Damn‚ I feel for Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars — it pains me as a 'Florida Man'

This year’s excavation of the ancient Hasankeyf mound in southeastern Turkey has uncovered an 800-year-old bronze healing bowl and two archery rings made of agate and bone from the same period. Healing bowls were used in medieval Islamic folk medicine to protect against animal bites. The inside of the bowl is engraved with talismanic verses‚ seals and images of a double-headed dragon‚ a dog‚ a snake and a scorpion. The dragon had apotropaic powers‚ providing protection from evil in two directions. The folk belief was that drinking water from a healing bowl would heal the drinker from dog‚ snake and scorpion bites. The engraving on this bowl makes the association specific. There are only 22 medieval healing bowls documented in museums and private collections around the world. Archery rings (zihgirs in Arabic) were worn on the finger to protect the skin from damage from a bowstring. They were held in high value and were culturally significant artifacts in the Turkish-Islamic arts of the Middle Ages. These are the first zihgirs unearthed at Hasankeyf. One of them was found in a tomb of an adult male. The presence of the valuable ring indicates the deceased was someone of note‚ but no references to his identity have been found in the grave. Built on the banks of the Tigris‚ Hasankeyf is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world‚ with evidence of occupation going back 12‚000 years. The bowl and rings have been transferred to the Hasankeyf Museum Directorate for conservation and display.

Planet Earth is full of some truly awe-inspiring spectacles‚ but few are as intriguing as a sprite‚ which are officially known as a Transient Luminous Event (TLE) and consist of large-scale electric discharges that shoot upwards while occurring above the cloud tops in the Earth’s mesosphere at approximate altitudes of 50-90 km (31-56 mi). In October 2023‚ European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut‚ Dr. Andreas Mogensen‚ who is currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as Commander of the Expedition 70 mission‚ took an incredible image of a red sprite with the Davis camera as part of the Thor-Davis experiment and his Huginn mission. Sprites have been observed from the ground and aircraft. However‚ the preferred observation method is from outer space due to the sprites occurring above the cloud tops and the low altitude of the ISS offering pristine views of these unique lightning features. While they are observed above cloud tops‚ they are hypothesized to originate from normal lightning near the Earth’s surface and act as a “balancing mechanism” used by the Earth’s atmosphere to distribute vertical electrical charges. Since red sprites are essentially lightning strikes and visible for only a fraction of a second‚ specialized event-based cameras such as the Davis camera are required to precisely capture them. The Davis camera contrasts with a normal camera in that it does not take direct photographs‚ but instead creates images by sensing light and contract variances. Through this‚ the Davis camera capabilities are analogous to a normal camera taking 100‚000 images per second. Images of a red sprite taken by the Davis camera from the International Space Station in October 2023 by Expedition 70 Commander‚ Dr. Andreas Mogensen. (Credit: ESA/DTU/ A. Mogensen) “These images taken by Andreas are fantastic‚” said Dr. Olivier Chanrion‚ who is a senior researcher at Danish Technical University (DTU) Space and lead scientist for this experiment. “The Davis camera works well and gives us the high temporal resolution necessary to capture the quick processes in the lightning.” The Thor-Davis experiment builds off the Thor experiment also conducted by Dr. Mogensen during his first mission to the ISS in 2015. During that experiment‚ Dr. Mogensen shot a 160-second video displaying 245 blue jets‚ which are another type of lightning event that shoots up towards space‚ with results from those findings being published in a 2016 study in Geophysical Research Letters. The earliest recorded report of sprites—though they weren’t called that right away—occurred in November 1885 from the R.M.S. Moselle as it was leaving port in Jamacia with the sprites then being described as a “meteorological phenomenon” while “sometimes tinged with prismatic hues‚ while intermittently would shoot vertically upwards continuous darts of light displaying prismatic colours in which the contemporary tints‚ crimson and green‚ orange and blue‚ predominated.” It took more than 100 years for the first photographic evidence of sprites to happen‚ when a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota accidentally imaged electrical discharges using a low-light-level television camera in 1989‚ with their findings later being published in Science the following year. It wasn’t until a 1995 study published in Geophysical Research Letters that these electrical charges were officially dubbed “sprites”. In the last several decades‚ sprites have been observed from all continents except for Antarctica‚ along with being observed from the ground‚ aircraft‚ and even outer space. Image of red sprites taken in 2022 from the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) La Silla Observatory in Chile. (Credit: Zdenek Bardon/ESO) What new discoveries about sprites will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell‚ and this is why we science! As always‚ keep doing science &; keep looking up! The post Red Sprites are Best Seen from Space appeared first on Universe Today.

Wha?!

How can this be happening?

US Navy Sends a Ship to Second Thomas Shoal‚ Angering China Once Again

Green Groups Are No Longer Promoting a Cleaner Environment

It's not just another Republican Debate week. It's Liz Cheney Book Week‚ and it's going to be insufferable. CBS and NBC touted Liz Cheney as a big "conservative' even as she called for Trump and the Republicans to be denied office in 2024. The staunch conservatives want Democrats to win everything? How does that compute?  On CBS Sunday Morning‚ Jane Pauley introduced the feature with "Call her a very concerned conservative." On NBC's Today‚ Savannah Guthrie began by touting "a staunch conservative who voted with Trump 90 percent of the time"...while he was president. CBS interviewer John Dickerson set the table just as Cheney wanted. Gee‚ Republicans can't back the Constitution and back Donald Trump‚ can they? Why‚ no. Only voting for the Democrats preserves democracy and the Constitution. Cheney said the country was "sleepwalking toward dictatorship‚" and later on Face the Nation‚ CBS host Margaret Brennan bizarrely presented that as a "fairly straight assessment." At least NBC's Guthrie pressed Cheney a little‚ asking if Biden is the best the Democrats could do against Trump‚ and suggesting there's a "sliver" of voters who aren't in a Trump "cult‚" but worry about inflation and the border. Cheney was blunt. Those voters need to be educated: ""I think that's a real problem‚ and the challenge is to make sure those people understand and recognize that a Trump vote is not acceptable....because a vote for Donald Trump may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in. " On ABC's This Week‚ host George Stephanopoulos was spinning his usual DNC message‚ repeatedly insisting that Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) needed to proclaim whether he was endorsing Trump or not. Lankford said the primaries hadn't even started‚ and that he didn't endorse anyone in 2016. That didn't stop George. The same thing happened on NBC's Meet the Press‚ where Kristen Welker asked Ron DeSantis five times if his campaign was near death‚ and then offered six questions demanding DeSantis denounce Trump for using the word "vermin" to describe communists and fascists.  Enjoy the podcast below‚ or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you for coming to NewsBusters.  

A violent‚ antisemitic protest in a major city would often be enough to warrant major coverage on the nation’s network evening newscasts. But that wasn’t the case with the disgusting protest outside of the Goldie falafel shop in Philadelphia‚ where the virulent mob accused the restaurant’s owners of genocide. Only NBC saw fit to cover this disgusting protest. Here’s how Lester Holt and Stephanie Gosk opened up their coverage on the Philly protest. See? It wasn’t so hard‚ guys: LESTER HOLT: Tonight‚ the White House is condemning a pro-Palestinian protest outside a Jewish-owned restaurant in Philadelphia as completely unjustifiable and antisemitic. Stephanie Gosk is there for us tonight.  STEPHANIE GOSK: At Goldie falafel shop in Philadelphia‚ a lunchtime rush. Little sign of the scene Sunday night‚ where police say 400 to 500 protesters gathered.  MOB: Goldie‚ Goldie‚ you can't hide. We charge you with genocide! GOSK: They accused the restaurant co-owned by Israeli chef Michael Solomonov of supporting genocide in Gaza. Today the White House called the protest antisemitic. Pennsylvania's governor said it echoed 1930s Germany.  GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO: The purposeful gathering of a mob outside of a restaurant simply because it is owned by a Jewish person‚ well‚ that's antisemitism‚ plain and simple.   This is a step up from the morning’s coverage‚ when none of ABC‚ CBS‚ NBC bothered to cover the protest. It is unclear to me why they’d put “antisemitic” in quotes as they did in the graphic displayed on the thumbnail image and in the video. Is the antisemitism in doubt? The report certainly didn’t feature anyone disputing the antisemitism inherent in accusing Jewish business owners of genocide. Even so‚ this is still more than the other guys did. It’s not like CBS or ABC lacked the time to cover the story. They just chose not to. ABC did items on the arrest of a serial killer in Los Angeles and on a tanker that hit a bridge in Vermont‚ but not this protest. And YET they covered the stabbing of 3 loss prevention officers at the Macy’s in Philly. So someone could’ve done a package on the story. There was at least an awareness that bad things happened in Philly over the weekend. CBS did stories on voter challenges in Georgia and on the sale of a Babe Ruth rookie card. Nothing at all about Philly. Credit to NBC for showing up this time.  Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Monday‚ December 4th‚ 2023: LESTER HOLT: Tonight‚ the White House is condemning a pro-Palestinian protest outside a Jewish-owned restaurant in Philadelphia as completely unjustifiable and antisemitic. Stephanie Gosk is there for us tonight.  STEPHANIE GOSK: At Goldie falafel shop in Philadelphia‚ a lunchtime rush. Little sign of the scene Sunday night‚ where police say 400 to 500 protesters gathered.  MOB: Goldie‚ Goldie‚ you can't hide. We charge you with genocide!  GOSK: They accused the restaurant co-owned by Israeli chef Michael Solomonov of supporting genocide in Gaza. Today the White House called the protest antisemitic. Pennsylvania's governor said it echoed 1930s Germany.  GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO: The purposeful gathering of a mob outside of a restaurant simply because it is owned by a Jewish person‚ well‚ that's antisemitism‚ plain and simple.  GOSK: Solomonov has multiple restaurants in the area specializing in Israeli food. He was born in Israel but grew up in Pittsburgh. So far‚ the award-winning chef hasn't commented publicly. A pro-Palestinian group that appears to have organized last night's protest called for a boycott of Goldie's and other Jewish-owned restaurants after the Israel-Hamas war began. The group did not respond to NBC News's request for comment.  ANDREW GORETSKY: If you're protesting policies in Israel‚ it's one thing. It's another thing when you're sitting here chanting things like “we charge you with genocide”.  GOSK: For some‚ lining up today for falafel was a kind of counterprotest.  MICHAEL DIAZ: People can have a lot of opinions about what's going on with the war in Gaza. I think it's a lot of things. It's tragic. It's complicated. What it isn't is an excuse to treat people badly. GOSK: The protest here was part of a larger demonstration. There was some vandalism‚ but police say no arrests. Lester. HOLT: All right‚ Stephanie‚ thank you.  

Two middle school students in North Carolina were charged by police after they passed out Rice Krispy Treats with THC in them and caused seven students to be hospitalized. Officials at C.C. Griffin Middle School in Cabarrus County informed parents that the students had been hospitalized Friday morning. “Cabarrus County Schools can confirm that several students at C.C. Griffin Middle School were treated by the school staff this afternoon for negative reactions related to ingesting an unknown substance‚" read the statement in part. "Out of an abundance of caution‚ seven students were transported to Atrium Health Cabarrus for further observation‚" they added. "District and school administration are investigating and working closely with the Concord Police Department to gather relevant information.Parents were outraged over the incident. “She fell to the floor and started seizing and everyone was screaming cause we had no clue what was happening‚” said one parent to WSOC-TV. “They said it could possibly have been‚ they’ve heard may have possibly been marijuana‚ delta 8‚ mushrooms‚ they don’t know‚” another parent said. One student said she realized something was wrong when her friends started acting paranoid during lunch. “We asked him if there was anything wrong with it‚ cause we were suspicious at first‚ he said no‚ and then we ate it‚” said the child. The Concord Police Department later said that officers had recovered a sample of the Rice Krispy Treats and it tested positive for THC. In addition‚ they recovered illegal psilocybin mushrooms that some students had ingested. They also said the students who spoke with them said that they knew they were ingesting a THC edible.“Some students in advance of Friday made an agreement to buy some of those THC edibles‚” said Concord Police Maj. Todd McGhee. He went on to say that as many as 20 students ingested the edibles. One of the students was charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver a Schedule VI drug while the other student was charged with one count of possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I drug. Police are still investigating the incident. Here's a local news report about the incident: Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!