Monday Open Thread; August 21 is "The Great American Eclipse"

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 5:00am

August 21 is the 233rd day of the year. There are 132 days left.

Today's number is 21

21 is the product of 2 primes, 7 and 3

21 is the sum of the first 6 natural numbers. 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21
21 is a fibonnacci number 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21
21st Amendment ended prohibition
21 is Scandium
21 is the total of the spots on one 6 sided die (see: sum of the first 6 natural numbers, duh)
In several countries 21 is the legal age of majority.
In all US states 21 is the legal drinking age.
In some countries 21 is the voting age.
The highest-winning point total in Blackjack is 21
There are 21 shillings in a guinea.

OK, 21 is 3 x 7. Accordingly, x/21, whenever x =3n, is the same as n/7 which gets us back to the freaky repeating decimal (0.142857) discussed on the 7th and the 14th. The decimal part of n/7 where n is a natural number not a multiple of 999,999 or 7 is the remainder x 0.142857 repeated on out to infinity. n/14 has similar rules, and now we get to n/21, which is, for example ...

1/21 = 0.047619047619 repeat == (1/7)/3
2/21 = 0.095238095238 repeat == (2/7)/3
3/21 = 0.142857142857 repeat == (3/7)/3 == 1/7, Bingo!
4/21 = 0.190476 repeat == (4/7)/3
etc.

Title 21 of the US Code is Food And Drugs.

21 BCE
was the Year of the Consulship of Lollius and Lepidus

21 CE
was the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Caesar
King Daeso of Dongbuyeo died in battle
Arminius, who whupped that Damned Varus at the battle of Teutoburger Wald, died
The Empress Wang died

On this day in:
1680 – Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe from the Spanish
1791 – The Haitian Revolution began.
1831 – Nat Turner led black slaves and free blacks in a rebellion
1852 – Tlingit Indians destroyed Fort Selkirk
1888 – The first successful adding machine in the US was patented
1945 – Harry Daghlian was fatally irradiated by the Demon core at Los Alamos
1959 – Ike signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii to be the 50th state
1961 – Motown released "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes which became its first #1 hit.
1963 – The Army of the Republic of Vietnam vandalized Buddhist Pagodas, arrested thousands and killed hundreds
1971 – A Liberal Party rally in Manila, was bombed, injuring several anti-Marcos political candidates
1983 – Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated
1986 – Carbon dioxide gas erupted from Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people
2017 – Great American Eclipse

Ooooh, eclipses, portents, omens, and all that

Born this day in:

1665 – Giacomo F. Maraldi, astronomer and mathematician
1754 – William Murdoch, engineer and inventor
1789 – Augustin-Louis Cauchy, mathematician
1872 – Aubrey Beardsley, author and illustrator
1886 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, author and poet
1904 – Count Basie, pianist, composer and bandleader
1906 – Friz Freleng, animator and cartoonist
1928 – Art Farmer, played trumpet, flugelhorn and flumpet, also composer
1938 – Kenny Rogers, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Jackie DeShannon, singer and songwriter
1952 – Glenn Hughes, bassist, singer and songwriter
1952 – Joe Strummer, singer, songwriter and guitarist, co-founded The Clash
1973 – Sergey Brin, computer scientist, co-founder of Google

Died this day in:

1614 – Elizabeth Bathory, countess, extremely prolific serial killer
1836 – Claude-Louis Navier, engineer and physicist
1940 – Ernest Thayer, writer and poet, wrote "Casey at the Bat".
1940 – Leon Trotsky, died from the wound he suffered on the 20th
1947 – Ettore Bugatti, engineer
1960 – David B. Steinman, engineer who designed the Mackinac Bridge
1971 – George Jackson, activist and author
1988 – Ray Eames, architect and designer
1989 – Raul Seixas, singer and songwriter
1995 – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, astrophysicist and mathematician
2005 – Robert Moog, engineer and inventor

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:
Ninoy Aquino Day (Philippines)

So, for music

Count Basie

Art Farmer

Kenny Rogers

Jackie DeShannon

Glen Hughes

Joe Strummer

Raul Seixas

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who predicted the existence of black holes

Robert Moog

Bonus:

Facebook graphic is "The Peacock Skirt" by Aubrey Beardsley

Tags:

Open Thread

Robert Moog

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Vote

Comments

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 8:21am

Thanks, e.h. Food and Drugs? What's not to like?

I believe a Bugatti was the sports car in which dancer and free spirit Isadora Duncan died but I don't know the model.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dancer-isadora-duncan-is-kill...

1926 Type 38 Bugatti

1927 Type 41 Bugatti

1927 Type 44 Bugatti Gallery

Gotta run. I have chicken entrails to examine, crystal balls to peer into and palms to read before the eclipse starts.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmBKHSZ1pcU]

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjW6bk01Bg8]

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425GpjTSlS4&index=1&list=RD425GpjTSlS4]

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo]

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:35am

Wikipedia says it was an Amilcar, butm othing more. Thanks and

@HenryAWallace
enjoy your investigative activities.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:12am

21 shilling to the guinea...

is that pigs or fowl?

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:39am

Good morning. IT appears that the name comes from the

@ghotiphaze
Guinea region of Africa where they stole the gold to make the coins.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:21am

Total eclipse

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcOxhH8N3Bo]

Here in Brevard, NC, we live in the path of 100% total eclipse. It has been a huge economic boon for this small town of about 8,000 people. The eclipse begins a little after 1pm local time with totality coming around about 2:30 or shortly thereafter.

All rentals and hotel rooms were booked well in advance and most overnight visitors arrived on Thursday or Friday. Today, residents were warned to avoid being out on the roads because we are expecting a large influx of day visitors from surrounding towns. When we walked early this morning, we saw an inordinate number of cars parked in public spaces downtown, apparently having been dropped off overnight. I cannot figure that one out, but they are there and in the public lots at the college.

We normally have four festivals in this town each year in which parts of the downtown are shut down: White Squirrel Festival over Memorial Day weekend is the largest, Fourth of July, Halloween, and Christmas. With the eclipse, it is like having a fifth festival this year. The downtown is decorated with banners featuring one of our famous white squirrels against the total eclipse of the sun. All commemorative tee shirts have been sold out and the big crowds have not even come yet.

We were planning on walking to downtown to view the eclipse. Yes, we have had our eclipse glasses for weeks now. You cannot buy them because they sold out two weeks ago. However, we will be attending an eclipse cookout and party less than 1/4 mile away at an office building owned by our across the street neighbor.

Weather looks great for eclipse viewing too!

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:41am

Good morning, gg. Here it will be partial and start at 9:02.

@gulfgal98
That may be irrelevant as we are sitting under heavy overcast skies. If it clears off I will use a cheak monocular to project an image onto something we can look at.

Hve a good day and a good ecllipse.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:15am

White squirrel?

@gulfgal98 Gotta be an innerestin' storey to that! Or is it just more WS nonsense?

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:06pm

This is true

@ghotiphaze White squirrels are a huge source of local pride.

http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/video/6165538/

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:25pm

It's a real thing

@ghotiphaze
Besides the standard grey, squirrels also come in black (melanistic) and white (which may or may not be albino). In certain locations one or, rarely, both of the color variations are common enough to attract notice. Brevard, NC is one of those locations - specializing in white. http://www.untamedscience.com/biodiversity/white-squirrel/

The area around Washington, DC has had reports of black (fairly common) and white (much rarer) squirrels. The black squirrels were supposedly introduced from Ontario during President Theodore Roosevelt's administration (the story goes that Canada sent him eighteen and he had them released in Rock Creek Park). They are now often seen all over the Midatlantic states, the upper South, and central Appalachia.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 4:26pm

I've seen a white squirrel here in Kansas.

@TheOtherMaven I thought that white cat crossing the hiway is running funny. When I got closer I realized it was a squirrel. Didn't see the eyes, but assumed it was albino. In NC it was hard to get used to squirrels being gray, not the red I grew up with.

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by smiley7 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:17am

Hey gg...

@gulfgal98

i have young friends down there near you in Franklin, waiting for their photos. Be safe in all the traffic.

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 2:54pm

Back from the eclipse party

@smiley7 @smiley7 Our neighbors had an eclipse cookout/party at their office which is less than 1/4 mile away so we walked across the road and up a cul de sac to the party. Their son cooked out hotdogs and hamburgers and everyone brought a covered dish. It was hot so we ate inside the office and went outside to watch the eclipse. We saw about 20% before heavy cloud cover prevented us from seeing the sun. Things were not looking good for viewing the eclipse and I even felt a couple of drops of rain.

But we persisted because it seemed as though the sun was trying to break through the cloud cover. At about 15 minutes before totality, the clouds disappeared and we got a wonderful view of the eclipse from about 85-90% up through totality. Even at 99%, it is nothing like totality. When we went into totality at 2:37 pm on the nose, it suddenly got very dark like night and became very cool. For our area, totality lasted only about one minute, but I am so glad I got a chance to see this once in a lifetime experience.

The street we live on is used as a busy cut through to a US Hwy. Since a little after 3 pm our street has been filled with bumper to bumper traffic trying to leave the city. I expect that to continue for a while as people from surrounding areas came into to see the eclipse.

—

Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:33pm

Followed the eclipse on the NASA site

@gulfgal98
so I got to see totality multiple times across the country. Not the same as actually being there, I know, but what the heck.

Not too much of a show here; the sun dimmed a bit and I used a pinhole projector to see how big a bite was taken out of it. It was down to a thin crescent, but you wouldn't have known it if you weren't paying attention. (Had a pair of eclipse glasses, but after recent fooferaws about "counterfeit" and "unsafe" glasses decided not to trust them.)

Next US total eclipse is April 8, 2024, running from Texas to western New York.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by smiley7 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:55pm

Cool, gg, cheers for the...

@gulfgal98

feedback; here, my neighbor had a welding glass and the weather cooperated, a keen view, but no darkness, too far from the zone, i guess; an experience to remember.

Submitted by Arrow on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:24am

Well...

HAW has the cars covered...so

Kieth Emerson's 'Moogzilla' in honor of Bob Moog.

Here is kieth playing it.

—

I want a Pony!

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 9:43am

Good morning, Arrow, thanks mucho for the Emerson

@Arrow
"Moog". Turns out that Rush made a lot of use of one too.

Thanks for reading and have a good day.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:17am

Moogzilla

@Arrow not something you'd want to take to a beach party.

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by smiley7 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:31am

Morning el...

Fun this morning, the guinea fowl came from the coast of Africa, too, and their eggs were gold on the farm when cousin-children came to visit at Easter, grandma and Aunt Rosa would have dyed Guinea eggs for me which have much harder shells than chicken eggs, so i would win the egg crushing contests.

Thanks for the OT, el, and have a great day everyone enjoying the sun-moon dance.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:09pm

Good morning, Smiley7. I once saw helmeted guinea fowl drive

@smiley7
a pair of young cheetahs away. They make a horrible racket en masse. Sounds slightly unfair wit the guinea eggs at easter, but, hey, that's capitalism.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by smiley7 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 6:45pm

el, you see...

@enhydra lutris

i didn't tell that story very well. The cousins didn't live or grow-up on the farm with Grandma and Rosie, though some lived near enough to visit often. On Easter, the whole family came to sit on the long l-shaped porch, in the shade of two giants trees, on the tallest hilltop in view from the bending and dangerous branches a young teen could reach.

We kids, toddlers-to-five-six, dressed in Sunday, Easter basket, bright materials, in shorts played the game of smashing eggs.

It was favoritism; Grandma, Rosa, and I cheated.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:43am

Dems want Obama

right

He’s been out of office for nearly eight months, but former President Barack Obama remains the Democratic Party’s best weapon for 2018.

Unlike the last two mid-term elections, when Obama was a liability.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 11:13am

Disturbing

Submitted by riverlover on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:20pm

Getting close to that 23% of rocks

@gjohnsit who frankly have no thoughts to divulge.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 11:43am

More Moog

Here's Dick Hyman's 1969 classic:

[video:https://youtu.be/BIutWZqoK-4]

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:10pm

Good morning (barely) and thanks for that

@thanatokephaloides

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 12:29pm

"Its' the greed and cost-cutting" Sound familiar?

Crisis in India’s IT sector amid mass layoffs

When asked about the reason for this crisis, Raja said: “It’s the greed and cost-cutting that drive the IT sector to take this kind of inhumane step.”

He also blames US President Donald Trump’s protectionist measures and restrictions in giving H1B visas to Indians.

“If Trump can make rules that benefit his own citizens, what’s our government doing to protect the interest of the Indian people?” Raja asked.

Thousands of IT professionals in India are facing the same existential crisis. Most are middle-aged men and women.

An IT engineer who asked to be called Anil said he was suddenly removed from a project and asked to leave.

“It’s unethical and criminal to lay me off without giving me any explanation,” the 36-year-old, who has 15 years’ experience working in Europe and America, told Arab News.

You're too old and expensive! That's the explanation they didn't give me too. Solidarity.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:19pm

So I know it is shadenfreude, but the fraudulent use of H1-Bs

@eyo
was outrageous, and enforcing the original intent and wording of the provision isn't "protectionist measures and restrictions" and is long overdue. Just too damn bad, dude. He who lives by undercutting other people's wages dies by somebody else undercutting other people's wages. That's hwat happens when you prey on your peeers.

“If Trump can make rules that benefit his own citizens, what’s our government doing to protect the interest of the Indian people?” Raja asked.

How about helping to grow local industries?

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:44pm

It's down, not across

@enhydra lutris okie dokie. I wish we were building locally too.

Keith Emerson put a bullet in his head. That is just too damn bad, dude.

good luck

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:06pm

new moon on Monday

By definition, a solar eclipse must occur on the day of the New Moon. So:

[video:https://youtu.be/m3a4OTh2Y8w]

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:19pm

new moon on Monday -- better audio -- less baggage

@thanatokephaloides

[video:https://youtu.be/_7i1RehnlzU]

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by riverlover on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 1:24pm

Dimming here.

But it's N enough to not go to darkness.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by studentofearth on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 2:11pm

Eclipse photo through eclipse glasses

it worked - just placed the glasses in front of the camera - not bad for a point & click

soe eclipse.jpg

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by eyo on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 2:32pm

Fantastic! Look how little the planet is :)

@studentofearth that is great, thanks a lot.

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 4:34pm

Enjoy solar eclipses while you can...

@studentofearth another 10 or 20 million years from now they'll be gone forever.

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by studentofearth on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 4:52pm

I will miss seeing the real ones

@ghotiphaze
Fortunately I have pictures

—

Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 10:40pm

gone forever?

@ghotiphaze

Enjoy solar eclipses while you can... another 10 or 20 million years from now they'll be gone forever.

Gone forever??

What prediction are you basing this on? The Lunar orbit is one of the most stable ones out there.

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by ghotiphaze on Tue, 08/22/2017 - 1:35pm

Back of the envelope math...

@thanatokephaloides OK, it'll be somewhat longer than 20 million years when the moon will be a bit more than 300 miles farther from us and the sun somewhat expanded, but total eclipses will still much more rare. That's assuming the rate of an inch a year the moon retreats from earth doesn't increase because of distance. I can barely squeak by in algebra; calculus kills.

—

There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Tue, 08/22/2017 - 4:54pm

moon math

@ghotiphaze

Back of the envelope math... OK, it'll be somewhat longer than 20 million years when the moon will be a bit more than 300 miles farther from us

OK, that's just a touch more than one thousandth of the current distance, a tweak of 0.1% over 20 million years. More exactly, the average Lunar distance from the Earth is 239,000 miles; so the net change would be 300/239,000 or 0.0012523, 0.125% change. Seems pretty damn stable to me. And a change of 300 miles wouldn't really be noticeable to naked-eye observers in any way, just as the detection of those changes to begin with required more sophisticated measurements than naked-eye observations. Likewise, at the 20 million year range, the change in the Sun's size isn't likely to be in the range noticeable to the naked eye here on Earth.

It is estimated that we may well lose the Moon some day; but most scenarios describing that phenomenon rely on events surrounding the Solar Death in the range of billions of years from now to power the escape rather than the very slow withdrawal of the Moon observed in its orbit today. Please note that some of the Solar Death scenarios don't foresee the Earth surviving at all, but being consumed by the Sun in its red supergiant phase after blowing its current core. It's not a place you'd want to be at the time!

and the sun somewhat expanded, but total eclipses will still much more rare. That's assuming the rate of an inch a year the moon retreats from earth doesn't increase because of distance. I can barely squeak by in algebra; calculus kills.

Calculus always kills!

And "nobody understands quantum mechanics"! (PriceRip)

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by Timmethy2.0 on Mon, 08/21/2017 - 3:05pm