31 May, LV A.S.

1. The Devil’s Advocate

Time Stamp: 10:31

• Should a Satanist riot?
  • The individual should do what they feel they must
  • Where is the individual in a riot, protest or looting?
  • The mob sways individual thoughts
  • Are there alternative ways of expressing dissent?
  • The worse comes out in riots, do you want to be defined by that?

2. Infernal Informant

Time Stamp: 27:17

• Unexplained Phenomena Keep Suggesting the Universe Isn’t What We Thought
  https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3azqq3/unexplained-phenomena-keep-suggesting-the-universe-isnt-what-we-thought
  • the laws of physics might not apply everywhere
  • Scientists operate under the assumption that there are universal laws of physics that affect matter the same way everywhere, from our own solar neighborhood to galaxies billions of light years away.
  • while there are obviously variations in the density and distributions of matter across space, scientists assume that the universe is statistically homogenous at large scales of hundreds of millions of light years, because the actual hard wiring of the universe is equally applied everywhere.
  • This notion of universal laws, known as the cosmological principle, has produced centuries of theory and has so far been borne out by astronomical observations. 
  • “The cosmological principle is, in more tangible terms: Is the universe playing fair with us?” explained Robert Caldwell, a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College, in a call. “Are the laws of physics the same everywhere? Or is there a preferred location in the universe?”
  • two teams of physicists published completely different observations of anomalies in the universe that hint at potential variations in fundamental laws and forces.
  • past studies sketching out a “directionality” conjuring up a possible model of the universe where physical laws shift in certain directions as if they are on a mysterious cosmic gradient.
  • new studies document phenomena, at both “local” and extremely distant scales, that are currently unexplained and that challenge our fundamental expectations
  • four known fundamental forces of nature: Gravitation, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear interactions.
  • the strength of the electromagnetic force is calculated with a value known as the fine-structure constant. This constant is mathematically scaffolded to unchangeable values such as the Planck constant and the speed of light. If the universe is truly isotropic, the fine-structure constant (like all constants) should never change
  • over the past decade, scientists have measured this constant in distant pockets of the universe and found evidence that it may fluctuate. 
  • This puzzling trend reached a new milestone with “the most distant direct measurements of [the fine-structure constant] to date,” from an ancient “quasar” galaxy 13 billion light years away, which are reported in a Science Advances study published in April.
  • accomplish this feat with a specialized spectrograph called X-SHOOTER on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. The instrument’s acuity in the near-infrared part of the spectrum enabled Webb and his colleagues to peer at objects at higher “redshifts,” meaning they are farther away in distance and also further back in time, causing their light to redden.
  •  Stronger measurements came from the direction facing toward the Milky Way’s galactic center, and weaker measurements were found in the opposite direction. This conjures up a model of a “dipole” universe, which might have something resembling a North and South pole.
  • “The fascinating scientific situation is that there are all these strange effects, hints of anisotropy and directionality in the universe, and many of them do line up on the sky,” said Webb. “Perhaps there is some kind of relationship between these things that we don’t yet fully understand, and it’s interesting to note this alignment.”
  • “Whether this is just a set of cosmic coincidences or whether it’s telling us something meaningful about fundamental physics and the origin and evolution of the universe really remains to be seen,” Webb said. “At the moment, we just chip away the best we can, making the best measurements that we can, and in particular understanding the uncertainties in the measurements as best we can.”
  • Another study published in April, this time in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, also reported eerie anomalies in the X-ray light emitted by galaxy clusters.Physicists led by Konstantinos Migkas, a PhD researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany, developed a new technique to “investigate the directional behavior” of X-rays emitted by the hot gas surrounding galaxy clusters, according to the study
  • Migkas and his colleagues calculated the X-ray brightness of gas in galaxy clusters using two methods: One derived from the estimated temperature of the gas, a value that is not affected by the universe’s expansion, and another method that does account for the universe’s expansion rate. Tantalizingly, the results from these two tests didn’t always match: Clusters in one specific direction were systematically fainter than expected, and clusters in another direction were systematically brighter than expected.
  • these X-ray luminosities roughly match patterns identified by another team that has been hunting for potential cosmic anisotropies, which were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics in 2019
  • the clusters do not appear brighter or fainter along the same 180-degree dipolar axis that was described by Webb’s team: Instead, the angle appears to be closer to 120 degrees.
  • both overlap and conflict with each other—in addition to clashing with other studies that support the model of cosmic isotropy at large scales. The universe is an extremely complicated entity, after all, and humans are constantly developing emerging technologies that reveal new layers of its bizarre intricacies.

• SLC is under curfew as a rally to protest death of George Floyd turns violent. Gov. Herbert activates National Guard.
  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/05/30/rally-protests-death/
  • A protest denouncing racism and deadly force by law enforcement turned violent Saturday afternoon as protesters set two cars on fire and threw rocks at the windows of businesses and cars while police responded with rubber bullets and arrests.
  • Salt Lake City set a curfew at 8 p.m. that will extend through 6 a.m. Monday
  • At 5:11 p.m., Gov. Gary Herbert activated the National Guard.
  • Earlier in the day, hundreds peacefully marched from the Salt Lake City Police Department to the state Capitol to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man who died earlier this week after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
  • Utah Against Police Brutality had organized the day’s protest as a car caravan, however, that protest later spilled out onto the streets as more people arrived than could be contained in cars. The protest continued for the next 11 hours.
  • At a 6:30 p.m. news conference, Utah officials condemned Floyd’s death and supported the right of peaceful protest.
  • “Most of us agree what happened in Minneapolis was despicable,” Herbert said, but he added that “what I have seen in the past few hours is that has gone from a peaceful protest to criminal behavior.”
  • “What is happening on our streets right now is not justice,” she said. “Salt Lake City police made a calculated decision today to allow protest, vandalism and even the loss of a police vehicle. The safe space we offered for today’s protest is no longer safe for anyone.”
  • The curfew, which is citywide, requires people to stay off city streets and public places unless they meet one of the exceptions.
  • Violence has also erupted in major cities across the country after a video emerged of Floyd’s detainment and death, with protesters smashing the windows of businesses, burning police precincts and blocking freeways. Police have responded with tear gas and blockades.
  • President Donald Trump, responding to rioting elsewhere, has tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Brown said that won’t happen in Salt Lake City.
  • “Looting is theft,” he said. “You don’t use lethal force to stop a theft. That will not occur.” Mendenhall called the president’s tweet “racist and intended to strike fear.” Herbert said, “I don’t answer for what the president tweets.”
  • Someone had spray-painted “Black Lives Matter” and “ACAB” on the front steps, which reportedly stands for “All Cops Are Bastards.” Some of the protesters chanted “cops and Klan go hand and hand;” others took a knee.
  • “It starts with action. Words are not enough anymore,” Villanueva said. “We can post as much as we want, but until they see people taking action and going out and bringing other people together and making a movement, then things are slow to change.”
  • Williams alluded to Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous quote, “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
  • “And the people are unheard all around the country,” Williams said, referring to unrest across the country. “So what is that telling you? It’s telling you that there is something wrong with this system and we need to change it.”
  • Some far-right extremist groups also showed up at the protest: the Proud Boys in yellow and black polos and at least one Boogaloo Boy wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Both groups carried firearms, and at one point protesters circled around the Proud Boys and argued with them. They seemed to disperse once police arrived.
  • Red graffiti had been painted on the south pillars in red paint. One says “Blue Lives Murder.” Another pillar was painted with “Black Lives Matter.”

3. Creature Feature

Time Stamp: 51:03

• Highland Games
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_games
  • events held in spring and summer in Scotland and other countries with a large Scottish diaspora, as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture, especially that of the Scottish Highlands Games
  • centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic cultures.