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Astrophysics created the largest 3D map of the Universe to date – Tech Explorist

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

After analyzing several million galaxies and quasars, an international consortium of scientists has retracted a more continuous history of the Universe. They have created the largest 3D map of the Universe produced to date.

It is the fruit of a twenty-year collaboration of several hundred scientists from around thirty different institutions around the world, all united within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), with data collected from an optical telescope dedicated to the project located in New Mexico, in the United States.

Resulting from the analysis of several millions of galaxies and quasars, this latest survey builds upon existing data as early as 1998 to fill specific gaps in cosmological history and to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the expansion of the Universe.

This latest cosmological survey of the SDSS, called The extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), includes more than 100 astrophysicists, of which several are researchers from EPFL. Jean-Paul Kneib, who heads EPFLs Astrophysics Laboratory (LASTRO), initiated the eBOSS survey and was its principal investigator (PI) for several years.

Jean-Paul Kneib, who heads EPFLs Astrophysics Laboratory (LASTRO) said,In 2012, I launched the eBOSS project with the idea of producing the complete 3D map of the Universe throughout the lifetime of the Universe, implementing for the first time celestial objects that indicate the distribution of matter in the distant Universe, galaxies that actively form stars and quasars. It is a great pleasure to see the culmination of this work today.

On account of the extensive theoretical models portraying the Universe after the Big Bang, as well as observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR), the infant universe is moderately well known. Scientists have also investigated its expansion history over the most recent few billion years from Supernovae distance measurements and galaxy maps, including those from past phases of the SDSS.

Cosmologist Kyle Dawson of the University of Utah said,We know both the ancient history of the Universe and its recent expansion history fairly well, but theres a troublesome gap in the middle 11 billion years. Thanks to five years of continuous observations, we have worked to fill in that gap, and we are using that information to provide some of the most substantial advances in cosmology in the last decade.

Will Percival of the University of Waterloo, eBOSSs Survey Scientist, said,Taken together, detailed analyses of the eBOSS map and the earlier SDSS experiments, we have now provided the most accurate expansion history measurements over the widest-ever range of cosmic time. These studies allow us to connect all these measurements into a complete story of the expansion of the Universe.

The final map shows filaments of matter and voids that more precisely define the structure of the Universe since its beginnings when it was only 380,000 years old. From there, scientists measured the recurring patterns in the distribution of galaxies, thus identifying several key cosmological parameters, including the density of hypothetical dark matter and energy in the Universe, with a high degree of precision.

For this survey, scientists take a gander at different galactic tracers that reveal the mass distribution in the Universe. For the part of the map relating to the Universe six billion years ago, scientists observed the oldest and reddest galaxies.

For more distant eras, they concentrated on the youngest galaxies, the blue ones. To go back further, that is to say, up to eleven billion years, they used quasars, galaxies, whose supermassive black hole is extremely luminous.

This map reveals the history of the Universe, and in particular that the expansion of the Universe began to accelerate at some point and has since continued to do so. This seems to be due to the presence of dark energy, an invisible element that fits naturally into Einsteins general theory of relativity but whose origin is not yet understood.

The currently accepted expansion rate, called the Hubble constant, is 10% lower than the value calculated from the distances between the galaxies closest to us. It is unlikely that this 10% difference is random due to the high precision and wide variety of data in the eBOSS database.

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Astrophysics created the largest 3D map of the Universe to date - Tech Explorist

Answers About Universe’s Age Could Be Found in the Dark – UPJ Athletics

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

In May 2009, the Planck Satellite was launched with a mission to discover the age of the universe. The goal was to measure cosmic background radiation (CMB), a source of light that traces back to around 380,000 years after the universes start at the Big Bang. Those measurements revealed the universe to be around 13.8 billion years old.

But in the past few years, astronomers have improved on classic observations of how fast distant galaxies move away from Earth. These measurements result in an age of the universe hundreds of millions of years younger than the Planck measurements indicated.

In July, the research team behind the National Science Foundations Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), which includes Department of Physics and Astronomy Chair Arthur Kosowsky, graduate student Yilun Guan and 40 other participating institutions, jumped into the fray with their own estimates. The team made new maps of the slight variations in the microwave backgrounds temperature and polarization which are more sensitive and sharper than Plancks.

The simplest model of the universe that fits the new data from ACT, which is located in Chile, has an age of 13.77 billion years with an uncertainty of plus or minus 40 million yearsessentially confirming the Planck results. Papers featuring the findings were posted to the arXiv distribution service and have been submitted to the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

Now weve come up with an answer where Planck and ACT agree, says Simone Aiola (A&S 14G, '16G), a lead author and researcher at the Flatiron Institutes Center for Computational Astrophysics who holds a PhD in physics from Pitt's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. It speaks to the fact that these difficult measurements are reliable.

Kosowsky said the findings add to the confusion surrounding the actual age of the universe but also provide a few clues about where cosmologists should look for answers.

He noted that ACT also essentially confirmed Planks estimated Hubble constant, which is the rate at which the universe is expanding. ACT found the universe is expanding at a rate of 67.6 kilometers per second per megaparsec, which means an object located a megaparsec away from Earth (approximately 3.26 million light years) is on average moving away from us at the rate of 67.6 kilometers per second due to the cosmic expansion.

Probably the most interesting possibility for this discrepancy is that our simple model of the universe is wrong.

Arthur Kosowsky

The Planck teams Hubble constant was 67.4 kilometers per second per megaparsec and the rates estimated by measuring galaxies range between 70 and 74 kilometers per second per megaparsec, significantly faster than the other results.

Probably the most interesting possibility for this discrepancy is that our simple model of the universe is wrong. So the inference were making about the Hubble parameter from our measurement is based on a model thats not quite right, said Kosowsky. Our basic model of the universe is based on some really simple assumptions about some really simple physics. If you change something youre probably saying theres new, undiscovered, fundamental physics that were seeing in this discrepancy.

Guan, who is pursuing a PhD in cosmology at Pitt's Dietrich School, is investigating whether the flaw in the model lies in assumptions made about the nature of dark energy, which is what researchers call the unknown force that is accelerating the universes expansion.

In our current model of the universe we treat dark energy as a really simple component that has a simple evolutiontheres this amount of dark energy and it evolves in a certain way. But nobody knows what dark energy is doing, it could be that dark energy is changing from when we measure it at the CMB until we measure it in these local measurements, he explained. What were doing is thinking about if theres any way dark energy can be changing that is consistent with measurements from both our local measurements as well as measurements from CMB and other observations that have been made.

While Guan continues the dark energy research, he is also investigating ways to automate the process of finding the most useful data from telescopes and satellites. On the ACT project, he was responsible for the first levels of data quality assurance, a process that meant analyzing tens of millions of detector time streams collected by ACT each year to determine which ones are to be used to make sky maps.

Telling good data from bad data requires a lot of expert knowledge. In the past we used to have one expert who had a lot of experience in this area and if he looks at diagnostics and statistics he can tell if something is going wrong. But thats not a scalable solution, Guan said.

In 2022, ACT will officially shut down and its research team will shift attention to the Simons Observatory, also located in Chile, which will feature new telescopes, cameras and state of the art detector arrays. Those upgrades will give experts an order of magnitude more data to assess. In anticipation of the challenge, last year Guan started work on a machine learning algorithm designed to take on the task.

It turns out, this is a very easy problem for the machines. We have lots of data that experts told us is bad or good so we can train our algorithms to learn from what experts decide and have these algorithms make these decisions for us, he said.

For ACTs upcoming data release next year, which covers information gathered from 2017 through 2019 and will feature four times more data, experts will still lead the way in data quality assurance. However, Guan hopes to have an automated process in place before its time to analyze data from Simons.

Kosowsky said the data that comes from the Simons Observatory could hold precisely whats needed to resolve mysteries surrounding the age of the universe once and for all.

The fact that were doing measurements right now where the pieces are not all completely fitting together makes it really exciting to have the possibility of doing even better measurements of the universe with the next generation experiments, he said.

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Answers About Universe's Age Could Be Found in the Dark - UPJ Athletics

Groundbreaking study of binary star evolution is focus of new NSF grant – RIT News

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

A new grant will help researchers at Rochester Institute of Technologys National Technical Institute for the Deaf learn more about one of the most challenging phases in stellar astrophysics, according to the National Science Foundation.

The nearly $300,000 project, which incorporates research opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduate students, will revolutionize how scientists understand a crucial phase of binary star evolution that rapidly shrinks the orbit of two stars to 0.1 percent of the distance from the Earth to the sun in only one year.This is the main method for forming tight binaries in the universe, such as binary black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, and many other classes of objects. But scientists have never seen it happen.

Jason Nordhaus, an RIT/NTID assistant professor of physics and the principal investigator on the grant, is beyond excited to lead the first-of-its-kind survey that will allow astrophysicists to create the first observational constraints on the outcomes of what is called the common envelope phase.

Through the project, titled Brief But Spectacular: New Windows into the Physics of Common Envelope Evolution, Nordhaus and his team will be conducting an observational survey of all galactic star clusters within 1 kiloparsec of Earth to hunt for close binary systems.To do that, they will use data from NASA and the European Space Agencys flagship space missions, TESS and Gaia, in addition to some of the largest telescopes on the planetthe Lowell Discovery Telescope in the northern hemisphere and the Magellan Telescopes in the southern hemisphere.

The common envelope phase is responsible for making the systems that will later merge and create gravitational waves, explains Nordhaus.Because only one star in our galaxy is experiencing this phase at any time, we have never directly seen it. However, close binaries in clusters act as a Rosetta stone, allowing us to map the conditions right before the common envelope phase to the conditions right after the phase is over.

As part of this three-year project, several deaf and hard-of-hearing RIT/NTID undergraduates will help conduct research at Boston University each summer. Philip Muirhead, co-PI on the project, is the director of graduate admissions for Boston Universitys astronomy department.Nordhaus and Muirhead will work together on best practices for supporting those students successfully in the summer. Also contributing to the project are Maria Drout, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto, and Jeffrey Cummings, associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

This new venture that Dr. Nordhaus is taking on will lead to discoveries beyond our imagination, said Gerry Buckley, NTID president and RIT vice president and dean. This work also provides a tremendous opportunity for our young deaf and hard-of-hearing science students to work in a research setting and be a part of this remarkable project.

STARMUS VI: The world-renowed festival will be dedicated to Mars in 2 – Astronomy Magazine

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Yerevan, Armenia STARMUS, one of the world-scale science and art festivals, will take place in September 2021 in Yerevan, Armenia, to celebrate science communication with world-class scientists, artists, and astronauts.

STARMUS VI will be dedicated to Mars, from the very first Soviet MARS 3 and American MARINER 9 to the spectacular NASA missions and ambitious manned landing plans of Space X. It has been 50 years since MARS 3 performed the first soft landing on the Red Planet and sent back to the Earth the first data from its surface. The same year, in 1971, NASAs MARINER 9 became the first Orbiter around Mars. These milestones were followed by dozens of successful missions by NASA providing us with more accurate images and information from our neighbor in the Solar System. In the summer of 2020, three space agencies around the world plan to launch pioneering missions to arrive at Mars in 2021.

Following the established tradition, the festival will address pressing issues and screen films about the exploration of Mars. Previous film screenings included the documentary Apollo 11 and The Spacewalker, a film about the legendary Russian astronaut and Starmus Board Member Alexei Leonov.

The festival will be held under the high patronage of the President of Armenia, Dr. Armen Sarkissian. The President invited Starmus to Armenia during his speech in 2019 at the opening ceremony of Starmus V A Giant Leap in Zurich.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia (MoESCS) on behalf of the RA Government will support, and, working in close partnership with the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, make the festival an outstanding event, thus playing an important role in different educational, scientific, and artistic activities of the festival.

As in the previous years, the sixth Starmus Festival will welcome to the stage world-class scientists, artists, and astronauts to share breakthrough discoveries, reflect upon pressing questions and inspire new generations of scientists and explorers.

The Starmus Advisory board will announce a further line-up of speakers from art and music later this year. Nobel Laureate scientists Edvard Moser and Michel Mayor, Apollo 16 moonwalker Charlie Duke, co-inventor of CRISPR gene-editing technology Emmanuelle Charpentier, and the father of ipod and NEST founder Tony Fadell are among confirmed speakers. For more information visit http://www.starmus.com.

Since the very first Homo Sapiens looked up at a star-filled sky we have been awestruck by the vastness of the cosmos. Even today we remain humbled by the sheer immensity of space, especially as through our progress in physics and astronomy, we are now aware of the tremendous distances involved even to our closest neighboring stars.

Created by Dr. Garik Israelian, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist and the lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Queen, the Starmus Festival is a combination of science, art and music that has featured presentations from Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Nobel Prize Winners and prominent figures from science, culture, the arts and music.

Stephen Hawking and Alexei Leonov, together with the rock star and astrophysicist Dr. Brian May, worked to create the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, awarded to individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to science communication. Previous Stephen Hawking Medal winners include Elon Musk, Jean-Michel Jarre, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Eno, Hans Zimmer and The Particle Fever documentary.

The Starmus Festivals join Nobel laureates, eminent researchers, astronauts, thinkers, men and women of science, culture, arts, and music to share their knowledge and experiences in the common search for answers to the great questions of today.

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STARMUS VI: The world-renowed festival will be dedicated to Mars in 2 - Astronomy Magazine

NASA Jupiter probe images huge moon Ganymede like never before (photos) – Space.com

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

NASA's Juno Jupiter probe has captured unprecedented views of the largest moon in the solar system.

During a close flyby of Jupiter on Dec. 26, 2019, Juno mapped the north polar regions of the icy satellite Ganymede in infrared light, something no other spacecraft had done before.

The data, which Juno gathered using its Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, show that Ganymede's northern reaches are very different than locales closer to the equator of the moon, which is bigger than the planet Mercury.

Related: In photos: Juno's amazing views of Jupiter

"The JIRAM data show the ice at and surrounding Ganymede's north pole has been modified by the precipitation of plasma," Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator at the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome, said in a statement. "It is a phenomenon that we have been able to learn about for the first time with Juno because we are able to see the north pole in its entirety."

This plasma consists of charged particles from the sun, which have been trapped by Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. Unlike any other moon, the 3,274-mile-wide (5,269 kilometers) Ganymede has a magnetic field of its own, which funnels the plasma toward its poles.

A similar phenomenon occurs here on Earth, which explains why the auroras occur at high latitudes on our planet. But Ganymede has no atmosphere to obstruct and be lit up by these particles, so they slam hard into the ice at and around both poles.

As a result, Ganymede's polar ice has been pummeled into an amorphous state at the structural level. This battered ice has a different infrared signature than the highly ordered, crystalline ice at lower latitudes, mission team members said.

The $1.1 billion Juno probe launched in August 2011 and arrived at Jupiter in July 2016, on a mission to help scientists better understand the giant planet's composition, structure, formation and evolution.

Juno loops around Jupiter in a highly elliptical orbit, gathering a variety of data during close passes that occur every 53.5 Earth days. During the December 2019 encounter, Ganymede's north pole happened to be in Juno's view. So the mission team reoriented the probe, allowing it to study the mysterious region with JIRAM and other instruments.

Juno gathered about 300 infrared images, from a distance of roughly 62,000 miles (100,000 km). The images have a resolution of about 14 miles (23 km) per pixel, mission team members said.

"These data are another example of the great science Juno is capable of when observing the moons of Jupiter," Giuseppe Sindoni, program manager of the JIRAM instrument for the Italian Space Agency, said in the same statement.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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NASA Jupiter probe images huge moon Ganymede like never before (photos) - Space.com

Check It Out: These eight books will have you starstruck – The Columbian

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

To say youve done something that is a once in a lifetime event is awesome, but to find out that it wont happen again for another 6,700 years is super-duper awesome and mind-blowing! Im referring to Comet Neowise, which is making its rare appearance during the month of July. There is a lot of light pollution where I live, so I didnt think Id get to see it. But we spent the past weekend at the Oregon Coast where, fortuitously, the nights were clear, and Neowise was easy to find. Right below the Big Dipper, the comets tail displayed as a fuzzy streak in the nighttime sky. I can only say that the view was amazing. Bucket list item: See something that wont happen again for thousands of years. Check.

The other astronomical delight that is taking place this year is the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn an event that takes place every twenty years. According to the web site, http://www.earthsky.org, astronomers use the word conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our skys dome. On Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest to each other theyve been since 1623. But you dont have to wait until the end of the year to see these planetary wonders theyre visible right now, shining brightly in the southwest direction of the night sky. Can I say amazing again? OK, amazing.

No doubt about it: astronomy is cool. Just because you may not have a degree in astrophysics, it doesnt mean that you cant become an amateur astronomer. Ive selected eight books to get you started, but be sure to search our online catalog for more titles at http://www.fvrl.org. All ages can learn how to develop their stargazing skills, so Ive included two books geared for young readers: Looking Up! by Joe Rao and The Space Adventurers Guide by Peter McMahon.

Comet Neowise, Jupiter and Saturn you rock!

50 Things to See with a Small Telescope by John A. Read.

Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System by Natalie Starkey.

Looking Up!: The Science of Stargazing by Joe Rao.

National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky by Andrew Fazekas.

Photography Night Sky: A Field Guide for Shooting After Dark by Jennifer Wu.

The Space Adventurers Guide: Your Passport to the Coolest Things to See and Do in the Universe by Peter McMahon.

The Universe Today Ultimate Guide to Viewing the Cosmos: Everything You Need to Know to Become an Amateur Astronomer by David Dickinson.

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Check It Out: These eight books will have you starstruck - The Columbian

The Tesla Cybertruck will be built in Texas and is getting an interplanetary update – Fox News

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Do they make stainless steel belt buckles?

Tesla has picked Austin, Texas, as the site of its next U.S. factory, which it aims to have up and running by the end of next year. The facility will produce the Model 3, Model Y and, perhaps most importantly, the Cybertruck.

Texas is the countrys largest market for pickups, so building the Cybertruck there may give it some extra cred on the open range. Currently, the only other pickups built in the Lone Star state are the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra.

Tesla is aiming to offer the Cybertruck at a starting price of $39,990 for a single-motor, two-wheel-drive model with 250 miles of range, while the top of the line $69,990 tri-motor all-wheel-drive will be able to go 500 miles and tow over 14,000 pounds, according to the automaker.

TESLA SETS ELECTRIC CAR RANGE RECORD WITH 402-MILE MODEL S

Tesla had confirmed that it has received over 250,000 reservations for the pickup in the days after it was revealed last fall, while some independent estimates put the current total above 500,000.

HERE'S WHAT THE TESLA LOGO REALLY MEANS

The Cybertruck is being engineered with a unibody design that will be constructed with the same stainless steel being used for the Starship rocket being built by Tesla CEO Elon Musks SpaceX in Boca Chica, Texas, with plans to eventually fly it to Mars.

Musk Tweeted on Tuesday that the type of stainless steel alloy being used for both the rocket and the Cybertruck, which is allegedly bulletproof against small arms, is being changed from 301 stainless to a variation of 304L. He didnt elaborate as to why, but 304L is typically more corrosion resistant than 301.

Tesla will also build its Semi tractor at the Texas plant.

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The Tesla Cybertruck will be built in Texas and is getting an interplanetary update - Fox News

Macau Travel Guide: Facts, City Map, Tips, Entertainment

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Macau Facts

Chinese Name: (o mn)Population: 696,100Area: 32.9 square kilometers (12.7 square miles)Location: in the south of ChinaArea Code: 853Zip Code: 999078GDP (2019): USD 53.86 billion

Chinas Las-Vegas Best Place to Experience Blend Culture of Chinese & Portuguese

Macau, located on the southeast coast of China, is a special administrative region of the country. Being Asia's well-known gambling Mecca, it is a place to find the traditional Chinese culture while enjoying the exotic Portuguese buildings. Most visitors who have been there conclude that it is a location suited to both tourism and living as it is a beautiful city with clean streets, gardens and picturesque hilly landscapes. Sunshine, clear air, green lands and all sorts of delicious food all contribute to its attractions.

If you visit Macau without experiencing gaming entertainment, you cant say that you have actually been to this place which is known as Chinas Las-Vegas. The casinos in Macau are located in some hotels on the Peninsula and Taipa with luxurious equipment, strict security and modern management.

Macao also holds various activities and festivals every year. From the middle of September to the beginning of October, Macao holds wonderful international fireworks competitions. The Grand Prix Macau in November every year calls for the most exciting racing event in Macao. Macao Food Festival is close to this event. Festivals such as Niangmas Birthday (Nianga refers to Sea Goddess in south China) show local culture and customs.

History

The name of Macau is derived from the word Magao (A-Ma Temple), which was the shrine dedicated to Mazu, a sacred sea goddess respected by the local people. It was said that in the middle of the 16th century when the Portuguese first set foot there, one of the officers asked a fisherman the name of the land. The man misunderstanding the officer's meaning, answered 'Magao' - the name of A-Ma Temple in front them. The word became the Portuguese name for the land for nearly 400 years as the Portuguese ruled here prior to its official return to the People's Republic of China on December 20, 1999.

Macao is divided into Macao Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island. You can find old buildings that are either in European baroque or traditional Chinese style on the Macau Peninsular. Senado Square, the splendid main square with surrounding simple, elegant Portuguese and baroque-style buildings is the busiest downtown Macao.

A northerly walk leads visitors to the featured attractions of Ruins of St. Paul's, a former screen wall of St. Paul's Church and the Monte Fort, one of the best-preserved forts in Macau. The Museum of Macau, to the right of the ruins, tells all stories on the city's past. Situated at the base of Penha Peninsula in the southwest part of Macau is A-Ma Temple, built in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), which is dedicated to the sacred goddess A-Ma. During the festival seasons, thousands of devout prayers come to visit the temple.In the southern part of the Peninsular, the New Reclaimed Area and the Outer Harbor Area, compared with the more traditional central and western areas, is the newly-developed region where the modern aspect of Macao can be found. There are many luxurious hotels housing various gambling casinos and these venues are packed with people from all over the world when the night comes. Numerous museums in these two areas present the essence of the culture and history of Macau including Wine Museum, Grand Prix Museum, Museum of Art.Taipa Island in the middle of Macao highlights the University of Macau, the world-famous food street Rua do Cunha and luxe Venetian Resort Hotel. If you want to experience the rustic charm of country life in Macao, you should visit southward to Coloane Island which features a quiet environment and fascinating see view while St. Francis's Cathedral in Baroque architectural style is the must-see scenic spot.

Macauis the paradise for gourmands with a wide range of delicious cuisines from all over the world including unparalleled Macao-style Portuguese cuisine, traditional Cantonese cuisine, exotic food from Italy, France, Brazil, India, Japan, and Korea... Everyone can find his own favorite!

Moreover, the well-known Macau dim sum delicacies should never be missed. The Pastis de Nata (a Portuguese-style egg tart) that originated on the outlying island of Coloane is the featured snacks and Margaret's Caf & Nata offer the best. All kinds of dim sum ranging from almond cake, chicken cakes, cashew cookies, sesame crackers, egg and cheese rolls are served in the many Portuguese caf and they are good choices for gifts of families or friends.

Entertainment

The two outlying islands of Taipa and Coloane, connected to the Macau Peninsular by two bridges feature tranquil natural and beach sceneries and are good choice for a short break away from the bustling Peninsular. The Jockey Club's horse racing attracts numerous gamblers from the nearby areas and Hac Sa Bay and Bamboo Bay are two breathtaking natural scenic areas with the best seaside bathing places.Known as 'Oriental Las Vegas', the gambling industry in Macau is booming and has already become an important feature ofthe local economy. Surprisingly, visitors do not find the kind of razzmatazz in casinos as elsewhere; by contrast you can feel the expectations of gamblers from their polite manners and the peaceful atmosphere.

- Last modified on Jul. 16, 2020 -

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Jordan orders two-year closure of teachers’ union – Macau Business

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Jordans judiciary on Saturday ordered a two-year closure of the teachers union as part of an investigation into alleged graft and arrested 13 members, state media reported.

The move came three days after the Teachers Association organised a demonstration attended by hundreds of protesters demanding the government honour a 2019 agreement for a rise in wages.

The government and the union, which represents 100,000 teachers, had reached the deal after a month-long strike over salaries.

The teachers had been demanding a 50-percent salary hike and had obtained raises ranging from 35 to 75 percent.

But in April, the cash-strapped government said it would freeze public sector raises this year, citing economic woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The teachers union responded by calling for a demonstration on Wednesday, during which union leader Nasir al-Nawasra urged authorities to respect their promises.

On Saturday, Amman prosecutor-general Hassan Abdallat ordered a two-year closure of the headquarters of the Teachers Association, its branches and offices nation-wide, official Petra news agency said.

He also summoned members of the unions council for questioning on criminal and corruption charges, Petra said.

Petra did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged crimes, but quoted Abdallat as saying they included financial violations.

Abdallat later told Petra that security forces arrested the 13 members of the unions council and that they had been referred to him for questioning.

They were questioned in the presence of their lawyers and were ordered kept in detention for a week as part of the investigation, he added.

The prosecutor also issued a gag order on investigations into the case, the agency said.

Earlier this month Jordans King Abdullah II said his country had successfully brought the coronavirus under control and that it was time to focus on restarting the economy.

Jordan, which has so far recorded 1,154 cases of the virus including 11 deaths, imposed a tough curfew enforced by drones to stem the spread of the pandemic, before easing policies in early June.

Jordan is highly dependent on foreign aid and has struggled to curb its public debt which stands at more than $40 billion, while unemployment in the first quarter of 2020 hit 19.3 percent.

The vital tourism sector, which brought in $5 billion last year, was battered by the pandemic and lockdown restrictions.

Jordan orders two-year closure of teachers' union - Macau Business

Amazing underwater habitat will allow researchers to explore the seas depths – Digital Trends

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Earths orbit already has the International Space Station, but its oceans could soon be home to their own futuristic research center at least if industrial designer Yves Bhar and aquanaut Fabien Cousteau (son of filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau and grandson of Aqua-Lung co-creator Jacques-Yves Cousteau) have their way.

The intrepid duo have announced plans for the construction of Proteus, a 4,000-square-foot modular lab that will sit 60 feet below the surface of the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Curaao. It will serve as the worlds largest underwater habitat and research station, and provide a base for researchers hoping to study the ocean. The plan is to be able to accommodate up to 12 people at a time.

Ocean exploration is 1,000 times more important than space exploration for selfishly our survival, for our trajectory into the future, Cousteau told CNN in an interview. Its our life support system. It is the very reason why we exist in the first place.

Its certainly a compelling take, and one thats not necessarily espoused all that much at a point in history when pioneers like Elon Muskand Jeff Bezosare more concerned with looking to the stars, and launching spacecraft and discussing Mars colonization.

As the initial designs show, Proteus will consist of a two-story circular structure attached to the ocean floor on stilts, with miniature pods seeming to cling to its surface like high-tech barnacles. Inside will be areas including laboratories, personal quarters, an underwater greenhouse for growing food, an ocean-accessing moon pool, and more. The aquatic research center will be sustainably powered with wind and solar energy, along with ocean thermal energy conversion processes.

At present, the worlds sole underwater habitat is the 400-square-foot Aquarius Reef Base in the Florida Keys. Aquarius was designed in 1986 and has been in operation since then. The newly proposed Proteus, at 4,000-square-feet, aims to be significantly larger.

The plan is reportedly for construction to take place over three years. However, it has already been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Will such an ambitious project ultimately come to fruition? That remains to be seen. Its certainly an exciting development, though. Theres probably a James Bond villain or two wishing theyd come up with this design (albeit with a few extra deadly flourishes) first.

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Amazing underwater habitat will allow researchers to explore the seas depths - Digital Trends

Mars Lays Red Carpet: Three Earthly Visitors Take Flight Towards the Red Planet Within 11 Days – The Weather Channel

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

The enthusiasm to explore the possibility of life beyond the planet Earth and the curiosity to understand the origin of our solar system are at peak in the 21st century. A top contender in the list of possible hosts to establish future human colonies is Mars.

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk once said, I'd like to die on Mars, just not on impact.

While it has been more than 50 years since humanity landed on another celestial body, the moon, the dream of setting foot on another planet has remained distant so far. And studies have repeatedly shown that if there is any planet on the solar system that can host life beyond Earth, it is the red planetMars. Examining the feasibility of survival of humans on a planet like Mars, a recent study showed that it requires just 110 people to colonise Mars. Moreover, it also hinted at the possibility of humans living in oxygen-filled domes and practice agriculture to sustain life.

This artist's concept shows an astronaut on Mars, as viewed through the window of a spacecraft. NASA is returning astronauts to the Moon and will test technology there that will be useful for sending the first astronauts to the Red Planet.

But before colonizing it is important to understand the atmospheric and geological conditions on Mars, which further holds the key to designate it as a habitable planet. Over the past few decades, there have been several exploration missions including Indias Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan to understand conditions over Mars, and an increasing number of countries are all set to send more spacecraft towards the red planet.

The existence of water on Mars depends on the atmospheric conditions, and as of now, the atmosphere is so thin that on the surface of Mars, water does not exist. Therefore, as of today, life on the Martian surface is totally ruled out. We are yet to find conclusive evidence of life on Mars. Yet, we believe that it held water once, and hence, there could have been life too, said Dr Abhay Deshpande, a Senior Scientist working for the Government of India and avid astronomy enthusiast.

Between July 20 to 30, three countriesthe United States, China and the United Arab Emirates are launching robotic explorer missions to Mars. This particular time frame is important to embark on a roughly seven-month-long journey, as only during this window Mars will be closest to Earth. In October 2020, the red planet will come closest to the blue planet at just over 62 million kilometres, almost half the average distance of 104 million km. It is estimated that once every 2 years, Earth and Mars line-up and therefore the next cost-effective launch is possible only in 2022.

In the past, NASA has sent about five rover missions to the planet, but for UAE its first attempt to take a flight to Mars. Chinas first orbiter mission to Mars, Yinghuo-1, was launched in November 2011 but failed to leave Earths orbit.

On July 20, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency, successfully launched its Mars orbiter mission named Hope after several delays. The mission was launched from Japan. Earlier, the launch was scheduled for July 15 or July 17 but was postponed due to bad weather conditions.

Now, the Hope probe will join the six other orbiters that orbit Mars. The main aim of the mission is to study the planets thin atmosphere. The other main goals include the study of the planets climate dynamicshow Mars loses hydrogen and oxygen from its atmosphere. The most ambitious goal is to create a global map of Mars atmospherethe first by any nation in the world.

Its the first interplanetary mission for the UAE space agency, which was announced back in 2014. The spacecraft will reach the red planet in February 2021.

The National Space Administration of China has named its upcoming Mars rover mission as Tianwen-1meaning heavenly questions in Chinese. The maiden rover mission to Mars from China is an all-in-one mission including orbiter, rover and lander onboard Long March 5 rocket.

The main objective of the rover is to detect underground deposits of water, ice with the help of its inbuilt radar system. Moreover, it will also investigate the soil properties of Mars and will collect samples of soil and rocks, which will fly back to Earth through its next such missions by 2030.

The Chinese agency has kept the launch date undisclosedbut as per reports, the launch is slated for July 23 from Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan. It is expected to reach the planet by February 2021.

In addition to a few success stories, the history of space missions is full of failures. But perseverance is what keeps humanity from achieving the unthinkable.

Named on these lines, NASAs Perseverance rover is one of the most anticipated launches in recent times. The launch of the mission has already been postponed twice by the space agency. Now, another launch window is set for July 30 and is open only till August 15 for a successful journey.

In this illustration, NASA's Mars 2020 rover uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars.

If all works out as planned the rover will land on the Martian soil on February 18, 2021, in Mars Jezero crater. The crater is a prime location as it can reveal the clues of past microbial life. Besides, rover, it is the first time a helicopter will be used to study the planet.

NASA has set four main goals of the mission, which starts from determining if life ever existed on Mars. Through this mission, NASA is also planning to kick-start the preparation for future human exploration to Mars. The rover is specifically designed to seek signs of past microbial life, while the former NASA rover InSight played a key role in confirming the habitable conditions. The rover will also drill the Martian soil and collect rock samples for further scientific studies.

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Mars Lays Red Carpet: Three Earthly Visitors Take Flight Towards the Red Planet Within 11 Days - The Weather Channel

Learning From Ben Franklin and Henk Rogers We Could Thrive – Newsmax

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the co-founder of the Tetris Company, Henk Rogers. After he made a fortune in the video game industry, he dedicated his life to saving the environment by ending the use of carbon-based fuels and trying to make Elon Musks vision of a human colony on Mars possible.

Henk was born in the Netherlands. His mother married an American when he was a kid and he moved to New York when he was 11 years-old.

Henk didnt know any English until he arrived in New York.

After he graduated from high school, he studied computers at the University of Hawaii. Henk Rogers created a game called "The Black Onyx."

This was the first role-playing game in Japan.

It became No. 1 in 1984.

Rogers revolutionized the game industry.

Fast forward to 1988, he discovered a game called "Tetris." In 1989, he went to the Soviet Union to buy the Gameboy rights. In 1996, he partnered with Alexey Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris and started the Tetris Company. "Tetris" has sold 80 million copies as box product and generated over 500 million paid downloads on mobile phones.

Henk Rogers life changed in 2005 when he had a heart attack. His widow-maker, which is the largest artery in the heart, was 100% blocked. As Rogers was in the back of the ambulance heading to the hospital, he said to himself, "You gotta be kidding me, I havent spent any of the money yet."

His second thought was, "No, Im not going, I still have stuff to do."

The American tradition of succeeding in business and then giving your life to public service began with Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Franklin retired at 42-years-old and then dedicated the next 42 years to public service.

Franklin wrote a letter to his mother that he wanted to be remembered as someone who made a difference rather than someone who happened to be rich.

After he left the hospital, Henk dedicated his life to fighting climate. He founded the Blue Planet Foundation. In 2015, Henk political efforts paid off. Hawaiis Governor David Ige signed a bill that Henk pushed for, which directed state utilities to generate electricity from 100% renewable sources by 2045.

Henks other goal of making a back-up of life on other planets by human colonization of the Moon and Mars is actually tied to the environment. If we could create a colony on the Moon, it would force people to learn how to live with limited resources. Henk said, "Everything will have to be re-used or reprinted or recycled or something else. So by learning to live on the Moon and Mars and other planets, well learn how to live sustainably here on Earth."

The other reason to develop human colonies is to have a backup because there are a number of astronomical events that could destroy life on Earth. Making a backup basically reduces the chances of that happening to zero.

Henk owns a 1,200 square-foot habitat, HI-SEAS, where six people live under similar conditions as they would if they lived on Mars. The conditions in Hawaii are the closest thing to a facsimile to the Moon, or Mars, terrain that we will find on Earth.

Along with Rogers, NASA itself has conducted experiments on the lava fields of Hawaiis Big Island for years. In fact, the Apollo 11 crew actually spent some of their training in Hawaii to prepare for their mission to the moon.

In many ways, the benefits of this idea are similar to the early colonization of the first New England colonies. In 1630, John Winthrop and the passengers of the Arbella sailed to the new world. Winthrops goal was clear, "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."

The Arbella was one of eleven ships that brought a thousand passengers in 1630 from England to Massachusetts. These settlers built a community out of the wilderness to create a safe haven for other Puritans. By the end of the 1630s, 14,000 people had arrived.

While the Massachusetts Bay Colony was an experiment in self-government that expanded throughout the world, Henk Rogers moon colony is an experiment in sustainable economic development.

Recent breakthroughs in the artificial intelligence, 3D printing and robotics make the idea of a moon base more cost effective than sending humans to build a base on the moon like a typical construction site.

Much the way Benjamin Franklin invented the lightening rod, Henk Rogers company Blue Planet Energy has tried to understand energy storage from solar panels into batteries and into hydrogen.

As these future pioneers on the moon and Mars learn the importance of conservation, it will hopefully provide the rest of humanity with a new mentality of how we can sustain life on our planet.

On their journey to the Moon and Mars, it wouldnt hurt these future Martians to follow Benjamin Franklins "13 Virtues," which included temperance, frugality, industry, and humility as a way of thriving.

Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer whose work focuses on foreign affairs, national security and presidential history. His work has appeared in a range of publications, including The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. For several years Robert worked closely with Peter Hannaford, a senior aide to Ronald Reagan, as the primary researcher on four books and numerous columns. Robert has also worked on multiple presidential, national and statewide campaigns, including as a field office staffer for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Due to his own Russian-Jewish heritage, Robert has a keen interest in the history of U.S.-Soviet relations. In 2017 he was the co-organizer of an effort that erected commemorative statue of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow. Robert graduated with a major in Political Science from the University at Buffalo, and received his Master's in Public Administration, with a focus in healthcare, from the State University of New York College at Brockport. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in Rochester, New York. Read Robert Zapeochny's Reports More Here.

Learning From Ben Franklin and Henk Rogers We Could Thrive - Newsmax

Upstart Dash win the Challenge Cup 2-0 over the Red Stars – – KUSI

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Chicago Red Stars Savannah McCaskill (9) heads the ball in the direction of the goal as Houston Dashs Katie Naughton (25) defends during the first half of an NWSL Challenge Cup soccer finals match Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Sandy, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

SANDY, Utah (AP) Sophie Schmidt scored on an early penalty kick and Shea Groom added a stoppage-time goal to give the Houston Dash the Challenge Cup tournament title with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday.

The month-long tournament was National Womens Soccer League re-boot after the regular season was shut down by the coronavirus outbreak. Houston, in its seventh year in the league, had never previously made the playoffs.

The Red Stars went to the NWSL championship game last season, but were routed 4-0 by the North Carolina Courage.

Houston was aggressive from the start. Kristie Mewis was on the run when she was fouled by Kayla Sharples for a Dash penalty kick. Schmidt nailed the PK in the fifth minute. It was the tournaments first penalty kick in regulation.

The Red Stars nearly drew even in the 15th, but Savannah McCaskills header off a rebound hit the post.

McCaskill had another chance from distance in the 67th minute, but Houston goalkeeper Jane Campbell tipped it up and over the crossbar.

The Dash took a hit in the 29th minute when Mewis had to come out of the game with a hamstring injury. She sobbed as she was subbed out of the game.

The NWSL was the first professional team sport to return in the United States. Eight of the leagues nine teams have been sequestered in Utah for the duration of the tournament, which started on June 27.

The leagues ninth team, the Orlando Pride, withdrew shortly before the start because of positive COVID-19 tests. But there were no positive tests in the so-called bubble in Utah for the duration of the event.

The Red Stars were the tournaments sixth seed going into the knockout round. They advanced to the semifinals on penalties after a scoreless draw with OL Reign, then held off Sky Blue 3-2 on Wednesday.

Chicago had just two total goals in the tournament before the outburst against Sky Blue.

The Dash are the upstart underdogs of the Challenge Cup, after finishing seventh in the NWSL last season. English national Rachel Daly led Houston with three goals in the tournament and was the Challenge Cups most valuable player.

Daly had a chance to increase Houstons lead in the 73rd minute, but couldnt quite get set after a cross from Nichelle Prince and the shot went wide.

Daly assisted on Grooms goal in the 91st minute. It was Grooms third goal of the tournament.

Sundays game at Rio Tinto Stadium, home of the NWSLs Utah Royals and Major League Soccers Real Salt Lake, was broadcast nationally on CBS, the leagues new television partner this season.

___

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Upstart Dash win the Challenge Cup 2-0 over the Red Stars - - KUSI

Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto Believed To Have $10.9 …

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

KEY POINTS

A new research by analytics firm Whale Alert reveals that the miner known as "Patoshi",while mining during the early days of Bitcoin, is in possession of 1,125,150 BTC, worth $10.9 billion. Patoshi, who is believedto beBitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has also made the effort to protect the network from attacks during Bitcoins early days.

Patoshi is the name given by analyst Sergio Demian Lerner to the early Bitcoin miner who has a distinct pattern in themining activity. Lerner believes Patoshi is Satoshi based on a pattern left by using a modified version of Bitcoin Core, which Satoshi allegedly used.

The particular pattern could be found at the beginning of the network and also in the blocks that mined the Bitcoins sent to Hal Finney, the first person to received Bitcoins through the network. By connecting the two pieces of information together, Whale Alert deduced the identity of Patoshi.

Whale Alert also found out that Patoshi adjusted his mining speed between blocks to maintain the average time of 10 minutes. The analytics firm thought this was done to protect the network from a 51%attack, a malicious takeover of the network by bad actors. Also, Patoshi made sure he maintained 60%of the processing power while leaving enough blocks for other miners. The more miners joined the network, the more secure it was and the lesser the chance for a 51% attack to be successful. When Patoshi decided the network was strong enough, he reduced his blocks per 10 minutes so others have more chance of mining a block.

At some point, however, it became difficult to track Patoshis blocks so it was impossible to know if Patoshi (or Satoshi) had continued or stopped mining. Whale Alert said the node or computer (miner) used to mine the Patoshi blocks was turned off around May 2010. In total, 907 BTC was spent from the Bitcoins mined on the Patoshi blocks and 1,122,693 BTC was unspent.

Around the same time, Satoshi was active in the BitcoinTalk forum until Dec.12, 2010. Satoshi's last verified communication was an email to then-Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen. I wish you wouldnt keep talking about me as a mysterious shadowy figure, the press just turns that into a pirate currency angle, Satoshi said.

Gold-colored Bitcoin coin on ground Photo: Andr Franois McKenzie on Unsplash

Washington Capitals: Team Red downs Team Blue in intrasquad scrimmage – Stars and Sticks

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Washington Capitals held their third intrasquad scrimmage Friday afternoon at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in what was possibly the final time on the ice in their headquarters before the team departs for Toronto on Sunday. Team Red upset Team Blue 2-1.

Team Blue consisted of a varsity lineup while the Red team was filled with players hoping to crack the playoff lineup. The first period consisted of a 20 minute period while the second and third periods were each 10 minutes.

Team Red struck first late in the opening period. Brian Pinho had a nice finish at the net off a give n go with Daniel Sprong. The goal came at 2:09 left and was redemption from an offsides call just a few minutes prior. The goal came on the power play.

That wasnt all the scoring from Team Red in the first period. Garnet Hathaway had a solid drive to the net to beat Vitek Vanecek and put the Red team up 2-0 with 57 seconds to go.

Team Reds lineup consisted of mostly Hershey Bears players but the one thing they did have that gave Team Blue fits was Braden Holtby in goal. He made a huge glove save here stopping a shot from T.J. Oshie with just over six minutes to go to keep them off the scoresheet. Holtby would later make a left pad save to help kill off a power play. 2-0 was the same score entering the final period.

Team Blue would finally get on the board with 35 seconds left in the third period with Travis Boyd deflecting in a shot from Alex Ovechkin. It helped start a comeback but it would turn out to be too late as the Red team held on for a 2-1 win.

Holtby was named MVP of the scrimmage for his performance in goal and if he plays the way he did on Friday he should be ready to go for the playoffs.

Ovechkin didnt just nearly have a goal, he also took over DJ duties in between periods.

Holtby spoke to the media after the scrimmage and thought it was a little bit better than the previous two scrimmages. He also strongly believes that the team is getting better each day and will be in good shape come playoff time when the team heads to Toronto.

Theyll depart for the six on Sunday and will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game on Wednesday.

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Washington Capitals: Team Red downs Team Blue in intrasquad scrimmage - Stars and Sticks

Researcher finds more of Satoshi Nakamoto’s lost Bitcoin …

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, mined 1,125,150 BTC in the networks early daysa figure slightly bigger than was previously suggestedaccording to a report published on Monday. The report also estimated that Nakamoto had a network of at least 48 computers mining Bitcoin, with one computer coordinating the whole thing.

The report was written by Whale Alert, a pseudonymous researcher well-known in the crypto sphere for providing updates on the movements of Bitcoin. The analyst was one of the first to notice a spend of early mined Bitcoin in May, which some thought might belong to Nakamoto. Now they have delved more deeply into the origins of Bitcoins history.

The researcher was able to identify that 22,503 out of the first 54,316 Bitcoin blocks were mined by Nakamoto. Out of these blocks, 50 of them were spent, including a transaction of 10 Bitcoin to Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin enthusiast who died in 2014 from Lou Gehrig's disease.

We were able to make the most accurate estimate of the number of blocks mined and bitcoins owned by Satoshi: 1,125,150 bitcoin mined up to block 54,316 with an estimated total value of the unspent bitcoin of at least $10.9 billion USD in todays market, the report stated.

Whale Alerts report builds on a previous study by Sergio Lerner, head of innovation at IOV Labs, who first noticed a distinctive pattern used to identify Nakamotos Bitcoin. There is no label that identifies that Nakamoto mined a specific Bitcoin block, but there is a clear pattern that links many Bitcoin blocks together, including some blocks known to be owned by Nakamoto. Lerners latest estimate put the total around 1.1 million Bitcoin, although he did not provide a specific figure.

Whale Alert claimed to have found more details of the pattern that allowed them to identify more Nakamoto-mined blocks and exclude some false positives. These findings allowed us to exclude even more blocks that were not mined by Satoshi and provided us with a clearer image...which was especially valuable at higher block heights where the mining activity on the network increased drastically, said the report.

The report attributed a total of 22,503 Bitcoin blocks to Nakamoto, all within the first 54,316 blocks. It estimated that Nakamoto spent 907 Bitcoin (now worth $8.4 million) in total, leaving 1,122,693 Bitcoin ($10.4 billion) unspent. Quite the haul.

Whale Alert found that Nakamoto kept adjusting the processing power of his 48 computers to make sure he was mining 3.6 blocks on average every hour. This gave him 60% of the mining power on the network. Whale Alert pointed out that this was enough to protect the network, while still allowing other miners to participate.

Once the network grew and more miners joined, it appears that Nakamoto stopped mining in May 2010. The timing of the shutdown, the mining behavior, the systematic decrease in mining speed and the lack of spending strongly suggest that Satoshi was only interested in growing and protecting the young network, the report stated.

Whale Alert added that the Bitcoin fortune was unlikely to be ever spent. Not that anyone knows for sure.

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Researcher finds more of Satoshi Nakamoto's lost Bitcoin ...

Satoshi Nakamoto

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Satoshi Nakamotois the name used by the unknown person or persons who designedbitcoinand created its originalreference implementation.[1]As part of the implementation, they also devised the firstblockchaindatabase. In the process they were the first to solve thedouble-spendingproblem fordigital currency. They were active in the development of bitcoin up until December 2010.Nakamoto has claimed to be a man living inJapan, born on 5 April 1975.[2]However, speculation about the true identity of Nakamoto has mostly focused on a number ofcryptographyandcomputer scienceexperts of non-Japanese descent, living in the United States and Europe.[3]As of 24 May 2017, Nakamoto is believed to own up to roughly one million bitcoins,[4]with a value estimated at approximately $7 billion USD as of November 2017.Development of bitcoinIn October 2008, Nakamoto published a paper[5][6]on The Cryptography Mailing list at metzdowd.com[7]describing the bitcoin digital currency. It was titledBitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. In January 2009, Nakamoto released the first bitcoin software that launched the network and the first units of the bitcoincryptocurrency, calledbitcoins.[8][9]Satoshi Nakamoto released the Version 0.1 of Bitcoin software on Sourceforge on 9 January 2009.Nakamoto claimed that work on the writing of the code began in 2007.[10]The inventor of bitcoin knew that due to its nature the core design would have to be able to support a broad range of transaction types. The implemented solution enabled specialised codes and data fields from the start through the use of apredicativescript.[11]Nakamoto created a website with the domain name bitcoin.org and continued to collaborate with other developers on the bitcoin software until mid-2010. Around this time, he handed over control of thesource code repositoryand network alert key toGavin Andresen,[12]transferred several relateddomainsto various prominent members of the bitcoin community, and stopped his involvement in the project. Until shortly before his absence and handover, Nakamoto made all modifications to the source code himself.The inventor left a text message in the first mined block which reads 'The Times 3 January 2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks'. The text refers to a headline inThe Timespublished on 3 January 2009. It is a strong indication that the first block was mined no earlier than this date.[13]The genesis block has a timestamp of 18:15:05 GMT on 3 January 2009. This block is unlike all other blocks in that it doesn't have a previous block to reference.[13]This required the use of custom code to mine it. Timestamps for subsequent blocks indicate that Nakamoto did not try to mine all the early blocks solely for himself.[13]As the sole, predominant early miner the inventor was awarded bitcoin at genesis and for 10 days afterwards.[14]Except for test transactions these remain unspent since mid January 2009.[14]The public bitcoin transaction log shows that Nakamoto's known addresses contain roughly one million bitcoin. As of 18 August 2017, this is worth over $6,012,000,000.[15][16]Due to the hardfork in whichBitcoin Cashwas made, creating one Bitcoin Cash for every bitcoin in circulation, he also owns roughly one million Bitcoin Cash, worth about $318 million.[17][16]Characteristics and identityNakamoto did not disclose any personal information when discussing technical matters.[3]He provided some commentary on banking andfractional-reserve banking. On hisP2P Foundationprofile as of 2012, Nakamoto claimed to be a 37-year-old male who lived inJapan,[18]but some speculated he was unlikely to be Japanese due to his use of perfectEnglishand his bitcoinsoftwarenot being documented or labelled in Japanese.[3]OccasionalBritish Englishspelling and terminology (such as the phrase "bloody hard") in both source code comments and forum postings led to speculation that Nakamoto, or at least one individual in the consortium claiming to be him, was ofCommonwealthorigin.[5][3][19]Stefan Thomas, a Swiss coder and active community member, graphed the time stamps for each of Nakamoto's bitcoin forum posts (more than 500); the resulting chart showed a steep decline to almost no posts between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11 a.m.Greenwich Mean Time. Because this pattern held true even on Saturdays and Sundays, it suggested that Nakamoto was asleep at this time.[3]If Nakamoto is a single individual with conventional sleeping habits, it suggests he resided in a region using theUTC05:00orUTC06:00time offset. This includes the parts of North America that fall within theEastern Time ZoneandCentral Time Zone, as well as parts of Central America, the Caribbean and South America.Satoshis initial email to Dai is dated22 August 2008; the metadata for this PDF (pdftk bitcoin.pdf dump_data) yields as theCreationDatethe value20081003134958-07'00'- this implies 3 October 2008 or a bit over a month later, which is consistent with the local date mentioned in the Cypherpunk mailing list email. This is an earlier draft than the final draft onbitcoin.org, which is dated20090324113315-06'00'or 24 March 2009; the timezone differs: -7 vs -6.[20]Gavin Andresenhas said of Nakamoto's code: "He was a brilliant coder, but it was quirky".[21]Possible identitiesThere is still doubt about the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.[22]Nick SzaboIn December 2013, a blogger named Skye Grey linkedNick Szaboto the bitcoin whitepaper using astylometricanalysis.[23][24][25]Szabo is a decentralized currency enthusiast and published a paper on"bit gold", which is considered a precursor to bitcoin.[24][25]He is known to have been interested in using pseudonyms in the 1990s.[26]In a May 2011 article, Szabo stated about the bitcoin creator: "Myself,Wei Dai, andHal Finneywere the only people I know of who liked the idea (or in Dai's case his related idea) enough to pursue it to any significant extent until Nakamoto (assuming Nakamoto is not really Finney or Dai)."[27]Detailed research by financial authorDominic Frisbyprovides much circumstantial evidence but, as he admits, no proof that Satoshi is Szabo.[28]Speaking onRT'sThe Keiser Report, he said "I've concluded there is only one person in the whole world that has the sheer breadth but also the specificity of knowledge and it is this chap...".[29]But Szabo has denied being Satoshi. In a July 2014 email to Frisby, he said: 'Thanks for letting me know. I'm afraid you got it wrongdoxingme as Satoshi, but I'm used to it'.[30]Nathaniel Popper wrote in theNew York Timesthat "the most convincing evidence pointed to a reclusive American man of Hungarian descent named Nick Szabo."[31]Dorian NakamotoIn a high-profile 6 March 2014, article in the magazineNewsweek,[32]journalistLeah McGrath Goodmanidentified Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto, a Japanese American man living inCalifornia, whosebirth nameis Satoshi Nakamoto,[32][33][34]as the Nakamoto in question. Besides his name, Goodman pointed to a number of facts that circumstantially suggested he was the bitcoin inventor.[32]Trained as a physicist, Nakamoto worked as a systems engineer on classified defense projects and computer engineer for technology and financial information services companies. Nakamoto was laid off twice in the early 1990s and turnedlibertarian, according to his daughter, and encouraged her to start her own business "not under the government's thumb." In the article's seemingly biggest piece of evidence, Goodman wrote that when she asked him about bitcoin during a brief in-person interview, Nakamoto seemed to confirm his identity as the bitcoin founder by stating: "I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it. It's been turned over to other people. They are in charge of it now. I no longer have any connection."[32][35]The article's publication led to a flurry of media interest, including reporters camping out near Dorian Nakamoto's house and briefly chasing him by car when he drove to an interview.[36]However, during the subsequent full-length interview, Dorian Nakamoto denied all connection to bitcoin, saying he had never heard of the currency before, and that he had misinterpreted Goodman's question as being about his previous work for military contractors, much of which was classified.[37]In a reddit "ask-me-anything" interview, he claimed he had misinterpreted Goodman's question as being related to his work for Citibank.[38]Later that day, the pseudonymous Nakamoto's P2P Foundation account posted its first message in five years, stating: "I am not Dorian Nakamoto."[39][40]However, it is generally believed that Nakamoto's P2P Foundation account had been hacked, and the message was not sent by him.[41][42][43]Hal FinneyHal Finney(4 May 1956 28 August 2014) was a pre-bitcoin cryptographic pioneer and the first person (other than Nakamoto himself) to use the software, file bug reports, and make improvements.[44]He also lived a few blocks from Dorian Nakamoto's family home, according toForbesjournalist Andy Greenberg.[45]Greenberg asked the writing analysis consultancyJuola & Associatesto compare a sample of Finney's writing to Satoshi Nakamoto's, and they found that it was the closest resemblance they had yet come across (including the candidates suggested byNewsweek,Fast Company,The New Yorker, Ted Nelson and Skye Grey).[45]Greenberg theorized that Finney may have been a ghostwriter on behalf of Nakamoto, or that he simply used his neighbor Dorian's identity as a "drop" or "patsy whose personal information is used to hide online exploits". However, after meeting Finney, seeing the emails between him and Nakamoto, his bitcoin wallet's history including the very first bitcoin transaction (from Nakamoto to him, which he forgot to pay back) and hearing his denial, Greenberg concluded Finney was telling the truth. Juola & Associates also found that Nakamoto's emails to Finney more closely resemble Nakamoto's other writings than Finney's do. Finney's fellowextropianand sometimes co-bloggerRobin Hansonassigned a subjective probability of "at least" 15% that "Hal was more involved than hes said", before further evidence suggested that was not the case.[46]Craig Steven WrightOn 8 December 2015,Wiredwrote thatCraig Steven Wright, an Australian former academic, "either invented bitcoin or is a brilliant hoaxer who very badly wants us to believe he did".[47]Craig Wright took down his Twitter account and neither he nor his ex-wife responded to press inquiries. The same day,Gizmodopublished a story with evidence obtained by ahackerwho supposedly broke into Wright's email accounts, claiming that Satoshi Nakamoto was a joint pseudonym for Craig Steven Wright and computer forensics analystDavid Kleiman, who died in 2013.[48]A number of prominent bitcoin promoters remained unconvinced by the reports.[49]Subsequent reports also raised the possibility that the evidence provided was an elaborate hoax,[50][51]whichWiredacknowledged "cast doubt" on their suggestion that Wright was Nakamoto.[52]On 9 December, only hours afterWiredclaimed Wright was Nakamoto, Wright's home inGordon, New South Waleswas raided by at least ten police officers. His business premises inRyde, New South Waleswere also searched by police. TheAustralian Federal Policestated they conducted searches to assist theAustralian Taxation Officeand that "This matter is unrelated to recent media reporting regarding the digital currency bitcoin."[53]According to a document released by Gizmodo alleged to be a transcript of a meeting between Wright and the ATO, he had been involved in a taxation dispute with them for several years.[48]On 2 May 2016, Craig Wright posted on his blog publicly claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto. In articles released on the same day, journalists from theBBCandThe Economiststated that they saw Wright signing a message using the private key associated with the first bitcoin transaction.[54][55]Wright's claim was supported by Jon Matonis (former director of theBitcoin Foundation) and bitcoin developerGavin Andresen, both of whom met Wright and witnessed a similar signing demonstration.[56]However, bitcoin developer Peter Todd said that Wright's blog post, which appeared to contain cryptographic proof, actually contained nothing of the sort.[57]TheBitcoin Coreproject released a statement onTwittersaying "There is currently no publicly available cryptographic proof that anyone in particular is Bitcoin's creator."[58][59]Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik agreed that evidence publicly provided by Wright does not prove anything, and security researcherDan Kaminskyconcluded Wright's claim was "intentional scammery".[60][61]On 4 May 2016, Wright made another post on his blog promising to publish "a series of pieces that will lay the foundations for this extraordinary claim".[62][63]But the following day, he deleted all his blog posts and replaced them with a notice entitled "I'm Sorry", which read in part:I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot.[64][65]In June 2016, theLondon Review of Bookspublished an article byAndrew O'Haganabout the events, based on discussions with Wright and many of the other people involved in claiming the identity of Satoshi.[66][67]It also reveals that the Canadian companynTrustwas behind Wright's claim made in May 2016.Other speculationsIn a 2011 article inThe New Yorker,Joshua Davisclaimed to have narrowed down the identity of Nakamoto to a number of possible individuals, including the Finnish economic sociologist Dr. Vili Lehdonvirta and Irish student Michael Clear, then a graduate student in cryptography atTrinity College Dublin.[68]Clear strongly denied he was Nakamoto,[69]as did Lehdonvirta.[70]In October 2011, writing forFast Company, investigative journalistAdam Penenbergcited circumstantial evidence suggesting Neal King, Vladimir Oksman and Charles Bry could be Nakamoto.[71]They jointly filed a patent application that contained the phrase "computationally impractical to reverse" in 2008, which was also used in the bitcoinwhite paperby Nakamoto.[72]Thedomain namebitcoin.org was registered three days after the patent was filed. All three men denied being Nakamoto when contacted by Penenberg.[71]In May 2013,Ted Nelsonspeculated that Nakamoto is really Japanese mathematicianShinichi Mochizuki.[73]Later, an article was published inThe Agenewspaper that claimed that Mochizuki denied these speculations, but without attributing a source for the denial.[74]A 2013 article,[75]inVicelistedGavin Andresen, Jed McCaleb, or a government agency as possible candidates to be Nakamoto. Dustin D. Trammell, a Texas-based security researcher, was suggested as Nakamoto, but he publicly denied it.[76]In 2013, two Israeli mathematicians, Dorit Ron andAdi Shamir, published a paper claiming a link between Nakamoto andRoss William Ulbricht. The two based their suspicion on an analysis of the network of bitcoin transactions,[77]but later retracted their claim.[78]Some considered Nakamoto might be a team of people;Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher who read the bitcoin code,[79]said that Nakamoto could either be a "team of people" or a "genius";[19]Laszlo Hanyecz, a former bitcoin core developer who had emailed Nakamoto, had the feeling the code was too well designed for one person.[3]References

Satoshi Nakamoto

FC Cincy stuns Red Bulls, 2-0, to advance in tournament – WCPO

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

KISSIMMEE, Fla. FC Cincinnati came into the MLS is Back Tournament with few expectations. New coach Jaap Stam was even calling it more like a preseason for the team he joined in person just one month earlier, and a lopsided loss to open the tournament only affirmed that.

But, two much improved performances later, FCC is headed to the knockout stage.

The Orange and Blue topped New York Red Bulls 2-0 in their Group E finale Wednesday night at ESPN Wide World of Sports to advance to the Round of 16, where they will meet the Group F winner. That game will take place 10:30 p.m. July 28 against either Portland or Los Angeles FC.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Another clean sheet

FC Cincinnati switched to a more defensive approach with the 5-3-2 formation ahead of last weeks 1-0 win over Atlanta, and it was no surprise Stam didnt veer from that against a New York team known for an effective high press and counter attack.

Once again it paid off, as FCC earned a second straight clean sheet after giving up four goals in the tournament opener against Columbus on July 11.

We needed to give everything defending wise as well to not give away too many chances or open chances and then to wait for the opportunity ourselves to come out and be decisive and score that goal, Stam said. And that's what we've done twice, which was very good.

The Orange and Blue parked the bus defensively, so to speak, and New York couldnt solve it even while possessing the ball 68 percent of the game with a lineup featuring six midfielders and no natural forwards (midfielders Daniel Royer and Florian Valot played as the front men). The Red Bulls tried going through FCCs defense in the first half unsuccessfully and then shifted to trying to go above the center backs. They finished with 44 crosses and 18 shots but only four on target as 13 were blocked. FCC won 57 of 102 duels (56 percent).

Goalie Przemyslaw Tyton recorded all four saves in the final 10-plus minutes, three within a three-minute span.

We worked really hard last weeks to know how to defend other teams, Tyton said. And we did it this day and last time. Well, I think we did a good job. I feel confident with my defenders. We didn't give up anything. ... We stuck to the plan, we won the game and we are happy we're gonna go to the next round.

2. Progress on offense

While the defense has shined in the two wins, FCC showed some progress on offense Wednesday as well.

FCC moved forward with Andrew Gutman and Joe Gyau playing deep as wingbacks for a second straight game, and usually only two or three players were involved in the attack at any one moment. Despite that, the Orange and Blue still managed two goals and looked more threatening for the most part, including a ripped shot from outside the box by Frankie Amaya that was saved in the 19th minute and an Adrien Regattin shot just wide in the 52nd minute.

New York lacked the pressure its defense has been known for, and FCC took advantage of two mistakes to get on the board. In the 43rd minute, Yuya Kubo pounced on a poor clearance by Red Bulls defender Amro Tarek, took a couple touches and then fired off a shot from outside the box past a diving David Jensen for a 1-0 lead. Then in the second half, in the 56th minute, Haris Medunjanins corner kick to the near post was deflected off the head of Valot and Jensen couldnt react quickly enough, as the ball went off his gloves and into the goal.

Kubos goal, though, was not just a stroke of good fortune being in the right place at the right time. FCC had put together an incredible possession that saw ball movement from Adrien Regattin and Joe Gyau on the right side, back to Deplagne and eventually over to Andrew Gutman, who sent the ball forward and essentially earned a hockey assist.

Medunjanins corner came after a great run and cross that was cleared out of bounds.

The key is working together, Stam said. If you have players and you have only individuals then you're never going to win the game. So you need to have cohesion between the players in the team within the roster and not only the 11 that are playing, but everybody within the roster needs to understand the plan and needs to be ready to do their part in doing that as well. That's what's very important I think for this team at the moment, and there's a lot of ability in there as well, and eventually, you know, getting the (injured players back), we can grow from this and then become even better defending wise but also going forward to be more dominant.

3. Turning heads

Both wins came against the two teams that beat FCC in March before COVID-19 shut down the season for four months, and Group E was considered one of the toughest in the tournament. Columbus remains unbeaten this season after improving its roster greatly during the offseason, and New York and Atlanta have been strong the last few years.

FCC was an underdog in the group and certainly a surprise runner-up, although a draw would have gotten the Orange and Blue into the knockout stage as a wild card third-place finisher.

At the beginning of the tournament, nobody gave us a chance, so we proved them wrong, Medunjanin said. We showed the league that we are a good team, especially when we fight each other because in our team we don't have like a star player like others. We need to do it as a team. And that's what we did today, and we show that we can play with any team in the league.

Cincinnati learned quickly from the loss to Columbus, and Stam showed he can out-coach managers more familiar with the league. His tactics were key, especially considering injuries limiting the attack with forward Jurgen Locadia out all three games with a quad injury and Allan Cruz (ankle) and Siem de Jong (groin) limited as well.

The Orange and Blue hadnt put together two wins since March 2019.

It gives us confidence to go on and go to the next phase, Stam said. If you look at the table, it gives us six points, which is very positive. In the process that we're in, we're still in like a sort of in a preseason, in week four (together). Already against these two very big teams, very good opponents, getting this success, tells you something about this team as well as the mentality that's been there."

The rest is here:

FC Cincy stuns Red Bulls, 2-0, to advance in tournament - WCPO

These are the top 20 sexiest men from Essex – Essex Live

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Essex is home for so many incredible men.

From actors to sportsmen and even reality TV stars, we have some seriously sexy men.

However, here at EssexLive we think there is way more to being sexy than just good looks.

We think intelligence, kindness and talent all play a huge part in sexiness.

We have compiled the list of the top 20 sexiest men in and from Essex.

Some of the entries have reappeared from previous lists and remained in the top selection, whereas others are new faces.

You are sure to recognise most of the men on our list, but there may be a few men you didn't even realise were from Essex.

Do you think we've covered the top men?

Essex boy Jon Clark became a favourite on season one of Love Island in 2015 where he finished as a runner up.

Shortly after Love Island Jon joined the cast of TOWIE alongside his brother Chris in 2016.

Lee Mead shot to fame on the BBCs Any Dream Will Do show in 2007 where he won the role of playing Joseph in the West End revival of Andrew Lloyd-Webbers Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat .

Born in Southend-on-Sea, Lee had previously showed his talents in other West End shows but never as the lead role.

Since Joseph, Lee has payed a main role in TV dramas such as Casulty and Holby City.

Funny man Alan Davis was born here in Essex, in Loughton.

Alan is a stand up comedian, writer and actor.

He is best know for the title role in mystery drama seriesJonathan Creek and is also the only permanent panelist on QI.

You will regularly see Alan on a whole variety of comedy shows.

Jamie Oliver has been one of the biggest names in cooking for a long time now.

Born in Clavering, Jamie is a household name, not just in Essex but across the UK.

Jamie's fame kicked of in 2005 with his controversial campaign to eliminate junk food for school meals.

Since then he has released several books and TV shows, including Jamies 15-Minute Meals a book made to encourage families to cook from scratch.

He is undoubtedly one of Essex's most successful men, he was even awarded an MBE for his service to cooking.

Olympian Max Whitlock is one of Essex's most successful sportsmen.

A five-time Olympic medalist, winning two golds for Britain, and a six-time world medallist, winning two golds and four silvers for Britain, Max is one of the world's best gymnasts.

Max's contribution to gymnastics has not gone unnoticed, he was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours.

He is now married to Leah Hickton and they have a one year old daughter called Willow.

Model David Gandy has appeared on our most sexy list for several years now.

From Billericay, David's modelling began with winning a modelling competition on This Morning and securing a contract with Select Model Management.

Since then, David's portfolio includes work with Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss, Jaguar, H&M, Banana Republic and Marks & Spencer.

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One of David's most notable moments was when he walked the runway alongside notorious British model Kate Moss at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony.

Not only is David talented when it comes to modeling, he also regularly writes for British Vogue as well as contributing to Londons Evening Standard.

International actor Tom Payne was born here in Essex, in Chelmsford.

He is best known for playing the part of Paul "Jesus" Rovia in The Walking Dead'.

Before that starring role, Tom was a cast member of BBC show Waterloo road.

He has since been in American series Prodigal Son.

Most people will recognise Joe Thomas from the UK hilarious sitcom The Inbetweeners in which he played Simon.

The majority residents who have grown up in Britain can relate to the teenage comedy.

It's not only the Inbetweeneres where you may have seen Joe, he has also starred in two films based on the show as well as comedy series Fresh Meat and film The Festival.

Joe deserves a place on this list for a number of reasons, let's be honest he was the one most of us fancied out of the four Inbetweeners.

When you think of Essex boys, you can't not think of Olly Murs.

Hailing from Witham, Olly helped put Essex on the map when he finished as the runner up on The X-Factor in 2009.

As well as releasing plenty of his own music, Olly has spent a lot of time on screen, hosting spin-off show The Xtra Factor in 2011.

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Olly has also been a judge and mentor The Voice UK.

Not only is Olly nice on the eye, he is also very charming.

He has kept plenty of us entertained throughout lockdown through social media.

Harry Potter star Rupert Grint is one of the UK's most loved red-heads.

Born in Harlow, when he was younger, Rupert never intended to be an actor.

In fact, his dream was to own his own ice cream van.

However, he later grew an interest in acting, and landed the role of Ron Weasley in 2000.

Since Harry Potter, Rupert has had a whole range of roles on the screen and stage.

Everyone knows who Russell Brand is, however not everyone knows that he is from Essex.

He was born and raised in Grays, and despite having a very troubling childhood, Russell turned his life around and became one of the most famous comedians of the 21st Century.

Russell has started in many films, such as Get Him To The Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Despicable Me and St. Trinians.

As well as on screen appearances, Russell also has a long list of stand-up experience, including at the 2007 Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen and Prince Phillip.

Russell deserves a place on this list due to not only how funny he is, but also his story of beating addiction and how he helps others to get clean.

Dermot O'Leary was born and raised here in Essex.

The TV personality grew up in Marks Tey and began his broadcast career at Radio Essex.

As well as his presenting work, Dermot is also famous for his contributions to charity.

He is a regular on Comic Relief, Sports Relief and Soccer Aid to name just a few.

Dermot's charm and personality is what gets him in the top 10.

EastEnders star Davood Ghadami was born and raised in Harlow.

Most known for playing the role Kush in the British soap, Davood is one of the show's heart throbs.

Davood also did very well in Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, being voted out in the quarter-finals.

His other credits include Doctor Who, Skins and Spooks.

Mark Wright has come a long way since his days on TOWIE.

Born in Buckhurst Hill, Mark has had a very successful TV career.

He came in second place in I'm a Celeb in 2011 and he also made the top four in his series of Strictly Come Dancing.

If you're looking for a way to stay up to date with the latest breaking news from around Essex, the EssexLive newsletter is a good place to start.

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Signing up to the newsletter is simple. Just put your email address in the box at the top of this story and click 'subscribe'.

It's one of the many ways that you can read the news that matters to you from EssexLive.

Mark isn't just talented when it comes to TV, he also had a promising football career.

Before he found fame, Mark was a semi-professional footballer, with a youth career atWest Ham United, Arsenal, andTottenham Hotspur.

He then started his senior career withSouthend United.

Despite making his name on The X-Factor, it's not singing that Rylan does best.

Since the competition, Rylan has been all over our TV screens with his presenting work.

Rylan's infectious smile and hilarious personality makes him a firm favourite in Essex.

He is well and truly an Essex boy, coming from Stanford-le-Hope.

Rylan has had huge roles on This Morning, Big Brother and The Xtra Factor.

Starting off our top five is TV presenter Ben Shephard.

Ben was born in Epping and grew up in Chigwell, meaning he is a real Essex Boy.

He is one of the main presenters of Good Morning Britain, but also appears on lots of other shows.

The team at EssexLive are committed to bringing our readers breaking news, in-depth features, and exclusive content from the four corners of Essex.

Whether it's the latest from court trials, traffic updates on the roads, or breaking news incidents from where you are - we have the county covered.

From Colchester to Chelmsford, Grays to Great Dunmow, we bring you the news that matters most to you.

To keep updated with what is happening across the county, download the new EssexLive app now on the Apple Store.

Ben hosts Tipping Point and Ninja Warrior UK as well as several other occasional appearances.

As well as TV, Ben is also a regular face at charitable events including running marathons and playing in Soccer Aid.

There is no way that 'the' Essex Boy, Joey Essex could not feature on this list.

Joey first entered our lives when he joined the cast of TOWIE in the early seasons.

With good looks and a very lovable personality, Joey has gone on to have a very successful TV career.

In 2013 he placed fourth in I'm a Celeb, Joey has also appeared on Celebs Go Dating, The Chase and The Crystal Maze to name a few.

Link:

These are the top 20 sexiest men from Essex - Essex Live

Max Keiser’s attacks on Bitcoin reveal BTC proponents see it as a threat – CoinGeek

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Danzig

Television alt-finance pundit and BTC proponent Max Keiser has been busy attacking Bitcoin SV on his social media accounts and in interviews. Its not rare for Keiser to produce outlandish statements on BTC prices, or slam public figures involved with non-BTC blockchains. But these can also be used as a barometer of which projects BTC and its army of public relations representatives see as the biggest threats.

Some more recent comments from the host of RTs Keiser Report came after Calvin Ayre, founder of Ayre Group and CoinGeek, accused him of being paid to promote BTC:

A few days prior, he posted a more generic anti-BSV meme, though BSV has not suffered any crises worthy of comparison to such a dramatic event:

In fact, that Bitcoin (BSV) has not suffered any technical problems since restoring the original Bitcoin protocol in early 2020 which is the opposite of a burning boat. That meme more accurately describes BTC and other altcoins, which have experienced problems with scaling, volume, high fees, and lost funds. These are often self-inflictedBitcoin can scale on-chain, yet BTC now touts the complex and problematic Lightning Network to handle most of its transactions. Bitcoin flourishes, with more and more applications developers choosing to build on it every daywhile BTC Core developers and Blockstream keep their network crippled.

The BSV development team has proved Bitcoin can scale on-chain, process thousands of transactions per second at low fees, and do a lot more. Bitcoin is capable of processing as much data as the internet itself. Those who say it couldnt, and who wasted years with their pointless scaling debate, are truly the captains of a sinking ship.

Speaking in an interview on Patrick Bet-Davids Valuetainment channel last month (which has over 2.4 million subscribers) Keiser listed off the reasons he thinks Dr. Craig Wright and Bitcoin BSV have little value:

It has been well documented in numerous sources that (Wrights) claims are bogus, Keiser said, and BSV is an outright fraud. He took particular issue with the way he conducts himself, and a series of lawsuits Wright brought against members of the BTC community that repeatedly made libelous comments to that extent, which he has lost or is in the process of losing.

He is absolutely laughed at in a year or two from now, the name will be forgotten forever.

We should note that most of the publicly available material on Dr. Wrights history have come from the yet-to-be-tried Ira Kleiman lawsuit in which Wright is the defendant, not the plaintiff. We should also note that none of the allegations that Keiser spouted off about Wrights claims are accurate whatsoever. We do not consider blog posts from sock puppets as legitimate sources of information.

Apparently not realizing the irony, Keiser then followed his attack on Wright by giving his reasons why it was better for Satoshi Nakamotos true identity to remain unknown forever:

If you have a known person attached to it, they become an attack vector. And people will attack that person. And so you dont want that. You know, who invented gold?

When Bet-David pointed out that gold is a naturally-occurring element and Bitcoin is a man-made technology, the conversation veered off on a tangent over whether God created man and thus Bitcoin too, and the evils of fiat money.

Wheres all this coming from?

Keiser, a former stand-up comedian and part-time stock trader, hosts The Keiser report on RT. He has been bullish on BTC on his RT show for many years, finding it a perfect fit for his anti-bank/government sentiments and contrarian views on finance and economics. These have often revolved around precious metals and alternative currencies. In the late 1990s he was CEO of the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which traded virtual securities based on the fortunes of movies and stars. In 2010, he also led a campaign against JPMorgan Chase by appealing to the public to buy silver, raising its price and closing JPMs short positions.

These views, coupled with his large audience, made him a darling of the BTC community. Keiser is also co-founder at Heisenberg Capital, a BTC venture capital fund. He recently told Cointelegraphs Allen Scott that he named the company after he started noticing that Bitcoin was becoming self-aware, and that humans as a species need to prove we are worthy of Bitcoin.

In 2020 he has predicted the BTC price will hit $50K, $100K and eventually $400K due to a collapse in the USD and economic/financial turmoil resulting from this years COVID-19 crisis. A dollar crash would surely increase the dollar value of BTC, along with the price of everything else. However BTCs chances of replacing it as a reserve currency are slim given its 3-7 transaction-per-second limit and spending alternatives that involve funding (and maintaining) off-chain payment channels.

As a popular broadcaster and long-time entertainment industry figure, Keiser is no doubt aware of the attention-grabbing potential any prediction of a six-figure BTC has. He and others have been making such predictions for years. In reality these viral statements more often result in temporary, short-term bumps in the BTC price than long-term injections of cash. However even short-term bumps are adequate to make large profits for speculative traders, at the expense of naive rush-buyers.

Whos actually listening?

The frequent animosity directed at Bitcoin BSV by BTC supporters whether coordinated, paid, or grassrootshas become predictable both in subject matter and its lack of substance. They have included soundbite campaigns in the mainstream media and on social networks, as well as collusion between some exchanges to delist BSV.

As Bitcoiners have pointed out, if BSV is as valueless as its detractors claim, then simply ignoring it would suffice. The counter-argument that BSV is a target because it takes the name Bitcoin and (rightfully) claims to be the original Bitcoin is hollow, since many other assets have done that over the years, and disappeared amid crashing prices and developer apathy.

The attacks are indicative of a strategy to play the man, not the ball. Most efforts are simply character assassinations on Dr. Wright. Theres very little material out there giving technical reasons why BSV doesnt work. There have been no signs on the BSV side that anything is technically amiss with its on-chain scaling vision, either. Developers continue to build new projects on the BSV blockchain and find new use-cases for its processing abilities, as well as utilize the old (and long forgotten) BTC promise of a micropayments economy.

BSV is the only network that can accurately (and perhaps even legally) be called Bitcoin. Its protocol is by far the closest to the original version released by Dr. Craig Wright as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, and its the only one that maintains Satoshis original vision.

Bitcoin, as BSV, creates a vast micropayments economy and can process all the worlds data on an open and auditable blockchain, secured by economic incentives. That which Max Keiser and his fellow bagholders proclaim in the mass media as Bitcoin is BTC, which devolved away from the original protocol and should be referred to as an altcoin.

Observers should regard shareable soundbites as just that. BTC pundits talk mainly about massive price rises and the personalities of their opponents. The BSV community is focused not on price, but on building long-term viability.

New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeeksBitcoin for Beginnerssection, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoinas originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamotoand blockchain.

Originally posted here:

Max Keiser's attacks on Bitcoin reveal BTC proponents see it as a threat - CoinGeek

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Futurist Transhuman News Blog

Monthly Archives: July 2020

Astrophysics created the largest 3D map of the Universe to date – Tech Explorist

Answers About Universe’s Age Could Be Found in the Dark – UPJ Athletics

Groundbreaking study of binary star evolution is focus of new NSF grant – RIT News

STARMUS VI: The world-renowed festival will be dedicated to Mars in 2 – Astronomy Magazine

NASA Jupiter probe images huge moon Ganymede like never before (photos) – Space.com

Check It Out: These eight books will have you starstruck – The Columbian

The Tesla Cybertruck will be built in Texas and is getting an interplanetary update – Fox News

Macau Travel Guide: Facts, City Map, Tips, Entertainment

Jordan orders two-year closure of teachers’ union – Macau Business

Amazing underwater habitat will allow researchers to explore the seas depths – Digital Trends

Mars Lays Red Carpet: Three Earthly Visitors Take Flight Towards the Red Planet Within 11 Days – The Weather Channel

Learning From Ben Franklin and Henk Rogers We Could Thrive – Newsmax

Upstart Dash win the Challenge Cup 2-0 over the Red Stars – – KUSI

Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto Believed To Have $10.9 …

Washington Capitals: Team Red downs Team Blue in intrasquad scrimmage – Stars and Sticks

Researcher finds more of Satoshi Nakamoto’s lost Bitcoin …

Satoshi Nakamoto

FC Cincy stuns Red Bulls, 2-0, to advance in tournament – WCPO

These are the top 20 sexiest men from Essex – Essex Live

Max Keiser’s attacks on Bitcoin reveal BTC proponents see it as a threat – CoinGeek