Daily Archives: March 23, 2020

NASAs Hubble space telescope has helped astronomers spot quasar tsunamis ripping across galaxies.

Described as the most energetic outflows ever witnessed in the universe, they emanate from quasars, distant bright objects in space that are similar to stars. The outflows tear across interstellar space like tsunamis, wreaking havoc on the galaxies in which the quasars live, said NASA, in a statement.

Quasars contain supermassive black holes fueled by infalling matter that can shine 1,000 times brighter than their host galaxies of hundreds of billions of stars, NASA explained. As the black hole devours matter, hot gas encircles it and emits intense radiation, creating the quasar. Winds, driven by blistering radiation pressure from the vicinity of the black hole, push material away from the galaxy's center. These outflows accelerate to breathtaking velocities that are a few percent of the speed of light.

NASAS HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE SPOTS 'GALACTIC TRAFFIC JAM'

Astronomers were able to study 13 quasar outflows, measuring the incredible speed of gas being accelerated by the quasar wind. This was achieved by looking at spectral "fingerprints" of light from the glowing gas.

An illustration of a distant galaxy with an active quasar at its center. (Credits: NASA, ESA and J. Olmsted [STScI]))

Aside from measuring the most energetic quasars ever observed, the team also discovered another outflow accelerating faster than any other, scientists said, in the statement. It increased from nearly 43 million miles per hour to roughly 46 million miles per hour in a three-year period. The scientists believe its acceleration will continue to increase over time.

Hubble continues to shed new light on space. The telescope, for example, recently spotted a galactic traffic jam more than 60 million light-years away.

77-YEAR-OLD AMATEUR ASTRONOMER HELPS MAKE STUNNING DISCOVERY

A light-year, which measures distance in space,equalsabout 6 trillion miles.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A joint project of NASA and the European Space Agency, the Hubble telescope has captured a host of beautiful images since its launch in 1990.In 2012, NASAreleasedan image of a double nucleus in the Andromeda Galaxy that was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. A Hubble imagereleasedin 2014 showed a double nucleus in spiral galaxy Messier 83.

Follow James Rogers on Twitter@jamesjrogers

View post:
NASAs Hubble space telescope spots quasar tsunamis ripping across galaxies - Fox News

Antidotes to Fear of Death

Sometimes as an antidoteTo fear of death,I eat the stars.

Those nights, lying on my back,I suck them from the quenching darkTil they are all, all inside me,Pepper hot and sharp.

Sometimes, instead, I stir myselfInto a universe still young,Still warm as blood:

No outer space, just space,The light of all the not yet starsDrifting like a bright mist,And all of us, and everythingAlready thereBut unconstrained by form.

And sometime its enoughTo lie down here on earthBeside our long ancestral bones:

To walk across the cobble fieldsOf our discarded skulls,Each like a treasure, like a chrysalis,Thinking: whatever left these husksFlew off on bright wings.

In 1986, Rebecca Elson (1960-1999) was a young Canadian astronomer who had begun a post-doctoral research fellowship examining Hubble telescope data at Princeton. In the essay From Stones to Stars, which concludes her posthumously published and single poetry collection A Responsibility to Awe, Elson contrasted the discomforts of working in such a male-dominated environment with her pleasure in the openness and congeniality of Princetons poetry community. But she went on to add a significant qualification, that the discussions there were also a reminder that, although I loved the unlimited licence to invent, I also loved the sense of exploring not an inner, but an outer world, that was really there, in some objective sense. This weeks poem seems to accommodate this dilemma, by working on a borderline between inventive poetic figures and more objective description, while never fully letting go of the former.

The opening lines are simple and striking. The speaker doesnt merely lie on her back to look up at the night sky, as any non-astronomer might do, but, childlike, she eats the stars. She goes on to tell us how she eats them: she sucks them, and finds the taste pepper hot and sharp. This is purposefully visceral and immediate, and a summons to the child star-lover in herself, a tuning-in to the old excitement before academia took over.

She continues the nutrition metaphor with the word stir in the third stanza, but a change of approach is heralded as were invited to follow her into the early universe: No outer space, just space. And now poetic diction is reduced, the whole imaginative process more restrained. The biblical creation narrative is recalled, when the earth was without form, and void yet the description, especially that of the not yet stars, feels logical and objective.

The alternative to stargazing and imagining, proposed in the fifth stanza, is To lie down here on earth / Beside our long ancestral bones Because of the placing of the conjunction in the first line And sometimes its enough the activity is subtly emphasised. Its at least as important as looking up at the stars to be aware of the horizontal neighbourhood, that of our long ancestral bones. The pun on long is beautifully judged here.

Elson doesnt refute biological science. Dead matter is transformed, but kept interestingly visible in the reference to cobble fields / Of our discarded skulls. Its an imaginative truce with fact, followed by speculation, and recourse to the soul-as-butterfly myth. Inevitably, the bright wings connect us to the bright mist in stanza four, as if a new creation might transpire from death.

Antidotes to Fear of Death is undated, and may have been written before the poet was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the disease from which she died at the age of 39. Its the kind of intense engagement with death that an imaginative young writer might make, regardless of personal circumstance. As an act of generosity, like so much of Elsons work, it includes readers by its imaginative accessibility and universal theme. Although antidote is a strong word, the poem has some power to challenge the individuals fear of extinction with a wider, less egocentric focus on space and time. It lies just outside religious consolation, and just outside scientific detachment. Imagination is all we have to suggest alternative universes, a quality required for survival, for poetry, and for the hypotheses of science.

A Responsibility to Awe was first published in 2001, and was reissued in 2018 as a Carcanet Classic. To read Elsons brave and gentle work during the current pandemic crisis is to take a fresh breath, and to see a little farther.

Link:
Poem of the week: Antidotes to Fear of Death by Rebecca Elson - The Guardian

The Lighthouse. Photo: A24

So, like everyone else, you now find yourself confined to your home for the foreseeable future. Once youve taken care of necessities like securing a healthy food stock, its time to address the really important question: What kind of movies do you want to watch? Your first impulse might be to watch a bunch of films filled with pleasures you cant enjoy at the moment, like travel, eating in restaurants, or standing within four feet of someone whos not a member of your immediate family. Such movies might offer a pleasant diversion from our new semi-quarantined reality, but they might also just be reminders of happier times.

It could be better to lean into the moment and explore films that deal explicitly with confinement, isolation, and the difficulties of living with others in confined spaces in the midst of crises. And, when doing so, why not choose some that meet the new federal guidelines discouraging gatherings of ten or fewer people? To make it easier for you, weve selected ten great films featuring fewer than ten characters that might, in one way or another, reflect the new reality in which we live.

As many are now discovering, its not always easy living 24/7 in close quarters with anybody, even those you love. Imagine trying it with a bunch of strangers on a boat in the middle of the war. Thats the John Steinbeckcreated scenario at the heart of Alfred Hitchcocks wartime classic Lifeboat, which strands nine strangers (played by Tallulah Bankhead, Home Cronyn, William Bendix, and others) on a lifeboat as the war rages around them. The more we quarrel and criticize and misunderstand each other, the bigger the ocean gets, and the smaller the boat, one character states, but the film is anything but a simplistic plea for peace and cooperation. Not everyones who they claim to be and some characters learn they have to take ugly steps in order to survive. Few directors could move a camera like Hitchcock, but here he proves himself equally effective in a confined space, creating dread and paranoia with a handful of characters drifting through a sea ready to swallow them up if they cant work together to survive. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

In some respects, the coronavirus crisis has accelerated preexisting trends. For many, telecommuting and interacting with others primarily through technology was already the norm. But just because somethings been normalized doesnt mean it cant distort or even redefine reality. With his 2014 directorial debut, Alex Garland explored the implications of artificial intelligence and the point at which our creations achieved a kind of personhood via the story of an eccentric tech genius named Nathan (Oscar Isaac) who challenges Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer in his employ, to find any distinction between his latest creation, Ava (Alicia Vikander) and a human being. But thats only the start of Calebs problems as the experience reveals the full extent of his loneliness and the depth of his need to connect with someone, or maybe something. Using only four characters and an isolated location, Garland digs into the thorny philosophical issues raised by AI while also capturing the ways technology has reshaped the ways we view the world and ourselves, finding little of comfort along the way. Available to stream on Netflix.

Theater has a long tradition of plays featuring only a handful of actors, but that tradition doesnt always translate into great movies. Even a great cast can struggle to make material that worked on stage do the same on the big screen. Adapted from Anthony Shaffers hit 1970 play, Joseph L. Mankiewiczs Sleuth makes a virtue of its smallness, unfolding in the claustrophobic, knick-knack-filled confines of the stately manor occupied by Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier), a successful mystery writer with a less-than-successful marriage. Hes joined by his wifes lover Milo (Michael Caine) and the two embark on a battle of wits whose twists and turns are best left unspoiled. The film cleverly draws on the mechanics of classic mystery stories, but at its heart its a nasty character study, brilliantly played by two of the best British actors of their respective generations.

As of now, were all cooped up together for a yet-to-be-determined number of weeks and its not always going to be pretty. But, if were lucky, the experience will never be as ugly as Mike Nicholss adaptation of Edward Albees groundbreaking play in which the middle-aged couple of Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) and George (Richard Burton) play host to young marrieds Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis). Over one long night, the liquor flows, old skeletons come to light, relationships turn tangled, and everyone emerges from a long-dark-late-night-drinking-session-of-the-soul a little wiser, but also bruised and disturbed in ways that suggest some wisdom can be too hard won. Maybe social distancing has its advantages. Available to rent on Amazon Prime.

Lars von Trier could easily have borrowed the title of the Bergman movie Scenes from a Marriage for this terrifying film, in which a never-named couple (Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe) grieving for their lost child retreat to a cabin in the woods. Attempting to force his wife of her deep depression, the husband subjects her to intense counseling sessions that quickly take a dark turn. Before long, the forest around them starts to mirror her troubled state and their retreat devolves into violence as even darker forces apparently start to take hold. Von Triers apocalyptic Melancholia looks positively upbeat by comparison but, as with that film, von Triers descent into absolute darkness can feelweirdly cathartic. Sometimes depicting a mutilated fox saying Chaos reigns in a spooky voice just feels like an honest expression of how scary the world can turn, and how deep the divide between two people can become. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

In this largely improvised 2002 film by Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck play two hikers named Gerry who slowly come to realize their wanderings have taken them so far off the trail they might never find their way back. Inspired by Hungarian filmmaker Bla Tarr, Van Sant uses long shots and stark landscapes to convey a sense of isolation and mounting fear as Gerry and Gerrys journey starts to take on an existential quality. With death at hand, their relationship begins to fray as they realize how much they depended on the comforts and dependability of civilization, both to survive and to define themselves. Van Sants refusal to cut away from their long desert trudges works both as stylistic bravado and an act of empathy, forcing viewers to consider the experience of human existence when its been stripped to its essence. Available to stream on Tubi.

Beyond the influence of Tarr, Gerrys use of blurring identity also owes a debt to Persona, Ingmar Bergmans quintessential study of bleeding identities. Liv Ullmann stars as Elisabet, a famous actress whos stopped speaking, either out of inability or desire. When shes sent to a remote cottage with her nurse Alma (Bibi Andersson), their relationship becomes by turns intimate and violent. As secrets from their pasts surface, the lines dividing their personalities start to blur, a process Bergman depicts via stunning compositions and aggressive editing as attuned to the French New Wave as his past work. Its a fascinating study of intersecting lives that works just as well as a kind of psychological horror movie. Pair it with this next film and youve got yourself a terrific, disturbing breakdowns-by-the-seaside double feature. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

As many of us struggle to adjust to telecommuting, its probably best to remember that having to work side by side with the wrong co-worker can be hellish. For his follow-up to The Witch, Robert Eggers sends a young 19th-century lighthouse keeper (maybe) named Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) to an isolated New England island to work alongside the more experienced Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe). Once there, Winslow learns the place has an odd history, starts to experience strange visions of tentacles and mermaids, and develops a complicated (to say the least) relationship with Wake. Shot in striking black-and-white and accompanied by a disorienting sound design, Eggers film builds in hallucinatory intensity until its not clear whats real, whats imagined, and how much blame for the ensuing weirdness and its dire consequences can attributed to the difficulty of spending too much time with one person. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

On the other hand, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), the protagonist of Alfonso Cuarns 2013 film Gravity, seems to have a lovely working relationship with Lieutenant Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), her companion on a space shuttle expedition intended to repair the Hubble Telescope. But circumstances beyond their control cut that relationship short, forcing Stone to take extraordinary measures as she looks for a way to make her way back down to Earth. Shot in 3D and widely watched on IMAX at the time of its release, Cuarns film is a technical wonder. But it also plays well at home, in part because of Cuarns extraordinary command of visual storytelling and in part because of Bullocks gripping performance. Over the course of the film, we learn of the loss that made it easy for Stone to take to the stars and the lasting grief that now makes it easy to entertain the thought of just drifting away. But its ultimately a story of survival, and how the will to live can persist and prevail in even the most impossible circumstances. Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

In that respect, Gravity bears a strong resemblance to another 2013 film anchored by an exceptional bit of acting, J.C. Chandors nautical survival tale All Is Lost. Robert Redford stars as an unnamed man who awakens in the middle of the Indian Ocean to find his boat already pretty far along in the process of sinking. In a virtually wordless performance, Redford captures the characters deepening commitment to make it out alive and return to a life on shore one reflective scene suggests hes made a mess of before disembarking. Like Gravity, its an impressive technical accomplishment, but also one that would mean nothing without Redfords deft performance as a man who may not have understood just how much he wanted to live until staring death in the face. Available to stream on Hulu.

Originally posted here:
10 Great Movies With Fewer Than 10 People in Them - Vulture