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The “Epoch of Reionization” was a critical period for cosmic evolution and has always fascinated and mystified astronomers. During this epoch, the first stars and galaxies formed and reionized the clouds of neutral hydrogen that permeated the Universe. This ended the Cosmic Dark Ages and led to the Universe becoming “transparent,” what astronomers refer to as “Cosmic Dawn.” According to our current cosmological models, reionization lasted from 380,000 to 1 billion years after the Big Bang. This is based on indirect evidence since astronomers have been unable to view the Epoch of Reionization directly. Investigating this period was one of the main reasons for developing the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which can pierce the veil of the “dark ages” using its powerful infrared optics. However, observations provided by Webb revealed that far more galaxies existed in the early Universe than previously expected. According to a recent study, this suggests that reionization may have happened more rapidly and ended at least 350 million years earlier than our models predict. Once again, the ability to peer into the early Universe has produced tensions with prevailing cosmological theories. The study was led by Julian B Muñoz, an assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin. He was joined by John Chisholm, also an assistant professor of astronomy at UT Austin; Jordan Mirocha, a NASA postdoctoral student at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology; Steven R Furlanetto, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California-Los Angeles, and Charlotte Mason, an associate professor with the Cosmic Dawn Center at the Niels Bohr Institute. The paper that describes their findings was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The history of the Universe is outlined in this infographic. Credit: NASA According to current cosmological models, the Universe was filled with a hot, dense plasma of protons and electrons for the first 380,000 years after the Big Bang. Eventually, the Universe cooled enough for protons and electrons to come together and form neutral hydrogen. By ca. 100 million years after the Big Bang, the first stars (Population III) began to form, which were extremely massive and hot. These stars came together to create the first galaxies, and their ultraviolet light caused neutral hydrogen to once again split into protons and electrons (aka. became ionized). Once most of the hydrogen in the Universe became ionized (ca. 1 billion years after the Big Bang), the Epoch of Reionization ended. At this point, the Universe was transparent, and light from this period is visible to optical telescopes today. As Chisholm indicated in a UT Austin news release, reionization also played a major role in how the Universe evolved. “The process heated and ionized gas in the Universe, which regulated how fast galaxies grew and evolved,” “These early stars established the overall structure of galaxies in the Universe.” Before the deployment of the JWST, scientists relied on measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the relic radiation from the Big Bang, and the Lyman-alpha Forest – the wavelength of light associated with hydrogen reionization. From this, astronomers have gained a sense of how much energy was available for reionization to occur (a “photon budget”) and how long it lasted. As Muñoz explained: “[Reionization] is the last major change to happen. You went from neutral and cold and boring to ionized and hot. And this isn’t something that only happened to one or two galaxies. It happened to the whole Universe. It’s an accounting game. We know that all hydrogen was neutral before reionization. From there, you need enough extreme ultraviolet to split each atom. So, at the end of the day, you can do the math to figure out when reionization ended.” Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. Credit: NASA However, observations made with the JWST have revealed things that challenge accepted models. This includes a greater abundance of galaxies, which produce more UV radiation than previously anticipated. These findings suggest that reionization should have ended 550 to 650 million years after the Big Bang rather than 1 billion years. But if this were true, the CMB and Lyman-alpha Forest would look different. In short, there is a tension between these measurements and Webb‘s observations – as the team describes in their study, a “photon budget crisis.” Much like the Hubble Tension, these findings suggest something could be missing from our current cosmological models. One possibility that the team explored is recombination, where ionized protons and electrons come together again to form neutral hydrogen. This is precisely what happened 380,000 years after the Big Bang, known as the “Era of Recombination.” If this process happened more often than our models suggest, it could increase the amount of extreme-UV light needed to reionize the Universe. As Muñoz explained, follow-up observations are needed to confirm this theory: “We need more detailed and deeper observations of galaxies, and a better understanding of the recombination process. Resolving this tension on reionization is a key step to finally understanding this pivotal period. I am excited to see what the coming years hold.” Further Reading: Phys.org, MNRAS The post Webb Observations Shed New Light on Cosmic Reionization appeared first on Universe Today.

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We were always warned against feeding wildlife. Cautions about them becoming too comfortable with human interaction creating dangerous situations and the animals becoming too dependent on people providing them food interfering with their natural instincts. This is why it's discouraged for people to adopt wild animals as pets unless they're injured to the point of never being able to return to the wild.Even with this information being fairly common knowledge, it doesn't always stop people from wanting to try their hand at becoming Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. People commonly feed the squirrels, birds and deer local to their backyards without much second thought. This normalizing of feeding certain wild critters also regularly includes people feeding raccoons, maybe in an effort to keep them out of their trash or maybe because the little trash bandits look that chubby cats with hands. Either way, this can quickly escalate either immediately or years after the fact as one Washington woman recently discovered. The unnamed woman has been feeding the raccoons in her backyard since sometime in the 80s for a total of more than 35 years. She never had any issue as there were only ever a few raccoons that she would throw some food to in the evenings and for the most part, they left each other alone. brown and black animal on brown soil Photo by Pete Nuij on Unsplash Now, people can only speculate how sophisticated communication is between animals but raccoons are extremely intelligent. Best guess is, one of the raccoons the woman has been feeding lately turned out to be the town gossip causing word to quickly spread that a human was offering free food. Since these masked critters are savvy scavengers, they generally have to work pretty hard to outsmart the humans trying to keep them out of their trashcans.But if someone's just going to make the raccoons lives easier by putting out tasty treats, of course the little round guys are going to take advantage of it. That's exactly what happened. One of the raccoons told a friend who told a friend and suddenly when the woman came home from an errand, all of these friends were there to greet her–over 100 of them. cookie crisp raccoons GIF by ViralHog Giphy The reunion was anything but happy, though. The gaze of raccoons refused to let the woman into her home, becoming aggressive towards her as they demanded she give them food. It quickly becomes clear to the woman that she was going to need assistance so who do you call when a group of bandits are at your door? The sheriff. At least that's what the woman thought. The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office did respond to the woman's call and were shocked at the ridiculous number of raccoons surrounding her home. Kevin McCarty, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office tells CNN, "They had never seen that many raccoons in one place. Nobody ever remembers being surrounded by a swarm of raccoons. This was a first.” raccoons wants GIF Giphy The raccoons don't seem to give the woman any peace. Their consistent presence has been going on for more than six weeks now. Day and night, enough raccoons to fill several classrooms harass the woman for food. It's not clear if she throws them food in an attempt to get them to leave her alone long enough to get in and out of her house but she currently has no help. The Sheriff's office referred her to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife but she informed deputies that Fish and Wildlife told her it would cost $500 per raccoon to trap and relocate. Animal control is currently looking for a reasonable solution and McCarty shares a reminder, "Don’t feed wild animals. When wild animals have a reliable food source, they’re going to keep coming back to it, and that’s what these raccoons did until the number of raccoons expecting a meal got out of hand." racoon GIF Giphy The spokesperson says to KOMO News, "wild raccoons are not safe to toy with. People shouldn't get near them, they certainly shouldn't feed them and obviously, word got out in raccoon land so a lot of them are showing up cause they expect that they're going to get a meal."People are flabbergasted on how this got so far out of hand with one person writing in part, "How in the world?! Didn't anyone suggest, firmly, that she needed to STOP feeding them?!"One commenter under the news video suggests, "They could put the food away from the residence to re-train the raccoons where they can find food then taper the food supply."People in town have said they've seen more raccoons around their own homes and in town. Hopefully this gets resolved in a way that keeps the animals and humans safe and the woman has learned feeding these cute masked bandits isn't such a great idea. Watch the video below: - YouTube youtu.be

It's not easy being a stepparent. You're walking into a family that already exists, with children who don't look like you and may come with their own traumas from their biological parent not being there on a daily basis. Of course not all stepparent origin stories are the same. Some children still have regular access to their biological parent maintaining a positive relationship. Others may only see their biological parent on occasion with a strained dynamic while others may not know their parent at all or the parent may have died. Very rarely are two situations exactly alike and each comes with its own set of issues to overcome. But for the stepparents that have worked hard to make sure their stepchildren feel loved and supported by them leave a permanent mark that can't be undone whether the relationship between the two adults works out or not. One stepdad with the username u/javawong took to Reddit to share that he received a letter from his former stepson recently, though it's been five years since he and the boy's mother broke up. Opening a letter from a stepchild years after the breakup with their mother could feel a bit like handling a grenade someone threw you before you noticed if the pin is pulled or not. But it seems the boy had a few things he deemed important enough to mail a handwritten letter to the man who once helped parent him. The names are redacted but the letter reads as follows: dear diary 90s GIF Giphy "I appreciate everything you have done for me and continue to do for me. You have been such a great dad to me, [redacted] and [redacted]. I will always be grateful for you being so involved in my life and not just taking a back seat like you could have. I hope you are doing well. I hope you know how much love and appreciation I have for you. I am proud to call you family."The sweet letter was completely unprompted and unexpected according to the stepdad who updated in the comment section to provide more context for those curious. Sad Pauly D GIF by A Double Shot At Love With DJ Pauly D and Vinny Giphy "A little context is needed. Lots of questions. My stepson is 20 and off in college (his penmanship needs work lol). We are still very close and I consider him my son. In fact, his bio dad and I have become very close the last couple of years as we have a lot in common. He is also very close with his son. I was married to his mom for 12 years and helped raise him with his mom during those years. She and I split up almost 5 years ago and I stay around to watch him grow up; as well as his older brother and half-sister (my biological daughter). He mailed me this letter completely randomly which I received today. Just brought a tear (many) to my eye," the proud stepdad shares.He wasn't the only one the note struck a chord with, others shared with the stepdad exactly how much it means to kids when their stepparents are involved.A mailed letter from my (former) stepson - his mom and I split up almost 5 years ago byu/javawong inMadeMeSmileOne person shares, "From one dad to another, cheers in having made a strong impact on that kid's life.""As I read once on reddit, and repeat as much as I can : Everybody can be a father. Being a dad is an earned title," someone shares."This. It’s very surprising to see a “kid” of this age acknowledge something as complex as being a good “step” parent. Good people all around in this story. OP is a Rick[sic] star. The son seems like a great young man. The mom didn’t go the petty route and try to block contact after divorce. Bio dad didn’t try to destroy the bond OP has with his son. Great family dynamics," another person chimes in. I Appreciate You Fathers Day GIF by INTO ACTION Giphy "You have no idea how much your post has moved me. I was in a similar situation. I was in my step son's life since he was 2 and have raised him as my own. His mom and I split up a year ago and I only hope he feels the same way. We haven't had any communication since due to her actions. Including my son. I just hope I get a chance to do the same with my own son. Thank you for this. This has given me a lot of hope. May you continue to be the dad he can look up to and share with his own children when the time comes. Thank you for setting the right example. Bless you," one heartbroken dad shares. The stepson's letter just highlights the important role stepparents can play in a child's life, even if that child isn't theirs biologically. It sounds like this family is doing all the right things to make sure the kids feel safe and loved by all parents involved.

It can be intimidating to be approached by a salesperson when making a big purchase, such as a car or an appliance. They can swoop in like sharks, seeing blood in the water and some refuse to leave you alone, even if you say, “I’m just looking.”TikTok's @RussFlipsWhips is a car salesman who went viral with a video explaining why “I’m just looking” doesn’t work on a car lot and providing more effective phrases you can use instead."There's two main reasons, and here's what you should say instead of 'I'm just looking,'" he said in a video with over 345,000 views. “One is, we hear it every single day. So when somebody tells me, ‘I’m just looking,’ I’m so used to hearing that, I almost like brush it off and ignore it because I’m like, ‘That’s what the customer’s supposed to say.’ “Secondly, every car salesman has had a customer say, ‘I’m just looking,’ and we ended up selling them a car."Instead, Russell suggests you say: "Hey, I’d really like to look alone. Can I please have your business card?" or “I’m really not in the market for a car.” @russflipswhips Replying to @SoyPablo This is what I would say #carsales #carsalesman #cardealership #carbuyingtips The post received funny responses from folks who may not qualify for a loan. “The ‘I have 2 repos and no money down' line works wonders,’” one TikToker joked. “I just tell them my credit score and they run,” another added.In the end, Russell’s suggestions show that sometimes, the best way to get our point across is to be direct and honest. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to shop alone and if the salesperson can respect that request, they deserve the sale if you decide to buy something.This article originally appeared on 7.16.24