The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Ridgewood NJ, imagine stepping into a time machine and landing in the age of dinosaurs. Instead of today’s icy wilderness, you find yourself in a dense, swampy rainforest alive with buzzing insects, flowering plants, and towering coniferous trees. Remarkably, this is what Antarctica looked like between 83 and 92 million years ago.
Continue reading Unearthing Antarctica’s Ancient Forests: Amber Reveals a Warm, Prehistoric Past
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Ridgewood NJ, yesterday was the winter solstice also know as the shortest day of the year .
The winter solstice is an astronomical event that marks the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs when the axial tilt of the Earth is farthest away from the sun, resulting in the sun reaching its lowest point in the sky at noon. In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice corresponds to the longest day and shortest night.
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Ridgewood NJ, not sure if the weather will be in our favor but International Observe the Moon Night is Saturday, October 21. International Observe the Moon Night is a time to come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts and curious people worldwide. Everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science and exploration, take part in celestial observations, and honor cultural and personal connections to the Moon.
Continue reading International Observe the Moon Night is Saturday, October 21
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Ridgewood NJ, the Valley Hospital cardiac team is launching a clinical trial to evaluate transcatheter aortic valve replacement using the Edwards SAPIEN valve platform in patients with moderate, calcific aortic stenosis.
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Ridgewood NJ, keep an eye on the moon tonight . Tonight’s super blue moon will reach its peak at 9:36 p.m. EDT. Those looking to the skies may also spot Saturn, which will be visible near the moon around 8:42 p.m. EDT and appear to swing clockwise around the moon as the evening progresses, according to NASA. Saturn should be visible just by looking up, but binoculars or a telescope will help viewers make out some of the planet’s distinguishing features.
Continue reading Tonight’s Super Blue Moon Will Reach its Peak at 9:36 p.m. EDT.
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Ridgewood NJ, Radiocarbon dating is about to be recalibrated using new data from around the world. The last calibration update was in 2013. This new update will extend the time frame for radiocarbon dating back to 55,000 years ago. The amount of carbon-14, the natural radioactive carbon used in carbon dating, varies over time and location. As a result, conversion tables are used to match up calendar dates with radiocarbon dates in different regions. The update will mean many objects and events will be more accurately dated, giving us a clearer view of our planet’s history.
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Ridgewood NJ, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations.
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Ridgewood NJ, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.
A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb observatory is NASA’s revolutionary flagship mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets.
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Ridgewood NJ, Unlike Icarus who forgot his father’s warnings, and started flying higher and higher, until the wax that held his wings together started melting under the scorching sun. For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere – the corona – and sampled particles and magnetic fields there.
Continue reading NASA Enters the Solar Atmosphere for the First Time, Bringing New Discoveries
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Ridgewood NJ, the Geminid meteor shower ,a favorite among the annual meteor showers is expected to peak in 2021 on the night of Monday, December 13 into Tuesday, December 14. The Geminids are typically a reliable shower for those who watch around 2 a.m. local time (the time on your clock no matter where you are on the globe) from a dark-sky location. But, this year, a waxing gibbous moon will be above the horizon during peak time for viewing. It’ll set shortly afterward. So the best time to watch for Geminid meteors in 2021 is likely after moonset on the mooning of Tuesday, December 14th from around 3 a.m. to dawn.
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Ridgewood NJ, Yutu-2, the Chinese rover that landed on the far side of the Moon in 2019, has spotted a cube-shaped object while traversing the Von Kármán crater. An image of the object was captured from 260 feet away, too far for astronomers to figure what it is.
The rover captured an image of the object from 260 feet away—too far for astronomers to get a clear sense of the object’s identity. But Yutu-2 is slated to spend the next two to three lunar days (or two to three months on Earth) travelling the region of the Moon to get a closer look at the “Monolith” .
Continue reading Cube-shaped Object Spotted on the Far Side of the Moon
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Ridgewood NJ, the Geminids are considered to be one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year, with the possibility of sighting around 120 meteors per hour at its peak, which is on December 13 or 14, depending on your time zone.
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Ridgewood NJ, Google is being accused of spying on consumers without their consent . In early February, Google announced that its home security and alarm system Nest Secure would be getting an update. Users, the company said, could now enable its virtual-assistant technology, Google Assistant.
Continue reading Google Secret Microphone Discovered Nest Secure Alarm System
photo by Margaret Morse
August 20,2017
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Ridgewood NJ, Americans will be treated to a spectacular total solar eclipse on Aug. 21 in an approximately 70-mile-wide zone stretching from the Northwest to the Southeast.
In New Jersey, a partial eclipse will begin at about 1:20 p.m., peak at about 2:45 p.m. and end shortly before 4 p.m. that day.
The moon will block about 70 percent of the sun at the state’s northern border to 80 percent in Cape May, according to Carlton “Tad” Pryor, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
“A total solar eclipse is always very dramatic,” Pryor said. “The sky gets dark, animals and birds go quiet as if it’s nighttime and it’s a little bit cooler outside. The partial solar eclipse that will be visible in New Jersey is much more subtle, but will be noticeable if you know what to look for.”
Watch a YouTube video on the solar eclipse
Tips for Safe Eclipse Viewing
Because it is unsafe to look directly at the sun, Pryor said anyone wishing to see the phenomenon must protect their eyes with specially made and certified filters, or by observing the eclipse indirectly.
Direct viewing can be done safely with No. 14 arc welder glass or with eclipse viewing glasses that meet the following criteria outlined by NASA:
Homemade filters or sunglasses – even very dark ones – are NEVER safe for looking directly at the sun. There are reports of potentially unsafe eclipse glasses appearing for sale, so be sure to buy eclipse viewers from reputable vendors.
Pryor offered a few suggestions for safe, indirect viewing.
If the sky is clear at around 2:45 p.m. on the day of the eclipse, stand in a leafy tree’s shadow and look at the ground. The smallest spots of sunlight will make little crescent shapes, showing the sun’s apparent shape as the moon crosses in front.
Another method is to make a small hole in a piece of cardboard with the tip of a pencil or pen and project the light onto a white piece of paper, he said. For a better view, put the hole over a mirror and reflect the light onto a more distant white piece of paper or white surface.
Total eclipses in the Continental U.S. are unusual, with the last one unfolding in 1979, Pryor said. Hawaii experienced one in 1991, and New Jersey will have to wait until May 1, 2079, to get one. Even then, the total eclipse will be visible only in the northern two-thirds of the state and will occur only a few minutes after sunrise, so it won’t be easily visible.
“An eclipse is a remarkable phenomenon,” Pryor said. “It was always regarded as signifying something important. Some people thought something was eating the sun and tried to make noise to scare it away. But the ancient Greeks understood what was happening and could start to predict some of these phenomena.”
August 17, 2017
by
Alesha Hernandez
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
Ridgewood NJ, On Monday, August 21, 2017, sky-gazers across the country will watch the solar eclipse. If you’re planning to watch, you’ll need to use eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewers. Be sure to get the kind that actually protects your eyes.
Start by making sure that the glasses or viewers you’re considering have the manufacturer’s name and address printed somewhere on the product, and are certified as safe. The certification means the glasses and solar viewers have met an international safety standard and are safe for your eyes. Only consider products marked with ISO 12312-2, which means that the product has met the international safety standard. Check out this list from the American Astronomical Society of brands that meet the international safety standard.
What else do you need to know to watch the eclipse safely?
Be sure your glasses or viewers are new: glasses that are more than 3 years old, or are wrinkled or scratched, won’t protect your eyes.
Read – and follow – the instructions carefully. Don’t use homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses.
Never look directly at the sun without eclipse glasses or solar viewers that are certified as safe. (Again, look for ISO 12312-2 to be printed on the product.) It can lead to serious injury.
Don’t look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device – even using your eclipse glasses or viewer. Those optical devices concentrate the solar rays, will damage your eclipse glasses or viewer, and seriously injure your eyes.
This rare event will be exciting – and even better when you view the eclipse safely. Check out NASA’s Eclipse 101 for even more on the eclipse.
