This is a pretty remarkable find… in very shallow water. An entire city appears to have been affected by an earthquake a century ago, and a lake rushed in to cover it.
I'm constantly amazed at how little we really know about our own human history.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
NASA just picked a new upper stage for its SLS moon rocket amid Artemis shakeup | Space
NASA made a big announcement about a change to the Artemis moon program, and after so many problems and delays, this was expected.
There are several pieces to this announcement. The first is that they're going to away from the more intricate design that required several different types of rockets to be built, and they'll be focused on one type of rocket.
Next, they're evolving the thinking on the lunar module. The design will be simplified and (if I understand it correctly), they'll be changing to a model more like the Apollo rockets lunar module, where they won't be landing the whole unit.
And finally, the plan is to increase the frequency of launches to accelerate the program.
Meanwhile, SpaceX and blue origin are also on the hunt to get to the moon and have some plans to build out solutions that may get us there sooner, too.
Astronomers Just Watched Two Planets Smashing Into Each Other 11,000 Light-Years Away
The basic story is that the astronomers got lucky in a way. They saw two planets at the right angle (relative to earth) at about one astronomical unit away pass near each other and then saw the spectrum emitted changed and a cloud of debris appears to have formed.
Josh D’Amaro officially takes the reigns as the CEO of Disney
Attached are two articles with slightly different points of view on the succession that's happening.
I'm hopeful that the company manages to get it right this time and that Josh is ready to step in as the leader of one of the most recognized brands with a long and illustrious history.
But one thing that I can't quite understand: why him? What makes him more qualified than anyone with experience with the company? (And if I wanted to sound petty, why wouldn't someone like me even get consideration).
A brief summary of his bona fides: he graduated with a degree in business in 1993 from Georgetown. He went to work at Gillette for a couple of years.
Then, he moved to Disney as vice president of sales and travel trade marketing.
And it's been a rise ever since.
Then, he moved to Disney as vice president of sales and travel trade marketing.
And it's been a rise ever since.
It's not like he's a wunderkind, exactly.
But as I said, I hope it works out.
Other nations danced for joy at the World Baseball Classic. Team USA played toy soldiers | World Baseball Classic | The Guardian
Good story.
And for what it's worth, the outcome of the world baseball classic was somewhat satisfying. Not that I rooted for the US to lose or anything. Just was happy to see a Latino team play well and win.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
All 5 fundamental units of life’s genetic code were just discovered in an asteroid sample
Wow. Scientists have looking for what defines life. They came up with 5 "fundamental units of life" that are genetic markers that establish the baseline.
And they have found all 5 of the returned sample from the asteroid Ryugu. Which suggests that life could exist beyond the earth. It doesn't mean it does, of course, it just shows that the things that make life do exist elsewhere.
Monday, March 16, 2026
Torsional flexibility of the thoracic spine is superior to that of the lumbar spine in cats: Implications for the falling cat problem - Higurashi - The Anatomical Record - Wiley Online Library
This may seem a little silly and perhaps trivial. But, a group of scientists decided to figure out WHY cats always land on their feet when they fall or jump.
The rigor they put into their experiment is enviable. It's quite well thought out.
In the end, what the discovered was that cats have two spinal regions which can twist independently, so a cat can start turning part of its body and then can turn the rest.
Studying the world around us is the essence of science.
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