Scientists have unearthed the remnants of more than 1,700 viruses from deep inside a glacier in western China. Most of these viruses are new to science.

With this discovery, the number of ancient viruses recovered from glaciers has grown fiftyfold.The viruses, gathered from a 1,000-foot ice core taken from the sprawling Guliya Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, date back 41,000 years and span three major shifts from cold to warm.

Vaonis Vespera II. 350 images or so over ~1.75 hours, stacked by the scope software. .

If you zoom in you can see some steaking and lines. Is that clouds or condensation?

Just caught some Olympic qualifying finals for breakdancing?! Kazakhstan versus Netherlands. They both crushed it and Netherlands won. I thought the Kazaki won the whole thing with his opening move in the final bout.

I haven't read these links yet but apparently this is the first games that will feature break dancing.

https://www.nbcsports.com/olympics/news/breaking-olympics-2024-paris-dancing

https://olympics.com/en/news/how-to-qualify-paris-2024-breaking-qualification-system-explained

I can't seem to find a video of the bout. Very cool to see breaking at the world level.

I've enjoying seeing how the games have evolved over my short life. I remember when Johnny Mosely pulled that perfect helicopter (360°) at mens moguls in Nagano in 1998 and it completely changed the sport of skiing. It launched entire categories of competitive skiing: freestyle, big air, and half pipe, eventually became Olympic events. I'm not really a big Olympics fan or anything, just wanted to share the news about breakdancing for Paris 2024. Can you believe it?

“I think it’s been about two or three times in the past six months we’ve allegedly been sunk, which we have not been,” Hill told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the carrier. “It is almost comical at this point. They’re attempting to maybe inspire themselves through misinformation, but it doesn’t work on us.”

500,000 stars in that ball.

Taken with Vespera 2 smart scope. 104 stacked images over 17 minutes. Processed by the scope and Singularity app.

Taken with Vespera 2/Singularity. 322 images captured over 54 minutes.

Taken with Vespera 2 smart scope. 272 stacked images over 45 minutes (10 seconds per image).

This is one of my first shots and I think it came out great for having very little idea of what I'm doing. The scope does all the work and processing.

Comment on Headline: I don't know if swarm is the right word, I think that implies they entered the home? I guess a group of insects is a swarm whether it's inside or out. They had their Nazi party in the street, and the governor's home is protected at all times by state police.

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Dozens of Neo-Nazis demonstrated outside the home of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) on Saturday night, in an intimidating display of hate. Members of the group NSC-131 — which seeks to create a white-only ethnostate in New England — marched Saturday night through the Boston suburb of Arlington, uniformed in khakis, black jackets, face masks, and baseball caps.

The NSC-131 members moved under cover of darkness, co-opting the progressive activist chant, “Whose streets? Our streets!” The neo-Nazis then lined up on the sidewalk across the street from the Healey’s home, which was protected by state troopers. The group’s members lit red traffic flares, and held these aloft with stiff arm Hitler salutes. They unfurled a banner reading: “WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.”

The action by NSC-131 was an in-the-streets response to civil rights charges brought against the group by the state late last year. A 26-page complaint was lodged by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell (D) in December. Campbell denounced the group’s efforts to “target and terrorize people across Massachusetts and interfere with their rights,” and insisted the state of Massachusetts is dedicated to “holding this neo-Nazi group and its leaders accountable.”

That legal complaint hits NSC-131 for actions that “unlawfully target and disrupt LGBTQ+ events,” including drag queen story hours; “unlawfully target immigrants based on race and national origin,” including by trespassing at hotels where asylum seekers have been offered temporary housing; “unlawfully attack members of the public,” with frequent brawling at NSC-131 marches; and for numerous efforts to “disrupt public peace and safety.”

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Maura Healy was an aggressive lawyer for a long time before she was governor. I'm sure the AG is no exception.

Interesting that they think they are the ones not going anywhere in the state where America drew its first breath of liberty. Fuck Nazis.

Trying to find some new communities on my instance.

"The brief order noted that four conservative members of the nine-justice court would have rejected the government's request. They were Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The Biden administration says the wire prevents agents from reaching migrants who have already crossed over the border into the U.S.

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, installed the razor wire near the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass as part of an operation to address illegal immigration that has brought the state into conflict with the Biden administration.

Texas sued after Border Patrol agents cut through some of the razor wire, claiming the agents had trespassed and damaged state property.

A federal judge ruled for the Biden administration, but the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month reversed that decision, saying agents could not cut or move the wire unless there was a medical emergency.”

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Comment: I am unsurprised by this decision. The Constitution clearly grants immigration authority to the federal power.

Here is the order: https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/012224zr_fd9g.pdf

Excerpt:

”In a historic move, the United States has officially expanded its geographical territory by one million square kilometers — an area nearly 60 percent the size of Alaska. The catalyst for this territory expansion lies in the redefinition of the U.S. continental shelf boundaries.

By invoking international law, the State Department has outlined new areas under the sea where the continental shelf, a seabed area surrounding large landmasses with relatively shallow waters, extends further than previously recognized.

This monumental addition is spread across seven distinct ocean regions, with over half of the new territory located in the Arctic.”

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1,000,000 square kilometers! I know, nobody knows how much area that is, what even is a kilometer? But it's an important area of the world, gives us a legit claim to keep Russia out of the area, and takes ownership of tons of natural resources.

The Arctic may be the cradle of the future of humanity, as the rest of the planet becomes to warm to inhabit.

Further reading: America's Arctic strategy: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/nat_arctic_strategy.pdf

"We seek an Arctic region that is stable and free of conflict, where nations act responsibly in a spirit of trust and cooperation, and where economic and energy resources are developed in a sustainable manner that also respects the fragile environment and the interests and cultures of indigenous peoples."

Of course if the Republicans win again the strategy just reverts to "drill baby drill" and Trump will probably sign Alaska over to Russia as a gift.