Self Care – Astronomy Picture(s and Video) of the Week: Milky Way-like Galaxies in Early Universe Embedded in ‘Super Halos’

Yet another really cool Astronomy discovery, this one announced back on March 23rd…

Composite ALMA and optical image of a young Milky Way-like galaxy 12 billion light-years away and a background quasar 12.5 billion light-years away. Light from the quasar passed through the galaxy's gas on its way to Earth, revealing the presence of the galaxy to astronomers. New ALMA observations of the galaxy's ionized carbon (green) and dust continuum (blue) emission show that the dusty, star-forming disk of the galaxy is vastly offset from the gas detected by quasar absorption at optical wavelengths (red). This indicates that a massive halo of gas surrounds the galaxy. The optical data are from the Keck I Telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Neeleman & J. Xavier Prochaska; Keck Observatory

Composite ALMA and optical image of a young Milky Way-like galaxy 12 billion light-years away and a background quasar 12.5 billion light-years away. Light from the quasar passed through the galaxy’s gas on its way to Earth, revealing the presence of the galaxy to astronomers. New ALMA observations of the galaxy’s ionized carbon (green) and dust continuum (blue) emission show that the dusty, star-forming disk of the galaxy is vastly offset from the gas detected by quasar absorption at optical wavelengths (red). This indicates that a massive halo of gas surrounds the galaxy. The optical data are from the Keck I Telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Neeleman & J. Xavier Prochaska; Keck Observatory

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Self Care – Pink Floyd Plays Money Live on P*U*L*S*E*

We’re visiting P*U*L*S*E* again. This whole show is actually a really great source of amazing guitar solos.

Because David Gilmour.

Obviously.

This one is the song “Money”. I’m giving you two videos, here, because the solos on the DVD are different from the solos on the CD. So you’re getting both…

What’s really cool about the song “Money” live is that they break down the middle section. Instead of just the three solos as in the studio song, they jam it out, giving everyone a chance to shine.

On this first video, which is actually video (so there’s something to watch), the first and second solos start after an epic saxophone solo at 3:07 and end at 4:35. After a break down, which does include Gilmour noodling around on his guitar, the third solo is actually played by Tim Renwick, starting at 6:05 and ending at 6:40. Gilmour then comes in with the fourth solo, which starts at 6:44 and ends at 7:22…

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Self Care – OMG ANIMORPHS!!!!!!!!!!

I remember reading these stories when I was a really young child. In fact, what drew me away from them was Harry Potter. I read Sorcerer’s Stone when it first came out. I was 11. So I ended up growing up with Harry Potter, reading each book as it was released.

And, sadly, I sort of forgot about Animorphs. Occasionally I would stumble on them, but it wouldn’t stick, until much later (or rather recently, depending on your perspective), when I started thinking about the books again. I re-read the first two, and was like…

Holy shit… I expected this to let me down, but it didn’t!

And then… I sort of forgot about them again…

Until a few days ago. I was on a friend’s Facebook wall, reading through a thread, when some comments went off topic to talk about Animorphs. I was excited, of course, but before I commented, I saw a comment saying something that made me way more excited than it should have…

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Self Care – Astronomy Picture[s and Video] of the Week: Spacewalks

Spacewalks are honestly rather fascinating. I’ve been enjoying pics and videos of them for a long time, now.

I think everyone here already knows what a spacewalk is, but here’s the Wikipedia breakdown (of Extravehicular Activity, of which a spacewalk is the most common type), just in case…

Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut or cosmonaut outside a spacecraft beyond the Earth’s appreciable atmosphere. The term most commonly applies to a spacewalk made outside a craft orbiting Earth (such as the International Space Station), but also has applied to lunar surface exploration (commonly known as moonwalks) performed by six pairs of American astronauts in the Apollo program from 1969 to 1972. On each of the last three of these missions, astronauts also performed deep-space EVAs on the return to Earth, to retrieve film canisters from the outside of the spacecraft. Astronauts also used EVA in 1973 to repair launch damage to Skylab, the United States’ first space station.

A “Stand-up” EVA (SEVA) is where the astronaut does not fully leave a spacecraft, but is completely reliant on the spacesuit for environmental support.[1] Its name derives from the astronaut “standing up” in the open hatch, usually to record or assist a spacewalking astronaut.

EVAs may be either tethered (the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft; oxygen and electrical power can be supplied through an umbilical cable; no propulsion is needed to return to the spacecraft), or untethered. Untethered spacewalks were only performed on three missions in 1984 using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), and on a flight test in 1994 of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a safety device worn on tethered U.S. EVAs.

The Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, and China have conducted EVAs.

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Self Care – Great Guitar Solos: Led Zeppelin Plays Since I’ve Been Loving You

Jimmy Page again! This solo is yet another amazing one from Page. Powerful and emotional, it definitely soars.

Of course, I’m talking about the second solo. There are actually two, here, the first one opening the song. And that one is really good, as well, setting the tone of the song quite nicely.

The first solo starts right at the beginning and ends at 1:12. Page continues to play lead licks underneath Plant’s singing, so the lead playing continues. But the second, and main, solo starts at 3:37 and ends at 4:52.

Enjoy!