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When you are about to launch into space‚ you want to make sure everything is GO – all the more so if you have people on that rocket. Yesterday’s Soyuz launch toward the International Space Station was scrubbed just 21 seconds before lift-off.The abort was triggered by an automated system‚ the cause being a low voltage reading in the Soyuz rocket's electrical system. The window for the next launch is tomorrow‚ and both Roscosmos and NASA will want to know if what happened yesterday will affect the next launch attempt.“The next available launch opportunity is Saturday‚ March 23‚ pending completion of State Commission review for the Roscosmos launch. More information will be provided as available‚” NASA said in a statement.Soyuz MS-25 carries to the International Space Station NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson‚ Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy‚ and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Dyson is going to spend six months aboard the space station as part of the Expedition 71 crew. Marina Vasilevskaya‚ who will become the first Belarusian woman in space‚ will be in orbit for 12 days and return with a member of Expedition 70 crew as well as Novitskiy.Soyuz rockets are extremely reliable and an abort before launch is very rare. Yesterday’s event reminded us of the in-flight abort of 2018‚ when NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin’s Soyuz was jettisoned from its rocket and forced to do an emergency landing.Once launched‚ the Soyuz will complete two orbits and dock after a few hours with the Prichal module on the Russian side of the space station. They will be met by NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara‚ Matthew Dominick‚ Mike Barratt‚ and Jeanette Epps‚ as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko‚ Nikolai Chub‚ and Alexander Grebenkin. Loral O’Hara will hitch a ride and come back with Vasilevskaya and Novitskiy in early April. 

The Amazons of ancient Greece made their first appearance in classical literature almost 3‚000 years ago‚ yet continue to inspire feminist‚ lesbian‚ and transgender movements to this day. However‚ a lack of solid archaeological evidence means that historians still understand very little about these legendary warrior women‚ with some scholars arguing that they were purely mythical creatures that never really existed.Regardless of whether they were real or fictional‚ the Amazons have been continually reimagined and realigned with various gender nonconforming groups over the years. Attempting to disentangle this complex history‚ the Journal of Lesbian Studies has recently published a special issue dedicated to the legacy of the Amazons.Who were the Amazons?As in many societies‚ women in ancient Greece were expected to perform the role of housewives‚ raising children and managing domestic affairs. “Yet beginning with Homer‚ the earliest known Greek author‚ the stories of the Amazons arose to defy those expectations‚” writes Walter Duvall Penrose Jr‚ author of the introduction to the special issue.First mentioned in the Iliad in the eighth century BCE‚ this enigmatic group of women were referenced by numerous subsequent authors over the next 700 years. According to Penrose Jr‚ “ancient Greek literature details how the Amazons challenged patriarchy‚ lived without men‚ and defeated their male enemies.”“Amazons fought and hunted‚ tasks normatively assigned to men in ancient Greece‚” he explains. Thus‚ “in ancient Greek legends and iconography‚ the Amazons are understood as gender nonconforming individuals.”The origins of these trailblazing women are unknown‚ but some scholars believe the Amazons - or at least their legend - were linked to ancient female Scythian and Thracian warriors‚ for whom actual archaeological evidence does exist. Exactly how they perpetuated their female-only society is yet another mystery‚ although some rather radical clues can be found in the writings of certain Greek authors.The first-century BCE philosopher and geographer Strabo‚ for example‚ wrote that the Amazons would have sex with neighboring groups of men once a year‚ typically in the spring. Any girls born as a result of these rendezvous would be raised by the warrior women‚ while baby boys were sent to live with their fathers.“For the rest of the year‚ Strabo relates that the Amazons lived independently of men‚ farming‚ raising horses‚ hunting‚ and making war‚” explains Penrose Jr. Were the Amazons lesbian or transgender?Despite their association with modern lesbian movements‚ the Amazons are never described in the ancient literature as being homosexual. While this doesn't mean they weren’t gay‚ it does mean that any lesbian connotations applied to the Amazons are unfounded.Equally difficult to pin down is their gender‚ possibly because the notion of transgenderism may not have been understood in antiquity in the same way as it is today. Whenever mentioned in classical writings‚ the Amazons are grammatically gendered as female. Similarly‚ they are typically depicted as white-skinned on ancient Greek pottery‚ thus distinguishing them as women in contrast to the black-skinned male warriors.At the same time‚ however‚ the Amazons are always seen fighting and wearing men’s clothing‚ thus signaling their masculine roles in spite of their female sex. Moreover‚ in Homer’s Iliad‚ the Amazons are described as antianeirai‚ meaning “equals of men”.It's also interesting to note that the word "Amazon" translates as "breastless" in ancient Greek‚ indicating that these warrior women may have been seen as not entirely female‚ at least in terms of gender roles. “Thus‚ in early extant Greek literature‚ the Amazons are clearly defined as women‚ but gender nonconforming‚ masculine ones at that‚” writes the author. “In twenty-first-century parlance‚ we might think of the Amazons as gender non-binary or transmasculine‚ but from an ancient Greek perspective‚ they might be better understood as representative of female masculinity.”In other words‚ while it may be tempting to assign modern labels‚ pronouns‚ and gender categories to the Amazons‚ all we can really say for sure is that “the Greeks perceived them as traversing preconceived Greek notions of gender and sexuality.”The legacy of the AmazonsIn spite of - and perhaps because of - the historical uncertainties surrounding the Amazons‚ their image has been repeatedly adapted to encapsulate the spirit of subsequent gender nonconforming groups. The Dahomey Amazons‚ for instance‚ was the name given to an all-female military unit that existed in what is now Benin in west Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries.More recently‚ “lesbian feminists in the United States adopted the Amazons as their forebears as they defied patriarchy and decided to live without men‚ in a fashion that became known as lesbian separatism‚” writes Penrose Jr. Some modern lesbian groups have also adopted the labrys – a double-headed axe associated with the Amazon Hippolyte – as their symbol.Summing up their legacy general terms‚ Penrose Jr says that “while the legends of the Amazons have provided a fictive ancestry for lesbians‚ today they also serve as a myths of ancestry for transgender and gender nonbinary audiences as well.”The introductory chapter is published in the Journal of Lesbian Studies.

After the invasion of the actually pretty friendly alien pea pods‚ we’re back with another banger of an aquatic blob – but this one isn’t quite so harmless‚ according to a new study‚ thanks to more frequent and intense ocean heatwaves.These gelatinous sea creatures are called pyrosomes‚ which are made up of colonies of individuals that typically live in warmer waters. After a series of marine heatwaves in the northeast Pacific Ocean‚ the population of pyrosomes grew rapidly‚ with millions of the creatures seen in places along the west coast of the US where they had never been seen before.However‚ researchers wanted to understand the ecosystem-wide effects of the marine heatwaves in order to figure out what was happening for all organisms involved and how best to manage the situation. “If you look at single species interactions‚ you’re likely to miss a lot‚” said lead author Dylan Gomes in a statement. “The natural effects of a disturbance are not necessarily going to be straightforward and linear."To do this‚ researchers used food web models‚ which provide an estimate of the energy flow and feeding relationships between the organisms living in an ecosystem. They applied these models to the northern California Current‚ comparing the ecosystem before and after the heatwaves occurred.“Food web models allow us to estimate the cascading effects of marine heatwaves throughout the ecosystem‚” Gomes explained. “By tracking all of the many direct and indirect relationships within food webs‚ these models help us identify potential winners and losers as the ocean reaches new conditions.”Though it’s not exactly their fault‚ the results suggest that pyrosomes are absorbing a lot of the available energy – not just because there’s a lot of them feeding on plankton‚ therefore taking energy away from other plankton feeders‚ but because they themselves aren’t really eaten by much else in the ecosystem.“What I found both alarming and fascinating is the extent to which these pyrosomes absorb all of the energy in the system‚” said co-author Joshua Stewart. “Because nothing else really eats the pyrosomes‚ they just become this dead end‚ and that energy is not available for anyone else in the ecosystem.”This could end up affecting other members of the ecosystem further up in the food chain‚ such as fish and marine mammals. The authors suggest that‚ in turn‚ this could have an economic impact on fisheries‚ as well as on efforts to recover and conserve endangered species.That being said‚ for the moment‚ the ecosystem appears to be stable.  However‚ if things do start to change – particularly if marine heatwaves continue to occur – the researchers hope that their findings will help to inform the tools that’ll be used to deal with it.The study is published in Nature Communications.

NASA needs you! Or‚ more precisely‚ they need your phone to help study the Sun during the coming eclipse on April 8‚ 2024.Now we're sure conspiracy cranks are poised at their keyboards to claim that this is some large takeover effort‚ or whatever‚ but there is actually good reason for the initiative. NASA are encouraging people interested in the celestial event to participate in their SunSketcher program. By installing NASA’s forthcoming app‚ you can use your phone to gather data on the so-called Great American Eclipse 2024 to help them map the star’s shape.As Professor Gordon Emslie‚ the principal investigator‚ explained‚ “The 2024 Eclipse offers an unprecedented opportunity to measure the shape of the Sun and so to infer its inner structure. The SunSketcher project will use smartphone observations by Citizen Scientists situated along the two-thousand-mile-long eclipse path from Texas to Maine to reveal the precise shape of the solar disk."You may be wondering why we need to ascertain the shape of the Sun. I mean it’s clearly a sphere‚ right? Well‚ that’s not really true‚ one of the key factors being that the Sun is made of plasma‚ and so it's not a solid. So‚ when it spins‚ it bulges in the middle‚ just as any other rotating spheroid does.This property is called oblateness‚ but is sometimes referred to as polar flattening. To be sure‚ the Sun is not the only celestial body that experiences this. Within our Solar System‚ Earth‚ Jupiter‚ and Saturn all exhibit oblateness to different extents.But the Sun’s oblateness is influenced by various peculiarities associated with its interior distribution of rotation‚ which is not uniform. For instance‚ the motion of sunspots tells us that the surface rotation is “differential”‚ which means the spots move at different speeds depending on where they are – spots at the equator move 10 percent faster than those at higher latitudes. Scientists also expect that the flow of gas accompanying convection and magnetic activity leads to transient distortions at a smaller level as well.This is where the SunSketcher data comes in and why NASA want your help. As they explain‚ the data will “allow scientists to probe details of the interior of the Sun. An accurate measurement of the solar oblateness will also allow very precise calculations of the effects of solar gravity on the motions of the inner planets (e.g.‚ Mercury)‚ and comparison with observations of planetary motion will thus provide a test of different gravitational theories.”So how does this all work? Well‚ aside from the help of citizen scientists using the app‚ scientists also need to recruit the Moon for assistance. When the Moon makes its final move across the Sun during a total or annular solar eclipse‚ there’s a spectacular moment when small flashes of light can be seen. This phenomenon is known as Baily’s beads and occurs when the Sun’s light moves across the moon’s uneven surface (its craters‚ hills‚ and valleys).  “This phenomenon has very precise parameters”‚ NASA explain. “[T]he geometry of the observer-Moon-Sun coincidence‚ and its exact time on sub-second timing scales. The parameters differ systematically for observers located at different places and times within the path of totality.”This is where SunSketcher app comes in. It is programmed to take a series of photographs of the Baily’s Beads as they occur at the times of second and third contacts. Depending on where you are within the path of totality‚ the flashes will occur at different times. NASA can use this data to better map the Sun’s oblateness.“With your help‚ we hope to create a massive hour-long database of observations‚ more than we could ever make on our own‚” NASA explained.You can already download the SunSketcher app for iPhone‚ and the Android version is coming soon. 

The mysteries of our Universe persist‚ raising questions about the feasibility of teleportation‚ the influence of higher intelligences‚ and the potential friendliness of artificial intelligence‚ as cosmologist and author of “Unreal Reality‚” Andrey Kananin‚ discussed with a Russian news outlet. “Andrey Vladimirovich‚ rumors circulate about our Universe being a virtual construct‚ with much information intentionally concealed. Could this be to preserve our mental well-being or facilitate societal control?” queried the interviewer. “I find it hard to entertain Earth-centric conspiracy theories; my trust lies in scientific principles and our comprehension of fundamental physical laws‚” responded Kananin. “Yet‚ the ‘zoo theory’ proposes that an advanced extraterrestrial intelligence monitors us‚ inhibiting contact with other civilizations due to our relative underdevelopment. Despite our attempts to communicate‚ we are seemingly blocked.” “Many scientists posit that advanced civilizations would uphold ethical principles and potentially intervene in global crises‚” Kananin continued. “However‚ if we inhabit a simulated reality‚ it could be switched off at will.” “Is it conceivable to teleport not just elementary particles‚ but entire physical bodies across space and time at tremendous speeds?” pondered the interviewer. “Quantum mechanics unveils peculiar properties: particles exhibit behaviors contingent on observation‚” Kananin elucidated. “Entanglement allows instantaneous interaction across vast distances without transmitting information‚ circumventing Einstein’s laws. While teleportation seems paradoxical‚ scientists explore avenues within these boundaries.” “Teleporting macroscopic objects‚ like humans‚ remains a daunting task‚” Kananin admitted. “Yet‚ historical precedent demonstrates humanity’s capacity to innovate despite challenges. With exponential advancements and the aid of ethical algorithms‚ artificial intelligence may facilitate our endeavors.” In the realm of uncertainty‚ the quest for answers persists‚ driven by human curiosity and the promise of scientific discovery. The post Physicist: teleportation will become a reality appeared first on Anomalien.com.