Cool and Interesting News & Such.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmm. While I doubt an ancient Egyptian (priest or otherwise) would say something that sounds like "Eehhhh," it's remarkable that the scientists managed to figure out any sound at all.

I wonder if it sounded like this: ancient Egyptian - spoken!

[Tawmis]

Christy Marx share this on FB - and it's beautiful and amazing.

Hubble Stuff.

[Rath Darkblade]

The universe is astounding, amazing. The fact that the earth developed at all, as a place where life (as we know it) can exist and develop, depended on a bunch of variables (gravity, pressure, levels of oxygen and carbon etc.) being at the right levels. And the chance of that happening - at least by design - is so tiny, it blows my mind.

Just imagine: if some cosmological variable - for instance, oxygen levels - was otherwise, we wouldn't have this beautiful blue-green rock to live on. Why? Less oxygen means less water, for a start. Less air, either. The earth would have developed, but it would be a completely different planet. Less water means more deserts as well as fewer species living in the water, and eventually evolving and climbing out of the water and onto the sand. What would the planet be like? Who knows, but it certainly wouldn't be like the earth we know.

And that's just our planet. If the universe is infinitely large, what could we discover out there? And if Schrödinger is right, and there is such a thing as a multiverse, perhaps we might be able, some day, to explore it in peace (as they say on Star Trek). It's a beautiful thought. Think of it: an infinite number of infinitely large universes! An oodleplex of oodleplexes! We wouldn't need to compete and start wars over land and resources, because if we don't like the planet we're on, we could just find another planet and settle there. Of course, there would be issues - fuel for the rockets, etc. - and that's assuming there are no aliens out there.

However weird the aliens, by the way, they could never compete with the strange and exotic lifeforms that exist and eke out a living in the deepest parts of our oceans - or in our caves, or on our savannahs. You think aliens are weird? Try reading about hyena sexuality. That will blow your mind. Some people would be freaked out by the thought of a world dominated by bipedal spotted hyena-like humanoids, but not me. Don't google "spotted hyena reproduction" if you don't have a strong stomach.

Anyway, from all that rambling to something silly: this outer-space image (from the BBC) looks like a ranting politician. (With a huge hump, even!)

[Tawmis]

However weird the aliens, by the way, they could never compete with the strange and exotic lifeforms that exist and eke out a living in the deepest parts of our oceans - or in our caves, or on our savannahs. You think aliens are weird?
Anyway, from all that rambling to something silly: this outer-space image (from the BBC) looks like a ranting politician. (With a huge hump, even!)

Speaking of aliens...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/us/p ... ideos.html


Also - I don't see a politician - I see a hand where they're about to snap their fingers.

[Rath Darkblade]

Ah, fair enough. The lower right looks a little bit like an open mouth, so combined with the "arm", it reminded me of a "ranting politician" - or maybe a "hell-fire-and-brimstone" preacher.

As for the article on aliens ... I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced - especially because, at first, the NY Times says:

The Department of Defense confirmed what seekers of extraterrestrial life have long hoped to be true: They’re real.

(What's real? Aliens?)

But then the NY Times says:

At least, these three videos are.

(A-ha! So, the footage is real, not the aliens.)

Then the NY Times says:

The videos, captured by naval aviators, show objects hurtling through the sky, one rotating against the wind, and pilots can be heard expressing confusion and awe. When they first appeared online, they breathed new life into the decades-long conversation about whether interstellar visitors had ever come to Earth.

All right, now we're getting into the meat of the story. Fine ... but the videos don't actually prove anything, spacecraft or otherwise. We don't know, and we can't tell, if it was aliens or not. It could be ... or it might not be. We just don't know. *shrug*

By the way, this article is very vague about when this took place. I thought this was about the original sightings in the 1940s until I clicked on the link to the second article and found it happened in 2004.

Lastly, I found this interesting:

The Pentagon’s release cheered enthusiasts in the search for extraterrestrial life, even though experts caution that earthly explanations usually exist for such sightings — and that when people don’t know why something happened, it does not mean it happened because of aliens.

Exactly! The experts (whoever they may be) are right. Just because we don't know, it doesn't mean that aliens are involved. That's like the old "A wizard did it and ran away" joke. Besides, I've seen way too many stories that claim alien involvement in anything, from Stonehenge to the Pyramids to Machu Picchu. It's ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that aliens definitely don't exist. We just don't have any proof that they do exist. If there was such a proof - if we could even communicate with them - how fascinating that would be!

I think I understand why people want to believe in aliens. The universe is vast and hostile to human life, apart from our own little blue-green planet. We would like to believe that we're not alone in it. It's the same psychological need that makes people believe in elves, pixies, unicorns etc. We don't have any proof of any of those things, but that doesn't stop people from believing. (If we had proof, people wouldn't bother to believe. What's the point of believing in something that exists? It'd be like believing in the postman. The post is out there!)

[Tawmis]

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that aliens definitely don't exist. We just don't have any proof that they do exist.

When was the last time you saw the wind?

I think I understand why people want to believe in aliens. The universe is vast and hostile to human life, apart from our own little blue-green planet. We would like to believe that we're not alone in it. It's the same psychological need that makes people believe in elves, pixies, unicorns etc. We don't have any proof of any of those things, but that doesn't stop people from believing. (If we had proof, people wouldn't bother to believe. What's the point of believing in something that exists? It'd be like believing in the postman. The post is out there!)

For me, it's not that I don't want to believe we're alone out there; I just think with the TRILLIONS of universes, planets, etc - that it's insane to even think that somewhere out there - life exists.
And perhaps not even a planet anything like Earth - maybe where there's less or no oxygen - and whatever life (whether humanoid, animal or plant) - breathes whatever gas exists on said planet.
Mind you, I also don't think most of what we've seen is "aliens" (and there's been so many "alien abduction" stories that, as you said, are way too far fetched that they're hard to believe) - I'd think that if "aliens" visited our planet, they'd make landfall somewhere. The flipside, however, is who says that aliens need to come to our planet - and instead send "drones" that have no one in it - just fly at hyper speeds to record what it sees. Same way we send stuff to float around Jupiter and send us photos. We're just behind, maybe, in having something so quick.

[Collector]

Sea angels.

https://www.boredpanda.com/sea-angel-alexander-semenov/

[Tawmis]

Looks like a straight up photoshop. lol

[Rath Darkblade]

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that aliens definitely don't exist. We just don't have any proof that they do exist.

When was the last time you saw the wind?

I don't need to see it; I can feel it. That's how I know it exists.

I think I understand why people want to believe in aliens. The universe is vast and hostile to human life, apart from our own little blue-green planet. We would like to believe that we're not alone in it. It's the same psychological need that makes people believe in elves, pixies, unicorns etc. We don't have any proof of any of those things, but that doesn't stop people from believing. (If we had proof, people wouldn't bother to believe. What's the point of believing in something that exists? It'd be like believing in the postman. The post is out there!)

For me, it's not that I don't want to believe we're alone out there; I just think with the TRILLIONS of universes, planets, etc - that it's insane to even think that somewhere out there - life exists.

And perhaps not even a planet anything like Earth - maybe where there's less or no oxygen - and whatever life (whether humanoid, animal or plant) - breathes whatever gas exists on said planet.

Mind you, I also don't think most of what we've seen is "aliens" (and there's been so many "alien abduction" stories that, as you said, are way too far fetched that they're hard to believe) - I'd think that if "aliens" visited our planet, they'd make landfall somewhere. The flipside, however, is who says that aliens need to come to our planet - and instead send "drones" that have no one in it - just fly at hyper speeds to record what it sees. Same way we send stuff to float around Jupiter and send us photos. We're just behind, maybe, in having something so quick.

I'm not sure what you mean, by the way, when you say: "...it's insane to even think that somewhere out there, life exists." Are you saying there are no aliens? Or that there are? I'm confused.

You could be right about there being something out there. I never said that my point-of-view is definitely right (end of story, nyah nyah). I just don't know. If there is intelligent life out there, it's keeping very quiet!

There have, IIRC, some signs of primitive life on Mars - but only micro-organisms. Also, the signs are seasonal and faint. Mars is similar to the early Earth, so it is interesting for the study of the origins of life on our planet. Humanity could colonise Mars, but it will take vast resources (especially water) to do so.

Even if "aliens" have visited Earth - like you said, they wouldn't have to make landfall. Why should they? Would they know about our planet or about us, and if they did, would they be interested? Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. Maybe these aliens are anti-social. "Ah, stuff the Earth. The beer down there is swill. Let's go to Barnard's Star, instead. Let's go visit Alpha Centauri. Then we can have lunch at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe."

[Tawmis]

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that aliens definitely don't exist. We just don't have any proof that they do exist.

When was the last time you saw the wind?

I don't need to see it; I can feel it. That's how I know it exists.

So ... you don't need to see it? Feeling it is enough?
What if it's not the wind - but aliens cloaked in invisibility walking by you?

I'm not sure what you mean, by the way, when you say: "...it's insane to even think that somewhere out there, life exists." Are you saying there are no aliens? Or that there are? I'm confused.

Forgot the word of "doesn't" - should have read:
For me, it's not that I don't want to believe we're alone out there; I just think with the TRILLIONS of universes, planets, etc - that it's insane to even think that somewhere out there - life doesn't exist.

Implying - in my mind, if someone thinks we're alone, there's no aliens (or at least some form of life out there - not humanoid, but maybe animal or plant) - they'd have to be insane. Again, in my view. Because, yes crazy what it took for life to happen on Earth - right amount of distance from the sun, water, oxygen - but that's us. Whose to say on a planet further away, in another galaxy, with whatever mixtures of gases and compounds that something didn't sprout up somewhere else in the trillions of other planets.

You could be right about there being something out there. I never said that my point-of-view is definitely right (end of story, nyah nyah). I just don't know. If there is intelligent life out there, it's keeping very quiet!

Have you watched the news? There's barely intelligent life here.

[Rath Darkblade]

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that aliens definitely don't exist. We just don't have any proof that they do exist.

When was the last time you saw the wind?

I don't need to see it; I can feel it. That's how I know it exists.

So ... you don't need to see it? Feeling it is enough?
What if it's not the wind - but aliens cloaked in invisibility walking by you?

What if it is just the wind? Occam's Razor. Or if it wasn't the wind, what if it's invisible ninjas? Or a sneaky Dragonborn who's about to pickpocket me?

If - just for the sake of argument - the aliens have landed (why should they?), and they're walking next to me (why me, out of the whole planet?), and they have invisibility cloaking (why should they use it - to spy on me? But again, why me?) ... anyway, even if all this is true ... so ... what can I do about it? Tell these pervy spying aliens to bugger off?

Yes, I'm not taking this seriously. But hey, this is all conjecture. I don't know if it's true or not, so I don't worry about it.

You could be right about there being something out there. I never said that my point-of-view is definitely right (end of story, nyah nyah). I just don't know. If there is intelligent life out there, it's keeping very quiet!

Have you watched the news? There's barely intelligent life here.

That's true. Intelligent people down here are keeping a low profile, generally speaking.

Unfortunately, some people would rather believe conspiracy theories. For instance, some people are setting fire to 5G mast-towers and attacking engineers because some creepy charlatan, pretending to be a priest, told them that 5G towers are giving everyone the Corona virus. FFS.

[Rath Darkblade]

So ... some funny news. A lot of famous-and-not-so-famous people have been releasing their own range of underwear, like Kylie Minogue's "Intimates" undies range.

Last I heard now, Arnold Schwarzenegger also released a range of underwear, both for men and women.

For women, he called them "Schwarze-knickers".

For men, of course - "Ar-ndies".

*runs away*

[BBP]

The annual GLOW light-art festival couldn't take place this year due to Corona, but to "give the town something", sponsors had hired two architects for two art projects.

One involved lots of huge blue lamps so that the nocturnal sky was a bluish purple.

The other involved 1500 weather balloons with LED-lamps, spread across town, the various sights and all that. The artist of that thought it was a good idea to tie two balloons to the former Paterskerk, a former church that has a statue of Jesus with his arms spread out, looking over the city. So they tied two balloons to his arms.

Unfortunately there was one tiny oversight - that particular Christ statue has a steel crown of thorns. So a few minutes after the artist attached the balloons, Jesus had two dangling strings with an LED on one end on his arm.

Sometimes I think stuff like that can only happen here.

[Rath Darkblade]

I can just imagine. But what were the LEDs attached to, if the crown of thorns popped the balloons?

[Rath Darkblade]

Very strange news ... Police raid a cannabis farm -- and finds a bitcoin mine instead

If the link doesn't work, here's the story:

Ganja believe it? Police make hash of suspected weed farm raid, pot Bitcoin mine instead
Cops weren’t total dopes: chronic electricity theft means they still smoked crims

West Midlands Police in the UK has revealed that its officers raided a suspected cannabis growing operation and ended up smoking out a Bitcoin mine run on stolen electricity.

A statement explains that the site of the raid, a local industrial unit, bore several signs of a wacky baccy cultivation operation.

“We heard how lots of people were visiting the unit at different times of day, lots of wiring and ventilation ducts were visible, and a police drone picked up a considerable heat source from above,” the statement said. That combo was considered “classic cannabis factory signs” so a warrant was procured and on May 18th officers forced entry.

They found no jazz cabbage but did spot “a huge bank of around 100 computer units as part of what’s understood to be a Bitcoin mining operation.”

The devil’s lettuce wasn’t the only thing missing on site: chronic lack of connectivity to electricity meters was apparent, suggesting the miners had bypassed billing.

“It’s certainly not what we were expecting,” said a blunt canned quote from Sandwell Police sergeant Jennifer Griffin. “It had all the hallmarks of a cannabis cultivation set-up and I believe it’s only the second such crypto mine we’ve encountered in the West Midlands.”

The mining kit has been seized, but no arrests have been made as no-one was present at the time of the raid.

“But we’ll be making enquiries with the unit’s owner”, said sergeant Griffin.