A senior Republican congressman has claimed that mysterious drones dominating New Jersey skies in recent weeks may be launched from an Iranian “mothership” stationed off the U.S. East Coast. The stunning…

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh briefs the media at the Pentagon at 2 p.m. ET on Dec. 11.

We know that interstellar objects occasionally visit our solar system. So far, we have only discovered two interstellar objects (ISOs), but that’s mainly because we can only distinguish them from solar system bodies by their orbital motion, and that takes a series of observations over time. The two we have discovered, ?Oumuamua and Borisov, were only noticed because they had highly unusual orbits that moved through the inner solar system. But when sky survey telescopes such as the Vera Rubin Observatory come online, we will likely find new interstellar objects all the time. It’s estimated that several ISOs enter the solar system every year, and there could be hundreds of them passing by at any given time. But that raises an interesting question about how these objects arrive. Do they enter our solar system randomly from all directions, or do they appear in clusters a few at a time? That is the question addressed in a new paper on the *arXiv*. It looks at how streams of interstellar bodies might escape a solar system and how they would then move through the Milky Way. While it is always possible for a random asteroid or comet to have a random flyby near a large planet that tosses it out of a system, most interstellar bodies would occur during the tumultuous early period of a star system when it is cleared of debris. In our solar system this process created the Oort cloud surrounding the Sun, which likely occurred in other systems. So star systems likely create bursts of ISOs, which then stream through the Milky Way until they encounter another star system. Simulated streams of ISOs in the Milky Way. Credit: Forbes, et al To study all this, the team started with simulated bursts and then modeled how the resulting streams would evolve. Based on the distribution and typical ages of stars in our region of the Milky Way, they could then simulate streams that might intersect the Sun’s path through the galaxy. They found that the Sun likely intersects with streams regularly, which would give us plenty of interstellar visitors. They also found that just as Earth experiences meteor showers as it passes through the remnant debris streams of comets, the Sun would experience bursts of interstellar objects as it passes through a stream. With the abilities of Rubin and other observatories, we should be able to identify ISOs that are “siblings,” having originated from the same star system. Over time, this could give us a better idea of the composition and diversity of planetary systems. We may even be able to pinpoint the origin of sibling ISOs to a particular star. One final interesting aspect of these interstellar streams is their overall appearance. Several of the authors of this work are from Aotearoa New Zealand, and they noticed that the simulated patterns have a braided appearance similar to the braided rivers such as Rakaia on the South Island. So they named these interstellar streams he awa whiria, which means the braiding rivers in te reo M?ori, as an homage to that region and its people. It’s a nice reminder of our humanity and the connection between the world around us and the sky above. Reference: Forbes, John C., et al. “He awa whiria: the tidal streams of interstellar objects.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.14577 (2024). The post Tidal Steams of Interstellar Objects May Flow Through the Milky Way Like Braided Rivers appeared first on Universe Today.

As the band prepares for its 2025 North American tour, UCR engages in a little wishful thinking. Continue reading…

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A star-studded lineup. Today, the full list of performers for CBS Network's New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash was announced, which includes Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Post Malone, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Zach Top, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Kane Brown, Big & Rich, Luke Bryan, Tyler Hubbard, Shaboozey, Brittney Spencer and Parker McCollum. Keith Urban, Kane Brown and Jelly Roll are headlining from Bicentennial Park, and Parker McCollum will perform from the Brooklyn Bowl. Keith Urban and Entertainment Tonight host Rachel Smith will host the show, and the celebration to ring in the new year will air live on Tuesday, December 31st (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT, 10:30 PM-1:30 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, in addition to streaming on Paramount+*. The show will be executive produced by Robert Deaton and Mary Hilliard Harrington in partnership with Music City Inc., the foundation of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. The special will be directed by Sandra Restrepo in what will be a five-hour broadcast. Nashville will count down with the East Coast at midnight and keep the party going through midnight Central Time with the city’s renowned Music Note Drop at the Bicentennial Mall stage. Other to-be-announced special guests and artist friends will also perform, and more details will be revealed in the coming weeks. This will also mark a first for superstar Post Malone, who has found himself in the thick of country music after putting out his first-ever country album F-1 Trillion earlier this year, which has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album, as well as the lead single "I Had Some Help (featuring Morgan Wallen)" being up for both Best Country Duo/Group Performance and Best Country Song. Post will set out on the biggest tour he's ever done in support of that album next summer, where he'll play stadiums across the country along with Jelly Roll and Sierra Ferrell for his Big Ass Stadium Tour. You can check out the full list of tour dates below. Post Malone 2025 Big Ass Stadium Tour dates: Tue Apr 29 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rice-Eccles Stadium^ Sat May 03 – Las Vegas, NV – Allegiant Stadium^ Wed May 07 – San Antonio, TX – Alamodome^ Fri May 09 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium^ Sun May 11 – Atlanta, GA – Mercedes Benz Stadium^ Tue May 13 – St. Louis, MO – Busch Stadium^ Sun May 18 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field^ Tue May 20 – Minneapolis, MN – U.S. Bank Stadium^ Thu May 22 – Chicago, IL – Wrigley Field^ Sat May 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park^ Mon May 26 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre^ Wed May 28 – Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium^ Thu May 29 – Pittsburgh, PA – PNC Park^ Sat May 31 – Foxborough, MA – Gillette Stadium Mon Jun 02 – Washington, DC – Northwest Stadium Wed Jun 04 – New York, NY – Citi Field Sun Jun 08 – Miami, FL – Hard Rock Stadium* Tue Jun 10 – Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium Fri Jun 13 – Ridgedale, MO – Thunder Ridge Nature Arena Sun Jun 15 – Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High Sat Jun 21 – Glendale, AZ – State Farm Stadium* Tue Jun 24 – Boise, ID – Albertsons Stadium Thu Jun 26 – Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park Sat Jun 28 – Portland, OR – Providence Park Tue Jul 01 – San Francisco, CA – Oracle Park *Without Jelly Roll ^With Sierra Ferrell

This is the kind of news I like to see in the morning. Talk about a mid-week pick-me-up. If anyone else is dragging like myself through the lull between Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, this news will get you over that holiday slump and amped up for what is to come in the new year. While some people get a high Christmas shopping and getting into the holiday spirit, I get a thrill from hearing about new music that is coming in the next calendar year. With 2024 quickly coming to a close, we have had a lot of fun here at Whiskey Riff looking back on all the stellar records, singles, and other releases throughout the year, but 2025 is already looking like it might give 2024 a run for its money. In 2023, Charles Wesley Godwin dominated country music after the release of his record Family Ties, snagging the top honors on Whiskey Riff's Top Albums of 2023 list. While fans still heavily enjoyed Godwin's music, he didn't release any original new music this year. He did drop a stellar cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper," but that did not satiate fans thirsting for a project from the West Virginia native. However, at his most recent Grand Ole Opry appearance this past Monday, the Opry NextStage Class of 2024 member revealed to fans that he indeed has new music on the way and even gave fans a taste of what is in store. "Recorded an EP throughout the course of the year, so I'm going to have some new music coming out early next year." LET'S GO. After telling fans that information, he tells the crowd he's going to share one of those new singles with them that evening. "This is one of those new ones, it's called 'It's The Little Things.'" In May, CWG shared an image of him on Instagram teasing some of the single's lyrics, and she shared a snippet of the track while strumming an acoustic guitar later in the summer. https://www.instagram.com/charleswgodwin/p/C7KT0FPPywx/?img_index=1 CWG and his band strike up the tune, detailing that sometimes, you need to stop and enjoy the little things. The world is filled with so many busy days, dark times, and heavy thoughts that in order to see the beauty in every day, you need to learn to appreciate the little things and life's little moments. "It’s the little things Like that first sip of coffee Like the sun rising on me Like the look she gives in the morn’ I can go downtown, have a little drive around And cruise these streets to a simple song It's the little things..." I genuinely believe this man is incapable of writing a bad song. CWG's lyric s intertwine the importance of staying grounded through family and everyday actions, and that underlying message creates profound meanings in his songs through simple words. Not to mention he the kind of voice that can deliver a compelling message with conviction. I can't wait to see what CWG is cooking up in 2025. @cwgnation omg!!! ??? #charleswesleygodwin #newmusic #theopry #countrymusic #countrylove #nashville #countryartist #oprynextstage ♬ original sound - CWGnation