Spaaaaace (Part 1)

@FloridaManJefe, our man in the Conch Republic, just might be able to see this.

ETA: Looks like it may be visible in Key West around 8:25pm on the evening of the 11th.

https://cloud.occultwatcher.net/event/1075-319-83995-648466-H27989/1246616

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cool! thanks for the “heads up”!

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:thinking:

‘Doctor, doctor, will I be able to play the violin after the operation?’

'Yes, of course
’

‘Great! I never could before!’

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Long-term space missions might make liftoff harder for male astronauts

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Half a kilo of cosmic nuclear fuel reignites NASA’s deep space dreams

NASA has celebrated a shipment of half a kilo of plutonium oxide by the US Department of Energy, the largest since US production of plutonium-238 was restarted just over a decade ago.

Plutonium-238 (Pu-238) is essential for NASA missions using Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS). RPS makes use of the natural decay of Pu-238 to provide heat and electricity through systems such as the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). As such, it’s essential for missions where solar power is not an option.

[
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The question of if it came from intelligent life remains unanswered.

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Launch ALL the Satellites !!!__FGD135

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someday we’ll discover that’s what the boat @KathyPartdeux posted about is


although, if the message is “drink more ovaltine”, then your point about intellegent life might still apply


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“might beat musk to mars”


I cant even


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wait
?

When ultra-high-energy cosmic rays hit Earth’s atmosphere, they initiate a cascade of secondary particles and electromagnetic radiation in what is known as an extensive air shower.

Some charged particles in the air shower travel faster than the speed of light, producing a type of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by specialised instruments.

wouhwouhwouh, slowly there
who wrote this?!?

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Is this bit behind the “please support us” sort-of-paywall (because I can’t find it)?

It’s probably supposed to say “appears to move faster than light”. I know that’s the party piece of some exotic particles, but I can’t really explain it, haven’t got the math. Something to do with the universe expanding, i.e. the medium the particles are travelling in isn’t static but still being created. Or something.

Jimbopedia’s entry on the speed of light says:
In some cases, objects or waves may appear to travel faster than light (e.g., phase velocities of waves, the appearance of certain high-speed astronomical objects, and particular quantum effects). The expansion of the universe is understood to exceed the speed of light beyond a certain boundary.

There is some weird stuff out there:

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ah, they changed it, the whole part isnt there anymore (tip; its a “soft” “paywall”, forbid every script, delete cookies and you have full access).

as far as I remember (I could be entirely wrong), it boils simply down to that the energy from the collision was so great that the secondary particles have greater time-dilation as you would normaly expect (because there faster and much closer to c than usual), i.e. longer life-span than expected hence “faster-than-light” “faster-than-atmospheric-c”.

edit/ all happening in the upper atmosphere. thank you so much @Elmer ! so, it wasnt actually wrong, it was just poorly phrased:

Some charged particles in the air shower travel faster than the speed of light (as light itself in air)

(thanks again, @Elmer .) /e

:person_shrugging:

edit/

my understandig is that that has actually nothing to do with the aformentioned observable effects
?

:person_shrugging:

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