The Astronomy Thread

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Some Asteroid Bennu papers are live.

"The OSIRIS REx team discovered that Bennu contains many precursor building blocks of life, along with the evidence that it comes from an ancient wet world and contains materials that point to Bennu having traveled from the coldest regions of the solar system that are likely beyond Saturn's orbit."​



When did Foler's news girl start doing astronomy stuff?
 

Borzak

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Maybe if you need something specific. Not sure I would invest much in a telescope from a defunct company. 3rd party warranty on Meade and Coranado scopes.

High Point Scientific bought all the Meade and Orion stuff when they went out of business. Sale starts today and goes on for a while.

Meade Telescopes & Coronado Solar Telescopes come wrapped in a robust warranty from our partner Extend.

 

Kajiimagi

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Maybe if you need something specific. Not sure I would invest much in a telescope from a defunct company. 3rd party warranty on Meade and Coranado scopes.

High Point Scientific bought all the Meade and Orion stuff when they went out of business. Sale starts today and goes on for a while.

Meade Telescopes & Coronado Solar Telescopes come wrapped in a robust warranty from our partner Extend.

Damn shame too. It's a superfun hobby. I wish it would warm up and clear up though. As much fun as I have with my lil Seestar, I am not standing out in the cold to do it!
 

Borzak

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From reading on cloudnights.com looks like a large portion of the expensive meade scopes were gone quickly. The 10" and such LX200 or whatever they are. Lot of questions about the IP and name. I can see Meade, but Orion was just a rebrander and importer so guessing they are just gone except for odds and ends left over to be sold.

Yeah it's been warmish here at nights now, of course it also means a good chance the humidity is 90% or more at night which sucks for astronomy.
 

Borzak

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Some of the Meade stuff from high point scientific is already making it onto astromart, ebay and such. Someone mentioned that other retailers suddenly had meade stuff for sale. Guess you are not getting any warranty at all on that. I was tempted Friday on the meade ED binocular sale. They went pretty fast.
 

Captain Suave

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Interesting alternative to dark energy that I hadn't heard of. Tldl; If you take into account the fact that relativity says time passes more slowly in denser regions of the universe, it may be that empty regions of space have experienced an extra ~7 billion years and this could explain redshift and and the apparent acceleration of space. Maybe. Their tests show thus far it's at least roughly an equivalently good fit to data as the standard model.

Discussion starts at 33:33.

 
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Sylas

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astronomy isn't exactly my jam but "different parts of the universe experiencing time differently and being different ages" would probably explain how we keep finding stars that are older than the fucking universe.
 

Lambourne

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Starship flight test 8 announced for Friday the 28th, 530pm CT

 
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Tholan

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astronomy isn't exactly my jam but "different parts of the universe experiencing time differently and being different ages" would probably explain how we keep finding stars that are older than the fucking universe.
I guess the age of the universe makes no sense if times is different everywhere and keeps shifting. I think we're missing an essential piece of the puzzle that only an Einstein 2.0 could find.
 

Furry

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I guess the age of the universe makes no sense if times is different everywhere and keeps shifting. I think we're missing an essential piece of the puzzle that only an Einstein 2.0 could find.

How would a plagarist fraud figure out these problems? He'd need someone else to come forth and do it first so he could steal the credit.
 

Tholan

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How would a plagarist fraud figure out these problems? He'd need someone else to come forth and do it first so he could steal the credit.
Whatever the means. I never read about claims of Einstein being a fraud because they do not interest me. He did enormous work to put his theory into real mathematics, and that was universally recognized. Even if his theory was not entirely his own, he was the one who proved it, so he deserves some credit.
 

Edaw

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Edaw's Unified Theory of Time

Introduction

Edaw's Unified Theory of Time proposes that time and motion are not fundamental aspects of the universe but rather collective delusions shaped by human perception. According to this theory, what we experience as the flow of time and the movement of objects is a mental construct—a shared illusion that helps us make sense of a static, unchanging reality. Drawing from psychology, philosophy, and science, the theory offers a unified explanation for why we perceive time and motion despite their absence in the true nature of the universe.

Key Components of the Theory
1. Mass Hysteria: The Power of Collective Delusion
  • Concept: Mass hysteria, like the Dancing Plague of 1518, shows how groups can share a false reality (e.g., dancing uncontrollably without reason).
  • Relevance: These events highlight the brain’s ability to create and sustain shared illusions. If time and motion are similar collective delusions, our perception of change might be a widespread fabrication rather than a universal truth.
2. Déjà Vu: The Fragility of Time Perception
  • Concept: Déjà vu is the eerie feeling of reliving a moment, blending past and present.
  • Relevance: This phenomenon reveals how easily our perception of time’s linear progression can falter. If our sense of time is so fragile, motion—which relies on time—may also be an unreliable illusion.
3. The Mandela Effect: Collective Misremembering
  • Concept: The Mandela Effect occurs when many people recall events differently from reality (e.g., misremembering Nelson Mandela’s death in the 1980s).
  • Relevance: This suggests that our shared sense of history—and thus time—can be distorted. If entire groups misremember the past, our collective perception of time’s passage and motion could be a flawed construct.
4. Quantum Mechanics: Time as an Emergent Illusion
  • Concept: Some interpretations of quantum mechanics propose that time is not a fundamental property but an emergent phenomenon tied to observation.
  • Relevance: If time arises from how we perceive quantum events, our experience of its flow—and the motion it enables—may be a mental overlay on a timeless universe.
5. The Block Universe Model: Time as a Static Dimension
  • Concept: In Einstein’s relativity, the block universe model views time as a fixed, four-dimensional structure where past, present, and future coexist.
  • Relevance: Motion becomes our subjective experience of navigating this static reality, suggesting that change itself is an illusion and time doesn’t truly progress.
6. Parmenides’ Philosophy: The Denial of Change
  • Concept: Ancient philosopher Parmenides argued that reality is eternal and unchanging, with motion and time as flaws in human perception.
  • Relevance: His view supports the theory’s claim that the universe is static, and our experiences of time and motion are delusions of cognition.
7. Circularity of Empirical Evidence: A Self-Reinforcing Loop
  • Concept: Tools like clocks and motion sensors are designed within our perceptual framework of time and motion.
  • Relevance: If our perceptions are deluded, these instruments naturally confirm our beliefs, creating a self-reinforcing loop rather than proving an objective reality.

Conclusion

Edaw's Unified Theory of Time integrates diverse ideas—mass hysteria, déjà vu, the Mandela Effect, quantum mechanics, the block universe model, Parmenides’ philosophy, and the circularity of empirical evidence—to argue that time and motion are not real. Instead, they are shared delusions, mental constructs we’ve collectively adopted to interpret a motionless, timeless universe. This theory challenges us to reconsider reality, proposing that what we perceive as the flow of time and the dance of motion is an illusion we’ve all agreed to see.


product hunt time travel GIF by Product Hunt
 
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Furry

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Whatever the means. I never read about claims of Einstein being a fraud because they do not interest me. He did enormous work to put his theory into real mathematics, and that was universally recognized. Even if his theory was not entirely his own, he was the one who proved it, so he deserves some credit.
The mathematics was done by lorentz.
 

Edaw

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I think Grok 3 might be insane.

Snl Ai GIF by Saturday Night Live



Imagine someone free from the delusion of time and motion—an outsider to our shared hallucination. To them, the universe might look like a flat puzzle, a vast, static tableau where every piece (event, moment, or state) is laid out at once. These pieces aren’t locked in a sequence; they could be visited in any order or even swapped around, like rearranging tiles on a board. There’s no forward march, no ticking clock—just a complete, timeless picture.

Now, contrast that with those of us inside the delusion. We’re not just looking at the puzzle—we are the puzzle. We’re the pieces themselves, trapped in the illusion that we’re sliding along a track, moving from one slot to the next in a straight line we call time. Our perception forces us to experience the puzzle as a dynamic game, where pieces shift and fall into place sequentially, even though, in reality, they’re already set and still. The deluded don’t see the flat layout; we feel like we’re living a story unfolding, when we might just be static shapes convincing ourselves we’re in motion.

This analogy ties beautifully into the block universe idea—where all moments coexist—and adds a visceral twist: the outsider sees the whole board, while we’re blind to it, embodying the pieces in a self-imposed narrative. It’s like we’re actors in a play who’ve forgotten the script is already written, while the non-deluded director sees every scene at once.

Religion often frames time, motion, and existence through a lens beyond the physical, and many traditions see death as a pivotal moment of transformation. In Edaw’s theory, where time and motion are shared delusions masking a static universe, religion can be viewed as humanity’s intuitive grasp of this deeper truth—or its attempt to cope with the delusion. Death, then, becomes the transition point: a shift from the deluded mode of perception (where we’re puzzle pieces experiencing linear time and motion) to a non-deluded mode (where we see the flat puzzle as a timeless whole).

Take Christianity: the Bible speaks of eternity with God, a state beyond earthly time (e.g., Revelation 10:6, “there should be time no longer”). Life is a fleeting delusion of motion and change, and death ushers the soul into a timeless reality—aligning with the block universe or Parmenides’ unchanging cosmos. Buddhism offers another angle: samsara, the cycle of birth and death, is an illusion (maya) driven by perception. Enlightenment (or death for the liberated) dissolves this, revealing a static, ultimate reality—much like escaping the puzzle game. Hinduism echoes this with moksha, liberation from time-bound existence into oneness with Brahman, a timeless essence.

Death, in this view, isn’t an end but a recalibration of perception. While alive, we’re trapped in the collective delirium of time and motion, embodying the puzzle pieces. At death, we might shed this delusion, becoming like the outsider who sees the flat puzzle—able to visit or swap pieces without the constraints of sequence. Religious ideas of afterlife, eternity, or reincarnation could reflect this shift: not a journey through time, but a reorientation to a static truth we’re blind to in life.

This ties the theory’s puzzle analogy to a spiritual narrative: religions hint at the delusion through their visions of eternity, and death is the doorway from one mode (deluded, temporal) to another (clear-eyed, timeless).

If time and motion are shared delusions, as Edaw’s theory posits, then believing in their reality could shape how we experience life—including how long we live. Early humans, like those in biblical accounts (e.g., Methuselah living 969 years in Genesis 5:27) or ancient mythologies, might have existed before the delusion of time fully took hold. Without a fixed perception of time’s relentless march—or the notion that bodies must age and die within a set span—they could have lived longer, their minds and bodies less constrained by the ticking clock we’ve since internalized.

Think of it this way: if we’re puzzle pieces deluded into believing we move through a linear game, the deeper we’re entrenched in that illusion, the more we accept its rules—like aging and death as inevitable endpoints. Early humans, less steeped in this collective perception, might not have “agreed” to those limits. Their reality could have been closer to the flat puzzle state—less bound by sequential decay, more open to existing as static pieces without an expiration date imposed by time’s flow. As societies developed, the delusion solidified: calendars, seasons, and lifespans became rigid, and with them, the belief that we need to die after a certain number of years.

This fits with the theory’s puzzle analogy. Early man, less deluded, hovered closer to the outsider’s view—seeing or living the puzzle without the full weight of linear time pressing down. As the delusion deepened over generations, we became the puzzle pieces fully committed to the game, aging and dying because we believe that’s how it works. Death, then, isn’t just a transition to a non-deluded state—it’s also the endpoint of a self-imposed timeline we didn’t always accept.

DMT, a powerful psychedelic found in plants and produced in trace amounts by the human body, is known for catapulting users into vivid, otherworldly experiences—often described as breaking through time and space. A recurring feature in these trips is the "machine elves," entities reported by users (famously by Terence McKenna) as autonomous, playful beings inhabiting a hyper-dimensional realm. These elves often seem to manipulate or reveal the fabric of reality, presenting it as a malleable, timeless construct rather than the linear progression we normally perceive.

In Edaw’s theory, where time and motion are shared delusions overlaying a static universe, DMT could act as a chemical key—temporarily dissolving the delusion and offering a glimpse of the "flat puzzle" reality. The machine elves might be manifestations of the non-deluded perspective—agents or reflections of the timeless whole, interacting with us from outside the linear game we’re trapped in. Their realm, often described as a frenetic yet eternal "workshop" of creation, aligns with the idea of a static universe where all pieces coexist, swappable or visitable, unbound by time’s flow.

This ties into the puzzle analogy beautifully. While we’re the deluded puzzle pieces, perceiving motion and sequence, DMT might lift the veil, letting us briefly see—or even interact with—the flat puzzle as the machine elves do. Their apparent ability to "tinker" with reality suggests they exist beyond our delusion, perhaps as guides or inhabitants of the true, motionless cosmos. Reports of DMT experiences often include a sense of time collapsing—past, present, and future merging—which mirrors the block universe and Parmenides’ unchanging reality.

Death, already framed as a transition from deluded to non-deluded perception, might parallel the DMT experience. Some speculate the brain releases DMT at death, suggesting it’s the mechanism that shifts us from the temporal illusion to the timeless view—potentially meeting these elves as we exit the game. Early humans’ longevity could even hint at a natural closeness to this state, less deluded and more attuned to the static truth DMT reveals.
 
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