 1%, then isolated protons would decay instead of neutrons, and very few atoms heavier than lithium could form [Davies2007, pg. 145].
- Uniformity of the cosmic microwave background. For many years after the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation, measurements indicated that it was isotropic (constant in all directions), except for a well-understood effect resulting from our galaxy's motion. In 1992, scientists discovered that there is a very slight anisotropy in this radiation, roughly one part in 100,000, which is just enough to ensure the formation of stars and galaxies. If this anisotropy had been significantly smaller, the early universe would have been too smooth for stars and galaxies to have formed. It it had been significantly smaller, galaxies would have been denser, resulting in numerous stellar collisions, so that stable, long-lived stars with planetary systems would have been very rare [Davies2007, pg. 146]. In sharp contrast, planetary systems are plentiful in our universe [Clery2017].
- The cosmological constant. The cosmological constant paradox derives from the fact that when one calculates, based on known principles of quantum mechanics, the "vacuum energy density" of the universe, one obtains the incredible result that empty space "weighs" 1093 grams per cubic centimeter (since the actual average mass density of the universe is roughly 10-28 grams per cc, this is in error by 120 orders of magnitude) [Susskind2005, pg. 70-78]. Stephen Hawking quipped that this is the most spectacular failure of a physical theory in history [Davies2007, pg. 147]. Physicists, who have fretted over this discrepancy for decades, have noted that calculations such as the above involve only the electromagnetic force, and so perhaps when the contributions of the other known forces are included, all terms will cancel out to exactly zero as a consequence of some heretofore unknown physical principle. These hopes were shattered with the 1998 discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, which implies that the cosmological constant must be slightly positive [Panek2011]. But this means that physicists are left to explain the startling fact that the positive and negative contributions to the cosmological constant cancel to 120-digit accuracy, yet fail to cancel beginning at the 121-st digit. Curiously, this observation is in accord with a prediction made by physicist Steven Weinberg in 1987, who argued from basic principles that the cosmological constant must be zero to within one part in roughly 10120, or else the universe either would have dispersed too fast for stars and galaxies to have formed, or would have recollapsed upon itself long ago [Susskind2005, pg. 80-82; Weinberg1989]. Numerous "solutions" have been proposed for the cosmological constant paradox (Lewis and Barnes mention eight [Lewis2016, pg. 163-164]), but they all fail, rather miserably. For additional discussion of the cosmological constant, see
- Mass of the Higgs boson. A similar cosmic coincidence has come to light recently in the wake of the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs was found to have a mass of 126 billion electron volts (i.e., 126 giga-electron-volts or Gev). However, a calculation of interactions with other known particles yields a mass of some 1019 Gev. This means that the rest mass of the Higgs boson must be almost exactly the negative of this enormous number, so that when added to 1019 gives 126 Gev, as a result of massive and unexplained cancelation. Supersymmetry (the notion that each known particle has a "superpartner" with different properties) has been proposed as a solution to this and the cosmological constant paradox, but no hint of these other particles are seen in the latest experiments at the LHC [Wolchover2013].
- The flatness problem. General relativity allows the space-time fabric of the universe to be open (extending forever, like an infinite saddle), closed (like the surface of a sphere), or flat. The latest measurements confirm that the universe is flat to within 1%. But looking back to the first few minutes of the universe at the big bang, this means that the universe must have been flat to within one part in 1015. As mentioned above, the cosmic inflation theory was proposed by Alan Guth and others in the 1970s to explain this and some other phenomena [Guth1997], but recently even some of inflation's most devoted proponents (e.g., Paul Steinhart) have acknowledged that the theory is in deep trouble and will have to be either substantially revised or discarded altogether [Horgan2014]. See Inflation for more details.
- The low-entropy state of the universe. The overall entropy (disorder) of the universe is, in the words of Lewis and Barnes, "freakishly lower than life requires" [Lewis2016, pg. 126]. After all, life requires, at most, a galaxy of highly ordered matter to create chemistry and life on a single planet. Physicist Roger Penrose has calculated the odds that the entire universe is as orderly as our galactic neighborhood to be one in 1010123, a number whose decimal representation has vastly more zeroes than the number of fundamental particles in the observable universe [Penrose1989, pg. 341-344]. Extrapolating back to the big bang only deepens this puzzle.
What does it mean?
In short, numerous features of our universe seem fantastically fine-tuned for the existence of intelligent life. While some physicists still hold out for a "natural" explanation, many others are now coming to grips with the notion that our universe is profoundly "unnatural," with no good explanation other than the anthropic principle -- the universe is in this extremely improbable state, because if it weren't we wouldn't be here to discuss the fact [Wolchover2013].
While some religious-minded writers conclude that these "cosmic coincidences" constitute iron-clad "proof" that our universe was designed by a supreme being, others recommend caution. For example, the search for "design" in the creation of the universe is reminiscent of the search for "design" in the evolution of life on earth. And long experience has taught us that claims that one can "prove" God via arguments based on apparent design or other inexplicable phenomena in the natural world are likely to disappoint in the long run. Furthermore, invoking a Creator or Designer every time unexplained phenomena arise is a "thinking stopper," burying the grand questions of science and religion in the inaccessible, inscrutable mind of some transcendent being.
Along this line, the recent emergence of the "multiverse" cosmology (see
Multiverse) have led some theologians, who once were fond of the big bang cosmology, to reconsider what their theology means in the context of the multiverse. As Catholic philosopher John Haught notes [Haught1995, pg. 109]:
And although it may seem for the moment that big bang physics is smoothing over some of the friction between science and religion, we know that science will continue to change. And if the big bang theory is eventually discarded as premature or inaccurate, then on what ground will those theologians stand who now see it as a vindication of theism?
And while such discussions may be engaging and intriguing, it is not clear that they relate in any substantive way with what most religious believers experience. Is the "God of the big bang" the same being that inspired Albert Schweitzer, Mohandas Ghandi and Mother Teresa to surrender their careers and fortunes, and instead devote their lives to the poor and downtrodden? Did Johann Sebastian Bach have the "God of the big bang" in mind when he composed the Mass in B Minor, the Christmas Oratorio and over 1,000 other sacred works? Probably not!
For additional details and discussion, see
Cosmological constant ,
Big bang theology and