Read the original post "Santa’s Wonderland Texas Christmas Experience" on A Modern Homestead. A local's review of the Santa’s Wonderland Texas Christmas Experience in South Central Texas‚ right outside of College Station. Get the details on location‚ pricing‚ food‚ experiences‚ and more! Plus‚ get our best tips for an amazing night based on our years of experience! Santa's Wonderland Texas Christmas Experience I am in no way being... Read More The post "Santa’s Wonderland Texas Christmas Experience" appeared first on A Modern Homestead.

Iran Attacks As Biden Does Nothing

Explosion at a House in Arlington‚ VA and the Very Deranged Person Behind It

Maryland Teachers' Union Rep Suspended for Antisemitic Posts on Social Media

Pointing the Fickle Finger of Blame: Why Did Elon Musk Cause All That Trouble in Ireland?

Over a century ago‚ two theories were put forward to explain all of reality: quantum mechanics and general relativity. Both have been refined and improved over decades and extensively tested. They are solid theories. But ultimately‚ alone‚ they can’t explain everything – and together they don’t seem to work. For decades‚ physicists have been looking at the grand unified theory and two main candidates have been put forward‚ string theory and quantum loop gravity. Now‚ a group of researchers have proposed a new one.It took five years of testing and ironing out‚ but this new idea has now been presented. They are calling it the “postquantum theory of classical gravity”. The name is certainly not as catchy as the other two contenders‚ but there is also another major difference. Space-time in this new theory is not quantized.To bridge the gap between relativity and quantum mechanics‚ it has been assumed that‚ ultimately‚ space-time is made of discrete steps‚ much smaller than anything that we can measure but discrete nonetheless. In this theory‚ it is quantum mechanics that changes and this classical space-time leads to a breakdown of predictability once you go to high enough precision."Quantum theory and Einstein's theory of general relativity are mathematically incompatible with each other‚ so it's important to understand how this contradiction is resolved. Should spacetime be quantised‚ or should we modify quantum theory‚ or is it something else entirely? Now that we have a consistent fundamental theory in which spacetime does not get quantised‚ it's anybody's guess‚" Professor Jonathan Oppenheim‚ from University College London‚ said in a statement.Space-time is expected to have energy fluctuation from which particles and antiparticles come into existence for an instant before disappearing. In the postquantum theory of classical gravity‚ these fluctuations are even more violent compared to the quantized space-time picture. The good news is that the fluctuations lead to a way to test the theory.In a second paper‚ published in Nature Communications‚ the team highlighted how to test the theory. By measuring the mass and weight of an object with high precision‚ they should be able to tell if space-time is classical. The fluctuation would change the measured weight over time‚ and if those tiny changes are not seen then the postquantum theory of classical gravity can be ruled out."We have shown that if spacetime doesn't have a quantum nature‚ then there must be random fluctuations in the curvature of spacetime which have a particular signature that can be verified experimentally‚” co-author Zach Weller-Davies explained."In both quantum gravity and classical gravity‚ spacetime must be undergoing violent and random fluctuations all around us‚ but on a scale which we haven't yet been able to detect. But if spacetime is classical‚ the fluctuations have to be larger than a certain scale‚ and this scale can be determined by another experiment where we test how long we can put a heavy atom in superposition of being in two different locations."Testing this is not something we can do tomorrow‚ but it is equally not something to be tested in a few lifetimes. Some researchers estimate that it could be tested within two decades. And good‚ because there is a bet going between Professor Oppenheim‚ Professor Carlo Rovelli‚ and Dr Geoff Penington‚ the latter two proponents of quantum loop gravity and string theory respectively. They are betting 5‚000 to 1 that space-time is quantized.The main paper presenting the theory is published in Physical Review X.

It’s fair to say that the Ancient Egyptians subscribed to a lot of ideas that seem strange in the modern era. There’s not an internet-friendly word count in the world that could cover all of them in one fell swoop‚ so today we’re focusing on mummified frogs.Mummified frogs have been found in the tombs of Thebes. Being famously wet animals in life‚ it’s not that unusual for frogs to be mummified without human intervention – all they need to do to get that way is to die in a warm‚ dry place. But Heqet? Well‚ that upped the appeal for dried-out amphibians.Heqet (also Heqtit or Hekt) was the name given to a frog-headed goddess that was thought to represent fertility. It’s likely because the annual floods upon which Ancient Egypt’s delicate crop cycle depended would’ve been associated with the arrival of frogs. As rivers (Nile‚ Tigris‚ Euphrates) flushed with water‚ along too came the croaking amphibians. The life that water gave to the grains was credited to the frogs‚ and as a result‚ many gods and goddesses were depicted in their image.Another frog god‚ Ptah‚ is thought to have been inspired by the transformative life cycle of frogs that grow from eggs into tadpoles‚ and later metamorphize into frogs. The frog-headed Ptah’s transformation centered around becoming the opener of the nether world‚ as the god of creation.Frogs were cherished by living Ancient Egyptians who would wear them in the form of amulets‚ meant to bolster fertility. However‚ when the time came to pop one’s sandals‚ frogs followed people into the afterlife‚ too.“[Frogs] were buried with the dead to protect and rejuvenate them‚” wrote Dr Marzouk Al-sayed Aman. “Frogs were often mummified with the dead as magical amulets to ensure rebirth.”A handy tombmate for anyone with their heart set on rebirth‚ but the mummified frogs would have looked rather strange next to some of the other mummified contents of Ancient Egyptian tombs. Earlier in 2023‚ archaeologists discovered “Ten crocodile mummies‚ including five more or less complete bodies and five heads[…] in varying states of preservation and completeness‚” said the authors of the associated study in a statement. Exactly why one might take crocodiles into the afterlife has been debated‚ but one theory is that dead Egyptians used the bodies as gifts to the crocodile gods‚ such as the reptile-headed Sobek‚ as a way of currying favor with these dangerous Nile-dwelling beasts. One of the mummified crocodiles measured 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) from snout to tail‚ which no dried-up frog can stand up to‚ but when it comes to watery rebirth? Heqet was an Ancient Egyptian’s best bet.

A never-before-seen virus has been reported in Peru that causes a disease similar to dengue fever‚ malaria‚ and other tropical infectious diseases common in this region. While the infection was a one-off‚ the novel virus is still likely to be circulating in the jungles of South America somewhere‚ undetected. A single case of the mystery virus was seen in a 20-year-old man after he was admitted to Hospital Regional Docente de Medicina Tropical Julio César Demarini Caro in the city of Chanchamayo in Central Peru on June 25‚ 2019‚ although it was only reported in a published journal article in September 2023. The patient sought medical attention after experiencing an array of symptoms‚ including a high fever‚ chills‚ discomfort‚ muscle pain‚ joint stiffness‚ a headache‚ drowsiness‚ an intense sensitivity to light‚ and pain in his eyes.These symptoms are fairly typical of the many tropical diseases that are relatively common in rural South America‚ including dengue and malaria. However‚ lab tests of his blood samples revealed something much stranger: a new phlebovirus variant. The best-known phlebovirus is the Rift Valley fever virus‚ a serious pathogen spread by mosquitos that are commonly seen in domesticated animals in sub-Saharan Africa‚ such as cattle‚ buffalo‚ sheep‚ goats‚ and camels.This newly identified phlebovirus is a fairly different thing‚ though. Genetic analysis suggests that it's an “Echarate” phlebovirus that has naturally picked up genes from a “yet-unidentified phlebovirus” through genetic recombination. The scientists who studied the case say their findings indicate a novel virus variant is likely to be circulating in the jungles of Central Peru‚ although it is unclear how common it might be‚ nor which species may be acting as the natural reservoir of the virus. "Our findings indicate that a novel ECHV [Echarate virus] variant is circulating in the jungle of central Peru‚" the study authors conclude.“Ecologic studies are necessary to determine how widespread the new variant is within this region‚ to identify potential vectors and reservoirs involved in its transmission‚ and to support decision-making for keeping service members medically prepared and protected from health and safety threats both on and off duty‚” they added.It appears the risk from this virus is low. It's been several years since the infection occurred and there's been no further reports of its spread. Nevertheless‚ the case is a very real reminder that novel pathogens are out there and humanity’s meddling with the natural world means it’s increasingly likely we’ll come into contact with them.The case study is published in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Communication is key. That’s true on Earth and it’s true in space. But in space‚ you need to contend with a crucial fact of life. The speed of light is finite and distances between worlds are pretty big; between star systems they are enormous. A new analysis‚ yet to be peer-reviewed‚ envisions what it would be like to communicate with a spacecraft traveling close to the speed of light. And it is certainly not good news.Researchers David Messerschmitt‚ Ian Morrison‚ Thomas Mozdzen‚ and Philip Lubin envision two scenarios with a spaceship traveling close to the speed of light. This vehicle doesn’t exist (yet) but nothing in physics denies that it might be possible to build. It’s a vehicle that never goes out of thrust and moves with an acceleration of 1g‚ the same as the pull of gravity while we stand on the Earth.The first scenario sees a spaceship maintaining this acceleration as it moves away from Earth. At first‚ the communication will work‚ although with a lag due to the finiteness of the speed of light‚ but after a while messages from Earth won’t be able to reach the spacecraft anymore. As the craft gets nearer and nearer the speed of light‚ it will always be a step ahead of the message. The spacecraft will then no longer be in contact with Earth.There is also another peculiar effect but this is on board of the craft. An object moving close to the speed of light experiences time dilation. Its clock slows down. So for someone on board‚ the spaceship accelerating at 1g would take just 20 years to reach the center of the galaxy (which is 26‚000 light-years away). And just 45 years to reach the edge of the visible universe (tens of billions of light-years away).The second scenario sees the spacecraft accelerating at 1g for a while before decelerating at 1g as it approaches a destination. The communication from Earth would be affected in the same way as the first case‚ until during the deceleration phase when all the messages caught up with the spaceship. The destination instead could communicate with the spacecraft but the messages will tend to accumulate as the spaceship gets closer. You won’t be getting a nicely spread-out set of messages announcing their arrival long before they are very close.“Interstellar spacecraft and their crews must accept highly autonomous operations‚ and abandon notions of maintaining operational and social interactions with those at the origin or destination throughout the mission‚ with the exception of a short period following launch or prior to landing‚” the authors wrote in the paper.The work looked at some classical and relativistic effects but there are even more that have not been considered that would affect the communications. The signals from a moving ship will experience a Doppler effect like an ambulance siren’s pitch changing if it’s approaching or driving away from you. So you need antennas that can detect light whose frequency will change over time. And there’s relativistic aberration: the light of a moving object is concentrated conically towards the direction of motion.So if we ever build a spacecraft‚ its crew will be on their own after a while.A paper describing this research is yet to be peer-reviewed and available at arXiv.

At the center of our galaxy‚ the Milky Way‚ there is a supermassive black hole. We call it Sagittarius A* and it weighs the equivalent of 4.3 million Suns. It is orbited by a bunch of stars with a period of years or longer. New evidence suggests that there is something else orbiting it much faster: A magnetized blob of material moving at incredible speed.The latest evidence comes from a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed analysis of gamma-ray emission. The data is publicly available and it was used by researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico to create a timeline of emission from June 2022 to December 2022. The data is from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The team found a repeating emission‚ appearing every 76.32 minutes.The light curve shows the repeating pattern clearly‚ and the period is consistent with observations from last year in a completely different wavelength. Radio observations also suggested that something is going around Sagittarius A* about every 74 minutes‚ with an uncertainty of 6 minutes higher or lower.Sagittarius A*’s radius is 12 million kilometers (7.4 miles) and this object is expected to be fairly close to it‚ five times the black hole radius. To cover the orbital distance in just over an hour‚ the blob needs to travel at 30 percent of the speed of light‚ truly an impressive velocity.But the radio and gamma-ray emissions are not the only ones recorded. There is also x-ray emission from around the black holes but that repeats every 149 minutes‚ about twice as long as the gamma and radio emission. The researchers believe that the two are connected."The coincidence of the multiwavelength periodicity in X-ray and gamma-ray points towards a single physical mechanism that produces it‚" the team wrote in the paper.The blob is believed to be magnetized‚ providing insights into the magnetic field around the supermassive black hole. While Sagittarius A* is not actively feeding like other supermassive black holes‚ it still has a disk of material around it – and the blob's emission tells us that it goes around it clockwise.Studying future flares across the range of wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum will allow a better understanding of the environment around our friendly neighborhood supermassive black hole.The paper is available in the online paper repository ArXiv.