The hunt for new exoplanets continues. On May 23rd, an international collaboration of scientists published the NASA TESS-Keck Catalog, an effort to publicly release over 9000 radial velocity measurements collected by NASA’s space-based Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the ground-based Keck Observatory, located in Hawai’i, and the Automated Planet Finder, located at the Lick Observatory in California. An accompanying analysis of these validated 32 new planetary candidates and found the masses of 126 confirmed planets and candidates with a wide range of masses and orbits. Let’s dig into some details. Radial velocity (RV) measurements are a backbone of exoplanet hunting. Telescopes collect data on how a star “wobbles” by checking for a red-shift (if it’s moving toward the Earth) or blue-shift (if it’s moving away) based on the gravitational pull of an exoplanet orbiting it. If the data presents a repeating pattern, the scientists know they have a likely exoplanet candidate on their hands. To calculate the planet’s rotational period, scientists use the frequency of the changes in light from the star. They can estimate a planet’s orbital period based on how quickly the star cycles through the red and blue shifts they would expect from a complete planetary orbit. Unfortunately, since telescope time is limited, most of the exoplanets found so far using this method have much shorter orbital periods than the Earth. Fraser discusses the end of TESS’s first mission. Calculating a planet’s mass is also possible using the RV method – simply by calculating the planet’s gravitational pull as it is either directly behind or in front of the star. The magnitude of the respective red or blue shift can be directly tied to the planet’s mass, causing the gravitational pull. Some truly unique worlds are hiding in the data, with two that stood out enough to be mentioned in a press release from the Keck Observatory. One is an overweight version of a “sub-Neptune”,” while another is a rapidly orbiting “super-Earth”.”  A “sub-Neptune” is a category of planet that is a gas giant slightly smaller than Neptune, the smallest gas giant in our solar system. A planet known as TOI-1824 falls into this category but has a unique weight – it’s 19 times as massive as Earth despite being only about 2.6 times its size. That is an extremely dense planet and well outside of the range of other typical sub-Neptunes, which typically vary between 6 and 12 times the mass of our own planet. TESS has had plenty of data updates over its lifetime – Fraser discusses one here. A planet in the dataset that is closer in size to our own is TOI-1798c. From the mass perspective, it’s about the same size as Earth. However, it is so close to its parent’s star that it orbits it every 12 hours. This puts it in the category of an “Ultra-short period” (USP) orbit. Typically, USPs are tidally locked to their star and blasted with massive amounts of radiation. Estimates put the solar radiation it receives from its host star at 3000 times that received by the Earth. It doesn’t sound like an enjoyable vacation spot. Doubtless, other exoplanets are hiding in the trove of data released as part of this paper. And each of those unique systems warranted their own published paper as well. As humanity begins to collect more and more discovered exoplanets, more strange and exciting new worlds will be found. It’s a crazy galaxy out there, and we’re only just starting to explore it. Learn More:Keck Observatory – New Catalog Showcases a Diverse Exoplanet Landscape with Strange, Exotic WorldsPolanski et al. – The TESS-Keck Survey. XX. 15 New TESS Planets and a Uniform RV Analysis of All Survey TargetsUT – TESS Has Found Thousands of Possible Exoplanets. Which Ones Should JWST Study?UT – Six Planets Found Orbiting an Extremely Young Star Lead Image:Artist’s rendering of some of the exoplanets contained in the TESS-Keck Catalog.Credit – W. M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarneko The post Marvel at the Variety of Planets Found by TESS Already appeared first on Universe Today.

Airport Worker Run Over by A 77-Ton Airbus A320 In Critical Condition [VIDEO]

Google’s shift toward using AI to generate a written answer to user searches instead of providing a list of links ranked algorithmically by relevance was inevitable. Before AI Overview — introduced last week for US users — Google had Knowledge Panels, those information boxes that appear toward the top of some searches, incentivizing users to get their answers directly from Google, rather than clicking through to a result.  AI Overview summarizes search results for a portion of...

The intelligence community lacks the business knowledge needed to provide Americans with economic security from foreign theft, coercion and competition, current and former U.S. intelligence officials say. The officials see gaps in their ability to detect technological surprises and threats to national security emerging in the private sector, where adversaries such as China look to undermine and steal U.S. innovation. Efforts to remedy the problems include changes to the spy agencies’...

Former President Donald J. Trump has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Though the tactic is familiar — Mr. Trump raised the specter of a “rigged” election in the 2016 and 2020 cycles, too — his attempts to undermine the 2024 contest are a significant escalation.

Judges at the top United Nations court ordered Israel on Friday to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in a landmark emergency ruling in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide. While the International Court of Justice, or World Court, has no means to enforce its orders, the case was a stark sign of Israel's global isolation over its campaign in Gaza, particularly since it began its offensive against Rafah this month against the...

Kabosu, the fluffy-faced Shiba inu whose skeptical glance became one of the enduring memes of the 2010s and inspired a cryptocurrency, has died, her owner said Friday. Atsuko Sato wrote on her personal blog that the 18-year-old dog died peacefully early Friday in her home in Sakura, Japan, as Sato was petting her. “Kabo-chan,” as Sato affectionately called her, was “calm, kind and laid back.” Kabosu had been ill for several years. “In my head, I still wanted [Kabosu] to...

Summer is just around the corner, that means it's time to break out those razors and put on some shorts. That means retailers are starting to advertise their their summer collections to prime people for the newest trends. But there are some trends that may need to be retired before they catch on if you take the reviews of women online.Free People, a specialty lifestyle brand for bohemian styled fashion, have released a new style of shorts. The internet seems to be slightly confused on if the material they received from the retail brand is supposed to be shorts or something else entirely. They're supposedly shorts, but they're "micro shorts," which are similar to shorts you'd see in the wild. They have two leg holes, a hole for your body and less material than pants. Checks off all the requirements for a pair of shorts...except, they appear to be about the length of underwear. That's not an exaggeration and to prove that point a couple of women bought some to try on so you don't have to. The videos are not only honest but hilarious. In one video Nicole Walters, a New York Times best selling author and mom to three girls decided to order the shorts to see how they looked on someone with, "thigh meat." She wears a size 12 and often jokes about being a curvier on the bottom. When she pulled the shorts out, it looked as if she was going to have to perform a magic trick to get them on. They looked to be the size a small child would wear, but they seemed to have gone on easily even though they looked extremely uncomfortable. She looked uncomfortable. The viewers likely looked uncomfortable. "Oh wow. They're in there and by in there I mean everywhere. There's a lot of thigh meat happening right now in the, this region," Walters says as she gestures at her upper thighs. "There's some thigh meat, um...uh...I feel like they're definitely in some places that I didn't know I had." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nicole Walters (@nicolewalters) Walter's review of the shorts has people in stitches as she jokes about her Christianity falling out of the shorts. "It’s the Barbie walk for me lol!!! Thank you for your service," one person says."The way you warn us that you’re going to turn around almost made me scream with laughter," someone writes."I'm just going to go ahead and dial 911 for help bc looks like you may need the jaws of life to come out them shorts...lol!! Your commentary had me dying laughing..lol," another commenter jokes.In another Free People "micro shorts" try on video, Nicole Story Dent braved the itty bitty shorts to show her audience the summer trend they can look forward to seeing. The first pair of shorts has multiple flaps that appear to be large pockets which inspires Dent to pretend to fly in them before the discomfort sinks in."It's kinda giving waitress...if they ever want to make a Waffle House-Hooters hybrid, we have their uniform, she says. "We have been asking for more pockets so they delivered. Speaking of delivered, you could deliver a baby without having to take these shorts off." Dent guesses that the shorts would be more like "jundies" or "janties" than jorts, the shorthand term for jean shorts. Commenters couldn't stop laughing at her description of the shorts while others provided her with words of wisdom. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nicole Story Dent • Relatable Millennial + Momhood Content (@nicolestorydent) "Do NOT drop it low in these jundies, that kind of contact with the club floor is NOT hygienic," someone writes."'There is nothing vegan about these. There is absolutely a cat being harmed!' I’m cackling! You really should win something from Free People for this! @freepeople we found your next model," another person jokes."This is the kind of content the internet was made for, it’s just so good. However my thighs started getting chafed just watching this," someone laughs.Surely these shorts were made for someone and they will look fabulous on whoever that person may be. But right now, there are a lot of confused, thoroughly tickled ladies on the internet who know they are not the target audience. If you're brave enough to give these micro shorts a try, go ahead and stock up on some baby powder for all the chaffing. This article originally appeared on 3.22.24

The usually respectful crowd at a “Wheel of Fortune” taping aired on Wednesday, May 22, couldn’t hold back after they felt that a puzzle given to finalist Rob Dodson was too harsh. A big reason for their outrage (and why the puzzle was so tricky) was because $1 million was on the line. Before the puzzle, Dodson chose from a selection of cards that held the prize he would win for solving it. Amongst the cards was the $1 million jackpot, so, understandably, tensions were high. Did Dodson choose the million-dollar card? Will he solve the puzzle under the “What Are You Doing Category”? Well, things didn’t start too great. After the usual R, S, T, L, N, and E were put up on the board, Dodson was looking at “_ _ _ _ _ L _ N _.” He quickly guessed C, H, P and A, none of which appeared on the board. He then guessed “funneling” and “finding,” but they didn’t work.The final answer: “Quibbling.”Paul's Bonus Round | S41 | Wheel of FortuneAfter the solution to the puzzle was revealed, the audience began to boo because they didn’t think it was fair. It had 2 Bs in the short answer, started with a Q and was a word that isn’t used often in casual conversation. The crowd’s reaction was an excellent show of support for Dodson, who encouraged the crowd to keep going by raising his hands.Host Pat Sajak, 77, pushed back against the boos, jokingly asking the audience, “Who asked you?”So, would Dobson have won the $1 million if he guessed quibbling? Nope. The card he chose would have earned him an Infiniti car if he had guessed correctly. But all in all, it wasn’t a bad outing for Dodson, a father of 2 from Aurora, Ohio. He managed to win $33,500 against Venetia Brown ($7,550) and Jessica Huffman ($2,000).The tough puzzle earned a lot of boos on social media as well. Twitter was lit up with people who thought that Dodson got cheated by being given a challenging puzzle with a word seldom used in conversation.This is actually the sixth known time the word QUIBBLE or any derivative was used on the show, and the fifth in the Bonus Round, the first of which was EXACTLY ten years ago today. #WheelofFortune #QUIBBLING pic.twitter.com/pAvHW05SmC— WheelRob (@WheelRob10) May 23, 2024 seriously @WheelofFortune ? quibbling? why dont you just admit that your never going to give away the million dollars— jen swindell (@jens22) May 22, 2024 I just wanna know who uses the word quibbling on a daily basis? #WheelOfFortune— ☆☆Miss Johnson☆☆ (@DC4L_77) May 23, 2024 yooooo the crowd just boo’d the final puzzle on wheel tonight - category was “what’re you doing” and it was just one word - “quibbling”. Weak af @WheelofFortune never heard the crowd boo before bc it was so outrageous ???— Det. Del Spooner (@Atta_Boy_Roy) May 22, 2024 QUIBBLING????? What does that even mean! #wheeloffortune— ? (@yorobertaa) May 22, 2024 Big changes are in store for “Wheel of Fortune” in the coming weeks. The final episode with Sajak as host will air on June 7. Sajak has been the host of “Wheel” since 1981. Vanna White, his co-host since 1982, will remain with the show. “I couldn’t be happier to have shared the stage with you for all these years with one more to come," she wrote on X last year after Sajak announced this would be his last season. "Cheers to you."Well, the time has come. I’ve decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It’s been a wonderful ride, and I’ll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all. (If nothing else, it’ll keep the clickbait sites busy!)— Pat Sajak (@PatOnWheel) June 12, 2023 Sajak has been a beloved host on "Wheel of Fortune," earning 19 Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host and winning three times. In 2019, he set a Guinness World Record for the longest career as a game show host for the same show, beating the previous record held by Bob Barker.A familiar face will replace Sajak, Ryan Seacrest, best known for his work on “American Idol” and “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year's Eve.” "I can't wait to continue the tradition of spinning the wheel and working alongside the great Vanna White," he said after it was announced he was the new host.

Steve Burns’ “Blues Clues” days might be behind him, but he has continued to be a source of inspiration for the now grown adults who once helped fill his handy dandy notebook. The beloved former host has brought millennial fans to tears (and laughter) on multiple occasions with his heartfelt TikToks—from silent check-ins to awkward dating stories.One video, recently posted by @umbrella.memes2, shows Burns delivering a commencement speech to a group of SUNY Delhi graduates. It’s filled with humor, but there’s one joke that’s particularly cute—with a beautiful twist. Burns began by reminiscing about his “Blues” days, dubbing himself “the original gangster host” and joking about the "meaningful conversations” he’d had with condiments, going “crazy” when the mail showed up and searching for clues that “were painfully obvious to everyone" but him. “And that’s where you came in, my friend,” he told the crowd. “In each and every episode, I would need your help and so I would stand in front of the camera and look into the lens as if I was looking right at you, my ride or die, and I would ask, ‘Will you help me?’" He then shared how one of his most common catchphrases used to “concern” him, given that his mostly preschool audience was a “very literal group of people." @umbrella.memes2 Cool day #fyp #graduation #bluesclues #drakebeef #newfalloutupdate #steveburns ♬ original sound - Umbrella.Memes "Very often, someone will repeat to me a phrase that I said all the time on every episode,” Burns recalled. “And that’s, ‘If you use your mind and take a step at a time, you can do anything that you wanna do.’” Apparently one young viewer named Brian did in fact take the mantra to heart, and wrote to Burns saying "Dear Steve, I love your show. I want to be a pizza." “As the years passed, I’ve often thought of Brian, worried that he’s lived his life according to my advice in pursuit of the dream of actually becoming a piece of pizza. And I wonder if Brian is out there somewhere deeply disappointed, covered in marinara sauce. And I hope that he’s not,” Burns quipped. This is where the speech took a profound turn. Burns told that audience he hopes that rather than taking the message literally, folks will use the catchphrase as “an empowering reminder of the power of hard work” and an “empowering reminder of the importance of having a dream.”“We’re all expected to have one of those, aren’t we?” he asked, before contemplating on how we are expected to know “what will ultimately make us happy” from an early age, and then “to follow it relentlessly.” “It’s absurd, when you think about it.”Burns then shared his own dream of becoming a serious actor, and how, even if it didn’t pan out the way he expected it to, the pursuing of that dream did help him find fulfillment. “I left college to be a brooding, very serious, definitely pretentious actor in New York City. I wanted to live a life of impenetrable theatre and make films that no one would see. That was my dream. And it had absolute nothing to do with being on children’s television.”That’s where the clip cuts off, but according to a post from SUNY’s Facebook, his conclusion was:"Your life may not lead to your dream. But your dream will lead you to your life. There are often incredible opportunities in the surrounding areas, to the right and left, north and south of your dream. I’m a living breathing example of that fact, and my wish for you is that you will be too."Oh Steve, there you go again…tugging at our heartstrings and giving us remarkable wisdom. Needless to say, viewers were moved…not to mention a little nostalgic. "This is how you do a commencement speech. Inspiring people going forward and encouraging them in such a pure spirit," one person wrote. Another added, "I'm 28 and 'Blue's Clues' was my everything. I still have my red chair and handy dandy notebook. As an adult having Steve talk to me makes me feel so good about myself…thank you Steve."We are so glad your dream brought you to where you are, Steve. May we all have the courage to follow our own dreams and be open to where they take us.