Tag: secrets

Professional Poster Model Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes in 1916 with his general theory of relativity. However, due to their appetite for light, black holes were a struggle for astronomers to find in the midst of all the shining and glittery objects that make up the night sky. This changed and Einstein’s prediction became fact when the first black hole was discovered in 1964 when astronomers used X-rays to spot a bright blue star in the Milky Way orbiting a strange dark object, with materials being stripped away and gobbled up by said mysterious object. Since then, NASA has estimated that there are 100 million black holes in the Milky Way with 40 quintillions around the corner, populating the observable universe. The closest black hole to Earth, dubbed The Unicorn, is approximately 1,500 light years away. So if you’re ever out taking a stroll 1,500 light-years away, remember to stay sharp and bring a strainer, because you could be stuck there for a while.

So we know Black Holes are there and what they do, but what exactly are they? Did they start as little black hole babies, sucking on stars like a pacifier? Of course not! That would be silly and the actual answer is far less adorable to imagine. Black Holes are born from the death of stars more massive than the sun. “When a star runs out of the nuclear fuel that makes them shine, their core collapses into black holes under their own gravity.” Black holes can also come to
be from the collision of neutron stars and grow from stripping away the material of these stars. We could use the baby imagery for this process, but thinking about it gets morbid rather quickly.

Not all Black Holes are the same. The family tree consists of four types. Stellar Mass Black Holes are the most common in the universe. Miniature black holes are similar to Stellar Masses but have room to grow and Intermediate Holes are bigger than Stellar masses but still mostly a mystery to scientists as we’ve seen very few. Then there are the behemoths of the Universe, the Super Massive Black Holes. In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, it’s predicted that Super Massive Black Holes can have masses equal to billions of suns, and likely lurk in the center of most galaxies. It is still unknown how exactly Super Massive Black Holes are formed as they are far too massive to be formed to be born from a single, however, scientists can study one in our own backyard after the discovery of Sagittarius A* in the center of our galaxy in the early 2000s. Now that we have a firm understanding of black holes and how they’re the best slurpers in the Universe, it’s time to ask ourselves….

Since the 1950s, UFOs have invaded our late-night thoughts and our pop culture. Or if your this guy, your crops… and that’s a major problem because it’s harvest time and if a third of your corn is covered in saucer skid marks and you’re not able to bring the best bushels to the Kansas State Fair, then there’s no stopping the bank from taking the farm this time. UFOs or Unidentified Flying Objects orrrr UAPs, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as they’re now classified, have been written and spoken about since ancient times. However, an increase in reported sightings has people wondering……what the is going on. I mean how are you supposed to enjoy a day off work, curled up on the couch drinking a hot cup of cocoa when you know that you might have to go to war with ET any second?

Side Note: If you ever find yourself in hand-to-hand combat with an ET…. got for the limpy neck. Toss some pocket sand in its big creepy eyes and then a swift karate chop to the throat should do the trick. Next thing you know it’s phone-homing on the floor and you’ve been crowned Hero of Earth. You’ll have a new global holiday designated in your honor and finally, your parents will love you more than your over-achieving older sibling.

They may have not been piloted by a bloated naked orangutan but in recent years two UFO sightings have brought the farmer phenomena into the global spotlight. The first didn’t take place on Earth…but it did take place in our Solar System, which is far too close for comfort. It would be like if Pluto started dabbling with Nuclear Volcanos….probably nothing to worry about, but we’d appreciate it if that stuff happened in the neighborhood next over. In 2017, the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope discovered a 400-meter rocky, cigar-shaped object with a reddish hue wandering our solar system unattached to any star system (NASA). Scientists named it ‘Oumuamua’ which is Hawaiian for “a messenger from afar arriving first.” Oumuamua is the first confirmed interstellar object to visit our solar system. It was first classified as an asteroid but after it was reported to be traveling past the sun at an astonishing speed of 196,000 miles per hour, over 3 times faster than the average speed of an asteroid, scientists have given up that theory and are now wondering what it was and how it got here. Some say it’s still moving around our galaxy this very day…and by some we mean NASA and by say, we mean confirmed that it’s currently cruising around Neptune and Uranus.

Before we can find a phantom galaxy, we must know what a phantom galaxy is, and in order to do that, it’s important to know how the James Webb telescope works. More specifically, how the James Webb telescope works better than any other telescope in capturing images of our universe. To begin, the James Webb telescope is the super-sized version of the Hubble. The Hubble is the size of a school bus. The James Webb is the size of a tennis court. Regardless of what your kind and reassuring partner says, size matters, and the James Webb is equipped with 21.3 feet of gold-hued mirrors that can collect more light than any other telescope, allowing it farther into the universe. The James Webb has six times the light collecting area of the Hubble and is 100 times more powerful…which really puts that dinky telescope you got for your 12th birthday to shame. Mirrors made by Midas himself aren’t the only thing that makes The Webb unique and more powerful than other telescopes. The incredible infrared ability makes The Webb the star of the sky. The reason we haven’t seen the epoch of a galaxy formation until now is that as ancient starlight travels through the fabric of space it becomes stretched. Ultraviolet and visible light from the farthest stars is stretched 20-times-longer wavelengths on the way here becoming infrared radiation. You know, it’s like when you blow a bubble and it expands so much that it becomes infrared radiation and then you’ve got a bunch of infrared radiation in your mouth and it tastes really bad.

In 2011, a woman in Japan laid dead in a forest for four hours after taking too many pills. When her body was discovered, it was 30 degrees below normal body temperature, she was not breathing, she had no pulse, and all efforts to shock her back to life failed. However, 6 hours later, her heart… began to beat again. The woman’s recovery is not a miracle, but a breakthrough in our understanding of how the line of what it means to be dead is getting blurred. Long are the days of berry picking in an open field and then the next thing you know you’re making your way through a tiger’s intestines. Scientists now have a better understanding of how we die, which is leading to innovations towards slowing down the rate that cells die. The cool temperature of the woods prevented the woman’s cells from breaking down as quickly as they would in a warmer environment, allowing her to lay dead for almost ten hours before doctors brought her back with an artificial lung and heart. Researchers are experimenting with new technology to bring back the dead. From current trials involving draining and replacing a patient’s blood, to developments in freezing brains for future hopes, and the largest ambition of harvesting a sun’s energy to bring back everyone who has ever lived, neuroscientists and tech companies are racing to put the Grim Reaper out of business.

not gone unquestioned. Later studies have failed to find correlations between the moon and our health. An research on “lunar-lunacy” published in 1985 concluded that there was no correlation between the Moon and incidents such as crime, suicides, and mental hospital admissions. A 1988 published paper criticizes hypotheses on a “lunar-effect” in association to the human condition, by concluding that none are efficient enough to explain the alleged effects of the moon and a human’s well being. Stating a lack of satisfactory mechanisms, a reliable connection between lunar periodicity and human behavior, and generally negative results obtained in other studies.