Jupiter and Saturn will appear very close in the early evening sky tomorrow. This also happens to be the solstice. Here, read up on it at Scientific American. It's been nice seeing the slow wind-up to this while out walking or hanging in friends' yards. But don't forget, tomorrow's the closest approach.
If you miss this one, don't worry, there'll be another along in about 60 years. Yes, that sounds like a long time, but by astronomical timetables that's only a blink away.
The one that works that is, not the one linked from their web site. Found via Radio-Locator. Anyway, the link: KLEB online.
Article at The NYT (yeah, I know...)
How 700 Epidemiologists Are Living Now, and What They Think is Next
Hey, their guesses are better than mine.
Expect spotty posting over the next few weeks, but things are rolling again here.
Metal monolith found by helicopter crew in Utah desert at the BBC.
Reportedly the ape-men staring transfixed at the monolith while learning quantum field theory scampered away and hid as the helicopter approached. Well, that's what I heard.
Still not there, but here's a 10 minute video summarizing the latest research on the matter, at Backreaction. It's taking time to get to a functioning warp drive, but this is hard stuff. It may in the end prove to be altogether impossible, but this hasn't been shown yet. In the meantime it is fun to watch the progress.
Much of what you see in the press regarding covid-19 is bunk, but this ongoing summary from Nature is generally good and trustworthy. At least, it's the latest science from people doing their level best to get it right. link to Nature It's usually updated every day or so – as results trickle out, on no particular schedule.
The second resource I'm pointing out today is the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME home page). Their home page has all kinds of links to papers they're producing, but perhaps of more interest here are these direct links showing the ongoing data on infections and deaths per day along with near-future projections under various scenarios. You can get to most any region of the world via the pull-down menu, but for convenience here are some of the more relevant ones for the usual readers of this blog:
United States | Mississippi | Louisiana | Alabama | Florida
Very convenient to have these, especially when the MSM points to one currently-exploding region of the country and begins, yet again, screaming about doom. And while some of the projections are a bit pessimistic, the historical data are correct and the seven-day ripple has been mercifully smoothed out.
Remember what I said a couple of weeks ago about taking a few days off from blogging? Then following up with a string of posts? Well, looks like I'll really be taking a few days/weeks/months(?) off now. Nothing dire, just tired and busy. No worries, I'll be back, even if it's just for a year-end wrap-up.
Been reading a ton of H.P. Lovecraft lately. Funny, with the string of storms we've had over the past 15 years, plus the Macondo blowout, pandemic, and general political craziness, Lovecraft's writing is beginning to sound kind of down-home comforting. House-sized invisible monsters trashing buildings in the neighborhood? Been there, done that, got the insurance check, moved on. I really need some time off.
On the good side, the grid power in my neighborhood is up and stable, the yard is all chainsawed out, and there aren't any storms currently headed this way. OCMS played the Grand Ole Opry last night, that was a fun listen. (the ionosphere's improving too, so skywave doesn't sound quite so funky) The weather's in that stunningly beautiful mid-fall blue sky mode for the foreseeable future. Ya take yer good where ya can get it these days.
See y'all in a few weeks.
