Flares into Darkness

I'm late today. So, get ready for a tardy weekend with Rita Payés.

This video discusses the problems and considerations of airport runway design and structure. The difference of the weight, due to fuel, of an airplane taking off and landing had never occurred to me. It is an interesting video.

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Philip Norman (1842–1931) was an English artist who focused on old London, to document it before it disappeared. His paintings were frequently accompanied by historical information about the buildings. His palette is rather muted as he is primarily interested in detailing the old buildings.   

Philip Norman

Get ready for a sawbonified weekend with Davina and The Vagabonds.

1977 Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope picked up a very unusual signal that has come to be known as the WOW signal. It was extremely strong for cosmic radiation. Further, it was narrow band. Normal cosmic radiation is broadband, that is spread over several frequences, but the WOW signal was confined to a very narrow band.

It has long puzzled astronomers because there is no known source for such a signal. Terrestrial interference was considered and discarded, and other natural possibilities have also not held up.

Naturally an alien source has been a favorite of many. I'm not sure about that, I've watched enough 1950s sci-fi movies to know that aliens are always warning humans to knock-it-off before we create a super weapon that blows up the universe. It could be a declaration of war before they come to Earth to stomp us flatter than a pancake to save the cosmos. You never know.

Anyway, this video purports to have explain a natural cause for the WOW signal. They claim that it clears it all up, but we've heard that before. 

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The Codex Laud, sometimes called the book of Death, is an Aztec illuminated religious book. Its creation predates the arrival of the Spanish. Its main theme is death and the afterlife. It features Aztec deities and is a calendar that lays out the rituals of their religion. 

Its gods are unknown to us, and its imagery opaque, so it comes across to us as only being violent and bloodthirsty. Then again, that is usually the territory of hellfire.

Get ready for a foul-playing weekend with Tony Furtado.