TransientSignal's recent activity
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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After three years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission ends
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Comment on What is a classical music piece you like? And why? in ~music
TransientSignal LinkGustav Holst's The Planets is just about my favorite orchestral suite out there - It's heart-pounding, delicate in places, and really worth listening to all the way through. If you've got a good...Gustav Holst's The Planets is just about my favorite orchestral suite out there - It's heart-pounding, delicate in places, and really worth listening to all the way through. If you've got a good pair of headphones and the better part of an hour available, I highly recommend listening to it in its entirety in once sitting.
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Comment on Quizzle – Can you guess the word in fewer than twenty questions? in ~games
TransientSignal LinkGot it on my 20th question after eliminating just about every other physical object and abstract concept in the known universe lol One suggestion I'd have is to allow you to look back at the...Got it on my 20th question after eliminating just about every other physical object and abstract concept in the known universe lol
One suggestion I'd have is to allow you to look back at the questions you asked after you've guessed the correct word - I see you're going for the 'wordle' style sharable blurb so maybe you don't want it as easily copy-pastable, but it'd still be nice to be able to review your questions afterwards in some way.
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Comment on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023 annular eclipse: where and when in ~space
TransientSignal Link ParentHope the weather is clear for you down south! I'm stuck in Seattle for the weekend so I'm looking forward to watching the cloudy skies get a bit darker than usual hahaHope the weather is clear for you down south! I'm stuck in Seattle for the weekend so I'm looking forward to watching the cloudy skies get a bit darker than usual haha
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OSIRIS-REx sample capsule lands in Utah
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After fifteen years, pulsar timing yields evidence of cosmic gravitational wave background
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Comment on The Perseverance Mars rover collected its twentieth sample today in ~space
TransientSignal LinkAfter two previously unsuccessful attempts by Perseverance to collect core samples at its current location on the upper part of the fan deposits, the rover collected its twentieth sample today, on...After two previously unsuccessful attempts by Perseverance to collect core samples at its current location on the upper part of the fan deposits, the rover collected its twentieth sample today, on Sol 832 of its mission. The previous attempts to collect a core sample at this location were unsuccessful due to how loosely the rock at this location is held together - As the previous samples were collected, they crumbled, resulting it either too small of a sample or no sample whatsoever. This latest attempt however was successful, resulting in the twentieth sample to date.
In addition to this NASA blog entry, their summary site for all samples collected to date has been updated - The site shows photographs of where the sample was taken as well as summary details for each sample including the date collected, where the sample is located currently (on the rover or at the 'sample depot'), what type of sample was collected and, if applicable, what type of rock was collected:
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The Perseverance Mars rover collected its twentieth sample today
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Comment on Mercury ahead! - ESA/JAXA's BepiColumbo completed its third flyby of Mercury today in ~space
TransientSignal LinkA joint venture between ESA & JAXA, the BepiColumbo spacecraft completed its third flyby of Mercury today. In addition to the three flybys of Mercury, it performed two previous flybys of Venus and...A joint venture between ESA & JAXA, the BepiColumbo spacecraft completed its third flyby of Mercury today. In addition to the three flybys of Mercury, it performed two previous flybys of Venus and one of Earth and will perform three additional flybys of Mercury all in service of putting it in orbit around Mercury in 2025 so it can study the messenger planet.
(apologies for the previous post - due to how ESA's website functions, the link I copied was not a direct link to the topic in question)
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Mercury ahead! - ESA/JAXA's BepiColumbo completed its third flyby of Mercury today
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~space
TransientSignal LinkA joint venture between ESA & JAXA, the BepiColumbo spacecraft completed its third flyby of Mercury today. In addition to the three flybys of Mercury, it performed two previous flybys of Venus and...A joint venture between ESA & JAXA, the BepiColumbo spacecraft completed its third flyby of Mercury today. In addition to the three flybys of Mercury, it performed two previous flybys of Venus and one of Earth and will perform three additional flybys of Mercury all in service of putting it in orbit around Mercury in 2025 so it can study the messenger planet.
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Comment on Good, quality YouTube channels? in ~tech
TransientSignal Link ParentIndeed! And he's just as good behind the camera in those other channels as he is in Numberphile, knowing when to let his guests keep talking, but also when to ask them questions and what to ask...Indeed!
And he's just as good behind the camera in those other channels as he is in Numberphile, knowing when to let his guests keep talking, but also when to ask them questions and what to ask them, often asking just the question you're thinking of while watching his videos.
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Comment on Good, quality YouTube channels? in ~tech
TransientSignal LinkIf you're into natural disaster docs, I would suggest Practical Engineering - His 'What Really Happened' series is fantastic, covering all sorts of natural and man-made disasters from an...If you're into natural disaster docs, I would suggest Practical Engineering - His 'What Really Happened' series is fantastic, covering all sorts of natural and man-made disasters from an engineering perspective.
Moving into some of my favorite channels:
Space & Astronomy:
Dr. Becky - UK astronomer covering current events in astronomy.
Scott Manley - Covers a variety of space topics focusing on hardware.
PBS Spacetime - Covers all sorts of physics and space related topics in great detail.
Mars Guy - Geologist covering the activities of the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers.
Deep Sky Videos - Brady Haran channel covering objects in space, particularly those in the Messier Catalog.Other Sciences and Engineering:
Applied Science - Does a variety of engineer projects from machining to working with a DIY electron microscope.
Alpha Phoenix - A variety of physics demonstration projects and a few videos about electron microscopy.
Sixty Symbols - Brady Haran channel covering physics.
Periodic Videos - Brady Haran channel covering chemistry.
NightHawkInLight - Does a variety of engineering projects as well as some interesting coverage of Japanese senko hanabi fireworks.Other:
Computerphile - Brady Haran channel covering computing
Objectivity - Brady Haran channel covering interesting objects, particularly from the Royal Society archives.
Numberphile - Brady Haran channel covering mathematics -
Comment on Japanese company Astroscale wants to clean up low Earth orbit in ~space
TransientSignal Link ParentFar more than twice that; The '27,000' number is just for objects larger than 10cm which pose the greatest danger to operational spacecraft. For objects in the 1cm to 10 cm range, estimates...Far more than twice that; The '27,000' number is just for objects larger than 10cm which pose the greatest danger to operational spacecraft.
For objects in the 1cm to 10 cm range, estimates usually are about one million objects and for objects in the 1mm to 1cm range, more than one hundred million.
Lots of stuff up there, unfortunately...
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Comment on Astronomer here! AMA! in ~space
TransientSignal LinkHave you read the preprint from Saio et. al. that suggests Betelgeuse is in the late stages of core-carbon burning and may only have decades before going supernova? It seems pretty exciting, but...Have you read the preprint from Saio et. al. that suggests Betelgeuse is in the late stages of core-carbon burning and may only have decades before going supernova? It seems pretty exciting, but of course with the usual caveats about it being based on our current models of how stars function and that the dimming in brightening is what they say it is - Any interesting insights you might have as an astronomer?
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Comment on Google is getting a lot worse because of the Reddit blackouts in ~tech
TransientSignal Link ParentAnother thing that may happen alongside higher walls is that many sites from which Google et. al. scrap their data from may just fade away as traffic is siphoned away. Which, if it occurred, would...Another thing that may happen alongside higher walls is that many sites from which Google et. al. scrap their data from may just fade away as traffic is siphoned away. Which, if it occurred, would also hurt those who rely on those same sites for their content. Particularly those megalithic entities which require constant growth to justify their existence, it may end up being a tragic flaw leading themselves fading as well.
(of course, predicting the future is notoriously difficult so who knows what will end up happening on this wonderful, horrible, strange collection of tubes)
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Comment on Google is getting a lot worse because of the Reddit blackouts in ~tech
TransientSignal LinkThis seems like it may be a relevant point to at least one reason why Google have been pushing to not just provide links to the information you're looking for, but the information itself - You've...This seems like it may be a relevant point to at least one reason why Google have been pushing to not just provide links to the information you're looking for, but the information itself - You've probably noticed how many searches deliver more and more Google provided content including the 'People also ask' and 'Things to know' drop downs, the 'Featured Snippets', and sometimes even a big sidebar with information scrapped from all over.
Don't have to rely on the proclivities of other parties if you scrap up all the data and deliver it yourself. Particularly with the integration of AI into search, it wouldn't surprise me if eventually the old model of search engines designed to best get you to where you're going eventually shift into something far more siloed.
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Comment on Anyone else having a bad day because of the AWS us-east-1 outage? in ~tech
TransientSignal LinkPretty minor all things considered, but I often do a lesson on Duolingo here and there throughout my day when I need a break and every single time I've completed one, Duolingo hangs before sending...Pretty minor all things considered, but I often do a lesson on Duolingo here and there throughout my day when I need a break and every single time I've completed one, Duolingo hangs before sending me to the lesson complete screen and after a few minutes, spits me back to the lesson select screen without counting the completion of the lesson.
At least I'm getting some extra practice on that German dative tense!
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Comment on APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day in ~space
TransientSignal Link ParentAnother great resource from views from the ISS is the 'Gateway of Astronaut Photography of Earth'. Literally millions of photos of our little speck of dust from not only the 69 ISS missions, but...Another great resource from views from the ISS is the 'Gateway of Astronaut Photography of Earth'.
Literally millions of photos of our little speck of dust from not only the 69 ISS missions, but also from every single one of NASA's manned spaceflights. I like to check the 'Latest ISS Imagery' tab once a week or so for the latest 1,000 or so photos that have been downloaded.
I'm still very much a beginner so nothing complex, but I'm working on setting up some automation that connects with an existing command line application for creating videos using the planetarium software Stellarium.
Right now I'm working on something that'll automatically set up a sunset to sunrise timelapse for any given day from any given location and while there are existing modules that'll get those values for me, I'm thinking it'll be fun to write for myself.