The World Says Goodnight To Gaia

Everything will eventually end for the star-tracking European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft, Gaia. The mission, which has been mapping the Milky Way for the last 12 years, shut down science operations last 15 January.

The close of the mission's data-collecting phase was necessitated by Gaia running low on cold gas propellant it uses to spin. The top-hat-shaped craft has been using around 12 grams of this propellent a day since it launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Soyuz-Fregat rocket on 19 December 2013.

However, even though Gaia may be closing its eyes to the cosmos, this is far from the end of the spacecraft's influence on space science.

"In my mind, the Gaia mission is not ending — just the taking of data," Kareem El-Badry, a Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) researcher and frequent Gaia data user, told Space.com. "I expect Gaia's best results are still to come. That includes in the areas I am most interested in — binary stars and black holes."

Throughout its operational lifetime, Gaia studied almost 2 billion stars and other objects in and around the Milky Way. This vast stellar census contains details of star motions, luminosities, temperatures and compositions.

The aim is to build the largest and most precise 3D map of our local universe. The spacecraft's first data release dropped on 14 September 2016; the second followed on 25 April 2018, and the third (and latest) came out on 13 June 2022.

Gaia's science team won't have time to grieve the loss of Gaia; they are preparing for Gaia Data Release 4 (GR4), which is expected before mid-2026. Based on five and a half years of observations, ESA said that GR4 will not be "more of the same" but rather is expected to trump GR3 in terms of data volume and quality.

Once all of Gaia's data has been downloaded to Earth, work will begin on GR5, the final data release from the spacecraft. This will be a monster data dump containing stellar observations collected over 10.5 years. GR5 isn't expected to be released by the end of the 2020s.

"Less than one-third of all the Gaia data has been published so far, and the final data won’t be science-ready until the 2030s," El-Badry said. "It takes a lot of human and computation work to process the data."

Read More......

Californian Firefighters Warned About Possible Fire Tornadoes

It's as if they aren’t already facing enough, firefighters in California could also encounter fire tornadoes — a rare but dangerous phenomenon in which wildfires create their own weather.

The National Weather Service warned last 14 January that the combination of high winds and severely dry conditions have created a "particularly dangerous situation" in which any new fire could explode in size. The advisory, which runs into Wednesday, didn’t mention tornadoes, but meteorologist Todd Hall said they're possible given the extreme conditions.

Across the country from the California wildfires, researchers in Massachusetts are working to recreate a smaller-scale version of the phenomenon in a lab where it can be studied.

What is a fire tornado?

Fire whirl, fire devil, fire tornado or even firenado — scientists, firefighters and regular folks use multiple terms to describe similar phenomena, and they don’t always agree on what’s what. Some say fire whirls are formed only by heat, while fire tornadoes involve clouds generated by the fire itself.

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s glossary of wildland fire terms doesn’t include an entry for fire tornado, but it defines a fire whirl as a "spinning vortex column of ascending hot air and gases rising from a fire and carrying aloft smoke, debris and flame," and says large whirls "have the intensity of a small tornado."

Wildfires with turbulent plumes can produce clouds that in turn can produce lightning or a vortex of ash, smoke and flames, said Leila Carvalho, professor of meteorology and climatology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

"There is a rotation caused by very strong wind shear and a very hot, localized low-pressure system," she said.

What is a fire tornado capable of?

Fire tornadoes can make fires stronger by sucking up air, Carvalho said. "It creates a tornado track, and wherever this goes, the destruction is like any other tornado."

In 2018, a fire tornado the size of three football fields killed a firefighter as it exploded in what already was a vast and devastating wildfire near Redding, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of San Francisco in northern California. Scientists later described an ice-capped cloud that reached 7 miles (11 km) into the air and caused winds up to 143 mph (230 kph).

Read More......

Battle of Camarón Defined The Devilish Bravery Of French Legionnaires

During the spring of 1863, Camarón is nown as a dreary village in eastern Mexico on the fever-haunted road connecting Veracruz and the French fleet there with Puebla, on the Mexican plateau.

At Puebla lay the French Army, still trying to win an empire for Napoleon III and his Habsburg puppet, Maximilian, younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. The French intervention had begun as an attempt to recover interest payments on large loans from several European nations on which the Mexican government had defaulted.

Foreign troops had occupied several Mexican ports, promising President Benito Juarez that they would keep out of Mexican political affairs. All but the French soon saw the futility of the effort and went home. But the French, hungering for empire and determined to put the Austrian prince on the throne of a faraway country in name of French banks, held out.

Napoleon III was a pale imitation of his formidable namesake. He saw the Mexican default as a chance for both military glory and a renewed French foothold in the new world. It was a harebrained notion, and both Franz Josef and the British government advised against the adventure.

Besides the difficulty of campaigning in Mexico, it was clear to the unbiased observer that the United States would never tolerate a European power ruling part of the Western Hemisphere. The American Civil War would be over in time, and two of the finest armies in the world—the Union and Confederate Armies facing each other in the field—were both American.

One night at the end of April 1863, an Indian spy brought word to Legion Colonel Pierre Jeanningros that the next supply convoy would be attacked by powerful Mexican forces, including regular troops. The convoy was a large one—60 carts and 150 mules—and it was critical, carrying not only food and ammunition but also four million francs in gold and badly needed artillery. The convoy would need help along the road, and that help could come only from the Legion.

Jeanningros had few troops of his own to send. In addition to the convoy’s small escort, he could spare only a single company, the 3rd Company of the Legion’s 2nd Battalion, already down to half strength. But the colonel could send the experienced Jean Danjou as its commander. The captain would have two other officers to help him, both second lieutenants. One, Napoleon Vilain, was a boyish ex-enlisted man; the other, Clement Maudet, was an old sweat who had risen through the ranks to sergeant-major before winning his commission.

Shortly after daylight, at a halt to refill its canteens with water and make a little coffee, the company saw its first Mexican cavalry. Danjou reacted instantly, falling back toward Camarón to cover the all-important road. He was fired on from a dilapidated hacienda in the village, a place called Hacienda La Trindad, and a legionnaire was wounded.

And then Danjou saw hundreds of Mexican cavalrymen. The company formed a hollow square, and its disciplined volley firing twice broke Mexican charges, littering the ground with fallen horsemen. Danjou knew that he must find cover—the enemy was far too strong to take on in the open. He ordered a retreat into Camarón.

Danjou’s men began to take casualties early from the heavy Mexican fire. They returned it, firing carefully and choosing their targets. Not only is fine fire-discipline a Legion tradition, but the Legion pack-mules had bolted at the first Mexican charge, taking with them the reserve ammunition. Danjou’s men had only the 60 cartridges each carried in his pouch.

To make matters worse, the legionnaires were also low on water, most of which had vanished with the frightened mules. None was available in the building they were to hold. The company had to endure the horrors of thirst in the oven-like enclosure. It was especially horrible for the wounded. Before the day was over, they would be reduced to licking the blood from their own wounds for moisture. At 9:30 A.M., the Mexican commander sent in a flag of truce and offered the legionnaires the chance to surrender. Danjou scornfully refused.

To each man Danjou gave a sip of the raw pinard, and required each soldier to swear an oath to die rather than surrender. Each man swore, and before the end of the hellish broiling day, each man would keep faith with this strange communion. "Legionnaires die better than any men in the world," Danjou said with a certain proud fatalism.

A little while before noon, Danjou kept his own rendezvous with destiny. He was running from one building to check a detachment behind a barricade when a sniper’s bullet hit him in the chest. He lived only moments. Young Lieutenant Vilain got to him; Danjou tried to speak but could not. Then he was still. Vilain took command of the 40 remaining men and fought on, declining another chance to surrender with the typical Legion oath: "Merde!"

Vilain was also killed as he, too, crossed the open area to check on his men. Maudet, the ex-sergeant-major, took command of the pitiful little band that remained. Nearly everyone was wounded by now, and the barrels of the long Le Gras rifles were far too hot to touch.

At last, nearly all the blue-coated soldiers lay still in the dirt. Only five remained standing—the hard-eyed Maudet, husky Corporal Maine, and three privates. They were down to one last cartridge apiece, and Maudet looked around at the remnants of his little command. He gave his last orders, and his men nodded. They fired a last volley together and then they followed him with their bayonets into thousands of howling mob of Mexicans drawing ever closer.

As they charged into the blazing sun, a blast of Mexican fire stopped the legionnaires in their tracks. A Belgian legionnaire named Catteau stepped in front of his officer and took 19 bullets intended for Maudet. Even so, Maudet went down too, along with one of the privates. Their ammunition was entirely gone, but their luck held.

The mass of Mexicans was halted by their officer, a French-born colonel named Combas, who blocked his men’s bayonets with his sword blade and called on the legionnaires in French to surrender. Maine, the ranking officer, agreed, "if we keep our arms and you care for our officer."

Combas answered, "One refuses nothing to such men as you." His superior, Colonel Francisco de Paula Milan, wanted to know where the others were. "There are no more," said Combras. "Pero, no son hombres, son demonios," said Milan. "Then these are not men, but devils."

Thus ended the stand at Camarón, 11 hours in the blazing sun, during which the legionnaires had fired almost 4,000 rounds and left at least 300 of their enemy dead or wounded around them. In return, 39 legionnaires lay dead in the hacienda. The terrible heat and wounds would kill most of the rest, including Maudet, despite Mexican attempts to save them. The few survivors passed into captivity and were later exchanged for Mexican prisoners. The convoy would go through untouched.

The relief column, which arrived at Camarón much too late to rescue any of Danjou’s legionnaires, buried their dead comrades in a common grave. Danjou’s wooden hand was picked up by a local rancher, who kept the thing as a sort of souvenir for a couple of years before selling it back to General Achille Bazaine, the French commander in Mexico, himself a one-time Legion officer.

Read More......

Did The "Mountain Meadows Massacre" Really Happened?

When Netflix’s new limited series "American Primeval" debuted this week, it quickly claimed the top spot as the streamer’s most popular show. While watching, many were might be wondering how much of story is based on real-life events and if the characters are historically accurate.

Directed and executive produced by Peter Berg, with writing by Mark L. Smith, "American Primeval" is a six-episode drama set in 1857 Utah Territory. The series explores the violent conflicts between Native Americans, pioneers, Mormon soldiers, and the U.S. government. The historical drama stars Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Kim Coates, Shea Whigham, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, and Shawnee Pourier.

According to Berg, "it is a historical drama that incorporates real events, such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, along with the stories of actual people who lived in Utah during the deadly 1857 Utah War."

The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened on 11 September 1857. On that date, some 50 to 60 local militiamen in southern Utah, aided by American Indian allies, massacred about 120 emigrants who were traveling by wagon to California. This tragic event, which spared only 17 children age six and under, occurred in a valley called the Mountain Meadows, roughly 35 miles southwest of Cedar City.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the massacre happened during a period of heightened tensions between the federal government and the Brigham Young-led theocracy in Utah Territory.

As federal troops were dispatched to the region, the Latter-day Saints, fearing war, became increasingly distrustful of outsiders. When a wagon train of emigrants traveling from Arkansas to California passed through the area, Mormon militiamen and Paiute Indians surrounded the group and brutally slaughtered more than 100 men, women, and children. After the massacre those who did it took the emigrants’ belongings and tried to hide what they had done.

Without knowing what had happened to the emigrants, the U.S. army got stuck near Fort Bridger, in what is now Wyoming, during the winter. This gave the Latter-day Saint leaders and U.S. leaders a chance to meet and to find a solution to their disagreements. Their meetings ended what some people call the "Utah War" before any real fighting happened between the Mormon militia and the U.S. army.

Many years after the massacre, the government accused John D. Lee of leading the Mormon militia and the Indians who had killed the emigrants. He was convicted and executed 20 years after the massacre at the site where it had happened.

The Latter-day church punished some of the Saints who were involved. Eight Latter-day Saint leaders and militia leaders hid from law enforcers for the rest of their lives. Some Paiutes were looked down on by both Indians and others for killing the emigrants.

Berg said that he and Smith conducted extensive research to bring the massacre to life on screen.

"We used several books, met with authors of those books, went to the site of the massacre, and tried to get as comprehensive a understanding of how that event happened as possible, from what was going on with the Mormon church at that moment to what was happening with the pioneers trying to move through the area, and what Native American tribes were caught in the crossfire," he told Town & Country.

The directed continued, "We used that event to ground us in history; the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the tension between the U.S. government and the Mormon Church could anchor our attempts at telling a story that is, in many ways, based upon fact."

Because the perpetrators were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church has made great efforts to heal the wounds caused by the massacre.

In 1999, then-President Gordon B. Hinckley joined with descendants of the victims to dedicate a monument at the site. Since then, the Church has worked with descendant groups to maintain the monument and surrounding property and is committed to improving and preserving the area in the future.

Read More......

Blue Origin Rocket Ready For Flight

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is now preparing their powerful New Glenn rocket for its delayed but long-awaited maiden flight, kicking off a high-stakes bid to compete head-to-head with Elon Musk's SpaceX and its industry dominating Falcon family of rockets.

While more than one successful test flight will be needed to demonstrate the reliability needed for launches of costly NASA probes, high-priority national security payloads and other commercial spacecraft, the New Glenn, nearly 10 years after Bezos announced the project, is expected to be a viable alternative.

Mounted atop pad 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the 321-foot-tall rocket is scheduled for blast off at 1 a.m. EST Monday, the opening of a three-hour window. Blue Origin had hoped to launch the rocket Friday, then Sunday, but both opportunities were ruled out due to rough seas in the booster landing zone.

Like SpaceX's Falcon rockets, the first stage of the New Glenn, powered by seven methane-burning BE-4 engines generating a combined 3.8 million pounds of thrust, was designed to be reusable.

After boosting the rocket's upper stage out of the lower atmosphere three minutes and 10 seconds after launch, the 188-foot-tall first stage will separate and attempt to land on a 380-foot-long custom-built ship named after Bezos' mother, Jacklyn, that will be stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

From launch to touchdown: nine minutes and 28 seconds. While SpaceX tested its Falcon 9 landing system with ocean splashdowns before attempting an actual landing, Blue Origin is making the attempt on the rocket's maiden flight. Appropriately enough, the company named the booster "So You're Telling Me There's A Chance."

Read More......

New Extractions Method Made China A Big Lithium Producer

China has nearly tripled its lithium reserves aftervrecent discoveries, elevating its status to the world’s second-largest holder of this essential metal for renewable energy technology, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

The nation now controls 16.5 percent of global lithium reserves, surpassing Australia, Argentina, and Bolivia, and trails behind just one country - Chile.

Previously estimated to possess 6 percent of the world's lithium reserves, China's significant increase is the result of new deposit discoveries and advanced extraction methods that make it feasible to retrieve metal from various minerals.

China recently announced a substantial increase in its lithium reserves, a 1,740-mile (2,800 km) belt of spodumene located in Tibet, a hard rock ore that is a vital source of lithium. Initial estimates suggest that the spodumene belt alone may contain more than 6.5 million tons of lithium, with potential figures reaching up to a staggering 30 million tons.

Additionally, explorations on the Tibetan Plateau have unveiled salt lakes anticipated to contain over 14 million tonnes of lithium, ranking as the third-largest of its kind globally. These discoveries extend the potential of exploring similar reserves in geologically comparable areas across the neighboring provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Xinjiang.

Innovations in extraction technology play a vital role in expanding China’s capabilities of exploiting newly discovered lithium reserves. Chinese researchers have made significant progress in processing lepidolite, a mineral previously known for its extraction challenges due to high costs and technical difficulties. This breakthrough is expected to unlock an additional 10 million tonnes of lithium in Jiangxi, with prospects for more in Hunan and Inner Mongolia.

Lithium plays an instrumental role in China's rapidly expanding new energy sector. It is a critical component for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and various electronics.

The country's vast population, rapid economic growth, and escalating demand for EVs have intensified its need for this valuable resource. In 2022 China accounted for 76 percent of the global lithium-ion battery production capacity. China has invested heavily in its sourcing and manufacturing processes over the past two decades as the largest lithium-ion battery consumer.

Historically, China has relied heavily on imported lithium, contributing to increased production costs and stifling the growth of industries dependent on this metal. In response, Beijing has vigorously explored new reserves within its borders. The discovery of significant lithium reserves is anticipated to reduce this dependence and mitigate the economic impact of imports.

Lithium extraction, primarily from hard rock ores and natural brines, poses substantial environmental and energy challenges. However, recent technical advancements are expected to make this process easier and relieve the global strain on supplies for a healthier market environment.

Moreover, Chinese researchers are developing innovative extraction techniques to tap into low-quality brines and seawater, which could revolutionize the industry.

Additionally, China is advancing its mining operations in Mali, one of the world’s largest untapped hard rock lithium reserves. Despite security challenges, strict mining codes, and supply saturation, the project's ambitious first phase aims to produce 506,000 tons of lithium annually, with plans to double output in the second phase.

Read More......

Battle of Ain Jalut: First Major Defeat Of The Mongol Empire

Battle of Ain Jalut, also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Mongol Empire on 3 September 1260 near the spring of Ain Jalut in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. It marks as the first major loss of the Mongolian advances and halted their expansion into Arabia and Europe.

Continuing the westward expansion of the Mongol Empire, led by the armies of Hulagu Khan captured and sacked Baghdad in 1258, along with the Ayyubid capital of Damascus sometime later. Hulagu sent envoys to Cairo demanding that the Mamluk Sultan of Eqypt Qutuz surrender the country. Qutuz responded by killing the envoys and displaying their heads on the Bab Zuweila gate of Cairo.

Shortly after this, Möngke Khan was slain in battle against the Southern Song. Hulagu was compelled to returned to Mongolia with the bulk of his army to attend the kurultai in accordance with Mongol customs, leaving approximately 10,000 troops west of the Euphrates under the command of Kitbuqa.

Learning of the new developments, Qutuz immediately advanced his army from Cairo towards Palestine. Kitbuqa sacked Sidon, before turning his army south towards the Spring of Harod to meet Qutuz' forces.

Using hit-and-run tactics and a feigned retreat by Mamluk General Baibars, combined with a final flanking maneuver by Qutuz, the Mongol army was forced to retreat toward Bisan, after which the Mamluks led a final counterattack, which resulted in the deaths of many Mongols, including Kitbuqa himself.

The battle has been cited as the first time the Mongols were permanently prevented from expanding their influence; it also marked the first of two defeats the Mongols would face in their attempts to invade Egypt and the Levant, the other being the Battle of Marj al-Saffar in 1303.

Behind all these, there are some political maneuverings happening in the area. The Mongols, for instance, attempted to attempted to enlist the christians by propposing the formation of a Franco-Mongol alliance or at least to demand the submission of the remnant of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, now centered on Acre.

However, the efforts did not push through for several reasons. First, Pope Alexander IV had forbidden it. Secondly, tensions between the Franks and the Mongols had increased when Julian of Sidon caused an incident which resulted in the death of one of Kitbuqa's grandsons. This angered Kitbuqa, which led to the sacking of Sidon. Lastly, the Barons of Acre and the remainder of the Crusader outposts, contacted by the Mongols, had also been approached by the Mamluks and sought military assistance against the Mongols.

Though the Mamluks were the traditional enemies of the Franks, the Barons of Acre recognised the Mongols as the more immediate menace and so the Crusaders opted for a position of cautious neutrality between the two forces.

In an unusual move, they agreed that the Egyptian Mamluks could march north through the Crusader states unmolested and even camp to resupply near Acre. When news arrived that the Mongols had crossed the Jordan River, Sultan Qutuz and his forces proceeded southeast, toward the spring called Ain Jalut, also known as Harod's spring in Hebrew, in the Jezreel Valley.

The aftermath of the battle is equally dramatic as the politics behind the scene.

Hulagu Khan ordered the execution of the last Ayyubid emir of Aleppo and Damascus, An-Nasir Yusuf, and his brother, who were in captivity, after he heard the news of the defeat of the Mongol army at Ain Jalut. However, the Mamluks captured Damascus five days later after Ain Jalut, followed by Aleppo within a month.

On the way back to Cairo after the victory at Ain Jalut, Qutuz was assassinated by several emirs in a conspiracy led by General Baibars, who later became the new Sultan. Local Ayyubid emirs sworn to the Mamluk sultanate subsequently defeated another Mongol force of 6,000 at Homs, which ended the first Mongol expedition into Syria. Sultan Baibars and his successors would go on to capture the last of the crusader states in the Holy Land by 1291.

Internecine conflict prevented Hulagu Khan from being able to bring his full power against the Mamluks to avenge the pivotal defeat at Ain Jalut. Berke Khan, the Khan of the Golden Horde to the north of Ilkhanate, had converted to Islam and watched with horror as his cousin destroyed the Abbasid Caliph, the spiritual and administrative center of Islam.

The Muslim historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani quoted Berke as sending the following message to Mongke Khan, protesting the attack on Baghdad since he did not know that Mongke had died in China: "He (Hulagu) has sacked all the cities of the Muslims, and has brought about the death of the Caliph. With the help of God I will call him to account for so much innocent blood." The Mamluks, learning through spies that Berke was a Muslim and was not fond of his cousin, were careful to nourish their ties to him and his Khanate.

Later on, Hulagu was able to send only a small army of two tumens in his sole attempt to attack the Mamluks in Aleppo in December 1260. They were able to massacre a large number of Muslims in retaliation for the death of Kitbuqa, but after a fortnight could make no other progress and had to retreat.

After the Mongol succession was finally settled, with Kublai as the last Great Khan, Hulagu returned to his lands by 1262 and massed his armies to attack the Mamluks and avenge Ain Jalut. However, Berke Khan initiated a series of raids in force that lured Hulagu north, away from the Levant, to meet him. Hulagu suffered a severe defeat in an attempted invasion north of the Caucasus in 1263. That was the first open war among the Mongols and signaled the end of the unified empire. Hulagu Khan died in 1265 and was succeeded by his son Abaqa.

The Muslim Mamluks defeated the Mongols in all battles except one. Beside a victory to the Mamluks in Ain Jalut, the Mongols were defeated in the second Battle of Homs, Elbistan and Marj al-Saffar. After five battles with the Mamluks, the Mongols only won at the Battle of Wadi al-Khaznadar. They never returned to Syria again.

Read More......