I Don't Cotton To That - 10 September 2021 - Plague Journal Day 547

Micah 6:8  (check this song too)
Mark 2:21
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is an interesting one. It's Blame It On The Large Hadron Collider Day. The LHC went online for the first time on this date in 2008 and every bad thing that's happened since then is likely due to its warping the woof of the fabric of space-time. (See what I did there?) For a moderately hip tour of the LHC, check this video.

Speaking of fabric, it's interesting that also on this date, but back in 1846, a patent was granted for a sewing machine with a lockstitch design. Sewing machines are fascinating: how does a needle going up and down through a piece of fabric sew anything? It has to do with bobbins and all kinds of fiddly bits and gears and sprockets and such.

See what I mean?

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Neutron Stars - 15 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 217

Micah 6:8
Matthew 19:6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I found it interesting that shortly after that black hole spaghettification piece a couple days ago, here comes an oddity from the collision of a pair of neutron stars. After they merged (as detected by the gravity wave), the light died out after a few weeks, but the X-rays continue long after the event. We detected the gravity wave in 2017, and the light emissions ended a few days later. (Please note: I use the term "we" quite loosely. Frankly, I don't remember noticing anything of the kind back then.) The X-rays, however, are still coming, and there's not a good, standard explanation out there yet.

My hypothesis - and you are reading it here first - is that the merged body of those neutron stars has joined a heretofore-unknown-to-science class of stellar bodies: neutronium stars. These are stars whose matter is compressed so tightly that the neutrons are actually fusing and releasing X-rays. I would expect a fairly large spray of tachyons and netrinos as well, with a possible periodic emission of Higgs bosons based on the rotational period of the neutronium star, so here's hoping the folks at CERN are awake, and that the neutrino detectors in Antarctica are pointed in the right direction to confirm my conjecture.

 

Here's some more neutron-related video action for you.

Bonus material:
On today's date in 1817 Polish/American general Tadeusz Kościuszko died. If you don't know of his involvement with these United States, you should take a look at a map. Look at Indiana, for instance. There sits the town of Warsaw in Kosciusko County. Keep looking around - you'll find lots more places named after and for Tadeusz all over the place (and may with their individual altered spellings).

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.