Astronomers have discovered the most distant pair of interacting supermassive black holes. The duo was in the process of merging when the universe was just 740 million years old. The light of the system, dubbed ZS7, traveled over 13 billion years to reach us and the observations are providing insights into how supermassive black holes grow to the enormous size that we see today.Not that these two black holes are small. They are already 10 times heavier than Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The astronomers were able to estimate the mass of one of them directly, placing it at 50 million times the mass of our Sun.This image shows the location of the galaxy system ZS7.Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, J. Dunlop, H. Übler, R. Maiolino, et al (CC BY 4.0)“The mass of the other black hole is likely similar, although it is much harder to measure because this second black hole is buried in dense gas,” co-author Professor Roberto Maiolino, from the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, said in a statement.The key to this discovery was the incredible power of JWST. The infrared space telescope was able to track the distinct signatures of a supermassive black hole accreting matter. Such signatures are inaccessible to ground-based telescopes.“We found evidence for very dense gas with fast motions in the vicinity of the black hole, as well as hot and highly ionised gas illuminated by the energetic radiation typically produced by black holes in their accretion episodes,” said lead author Dr Hannah Übler of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology.These are telltale signs of the activity of the two black holes. JWST was able to see details of ZS7 showing that it is an interacting system and that it will eventually merge into a much bigger single object.Such observations help astronomers better understand the process that leads certain supermassive black holes to be absolutely enormous, billions of times the mass of our Sun. JWST has provided several examples of supermassive black holes very early in the universe that are already quite sizable. The new observations provide insights into a different pathway for their remarkable size and growth.“Our findings suggest that merging is an important route through which black holes can rapidly grow, even at cosmic dawn,” said Übler. The future gravitational observatory LISA will be able to measure the gravitational waves of supermassive black holes such as these merging. It is scheduled to be launched in the 2030s.A paper describing these results is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

How did Manor Lords become so successful? It’s no slight against developer Greg ‘Slavic Magic’ Styczeń to say there are a lot of medieval games, a lot of city building games, a lot of strategy games - a lot of medieval city building strategy games. Just look at Bellwright, which launched three days before Manor Lords, and has many of the same conceits. Speaking exclusively to PCGamesN, Tim Bender, CEO of publisher Manor Lords' publisher Hooded Horse, reveals how Steam’s most-wanted game came to be, and how wishlist numbers, no matter how dramatic, can possibly be misleading. Continue reading Manor Lords exposes the good and bad sides of Steam wishlists MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Manor Lords early access review, Best strategy games, Manor Lords system requirements

Do galaxies, including our own Milky Way, orbit anything in the universe?

“And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest … The post The Editors’ Quote of the Day: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

PROLOGUE There are deep state characters who are pulling the strings on the senile installed puppet in the Oval Office. That same man who reportedly received “the most votes in any presidential election.” Yes, that installed President. “Ultra MAGA” is a term now utilized by the Antichrist principled in power to further divide the US population. It is a group of people that are placed into a bucket to vilify by the Leftist media and the Biden administration. Last I thought, the President of the United States should unite a nation not call out to half the country as MAGA … The post A Subsonic 5.56mm AR – Part 1, by R.A.O. appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

On May 18, 1980, the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state triggered the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and causing over $1 billion in damage. — May 18th, 1825 was the birthday of Daniel Baird Wesson, of Smith and Wesson fame. — Unless a preliminary injunction is issued in the pending Texas v. ATF case, the ATF’s grossly-expanded redefinition of “Engaged in the Business” will go into effect on Monday, May 20th.  I strongly recommend that my readers be very cautious about making any sales of post-1898 guns or receivers without an FFL. Intrastate private party … The post Preparedness Notes for Saturday — May 18, 2024 appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Smart preppers know that maintaining communications is critical in times of trouble. Whether you need to check in with family, distant neighbors, or other people in your survival group, nothing beats electronic communications for speed, ease, and efficiency. the BaoFeng UV5R Ham radio The problem is that cell phone networks and landlines are disproportionately vulnerable to disruption or destruction by all kinds of things, be it natural disasters, government intervention, or just high traffic. A better bet for preppers is radio. As long as you have a power source to set and an antenna, and the people you’re trying to reach have the same, you can get in touch if you’re in range and know what to do. You’ll hear about two radio services constantly in this context, GMRS and ham. Both have advantages, both have disadvantages, and everyone has a favorite. But what are the differences, and what do they mean for someone who is just getting into radio communications? I’ll tell you all about those differences and more need-to-know info in this guide… Ham Radio Licensing Requires Testing and Has Multiple Grades Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. For starters, both ham and GMRS, or general mobile radio service, require licensing for legal operation. In the case of ham radio, you’ll need to pass a test to demonstrate an understanding of the law and radio theory, along with proper procedures in operation, to legally get on the airways and transmit. But that’s not all. Ham radio entails different levels of licensure with increasing privileges and transmission power available to those who show they have what it takes. In order, they are the Technician Class, which is the entry-level license, the General Class, and the Amateur Extra Class. You have to hold the prior grade of license to qualify for testing for the more advanced ones. A Technician Class license will give you access to VHF and UHF bands and entails a 35-question multiple-choice test. General Class will give you access to more bands, while the Amateur Extra Class will allow you to use the special Amateur Extra-only bands. Getting into ham radio legally requires study, and a thorough understanding of the principles of radio communication. It isn’t as quick as setting up and signing on with GMRS. Maximizing it also means you’ll have to test several times in order to get all of the perks and privileges. Remember, you can’t transmit without a license, so make sure you follow the rules! A GMRS License Requires No Test and Covers Immediate Family Completely different from Ham radio, GMRS licensing requires only that you pay a fee. There is no testing requirement to demonstrate knowledge of law, use, or radio theory! What’s more, your GMRS license also covers your immediate family members, meaning you can pay the fee one time and enjoy the benefits of this radio service with your family for all sorts of tasks. Also, there’s only one grade of license, and everyone gets access to the same bands and the same level of power depending on the type of set. This makes GMRS much quicker and easier to get on the air with, but it will ultimately be quite limited in terms of capability and scope compared to ham radio. Ham Radio Can Use Far More Power for Transmitting A major difference between ham and GMRS radio is the level of power that can be used for transmission. Here, ham radio blows GMRS away. Ham radios can transmit using up to 1500 watts of power for high-frequency communications. GMRS is limited to a maximum of 50 watts for mobile or fixed base station sets, and a meager 2 watts for handheld radios. This does not mean that you can’t do what you need with a GMRS radio, but if long-distance communications, especially in less-than-ideal conditions, are on your mind, ham is definitely the way you’ll want to go… Ham Radio Can Operate Worldwide The greater power and flexibility of ham radio mean it can operate worldwide. Using ham radio, you can easily contact people across the county, across the state, across the nation, or across the globe once you know what you are doing and assuming conditions are favorable. Ham operators routinely engage in DXing, a practice of trying to make extreme long-distance contact with other stations that are way off the grid. Or sometimes even in space! It’s true; the International Space Station has its own ham radio! By comparison, GMRS radio, even in ideal conditions and at its most powerful, has a far more limited range, about 25 miles at most. This is certainly a huge improvement over CB radio and FRS radio, a closely related service, but is only a fraction of what a good ham setup can do. Ham Radio Can Operate in Multiple Modes; GMRS is FM or Text Data Only It’s a lot more involved, but ham radio gives users considerably more flexibility in communications. Ham radio can transmit packets of information for text, images, and a lot more, and communicate using simplex, repeaters, and non-FM modes. With the rise of internet-based radio communications, the sky’s the limit in terms of redundancy and niche application. It really is limited only by your imagination, the law, and your technical skill! GMRS has a lot less to offer savvy users, being capable of FM operation and text or GPS data only. Again, potentially more than enough for most preppers, especially folks who don’t want to go deeply into the rabbit hole of radio theory. But there’s no denying that ham radio can open up an entire world of off-grid communications even when cell and internet services are completely down. Ham Can Access HF and VHF Bands; GMRS Can’t By type and by law, GMRS radio is restricted to UHF frequencies only, namely 462 and 467 megahertz, spread across 22 channels. This is more than adequate anywhere there isn’t a ton of traffic, but in suburban or urban areas, you’ll find that the airwaves might be quite clogged indeed. Definitely something to think about if you’re a prepper living close to the city! Ham radios have access to HF, VHF, and UHF bands spread across 420 to 450 MHz. Depending on what you are doing and when you’re on there during the week, you’ll run into lots of traffic on certain frequencies, but it’s a rarity you won’t be able to find some clear air for one purpose or another with ham. GMRS Radios are Limited by Type For tinkerers and people who want to optimize their setup or just customize it for their specific needs, ham radio is the only way to go because you can build or modify your set to your heart’s content as long as you stay within the bounds of the FCC law. A capable ham radio setup of any kind typically costs more than a comparable GMRS set, but is far more capable. Your GMRS radios, on the other hand, are type-approved equipment only, meaning you can’t tune them up, get more capability out of them, or in many cases, modify them in any way except perhaps by adding a better antenna or other accessories. For folks who might have changing needs or want to adapt their equipment to shortcomings or anticipated problems, ham radio will give you the freedom to do that. The post GMRS vs. Ham Radio What Are the Differences? appeared first on Survival Sullivan.