The last total solar eclipse over the US was pretty spectacular‚ as anyone who saw it will attest. Looking at the photos‚ it's hard to imagine how the sight could have been improved upon in the eclipse taking place on April 8 this year.But if we are lucky and the weather is fine‚ we could be in for something special‚ as the eclipse coincides with the solar maximum.Sun activity increases and decreases in an 11-year cycle known as the Schwabe cycle. From 1826 to 1843‚ German amateur astronomer Heinrich Schwabe observed the Sun‚ discovering that it rotates on its axis once every 27 days. He also noticed that over 11 years (though it can be as short as eight years‚ or as long as 14) the Sun goes from quiet periods‚ where no sunspots can be seen‚ to the maximum phase where 20 or more groups of sunspots can be seen‚ before returning to the minimum phase.The 2017 eclipse took place during the solar minimum‚ when the Sun's activity is at its lowest. The solar maximum was previously forecast for 2025‚ meaning it wouldn't quite be at its highest period of activity as the magnetic poles flip. However‚ predictions have since been revised‚ with the next solar maximum predicted to be sometime between January and October this year.So what does that mean for the eclipse? In short‚ it could be quite spectacular."In 2017‚ the Sun was nearing solar minimum. Viewers of the total eclipse could see the breathtaking corona – but since the Sun was quiet‚ streamers flowing into the solar atmosphere were restricted to just the equatorial regions of the star. The Sun is more magnetically symmetrical during solar minimum‚ causing this simpler appearance‚" NASA explains. "During the 2024 eclipse‚ the Sun will be in or near solar maximum‚ when the magnetic field is more like a tangled hairball. Streamers will likely be visible throughout the corona. In addition to that‚ viewers will have a better chance to see prominences – which appear as bright‚ pink curls or loops coming off the Sun."The eclipse should be visible from Mexico to Canada. The path of totality – the area where people will see a total solar eclipse – is wider than in 2017 too‚ as the Moon is closer to Earth due to where it is in its orbit‚ meaning more people will see the Sun's corona."With lucky timing‚ there could even be a chance to see a coronal mass ejection – a large eruption of solar material – during the eclipse‚" NASA added.

Meet the Irish elk: an enormous extinct deer with a pair of comically large antlers to boot. The ancient behemoth’s unusual appendages‚ which measure a whopping 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) from tip to tip‚ may look impressive but we’re not exactly sure why they’re quite so big. According to one new study‚ their size doesn’t make much sense at all. The Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus)‚ also called giant deer for obvious reasons‚ was Europe’s biggest ever deer‚ and one of the largest deer to exist period‚ measuring around 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall at the shoulder. Its range extended across Eurasia during the Pleistocene‚ from Ireland to Lake Baikal in Siberia‚ before it went extinct around 8‚000 years ago.“The huge antlers of the extinct Irish elk have invited evolutionary speculation since Darwin‚” the researchers write in their study. In the 1970s‚ biologist Stephen Jay Gould proposed an explanation for their size‚ concluding that they were linked to the size of the deer and the result of “positive allometry”‚ with bigger deer having proportionally even bigger antlers. However‚ the authors of the new study have revisited Gould’s conclusions and run additional analyses‚ finding something contradictory.“We found no evidence for allometric constraints as an explanation for the large antlers of the Irish elk‚” they conclude.While Gould compared the shoulder height and antler length of “cervine” deer‚ the team chose to focus on antler volume instead. Using Gould’s positive allometry‚ they predicted Irish elk would have had an antler volume of 17.5 liters‚ when in reality the average observed antler volume is around 25.5 liters.“I wouldn’t say Gould was entirely wrong‚” study author Thomas Hansen at the University of Oslo told New Scientist. “Allometry still plays an important role.” However‚ Hansen’s research suggests that other factors are likely behind the evolution of the deer’s enormous antlers.And what are those factors‚ you ask? Well‚ we don’t know for sure. Professor Adrian Lister‚ an expert on extinct megafauna at London’s Natural History Museum‚ argued that the answer is sexual selection. Fallow deer‚ the closest living relative of the giant deer‚ form a “lek” during the mating season‚ where males compete by roaring‚ parading‚ and locking antlers.“In this display of strength‚ bigger antlers were probably more intimidating to other males and more desirable to the females‚ who would wander into the lek to choose their mate‚” he explained. But having been extinct for several millennia‚ it’s impossible to study Irish elk’s behavior to know if they did the same.Their diets and habitats could also have helped‚ Hansen speculated.Despite previous suggestions that the Irish elk’s insanely big antlers may have had something to do with its extinction – the pressure of finding enough food to grow them can't have made it easy to adapt and survive – the new study concludes that there is no evidence to support this.The study is published in Evolutionary Biology.[H/T: New Scientist]

Prior to achieving their final form‚ gas planets take on flattened shapes technically known as oblate spheroids‚ a new study has found. Although the Earth today is still classified as an oblate spheroid‚ thanks to slight flattening at the poles‚ the protoplanet stage is drastically flatter‚ according to newly published modelling‚ looking more like an M&;M than a chocolate ball.It is now generally understood that planets form out of protoplanetary disks of dust and gas that surround newly formed stars. We’ve directly viewed many of these‚ and sometimes even spotted the giant planets emerging‚ such as the two planets around the 5-million-year-old star PDS 70. However‚ while the material from which they form is acknowledged to be disk-shaped‚ rather than spherical‚ it was previously believed that by the time a recognizable protoplanet had formed‚ it was something close enough to spherical that you would need to look hard to notice the difference. This has now been challenged in a University of Central Lancashire study.“Many exoplanets… have been discovered in the last three decades‚” said Dr Adam Fenton in a statement. “Despite observing many thousands of them‚ how they form remains unexplained.”There are competing theories explaining the process‚ with the most prominent known as “core-accretion”  and “disk instability”. Fenton and his co-author Dr Dimitris Stamatellos’ modeling assumed disk instability‚ which proposes much more rapid planetary formation than the alternative. “This theory is appealing due to the fact that large planets can form very quickly at large distances from their host star‚ explaining some exoplanet observations‚” Fenton said.The process of modeling the formation of gas giants this way required half a million CPU hours at a high-performance computing facility‚ but‚ Fenton said: “The results were amazing and worth the effort.”Stamatellos said: “We have been studying planet formation for a long time‚ but never before thought to check the shape of the planets as they form in the simulations. We had always assumed they were spherical.” The modeling also suggests that when material leaves the disk to become part of the planet‚ it is usually by falling on the poles.Regrettably‚ the modeling did not reveal any sign of a giant turtle for the protoplanet to rest upon during this phase‚ presumably prior to abandonment as things rounded out.Disk instability is currently less widely favored than core accretion‚ but the Central Lancaster team hope their work will change that. Direct imaging of protoplanets is easier than trying to spot well-established worlds‚ but it is still possible only in a limited number of cases. Still‚ fewer of these are likely to be visible in enough detail to distinguish the shape. Nevertheless‚ if the modeling is right‚ protoplanets will look different depending on the angle from which they are seen‚ and the world’s most powerful telescopes may be able to confirm it.If proven right‚ might this be the basis for a truce between science supporters and flat Earth believers? They acknowledge the Earth today is (almost) round and we stop mocking them on the basis that four point something billion years ago they were sort of right? Ok‚ probably not‚ but it was worth a try.The study has been accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters‚ and is available as a preprint on arXiv.

Some people are just learning where in the kitchen you are supposed to store bananas.In a TikTok video‚ user @tipperk stored bananas in four different ways‚ apparently used by people in real life. These included wrapping a wet paper towel around the stem (or handle‚ according to the "monkey method")‚ putting plastic wrap around the stem‚ keeping the banana in the fridge‚ and just keeping the banana on the side in a bowl with nothing weird wrapped around the stem.As you've probably guessed from previous incidents‚ bananas kept in the fridge fare the worst‚ going a horrible shade of brown earlier than their side-dwelling comrades.      IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.The overall winner of this little test was the banana which was kept on the side in the bowl‚ without anything covering its stem. This fits with general online advice that bananas should be kept on the counter‚ preferably in a cool and dry place‚ until they are ripe. One thing you should know about storing bananas‚ however‚ is that they should be kept in solitary confinement. Or away from other fruits at least. This is because they release the airborne plant hormone ethylene‚ or ethene."Bananas make other fruit ripen because they release a gas called ethene‚" Dr Dan Bebber‚ leader of a global food security project on bananas‚ told the BBC. "This gas causes ripening‚ or softening of fruit by the breakdown of cell walls‚ conversion of starches to sugars and the disappearance of acids."While some fruits – like bananas – produce ethylene during ripening‚ others absorb it. Just as it turns bananas brown‚ it will hasten the ripening and overripening of any neighboring fruits. Hence you should keep bananas on the counter‚ in a cool and dry place‚ and well away from your other fruit.

Dwarf galaxies tend to be found around larger galaxies‚ having formed around them. There is a small population of dwarf galaxies that is isolated and they are known for their vigorous star formation. Astronomers didn’t think that dwarf galaxies that were both isolated and had little star formation existed. Somebody must have forgotten to tell galaxy PEARLSDG that is impossible for it to be both quiet and alone. But‚ it seems that this small collection of stars is faring well without a care for our opinions.Our models of the universe expect galaxies to form in certain ways and with certain levels of activity over time. Discovering objects like PEARLSDG by chance is therefore supremely enlightening. It tells us where the holes in our theories are. And the more of these “impossible” galaxies we find‚ the better we can understand galaxies as a whole."These types of isolated quiescent dwarf galaxies haven't really been seen before except for relatively few cases. They are not really expected to exist given our current understanding of galaxy evolution‚ so the fact that we see this object helps us improve our theories for galaxy formation‚" lead author Dr Tim Carleton from Arizona State University said in a statement. "Generally‚ dwarf galaxies that are out there by themselves are continuing to form new stars."The galaxy is in the same field of view as the Prime Extragalactic Areas for Reionization and Lensing Science (PEARLS) project that is being conducted with JWST. Dwarf galaxies have a tiny fraction of stars compared to regular galaxies like the Milky Way. Our galaxy has about 200‚000 million stars‚ while the average dwarf has less than 100 million.PEARLSDG is relatively close to us‚ about 98 million light-years. JWST's keen eye can see individual stars‚ which helped with assessing the distance but also with discovering that not much is happening. Combined with historical observations of that sky in the same area‚ the team looked for evidence of young stars from particular features in wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared. None were found.The motion of the galaxy was also measured‚ showing that it is not being influenced by another other object nearby. It is truly an isolated dwarf galaxy that is not forming any new stars.“This was absolutely against people's expectations for a dwarf galaxy like this‚" Carleton added.The study is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

The organizers of the Vesuvius Challenge‚ which started in 2023‚ have now announced their grand prize winners who have successfully revealed ancient secrets hidden on petrified scrolls. The announcement not only marks the outcome of ingenious work but may also indicate an exciting new era of research.The Vesuvius Challenge was launched in March 2023 with the not-too-ambitious aim of “making history” (which‚ it is safe to say‚ they have probably achieved). The organizers encouraged individuals from diverse academic backgrounds to devise new methods to read ancient scrolls recovered from the pyric remains of Herculaneum‚ Italy.The scrolls‚ which are now completely petrified‚ were originally located in the Villa Papyri‚ a wealthy estate that was buried under volcanic ash and debris when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.The estate‚ and its library‚ were then rediscovered in the 1700s‚ but despite being well preserved‚ the scrolls have remained unreadable. This is because the heat from the eruption essentially “flash-fried” them‚ turning them into carbonized lumps. But now‚ after 10 months of hard work‚ the winners of the Vesuvius Challenge have found ways to unravel these invaluable artifacts using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that scan their content without damaging their fragile structure. IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Nat Friedman‚ the former GitHub CEO‚ and a team of scientists launched the Vesuvius Challenge to find new ways to approach these once-obscure texts. They launched the competition with various financial prizes‚ including the $700‚000 Grand Prize‚ to anyone who could help unlock them.Then‚ back in October 2023‚ Friedman announced the First Letters prize to a 21-year-old computer science student‚ Luke Farritor‚ who managed to decipher the word “πορφυρας” on a scroll‚ which means "purple dye" or "cloths of purple". This prize was soon followed by another for Youssef Nader‚ who identified the same work but with more clarity.Both these results would not have been possible without the work of Casey Handmer‚ the winner of the First Ink prize‚ who found a way to identify the presence of ink in the unopened scroll.Now‚ Friedman has announced the winners of the Grand Prize for their ground-breaking effort to reveal over 2‚000 Greek letters from the scroll.“We received many excellent submissions for the Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize‚ several in the final minutes before the midnight deadline on January 1st”‚ Friedman and colleagues wrote on their competition’s website.“We presented these submissions to the review team‚ and they were met with widespread amazement. We spent the month of January carefully reviewing all submissions. Our team of eminent papyrologists worked day and night to review 15 columns of text in anonymized submissions‚ while the technical team audited and reproduced the submitted code and methods.”But from all the incredible submissions‚ there was one that stood out from the rest. The submission was so rich that‚ while working independently‚ each member of the team of papyrologists was able to recover more text from it than from any other.As the Vesuvius Challenge organizers explained: “Remarkably‚ the entry achieved the criteria we set when announcing the Vesuvius Challenge in March: 4 passages of 140 characters each‚ with at least 85 [percent] of characters recoverable. This was not a given: most of us on the organizing team assigned a less than 30 [percent] probability of success when we announced these criteria! And in addition‚ the submission includes another 11 (!) columns of text — more than 2‚000 characters total.” The team responsible for this massive success consisted of Farritor and Nader‚ the winners of the earlier prizes‚ and Julian Schilliger‚ the winner of three Segmentation Tooling prizes for his work on Volume Cartographer. Schilliger’s work had allowed for the 3D mapping of the papyrus areas used in the winning submission.“For the Grand Prize‚ [these three previous winners] assembled into a superteam‚ crushing it by creating what was unanimously deemed the most readable submission.”For more details on how the team achieved this‚ see the Vesuvius Challenge’s breakdown of their process and how each member contributed to and built on the work of the other.So what does it say?So far‚ the researchers examining the first scroll have managed to read about 5 percent of it. The preliminary transcription indicates that this is a completely original text and not a duplicate of other work. It seems this philosophical text addresses the subject of “pleasure”‚ the highest form of good according to Epicurean philosophy.“In these two snippets from two consecutive columns of the scroll‚ the author is concerned with whether and how the availability of goods‚ such as food‚ can affect the pleasure which they provide.” The papyrologists explain.“Do things that are available in lesser quantities afford more pleasure than those available in abundance? Our author thinks not: 'as too in the case of food‚ we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant.' However‚ is it easier for us naturally to do without things that are plentiful? 'Such questions will be considered frequently.'”It seems this question was posed at the end of the text‚ which suggests the answers may be held in other scrolls in the same collection. Interestingly‚ the beginning of the first test text mentions a Xenophantos‚ who may have been a musician and was also mentioned in the work On Music by Philodemus‚ an Epicurean who may have been the philosopher-in-residence at the Villa Papyri.“Scholars might call it a philosophical treatise”‚ the organizers of the Vesuvius Challenge explain. “But it seems familiar to us‚ and we can’t escape the feeling that the first text we’ve uncovered is a 2‚000-year-old blog post about how to enjoy life. Is Philodemus throwing shade at the stoics in his closing paragraph‚ asserting that stoicism is an incomplete philosophy because it has 'nothing to say about pleasure?' The questions he seems to discuss – life’s pleasures and what makes life worth living – are still on our minds today.”What is clear is that this is just the start of what may be a whole new chapter in historical analysis. A new and exciting rediscovery of ancient works that‚ apparently‚ not even a volcano could conceal forever.

Well‚ the lefties can stop freaking out over delays in ruling on Donald Trump's presidential immunity claims‚ delaying the Trump trial they think will get Biden re-elected. The appeals court ruled against Trump on Tuesday. His appeals will continue. But Washington Post columnist and associate editor Ruth Marcus let the cat out of the bag on their hopes for lawfare to ruin Trump's campaign. The very title of her opinion piece on Friday admits to that‚ "Slowpoke federal appeals court puts 2024 election in jeopardy." The theme of her frantic diatribe is that the orderly appeals process of how the justice system is supposed to work is interfering with the election interference she and her fellow liberals are desperately desiring since things look quite dire for Biden at the moment. Here is Marcus sounding every bit as deranged on the subject of Donald Trump as MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner or Keith Olbermann: It is approaching four weeks since a federal appeals court considered Donald Trump’s audacious claim that he should enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for his actions as president. Under ordinary circumstances‚ it can take months for appellate judges to produce a ruling. In the current case‚ this delay borders on unconscionable. It plays right into Trump’s hands. So Marcus admits that "under normal circumstances‚ it can take months for appellate judges to produce a ruling‚" yet this infuriates her because somehow playing by the normal rules somehow "plays right into Trump's hands" and this she finds to be "unconscionable." What’s going on? The immunity panel included two Biden appointees — Florence Pan and Michelle Childs — and a George H.W. Bush nominee‚ Karen Henderson. They appeared disposed to rule against Trump‚ but perhaps a concurring or even dissenting opinion is slowing things down. Your honors‚ the clock is ticking more loudly every day. Hurry! Before it is too late to use lawfare election interference to stop Trump! Marcus proceeds to continue going full kvetch for several paragraphs expressing her angst over the delay caused by Trump's immunity appeal. Finally she amazingly suggests that the normal rules for appeal be bypassed because she wants Trump stopped at any cost. What can be done? The appeals court‚ delayed decision notwithstanding‚ has demonstrated its awareness of the need for quick action; it set an expedited schedule for briefing and oral argument. When the panel finally rules‚ it must take care to set limits that prevent Trump from exploiting the usual deadlines for filing appeals. As a useful analysis from Protect Democracy in Just Security demonstrates‚ Trump would ordinarily have 30 days to ask for review by the full appeals court‚ and 90 days after that to go to the high court. But both the appeals court and the Supreme Court have mechanisms to frustrate this kind of gamesmanship. They can set tighter deadlines and allow pretrial preparation to go forward while they weigh any appeal. Justice has been delayed enough already. Wow. So Marcus admits that Trump has the right to take 30 days to ask for review by the full appeals court and 90 days to later appeal to the Supreme Court but she wants that changed because... Trump!

The jury is still out on the usefulness of bunkers; at least‚ as far as I’m concerned. Militarily‚ the predecessors to bunkers came about to protect people from bombardment by artillery. The post Can You Build a Bunker on the Cheap? appeared first on Survivopedia.

Some conservatives right now seem to think Taylor Swift is a secret operative of the Democratic Party’s deep-state operation. One popular theory on social media holds that the relentless media coverage of Swift’s relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is actually a sophisticated psyop designed to culminate in a decisively well-timed endorsement of Joe Biden. Not only is this theory rather far-fetched‚ but if history is any guide‚ a political endorsement by Swift isn’t likely to affect the 2024 election in any meaningful way. The most Republican thing ever would be to jump on the attack bandwagon just as Swift’s influence on American culture is making a major turn for the better. Swift and Kelce do‚ however‚ have the potential to help start an entirely different kind of revolution — an American family revolution — if‚ as is apparently rumored‚ the power couple ends up getting married. In that case‚ as the incomparable Peachy Keenan puts it‚ “We will witness the greatest spike in weddings in American history. Mimetic desire will grip the hearts and minds of millions of Millennial women‚ who will awaken from their rosé hangovers and start issuing marital ultimatums to whoever they left on read that week.” Big if true — and especially big for conservatives. A trend-setting example of normal‚ married family life would be the worst possible thing that could happen in pop culture for the Democratic Party’s long-term future. In 2018‚ my organization‚ the American Principles Project‚ commissioned a nationwide study on the effect that family formation has on voting behavior and ideology. The findings were staggering: People who are married with children hold much more conservative viewpoints and are much more likely to vote Republican across the demographic spectrum. For example‚ married black and Hispanic voters are twice as likely to vote for Republicans as their never-married peers. Never-married and cohabiting Americans‚ by contrast‚ are overwhelmingly progressive in their ideology and voting habits. What’s more‚ the study showed that how children are raised has a significant impact on their political alignment in adulthood. Children from married families vote more conservatively when they grow up‚ while children from broken households tend to prefer left-wing candidates as adults. These gaps have persisted since then. In 2020‚ married people voted for Donald Trump 54-45‚ a nine-point margin. Unmarried people‚ meanwhile‚ voted for Joe Biden 59-40‚ a 19-point margin. This is a far bigger difference than even the much-touted “gender gap.” Trump won married women by five points‚ after all — and lost among unmarried men by a similar margin. One can try to explain this gap away through all other sorts of other factors — age‚ education‚ religiosity‚ etc. But the causal link between marriage and parenthood on the one hand and conservatism and Republican voting habits on the other is strongly suggested by social science research and‚ more importantly‚ is clear to anyone with an ounce of common sense. It follows‚ then‚ that the political right should welcome the high-profile transformation of one of America’s biggest pop stars from single cat-mom to‚ potentially‚ happily married to a normal-seeming guy. It’s at the very least a bigger deal than any potential endorsement coming down the pike. Swift’s previous endorsements — Biden in 2020 and failed Tennessee Senate candidate Phil Bredesen in 2018 — turned out to be nonfactors in both races. Sometimes it’s hard not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Still‚ conservatives should try to avoid it. The most Republican thing ever would be to jump on the attack bandwagon just as Swift’s influence on American culture is making a major turn for the better. Ultimately‚ if Swift and Kelce are going to have any impact on American elections‚ it won’t be this November. But if all goes well for them‚ and I hope it does‚ they really do have the potential to help Make Marriage Great Again. And a true family revival would indeed shape elections for the better‚ for many years to come.

Upon hearing the news that country music star Toby Keith died Monday night after a lengthy battle with stomach cancer‚ comments gleeful about his passing appeared on social media — coupled with loving shout-outs to country music outfit the Dixie Chicks (now known as "the Chicks"). Keith haters apparently are still smarting two decades after a headline-grabbing feud between the two camps — which mirrored a growing rift in America between leftists and conservatives — involving 9/11‚ the Iraq War‚ and then-President George W. Bush. What's more‚ who paying attention back then can forget the T-shirt Natalie Maines wore onstage emblazoned with a not-so-subtle message directed at Keith? — (@) What have Keith haters been saying? Keith haters have been leveling stunning vitriol against him on social media following the announcement of his death while pouring love upon the Dixie Chicks — so much so that "Dixie Chicks" was trending on X Tuesday morning. Content warning: Language: — (@) — (@) — (@) Here are more examples: — (@) — (@) — (@) — (@) — (@) — (@) What's the background?The feud between Keith and the Dixie Chicks began with Maines' reaction to Keith's famous 2002 song‚ "Courtesy of the Red‚ White and Blue (The Angry American)‚" according to Wide Open Country. Released after the death of Keith's veteran father and the September 11‚ 2001‚ terrorist attacks‚ the song includes the iconic promise to enemies of the U.S.: "We'll put a boot in your ass‚ it's the American way.""I hate it‚" Maines told the Los Angeles Times in 2002 regarding Keith's tune‚ according to Wide Open Country. "It's ignorant‚ and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture — and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write‚ 'We'll put a boot in your a—.' ..."Then came Maines' comment during a March 2003 concert in London‚ England‚ after the U.S. invaded Iraq: "Just so you know‚ we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war‚ this violence‚ and we're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas‚" Wide Open Country noted.The outlet added that Maines' commentary led to a huge backlash against the Dixie Chicks‚ as country radio stations banned their music‚ and the group ducked out of the spotlight.Keith then displayed a fake photo of Maines next to Saddam Hussein at his concerts‚ Wide Open Country said‚ adding that Maines punched back with her "F.U.T.K." shirt at the Academy of Country Music Awards.Here's video of Maines and others discussing her wearing the infamous shirt and acknowledging that it means "F*** you‚ Toby Keith." Content warning: Language: Dixie Chicks - FUTK youtu.be Anything else?Not long afterward in 2003‚ Keith said he was done battling Maines and the Dixie Chicks after a friend's child went through a cancer battle‚ Wide Open Country said: "I saw a picture on the cover of Country Weekly with a picture of me and Natalie and it said‚ 'Fight to the Death' or something. It seemed so insignificant. I said‚ 'Enough is enough.'"The Dixie Chicks returned in 2006 with their single "Not Ready to Make Nice" from their "Taking the Long Way" album‚ Wide Open Country said‚ which addressed the backlash against them — but the outlet added that it didn't directly address the feud with Keith.There was no mention of Keith's passing on the Chicks' X page as of Tuesday morning. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!