Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest planetary body in the Asteroid Belt. For a long time, scientists thought it was born in the outer solar system and then migrated to its present position. Some evidence for that origin lies in extensive surface deposits of ammonium-rich materials on the Cerean surface. Some of those bright, white and whitish-yellow deposits are found in impact craters on Ceres. Researchers suspect they are the remnants of a brine that seeped to the surface from a liquid layer between the mantle and crust. When impacts whacked the planet, they altered its surface. They also dug up and splattered material from the brine layer. Images and observational data from NASA’s Dawn mission of an impact region called Consus Crater also show bright yellowish-white deposits. Now, thanks to a deeper analysis of Dawn data, their presence could point to Ceres’s origin in the Asteroid Belt. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft captured this approximately true-color image of Ceres in 2015 as it approached the dwarf planet. Dawn showed that some polar craters on Ceres hold ancient ice, but new research suggests the ice is much younger. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / Justin Cowart Peeping Inside Ceres Ceres is classified as a dwarf planet and its rocky component is very similar to that of carbonaceous chondrite asteroids. At least a quarter of its mass is water ice. The surface is pretty complex, consisting of carbon-rich rocks and something called ammoniated phyllosilicates. Those are minerals that include such familiar substances as talc and mica. There’s also evidence of water ice in various surface regions. This dwarf planet is an active world, with most of its activity driven by cryovolcanism. The surface has been gardened by impacts. The thick outer crust lies over a salt-rich liquid (that brine layer) and a muddy mantle. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that the concentration of ammonium is greater in deeper layers of the crust. The few places on the surface of Ceres where those obvious yellowish-bright patches show up are in and near Consus Crater and also within other deep craters. Planetary scientists have long wondered about exactly where Ceres formed. If it formed in the outer Solar system, then it must have migrated into position billions of years ago. If it formed in place, then that raises the question of how it could have become enriched with the icy ammonium-rich materials. A cutaway showing the surface and interior of dwarf planet Ceres. Thick outer crust (ice, salts, hydrated minerals) Salt-rich liquid (brine), and rock “Mantle” (hydrated rock). Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA Clues to Ceres’s Birthplace Why the differing suggestions about where Ceres formed? Let’s look more deeply at those ammonium-rich deposits for an answer. They tend to form in very cold environments. That’s why people assumed that Ceres formed in the outer Solar System. That’s where frozen ammonium ice is most stable. In warmer environments (such as closer to the Sun), it evaporates. So, it makes sense to think that Ceres formed our where it was colder and then somehow migrated to the Asteroid Belt. However, if the ice was part of a rocky planetesimal, the location might not matter so much. Inside the rock, the ice would be insulated from solar heating. Such world-forming materials exist closer to the Sun, and certainly out at the location of the Asteroid Belt. So, if they coalesced to form Ceres in situ, their encased ices would have contributed to the subsurface brine layer that today feeds the cryovolcanism. Impacts punching through the surface would release the brine, as well. Connecting the Dots A team led by Andres Nathues and Ranjan Sarkar (both Dawn mission scientists), zeroed in on materials sprayed across the surface in the area of Consus Crater. It lies in Ceres’s southern hemisphere and stretches across 64 kilometers (~39 miles). The crater walls are about 4.5 kilometers (~3 miles) high and parts of them are eroded. There’s a smaller crater inside on the eastern half of Consus. Its edges appear to be “painted” with speckles of bright yellowish material, which is also spattered out nearby. Further analysis of the Dawn data ties the ammonium on the surface with the salty brine from Ceres’ interior. Cryovolcanic activity on this world brings the ammonium-rich brine up toward the Cerean surface. Once there, it seeps into the crust, according to Andreas Nathues, former lead investigator for the Dawn mission. “The minerals in Ceres’ crust possibly absorbed the ammonium over many billions of years like a kind of sponge,” said Nathues. Nathues and others argue that the dwarf planet’s origin does not necessarily have to be in the outer Solar System simply based on the presence of those ammonium-rich deposits. As mentioned above, they could have been part of the planetesimals in the Asteroid Belt that coalesced to build Ceres. Once it formed, Ceres experienced impacts and cryovolcanism and those actions produced the surface deposits we see today. Evidence from the Craters Consus Crater itself was “dug out” between 400 and 500 million years ago by a huge impact. That event exposed material from the deep, particularly the ammonium-rich layers below Consus Crater. A later impact about 280 million years ago created the smaller crater inside. The yellowish-bright speckles to the east of the smaller crater are material ejected by the second event. If those materials always existed inside Ceres, then that supports the idea this dwarf planet formed where it is now, rather than out at the edge of the Solar System. That’s where the impacts become important, since that action exposed deeper layers, according to Dawn researcher Ranjan Sarkar. “At 450 million years, Consus Crater is not particularly old by geological standards, but it is one of the oldest surviving structures on Ceres,” Sarkar said. “Due to its deep excavation, it gives us access to processes that took place in the interior of Ceres over many billions of years, and is thus a kind of window into the dwarf planet’s past.” For More Information Dwarf Planet Ceres: Origin in the Asteroid Belt?Consus Crater on Ceres: Ammonium-enriched Brines Exchange with Phylosilicates? The post Actually, Ceres Might Have Formed in the Asteroid Belt After All appeared first on Universe Today.

But where did Nerio go?

We might be breathing them in.

The FBI and other intelligence agencies revealed Wednesday that Iran attempted to share information stolen during its hack on the Trump campaign with the Biden campaign and continues to send material to various media outlets. “Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text...

Listen, “America’s Got Talent” is a competition show with a sizable grand prize. So we can expect to see performers at the top of their game—who have painstakingly dedicated themselves to their craft, who might have even already gone viral for their god given gifts—clamoring to make it to the top. But every so often, average, everyday folks show up to finally share those talents that otherwise went without a spotlight, and in doing so we are poignantly reminded that magic is hiding everywhere. Without a doubt, Richard Goodall, the singing janitor from Indiana, fits that bill. With a quiet, humble personality that belies a rockstar voice, Goodall has absolutely wowed “AGT” audiences and judges alike with his showstopping covers of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," the Michael Bolton's "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." Iconic rock classics, and Goodall effortlessly nails them all. And just when you think he couldn’t possibly outdo himself, Goodall sings“Faithfully,” another Journey hit, as for his performance in the finals. And just like with any unforgettable act, Goodall not only shows off incredible skills, but took the audience on an emotional voyage. Watch: - YouTube www.youtube.com After the raucous applause died down, judges were quick to shower Goodall with praises, sharing how much they hoped this unassuming janitor would win big. "Richard, I have been faithfully your biggest fan since the very, very first day we met, all the way through this competition,” said Hiedi Klum. “I want you to win this so bad, Richard!”"I will make a prediction right now: I think you just sang yourself $1 million," Howie Mandel declared, while Simon Cowell added, "We all need a hero right now, and you are our hero."Down in the Youtube comments, online viewers shared the same sentiment, calling Goodall the best of what “AGT” stands for. “This is what AGT should be, regular every-day people with talent who don’t typically get to perform on a stage like this.”“He sings with his heart. He’s an inspiration. Such a humble human being. He deserves to win this. He got all my votes!”“Richard doesn't need to win, WE need him to win. Not only America, but the entire world. What he represents is BIG for every single person.”“Richard has stayed true to himself. He hasn’t 'changed' because of all the attention. He's still a humble,quiet, hard working man with an amazing gift. His voice, to me, is like liquid gold. I genuinely hope Richard wins this year as he deserves it all. Good luck and keep true to yourself Richard Goodall.”“Richard it's me, your disabled navy veteran fan that has been following your journey supporting you from day one of you auditioning for AGT 2024. I have no doubt that you will be the WINNER of AGT 2024…You gave all the people out here the hope and inspiration to ‘Don't Stop Believin’’ in our dreams, to use that ‘EYE of The Tiger’ to see and envision their dreams to ‘Faithfully’ make them come true by you yourself making your dream come true. America and the world is behind you, supporting you all the way along this magical singing journey to becoming a legend in the making.”“Richard Goodall is what we all need right now. He is a true hero for everyone. He is a hard working humble man who can sing with all his heart and soul. His dream is coming true. He truly deserves it.”There you have it, everyone. No matter who gets that coveted prize, Goodall has won in a very profound way.

By cutting its borrowing rate by a half percent on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve has provided some potential relief for wannabe home owners. The cut will lower mortgage rates and signals a sense that inflation is slowing a bit. With rising inventory and pricing dips in many U.S. markets, perhaps more Americans can finally afford a property even though median home prices remain at a daunting $412,000 nationwide — and above $900,000 in California. One bit of good news, of course, doesn’t make the housing issue less of a hot-button political topic. This is the first presidential election I recall where housing topped the list of issues addressed by the candidates. Housing is a local and — to a lesser degree — state issue. Beyond adjusting interest rates and promulgating regulations mostly related to low-income housing and lending standards, the feds can’t — and shouldn’t — really do much about market conditions. When the federal government does act, it often makes matters worse. It’s been the source of much debate, but federal housing and lending policies triggered the 2008 market collapse, as cheap money and subprime loans led to financial catastrophe. In California, prices in some inland areas dropped by more than 50 percent. More recently, federal COVID policies — e.g., stimulus spending and stay-at-home orders that enabled people to work at home — drove up housing demand. Prices soared. Home pricing is a supply and demand issue. A plethora of environmental rules and local building regulations (urban growth boundaries, Not In My Back Yard sentiments, soaring building fees, etc.) restricted housing construction, thus leading to a run-up in prices on existing supply. Yet instead of recognizing that reality, the feds are at it again — and pushing policies that will only exacerbate the problem by creating unnecessary scarcity. For instance, the U.S. Department of Justice recently filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a Texas-based company that provides property management software that helps landlords set accurate pricing. Per a CBS News report, the company “engaged in a price-fixing scheme by sharing nonpublic, sensitive information, which RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software used to generate pricing recommendations.” Landlords always seek the best pricing information and use a variety of sources, from real-estate websites to competitive listings. But, you know what, it doesn’t really matter what some online source says. It’s just an estimate. One might figure out the “right” price and then list a house for rent — only to find dozens of applicants or a lack of interest from anyone. Market demand determines the price. These are simply tools. They don’t “fix” prices. In her campaign, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has outlined a national agenda to lower housing costs. Some of it is on point, albeit somewhat outside of federal authority. For instance, she called on efforts to “cut red tape and enable more home building to bring down housing costs.” Her plan also calls for tax incentives for building starter homes, an expansion of an existing tax incentive to build rental housing, and a new federal fund to promote “innovative” housing construction. I’m generally in favor of tax breaks and credits, but against federal expenditures. Her plan to provide $25,000 in taxpayer-funded down-payment assistance to first-time buyers will be costly and inflationary. Our debt-soaked budget can’t handle yet another giveaway, and it will end up being a lottery for some lucky beneficiaries. But it will drive up housing prices. All of a sudden, I imagine that homes will magically rise in price by around $25,000, market permitting. But — and perhaps I’m being charitable here — at least part of her plan focuses on incentives. But given the Biden administration’s attacks on RealPage, it seems clear that Vice President Harris will focus heavily on her prosecutorial instincts by filing lawsuits against private companies. Delve into her housing plan and it calls for something like what DOJ is doing: “Stop rent-setting data firms from price fixing to raise rents to double digits.” She also vows to take on “corporate and major landlords” and to “stop Wall Street investors from buying up and marking up homes in bulk.” Her model echoes San Francisco’s proposal to ban the use of artificial intelligence in determining rental rates. As the American Consumer Institute opined, “The rise in rent prices is driven by complex market factors such as inflation, interest rates and supply-demand dynamics — not AI algorithms. Scapegoating technology for broader market issues is misguided.” San Francisco’s strict rent controls have led to a 15 percent decline in available rental stock, according to a 2018 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research. I’ve reported on 52,000 vacant San Francisco homes and apartments, which are largely the result of the city’s tenant laws that discourage people from renting out apartments to strangers. Owners fear that if they rent them out, they’ll never be able to remove the tenants. Of course, GOP candidate Donald Trump hasn’t presented a consistent alternative message. When he was president, Trump and his Housing and Urban Development secretary, Ben Carson, penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed that depicted efforts to reduce zoning restrictions as a war on suburbia. More recently, he rightly called for reducing zoning restrictions in a Bloomberg interview — but then reverted to form and promised to ban illegal immigrants from obtaining mortgages. The good news is that the candidates are at least talking about the housing crisis. The bad news is that most of what they propose — and some of what the current administration is doing — will only make matters worse. It would be nice if they addressed the real problem for the housing crunch rather than scapegoating private companies and landlords. Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org. READ MORE: Time for a Teachable Moment on Tariffs Watch Out for Rent-Control Madness The post A Troubling Preview of Harris’ Housing Policies appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Among the claims made by the much-discussed but still unverified ABC whistleblower is the following: “Harris campaign gave questions to ABC that were not to be included in the debate. Including questions regarding her time as DA in SF and her time as California Attorney General.” On the surface, this alleged request seems counterintuitive. When in control of the microphone, Kamala Harris is pleased to boast about her cartel-fighting role as California attorney general. When not in control, however, Harris has every reason to fear honest questions about her tenure as a prosecutor, particularly about her bizarrely ruthless crackdown on truant parents. The story of Harris’ truancy program has resurfaced in a brutal 13-minute documentary, Arrested by Kamala: A Black Mother’s Story, which is now posted on YouTube and elsewhere. The documentary, by enterprising Los Angeles filmmaker Joe Gilbert, has raised blood pressure levels throughout the Kamala camp. The rap version of the story, written and produced by Silent Jay, has already gone viral, as has a punchy three-minute version. In the way of background, as the San Francisco prosecutor in the early 2000s, Harris noticed that high school dropouts committed a disproportionate amount of crime. She figured that if she could reduce truancy, she could increase graduation rates and lower homicide rates. She liked the idea so much that she took it to the California Legislature and sought a statewide law to punish parents of truant children. That the law would fall most heavily on poor black women did not trouble her. Running in 2010 for attorney general, Harris made the truancy program part of her campaign. She won the election, and the law passed in January 2011. Under the new law, parents or guardians could face as much as a year in jail for their kids’ truancy. “We are putting parents on notice,” the childless Harris said at her inauguration. “If you fail in your responsibility to your kids, we are going to work to make sure you face the full force and consequences of the law.” In March 2019, when Harris was hoping to secure the Democratic nomination for president, the liberal Huffington Post did a hit piece on Harris and the program. The article focused on the travails of a woman named Cheree Peoples, the “black mother” featured in the Gilbert documentary. Peoples’ story is real and harrowing. On the morning of April 18, 2013, Peoples felt the full force of Harris’ law when the police came knocking at the door of her suburban LA home. Still in her pajamas, Peoples was promptly handcuffed and perp-walked to a waiting police car while an eager array of camera crews clicked away. The crime? Peoples’ then 11-year-old daughter, Shayla, had missed 20 days of school that school year. Unreported by the media was the reason for her absences. Shayla’s enduring affliction with sickle cell anemia landed her repeatedly in the hospital to receive blood transfusions and emergency medical care. On other days, she was in too much pain to attend school. Although Shayla’s absences were, in fact, excused by her school and buttressed with ample documentation from the regional children’s hospital, prosecutors had an example to make, and Cheree Peoples apparently filled the bill. Refusing to cop a guilty plea, Cheree fought the charges in court for the next two years. This principled resistance cost Cheree her job and her home and wore Shayla down. While living under duress in a motel with her now homeless mother, the 12-year-old Shayla suffered a stroke, resulting in permanent paralysis of her right arm and right leg. Cheree’s persistence paid off. In 2015, prosecutors finally just dropped the case against Peoples. In 2018, the California Supreme Court ruled that Kamala Harris’ policy of arresting parents for truancy was unconstitutional, and Harris’s abusive program was ended. As the Huffington Post pointed out, on the presidential campaign trail in 2019, Harris tried to finesse her way out of the positions she had championed just a few years earlier. In her campaign-oriented memoir, for instance, Harris claimed that, with the truancy program, she was “trying to support parents, not punish them.” Peoples’ experience has taught her not to believe anything Harris says. She cooperated fully with Gilbert, as did her daughter Shayla, now 22. In a case like theirs, video has a power that print does not. In watching Cheree speak, the viewer does not doubt for a moment the sincerity of her outrage. Shayla’s witness is more powerful still. The video clips of her throughout her ordeal show a heartbreakingly resilient and good-spirited child. They also show her to be impressively well-spoken. Despite her many absences, this child has clearly received a better education than the great majority of her public school peers. Gilbert skillfully contrasts the sincerity of Cheree and Shayla with the callow, ambitious Harris. In one revealing sequence, Harris explains how truancy costs school districts funding and then boasts, amidst the cackles, of how much she can save the state by prosecuting the parents of truants. “I am not a political person,” says Cheree at film’s end. “But I want people to know what Kamala Harris did to me. If she does it to me, she will abuse anyone if you give her the power. My message to all Americans, especially black Americans is, do not trust Kamala Harris!” Cheree is very persuasive. Jack Cashill’s new book, Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6, is now available in all formats. READ MORE: Kamala Harris Embodies the Subjective Reality of America’s Left Trump Assassination Attempt With GoPro in Tow The post Harris’ Truancy Crackdown Comes Back to Haunt Her appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

WASHINGTON — Under pressure to grant more interviews to journalists, Kamala Harris took questions from the National Association of Black Journalists Tuesday, weeks after an NABJ panel grilled Donald Trump on July 31. During Trump’s July 31 NABJ interview, ABC News’ Rachel Scott noted that “a lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today,” given Trump’s history of birtherism and criticism of Black officials, including Barack Obama, and journalists. “Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” Trump took offense. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, a first question,” he responded. “You don’t even say hello, how are you?” Harris had a much different experience with the NABJ. What a difference a Democrat candidate makes. Here are five takeaways. No. 1: Tuesday’s NABJ event with Harris was the opposite of the Trump interview. The friendly three-person panel — Politico’s Eugene Daniels, TheGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor, and WHYY’s Tonya Mosley — spent 45 minutes pressing the vice president to answer questions on the U.S. economy, child care, racism in America, the war in Gaza, reparations, the situation in Springfield, Ohio, and abortion. There were tough questions, but the fire was used to hold Harris to the left. No. 2: Rare appearances lowered expectations. The narrative prior to Tuesday’s NABJ session was all about Harris’ reluctance to grant interviews to news organizations. For good reason. If you take the 11-minute length of Harris’ interview with Philadelphia 6’s anchor Brian Taff that aired Friday and add the 27 minutes of air time during her Aug. 29 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, you get far less than an hour of interview airtime since she became the Democratic presidential nominee. No. 3: Where’s Joe? And other questions not asked. The NABJ sit-down with Trump began with a question from Scott about “the elephant in the room,” as she asked Trump why Black voters should trust him given his birther rhetoric on Barack Obama and Nikki Haley. The elephant in the room for Harris was different; it’s Joe Biden. So you would expect a line of questioning like this — which you did not hear: You spent time with the current president regularly. What do you know about his cognitive state? Did you say anything to Biden or his inner circle? Or is the public perception wrong about Biden? Most important: Is he up to the job now? No. 4: Israel and the both-ways solution. Daniels tried to push Harris to articulate what she offers that is different from the current Biden approach to the Gaza War, after he noted, “You’ve gotten a lot of credit for emphasizing the humanity of Palestinians.” (Friendly.) Harris stood up for Israel’s right to exist and defend itself — but in a way that makes you wonder how long that would last if she is elected president. Her mantra: “We need to get this deal done and that is my position and that is my policy.” Word salad. Short version. No. 5: Harris has learned from her mistakes. If you watched the Taff interview, you saw Harris appear unserious and underprepared. When Taff asked Harris for “specific things” she would do to bring down prices and make life more affordable, she answered, “Well, I’ll start with this. I grew up a middle-class kid.” It was the same talking point, almost word for word, that she used at the start of her one debate with former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10. And it was all about her. Tuesday, Harris relied more on her background as a prosecutor — and her experiences with the trauma of crime victims. It was her finest moment in the debate. Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post Kamala Harris Talks to NABJ — Five Takeaways appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

The new Netflix film Rebel Ridge combines exciting action and thrill with a severe conversation about a policy that is abused by law enforcement. On this episode of The Spectacle podcast, hosts Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay are joined by Reason reporter C.J. Ciaramella to discuss the film and how it humanizes civil asset forfeiture. They break down the history of the policy and how it is abused. Tune in to hear their discussion, and check out C.J.’s work here! READ Melissa and Scott’s writing here and here. Listen to The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Spotify. Watch The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Rumble.  The post <i>The Spectacle</i> Ep. 147: Netflix’s <i>Rebel Ridge</i> Calls Out the Injustice of Civil Asset Forfeiture appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

by Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit: Senators Chuck Grassley (IA) and Ron Johnson (WI) uncovered more Biden-Harris lawfare election interference. Last month, with just 90 days to go until Election Day, The Washington Post revealed new details about a previously unknown federal probe into whether Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attempted to funnel $10 million into Donald […]