Sonya Lindee

Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God🕊Philippians4:6-7

[Sonya Lindee @EyeLubSharks]

@crazyclipsonly All I see is a person littering but the dude is too self absorbed to even understand what he’s doing.

[AccuWeather @accuweather]

Wait for it ... This forest was 'moving like the sea' as #StormBabet brought strong winds and heavy rain to Scotland. 🌊🌳

[ARCHIVED - NASA Sun & Space @NASASun]

It's FINALLY here!

The Heliophysics Big Year officially kicked off with last week's spectacular annular solar eclipse. Join us as we celebrate our star and explore how the Sun touches everything!

Learn more: https://t.co/U7AzgTLPVi

[Fergies Photos (MBs Aurora Gal) @FergiesPhotos]

Sometimes you just have to look up! Thompson, MB

[High Hopes Aurora w/ Justin Anderson @AuroraJAnderson]

#aurora is out right now!
Someone left a clock at Anderson Pond, so people will have an answer with the 'when will the aurora be out?' Questions!

@TamithaSkov @TweetAurora @Vincent_Ledvina @LachDonna @tracygregorash @dmaluk1 @PhotosFromDak

[Erika  @ExploreCosmos_]

Earth is approaching a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the Orionid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Sun, Oct. 22nd, with 15/20 meteors/h. The best time to look is during the dark hours before sunrise when Orion the Hunter is high in the sky.

[Archaeo - Histories @archeohistories]

University of Kentucky researchers challenged computer scientists to reveal contents of carbonised papyrus, a ‘potential treasure trove for historians’, as they use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius in 79 AD :

When blast from eruption of Mount Vesuvius reached Herculaneum in 79 AD, it burned 100s of ancient scrolls to a crisp in library of a luxury villa and buried Roman town in ash and pumice.

Disaster appeared to have destroyed scrolls for good, but nearly 2000 years later researchers have  extracted first word from one of texts, using artificial intelligence to peer deep inside delicate, charred remains.

Discovery was announced on Thursday (12 October 2023) by Prof Brent Seales, a computer scientist at University of Kentucky and others who launched Vesuvius challenge in March to accelerate reading of texts. Backed by Silicon Valley investors, challenge offers cash prizes to researchers who extract legible words from the carbonised scrolls.

“This is first recovered text from one of these rolled-up, intact scrolls,” said Stephen Parsons, a staff researcher on digital restoration initiative at university. Researchers have since uncovered more letters from ancient scroll.

To launch Vesuvius challenge, Seales and his team released 1000s of 3D X-ray images of two rolled-up scrolls and three papyrus fragments. They also released an artificial intelligence program they had trained to read letters in scrolls based on subtle changes that ancient ink made to structure of papyrus.

Unopened scrolls belong to a collection held by Institut de France in Paris and are among 100s recovered from library at villa thought to be owned by a senior Roman statesman, possibly Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, father-in-law of Julius Caesar.

Two computer science students, Luke Farritor in Nebraska and Youssef Nader in Berlin, who took up Vesuvius challenge, improved search process and independently hit on same ancient Greek word in one of scrolls: “πορφύραc”, meaning “purple”. Farritor, who was first to find word, wins $40,000 with Nader winning $10,000.

Race is now on to read surrounding text. Dr Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist at University of Naples Federico II, said three lines of scroll, containing up to 10 letters, were now readable with more expected to come. A recent section shows at least four columns of text.

“This word is our first dive into an unopened ancient book, evocative of royalty, wealth and even mockery,” Seales said. “Pliny the Elder explores ‘purple’ in his ‘natural history’ as a production process for Tyrian purple from shellfish. Gospel of Mark describes how Jesus was mocked as he was clothed in purple robes before crucifixion. What this particular scroll is discussing is still unknown, but I believe it will soon be revealed. An old, new story that starts for us with ‘purple’ is an incredible place to be.”

As only intact library to survive from antiquity, there is immense interest in Herculaneum scrolls. Most of texts analysed so far are written in ancient Greek, but some may be Latin texts. Fragments have revealed letters from Philodemus’s work On Vices and Opposite Virtues, and details of Hellenistic dynastic history.

“Strong suspicion is that non-philosophical part of library remains to be discovered and here fantasy runs riot: new plays of Sophocles, poems of Sappho, Annals of Ennius, lost books of Livy and so on,” said Robert Fowler, emeritus professor of Greek at University of Bristol. “It would be great too to find so-called documentary papyri; letters, business papers, and so on; these would be treasure-trove for historians.”

“Reading words from within Herculaneum scrolls is like stepping onto moon,” Seales added. “Honestly, I knew that text was there, waiting for us to arrive, but arrival only happens at last step. And with such a talented team working together, reading words is that step into new territory and we’ve taken it.

© The Guardian

#archaeohistories

[Sonya Lindee @EyeLubSharks]

@NASAMoon @NASA_Orion I request all of you to moonwalk on the moon😜🖖🏼

[ARCHIVED - NASA Moon @NASAMoon]

These are the next four people who will visit our Moon. The #Artemis II crew has been busy studying lunar geology, practicing in lunar-like environments and training on the @NASA_Orion spacecraft. https://t.co/RgqPfVEWRZ

[Geology Tweets @GeologyTime]

The Star of India sapphire is one of the most famous and iconic gemstones in the world.

The Star of India is a 563.35-carat (112.67 g) star sapphire
https://t.co/YJPIEoJ7SL

[Wonder of Science @wonderofscience]

An owl gliding through a cloud of helium-filled soap bubbles reveals wingtip and tail vortices.

📽: Usherwood et al.

[AccuWeather @accuweather]

'He's talking to you!' 🐬 We can't stop smiling watching this adorable moment as a dolphin swims by to chat with their new toddler friend.

[Vincent Ledvina @Vincent_Ledvina]

Aurora from my street in Fairbanks right now!

[Rj Roldan @rjayroldan]

#Wyze camera footage from my window last night.

#auroraborealis #northernlights #aurora

South Indian Lake, Manitoba

[Curiosity @CuriosityonX]

Largest Black Hole ever discovered compared to our Solar System.

[Kris Luckenbach @KrisLuckPhoto]

GM - have you ever seen red aurora before?

[Mark Hamill @MarkHamill]

For Carrie Frances: 🎂

(with fond memories of a lifetime of 😂🤣 & 💋💋)

[Nature is Amazing ☘️ @AMAZlNGNATURE]

group of horses visit the beach for the first time 🥹