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Ten years ago, scientists heard the universe rumble for the first time. That first discovery of gravitational waves proved a key prediction from Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity and began a new era of astronomy.

Now, a new gravitational-wave discovery marks the anniversary of this major breakthrough. Published today in Physical Review Letters, it puts to the test a theory from another giant of science, Stephen Hawking.

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• Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation and light on the sun. Coronal loops, which often precede flares, are huge loops of plasma that arch over the sun’s surface.
• The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has taken new high-resolution images of a solar flare and coronal loops. They show the smallest loops ever seen, in unprecedented detail.
• The coronal loops look like thin, dark threads and might be the fundamental building blocks of solar flares.

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High-mass stars with eight or more solar masses are mysterious. Despite the fact that they’re more easily observed than their lower-mass counterparts, astrophysicists have struggled to explain how they become so massive. The problem is that while they accrete material and become more massive, they’re also shedding mass.

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“Lend your arm to the aged, and open your purse at the cry of the poor. Guard well against the urge to plunder the unprotected and from treating the destitute with harshness.

“If you are lacking in compassion, it is well to remember that today, one may be rich and another poor; yet, ere a year has passed, the rich man may be working in a stable, and the poor man may be clothed in fine linen. Such are the balances of life, and it is, therefore, wise to turn a like countenance towards all men.

“Help the man in unfortunate circumstances, for anyone can fall into the pit of misfortune. Commit no assault upon him by reason of his weakness, nor turn his predicament to your own advantage. Fill his stomach with bread and drink. Provide a place for him to lay his head. Let your countenance be cheerful towards him, and let words of encouragement fall from your lips.”

-The Kolbrin Bible (MPR:8:1-3)

The Real Person vs the Weak Person

The “Real person,” which is to say, the spiritually strong person, shows kindness, mercy, concern, and love for all. While they think they are showing strength, the person who belittles the less fortunate among us is actually showing weakness.

Lend Your Arm and Open Your purse

As we get old, we all start to have health problems. It varies depending on a number of factors, including heredity, what we eat, and how well we care for ourselves. The weak person uses these as reasons to treat such people poorly; the strong person does not.

Some people are poor, homeless, and dressed in shabby clothes. That is not a reason to look down on them. As the quote says, the one who is rich today may be working in a stable tomorrow. More importantly, the spiritual person knows that real wealth comes from spiritual development, not money and material possessions.

Let Your Countenance be Cheerful

We should make every effort to be cheerful at all times. This is a benefit to ourselves as well as to others. When we show a happy face to others, they are likely to do the same. If we show an angry, or unfriendly face, that increases the chance that the other person will do the same. An important part of being spiritual is developing humility. It is usually not something we really have to work at. It simply happens as we grow. So let the Sunshine in, and let your sunshine out to others.

Sorry for the brief article, but I’ve just returned home from a three-day hospital stay and haven’t had much time to work on it.

Supernovae are among the most energetic phenomena in the Universe, and definitely one of the most spectacular! These events take place when a star has reached the end of its life cycle and undergoes gravitational collapse at its center, exploding and shedding its outer layers in the process. For astronomers, supernovae are not only a fascinating field of study, shedding light on the evolution of stars, but are also a means of measuring distance and the rate at which the Universe is expanding.

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What appears to be a ripple in space actually depicts a newborn planet eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits its host star. This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disk with multiple rings.

These so-called protoplanetary disks surround young stars and appear as disk-shaped structures of gas and dust.

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The glorious guts of a dying star are the means by which astronomers are hoping to discover the very earliest origins of how our planet was born.

In the midst of the Butterfly Nebula NGC 6302, located some 3,400 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Scorpius, astronomers have found compelling evidence of dust crystallizing as it cools from hot gas.

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High above Earth, where space and the planet’s magnetic field meet, powerful forces collide. Streams of charged particles known as the solar wind constantly flow from the Sun toward Earth. Most of the time, these particles are deflected by a protective magnetic bubble called the magnetosphere. This invisible shield keeps our atmosphere safe and protects satellites, GPS systems, and astronauts from dangerous solar radiation.

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In a star system far, far away—well, about 1,300 light-years from here—a young star just spilled the chemical tea on the origins of life. V883 Orionis, a fiery infant star surrounded by a swirling disc of dust and gas, has become the latest cosmic celebrity for revealing a hidden stash of complex organic molecules—some of the very building blocks that may have kick-started life on Earth.

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