some significant stories from the past week
Give Peace a Chance: George Monbiot is one of the most decent and thoughtful people writing today. So when he warns that illegal and destructive action may be counter productive, we utterly agree. However pressing seems the cause.
Back to Black The thing the enemies of science don’t understand is: it’s never final, it’s always refining its observations. A recent delightful proof of this comes from Nature Briefings, which chronicles our improving understanding of the Black Hole in the M87* First Black Hole Image grows clearer
The first image of a black hole blew us away in 2019, showing a ‘ring of fire’ of radio-wavelength emissions swirling around an abyss called M87*. Now, a machine-learning algorithm maximizes the resolution of the image to show a substantially thinner ring. And fresh data reveal that a stupendously bright jet of superheated matter, which was observed long before the black hole was imaged, actually emerges from the ring. Astronomers know that jets are ejected from the region surrounding black holes, but it’s still not fully understood how that happens. “For the first time, we see how the jet connects to the ring,” says radio astronomer and jet-study co-author Thomas Krichbaum.Nature | 5 min read
Reference: The Astrophysical Journal Letters paper & Nature paper
Hay Fever-what the hell’s got into you? Ever since we started this blog, more and more evidence has been accumulating which suggests links between various maladies and disturbances to the gut and mouth biome. Latest in the series? Hay fever, believe it or not. Here’s The Converstion:
We’re having a heatwave So went the old Irving Berlin song. Trouble is, we don’t really want one, not in April anyway. And not if you’re Spanish, as El Pais makes clear
Doolin Dalton Nothing then or now could beat The Eagles when they hit top form ( they didn’t invariably) One of theirs which stands comparison with anyone is this cowboy-hard scrabble ballad that seems a million miles from the Hockneyised villas and pools of wealthy LA
#george monbiot #climate change #astronomy #Black holes #record temperatures
Learning, Science and Society 