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[Robsoie]

Scully: Mulder, I know you love a good conspiracy theory, but I'm not sure where you're going with this one. Black holes are a scientific mystery, not a government cover-up.

Mulder: Hear me out, Scully. Think about it. Black holes challenge everything we think we know about physics. Maybe they're intentionally being kept mysterious to hide something bigger.

Scully: What exactly do you think is being hidden, Mulder? Black holes are perplexing because they push the boundaries of our understanding, not because of some elaborate cover-up.

Mulder: What if there's a whole new branch of physics that's being concealed? Imagine the implications if we could harness the power of a black hole or understand their true nature.

Scully: That sounds like science fiction, Mulder. The laws of physics as we know them are based on rigorous observation and testing. Black holes are a puzzle precisely because they challenge these laws, not because they're part of a grand conspiracy.

Mulder: But isn't it strange that we know so little about them? It's like there's a deliberate effort to keep us in the dark.

Scully: Sometimes, Mulder, the unknown is just that - unknown. It doesn't mean there's a conspiracy behind every cosmic phenomenon. Our job is to uncover the truth, not create wild theories.

Mulder: Fair point, Scully. Maybe I'm just seeing shadows where there are none. But mark my words, there's more to black holes than meets the eye.

[King Zultan]

Reminds me that I need to finish watching the X-files.

[Duuvian]

Russia proposes UN resolution on banning weapons in space, after vetoing similar UN-Japan draft

https://apnews.com/article/nuclear-arms-space-un-russia-us-japan-561ab8ae569afd7ee79789588ca34033

Spoiler: From the article (click to show/hide)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space.

The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing “the threat or use of force in outer space,” also “for all time.”

It says this should include deploying weapons “from space against Earth, and from Earth against objects in outer space.”

Listen. I am sort of an idiot and I don't want to be terribly useful. However isn't this kind of a good thing? Is there some very good reason that this would not be desirable?

[Starver]

A good principle, but so is the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and that hasn't entirely stopped proliferation. Plus there's always the 'accidental' dual-use of otherwise perfectly benign (or not) space hardware.

My bet is either that this is an attempt to try to curb the US's use of superior military reconnaisance hardware (by some subtle wording that includes conflict-purpose hardware rather than just full on weapons) into the ban or (more likely) it's a gambit where they get a sure diplomatic win out of the attempt (one way, they get vetoed by US and can then accurately claim that the US/whoever was 'against peace'; the other way they force support/non-opposition from their greatest rivals, which they can also bend to their advantage and dine out on for at least the foreseeable future).


I'd have to fully read the replective texts to rule out some of my other (admitedly crazier) ideas as to "why them, why now?"

[Flying Teasets]

G4 Watch In Effect for May 11
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g4-watch-effect-may-11

[Eric Blank]

I hope we get some sweet auroras and not too much damage

[Great Order]

Yeah, we got them here. My brother sent me pictures. Sadly, I'm in a city and the light pollution is too much to see it.

[McTraveller]

My whole sky was red and green - got some cool pics from my yard, maybe I’ll figure out a place to host them in the morning. 42deg 27’ N latitude here, pretty amazing!

[King Zultan]

Is that why part of the sky here was pink a little bit after the sun had gone down?

[Starver]

Is that why part of the sky here was pink a little bit after the sun had gone down?

That could just be high altitude clouds doing a sunset-thing. But hard to tell from the other side of a internet cable(/RFC1149/whatever) connection, so maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. Pink (involving high-up oxygen) and blue (lower-down nitrogen) aren't exactly unexpected hues in the sky, if they're on the edge of vision. I think the 'gold standard' would have to be the greens (or, of course, being completely obvious 'sky curtains', whatever colour(s) they're displaying) as being not a 'normal' sky-hue for pretty much every other event (sunset 'green flash' aside).


I think am a little bit too northerly for a G4-G5. I had a first good look after midnight, and peeked out last at ~2AM (either side of astronomical midnight), and could not see any glow that I couldn't identify as probably more like noctiluscent clouds[1] and/or very indirect illumination from the nearest large towns/maybe-a-regional-city-of-note. But I'm rather used to the northern horizon hardly going very dark in summer as the Sun is barely 'over the pole'. And we're barely a month off that peak time. Even to the south, in the darker sky and thin enough to see many of the expected stars through, there were patches of clear cirrus fibratus (or similar, maybe undulatus or uncinus) in view.

I really keep meaning to check up when 'magnetic midnight' is, for me, to maybe better time my looking/going out. But a G4-5 is roughly relatable to a Kp of 8-9, give or take geomagnetic variation, and I'm apparently better placed to see Kp=7 (~G3 sourced) aurorae. With maybe some luck with that at times. Better in the properly dark skies of midwinter, I find.




[1] Not really sure if they're this. All my life I've known that there's visible high clouds at night, in the right conditions, then a decade or two ago they announce the 'discovery' of NCs, and I'm wondering if I've just seen 'normal' night-time clouds and never actually seen whatever-it-is-that's-actually-truly-noctiluscent. Either because I've never looked up when they're there or because I've been distracted by all the non-noctiluscent clouds up there! ...see also "my northern horizon stays gloriously lit (i.e post-sunset blue, if generally clear) in summer" effect, above.