Snowflake's Forum

The NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory) has released two versions of the all-sky image of Earth's night sky. One version is just the night sky at this link . The other is the night sky with annotations showing outlines of the constellations at this link .  NOIRLab is the United States' national center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement. The images were taken from four different dark night sky locations on Earth, two in the Northern Hemisphere and two in the Southern Hemisphere. Then the images were somehow pieced together. Here's how to see this:  1. Open the link and you will see a page with this pure night sky image. This is for the constellation-annotated image. 2. Click on the little "full screen" box symbol at the upper left, but do not click a...

Scientific American published graphics that summarize five major mass extinction events that wiped out at least about 70% of existing species at the time they occurred: Data on the potential causes of the 5 big wipe-outs are shown below: SciAm writes : Life on our planet has experienced many mass extinctions over its 4.5 billion years. Scientists see evidence for at least five major episodes that eradicated creatures great and small. And many experts argue that the Anthropocene age, the current period of human activity altering Earth, is causing a sixth. Paleontologists track mass extinctions by studying rock samples from different eras. When they reach a point where large numbers of species that had been abundant in the earlier fossil record become scarce, they’ve found an extinction event. The big five extinctions all wiped out more than 70 percent of Earth life at the time—and the most -lethal of them, the Permian-Triassic extinction around 252 million years ago, most likely took do...

 GIVE ME COLD WEATHER CLIMES ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!! I am stunned, simply stunned, that on previous threads, there are still those who think living in cold weather climes, such as Canada, would be horrible and they would rather live where it is warm, even hot. Because, well, because, umm, who knows? Nice running around outside in shorts? Better for swimming and fishing?  BUT............. AI Overview Some people may find living in cold climates preferable due to potential benefits like  improved mental clarity, a boosted immune system, better sleep quality, reduced allergies, increased calorie burning, and a stronger sense of community fostered by gathering indoors during harsh weather ;  however, the preference largely depends on personal lifestyle and tolerance to cold temperatures.   Key points about living in a cold climate: Health benefits: Cold exposure can potentially improve skin health, boost metabolism by burning more calories to maintain core temperature...

 And the sign said long hair freaky people need not apply.............. Never saw THAT sign. But just for fun, what other signs have you seen, either online or in the literal world that gave you a tickle? You know, like.................. Well, you get the gist.  So, I tucked my hair under my hat and went in to ask them why.

 This morning,  the NPR program Here & Now broadcast a 9:28 segment ,  How a deceptive Disney documentary shaped what we know about lemmings . It was the origins of the false lemmings going over a cliff into the arctic ocean story.  From my memory: The origin story came from a Walt Disney nature film. Disney pioneered this kind of nature filming. A Canadian documentary dived into the origin of Disney's lemmings over the cliff story. It turns out the whole disgusting thing was staged for TV. None of it was real.  Real lemmings were intentionally killed for staging of the lemmings over the cliff filming. Walt Disney's cousin Roy commented, paraphrasing: "Yeah whatever. A few hundred lemmings were killed but they would have been killed anyway. That might have been called cruelty. So what? Fuck off." What Disney did was collect hundreds of lemming from poverty-stricken native Canadian children hundreds of miles to the north, worth 25¢ each, and ship them to...

  adjective irritated, disturbed, or bothered: Now, the question is............... which of the following annoys you MORE? Even if both annoy you. I know this may be an annoying thing to post just after New Year's, but let out your frustrations by picked which annoys you MORE. AND umm, try 'n explain your choice, no matter how annoying that may be 😕 The educated know-it-all, or the uneducated pretend know-it-all? The loud and obnoxious, or the quiet sullen person? A well dressed person when the occasion doesn't call for it, or the jeans and tshirt type when the occasion calls for being well dressed? A person who takes way too much care for their appearance (hair, make up), or the one who doesn't care about their appearance? The overly religious types who constanly go on and on about their religion, or the atheist who can never stop mocking religious people? The elderly type who wants to tell younguns about "the way it was" or the youngun who wants to tel...

  The Twilight Zone had an episode with a special stopwatch.  Click it, and time stops for everyone but you.  Of course it doesn’t exist, but Bunny would love to have it. What about you?  Invisibility cloak?  Actual flying car?  Anti-gravity suit?  Bunny doesn’t go with a transporter, as it most likely kills you every time you use it? What item from the screen you do want? J.P. Bunny

  Bunny’s previous car was rather old, so it was facetiously called Zoom Car.  Because of its shape, current car is the Bubble Car, or Bubbles. Do you have names for your inanimate possessions?  Also, do you sometimes talk to them?  Bunny caught out many times doing so. J.P. Bunny