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Asteroid 2024 YR4: A 2032 Threat? Not on Our Watch

Back in December 2024, astronomers caught wind of something unusual—a small, fast-moving rock...

No, Trump’s Executive Orders Can’t Cancel Your Rights.

Donald Trump does not have the power to rescind either constitutional amendments or federal laws...

The Sublime Idiocracy Of the 2024 Drone Panic. 99.99% Chance They Are Just Planes And Stars.

The "drone panic" of 2024 easily claims the title of the most absurd astronomy and physics-related...

Putting Einstein To The Test With LISA. A Space Based Gravitational Wave Telescope

The recent video, "How LISA Will Listen to the Symphony of the Universe," provides a compelling...

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Hontas FarmerRSS Feed of this column.

My research focuses on astrophysics from massive star formation to astroparticle physics. Born and raised in Chicagoland I have lived in Bellwood, IL since 1984 and attended public schools here... Read More »

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Let’s get something straight: your obsession with trans people using bathrooms is a distraction from the fact that most Americans can barely afford to put food on the table or pay rent. While you’re wasting time pandering to the most regressive parts of your base, the country is struggling.
 
I’ve spent decades fighting for academic freedom and challenging the status quo, including within the trans community. I’ve called out unreasonable behavior when I’ve seen it. But here’s the thing—peaceably using a bathroom, washing our hands, and leaving is not unreasonable. This whole debate could be solved with a simple, deliberate, and constructive solution.

But let’s be real, that’s not what you care about.

Nearly 30 years ago, Minister Louis Farrakhan called for the Million Man March—a gathering of Black men to stand up for the power of Black people in reaffirming vigilance toward our civil rights and societal responsibilities. Now, as a Black transwoman, I see in the current government a need for similar action in Washington, D.C., for the transgender community, the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, Muslims, Latinos, and every other minority group.

The answers to the title questions are, No, Yes, and why not.  What I have been doing instead of blogging lately has mostly been AI training as a freelancer for a company called Outlier.AI.  I can't say what we work on or who we work for.  Name a company or other organization known to have an interest in AI research and Outlier has likely provided services for them.  It is interesting and engaging work that pays better than teaching actual human beings.  

If your theory of everything has tensors set equal to scalars then it is wrong. Simply put, a scalar is a single number that is widely recognized. A vector consists of 3-4 numbers arranged in a specific sequence, typically representing coordinates and time. A tensor is an array of these numbers in a 3x3 or 4x4 matrix. There are nuanced details to this; for instance, in certain complex scenarios, a set of numbers can be defined where scalars are represented as pairs of numbers, like complex numbers in the form of a+bi. However, to maintain simplicity, we will not delve into those complexities. To summarize, the initial statement of this post can be rephrased to say that a 4x4 matrix of numbers is not equivalent to a single number.

Robert Zubrin, a great Aerospace Engineer and advocate for human space exploration, has a credible proposal to move the ISS to higher orbits around the Earth under its own power using electric propulsion.  This would not be a fast process, but it would not need to be a fast process since it is a space station, not a spacecraft.   Think of it this way, ISS is to space what an oil platform is to the sea.  People don't realize that many of those aren't anchored to the seabed but float, and interface with equipment placed on the seabed below.   They move slowly, very slowly compared to a motor vessel.  Moving ISS would be like that it would take years.  With enough time even a small thrust can

The northern lights as one would expect and see them if they were in the frozen reaches of Canada, Scandanavia, or Russia, maybe and maybe not.  However, a glow in the sky unlike anything most of us will see in the 48 contiguous United States of America was visible last night, and may be visible again tonight, and Sunday night.  For the first time since 2003 a G5 geomagnetic storm is predicted to hit us.   There have been a series of solar flares emitted in the correct direction and timing for the charged particles released to interact with Earths geomagnetic field.  These particles are either deflected by Earth's magnetic field or directed towards the poles.  The result of this interaction and interaction with our atmosphere is the r