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Science (General/Chat)

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  • Rand Paul Publishes Anthony Fauci's Private Diaries, In Which He Confesses He Knows Covid Didn't Come from "The Wet Market" and Has a Lethality of Only 0.2-0.3%; The Media Refuses to Cover

    07/28/2026 7:36:41 AM PDT · by Skwor · 14 replies
    Ace Of Spades HQ ^ | July 27, 2026 | Ace
    KanekoaTheGreat @KanekoaTheGreat 🚨Fauci's diary says he privately put COVID's fatality rate at 0.2-0.3%. Under oath weeks later, he told Congress it was 10x the flu. The timeline: Feb 8, 2020 (private diary): case fatality rate "more like 0.2-0.3%." March 10 (Hannity): "The mortality for this is about 2-2.5%. It's probably lower than that, closer to 1%. But even if it's 1%, it's 10x more lethal than the seasonal flu." March 11 (Congress, under oath): "The stated fatality rate of this overall... is about 3%. If you count all the cases of asymptomatic infection, that probably brings the mortality down to...
  • Who Were the Sea Peoples? Exploring references in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

    07/27/2026 8:49:09 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 18 replies
    Biblical Archaeology Review ^ | July 27, 2026 | Zachary Thomas
    In Nolan's new adaptation of the Odyssey, Homer's epic poem about Odysseus's struggle to return to his kingdom in Ithaca after the Trojan War, the "People of the Sea" hang over the plot like a dark cloud -- a rumor of coming destroyers and harbingers of a dark age mentioned by multiple characters along the way... Let's clear up one thing first: No ancient text refers to this group by the name "Sea Peoples." This is a scholarly term popularized by the 18th-century Egyptologist Gaston Maspero to refer to a collection of groups that threatened New Kingdom Egypt... It was...
  • Smokers hoarding as global luxury cigar market hit hard by Cuban crisis: ‘Very little inventory’

    07/27/2026 6:59:37 PM PDT · by Libloather · 22 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/27/26 | Lydia Moynihan
    Amid Cuba’s months-long fuel and electricity crisis, one of the island’s most iconic exports is feeling the pinch: cigars. Retailers say the industry is facing one of the worst supply squeeze in history as blackouts, fuel shortages and shipping disruptions make it nearly impossible to produce luxury cigars and get them off the island in the temperature controlled conditions they require. “I’ve been telling clients, ‘Listen, it’s been months since I can get them,’” said Manu Harit, a London-based cigar specialist whose business is almost entirely built on Cuban cigars. Over the last year, he said, orders have been filled...
  • Resistance Training and Healthy Aging: What the Evidence Says About Longevity in Your 30s, 40s, and 50s

    07/27/2026 2:12:39 PM PDT · by Mariner · 22 replies
    Men's Fitness via Yahoo ^ | July 27th, 2026 | K.D. Moore
    Most men don't think much about aging until something forces the issue: a lift that used to feel easy, stairs that leave you winded, or a waistline that expanded despite no real change in habits. Fortunately, the research on longevity and healthy aging is largely consistent on what to do. Resistance training, plainly lifting weights regularly, is one of the most well-supported interventions available for extending both lifespan and health span, the stretch of years you spend actually capable of doing the things you want to do. This is not a supplement pitch or a training trend. It is the...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula

    07/27/2026 12:27:17 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 15 replies
    NASA ^ | 27 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Paweł Piechnik
    Explanation: What created this huge space bubble? Blown by the wind from a star, this tantalizing, head-like apparition is cataloged as NGC 7635, but known simply as the Bubble Nebula. Taken from Krakow, Poland, the featured view utilizes a long exposure to reveal the intricate details of this cosmic bubble and its environment. Although it looks delicate, the 10 light-year diameter bubble offers evidence of violent processes at work. Seen here right of the Bubble's center, a bright hot star is embedded in the nebula's reflecting dust. A fierce stellar wind and intense radiation from the star, which likely has...
  • Storms that built a graveyard: ancient monsoons and flood created a spectacular dinosaur fossil site

    07/26/2026 9:15:35 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 30 replies
    The Conversation ^ | 07/22/2026 | Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza Royal Society Newton International Fellow in Palaeontology, UCL
    Around 80 million years ago, a stretch of tropical coastline in what is now north-eastern Italy was lashed by monsoon rains and tropical cyclones. Those storms swept dinosaur carcasses, crocodiles, plants and river mud onto a tidal flat, where the tides and a film of microbes sealed everything away with extraordinary preservation.My colleagues and I have published a new study that reconstructs the violent tropical climate behind the Villaggio del Pescatore Lagerstätte near Trieste and reveals it preserves just four decades of life, recorded almost day by day. The Villaggio del Pescatore site near Trieste is one of the most...
  • Eerie Quiet in the Seismic Earth?

    07/26/2026 8:43:29 PM PDT · by Oscar in Batangas · 25 replies
    Latest Earthquake Page ^ | Jul 27 2026 | Self/USGS
    Absolutely NOTHING appears in the CONUS North of about 39.5 degrees from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans. This is quite unusual, I believe
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Simulation TNG50: A Galaxy Cluster Forms

    07/26/2026 12:19:32 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 6 replies
    NASA ^ | 26 Jul, 2026 | Video Credit: IllustrisTNG Project; Visualization: Dylan Nelson (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysi
    Explanation: How do clusters of galaxies form? Since our universe moves too slowly to watch, faster-moving computer simulations are created to help find out. One famous effort is TNG50 from IllustrisTNG, an upgrade of the famous Illustris Simulation. The first part of the featured video tracks cosmic gas (mostly hydrogen) as it evolves into galaxies and galaxy clusters from the early universe to today, with brighter colors marking faster moving gas. As the universe matures, gas falls into gravitational wells, galaxies forms, galaxies spin, galaxies collide and merge, all while black holes form in galaxy centers and expel surrounding gas...
  • 10 Foods That Food Safety Experts Never Eat

    07/26/2026 8:14:01 AM PDT · by Diana in Wisconsin · 156 replies
    TIME ^ | July 26, 2026 | Angela Haupt
    Ask someone who investigates foodborne illness for a living what they won't put on their plate, and the list is shorter—and stranger—than you'd expect. It's not that these experts live in fear. Most will tell you that all food carries some risk, and the real skill is deciding which risks are worth taking. Frank Yiannas, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s former deputy commissioner for food policy and response, says he doesn't think of foods as simply "good" or "bad." Instead, "I approach everything with what I would say is a quantitative risk assessment," he says. "I'm calculated." Still, after...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Tranquility and Serenity

    07/25/2026 11:58:59 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 11 replies
    NASA ^ | 25 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: NyĂŞrdson Ferreira
    Explanation: The Seas of Tranquility and Serenity are calm today. They're calm most every day though, since they are actually lunar maria, ancient lava flows filling in large impact basins on the Moon. Also known by Latin names Mare Tranquillitatis (right) and Mare Serenitatis, the smooth dark lunar "seas" are in stark contrast to the bright cratered lunar highlands surrounding them in this telescopic view. Of course their names are based on the historical, pre-telescopic designations of lunar maria. Easily visible to the unaided eye, the broad features on the Moon's near side were imagined to be like the expansive...
  • We Fired Up A Roman Hypocaust - For 8 Days Straight! [14:28]

    07/25/2026 9:29:55 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 7 replies
    YouTube ^ | July 23, 2026 | Butser Ancient Farm
    Nearly 2,000 years after it was first built, we're discovering just how ingenious Roman central heating really was. For eight days, a team of volunteers heated our reconstructed Roman hypocaust continuously. This was an experiment to find out what temperatures can be achieved, how long does the system take to get up to temperature and how long does the system retain the temperature once the fire has been extinguished. Our hypocaust is based on archaeological evidence from the remarkable Sparsholt Roman Villa, located around 6 km NW of Winchester, England. The excavation was one of the earliest Roman villas in...
  • Yet Another Embarrassment From The National Academy Of Pseudoscience

    07/25/2026 4:48:40 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 22 replies
    Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 23 Jul, 2026 | Francis Menton
    In my own professional life, I was not a scientist, and therefore I never much paid attention to the kinds of rewards and honors that practicing scientists pass out to each other. But at some point I became aware that there was something called the National Academy of Sciences, and that among scientists it was considered a big deal to get selected to become a member. This membership is one of those things that you cannot apply for; rather, one day you get “tapped” by some committee of super-elite gurus who invite you to come learn the secret handshake. Here’s...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - RCW 86: Historical Supernova Remnant

    07/24/2026 12:01:00 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 4 replies
    NASA ^ | 24 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: David Cowland
    Explanation: In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers recorded the appearance of a new star in the Nanmen asterism. That part of the sky is identified with part of the southern constellation Centaurus on modern star charts. In fact, the new star was reported to be visible to the naked eye for months before it faded from view, and is now thought to be the earliest recorded supernova. In this 21st century telescopic image, the wispy outlines of a faint emission nebula recognized as the remnant of that historical stellar explosion can be traced against a starry background. The ragged but roughly...
  • The Lost Oasis Civilization: A 5,000-Year-Old Secret | Full History Documentary [51:17]

    07/24/2026 11:00:10 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 7 replies
    YouTube ^ | February 4, 2026 | GEDEON DOC
    In the heart of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, a city over 5,000 years old lay dormant beneath the sands. Thanks to excavations led by an international team, this ancient city is about to be reborn in the light of the present. Led for over ten years by Italian archaeologist Gabriele Rossi Osmida, this research has revealed the existence of a mysterious culture: the Oasis Civilization. These cities, spread along an ancient trade route between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, bear witness to a refined and organized people, connected to the other great cultures of the time: Mesopotamia, Elam, and the Indus...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Large Magellanic Cloud

    07/23/2026 12:26:15 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | 23 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Monica Mesa Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
    Explanation: Have you ever seen another galaxy with your own eyes? The featured image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the closest neighbors of our Milky Way. If you are anywhere south of latitude 20° N (but the further south, the better), you can see it with the unaided eye if you go to a dark sky location, away from big cities and light polution. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 163,000 light-years away, and a member of our Local Group of galaxies. Despite being small, with a total mass approximately equivalent to 10% - 20% of...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Corona Australis Molecular Cloud and the Chandelier Cluster

    07/22/2026 11:11:23 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 10 replies
    NASA ^ | 22 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit: DES/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: T.A. Rector (UAA/NOIRLab),
    Explanation: The Southern Crown (Corona Australis) dazzles with young and ancient celestial jewels. The Corona Australis Cloud is a collage of reflection and emission nebulae on the left of today’s image. At 430 light years away, this cloud is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth. It contains gas cool enough (-260 Celsius or -440 Fahrenheit) to collapse into protostars. Recently formed stars paint blue hues across the cloud as their light reflects off surrounding material. The waltz of the R Coronae Australis binary system stirs up the nebula NGC 6729. The younger of the pair ionizes nearby gas...
  • Endangerment Finding Litigation Update

    07/22/2026 7:27:51 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 3 replies
    Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 21 Jul, 2026 | Francis Menton
    On February 13 this year, the federal EPA rescinded one of its regulatory actions known as the “Endangerment Finding.” (EF). The EF, originally adopted in 2009 early in the Obama administration, was likely the single most costly and destructive regulatory action ever to spring forth from the administrative state. The EF became the fundamental underpinning for all the subsequent regulations that sought to restrict and ultimately ban use of fossil fuels in the economy — everything from regulations seeking to force closure of power plants, to efforts to mandate only electric cars, to restrictions on drilling and pipelines, and much,...
  • Hunter Biden is still trying to charge $54,000 for his paintings — and the huge price includes a video call with him

    07/22/2026 5:45:14 AM PDT · by Libloather · 38 replies
    NY Post ^ | 7/21/26 | Isabel Vincent
    Hunter Biden is on a media blitz campaign, using far-right influencers with millions of social media followers to promote his brand and hawk his new collection of art work — which is going for eye-popping sums, sources told The Post. According to the operations manager of the “Hunter Biden Studio,” Biden is selling a 36-by-36-inch canvas, “Watchers,” for $54,000 — “and every sale includes a private video call with Hunter, in which he speaks personally about the painting.” And sources say he has recently appeared on the podcasts of extremists like Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens not as some great...
  • Dan Aykroyd Reveals One Man's Incredible WWII Collection | World War II: Saving the Reality [55:10]

    07/22/2026 5:08:27 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 17 replies
    YouTube ^ | May 22, 2026 (filmed in 2022, looks like) | Stash - War & Military
    Narrated by Dan Aykroyd, World War II: Saving the Reality tells the story of Kenneth W. Rendell, an individual who owns the largest private collection of World War II artifacts in the world. Dan Aykroyd Reveals One Man's Incredible WWII Collection World War II: Saving the Reality | 55:10 Stash - War & Military | Free Movies 14.4K subscribers | 351,107 views | May 22, 2026
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Turtle Rock on Mars

    07/21/2026 12:37:38 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 13 replies
    NASA ^ | 21 Jul, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Processing & License: Thomas Thomopoulos
    Explanation: Is this a fossilized turtle on Mars? No. Although resembling a large Earth tortoise, this is a layered rock outcrop on Mars that is estimated to span about 15 meters, making it much larger than turtles on Earth. NASA’s robotic Curiosity rover came across this unusual mound, dubbed Miraflores, last month during its 4922nd Martian day exploring Mars. The small butte may survive because it was somehow more resistant to erosion than surrounding rock. More recent wind has now covered its top with orange Martian sand. Below the top shell, many layers of stratified rock are visible, possibly indicating...