Tue Jan 30‚ 2024 - 12:01 am ESTMon Jan 29‚ 2024 - 12:47 pm EST (LifeSiteNews) — A third Roman virgin‚ wearing on her brow a martyr’s crown‚ comes today to share the honors given to Agnes and Emerentiana‚…

President Joe Biden says the U.S. “shall respond” after a drone attack Sunday left three U.S. Army soldiers dead and more than 30 others wounded at a base in Jordan.  Iran-backed militias were…

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The number of near misses‚ false starts‚ and legitimate disasters that have befallen our species since the day we took our first upright steps all those generations ago is too large to count and could honestly take up this entire book. I’ll give us humans this much‚ though: we’re survivors‚ through and through. We are‚ to put it bluntly‚ remarkable. There is nothing in this cosmos that even begins to approach anything resembling the complexity of the human brain. There is no other world that we have discovered‚ within our solar system or without‚ that can support the dizzying array of chemical reactions that we call life‚ let alone consciousness. Sure‚ with enough planets around enough stars within enough galaxies‚ life is probably bound to happen one way or another‚ but it appears that life only happened here‚ once‚ billions of years ago‚ when it didn’t appear – or was snuffed out – even in our own solar backyard. Even our planet is special. Take a look at the other planets of the solar system. If doesn’t matter if you’re using a backyard telescope or the latest NASA robotic gear‚ the answer is always the same. While every planet looks and acts (and probably smells) different from all the rest‚ they all share one thing in common: they’re dead. Lifeless. Uninhabitable. Inhospitable. Barren balls of cold rock. Barren balls of molten rock. Barren balls of exceedingly hot rock buried under thick layers of atmosphere. Barren. There are a million tales that the universe has been spinning for over 13 billion years to make life possible. Life could not have arisen too early in our cosmological history‚ for there was not yet enough generations of stars born and dead to spread their ash‚ their byproduct of oxygen and carbon‚ into the wider galactic mix. And‚ alas‚ there will come a time in the distant future‚ trillions of years from now but yet countable with finite numbers‚ when the universe will be too old‚ too cold‚ and too exhausted to fashion new stars at all. Life as we know it was given only a narrow window of possibility in time‚ dictated by the cold laws of physics and the chance byproduct of the great machinations foreign‚ alien‚ and unthinking that churn in our universe‚ each one stretching so achingly slowly for millions‚ if not billions‚ of years. Each one governed by forces both comprehensible and mysterious‚ each one leading to the lucky chance of an Earth. Some argue that the way the universe is constructed is a little too particular. That if any one small thing were to change‚ from the speed of light to the amount of atomic matter assembled during the big bang‚ life as we know it would be outright impossible. Perhaps some other form of intelligence could rise up in that strange cosmos‚ shuddering at the impossible thought of creatures anchored to a planet and swimming in its water oceans. Perhaps not. Either way‚ it appears that our universe is especially tuned for the appearance of life as we know it‚ indicating either divine intervention or some conspiracy of physics too far beyond our comprehension to grasp. To that line of thinking I have this response. We have but one universe for us to study; it is all we’ve had and all that ever will be. As peculiar as this universe of ours appears‚ we cannot access or interrogate other possibilities. We do not know how special or generic this cosmos is‚ the same way you could not measure the probability of the Queen of Diamonds appearing in your hand if you did not know the contents of the full deck. That stark reality does not rule out divinity or exotic physics‚ but it also does not demand them. If you wish to believe in either of those‚ I will not begrudge you. No matter how you count the probabilities and odds and chance encounters‚ here we are‚ alive and abundant on some planet whose name is given only by ourselves‚ for there’s no one else to speak of it‚ the glimmer of thinking‚ watchful eyes looking out into the void and daring to call it home. The post The Seeming Impossibility of Life appeared first on Universe Today.

Personality conflicts and substance abuse brought an unexpected end to the band's original lineup. Continue reading…

 ACTS 27 Acts 27:22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,Acts 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou…

One lot of Viva Duck for Dogs (Ground)‚ Viva Duck for Dogs (Chunked)‚ Viva Duck for Cats‚ and Viva Pure Duck (for cats and dogs) has been recalled due to potential contamination of Salmonella and Listeria Monocytogenes.

NYT Analysis Exposes Biden Fecklessness

A video showing the Menkaure pyramid at Giza in Egypt undergoing renovations has sparked criticism online‚ with people comparing it to straightening the Leaning Tower of Piza.The project‚ aimed at restoring the pyramid's outer casing to the state it was originally built in‚ began work earlier this week. The Menkaure pyramid is located next to the Sphinx and the larger Khafre and Cheops pyramids. There are claims that the pyramid was intentionally dismantled by the order of Malek Abd al-Aziz Othman ben Yusuf‚ son of Saladin‚ in 1196. However according to the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities‚ Mostafa Waziri‚ at some point in its history the pyramid was subject to an earthquake‚ causing the large hole seen on one side. The outer covering of the pyramid was originally 16 granite blocks‚ though now only seven remain.  The team likened the restoration project to a puzzle‚ as they had to match the fallen granite blocks to their original position. However‚ a video of the project shared on Facebook drew criticism from experts as well as laypeople.        "Impossible!" Egyptologist Monica Hanna said‚ per AFP. "The only thing missing was to add tiling to the pyramid of Menkaure! When are we going to stop the absurdity in the management of Egyptian heritage?""All international principles on renovations prohibit such interventions‚" she added.Others suggested the project should include adding wallpaper or asked: "When will the project to straighten the Tower of Pisa be planned?" (to which the answer is while the Leaning Tower of Pisa has not been intentionally straightened‚ it has been stabilized so that it doesn't become the Pile of Rubble of Pisa).The pyramid was built for Pharaoh Menkaure‚ ruler between 2490 and 2472 BC. A mortuary temple next to the pyramid was completed after his death by his successor‚ Shepseskaf. The project to restore the outer casing will take around three years‚ which will include a lot of laser scanning and documentation before any granite blocks are moved.

For the first time in the history of robot dogs and space travel‚ a four-legged robodog has been controlled by a human outside of the Earth's atmosphere. Only robots with wheels have been controlled remotely from space before now. The "Surface Avatar" test carried out in January saw European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Marcus Wandt control several different robotic systems on Earth from the International Space Station (ISS)‚ part of a project that eventually aims to allow human commanders to control robots on other worlds like the Moon or Mars while in orbit around them.Wandt controlled a dog-like robot named Bert created by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The robot has legs designed to walk on several different kinds of terrain that may not be accessible with wheels‚ as well as explore small caves inaccessible to its human colleagues. While Wandt controlled the robodog‚ allowing it to explore DLR's Mars laboratory and monitor the "terrain" with its camera eyes‚ he also turned his attention to two other robots: DLR's Rollin' Justin‚ a humanoid service robot‚ and ESA's Interact rover. Following on from previous experiments that explored how time delays may affect controlling a robot from space‚ this time saw the two robots work together to perform a task‚ installing a short pipe. ESA astronaut Marcus Wandt was able to sensitively control the robots in DLR's Mars laboratory from the ISS.Image credit: DLR"Even between humans‚ cooperation is complex. Agreements have to be made and mutual intentions understood. This is a particular challenge when different robots have to form a team and successfully complete a task together‚" DLR explained in a statement. "When building a habitat‚ for example‚ combining the different skills of several robots is very helpful. In the first experiment of its kind‚ DLR's humanoid robot Rollin' Justin and ESA's Interact Rover mastered such a task and jointly installed a short pipe representing a scientific measuring device."Controlling a robot you aren't even on the same planet with is only part of the goal‚ with the team hoping that astronauts will one day be able to control several robots on a mission‚ either having them act semi or fully autonomously as required."Future stations on the Moon and Mars‚ including astronaut habitats‚ will be built and maintained by robots operating under the guidance of astronauts‚" explained Alin Albu-Schäffer‚ Director of the DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics. "Our latest control and AI algorithms enable a single astronaut to command an entire team of different robots."