David Brylle Agbayani Singer. Songwriter. Writer. Frustrated actor. Weird. Self-proclaimed funny. 1/3 of the Beasts of the Southeast, representing the Philippines for the Red Bull's Can You Make It Challenge 2014. Sinner. Saved by grace. Child of God. SilverHero facebook.com/disisdadave twitter.com/disisdadave ask.fm/ohhappydave instagram.com/disisdadave
Most immortals become the angsty āeveryone I have ever loved is goneā kind of immortal. You, on the other hand, instead took it upon yourself to be a loving presence to entire generations of your chosen family, because they are descended from someone you once loved long ago.
One of my favorite thing Iāve learned about animals studies is that you should avoid using colorful leg bands when youāre banding birds because you can accidentally completely skew the data because female birds prefer males with colorful bands
Apparently if you put a red band on a male red wing blackbird his harem size can double
So like you can completely frick up the natural reproduction of a group of birds by giving a guy a bracelet so stylish that females CANNOT resist him
I remember reading a study where researchers realized that female birds of a certain species preferred males with a darker breast. So they created what they literally called a āSuper-Sexy Maleā by catching a male and coloring his chest with a marker. They then ran dna tests on the eggs in the area.
Previously when the researchers had run these tests, they found a certain amount of infidelity was common for these birds. Somewhere around 10% of eggs were fathered by males who were not the primary mates of females.
After the advent of the Super Sexy Male, however, stuff got crazy in bird world. Infidelity skyrocketed, with upwards of 25% of ALL EGGS in the area being fathered by this specific male. Furthermore, his mateās eggs were 100% his.
This is just insane to me. Just imagine youāre living your bird life when suddenly somebody scribbles on Daveās chest and the ladies canāt stop throwing themselves at them. Itās stupid that we theoretically can wreck this kind of havoc on an ecosystem.
25 Years of Exploring the Universe with NASA's Chandra Xray Observatory
Illustration of the Chandra telescope in orbit around Earth. Credit: NASA/CXC & J. Vaughan
On July 23, 1999, the space shuttle Columbia launched into orbit carrying NASAās Chandra X-ray Observatory. August 26 marked 25 years since Chandra released its first images.
These were the first of more than 25,000 observations Chandra has taken. This year, as NASA celebrates the 25th anniversary of this telescope and the incredible data it has provided, weāre taking a peek at some of its most memorable moments.
About the Spacecraft
The Chandra telescope system uses four specialized mirrors to observe X-ray emissions across the universe. X-rays that strike a āregularā mirror head on will be absorbed, so Chandraās mirrors are shaped like barrels and precisely constructed. The rest of the spacecraft system provides the support structure and environment necessary for the telescope and the science instruments to work as an observatory. To provide motion to the observatory, Chandra has two different sets of thrusters. To control the temperatures of critical components, Chandra's thermal control system consists of a cooling radiator, insulators, heaters, and thermostats. Chandra's electrical power comes from its solar arrays.
Learn more about the spacecraft's components that were developed and tested at NASAās Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Fun fact: If the state of Colorado were as smooth as the surface of the Chandra X-ray Observatory mirrors, Pike's Peak would be less than an inch tall.
Engineers in the X-ray Calibration Facility at NASAās Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, integrating the Chandra X-ray Observatoryās High-Resolution Camera with the mirror assembly, in this photo taken March 16, 1997. Credit: NASA
Launch
When space shuttle Columbia launched on July 23, 1999, Chandra was the heaviest and largest payload ever launched by the shuttle. Under the command of Col. Eileen Collins, Columbia lifted off the launch pad at NASAās Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Chandra was deployed on the missionās first day.
Reflected in the waters, space shuttle Columbia rockets into the night sky from Launch Pad 39-B on mission STS-93 from Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA
First Light Images
Just 34 days after launch, extraordinary first images from our Chandra X-ray Observatory were released. The image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A traces the aftermath of a gigantic stellar explosion in such captivating detail that scientists can see evidence of what is likely the neutron star.
āWe see the collision of the debris from the exploded star with the matter around it, we see shock waves rushing into interstellar space at millions of miles per hour,ā said Harvey Tananbaum, founding Director of the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a star that exploded aboutĀ 300 years ago. The X-ray image shows an expanding shell of hot gas produced by the explosion colored in bright orange and yellows. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
A New Look at the Universe
NASA released 25 never-before-seen views to celebrate the telescopes 25th anniversary. This collection contains different types of objects in space and includes a new look at Cassiopeia A. Here the supernova remnant is seen with a quarter-century worth of Chandra observations (blue) plus recent views from NASAās James Webb Space Telescope (grey and gold).
This image features deep data of the Cassiopeia A supernova, an expanding ball of matter and energy ejected from an exploding star in blues, greys and golds. The Cassiopeia A supernova remnant has been observed for over 2 million seconds since the start of Chandraās mission in 1999 and has also recently been viewed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
Can You Hear Me Now?
In 2020, experts at the Chandra X-ray Center/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and SYSTEM Sounds began the first ongoing, sustained effort at NASA to āsonifyā (turn into sound) astronomical data. Data from NASA observatories such as Chandra, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the James Webb Space Telescope, has been translated into frequencies that can be heard by the human ear.
SAO Research shows that sonifications help many types of learners ā especially those who are low-vision or blind -- engage with and enjoy astronomical data more.
Click to watch the āListen to the Universeā documentary on NASA+ that explores our sonification work: Listen to the Universe | NASA+
An image of the striking croissant-shaped planetary nebula called the Catās Eye, with data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope.Ā NASAās Data sonification from Chandra, Hubble and/or Webb telecopes allows us to hear data of cosmic objects. Credit: NASA/CXO/SAO
Celebrate With Us!
Dedicated teams of engineers, designers, test technicians, and analysts at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are celebrating with partners at the Chandra X-ray Center and elsewhere outside and across the agency for the 25th anniversary of theĀ Chandra X-ray Observatory. Their hard work keeps the spacecraft flying, enabling Chandraās ongoing studies of black holes, supernovae, dark matter, and more.
Chandra will continue its mission to deepen our understanding of the origin and evolution of the cosmos, helping all of us explore the Universe.
The Chandra Xray Observatory, the longest cargo ever carried to space aboard the space shuttle, is shown in Columbiaās payload bay. This photo of the payload bay with its doors open was taken just before Chandra was tilted upward for release and deployed on July 23, 1999. Credit: NASA
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
We can never go back... We can go forward. We can find the love our hearts long for, but not until we let go grief about the love we lost long ago... All awakening to love is spiritual awakening.
āIf you feel safe in the area that youāre working in, youāre not working in the right areaā¦ When you donāt feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, youāre just about in the right place to do something exciting.ā
ā David Bowie on creativity and his advice to artists
I have always felt that a human being could only be saved by another human being. I am aware that we do not save each other very often. But I am also aware that we save each other some of the time.
James Baldwin, born 100 years ago today, on how to live through your darkest hour.
Youāve probably seen that post floating around Tumblr a while ago:
my favorite thing iāve learned in college is that way back in ancient china there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was that was like āthe eight winds cannot move meā blahblahblah and he was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake and then his friend sends it back and just writes āFARTā (or the ancient Chinese equivalent) on it and he was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend says āwow. the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lakeā
So I got curious, and I did some research, and apparently, the poet was Su Dongpo, also known as Su Shi (8 January 1037 ā 24 August 1101), and he wasnāt just a poet - he was a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song dynasty.
That particular event happened while he was assigned to an official post at Guazhuo, and the āfriend who lived across the lakeā was actually Chan master Foyin, who was the master of a temple on the mountain on the opposite shore.
A translation of the poem Su Dongpo sent to master Foyin:
āBowing with my highest respect
To the deva of devas
Whose fine light illuminates the whole universe,
The eight winds cannot move me,
For I am sitting upright on the golden purple lotus blossom.ā
Foyin wrote āPiā on the poem (āfartā, but also ānonsenseā), and sent it back, and the rest is history.
He (Su) also wrote this absolute banger of a poem, which I often think back on in these benighted times:
[Image ID: this contains the text of the poem āOn the Birth of a Sonā by Su Dongpo, also transliterated as Su Tung-Po. The translator is Arthur Waley. The text reads: āFamilies when a child is born / Hope it will turn out intelligent. / I, through intelligence / Having wrecked my whole life, / Only hope that the baby will prove / Ignorant and stupid. / Then heāll be happy all his days / And grow into a cabinet minister.ā]
my favorite thing iāve learned in college is that way back in ancient china there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was that was likeĀ āthe eight winds cannot move meā blahblahblah and he was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake and then his friend sends it back and just writes āFARTā (or the ancient Chinese equivalent) on it and he was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend saysĀ āwow. the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lakeā
(Humbly bowed my head below all skies
Minutest lights shine through my deepest bounds
Immovable by strong winds from eight sides
Upon purplish gold lotus I seated straightly by the low mound) (x)
on which his friend wroteĀ āę¾å±ā (fart, literally), and you know the rest.
this is even funnier because just writingĀ āfartā out of the blue sounds really stupid and random in english, but in chinese, fart (fang pi) is used as a common reply to, well, people talking out of their ass. kind of like how weād useĀ ābullshitā in context.
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