Wednesday, April 05, 2017

CPT Twit - Honoring the Feminine force of Creation throughout our History and Evolution

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What is a CPT Twit?  Our new form of communicating with those who find sending 140 character Tweets too challenging and demanding.  The CPT Twit is a photo story, a picture book, or whatever you choose to call it.

In Honor of the Feminine force that permeates the universe and the co-creator responsibility of the feminine Creator in the polarity of Creation, here is you!










































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Astronomer Royal Martin Rees on aliens, parallel universes and the biggest threats to mankind

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Astronomer Royal Martin Rees on aliens, parallel universes and the biggest threats to mankind

Rees says extraterrestrial life would either be far less advanced - or they will have developed full electronic intelligence.

·                                 By Martin Rees




Updated April 3, 2017 13:48 BST
British cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees gives a lecture entitled: 'From Mars to the Multiverse: the Post-Human Future' during the Starmus Festival on the Spanish Canary island of Tenerife Desiree Martin/ AFP

Martin Rees is Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, at the University of Cambridge, the Astronomer Royal, a member of Britain's House of Lords, and a former President of the Royal Society. The following interview was conducted at Trinity College, Cambridge, by The Conversation's Matt Warren.

Into space

Q: How big is the universe … and is it the only one?
Our cosmic horizons have grown enormously over the last century, but there is a definite limit to the size of the observable universe. It contains all the things from which light has been able to reach us since the Big Bang, about 14 billion years ago. But the new realisation is that the observable universe may not be all of reality. There may be more beyond the horizon, just as there's more beyond the horizon when you're observing the ocean from a boat.
What's more, the galaxies are likely to go on and on beyond this horizon, but more interestingly, there is a possibility that our Big Bang was not the only one. There may have been others, spawning other universes, disconnected from ours and therefore not observable, and possibly even governed by different physical laws. Physical reality on this vast scale could therefore be much more varied and interesting than what we can observe.

Are we alone in the universe? 
The universe we can observe is governed by the same laws everywhere. We can observe a distant galaxy and see that the atoms emitting the light are just the same as the ones in the lab. But there may be physical domains that are governed by completely different laws. Some may have no gravity, or not allow for nuclear physics. Ours may not even be a typical domain.
Even in our own universe, there are only so many ways you can assemble the same atoms, so if it is large enough it is possible that there is another Earth, even another avatar you. If this were the case, however, the universe would have to be bigger than the observable one by a number which to write down would require all the atoms in the universe. Rest assured, if there's another you, they are a very, very long way away. They might even be making the same mistakes.
Q: So how likely is alien life in this vast expanse?
We know now that planets exist around many, even most, stars. We know that in our Milky Way galaxy there are likely millions of planets that are in many ways like the Earth, with liquid water. The question then is whether life has developed on them – and we can't yet answer that.
Although we know how via Darwinian selection a complex biosphere evolved on Earth around 4 billion years ago, we don't yet understand the actual origin of life – the transition from complex chemistry to the first metabolising, replicating structures. The good news is that we will have a better idea of how that happened within the next ten or 20 years and crucially, how likely it was to happen. This will give us a better understanding of how likely it is to happen elsewhere. In that time, we will also have technologies that will allow us to better search for alien life.
But just because there's life elsewhere doesn't mean that there is intelligent life. My guess is that if we do detect an alien intelligence, it will be nothing like us. It will be some sort of electronic entity.
If we look at our history on Earth, it has taken about four billion years to get from the first protozoa to our current, technological civilisation. But if we look into the future, then it's quite likely that within a few centuries, machines will have taken over – and they will then have billions of years ahead of them.
In other words, the period of time occupied by organic intelligence is just a thin sliver between early life and the long era of the machines. Because such civilisations would develop at different rates, it's extremely unlikely that we will find intelligent life at the same stage of development as us. More likely, that life will still be either far simpler, or an already fully electronic intelligence.

On intelligence

Q: Do you believe that machines will develop intelligence?
There are many people who would bet on it. The second question, however, is whether that necessarily implies consciousness – or whether that is limited to the wet intelligence we have within our skulls. Most people, however, would argue that it is an emergent property and could develop in a machine mind.
Q: So if the universe is populated by electronic super minds, what questions will they be pondering?
We can't conceive that any more than a chimp can guess the things that we spend our time thinking about. I would guess, however, that these minds aren't on planets. While we depend on a planet and an atmosphere, these entities would be happy in zero G, floating freely in space. This might make them even harder to detect.
Q: How would humanity respond to the discovery of alien life?

Aliens probably wouldn't be at the same level of advancement as humans.
It would certainly make the universe more interesting, but it would also make us less unique. The question is whether it would provoke in us any sense of cosmic modesty. Conversely, if all our searches for life fail, we'd know more certainly that this small planet really is the one special place, the single pale, blue dot where life has emerged. That would make what happens to it not just of global significance, but an issue of galactic importance, too.
And we are likely to be fixed to this world. We will be able to look deeper and deeper into space, but travelling to worlds beyond our solar system will be a post-human enterprise. The journey times are just too great for mortal minds and bodies. If you're immortal, however, these distances become far less daunting. That journey will be made by robots, not us.
Q: What scientific advances would you like to see over the coming century?
Cheap, clean energy, for one. Artificial meat is another. But the idea is often easier than the application. I like to tell my students the story of two beavers standing in front of a huge hydroelectric dam. "Did you build that?" asks one. "No," says the other. "But it is based on my idea". That's the essential balance between scientific insight and engineering development.

On expertise

Q: Michael Gove [the British politician who was a leader of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU] said people have had enough of experts. Have they?

Michael Gove Peter Nicholls/ Reuters

I wouldn't expect anything more from Mr Gove, but there is clearly a role for experts. If we're sick, we go to a doctor, we don't look randomly on the internet. But we must also realise that most experts only have expertise within their own area, and if we are scientists we should accept that. When science impacts on public policy, there will be elements of economics, ethics and politics where we as scientists speak only as laymen. We need to know where the demarcation line is between where we are experts and where we are just citizens.
If you want to influence public policy as a scientist, there are two ways to do it. You can aspire to be an adviser within government, which can be very frustrating. Or you can try and influence policy indirectly. Politicians are very much driven by what's in their inbox and what's in the press, so the scientists with the greatest influence are those who go public, and speak to everyday people. If an idea is picked up by voters, the politicians won't ignore it.
Q: Brexit – good or bad?
I am surprised to find myself agreeing with Lord Heseltine [former UK Conservative government minister] and Tony Blair [former Labour prime minister], but it is a real disaster, which we have stumbled into. There is a lot of blame to be shared around, by Boris Johnson et al, but also by Jeremy Corbyn [leader of the UK Labour party] for not fighting his corner properly. I have been a member of the Labour Party for a very long time, but I feel badly let down by Corbyn – especially as Labour voters supported Remain two to one. He has been an ineffective leader, and also ambivalent on this issue. A different leader, making a vocal case for Remain, could have tilted the vote.
On the other side, Boris Johnson [now UK foreign secretary – who campaigned for Britain to leave the EU] has been most reprehensible. At least Gove has opinions, which he has long expressed. Boris Johnson had no strong opinions, and the honourable thing to do if that is the case is to remain quiet. But he changed his stance opportunistically (as in the Eton debating society) and swung the vote.
Q: But why is it such a disaster?
My concerns are broad geopolitical ones. In the world as it is now, with America becoming isolationist and an increasingly dominant Russia, for Europe to establish itself as a united and powerful counterweight is more important than ever. We are jeopardising something that has held Europe together, in peace, for 60 years, and could also break up the United Kingdom in the process. We will be remembered for that and it is something to deplore.
One thing astronomers bring to the table is an awareness that we have a long potential future, as well as the universe's long past – and that this future could be jeopardised by what happens in the coming decades.
Q: More broadly, how much danger is the human race in?


Are humans at risk of extinction? iStock
I have spent a lot of time considering how we as a species can make it into the next century – and there are two main classes of problems. First, the collective impact of humanity as its footprint on the planet increases due to a growing population more demanding of resources. Second, the possible misuse by error or design of ever more powerful technology – and most worryingly, bio-tech.
There is certainly a high chance of a major global setback this century, most likely from the second threat, which increasingly allows individual groups to have a global impact. Added to this is the fact that the world is increasingly connected, so anything that happens has a global resonance. This is something new and actually makes us more vulnerable as a species than at any time in our past.
Q: So terrorism will pose an even greater threat in the coming century?
Yes, because of these technologies, terrorists or fanatics will be able to have a greater impact. But there's also the simple danger of these technologies being misused. Engineering or changing viruses, for example, can be used in benign ways – to eradicate Zika, for example – but there's obviously a risk that such things can get out of control.
Nuclear requires large, conspicuous and heavily-protected facilities. But the facilities needed for bio-tech, for example, are small-scale, widely understood, widely available and dual use. It is going to be very hard indeed properly to regulate it.
In the short and intermediate term, this is even more worrying than the risks posed by climate change – although in the long term, that will be a very major problem, especially as both people and politicians find it very difficult to focus on things further down the line.
I have been very involved in campaigns to get all countries involved in research and development into alternative, clean energy sources. Making them available and cheap is the only way we are going to move towards a low carbon future. The level of money invested in this form of research should be equivalent to the amount spent on health or defence, and nuclear fusion and fourth generation nuclear fission should be part of that.
Q: In the medieval world, people would start building cathedrals that only later generations would finish. Have we lost that long-term perspective?
That's right. In fact, one very important input behind the political discussion prior to the Paris climate agreement was the 2015 Papal Encyclical. I'm a council member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which helped to initiate the scientific meetings which were important in ensuring that the encyclical was a highly respected document.
Whatever one thinks of the Catholic church, one cannot deny its long-term vision, its global range and its concern for the world's poor. I believe that the encyclical, six months before the Paris conference, had a big impact on the leaders and people in South America, Africa and Asia. Religion clearly still has a very important role to play in the world.
Q: Have you ever encountered anything in the cosmos that has made you wonder whether a creator was behind it?
No. Personally, I don't have any religious beliefs. But I describe myself as a cultural Christian, in that I was brought up in England and the English church was an important part of that. Then again, if I had been born in Iran, I'd probably go to the mosque.
Martin Rees, Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics, University of Cambridge
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Science News - Massive explosion from unknown source

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Massive explosion from unknown source billions of light years away baffles astronomers


Gamma ray burst detected from 12 billion light years away - but no one knows what caused it.

·                                 By David Coward
Updated April 3, 2017 14:58 BST


At 10:49pm Western Australian time on February 2 this year, cosmic gamma rays hit the Nasa satellite, Swift, orbiting the Earth. Within seconds of the detection, an alert was automatically sent to the University of WA's Zadko Telescope. It swung into robotic action, taking images of the sky location in the constellation Ophiuchus.
What emerged from the blackness, where nothing was seen before, was a rapidly brightening "optical transient", which is something visible in the sky for a brief period of time.
The event, named GRB170202, was a very energetic gamma ray burst (GRB). After less than a minute, the gamma rays switched off, and the GRB appeared as a brightening and then fading optical beacon.
The Zadko Telescope recorded the entire evolution of the optical outburst. During its biggest outburst, GRB170202 was equivalent in brightness to millions of stars shining together from the same location.
About 9 hours 42 mins after the GRB, the Very Large Telescope in Chile acquired the spectrum of the light from the optical afterglow.

Zadko Telescope light curve of GRB170202, showing the evolving explosion and subsequent fading of the optical afterglow from seconds to hours after the gamma ray emission.Alain Klotz Zadko collaboration
This enabled a distance to the burst to be measured: about 12 billion light years. The universe has expanded to four times the size it was then, 12 billion years ago, the time it took the light to reach Earth.
GRB170202 was so far away, even its host galaxy was not visible, just darkness. Because the GRB was a transient, never to be seen again, it is like turning on a light in a dark room (the host galaxy) and trying to record the detail in the room before the light goes out.

Mystery of gamma ray burst

The flash of gamma radiation and subsequent optical transient is the telltale signature of a black hole birth from the cataclysmic collapse of a star. Such events are rare and require some special circumstances, including a very massive star up to tens of solar masses (the mass of our Sun) rotating rapidly with a strong magnetic field.
These ingredients are crucial to launch two jets that punch through the collapsing star to produce the gamma ray burst (see animation). The closest analogue (and better understood transient) to a GRB is a supernova explosion from a collapsing star. In fact, some relatively nearby GRBs reveal evidence of an energetic supernova linked to the event.
Simulations show that most collapsing stars don't have enough energy to produce a GRB jet, a so-called "failure to launch" scenario. Both observation and theory show that GRBs are extremely rare when compared to the occurrence of supernovae.
The stars that produce GRBs are born and die within some tens to hundreds of thousands of years, unlike our Sun which has been around for billions of years. This is because very massive stars exhaust their fuel very quickly, and undergo violent gravitational collapse leading to a black hole, on the timescale of seconds.

A plethora of rogue black holes

The rates of black hole formation throughout the universe can be inferred from the GRB rate. Based on the observed GRB rate, there must be thousands of black hole births occurring each daythroughout the entire universe.
So what is the fate of these cosmic monsters? Most will be lurking in their host galaxies, occasionally devouring stars and planets.
Others will be in a gravitational death dance with other black holes until they merge into a single black hole with a burst of gravitational waves (GWs), such as the first discovery of such an event by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

At the frontier of understanding black hole formation is the search for a special kind of GRB that marks the merger (collision) of two neutron stars. So called "short GRBs" are flashes of gamma radiation that last less than a second and could be the "smoking gun" for neutron star mergers.

Importantly, merging neutron stars should be detected from their gravitational radiation by LIGO. Hence, a coincident detection in gamma rays, optical and gravitational waves is a real possibility.
This would be a monumental discovery allowing unprecedented insight into the physics of black hole formation. The revolution is like listening to the radio on a 1920s receiver and then watching a modern high definition surround sound movie.


Future challenges
Given the above rate of thousands of black holes created per day, it seems that coincident detection of GRBs and gravitational waves is a no brainer.
But in reality we must take into account the limited sensitivity of all the telescopes (and detectors). This reduces the potential observation rate to some tens per year. This is high enough to inspire a global scramble to search for the first coincident gravitational wave sources with electromagnetic counterparts.
The task is extremely difficult because the gravitational wave observatories cannot pinpoint the location of the source very well. To counter this, a strategy of searching for coincident gravitational wave and electromagnetic detections in time may be the best bet.
The newly funded ARC Centre of Excellence OzGrav mission is to understand the extreme physics of black holes.
One of the goals is to search for optical, radio and high energy counterparts coincident with gravitational waves from black hole creation. Australia is poised to play a significant role in this new era of "multi-messenger astronomy".
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Arab Leaders take their place among World's Thoroughbred Racing Elite

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

With the incredible conclusion of the Dubai World Cup and the astonishing win by Arrogate, two Arab leaders have solidified their credentials as world leaders among the Thoroughbred Racing Elite.



First the host of the Dubai World Cup, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,  who is vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Emir of Dubai.  Since becoming Emir in 2006 he has built one of the most successful economic models for development in the world in Dubai.


An equestrian, he is the founder of the Maktoum family-owned Godolphin racing stable and the owner of Darley, the thoroughbred breeding powerhouse with operations in six countries. In 2012, he rode the horse Madji Du Pont 160 km to take the FEI World Endurance Championship.


Second is Prince Khalid Abdullah, whose Frankel retired unbeaten after 14 starts in 2012 having amassed over $80 million in career purse money.  Arrogate has not reached that pinnacle yet, but took a significant stride towards it here in the eighth race of his career and promises to be closer still by the time his career draws to a close.


Arrogate races in the colours of the Prince, the first cousin and brother-in-law of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabi.


Abdullah has won more than 150 Group 1 races worldwide with more than 125 by homebreds such as Flintshire, Emollient, Seek Again, Empire Maker, Banks Hill, Dancing Brave, and Frankel.


He also owns the outstanding Juddmote Farm breeding operation. In 2016, Arrogate gave Juddmonte its fifth career Breeders' Cup win when he outfinished California Chrome to win the $6 million Classic. After the 2016 season, Juddmonte Farms was named the Eclipse Award winner as outstanding owner.

Congratulations to these dedicated, persistent, and highly successful royalty and to the honor they bring to their families in Saudi Arabia and Dubai.
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