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Asteroid 2023 BU imaged by the Virtual Telescope as it approached Earth in January 2023. (Image credit: Virtual Telescope Project) Wednesday, January 25, 2023: A newly discovered asteroid that will pass very close to Earth on Friday has been photographed by an Italian astronomer as it makes its approach. The space rock, called 2023 BU, is only about 13 to 30 feet (4 to 9 meters) wide, and was discovered last Saturday (Jan. 21) by prolific Crimea-based astronomer and telescope builder Gennadiy Borisov (the same man who discovered the first interstellar comet, which now bears his name, Borisov, in 2018)...

Artist conception of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez On Sunday, January 15, 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) experienced a communications delay within the instrument, causing its flight software to time out. The instrument is currently unavailable for science observations while NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) work together to determine and correct the root cause of the delay. There is no indication of any danger to the hardware, and the observatory and other instruments are all in good health. The affected science observations will be...

A painting with mysterious origins is likely a Raphael masterpiece, researchers from the U.K. said after using facial recognition technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the portrait. The Renaissance-era painting, named the de Brécy Tondo, has been studied extensively for more than 40 years. Researchers from the University of Nottingham and University of Bradford used an artificial intelligence facial recognition system developed by Hassan Ugail, a professor of visual computing at Bradford, to determine its likely creator. Instead of DNA, the system uses DNN – a deep neural network – which identifies patterns in images and videos. The system...

David Crosby, the singer, songwriter and guitarist and member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash, has died. His wife, Jan Dance, told Variety Thursday, "It is with great sadness after a long illness, that our beloved David (Croz) Crosby has passed away. He was lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django. Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us." She continues, "His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music. Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and...

Serious Comedy: The Philosophical and Theological Significance of Tragic and Comic Writing in the Western Tradition, Patrick Downey, Davenant Press, 470 pages. ============================================================= Teaching Dante’s Inferno to high schoolers has its share of amusements. The expected outrage over Dante’s condemnation of sodomy, the bafflement over the sodomites’ proximity to the usurers (“What is that?” and then: “Why is that a sin?”), the shock at the gruesomeness, even in our desensitized age. The very concept of sin and punishment is a novelty to many. One student, after grasping what “lustful” meant, lamented “so many people are going to hell!” The most...

Exoplanet LHS 475 b and Its Star This illustration reflects that exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth based on new evidence from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The planet is only a few hundred degrees warmer than our home planet. The planet whips around its star in just two days, far faster than any planet in the solar system, but its red dwarf star is less than half the temperature of the Sun. Researchers will follow up this summer with another observation with Webb, which they hope will allow them to definitively...

AUBURN, NY — Following the new tradition of erecting disturbing modern-art monuments for prominent historical figures, the city of Auburn has unveiled a bronze statue of abolitionist and Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman's left big toe. "We felt that this was a fitting tribute for the great Harriet Tubman," said Brandon Quezada, chairman of the city's Artistic Initiatives Committee. "Knowing that Boston was unveiling the unspeakably creepy ‘The Embrace' statue for Dr. Martin Luther King that bears a striking resemblance to various human organs mashed together in an ungodly chimeric abomination from the pit of hell, creating a monument depicting...

Wandering my way thru husband's flower photographs and found these. The cereus was a gift from a cousin, a descendant of 3rd great grandfather, Henry Bicker Gibson, whose railroad was one of those merged to create the New York Central. Here's a new music video of Henry B. Gibson, banker and railroadman (1783-1863). Unfortunately, I re-potted the cereus 7 years ago and it hasn't bloomed since.

Gina Lollobrigida arrives on the red carpet during the 4th Rome International Film Festival in Rome on October 16, 2009. She died Monday at age 95. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida, whose sultry roles in the 1950s and 1960s established her as a international sex symbol, has died, Italian media reported Monday. She was 95. Known affectionately to her countrymen as "La Bersagliera" for her starring role in Luigi Comencini's 1953 film Bread, Love and Dreams, Lollobrigida's family broke the news of her death, the Italian agency ANSA...

The city of Boston has taken online and social media heat this weekend after unveiling a 22-foot bronze sculpture that celebrates the relationship between the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. For those who have seen the famous[?] photo of the Kings embracing, it's easier to visualize what Thomas was trying to accomplish. For others, the gigantic bronze sculpture located in Boston Common, the nation's oldest public park, represents different things, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Seneca Scott, Coretta Scott King's cousin, slammed the statue's aesthetics in an essay for the...

This is an older Be Bop Deluxe instrumental that the Count has jammed out on and made it into a statement about the COVID shots. As well, he has taken scenes from Fritz Lang's movie “Metropolis” and used it to highlight the dangers of technological tyranny and loss of FREEDOM.

A judge on Wednesday ordered a Detroit museum to hold onto an 1888 painting by Vincent van Gogh in response to a lawsuit by its owner, who claims it has been missing for nearly six years. The painting, titled “The Novel Reader” or “The Reading Lady,” is part of a rare van Gogh exhibit, which ends Jan. 22 at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Brokerarte Capital Partners LLC and its sole proprietor, Gustavo Soter of Brazil, acquired the painting in 2017 for $3.7 million, but a “third party” took possession of the art, according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff has not...

Came across this by accident. This Joseph Kosuth is an American ex-pat world-renowned "concept artist" whose works typically are comprised of electronically reproduced illuminated text projected across an art gallery's wall. His works are in every major public museum collection in the U.S. and abroad. Historically, visual artists have been vehemently "apolitical". Much like philosophers. However, this charlatan has the audacity to exhort YouTube viewers to "Vote for Biden!!!" and get rid of the "nonsense" in the White House". Recorded in October of 2020, just before the stolen election. Predictably, You Tube/Google has disabled all of the comments to the...

Visiting the Pantheon, one of Rome’s premier tourist sites, it’s hard not be humbled by the knowledge that this building has lasted 1900 years and still stands as the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, while modern concrete structures deteriorate. Take a look at the magnificence of the Pantheon.Photo credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 licensePhoto credit: Macrons CC BY-SA 4.0 licensePhoto credit: Anthony Majanlahti CC BY 2.0 licenseThe Romans’ concrete technology was lost for almost a millennium as the Dark Ages unfolded, and Europe regressed technologically and economically. The discovery of Roman manuscripts on making concrete in 1414 sparked gradual reintroduction of...

The NFL hosted its season finale on Sunday. It was an eventful evening with the Buffalo Bills beating out the New England Patriots to earn the #2 seed. However, the matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars featured something special before the game even started. Most all sporting events in this country feature a moment to play the national anthem just before the game to honor our country and the values we stand for (assuming the NFL players aren’t kneeling the whole time). The Jaguars featured a unique rendition of the national anthem performed on electric guitar by none...

Historic Vids · In 1951, Adelbert Ames created the mind-boggling ‘Ames Window’ Simply fascinating. OPTICAL ILLUSION............. VIDEO AT LINK............................

First son Hunter Biden may finally be forced to reveal the identities of the people buying his pricey paintings - thanks to his ongoing Arkansas child support case. Former flame Lunden Roberts, 31, is demanding “detailed information” on the recovering crack addict Biden’s customers in response to the 52-year-old Hunter’s attempt to lower his child support payments for his four-year-old daughter with Roberts, court papers reveal. In September 2022, Biden appealed to an Independence County, Ark., court for his IOUs to be reduced, claiming “a substantial material change” in his “financial circumstances.” But Roberts, aware of Biden’s recent New York...

Part of my genealogy experiments. Jack Bell, father's father, won and lost fortunes from Alaska down through Central America. His story is like something out of an old western. Stetson and 45.

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who starred in 1968's Romeo and Juliet, filed a lawsuit against Paramount for child abuse over a nude scene in the film. Per Deadline, Hussey and Whiting filed the lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court on Jan. 3, accusing Paramount of sexual exploitation and the distribution of nude images of underage children. Now in their 70s, both actors were teenagers at the time they starred in the film; Hussey, who played Juliet, was 15 and Whiting, who played Romeo, was 16. The actors are seeking damages of over $100 million. "believed to be in excess...

Part of my ongoing experiment in how to pass family history on to a younger generation that won't ask the questions until their sources are gone, and seem not that fond of reading. Requires a cheap video editing program, an editing party with appropriate beverages, lots of photos, and a techie young relative.