April 14th, 2019 : Dark Orifice

[xoxoxoBruce]

Unless you’ve been unconscious you must be aware of this picture they are calling a Black Hole.
Actually it’s a picture of all the surrounding crap about to be sucked into the Black Hole.
It’s an impressive accomplishment from amazing effort by hundreds of scientists around the world.
I suspect most of you will still have to crawl out of bed and go to work tomorrow. I don’t.



I’m not sure if this will contribute to science, because they all ready know enough about the Black Hole to make this image,
but it does show people from everywhere can work toward a common goal.



Now the press always has to look for the human interest angle and found it in Katie Bouman. She’s one of the hundreds of people
working on this effort, showing her pleasure in their success. Nothing is more human interest than a pretty girl bubbling joy.



Unfortunately for Katie, then the shit hit the fan.

Within a few hours, the gravitational well of darkness that is the internet began to tug on her. Her phone started getting so many messages that she had to shut it off, according to The New York Times. Someone repeatedly set up fake Twitter accounts in her name. The next day, the Times published an article called “How Katie Bouman Accidentally Became the Face of the Black Hole Project”. The Verge reached out to Bouman for comment, but a representative of MIT told The Verge that Bouman was not speaking to the press at the moment.
It’s wonderful to be recognized for your work. But it must also be uncomfortable to stand in a spotlight and be asked to take a final bow for your starring role when you were part of an ensemble cast.
In response to the attention, Bouman wrote in a Facebook post: “No one algorithm or person made this image, it required the amazing talent of a team of scientists from around the globe and years of hard work to develop the instrument, data processing, imaging methods, and analysis techniques that were necessary to pull off this seemingly impossible feat. It has been truly an honor, and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with you all.”

Great picture but they zoomed in too much, if they had backed up some they would have gotten a more comprehensive view.



link

[Carruthers]

Let's see. Matter being drawn into the Black Hole is accelerated to the speed of light, attains infinite mass and is never seen again.

My bank account operates in a similar manner.

[xoxoxoBruce]

That sucks.

[BigV]

Oh! Look, it's my cat, Cleo!