mc ☕ @mc@qoto.org

By now you’ve no doubt read about the #jameswebbspacetelescope observing #galaxies that are the most distant and earliest ever seen, but how can astronomers be sure these aren’t more recent and closer? #Space #astronomy #scicomm https://www.space.com/how-do-we-tell-age-of-galaxies

What? It's #Monday again?

#humor #dogs

3/ the gutted interior of the White House during the Truman renovation, 1950
#photography #history #WhiteHouse

In my several months hanging around here, I've stumbled on few things I appreciate as much as @radiofreefedi. Have a listen - you're guaranteed to come across #music you've never heard before.

The earthquake struck San Francisco a few minutes past 8:00 in the morning on April 18, 1906, a Wednesday.

"But it's only #metadata…" they say.

#privacy #surveillance #thenib

"Modern physics can't explain it—but our new theory, which says time is fundamental, might"

Assembly Theory

"Each new area of fundamental #physics, whether describing space and time (Newton/Einstein), matter and light (quantum mechanics), or heat and work (thermodynamics) has introduced a new concept of time.

But what about #evolution and life? To build novel things, evolution requires time. Endless novelty can only come to be in a universe where time exists and has a clear direction.

To explain life, we therefore need to understand how the complex objects life creates exist in time.

This suggests that assembly theory is indeed capable of testing our hypothesis that life is the only physics that generates complex objects. And we can do so by identifying those objects that are so complex the only physical mechanism to form them is evolution.

https://phys.org/news/2023-04-life-modern-physics-itbut-theory.html

This is Hilda, age 3, at work in a Wisconsin sugar beet field alongside her older brothers, 1915. This afternoon's newsletter contains a series of photos taken by Lewis Hine on behalf of a nonprofit working to secure passage of federal laws restricting child labor.
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photo Michael Probst

I don't know how it started, but I have developed a habit of waking up every day with a song in my head. The song lodges there and sticks around for at least the morning. Sometimes, it's a pop tune, sometimes an aria, sometimes a showstopper from a musical. Today, it's "Lullaby of Birdland." Spare a thought for my wife, who has to listen to my humming. It's a great song. Here it is, for those who'd like to hum along. On piano: the great George Shearing. #Music #Jazz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zJnoQiIqDU