Ligger ju något i detta. Förenta Staterna LARP-ar anti-kommunism á la kalla kriget, Ryssland LARP-ar anti-fascism á la andra världskriget och kalla kriget, medan de nya eliterna i den f.d. tredje världen låtsas vara något slags militanta nationella frihetskrigare. Finns det historiska exempel på samma sak? "Alla" låtsades vara romare hundratals år efter att det (latinska) romarriket upplösts. Liket lever, uppenbarligen.
I´m not *that* much of an astronomy nerd, but I suppose this Neptunian odyssey could be of some interest. For instance, that Neptune isn´t really an "ice giant" but also contains a lot of rock...and maybe even new and exotic forms of matter, which just await being harvested by our satellites in AD 2040.
Yeah, so about that...
More intriguing (and potentially disturbing) is the observation that Neptune is currently going through some kind of cooling event, its temperature dropping by about ten degrees anually since 1989. Note also the hypotheses about Neptune´s moons. It seems Triton was captured after the original moon´s had already been formed, essentially smashing most of them in a veritable moonpocalypse. Nereid might be the only original Neptunian satellite left.
Anton implies that the way in which "the minor giants" Uranus and Neptune were formed may have implications for the "exoplanets" and "super-Earths" everyone is hyped up about. But again: what does that mean? More likely to harbor life, or less likely?
Auroras and ancient moonpocalypses may have some kind of intrinsic interest, but isn´t *this* what we are really looking for? Life. Or the meaning behind it. Except the insane cornucopians, who can´t wait laying their hands on all that exotic tungsten...
Damn. It seems to be official now: the mysterious object 3I/ATLAS isn´t an alien probe (pun unintended) but an entirely natural object. A kind of comet, in fact, made of "heavy water" and other mundane substances. Blasted!
On the positive side, the comet could be 12 billion years old (!) and give us clues to how solar systems were formed in the early universe ("early" if you believe in the Big Bang). Clue: probably not as ours. It struck me that this could have some kind of consequences, too. For instance, does it make it more likely or less likely that alien star systems might harbor intelligent life (or any life)?
The irony is that Trump might even be right about this. And yet, it´s still a surreal move. For various reasons...
An interesting "unofficial" flag, actually.
Flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
See also here (more ironically):
I missed this strange Christmas song last year. Apparently, it´s Swedish?! So here we go instead!
This is a video c/o the Ritviks or ISKCON Bangalore, a breakaway faction from the "official" ISKCON. Supposedly, the committee overseeing the Jagannath temple in Puri has sent a letter to both ISKCON and the Ritviks, requesting them to only celebrate Rath Yatra (the main festival dedicated to the god Jagannath) during the dates indicated in advance by the temple priests. The Ritviks will honor the request, while the "official" ISKCON apparently won´t, preferring to celebrate on dates of their own chosing.
Imagine what religious sects can argue over. Do they *really* think Jagannath ("The Lord of the Universe" i.e. God) gives a damn? But who knows, maybe he does, since in this scenario, God is a Vaishnava!
Please note that the priests in Puri exclude non-Indian Hare Krishnas from the temple, so maybe that´s the *real* reason why ISKCON-Official doesn´t feel bound by their decisions, but whatever, I have no particular dog in this fight...
