In a landmark discorvery, ripples in space and time first hypothesized by physicist Albert Einstein a century ago have been detected, with scientists suggesting that the observation of these gravitational waves could now open a new window for studying the cosmos.
The researchers said they detected gravitational waves coming from two black holes —extraordinarily dense objects whose existence also was foreseen by Einstein — that orbited one another, spiraled inward and smashed together. They said the waves were the product of a collision between two black holes 30 times as massive as the Sun, located 1.3 billion light years from Earth.
Einstein a-go-go! Scientists rejoice as gravitational waves detected
Alex Baer: Of Beasts & Burdens
"It's not every day that you see a nation's leader not only fall on his sword, but, then, take the time to pick up a pike, mount it securely to the wall, back up, and then charge into the tip of that sharpened spear as well, and at full speed" said a well-known and respected host during an equally recognizable organization's news discussion program.
And this was only the beginning of the program. Even more ladles of steaming, chunky, even luxurious, honesty were being promised, in the run-down of guests and topics for discussion. The tape was never aired, of course, for a host of obvious reasons, and some oblique ones, too.
The partisan strategy of voter suppression
Over the last five years, perhaps no elected official in the country has been more aggressive in placing limits on voting and registration than Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
He authored a provision that created a two-tiered voting system under which some Kansans could cast a ballot for their president but not their governor or any other statewide official. On Jan. 15 a Kansas district court judge struck down the measure, calling it a violation of the state’s constitution and sharply rebuked Kobach, writing, “No such authority exists at all … to encumber the voting process as he has done here.”
Alex Baer: Apps, Ops, Oopses
Today, we'll take a rest break from the Sham- (I mean) CAMpaign Trail of Shame, Pain, and Champagne, where psychotic breaks from traditional Reality are the unexceptional rule.
It's difficult to believe, all right -- here we are, standing around, and we're NOT talking about the latest app to put everything Candidate Braindrool says on your Facebook's speed-dial-Insta-Twitter-Text-Mail-Fax-Forwarding option!
So, it's Trump and Bernie in New Hampshire. Sure thing. How's the family? Looks like snow...
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to suspend presidential campaign
After failing to secure a single delegate in the New Hampshire Republican primary, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to suspend his presidential campaign Wednesday.
Christie could announce his departure from the presidential race as soon as Wednesday afternoon after he meets with advisors, an anonymous source familiar with the plans told ABC News.
"We bet the ranch on New Hampshire, and no one ever anticipated the Trump phenomenon," the source said. "He's a realist."
Hundreds of galaxies found hiding behind the Milky Way
Astronomers in Australia have confirmed the discovery of hundreds of galaxies hidden by the Milky Way and a gravitational anomaly known as the Great Attractor.
Until now, the galaxy-rich region of space some 250 million light-years away has been obscured by the stars and dust of the Milky Way.
"The Milky Way is very beautiful of course and it's very interesting to study our own galaxy but it completely blocks out the view of the more distant galaxies behind it," Lister Staveley-Smith, a professor at the University of Western Australia, said in a press release.
Alex Baer: Pinging in the Brain
Some stories seem to fade as soon as they appear, while others keep popping back into awareness, wanted or not.
In the language of The Hunt for Red October, which we screened again Sunday, some stories are "one-ping-only," while others pull "Crazy Ivans" for months and months at a whack.
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Yes, we have no TV access in our Little Boonieville, so our screen is used in a quaint, old-fashioned way, as a monitor for selected discs -- movies, documentaries, TV shows. Yes, we miss the still somewhat-sane channels, like PBS or BBC, but we do not yearn for the wallet-hosing expenses associated with cable, satellite dishes, pay-per-peek, uplinks, downloads, nor wireless brain-stem implants, where you change channels by winking and wincing.
Wife of ISIS Figure Charged in American Woman's Death
The wife of a now-deceased Islamic State leader was charged Monday for her alleged role in last year's death of American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller.
Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, 25, the widow of former ISIL leader Abu Sayyaf, allegedly conspired to provide support to the terrorist group, often forcibly holding Mueller in the couple's homes where she was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Mueller died in February 2015.
Alex Baer: Landmark Decisions
And now, a word about Landmark Decisions: Boxy.
(No, not like the hyper vlogger, nor like those who boil down everything to thinking in-or-outside of that very same box -- but, well, squarish. You know, like a box -- not, um, square-ish, like not being hip or very uncool. Uh, to quote a Monty Python sketch: Wait, I'll come in again...)
As I has begun: Landmark Decisions -- no, wait, hang on, hang on. No running away in panic is required here. There'll be no airing of legal briefs, or any other kind, here today -- much to the relief of all concerned.
No, I was starting to warm up on the weirdly interwoven subjects of Time, Change, Culture, Cars, and Architecture.
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