‘Super-puff’ exoplanets are like cosmic cotton candy

New observations of “super-puff” exoplanets by the Hubble Space Telescope have provided scientists with more clues about these enigmatic and strange worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/super-puff-cotton-candy-exoplanets-kepler-51-hubble-space-telescope…

How Cruise Ships Bring 1,200 Tons of Toxic Fumes To Brooklyn a Year

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey agreed to introduce [a $21 million plug-in station] in Red Hook several years ago in an effort to eliminate 1,200 tons of carbon dioxide, 25 tons of nitrous oxide and tons of hazardous particulate matter spewed…

NASA creates stunning new black hole visualization

For decades, astronomical theorists have told us that a black hole’s powerful gravity would warp the space around it. This new visualization from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is the best yet at showing exactly how. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/black-hole-visualization-from-side-schnittman-goddard…

Open Offices Are a Capitalist Dead End

Strudelkugel shares an op-ed: What was We thinking? That’s the only question worth asking now about the clowncar start-up known as The We Company, the money-burning, co-working behemoth whose best-known brand is WeWork. What’s a WeWork? What WeWork works on is work. The We Company takes out long-term leases on in-demand office buildings in more than 100 cities across the globe…

NASA visualization shows a black hole’s warped world

This new visualization of a black hole illustrates how its gravity distorts our view, warping its surroundings as if seen in a carnival mirror. The visualization simulates the appearance of a black hole where infalling matter has collected into a thin, hot structure called an accretion disk. The black hole’s extreme gravity skews light emitted by different regions of the disk,…