All posts tagged: distant

Koyoltzintli’s Clay Instruments Channel Sounds from Distant Pasts

Koyoltzintli’s Clay Instruments Channel Sounds from Distant Pasts

Published by Jenni Sidey

“I feel like I am in constant conversation with the past and we are discussing what we’re going to do with the future,” said Koyoltzintli, surrounded by dozens of flutes, whistles, drums, and other handmade instruments scattered around her studio in upstate New York. She was talking about her connection to the Pacific coast of Ecuador, home to some of the oldest ceramic practices and ceramic instruments in the Americas. But she was adamant about her roots in the present—“as someone who carries a lineage while doing my own thing.”  Koyoltzintli started out working primarily in photography, as a photojournalist in Ecuador with a particular interest in the expansion of Amazonian cities and healers in the Andes Mountains. But while she continues to work with the medium—as well as others, including painting, drawing, and sculpture—she had an epiphany around sound in 2020 that continues to resonate. Unable to travel back to Ecuador from the US—where she had moved to attend the School of Visual Arts in 2001—because of the pandemic, she started going to museums …

James Webb Spots Strange Structure at Core of Distant Galaxy

James Webb Spots Strange Structure at Core of Distant Galaxy

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech A stunning new image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows a nearby galaxy bursting with light at its center, revealing the distinct but optically invisible structure that underpins the sprawling realm. Known as Messier 77, or the Squid Galaxy, it’s located in the constellation Cetus some 45 million light-years from Earth. Like our own Milky Way, it takes the form of a barred spiral galaxy, but its center is far more luminous. That’s because it’s dominated by an active galactic nucleus, a term that describes a supermassive black hole in the midst of a voracious feeding frenzy. At eight million times the mass of the Sun, the black hole is pulling matter towards itself, which begins to swirl around it like water circling a drain, and heating up in the process. That heat is so intense, and the amount of matter captured so enormous, that the light the black hole’s so-called accretion disk produces outshines the …

Ukraine war briefing: Distant strike on Russian missile ship in Caspian Sea

Ukraine war briefing: Distant strike on Russian missile ship in Caspian Sea

Published by Sam Flores

Ukraine’s purchase of Saab-made Gripen fighter jets could be signed within months, Kyiv’s defence minister said on Thursday as he visited his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm. The countries last year signed a letter of intent that could see Sweden supply up to 150 Gripens. The first deliveries are estimated at three years away from any deal being finalised. “We have our plan how to finance it,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian defence minister. The Swedish minister, Pal Jonson, said a deal to loan, sell or gift existing Gripens of an older model, to be delivered much faster, was progressing well. Source link

EU must stop being ‘distant observer’ in Middle East, Cyprus warns – POLITICO

EU must stop being ‘distant observer’ in Middle East, Cyprus warns – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

With oil and gas tankers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz and energy prices skyrocketing, European leaders have so far failed to find an agreement on how to help secure the strategic waterway. While Germany has indicated it could be ready to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for a maritime operation to reopen the strait, France insists that would only be acceptable in the context of a peace deal. “There are efforts to have the negotiations between the Iranian side, the Americans and so on — there are various efforts of mediation taking place in various conflicts. We want and we advocate for the EU to be a lot more present and a lot more visible,” Kombos said. Cyprus — which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU — convened talks Friday afternoon between the bloc’s leaders and those from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Gulf nations, the most significant multilateral summit since the start of the Iran war. However, relations with regional counterparts have been strained by their …

A Disease That’s Killing Florida’s Orange Groves Could Make OJ a Distant Luxury

A Disease That’s Killing Florida’s Orange Groves Could Make OJ a Distant Luxury

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Whether you take it with pulp or without, you may soon be lucky just to get some OJ at all as one of the largest citrus industries in the world suffers a massive collapse. According to a bombshell new story in Slate, Florida’s once-proud orange groves have experienced a major decline in fruit production over the last few years, and the devastation is almost certainly just getting started. While there are plenty of reasons for a downturn in orange production — climate change, Donald Trump’s trade wars, suburban development — perhaps none are as ravaging as citrus greening disease, a bacterial infection that slowly chokes orange trees from the inside out. Citrus greening disease is primarily transmitted by a sap-sucking bug known as the Asian citrus psyllid. Once the psyllid starts gnawing on a defenseless orange tree, it’s pretty much a done deal; the tree’s leaves become yellowed and flaccid, and its fruit wilted and green. As the University …

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Will Be Labour Leader “In The Not Too Distant Future”, Predicts Karl Turner MP

Politics Home | Andy Burnham Will Be Labour Leader “In The Not Too Distant Future”, Predicts Karl Turner MP

Published by Sam Flores

Keir Starrmer appeared alomgside Andy Burnham in a rare show of unity at a campaign event this week (Alamy) 4 min read3 hr An MP who recently lost the Labour whip has said that Keir Starmer’s leadership is “now beyond the point of no return” and that he expects Andy Burnham to take over soon. Karl Turner, the MP for Kingston upon Hull East, said the Greater Manchester mayor is “authentic” and “what the punters need”, adding that people in his Yorkshire constituency and nationwide “don’t think Keir Starmer believes in anything”. Turner was speaking to The Rundown podcast from PoliticsHome on Thursday, before new revelations about Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US put further pressure on Starmer’s position. The Guardian reported that Mandelson was given the senior diplomatic job despite failing his security vetting. Starmer has blamed Foreign Office officials for not making him aware of the vetting failure, and last night sacked Olly Robbins as the department’s permanent secretary. Labour suspended the whip from Turner last month after weeks of …

Samples From Distant Asteroid Contain All DNA and RNA Building Blocks

Samples From Distant Asteroid Contain All DNA and RNA Building Blocks

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech In June 2019, a Japanese spacecraft called Hayabusa2 touched down on Ryugu, a 3,000-foot asteroid some 185 million miles from Earth. It then proceeded to fire a metal bullet at the surface, dislodging enough material to scoop up with a special “sampling horn” to take back home to our planet. Scientists have been poring over the extremely rare samples ever since to study the near-Earth asteroid with the hope of learning about how the building blocks of planets evolved over time — and just maybe how life on our planet first came to be. The latest findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy by a team of researchers in Japan, tell a fascinating story: Ryugu appears to contain all the necessary ingredients to make the DNA and RNA underpinning life on Earth. The conclusion supports the theory that errant space rocks like Ryugu could have brought life to Earth billions of years ago. “Their detection in Ryugu strongly …

Japan eyes distant island for nuclear waste dump

Japan eyes distant island for nuclear waste dump

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Nuclear power is on the rise around the world, but with it comes an extremely pressing question: where will all of the radioactive waste be stored? For Japan, one answer may lie in literally the most remote location at their disposal. Representatives confirmed to the AFP that they are considering the establishment of a nuclear waste burial facility on Minamitorishima, a tiny island located at the furthest edge of Japan’s easternmost territory almost 1,250 miles from Tokyo. At only 0.6 square miles, the triangular island is surrounded by a coral atoll, completely uninhabited, and closed to any tourists or visitors. Speaking to reporters on March 3rd, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said Minamitorishima includes “unexplored” areas capable of housing the infrastructure needed for waste disposal, and features “scientifically favorable traits.” Minamitorishima is Japan’s easternmost territory. Credit: Google Maps Even with its controversial (and occasionally terrifying) history, nuclear power is growing more attractive to many countries …

Astronomer Who Discovered Water on Distant Planet Murdered Outside Home

Astronomer Who Discovered Water on Distant Planet Murdered Outside Home

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech A renowned Caltech astronomer who studied distant exoplanets was shot and killed outside his home in a rural area near Los Angeles, the LA Times reported. Carl Grillmair, 67, was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene after deputies responded to a 911 call in the unincorporated community of Llano in Antelope Valley. A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the torso. The LA County Sheriff’s department said it arrested a suspect, Freddy Snyder, 29, in a nearby carjacking while investigating the shooting. Snyder was charged Wednesday with Grillmair’s murder, along with burglary and carjacking. It’s unclear if Snyder had any relation with Grillmair. Grillmair, a member of Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, better known as IPAC, had spent more than four decades studying distant exoplanets and the structures that make up our galaxy.  As a principal investigator on NASA’s Hubble space telescope and NASA’s Spitzer space telescope, one of …