tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9966092378820907232024-03-13T06:06:26.318-04:00Physicists of the CaribbeanThe exiled life of an astrophysicistRhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.comBlogger438125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-68151747850603748882024-02-19T09:07:00.002-04:002024-02-19T09:40:17.970-04:00Compromising Men<p>Nine years ago I wrote a piece entitled <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/12/uncompromising-men.html"><i>Uncompromising Men</i></a>. It began with a quote from <i>Braveheart </i>:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage; so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>That piece was all about the appeal of the demagogues, the ones who don't care about rationality. That was back in 2015, just before the rise of Trump and Brexit and all the other nonsense we've had to put up with. Don't get me started. The whole thing just makes me unbearably, viscerally angry.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTkx1t1EmY8tVJg9LywwSYXCxlwV2dF7CmU7yxIu1Bl3CK92_neQtcxYy7foWO0csYxHmwJJrhWoT3ydzCdoKfQTCC1cXzLOfTFpLG8V9SsRIBffn5PtxXOulr-KAgd_xWXixnBrrNQyahZd-sRV0PMd8Bg2qgrL_DZ8pZtUHxhQolvo5qCIutJHBYSI/s880/Trump%20and%20Wallace.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="880" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTkx1t1EmY8tVJg9LywwSYXCxlwV2dF7CmU7yxIu1Bl3CK92_neQtcxYy7foWO0csYxHmwJJrhWoT3ydzCdoKfQTCC1cXzLOfTFpLG8V9SsRIBffn5PtxXOulr-KAgd_xWXixnBrrNQyahZd-sRV0PMd8Bg2qgrL_DZ8pZtUHxhQolvo5qCIutJHBYSI/w640-h318/Trump%20and%20Wallace.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Like, way more angry, righteously angry, than these two butthurt whiny little snowflakes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But with the resurgence of Labour, I've been thinking about this quote a lot again lately. While last time I looked at it in the general terms of how rational thinking can lead to monstrously irrational, idiotic conclusions, this time I want to consider the quote from a different, much more specific perspective.</p><p>In fact I want to sell you something, or rather, some<i>one</i>. </p><p>I want to sell you Keir Starmer.</p><p>Because, as I'll cover, I've been dead wrong about people before, I approach this with the utmost caution. And this will hardly be a conventional, "isn't he just sooooper lovely ?" sales pitch, far from it. There'll be a good deal more subtlety than that.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Prologue : The joy of self-righteous misery porn</u></b></p><p>It doesn't seem to matter how objectively successful Labour are, the more staunchly left are in a state of perpetual misery. Not legitimate concern, or being (quite rightly) overly-cautious about their thumping lead in the polls, but something quite different : <i>genuine self-loathing</i>. They complain endlessly about how Labour isn't doing enough to address this that and the other, despite the rather obvious fact that Labour are not yet in power and an election hasn't even been called. For Labour to not promise them a vision of paradise is quite literally, for some of them, an unforgiveable sin. In fact doing anything other than actually physically punching random Tories in the face is an act of cowardice that must be opposed.</p><p>Winning the election by appealing to the other side ? Hah ! That's for wimps. <i>Only </i>making <a href="https://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbling/2023/06/the-joyless-polity.html">ludicrously Utopian promises</a> is acceptable, and even that, I think, is marginal, as though they dare not take actual power because to do so would inevitably sully their ideological purity. They enjoy having enemies on the right more than they do actually trying to effect change. They want to be the protest group, not the ones who have to get their hands dirty by cleaning up the mess.</p><p>I'll <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/f7d505c0edf2013bdba8448a5b29e257">quote myself</a> in response to one such piece :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>I am not sure what crazed hell the author is living in, but it makes me want to tear my hair out and scream. Years and years we’ve been promised magical unicorns, fantasies of a no-deal-all-the-deals-Brexit, with or without ways of dealing with Schrodinger’s ethically different immigrant who’s coming over here to steal our jobs and our benefits… but, no. That’s not the problem at all. The author has decided it’s Starmer’s Labour who are the problem, for setting realistic expectations.</i></p><p><i>The barrel of nonsense is ever bottomless. Good grief.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Large parts of the left seem to have fallen into an ideological purity hole of self-hatred quite unlike anything the right have to deal with. True, a sizeable segment of the right do oppose any and all foreigners as though they were literal vermin, but by and large they possess a good deal of moral flexibility so long as they have the sweet scent of electoral victory. In contrast, for many left-leaning political commentators, sometimes the whole point seems to be in making claims that only a small fraction believe in : not to convince people these ideas are true, but more as a way of finding out who they want to have dealings with and who they'd prefer to spit on in disgust.</p><p>This is a form of toxicity I've likened to a <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-toxic-horseshoe.html">horseshoe</a>, with naivety on one side and cynicism on the other. True, criticism is a powerful engine of progress. But if you won't accept anything less than your own view of absolute perfection, if you can't accept that things have gotten better if they don't meet your exact demands, then you'll <i>never </i>be happy. Ever. All you'll accomplish is making both yourself and everyone else perpetually miserable. That's no way to live.</p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>1) My abusive political ex</b></u></p><p>Full disclaimer : I used to be a Corbynite. It was a brief but real occurrence, because I fell victim myself to the appeal of the uncompromising attitude. Finally someone <i>properly </i>left, who wanted to nationalise things that damn well should be nationalised, who seemed to tick all the obvious morality boxes rather than trying to kowtow to big business and banks. I was prepared to go quite a long way in apologising for some of Corbyn's more (with hindsight) questionable statements, the ones about Hamas being our friends and suchlike. </p><p>Urrgh.</p><p>My <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-fall.html">disillusionment</a> came quite suddenly, not completely out of the blue but even so there is a single moment which sealed it for me : his refusal to back down after losing a confidence vote. To me that went manifestly against all principles of common sense. No matter how great the policies are (and I still support many of them), if you can't actually work with your own team, you're politically dead, and no amount of CPR is going to save you at the point. Can't be done. Persisting in the face of this is just dragging everyone down.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bj21bnPAI3sszAPPMBGvV-eOwWgo2rAFCcBUTUhxYptqbbBo4__fyw-pMpINqTsa4_fntrduhxYkP3DNM7czvguOO9l7MynV_EJEB20pp2Gh-juKqhq3XM7fxj1VL4eX-ohgrAiF_RGM4WolUrIf9FSEeegIrUGds1MTMnz47FH4UkrjX80ebr2zvWQ/s1024/Necromancy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bj21bnPAI3sszAPPMBGvV-eOwWgo2rAFCcBUTUhxYptqbbBo4__fyw-pMpINqTsa4_fntrduhxYkP3DNM7czvguOO9l7MynV_EJEB20pp2Gh-juKqhq3XM7fxj1VL4eX-ohgrAiF_RGM4WolUrIf9FSEeegIrUGds1MTMnz47FH4UkrjX80ebr2zvWQ/w640-h640/Necromancy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Rise, Corbyn, RISE !"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Had I known at the time about all the anti-Semitism and anti-NATO lunacy, I'd have jumped off the Corbyn bandwagon even sooner. I'm still pleased that at least my Corbynite period was short, a few months or so before I realised this guy really <i>really </i>wasn't the moral messiah he all but claimed to be. He was in fact quite a lot worse than a very naughty boy.</p><p>Later, I even compared<a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-brief-thought-experiement.html"> Corbyn to Trump</a>, painting them as two halves of the same coin. I think that's basically accurate : Corbyn is a raving ideologue whereas Trump is a fascist. Corbyn will go hell for leather after any policy he thinks is correct because his moral ideals dictate it so, even at the cost of actually being able to enact that very same policy. Trump will act without any moral scruples whatever so long as he believes it will further his own interest. They're both just leaders of different bizarre personality cults.</p><p>The unifying factor of these weird bedfellows is an incapability of rational, critical thinking. Neither of them ever stop to consider if their policies are sensible, optimal, or even workable. The one is so convinced of it that questioning them is like asking the old, "do owls exist ?" or "are there hats ?", while to the other, the correctness of their ideas is utterly besides the point. Neither are the least bit able to compromise, with Trump's inability to form a coherent sentence (let alone an actual policy that can't be expressed in three words or less) being little more than the random firing of whatever passes for neurons in the soup-like ectoplasm that substitutes for his brain. Being inconsistent is not at all the same as reappraising and re-evaluating one's position.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>2) My new crush</u></b></p><p>Which brings me to this guy :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7D6Dtz-4riqCQQ1jUOcEJbU8Snds_2lOCgjTrAPm9o8OarxuN487ty126e4mgWhuLYG0PWBYoZHmFEED3RSoJqIOTHawK6-UF65U98nFYPpV1idfLOb98Laq0XoqvXvCKfXzWCLoS9Dhm9rOGV1eAZpweMUmMeM7wQgtveKEHEdKDw56rTGCMN9ljg/s1024/Keir%20Starmer%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk7D6Dtz-4riqCQQ1jUOcEJbU8Snds_2lOCgjTrAPm9o8OarxuN487ty126e4mgWhuLYG0PWBYoZHmFEED3RSoJqIOTHawK6-UF65U98nFYPpV1idfLOb98Laq0XoqvXvCKfXzWCLoS9Dhm9rOGV1eAZpweMUmMeM7wQgtveKEHEdKDw56rTGCMN9ljg/w640-h400/Keir%20Starmer%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Be still my beating heart !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I thought about subtitling this post, "Why I Want To Marry Keir Starmer And Have His Babies", but I resisted. Not least because I've made such mistakes before (though I do at least try and <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/04/thing-what-i-was-wrong-about.html">record them publicly</a>), but also because it would totally belittle my own point. Starmer is <i>not </i>a white knight, and so, paradoxically, this is precisely why I I think he's absolutely fucking amazing : he isn't trying to be one. He's not even trying to portray himself so. Rather the reverse : he's making it as clear as day that he's not a political saviour about to turn the tide of political omnishambles and lead us back to whatever rose-tinted view of the past one happens to have. He's just going to do as much as he can.</p><p>This, I have to say, is bloody genius. A would-be hero living in the real world can hardly help but fail against the onslaught of the cynics and brute reality. In fantasy, the plucky hero gets to slay the evil dragon. A more realistic version would be that the hero fights the dragon, gets badly wounded, but manages to negotiate with the dragon so that it has to stay in its cave most of the day and only venture out to eat a few sheep instead of the local maidens. The end result is actually pretty decent for all concerned, but the hero looks like a colossal tit for making absurd promises and everyone wanders off feeling disillusioned as fuck.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjje89eH08Lip-ikAp8f3M6vkx2ku7qxilOe1vFO7MIurDnlrdJhImHF6puFjd3i3mG9CDO37uXj-PIKbHc2XAQKZ0SIA6_32YZ9lRNflvYK5DYt5UgM2BIf7pYRbr1XyGK0XXriA-7ao28MfkgnAXASPQ7lexXJyHQsr_qEKx4y99iozAL_FxDY9FzTTo/s1024/Dragon%20signing%20contract.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjje89eH08Lip-ikAp8f3M6vkx2ku7qxilOe1vFO7MIurDnlrdJhImHF6puFjd3i3mG9CDO37uXj-PIKbHc2XAQKZ0SIA6_32YZ9lRNflvYK5DYt5UgM2BIf7pYRbr1XyGK0XXriA-7ao28MfkgnAXASPQ7lexXJyHQsr_qEKx4y99iozAL_FxDY9FzTTo/w640-h640/Dragon%20signing%20contract.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Starmer isn't doing this. He is, in effect, promising to negotiate with the dragon from the outset. You don't have to like this approach, but you can't exactly accuse him of attempting to promise things like, oh, I don't know, a feckin' bridge to Scotland over a munitions dump.</p><p>And the dragon analogy breaks down here because he's not really promising anything that I would say is anywhere near such gross <i>appeasement</i>. The hard left will see <i>any </i>appeal to Brexit-voters (or favourable comparisons with Thatcher) as unforgiveable, but that's because any mention of such things causes them to fly into a blind, chuck-the-toys-out-of-the-pram temper tantrum. And when you go back from the headlines and read what was actually said, all too often the headlines are deeply misleading. Especially the Thatcher thing, in which nothing he said actually praised Thatcher herself or even her methods : "sought to unlock Britian's potential" just speaks to her believing she was doing the right thing. There's nothing controversial about that.</p><p>Look, I hate Thatcher and would cheerfully spit on her grave if I wasn't afraid this would cause a ghastly zombie Thatcher to rise up and throttle me. She was <i>detestable</i>. But unlike the latest incumbents of the highest office in the land, at least she did genuinely believe she was acting in the interests of the country.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsX282E4vv-9PAq1U4cJfrV3phCpjhJ9mIEki8GoImQUVKOaVjdSFzvkRK2K-QmeiXfB2HwhMSHkG00BBvOrQjvB_kHxf6uEJhsAwIPmrgg2o-6v29I0bOd8dYe-XqcZKPEHf2diPEWvMWM6USo50GlgIDD9R_aSeL1HyTVK_HlM2K-a7OE0Jdwgl-qyU/s590/Rust%20in%20peace.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsX282E4vv-9PAq1U4cJfrV3phCpjhJ9mIEki8GoImQUVKOaVjdSFzvkRK2K-QmeiXfB2HwhMSHkG00BBvOrQjvB_kHxf6uEJhsAwIPmrgg2o-6v29I0bOd8dYe-XqcZKPEHf2diPEWvMWM6USo50GlgIDD9R_aSeL1HyTVK_HlM2K-a7OE0Jdwgl-qyU/w640-h380/Rust%20in%20peace.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or, preferably, several pieces.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And these supposed u-turns... hang on a minute, are they in power ? Has an election even been called ? No and no. So it's anyway a bit of a stretch to call merely "changing one's mind" a u-turn. And if you genuinely realise that either (a) a policy wouldn't be a good idea or (b) a policy wouldn't actually work, then the only responsible thing to do is to pull it. Carrying on regardless... that's the Rwanda madness. </p><p>Incidentally, I don't have any problem with Starmer not labelling the Rwanda scheme for what is is : horrendously vile and utterly reprehensible. If not using the sort of chest-thumping language I'd agree with is the price to be paid for not getting the scheme enacted, then I am absolutely fine with that.</p><p>I'm not going to go through each of the supposed u-turns, but I will just pick up on the most prominent : a climb-down on the £28 billion climate investment. For a climbdown is what it is, not a u-turn. Nowhere have Labour said they no longer support green investment or any of the rest of the policy : <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/08/labour-28bn-green-prosperity-plan-keir-starmer-rachel-reeves">quite the opposite</a>. Now it's perfectly possible that not being able to invest that specific amount is the wrong economic choice; I'm not an economist but my instinct is that that is the case, that investing this money would be a good idea. But that's all I've got to go on, gut instinct. So I'm perfectly prepared to believe that it's also just not possible right now. And as I <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/5007d0f0a955013c34ed448a5b29e257">set out here</a>, this change is pretty much bang-on the conditions I stated for the ideal u-turn a whole <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/09/u-turn-if-you-want-too-but-only-under.html">three years previously</a>.</p><p>The ironic thing is that if anything this makes me trust them <i>more</i>, not less. Being able to say, "we considered this idea, found it wouldn't work, had to scale things back a bit here and cancel a few things there"... that's rational. That's sensible. Seeking actual workable solutions is far better – <i>far </i>better ! – than clinging madly to rabid ideological puritanism. I respect people who change their mind when they can justify why they've done so, especially when they've not used the delusional hyperbole that was the hallmark of the Johnson misadministration. At no point has Starmer given the impression of getting uncontrollable boners at the thought of green energy or whatnot, so having to tone things down a bit seems perfectly fair and reasonable in my view.</p><p>And of course they get extra credit for doing this ahead of time. Now is <i>precisely </i>the time to work out a coherent set of policies, which necessarily means ditching some. Doing this when in government would be a different story... for that, look to the current "government".</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>3) The rebound guy ?</u></b></p><p>I'm very much conscious that I could be making the same kind of apologies for Starmer as I did for Corbyn. And I'm not entirely sure that I'm not doing this, at least to some extent. That is of course the problem with the compromising man : one has to deal with their changes of stance and then decide whether they were correct or not. With the uncompromising men one always knows what their stance is, but they're usually right only by chance.</p><p>So do I want to actually <i>celebrate </i>these changes of opinion, rather than merely defending them ? No. Not because I don't agree with them, but because I want to avoid making political heroes out of my, ahem, political heroes. I think we'd all be a lot better off accepting imperfect-but-basically-honest leaders for what they are : as flawed as the rest of us. But surely seeing them in this way, accepting their faults with our eyes open, is an awful lot better than deifying them. Surely having someone who never promises paradise is better than someone who pretends everything is practically perfect already. I would love to have someone who would promise to nationalise all essential services and fund everything by a wealth tax on the richest, but even more than this, I'd love to have someone who can make real, tangible gains, even if they're not as brilliant as I might like.</p><p>This may seem like a strange sales pitch, but that's the point. Starmer has learned the <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/02/its-no-sin-to-win.html">lessons of Blair</a>, especially that leadership means saying no to your own side. Not all the time, obviously, or they wouldn't be your own side. But sometimes, you mustn't promise people things they want but can't have <i>even if they would work</i>. There's no virtue in being uncompromising about the impossible : that's Brexiteer logic. </p><p>My sales pitch then, is that not acting like a standard snake-oil salesman may lack the classical type of emotional appeal but it it's absolutely what we need right now. We need to wake up from the farce of austerity and Brexit fantasies with a good splash of cold water.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>4) Limits</u></b></p><p>But when is compromise a virtue ? Not when it becomes appeasement. Not when you start acting against your moral principles. Saying, "we need more coal and oil" would be a step too far, as would "we need to support the Rwanda bill", and certainly, unforgivably, would be, "we need to help the rich more than we need to help the poor". Those sorts of policies would be the point where I would agree that Labour are no better than the Tories. But simply not investing as much in green energy as originally planned, not being afraid to help businesses (while protecting worker's rights), not being able to create certain schemes because of actual lack of resources to do so... nah, give me a break. Any driver knows that slowing down is not a u-turn !</p><p>And anyway, sometimes u-turns are a damn good idea...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/coPW6unxeY8" width="320" youtube-src-id="coPW6unxeY8"></iframe></div><p>I find this lack of perfectionism inspirational, in its own bizarre way. Here is something to believe in because it's achievable, not because it's utopian. To actually get back to really, <i>really </i>boring politics after years and years of increasing rabid, incoherent rhetorical nonsense... it's like a warm balm for the soul. I <i>want </i>things to be as utterly bland and dull as possible, much like Mark Drakeford in Wales (though for an excellent, detailed analysis, see <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/discontent-grows-towards-mark-drakeford-28157637">this Wales Online piece</a>).</p><p>I think I got sick of the exciting politics quite a lot sooner than everyone else, but it seems at last that most other people are finally seeing the virtues of not having to pay <a href="https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/01/04/project-hope-read-keir-starmers-new-year-speech-in-full/">constant attention</a> to Westminster as though it were a mandatory-viewing HBO drama. That actually, not having to worry about whatever crisis the idiots in government will bring today would be really quite enjoyable in its own way, even without suddenly giving everyone a puppy and a solid gold house. That slow but steady progress might be better than chaotic, unworkable revolutions, and that actually, while magical fantasies of puppies and gold houses for all might sound good in theory, perhaps in practise that's not really what we <i>need</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Conclusions</u></b></p><p>Here, then, is the case for the ability to compromise as a form of nobility. To respond according to the evidence, at least to respond consistently within your own world view, <i>that </i>is noble. Evidence doesn't suggest anything by itself, but coupled with your own models about how things are, it definitely does. And when the evidence and your ideas conflict, it has to be the evidence that wins every time. If you think that the tax breaks for the rich should make everyone wealthier, okay... but when you find that they don't, then you change your damn mind. You don't double down and say you hadn't given them enough tax breaks or other bullshit.</p><p>And it has to be constrained in that it can't be counter to one's moral principles. You can't go around proclaiming that you want to help the poorest only to help the richest <i>instead</i>... but it's perfectly fine to do things for them <i>as well</i>. It may feel fantastic to tell people what you really think of them, but if you actually want to make progress, if you actually want to get things done rather than wishing for them... maybe it's better not to rub their noses in it. You don't have to tell the racists they're right. But you have to know when to fight and when not to fight. You have to know the difference between a casually-racist old granny in a country village and a hate-monger who'd willingly drown migrants at sea. One can be reasoned with, the other must be fought.</p><p>Far better to have honesty about what can be done and then actually deliver on it than inspirational but ultimately empty and disappointing rhetoric. Better to climb slowly and successfully than soar and crash.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jTYocT4saYTSWJx09-rxbidWHgKg80StJQOJN88SdvLGU5PS-bW9nFXsFevzQkBQX5pY3ODfF9UtdbHIuGYkXw1pGkkIq4Z-Z4954omOQa1KXQlsTLAoROwXqUgT3B2uldfwk_6xzvm5mqd4XWrEfWYaslthuTPRE3EC5ADU-605wgK9UzERe0s5cW0/s1200/Icarus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1085" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jTYocT4saYTSWJx09-rxbidWHgKg80StJQOJN88SdvLGU5PS-bW9nFXsFevzQkBQX5pY3ODfF9UtdbHIuGYkXw1pGkkIq4Z-Z4954omOQa1KXQlsTLAoROwXqUgT3B2uldfwk_6xzvm5mqd4XWrEfWYaslthuTPRE3EC5ADU-605wgK9UzERe0s5cW0/w578-h640/Icarus.jpg" width="578" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Calm <i>down</i>, Icarus.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The final point is that people are still claiming Labour haven't said very much and don't stand for anything. This is garbage, perpetuated by a media determined to insist that this is still the case presumably because Labour's actual policies (of which there are many) are so boringly practical that they can't be bothered to discuss them. True, they had nothing much at all a couple of years ago, but it hasn't been this way for a good 18 months or so. What they stand for is green energy (the exact amount of investment being a total red herring on that point), stronger local government (I call it radical decentricism, I've read their <a href="https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf">155-page report</a> on this and it really is as radical as anything from the hard left), constitutional reform (true, you<a href="https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/02/19/labour-will-introduce-citizens-assemblies-after-transformational-success-in-ireland/"> </a><i><a href="https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/02/19/labour-will-introduce-citizens-assemblies-after-transformational-success-in-ireland/">might</a> </i>not get what you want with Labour on this one, but you <i>certainly </i>won't with the Tories), stronger worker's rights, greater economic alignment with Europe, and above all, pragmatism. </p><p>All of these appeal to boring, actually successful policies instead of trying to placate the fantasies of the racists. And that is more than enough for me. Sometimes the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Gifts">simplest gifts</a> are the best ones.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu66vvjosMKnyMNHcYW5ji8gn17upfQ2TBQG3koBfNuY7eyEq_Zc4avhPAbETYlM4rtGlveepWCkEVEuOY3e3OMHsM5Uc6HwKxjkqXINqpVMqI6KGJeBTDPFI9Lj_5qcFbp8eItW8M0HZesuJSHXSHAnE6ImeiSimswxcZwpKPGEUY0RJCOzvHYzrt4cQ/s1280/Simple%20gifts.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu66vvjosMKnyMNHcYW5ji8gn17upfQ2TBQG3koBfNuY7eyEq_Zc4avhPAbETYlM4rtGlveepWCkEVEuOY3e3OMHsM5Uc6HwKxjkqXINqpVMqI6KGJeBTDPFI9Lj_5qcFbp8eItW8M0HZesuJSHXSHAnE6ImeiSimswxcZwpKPGEUY0RJCOzvHYzrt4cQ/w640-h360/Simple%20gifts.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-25100229339483518932023-10-25T06:05:00.002-04:002023-10-25T06:13:53.818-04:00Bologna and Beyond<p>Last week saw the annual ALMA "All Hands" meeting near Modena in the north of Italy. I don't often describe the stuff I do as part of the Czech ARC node, which quite honestly isn't as much as it should be, but I think that's about to change.</p><p>ALMA is of course the <a href="https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/">Atacama Large Millimetre Array</a>, the world's largest radio telescope array located in – you've guessed it – Atacama in Chile. The ALMA Regional Centres are a European effort to provide user support to various local catchment areas, of which the <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/alma">Czech node</a> supports eastern Europe. People do all kinds of activities for this, and mine is mainly the bog-standard stuff of answering user questions and testing the occasional procedure and software tool.</p><p>But since the pandemic started my main scientific project has been to recode <a href="http://frelled.wikidot.com/start">FRELLED</a>, my all-singing, all-dancing 3D FITS file viewer for Blender. I originally guestimated this would be a six month effort; it has been, ahh, a<i> little bit </i>longer than that. I ended up not only rewriting the entire thing but also doubling the length of the code and giving it a whole bunch of new capabilities, of which more later. And of course, this includes turning it into something ALMA-capable.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The Conferencing</u></b></p><p>First, the conference. After a flight in which the only thing of note was the obsessive sales pitch by the Ryanair steward who seemed to want to list every single item in the in-flight catalogue, in an oily, used-car-salesman voice (he also looked a lot like <i>Doctor Who's</i> Matt Smith), a short shuttle bus took us to a very nice though totally isolated hotel. This is the usual approach at these meetings. They'll keep you in comfort, but you have no chance of wandering off. It's a good way to focus.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QeSIx4lGMKk-Xe0qrhyPRpLZb4pse01rdQn4wg_dXM51wuJTGXTZ9lEdGR_zjP9cdUAD7FskVsvnQVVE5BHEcRiXcj0TwG8M4Ta8Sd8MEgIlwOxO4-857T4jvtW6iCNjVf49PCYMNKs1vMFC_460FzD7uHtdK3oaZvjpBqXBSQijz5AaE0d_RUtxkr8/s1600/IMG20231016190357.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QeSIx4lGMKk-Xe0qrhyPRpLZb4pse01rdQn4wg_dXM51wuJTGXTZ9lEdGR_zjP9cdUAD7FskVsvnQVVE5BHEcRiXcj0TwG8M4Ta8Sd8MEgIlwOxO4-857T4jvtW6iCNjVf49PCYMNKs1vMFC_460FzD7uHtdK3oaZvjpBqXBSQijz5AaE0d_RUtxkr8/w640-h288/IMG20231016190357.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The <a href="https://www.hotelbaiadelre.com/#/">hotel</a> was lovely but the surroundings were a nondescript highway that could have been in any country in the world.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I'm not being selfish by not describing much of the rest of the conference. In fact "conference" is not really the right word for these events, of which only "meeting" seems to satisfactorily describe the mixture of management, planning, and technical talks that they consist of. I need not bore you with the details which are only relevant if you're actually involved with this, though there were a few more public-noteworthy talks this year. </p><p>First there was a prototype of some very fancy machine-learning code that can search the ALMA data archives for objects that are similar to ones the user specified. To me this seems invaluable well beyond the ALMA context; whenever you find a weird object, conventional searches of the literature to find similar features are extremely difficult. Another was the <a href="https://local.strw.leidenuniv.nl/allegrowiki/doku.php?id=allegrosoftwarerepo:index">ALMA Software Repository</a>, an effort I'm involved with to have a more centralised location for ALMA-useful software and contacts for user support. And there was a very nice one about a dedicated (not yet public) website describing ALMA's observations of the galactic centre – many of which are honestly spectacular – and again keeping everything tightly organised and well-presented. By being focused on a relatively small area, this gives a really detailed insight into a specific region with lots and lots of lovely images.</p><p>These events are also explicitly social as a way to ensure everyone keeps in touch. The trip to the Ferrari museum was for me every bit as bemusing as I expected : oh look, a car... oh look, there's another one. Oh, that's a blue one, how interesting ! I wonder if the next one will <i>also </i>have four wheels ? Good lord, it does ! How remarkable. And so on.</p><p>The most memorable part of this was for me the extremely Italian, extremely enthusiastic tour guide, who repeated everything at least five times. He had a demeanour of an odd mix of enthusiasm and worry, like he normally deals with large groups of very old people who he enjoys working with but is constantly expecting to fall over dead.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9mj7u8qrEX7U1tbY7jkHdM4TN94dSR2PiSSJSekkxGS9LTwbnMIb72_fWuG-UYo7IQvfuN43_6HocsfV1Xv1qanhwErWKRFgUGmxjdSqKm06nWLmp_nPRbcIwgdGKCPPkdqhlnLBfR-aXMHioR2so-jJIm2YfO2zTcMIidnE99TsnHJgI3GT1D9EiGI/s1600/IMG20231018163359.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9mj7u8qrEX7U1tbY7jkHdM4TN94dSR2PiSSJSekkxGS9LTwbnMIb72_fWuG-UYo7IQvfuN43_6HocsfV1Xv1qanhwErWKRFgUGmxjdSqKm06nWLmp_nPRbcIwgdGKCPPkdqhlnLBfR-aXMHioR2so-jJIm2YfO2zTcMIidnE99TsnHJgI3GT1D9EiGI/w640-h288/IMG20231018163359.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brrmm brmmm.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anyway, the wine tasting and dinner that evening was much more my thing. A generous tasting which was almost a full glass per serving ! And the food... look, some stereotypes are just true. This is pasta country and with good reason, because it's very, <i>very </i>good pasta. I'm not sure it's possible to manage an entire day here without at least one pasta dish; probably if you try that someone will burst out of a hedgerow at you and ensure you don't go without your daily allowance. Couple that with the the <i>loooong </i>periods of sitting still and literally feeling my legs atrophying... I'm really not sure how I didn't explode.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1cpapwRPidIDZLu3dR_IPKNvZHsIgdv6AlyzCvVShKv98EuOdurOG3svz2nCWl2QHiOpucU3nnpD2o7kLuCNUCi1MbUcKHDf3hLvx67ge_ehkEes75PZ0ReXLsJNPQX-9k0MaGY9179UgGn7CmDfWBhmgFpS_CVtaWwoWOC51GUA14jeD3spEPrOWXE/s2312/IMG20231018183215.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1cpapwRPidIDZLu3dR_IPKNvZHsIgdv6AlyzCvVShKv98EuOdurOG3svz2nCWl2QHiOpucU3nnpD2o7kLuCNUCi1MbUcKHDf3hLvx67ge_ehkEes75PZ0ReXLsJNPQX-9k0MaGY9179UgGn7CmDfWBhmgFpS_CVtaWwoWOC51GUA14jeD3spEPrOWXE/w288-h640/IMG20231018183215.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't remember the name of the venue but the interior was on a much more industrial-scale than I was expecting, and not at all like its country-villa exterior.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p><b><u>The Sciencening</u></b></p><p>Now I will indulge myself as briefly as I can with an ego-stroking. You must forgive me this because this is something I've worked on in one form or another for over a decade and the user base remains tiny. And by tiny I mean probably less than the number of years in development. I wasn't really sure if this was the right venue to present it, especially as I didn't have time to construct any more ALMA-specific demos and had to use good old-fashioned HI data sets instead. But from conversations beforehand, it became clear that people were very curious about this, which helped a lot.</p><p>In old version of FRELLED, which I <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2014/08/hydrogen-dinosaurs-and-user-support.html">published</a> back in 2014, Blender's Python could not really include external modules. This meant I had to re-write a lot of basics, like transforming pixels into so-called "world coordinates" (that is, position on the sky) the hard way, something I do not enjoy doing at all. Consequently much of it had to be hard-coded that shouldn't have been, making it useful for HI data but anything else got quite hacky. Blender also had a lot of idiosyncrasies that were constantly troublesome to overcome.</p><p>All of these problems changed with more recent versions of Blender. This I put off using because the internal Python syntax between Blender 2.49 and 2.50* was completely replaced to the point of being a totally different language. Recoding this was <i>not </i>a straightforward exercise to say the least. But the advantages are manifold : FRELLED can now support any spectral line data cube (in principle any 3D FITS file at all though with some limitations); the new GUI system makes it far easier to add new buttons without having to recode everything else; it can display data volumetrically with far higher performance than the previous version and with more flexibility; it supports isosurfaces, 2D images and height maps; it can export to Blender 2.90 for a VR display; it can make figures and animations with annotations... and a whole lot more besides. And the code this time has designed to be far easier to both maintain and migrate to later versions of Blender, which haven't undergone anything like the complete Python change that happened with version 2.5.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* That's when the change happened, but the new FRELLED uses 2.79. When I started, the internal render capabilities were not good enough in 2.8 prototypes for what I needed, though that's subsequently been fixed.</span></p><p>I gave two demo videos and some still images of the major capabilities, and I could not have been happier with the audience response. When I explained that yes, I really had been working on this for ten years or more, people nodded and sincerely declared "I can believe that". "I want to use this and have my students use it !" said another. "That was impressive. Like, <i>really </i>impressive", said someone else. And my favourite, which I shall keep strictly anonymous, was, "I'm not excited by [much larger popular ALMA tool]. I'm excited by your software."</p><p>I was practically glowing.</p><p>But enough of this. Most of the last year has been spent debugging; very few <i>known </i>bugs remain, but without doubt more will be found with unexpected use cases. I still need to test with different sorts of FITS files, finish the documentation, and write a new paper on it. And the only fly in the ointment is that lots of people want to use it on a Mac, which isn't yet functional. Expect more on all this in due course.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The Travelling</u></b></p><p>Afterwards I had a few days to see the local sights. I stayed in a very basic but absolutely functional guest house in the centre of Bologna, a complete change from the luxury of the hotel but completely suited to my needs. Clean and comfortable, I'd happily <a href="https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/riva-reno-b-amp-b.en-gb.html?aid=311984&label=review_am&appvl_email=1&rurl=18636118bcc78f71&tab=4&type=total">recommend it</a> for any Bologna budget travellers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPnuK8Ul3g8pnlouUamID9I09VLWfWE-ieM_Jgo2NOVZYqleP6eoTpuDUCAkhl0YegvPABkrXJojUKgGaxvJ8aRPwk-j8jKEc8MZr_Bcz0kQ4N9lhF3A3g0FDF4bTMekC5lSadnK-9w9rn7YmUeTWEAT7wXcY-IrVEceTuzgtqOFCSBj2ZmcoE-jBKbE/s1600/IMG20231020171330.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPnuK8Ul3g8pnlouUamID9I09VLWfWE-ieM_Jgo2NOVZYqleP6eoTpuDUCAkhl0YegvPABkrXJojUKgGaxvJ8aRPwk-j8jKEc8MZr_Bcz0kQ4N9lhF3A3g0FDF4bTMekC5lSadnK-9w9rn7YmUeTWEAT7wXcY-IrVEceTuzgtqOFCSBj2ZmcoE-jBKbE/w640-h288/IMG20231020171330.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The place can be summarised best, I think, by the single English book that was in the desk shelves. There's a certain kind of place where you can find books from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Clans-Tartans-Scotland-Robert-Bain/dp/0004111176">1968 on Scottish clan tartans</a> and that says all you need to know about it, really.</p><p>The first day consisted of wandering around the centre, eating gelato (seriously good) and visiting the cavernous cathedral. Even more so than most gothic cathedrals, the interior felt truly voluminous.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0yxvt4PVX1NDW1ARyn50eOPYz8w4mG6BhKQqHOl68yU9RNvvbSHXVvA3EZ24QkRGggyGz78ZK_Pn7iU_OuwWMCsbAsoKfvxttF2xzdr1UD9mS0DL6WoDxbi80mglLpdlHbM0JpWIPlRpL6SL9nSCMAuWUZQxd0Ovgd7yC_b_cCP5UmzNbCadTvziksI/s1600/IMG20231020110826.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0yxvt4PVX1NDW1ARyn50eOPYz8w4mG6BhKQqHOl68yU9RNvvbSHXVvA3EZ24QkRGggyGz78ZK_Pn7iU_OuwWMCsbAsoKfvxttF2xzdr1UD9mS0DL6WoDxbi80mglLpdlHbM0JpWIPlRpL6SL9nSCMAuWUZQxd0Ovgd7yC_b_cCP5UmzNbCadTvziksI/w288-h640/IMG20231020110826.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhlWcavs5XKS-RgvsEGBo1oQSYmzoXfjP1OZnkuD5pzfNg2SVtVOkk34BcpbN8lZkgoICgobBXsdbS6KBDpHBep2vTAVohm7PozUqxiNuwVJKi-QdUyeLlaTqQTg4jmXDGh0obYzu4j3XEkDJPYEI-Yt6R8Jy1uyJIMPUfUZtRvAQTQDKGLLrj2U4_l8/s2312/IMG20231020134743.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhlWcavs5XKS-RgvsEGBo1oQSYmzoXfjP1OZnkuD5pzfNg2SVtVOkk34BcpbN8lZkgoICgobBXsdbS6KBDpHBep2vTAVohm7PozUqxiNuwVJKi-QdUyeLlaTqQTg4jmXDGh0obYzu4j3XEkDJPYEI-Yt6R8Jy1uyJIMPUfUZtRvAQTQDKGLLrj2U4_l8/w288-h640/IMG20231020134743.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1B85dJqGN6DaUn7UZAreI7G3nbC245Up6mICT_09UmlvqdtGbKR1YHDnnpKQy2Ee6tSabDma9fEqy9lniWmrmWQ0-AyF9wvUS-SZS50K0AkmbsbEAvNfRSJD14ciXiMqw7qNinCU8LNIlREsckUs5OCyohSzO04nO5eZb34HCA_UZJz4G3Lo508u3qo/s1600/IMG20231022114409.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1B85dJqGN6DaUn7UZAreI7G3nbC245Up6mICT_09UmlvqdtGbKR1YHDnnpKQy2Ee6tSabDma9fEqy9lniWmrmWQ0-AyF9wvUS-SZS50K0AkmbsbEAvNfRSJD14ciXiMqw7qNinCU8LNIlREsckUs5OCyohSzO04nO5eZb34HCA_UZJz4G3Lo508u3qo/w288-h640/IMG20231022114409.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIUuzWx4LZGtdgoPs88Hy9yT_Rw5sxB2i27D3pfy3qqrc0J84pNEf0_TkmsOnai7xly-thlhz20elQ1-5P32h84abg9ld-6K8AutrWQyBYqe-fEK8YRStMHksX_TJD62ikrvvjOl51VOKEtzyLQ6VX7fIdf3EZxYrIKbn2sQJm0SMkuGtmuY8JigYOZI/s2312/Street.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIUuzWx4LZGtdgoPs88Hy9yT_Rw5sxB2i27D3pfy3qqrc0J84pNEf0_TkmsOnai7xly-thlhz20elQ1-5P32h84abg9ld-6K8AutrWQyBYqe-fEK8YRStMHksX_TJD62ikrvvjOl51VOKEtzyLQ6VX7fIdf3EZxYrIKbn2sQJm0SMkuGtmuY8JigYOZI/w288-h640/Street.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEKU6JKEdfoiurXw3NQUHjpmaH2C0zMn6HlYVGb5rvxrljWsyV5Yr2h-tkqlNYI-MgWyreyNXymGuAx08s4vgMDjxMAZmpZ_56StxAEkynfPv1b5GMkJw8JM5Q6pTgY6FLmb81CKrCnK4W2duKxMEqxUKyaBnwiwx-ExSatajRabclgGxcoaD1iUNShc/s2312/IMG20231020110413.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEKU6JKEdfoiurXw3NQUHjpmaH2C0zMn6HlYVGb5rvxrljWsyV5Yr2h-tkqlNYI-MgWyreyNXymGuAx08s4vgMDjxMAZmpZ_56StxAEkynfPv1b5GMkJw8JM5Q6pTgY6FLmb81CKrCnK4W2duKxMEqxUKyaBnwiwx-ExSatajRabclgGxcoaD1iUNShc/w640-h288/IMG20231020110413.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There's another even worse variety of near-tentacle porn in the statues which I shall not show : on each corner of a plinth, a woman of sizeable breasts holds them prominently in an attempt to distract the viewer from noticing her not one but <i>three </i>scaly fish tales. Artistic nudes ? I think not.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKkqncgea22UhK8LVxrYM_-LVs4qanFr52h-KIxllz92TrFk41bgbrTL3RUt1jlfed-GabqHwBypWRXtjGNpD7DVbwu87pc6mtReVyN0MAZKsp0DNqt6V_ah-4oj1YyITzBUjdR1FPpXAbVqfc2IIqmsNg_EqROi6h8wMRMpUl_Xjl-OJgwE5vG7AaLo/s1600/IMG20231020113511.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKkqncgea22UhK8LVxrYM_-LVs4qanFr52h-KIxllz92TrFk41bgbrTL3RUt1jlfed-GabqHwBypWRXtjGNpD7DVbwu87pc6mtReVyN0MAZKsp0DNqt6V_ah-4oj1YyITzBUjdR1FPpXAbVqfc2IIqmsNg_EqROi6h8wMRMpUl_Xjl-OJgwE5vG7AaLo/w640-h288/IMG20231020113511.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K_v6YP7c-t-85EtEfAqKVGX3VCIjgXq23OLhlMkwi8sHeUYv6cdnwvAqxF9myYWNlCy8eHkptcukItjBSGNWZMf8drsITkkhWrhtXhM-hC5KO8vX0_Q0clK84lXnad4xjUMMEZ05e1LGHgLov2g8kxO_6IrTNfNTUTPvO_fotYCWwiBYa_DxGCLcZ5k/s1600/IMG20231020113824.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K_v6YP7c-t-85EtEfAqKVGX3VCIjgXq23OLhlMkwi8sHeUYv6cdnwvAqxF9myYWNlCy8eHkptcukItjBSGNWZMf8drsITkkhWrhtXhM-hC5KO8vX0_Q0clK84lXnad4xjUMMEZ05e1LGHgLov2g8kxO_6IrTNfNTUTPvO_fotYCWwiBYa_DxGCLcZ5k/w640-h288/IMG20231020113824.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypdH-HP0_0BTtC5AcoCV5P5U_ubIWg8D1l-CRDQmPLwAgORPSkHM48khytuMp_M2HvVWMcrx7ZoAjM2PUtu46L5N3NMloABqH-WPVL2veOZ3teHYb-L19oFAFmFH62eCRfI4GctuhyskXkTvoQ-R_-Ju9DjPlYcv5oLvIaUxhsG3KPxqORdVpvhceiFc/s2312/IMG20231020114145.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgypdH-HP0_0BTtC5AcoCV5P5U_ubIWg8D1l-CRDQmPLwAgORPSkHM48khytuMp_M2HvVWMcrx7ZoAjM2PUtu46L5N3NMloABqH-WPVL2veOZ3teHYb-L19oFAFmFH62eCRfI4GctuhyskXkTvoQ-R_-Ju9DjPlYcv5oLvIaUxhsG3KPxqORdVpvhceiFc/w640-h288/IMG20231020114145.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIBcAAxGUDygqAN8ElN05Au5mJ49hy1pJwvhoseqDezZu9uNDZaPkzS9yMhIl-7QAoi7CnduyPq0bxcZ4ziecLgnhbGg2xWPUbjl-rp64mpV-A2iYXS9RkVF2HEA8eX2N4mjW9tK8IYJLM8YdfdpkmjHPrFBcCs1Vuo8qADNoC_kDZH9tl8dp3uYJn6Y/s2312/IMG20231023100348.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoIBcAAxGUDygqAN8ElN05Au5mJ49hy1pJwvhoseqDezZu9uNDZaPkzS9yMhIl-7QAoi7CnduyPq0bxcZ4ziecLgnhbGg2xWPUbjl-rp64mpV-A2iYXS9RkVF2HEA8eX2N4mjW9tK8IYJLM8YdfdpkmjHPrFBcCs1Vuo8qADNoC_kDZH9tl8dp3uYJn6Y/w640-h288/IMG20231023100348.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The next day a couple of us went to Florence. This took more effort than expected because the half-hour train arrived, everyone got on... and then it was delayed by a full hour. By the end, with little information forthcoming, I was really on the verge of giving up. But at the last minute, off we went.</p><p>Of course we headed straight for the star attraction, the cathedral. When you first glimpse this from the street it's an arresting sight. And close-up it doesn't disappoint. After so long in Prague it's good to see a totally different style of architecture, and the high-contrast colour scheme accentuates all the details marvellously. We couldn't go in the dome, which was fully booked, but we got tickets for the bell tower*. I regret nothing.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* The main interior of the cathedral is free but the line is very long. Perhaps on an early weekday morning it would be feasible.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Kmh6PPwOniV_LwY3ibEGsWQ2AVTwYF5hA-w9c2EDp9OJpHkJ5tnyBEuYdpfDWZu2o_-At0ACShmSDyQ7WnUUw8zODE8ym8G3TB5XwCz3nbvJvHBf__B7wKi3nt_smM2Z14OTciJZ10JyS2b2DY5dIspBUgtyS55STigB01ph7bu8foNaec-XYu1NyEA/s1600/IMG20231021113741.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Kmh6PPwOniV_LwY3ibEGsWQ2AVTwYF5hA-w9c2EDp9OJpHkJ5tnyBEuYdpfDWZu2o_-At0ACShmSDyQ7WnUUw8zODE8ym8G3TB5XwCz3nbvJvHBf__B7wKi3nt_smM2Z14OTciJZ10JyS2b2DY5dIspBUgtyS55STigB01ph7bu8foNaec-XYu1NyEA/w640-h288/IMG20231021113741.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsyR6JE-IdW_e5u7ZJ9mMkWUXuSLNidJhP8mmXi1JiiKIFg2_koisjUf7WpL0v6A_q0HdVWWiMtmeMc0C7di6LZuk8AU41Ai_R_Fz5QOwQ1M3gKnTEJZLkz6x5nUkls_VnGmkRxjA8Bln1xi6Z8rO8PZNQAwqIHfHob4e6t5VgjgX820YS3KhX7mXoBs/s1600/IMG20231021125250.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsyR6JE-IdW_e5u7ZJ9mMkWUXuSLNidJhP8mmXi1JiiKIFg2_koisjUf7WpL0v6A_q0HdVWWiMtmeMc0C7di6LZuk8AU41Ai_R_Fz5QOwQ1M3gKnTEJZLkz6x5nUkls_VnGmkRxjA8Bln1xi6Z8rO8PZNQAwqIHfHob4e6t5VgjgX820YS3KhX7mXoBs/w640-h288/IMG20231021125250.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMyZl46LnDxrD_9I1Si_5axknu7Lj14YiBC15mE4gVq3mmE_d3tBohua4DZGwQ-p5GBkEq_nMUQqIXouHQ4Y-EWcE6utUIbuUSogODXpVw4ulUDv3M5ukMvxxu7YSOCEp2L7ARyghBBZ0s5jd68bZ4CiDNxu8d95QNDgL_fNarYLOwmkG7bR_oP4UR0Y/s1600/IMG20231021125434.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMyZl46LnDxrD_9I1Si_5axknu7Lj14YiBC15mE4gVq3mmE_d3tBohua4DZGwQ-p5GBkEq_nMUQqIXouHQ4Y-EWcE6utUIbuUSogODXpVw4ulUDv3M5ukMvxxu7YSOCEp2L7ARyghBBZ0s5jd68bZ4CiDNxu8d95QNDgL_fNarYLOwmkG7bR_oP4UR0Y/w640-h288/IMG20231021125434.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJZm96X_RjH6-ssXq_b-uzMKQTmj8IRAsflK_FhajarLBYk18w_33LOXH9mFsPmI2FnfUWlTtSamhPgdA-ssHBlaBMfqb0pNWuWY4AJgualqNGILJGgRdCmF6njmgNRydyBkDJITeMZorTla3TLmRzJJlYvL-IozndFOxxzrvzWnlXibbmPpBUR5uGok/s1600/IMG20231021134826.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJZm96X_RjH6-ssXq_b-uzMKQTmj8IRAsflK_FhajarLBYk18w_33LOXH9mFsPmI2FnfUWlTtSamhPgdA-ssHBlaBMfqb0pNWuWY4AJgualqNGILJGgRdCmF6njmgNRydyBkDJITeMZorTla3TLmRzJJlYvL-IozndFOxxzrvzWnlXibbmPpBUR5uGok/w640-h288/IMG20231021134826.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>As you go up level by level, Florence is transformed. I have to say I was a little disappointed by Florence as a street city (for that, Prague is still the clear winner for me); wandering around on ground level it's not really anything special. But from above it's far more interesting, much more like my expectations. It seems deliberately designed for epic jigsaw puzzles, and the dramatic sky certainly didn't let the side down either. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhsrZ4q31UdmpCy9qFbCOCSecznp7Fn4IUJHl58FJUv4GGvtCpgpLmpOTnDCI1ro1LlVSp6cK51c9NhHnrvasNlyj40WxDUK90ROsrZGByyX9-XoQQW9yZRnugaCDrbDNdNA5glRPpX-m6ed9CzN-jxAr7B_uOWY9Dsov-DtINEdd6GCq0L4G2a1u18Q/s2312/IMG20231021114832.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhsrZ4q31UdmpCy9qFbCOCSecznp7Fn4IUJHl58FJUv4GGvtCpgpLmpOTnDCI1ro1LlVSp6cK51c9NhHnrvasNlyj40WxDUK90ROsrZGByyX9-XoQQW9yZRnugaCDrbDNdNA5glRPpX-m6ed9CzN-jxAr7B_uOWY9Dsov-DtINEdd6GCq0L4G2a1u18Q/w288-h640/IMG20231021114832.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAcTaD6WKgduHvSGRsV3dR_YD3pTjFqZTufPhESwkPAmT-PPdiw4NzuKb97mM6JJVZ13LfomzEu_K5O90IWedUAihZsax_5rnQ6cK8pT_91boxBsNz6kzXzUqvuBvKZ_kvMX_7M3RzaI0LNhB-Hrjdn6nHxgFMOtKfSG0-jRDlpJkMJ0qvo4sCJKIkf4/s2312/IMG20231021125240.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAcTaD6WKgduHvSGRsV3dR_YD3pTjFqZTufPhESwkPAmT-PPdiw4NzuKb97mM6JJVZ13LfomzEu_K5O90IWedUAihZsax_5rnQ6cK8pT_91boxBsNz6kzXzUqvuBvKZ_kvMX_7M3RzaI0LNhB-Hrjdn6nHxgFMOtKfSG0-jRDlpJkMJ0qvo4sCJKIkf4/w288-h640/IMG20231021125240.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-MtjgbjpxzXBhJo-UlJjFCgUPqAsAvPjKjbGiEFtDyzqt10IkIJuGb1T61J8lQU7dN3ys13CmGUfOKZlHwFWF785BIEDs6u6gq7fFn_-E7pwIYbYNUHI40yPNnR_ZxXzGNdmOkZ4LnEkbSYRKSyU1_PPpef1fYlv6dCu1qYW9UePZYaCKh7bfFdUqvQ/s2312/IMG20231021125319.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF-MtjgbjpxzXBhJo-UlJjFCgUPqAsAvPjKjbGiEFtDyzqt10IkIJuGb1T61J8lQU7dN3ys13CmGUfOKZlHwFWF785BIEDs6u6gq7fFn_-E7pwIYbYNUHI40yPNnR_ZxXzGNdmOkZ4LnEkbSYRKSyU1_PPpef1fYlv6dCu1qYW9UePZYaCKh7bfFdUqvQ/w640-h288/IMG20231021125319.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlXcz1-E_kW07tLKJPUjiZYrcm4vMX8ou3qxOCbs23jLYylk2dwj-ZpxWxxYeVCYYrUDYNvtvUpnj2jaUD61UnkMMvGa9p7-5QJmRH9B6bllYGGY-CjHEFi5PZ38xZNur_V6AP8cJWe9DXcqtLiuhemGrVbstsBwyAgMosWObdwVx86REvdMZmEZqdDA/s1600/IMG20231021135327.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIlXcz1-E_kW07tLKJPUjiZYrcm4vMX8ou3qxOCbs23jLYylk2dwj-ZpxWxxYeVCYYrUDYNvtvUpnj2jaUD61UnkMMvGa9p7-5QJmRH9B6bllYGGY-CjHEFi5PZ38xZNur_V6AP8cJWe9DXcqtLiuhemGrVbstsBwyAgMosWObdwVx86REvdMZmEZqdDA/w640-h288/IMG20231021135327.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eHMXHYvPgQarKbETDxejDq8Y2l3N3lup-RAwmneprnNsAlOYWoA_G7IsY5YS4RaEddlZ2s5gvbVGyWgSmS5YjcFlMcst8LIpSERg6yGgz_jgZxfnJA2TC7MyWQUvjPTCNN22H8oNqrUYAJvqltMY9r-z0LuLovBoIwHg-FfeKwNCkQRyHo1LeflGCkI/s1600/IMG20231021140947.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eHMXHYvPgQarKbETDxejDq8Y2l3N3lup-RAwmneprnNsAlOYWoA_G7IsY5YS4RaEddlZ2s5gvbVGyWgSmS5YjcFlMcst8LIpSERg6yGgz_jgZxfnJA2TC7MyWQUvjPTCNN22H8oNqrUYAJvqltMY9r-z0LuLovBoIwHg-FfeKwNCkQRyHo1LeflGCkI/w640-h288/IMG20231021140947.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpf9WoLNMu8SxXsBtO8PBWUyNw3mcIteCmRzwdxV1Ua4aGfTIcXX-FyecdGY36cdqCxmU8E6NoVWA8Bc-VQzpoI5QHQrtomCMagFJd-EN837bWBoPPyG9nRaXPT6lETz6E4XqQeXWhuegyRSTapbO9uLZ9ySG2JAO6Bc8llVUTAqNAz2l4thhNpyFxw0/s2312/IMG20231021141225.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpf9WoLNMu8SxXsBtO8PBWUyNw3mcIteCmRzwdxV1Ua4aGfTIcXX-FyecdGY36cdqCxmU8E6NoVWA8Bc-VQzpoI5QHQrtomCMagFJd-EN837bWBoPPyG9nRaXPT6lETz6E4XqQeXWhuegyRSTapbO9uLZ9ySG2JAO6Bc8llVUTAqNAz2l4thhNpyFxw0/w640-h288/IMG20231021141225.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH93CBEsYJilvZS_WIxVxNmBtXneT1o9e5YIg0r4UJrrHd5xH7cF7K-Fsq7vciSPdOVcoxjYIAECF6184HPcI8jDzm1p-8k3QPGlLZ49ygCrwK-49gfrYRahgiLchwaUgdT-riCfahcwcqPGIQLzpVYJuXNkYYTj0GXlXg307A_bEtquMxyvFWmnnCxUQ/s1600/IMG20231021142309.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH93CBEsYJilvZS_WIxVxNmBtXneT1o9e5YIg0r4UJrrHd5xH7cF7K-Fsq7vciSPdOVcoxjYIAECF6184HPcI8jDzm1p-8k3QPGlLZ49ygCrwK-49gfrYRahgiLchwaUgdT-riCfahcwcqPGIQLzpVYJuXNkYYTj0GXlXg307A_bEtquMxyvFWmnnCxUQ/w640-h288/IMG20231021142309.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We got largely lucky with the weather, only caught out briefly in the rain.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNle27KpdWl__QlEfbJruKijyxXtbcMbArx9-go8j2eNUWortBJx2afJSmRrAw5hBXj0mda1Zm4jaMLPB-_uunIjJanaP3Gvw25xWkgaQ7FKB2bAn68wOSg8LaFMgoHHHAfufLSI_BrALckZGY1xDxVAS3rXldBXctazpFS4cPfnlHyeCGGnc8w65mHxo/s1600/IMG20231021143234_BURST000_COVER.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNle27KpdWl__QlEfbJruKijyxXtbcMbArx9-go8j2eNUWortBJx2afJSmRrAw5hBXj0mda1Zm4jaMLPB-_uunIjJanaP3Gvw25xWkgaQ7FKB2bAn68wOSg8LaFMgoHHHAfufLSI_BrALckZGY1xDxVAS3rXldBXctazpFS4cPfnlHyeCGGnc8w65mHxo/w640-h288/IMG20231021143234_BURST000_COVER.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The annoying metal cage around the top of the bell tower, I'm guessing, is a Faraday cage to prevent lightning from killing the visitors. No such cage is present around the cupola, but there the visitors are much further down from the spire on the top. Here you're right next to it.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Afterwards we went into a museum included as part of the ticket, which was not bad, but I wish we'd queued for the luggage retrieval first. By this point I was already thirsty. By the time we were out of the museum I was sweating buckets (it was warm but not hot) and feeling like I had a hangover. This I attribute to a lack of my morning tea or other fluid; I'd had just one small glass of orange juice all day. Well, lesson learned.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1vP99Xyz_3td2-lU9D5T3mGeIMswJddES7g32aMErNTpBH1RGHQiL8ghiLTV-ScT3b0uO40cdTwY0oPBgHc9D7jHpQ01ttLmbDB_dlwj4btvGdKlgYdC18tEGMHA1lQQA6rNAPWPfiX6HfldEkMCMCtsusXt909ynbqaC_01O6XfbikgbEsEhTJgd9Q/s2312/IMG20231021153911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji1vP99Xyz_3td2-lU9D5T3mGeIMswJddES7g32aMErNTpBH1RGHQiL8ghiLTV-ScT3b0uO40cdTwY0oPBgHc9D7jHpQ01ttLmbDB_dlwj4btvGdKlgYdC18tEGMHA1lQQA6rNAPWPfiX6HfldEkMCMCtsusXt909ynbqaC_01O6XfbikgbEsEhTJgd9Q/w288-h640/IMG20231021153911.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I can't avoid thinking of this guy as the Big Bishop of Bologna even though this is in Florence.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Fortunately getting back to Bologna was incident-free, and after I had plenty to drink I collapsed in my hotel room at about 7pm and didn't wake up until 10. Then, feeling very much better but now wide awake, I got on with some science blogging for a few hours and feel asleep again around 2am. I personally am <i>not </i>a fan of "total tourism" that some people practise. I want some break time from sightseeing and a few hours each day of doing normal things, otherwise I just feel shattered and can't enjoy it. From this perspective, solo travelling for me has some big advantages, even if it does start to feel overly-solitary after more than a few days.</p><p>The next day I did more wandering around Bologna. My trip up the tallest of the city's many watchtowers was cancelled due to sudden maintenance, so I went in a different, slightly shorter one instead. Again I regretted nothing, the weather was fantastic and the view was brilliant. Bologna too undergoes a transformation with altitude, though not quite so dramatically as Florence.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1_Xd3qipEK38pnJ4RGwa71on4wc5qj7fRXF8qVwkpkv-VSxcq09xmEJLccDpSv1W7EJQ7Rbrvwn4L8nDwa2XLZklkusObi_ypzCNrR61-QUUU_-CEOJ-dY_NAEyjNdjJNrP6E2v_Heh9U0GjaTmB69fX_5VFzQC-t7_ZH55vYS-TaghYDP-3uZ5EdBk/s1600/IMG20231022121800.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1_Xd3qipEK38pnJ4RGwa71on4wc5qj7fRXF8qVwkpkv-VSxcq09xmEJLccDpSv1W7EJQ7Rbrvwn4L8nDwa2XLZklkusObi_ypzCNrR61-QUUU_-CEOJ-dY_NAEyjNdjJNrP6E2v_Heh9U0GjaTmB69fX_5VFzQC-t7_ZH55vYS-TaghYDP-3uZ5EdBk/w640-h288/IMG20231022121800.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwNRbMFQSBMbV7ojy3AMQbtqm9dcI8TCjdVqFaNMbs8UiZ2DOpUwKcWnC2a4dgxNvo4VIFVw7rX-A7jCMdaFhNJMEQgpH0RtH51qBA8SkV6EyJ4CUxnIHUCeCWfvVXgvIShn0ur7RogXSY6zi0bDIlzaVkBK2pj_Buw14fM0cX-batseIlWTI65sqBnM/s1600/IMG20231022122227.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitwNRbMFQSBMbV7ojy3AMQbtqm9dcI8TCjdVqFaNMbs8UiZ2DOpUwKcWnC2a4dgxNvo4VIFVw7rX-A7jCMdaFhNJMEQgpH0RtH51qBA8SkV6EyJ4CUxnIHUCeCWfvVXgvIShn0ur7RogXSY6zi0bDIlzaVkBK2pj_Buw14fM0cX-batseIlWTI65sqBnM/w640-h288/IMG20231022122227.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From the Torre Prendiparte. Unlike the taller tower you don't have to book ahead of time. Queue was 20 minutes.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Actually I have to say I prefer Bologna as a city, at least from my brief visits. Bologna is a real studentsville and clearly a place to live first, visit second. It's busy but with residents. And its streets are just that bit architecturally nicer, more distinct, more medieval in feeling. If Bologna is bustling, Florence by contrast is a truly heaving tourist trap, undeniably spectacular (awe-inspiring, even !) in places but mediocre in others. </p><p>Finally, after a good long break back in my hotel, I walked the 4 km up the hill to the <a href="https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/places/religious-buildings/sanctuary-of-san-luca-eng">Sanctuary of St Luca</a>, a wonderfully-situated, surprisingly large churchy thing at the end of a walk which is entirely covered by stone porticos (they have these everywhere and I love them) the whole way up the hill. This time I had plenty to drink and felt absolutely fine apart from, inevitably, my feet, but sod them they don't get to tell me what to do.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FK4sj9DBN591zM0X03I5efh782KZ3NbhZkZHBkL7JXrnve4dk2mW72047tIc_HbI35xon-FLZRK9bltOL2PfNoLdYxJsyI_U4HRYq3Zd8WS-zMjTZNiwRwtEAKSEYXZU2E4RtXG-om7lfKn0g_DyRCRd6wJlh9xdKPSKBDdwrI9sAn-QmR7D9wZ4VR4/s1600/IMG20231022153452.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FK4sj9DBN591zM0X03I5efh782KZ3NbhZkZHBkL7JXrnve4dk2mW72047tIc_HbI35xon-FLZRK9bltOL2PfNoLdYxJsyI_U4HRYq3Zd8WS-zMjTZNiwRwtEAKSEYXZU2E4RtXG-om7lfKn0g_DyRCRd6wJlh9xdKPSKBDdwrI9sAn-QmR7D9wZ4VR4/w640-h288/IMG20231022153452.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ4uoSZDt2VMLUMtFfpOLUH0jPHAQlk15XRbMt4UZY9hnh8ph1BDxoFBa5x3Jacysl5DeXM4Yl2KzEUBbkGvqvxM5PrLBT45bPKugUTJN88rcOPjW7RyQONeeSUaqFJ99PHwKyuzZ823tKBhllwaUBsi1-nKfKTiD0Go8tMBaWVbJ-aJ134M3foWRE6M/s1600/IMG20231022154421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ4uoSZDt2VMLUMtFfpOLUH0jPHAQlk15XRbMt4UZY9hnh8ph1BDxoFBa5x3Jacysl5DeXM4Yl2KzEUBbkGvqvxM5PrLBT45bPKugUTJN88rcOPjW7RyQONeeSUaqFJ99PHwKyuzZ823tKBhllwaUBsi1-nKfKTiD0Go8tMBaWVbJ-aJ134M3foWRE6M/w640-h288/IMG20231022154421.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioceOwt-QwzUKXDxu0teUF2n8VHiIgblGYoObFGlba2Zp28iPB5KOPkgE6LumSj99odRN3Cn1_6ZYUA22bdn0cqmpIWKMotnioTxkojBwSMR3V11cEpEGtb2F_MQZxSlnxoPljcd6MqeZkF_4Hdxd28fAn3Tb9qq07d6P6Lvc9P3hNp1qfz4UDfuTyGFA/s2312/IMG20231022155637.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioceOwt-QwzUKXDxu0teUF2n8VHiIgblGYoObFGlba2Zp28iPB5KOPkgE6LumSj99odRN3Cn1_6ZYUA22bdn0cqmpIWKMotnioTxkojBwSMR3V11cEpEGtb2F_MQZxSlnxoPljcd6MqeZkF_4Hdxd28fAn3Tb9qq07d6P6Lvc9P3hNp1qfz4UDfuTyGFA/w640-h288/IMG20231022155637.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDduxx6j9ScEYggyxhZh9Fak3wsywxK7PQHJz0Hk8u-Tg8si01Ffb-zAFarzZ3T1hEaPpQfWhKugdixRW8KWDTN6wXmck9uJogLVLIuee7vERWAK1me_zP3uEW0xrb9_Xvf41L329Lzunv6nju9bQG3uv2dWrvzhSybZ5zd8CThyphenhyphen1Tzzd2a39Xa3wr1P8/s2312/IMG20231022154004.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDduxx6j9ScEYggyxhZh9Fak3wsywxK7PQHJz0Hk8u-Tg8si01Ffb-zAFarzZ3T1hEaPpQfWhKugdixRW8KWDTN6wXmck9uJogLVLIuee7vERWAK1me_zP3uEW0xrb9_Xvf41L329Lzunv6nju9bQG3uv2dWrvzhSybZ5zd8CThyphenhyphen1Tzzd2a39Xa3wr1P8/w640-h288/IMG20231022154004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There were also good views of Bologna itself, but the Tuscan hillsides in the other directions were better.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpqCx5gIgxHbgeCMn5Rw4YsLyFBQebiJ59S-mykmH4N9GkCO0_NBR0xtMDKtb3gtuOkhulBq2CB246UyePXIr2-lpzspJbe848bNueytMXp_i7blXTJ-h-1rWuFlSRAokuFXH4J_lzl736iUCmWacGKS6WDnxNTm_BR2OTBlhJB77vtSwDZTKF8ATj5c/s1600/IMG20231022155757.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpqCx5gIgxHbgeCMn5Rw4YsLyFBQebiJ59S-mykmH4N9GkCO0_NBR0xtMDKtb3gtuOkhulBq2CB246UyePXIr2-lpzspJbe848bNueytMXp_i7blXTJ-h-1rWuFlSRAokuFXH4J_lzl736iUCmWacGKS6WDnxNTm_BR2OTBlhJB77vtSwDZTKF8ATj5c/w640-h288/IMG20231022155757.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I arrived in the middle of a Catholic ceremony which I have to say felt <i>very </i>Kubrick. I mean, it's just daft to paint all forms of religion with the same cultish brush, but this one... no, <i>this one</i> definitely did feel like the sort of affair in which <i>O Fortuna</i> would suddenly start playing I'd find myself the surprise victim of the molestations of an overactive and sexually deprived Tom Cruise.</p><p>Urrgh, there's a thought.</p><p>The final day I went around the Bologna archaeological museum. Excellent place with an unexpected Egyptian collection and a fascinating, enormous Etruscan section, though a bit hit-and-miss on the English text (perfect translations, just variable in their availability, with some rooms translating every description of every artifact and others having none at all).</p><p>Finally it was time to head home. The only point I will say here is that Bologna airport has a very fast and efficient security section but beyond that it's honestly horrible : it's crowded to the point of being comparable to a music venue, and really no fun at all. For a brief moment I misread my flight delay as being 2 hours and my heart sank; how everyone else around me seemed perfectly comfortable with the highly limited seating, noisy and overheated environment I really don't know. Fortunately it was actually only a 20 minute delay and so my urge to burst into tears immediately receded.</p><p>And that's my second science trip this year. It was a only a week but felt like a month. That's enough conferences for now, methinks; time to get back to science proper. After I recover from this stinking little cold, which I'm blaming on the airport.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-40265629944732722322023-07-18T08:58:00.000-04:002023-07-18T08:58:01.395-04:00Singing, Summer, Scones, Speeches, Sounds and... Science !<p>Home is for holidays, but every once in a while it's possible to go for research as well. I don't often go to the UK's <a href="https://nam2023.org/">National Astronomy Meetings</a> (the last one I attended was in Hertfordshire in 2009 !), but this year it was in Cardiff so I basically <i>had </i>to go. It'd be silly not to.</p><p>This time it wasn't practical to take the dogs so it was just me, by plane, but going to Cardiff airport instead of pesky Bristol or London. Even though this involves a 2 hour layover in Amsterdam (an airport which is nice but far, far too large), not having to commute on landing is somehow about ten thousand times more convenient. If only there was a budget airline flying this route ! Oh well, one day.</p><p>Getting home before midnight meant I didn't feel absolutely shattered the next day, which was technically the first day of the conference. I began with a nice dog walk followed by a visit to a friends, and then in the evening the welcome reception was in Cardiff Bay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMZcbT_H1IU6KaidP4Tnaff2uZwqtwmcPmL4HptLH_MdsDp_y8Kq9Ia6Xm7O-y3AbKeoMgNWWgWa-hXAZLyhPdQ747YmYiIjiUVy4FJd3tx6h09UoMX8PM2jObB8reD6YovbvOze4mjgsxnMiX5RAETOIPtsFJKlccYxnv5xhIva-l2DYTsfn_1rLhDI/s2312/IMG20230702084614.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMZcbT_H1IU6KaidP4Tnaff2uZwqtwmcPmL4HptLH_MdsDp_y8Kq9Ia6Xm7O-y3AbKeoMgNWWgWa-hXAZLyhPdQ747YmYiIjiUVy4FJd3tx6h09UoMX8PM2jObB8reD6YovbvOze4mjgsxnMiX5RAETOIPtsFJKlccYxnv5xhIva-l2DYTsfn_1rLhDI/w640-h288/IMG20230702084614.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_dBT72P1n4fhRdGGqkIq5uUgtaWCdl469p6ZoE_dsK42_w7fvYAaCZnhSh8jUpi1QwQDO5zataNWPsojjICPEIK8XGjZX4nXM0n9cik-i8r-u3CVg-YJYrGGFMVoPyxM8S3UHB5ful34LXQWA58UJWJzWiRdUUGIOksAGHHsh1wtuGLesns8LDKGkkw/s2312/IMG20230702180148.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_dBT72P1n4fhRdGGqkIq5uUgtaWCdl469p6ZoE_dsK42_w7fvYAaCZnhSh8jUpi1QwQDO5zataNWPsojjICPEIK8XGjZX4nXM0n9cik-i8r-u3CVg-YJYrGGFMVoPyxM8S3UHB5ful34LXQWA58UJWJzWiRdUUGIOksAGHHsh1wtuGLesns8LDKGkkw/w640-h288/IMG20230702180148.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcIFu2eNqxlq2Y338_u67Vcs2tXPC7jSSpsCWr_Ay8LMzB067y2WzFQDUS0hmXPiQlOhKXv5cNzpnhbdh7xYmV_HC-q7XETqvGmoBibOFS1mj57tahRLvdy75Gl2g4vRo5m_Pyr4vOAn-wBimPrY5c8WMpqerFDX6H6dnlKcxvR-0ecazw2PnqXNxgP8/s2312/IMG20230702190358.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcIFu2eNqxlq2Y338_u67Vcs2tXPC7jSSpsCWr_Ay8LMzB067y2WzFQDUS0hmXPiQlOhKXv5cNzpnhbdh7xYmV_HC-q7XETqvGmoBibOFS1mj57tahRLvdy75Gl2g4vRo5m_Pyr4vOAn-wBimPrY5c8WMpqerFDX6H6dnlKcxvR-0ecazw2PnqXNxgP8/w640-h288/IMG20230702190358.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With an actual male voice choir, which is about as Welsh as Welsh can be.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I learned later that afterwards some people jumped on the conference drinking bandwagon very early, ending up in an axe-throwing bar (those are thing now, apparently) somewhere late that very evening. As it turned out, I think I'm glad I missed that one.</p><p>Monday began the conference proper in the shiny new "Centre for Student Life", I guess because calling it the "Student's Union" is too socialist or something. While I quite like the exterior, which is modern but in keeping with the very much older, grander building across the road, I've always wondered why it's so damn big. As it turns out this is very simple : because it's not just a student drinking bar but a whole series of lecture theatres. The largest one, which hosted the biggest sessions, holds 550 people.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhab-5wrv5-DuOFuzcnTB9tvZNUXpVLdmOGHjhfO1sG2WEuwiL0q8EpiLae3vgz_kYIL-468laC-SloY06vXe2GDbJXnXYiqe0Rg7kRcOpBAinY_N1MFv44JW_vlya8airGiEKDQ5qozQc_GIcmRGaZ2er_ObvnHN35hBdT1K8AYvXILHc6HvCjst3SesI/s2312/IMG20230703081433_BURST001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhab-5wrv5-DuOFuzcnTB9tvZNUXpVLdmOGHjhfO1sG2WEuwiL0q8EpiLae3vgz_kYIL-468laC-SloY06vXe2GDbJXnXYiqe0Rg7kRcOpBAinY_N1MFv44JW_vlya8airGiEKDQ5qozQc_GIcmRGaZ2er_ObvnHN35hBdT1K8AYvXILHc6HvCjst3SesI/w288-h640/IMG20230703081433_BURST001.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTQr11B5VpkjRimUyObLxCUkEBdvzN2xBHU6arRpeviV2pmEjICFyrbjvDRvm9kKVIphBZ1uOsfFtpdXSXe5k0vKslXHTFeleyECc9JAoN2CAs3k5ZxiJ1mIb4IssYSqm1Ny0OE6DfsofmWGFiF5QqgVY_N5PNiBy5pbwOLI6bZ92Us9Vb368750DLJE/s1600/IMG20230703082426.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTQr11B5VpkjRimUyObLxCUkEBdvzN2xBHU6arRpeviV2pmEjICFyrbjvDRvm9kKVIphBZ1uOsfFtpdXSXe5k0vKslXHTFeleyECc9JAoN2CAs3k5ZxiJ1mIb4IssYSqm1Ny0OE6DfsofmWGFiF5QqgVY_N5PNiBy5pbwOLI6bZ92Us9Vb368750DLJE/w640-h288/IMG20230703082426.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The only thing I don't like is the weird layout of the stairs, which don't form a continuous sequence - you have to walk between stairwells on most floors.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The Science Bit</u></b></p><p><u>The Conference</u></p><p>Rather than do a day-by-day account of how things went, it's probably better if I just pick out the highlights and other notable points. Overall, this was a frankly ludicrously well-organised conference (and I'm not just trying to sing Cardiff's praises, after all we've got professional choirs to do that). Talks were almost always within 5 minutes of their scheduled time, hardly any problems occurred with the projectors and the like, and there were no major clashes between sessions. </p><p>Where it really stood out, though, was with the catering, which was the best conference catering I've ever had. Coffee and tea were permanently available (unlike in <a href="https://janfest2022.asu.cas.cz/">JanFest</a>, where for some godforsaken reason the bastards kept taking everything away during the talks), with a flow system that was second to none, and during the official morning and afternoon sessions were stocked with biscuits, Welsh cakes, slices of Victoria sponge and lemon drizzle cake which were constantly refilled. Lunch was an all-you-can-eat buffet and, surprisingly, the quality of all of this was actually not half bad - I would even dare to say it was outright <i>good</i>, and think some of my more judgemental colleagues must have been a little... spoiled. Given the standard of the local physics department canteen this was an unexpected but welcome change of pace.</p><p>If I have a criticism of the conference itself it's that the invited talks probably should have been called "review talks". This sounds minor, and it is. But "invited" suggests to me the speaker is very prestigious and has some exciting new results to present, whereas a review talk is just a summary of everyone else' research : absolutely fine, but a bit weird if you're sat there waiting for something else. </p><p><br /></p><p><u>Solid science</u></p><p>On to the science itself. One thing I was surprised at is that the talks about the <a href="https://www.inverse.com/science/epoch-of-reionization-explainer">epoch of reionisation</a>, when the first stars and other bright sources first lit up and ionised all the gas throughout the entire universe, have changed very little in the intervening 14 years (!)* from when I was last at NAM. But I think perhaps in that respect I've timed this badly : JWST has only just come online, and we may need only another year or two to get some really interesting results here. It looks like those first, stupendously powerful stars are indeed beginning to be found, but we don't have enough information to say anything interesting about them yet.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Multiple people guessed my age this week, with estimates ranging from 26 to "33, at most". I'm feeling pretty good about that.</span></p><p>On a related front, the recent storm of controversies about whether JWST has found more massive galaxies too soon after the Big Bang appears to be more-or-less over : it hasn't. There was exactly <i>one </i>talk saying we should keep an open mind about whether any of the new results pose fundamental difficulties for the Standard Model but all the rest were pretty clear that this isn't tenable. </p><p>To be fair, it does seem that JWST <i>has </i>found an unexpected number of early disc galaxies, as well as galaxies which have already finished forming stars in the early Universe. But these are rather problems of detail, as several speakers explained at some length on just how many uncertainties still remain in the models - there's more than enough scope in the error bars to solve this without throwing out the basic models at all. </p><p>Problems with the mass, which would have been much more fundamental and interesting, have been resolved with spectroscopic confirmation of the true redshift (effectively, distance). As we all suspected, the photometric redshifts (and I confess I didn't quite realise how sophisticated this technique can be) just aren't good enough, even when multiple fitting models give the same answer. Spectroscopy has definitively but disappointingly shown that the suspected very early, massive galaxies are actually a lot smaller and closer. They're still interesting, but they're not "oh shit I just wet my pants" level of interesting any more. Oh well*.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* As per another talk, however, the "tensions" between the different Hubble constant values obtained by different methods might yet prove to be something more interesting. I hope so, but I'd bet against it.</span></p><p>For the rest, I'll briefly summarise some of my personal favourites :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Amélie Saintonge</b> gave a great review talk about star formation in molecular clouds. This interests me in how it relates to star formation on larger scales : can we relate global conditions to local activity ? It seems that we can at least in part. Self gravity seems to be important only in high-pressure environments, and only the densest part of each cloud actually forms stars - there may not be a simple global threshold at which star formation happens. </li><li><b>Timothy Davis</b> also looked at molecular gas but this time in galaxies experiencing gas loss. Oddly, galaxies in the Fornax cluster have less molecular gas than expected, while those in the more massive, more gas-lossy Virgo cluster have more normal molecular contents ! There seems to be a consensus rapidly emerging that as the thinner atomic gas is lost, initially part of it can be compressed and form molecules. So during the active stripping phase, galaxies have a bit less atomic gas than normal, but can even have <i>more </i>molecular gas than they usually do.</li><li>An honourable mention to <b>Elizabeth Watkins</b> for making a catalogue of gas bubbles and doing it correctly : <i>by eye</i>, without any boring algorithms. I'm a big fan of this approach and I think it would do everyone the world of good to acknowledge that we can't be purely objective all the time.</li><li><b>Ben Thompson</b> showed that ram pressure stripping, which we normally associate with galaxies moving at the highest speeds in the densest parts of galaxy clusters, can also happen the the edges of galaxies voids. Here the densities and speeds are very much lower so this is not what one would naively expect. It seems that while ram pressure here is never going to be as damaging as it is in clusters, it might still be enough to strip the outer reservoirs of gas, slowly quenching star formation rather than bringing it to a sudden halt.</li><li><b>Ethan Taylor</b> (no relation) gave a cool talk on the overlap between dwarf galaxies and globular clusters. This series of simulations is to try and find tests to probe the nature of dark matter : globular clusters and dwarf galaxies can have similar stellar masses, but the former don't have any dark matter whereas the latter have lots. His simulations look for objects in between the two. I asked if this could relate to <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-return-of-failures.html">Ultra Diffuse Galaxies</a> (which are awash with such controversies) but alas it seems not, as those are much more extended objects.</li><li>A dis(?)honourable mention to <b>Mac McMullon</b> who had all the best quotes, including, "Dwarf galaxies, woooo !", "I had more fun fonts but Micosoft ate them", and of course, "I've got a badass hangover." Back atcha, Mac, but just wait until you give your presentation in the <i>afternoon </i>and can still complain about your hangover - then we'll talk.</li><li>Finally, <b>David O'Ryan</b> for introducing a code I want to try which seems to be a very sophisticated way of finding the initial conditions of interacting galaxies. It's not yet public but I can imagine this being a godsend for understanding crazy systems like <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/09/one-ring-to-rule-them-all-but-im-going.html">Leo</a>.</li><li>Oh, wait...<b> me !</b> I gave a crazy-fast distillation of 17 years of research in 10 minutes, summarising the major candidate dark galaxies we've found and how plausible they are. Everyone laughed at the right points, so I guess I wasn't going too much at breakneck speed. Though, while I do like to play the hahah-all-you-chumps-are-interested-in-star-formation angle (whereas I'm looking at gas clouds that don't do anything), I do think there's a serious point people are overlooking here : what keeps some objects dark while others which are apparently otherwise very similar are optically bright ?</li></ul><p></p><p><u><br /></u></p><p><u>Metascience</u></p><p>There was also some great stuff here about not science itself but the process of how we do science : diversity, outreach, and the overlap between science and the arts. There was also a modicum of some truly awful stuff. Now I'm probably going to annoy absolutely everyone when I say the conference was very, very woke, because I mean this in two senses : it had an aspect which is unconditionally, unequivocally and unarguably a Good Thing (everyone of any race, creed, cast, colour, faith or sexual orientation should be able to become a scientist; if you don't believe this, you need to rethink your life choices), but also in the more colloquial <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/05/politically-correct-or-politically.html">pejorative sense</a>. That is, a sort of militant, beatings-will-continue-until-morale-improves approach, you WILL pro-actively embrace all forms of diversity and tolerance or else you'll be taken outside and shot. </p><p>Two particular comments stand out regarding the latter. First, a throwaway comment on one of the talks about how science is "colonialising", which I think is utter rubbish. Academia ? Maybe. But science itself ? Simply nope, this is a hideously weird thing to say. Secondly, a suggestion that if countries which unfairly discriminate against LBGTQ/etc., we should boycott those countries. The problem here is that I vehemently <i>despise </i>the current UK "government"'s policies and rhetoric regarding refugees, asylum seekers and the poor. Should I therefore have boycotted NAM ? I don't think so. If I did that, I'd probably have to boycott every country.</p><p>I retain the anonymity also of one additional speaker who presented a piece of outreach which has been very successful but, on seeing it, I have to say I personally <i>hated </i>it. I don't hate the goal of inclusivity, obviously. No, I hate the "let's ram this down everyone's throat* and forget to tell them any actual science" approach. Yes, damnit, include as many characters of different ethnicities, ages and backgrounds as you want : the more the merrier. But treat those characters with <i>genuine respect</i>. Show them enjoying research, yes, but show them having difficulties too, just like everyone else. "Happy People Doing Science", encountering no kind of difficulties whatsoever - not so much as an angry bee - is something that is monumentally boring and unbelievably cringe-worthy.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In other words, "We need MOOAR EXPOSITION about racism ! MOOOOAR !". <i>Come on</i>, this is not an information deficit problem any more. I thought a much better approach was described in another talk : educating teachers and students together, <i>en masse</i> and repeatedly : that's how you beat implicit bias, not by constantly telling everyone "racism is bad" because everyone already knows this. As in Damon Centola's <i>Change</i>, implicit bias happens because of culture, not conscious choices where anyone sits down and thinks, "hmm, how can I fuck the libtards today ?". The only way to tackle this is to change entire groups, not by educating individuals.</span></p><p>A much better message was in a talk of Peter Coles. He gave two outstanding quotes. First, "If you're upset about pronouns, wait till you find out about adjectives", and secondly, "do the best you can to make your work environment the best it can be for people who are not like you." So far as lifestyle choices go, I thoroughly agree (I found it interesting from another speaker that in other countries it's common to end a science talk with a Bible quote, which might not go down well elsewhere !), though I might have some qualms about Flat Earthers. As usual, the question, "where do you draw the line ?" is a legitimate one which can and should <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/06/leave-damn-statues-alone.html">actually be answered</a>, and is not merely rhetorical. </p><p>But I'm not in a mood for an extended rant about this, so I'll move on to what was for me the stand-out talk of the whole conference : a presentation about Gavin Starks and Andy Newsam's <a href="https://soniverse.space/2022/01/01/escape-into-the-multiverse-an-acoustic-cosmology/">soniverse</a>. This gloriously insane idea began with the simple enough process of sonifying data cubes, turning radio spectra into <a href="https://soniverse.space/2018/02/28/sounds-from-the-soniverse-2018-02-28/">audio</a>. This seems to work better than I would expect it to; I'd love to incorporate this into <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/frelled-1.html">FRELLED</a> somehow... but they've gone much further. They're developing a theory of the universe (just purely for shits and giggles I think) in which photons are replaced with sound, so that <i>dark matter</i> becomes <i>silent matter</i>, a batshit crazy resurrection of the aether.</p><p>Utterly bonkers. I absolutely love it.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The Social Bit</u></b></p><p>The non-conferency bits attached to the conference were numerous. We began with an opening address by First Minister Mark Drakeford. Remarkably... he was <i>genuinely funny</i>. Now I quite like the guy but I do normally think of him as the world's most boring hamster. No more. The previous speaker was the vice chancellor, who expressed some skepticism about claims of Roman astronomy in Wales. Drakeford said he wouldn't normally presume to correct him, but went on to list numerous examples, which he described in some detail, of pre-Roman astronomical alignments in ancient Welsh megaliths. It was a well-researched, highly sympathetic speech that in terms of the old golden rule "know your audience" had it utterly <i>nailed</i>. And he was indeed funny, noting, "from the financial crisis to the austerity crisis, the Brexit crisis to the COVID crisis and the cost of living crisis, we move, seamlessly, from one damn thing to another"; and "politics is more akin to astrology than astronomy." Which was delivered with impeccable comic timing that perfectly matched his delivery. It was hardly stand-up, but it bordered on <i>Yes Minister </i>territory.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HUwdtV5xaHcAPf4_fod7EQ5ezE_09aztQKsmHrPWjdFzfpgxnmkKoHCh-M0X188pqZUjAfsgDR95wZE1qjNX_zstaNOL1xTgiEohqg61-5wxoAk9JPmh2Eq4sl3inTEtzqk28v0h_tNluNiRvro7n10oiwLA-4hKOKrK2NaPledBh-RgdQeuxgi_JJY/s2312/IMG20230703111147.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8HUwdtV5xaHcAPf4_fod7EQ5ezE_09aztQKsmHrPWjdFzfpgxnmkKoHCh-M0X188pqZUjAfsgDR95wZE1qjNX_zstaNOL1xTgiEohqg61-5wxoAk9JPmh2Eq4sl3inTEtzqk28v0h_tNluNiRvro7n10oiwLA-4hKOKrK2NaPledBh-RgdQeuxgi_JJY/w640-h288/IMG20230703111147.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The line on the whiteboard is from one of the few presentations where things went awry and the speaker was forced to draw a missing graph.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Monday evening featured the usual NAM 5-a-side, but I was infinitely more impressed by Mike Edmund's one man Tuesday play, "Sir Isaac Remembers". Mike is now President of the Royal Astronomical Society no less, but a long time back he was my undergraduate academic tutor. Had the X-rays been available on time, my Masters project would have been studying the Antikythera mechanism rather than running galaxy simulations. Oh, the road not taken... Anyway, the play is Mike in character as Sir Isaac narrating a random assortment of his letters and writings, which is both hilarious and educational (genuine edutainment !). It has to be experienced, not described, so I won't try.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicR99kM5necxgDJ98-0QSAw1MH4fYSnzXyZQm6kuzS2O5lX2RKnvk99g0rRKoKPr2HgBJKBmpdjxhJ4U2non_PPrh9ps9CDHarFEmxrsHXVjJ3hVXge2v2CenJ227RBFx291mSUvWrVxnMy3oyWFScVp6S7CkIqel3w-bjNg4lIhnOXMvM7ZyquUDdvQ/s2312/IMG20230704175839.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicR99kM5necxgDJ98-0QSAw1MH4fYSnzXyZQm6kuzS2O5lX2RKnvk99g0rRKoKPr2HgBJKBmpdjxhJ4U2non_PPrh9ps9CDHarFEmxrsHXVjJ3hVXge2v2CenJ227RBFx291mSUvWrVxnMy3oyWFScVp6S7CkIqel3w-bjNg4lIhnOXMvM7ZyquUDdvQ/w640-h288/IMG20230704175839.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">After this we had a quiz. We came third, which is not bad at all considering there was certainly well over 100 people participating. Actually this was reportedly the largest NAM ever, with ~650 attendees, although no-one is quite sure why.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Wednesday was the conference dinner at the Millennium Stadium*. <i>Excellent </i>food, plentiful wine, and for £40 it wasn't cheap but I would honestly say it was good value. The one downside was the endless bloody awards, which meant that it was hard to have a conversation with anyone because if nothing else everyone had to stop every two minutes to give a round of applause to someone they'd never heard of winning an award they'd never heard of for research they weren't interested in. However, then we all went out and got very, very drunk, so that was alright in the end.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Why no, I <i>won't </i>call it the Principality Stadium, you twerps.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QgdnahvFIYEkeR_tMRSVZfiZ7kO2r0tTvhh0gu_LqbVtz0fWf7xgayPAIfp8McC98tViz5-kqna-YfrUpOTyj1Y6E-bOC4wT-qru7c5PoppEDhQ6UKMZR8cxZKyyZs7Wx6wQIsVL0CsOIDJlbmH3bP4QdkqElIcoN8IgjOXyFmc8lE3PZUZKLEMitjc/s2312/IMG20230705193229.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QgdnahvFIYEkeR_tMRSVZfiZ7kO2r0tTvhh0gu_LqbVtz0fWf7xgayPAIfp8McC98tViz5-kqna-YfrUpOTyj1Y6E-bOC4wT-qru7c5PoppEDhQ6UKMZR8cxZKyyZs7Wx6wQIsVL0CsOIDJlbmH3bP4QdkqElIcoN8IgjOXyFmc8lE3PZUZKLEMitjc/w640-h288/IMG20230705193229.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Thursday evening had nothing much scheduled, but a surprising number of people went out <i>again </i>and everyone was complaining the next day except me because I went home and had a lovely night's sleep. Mwhahah, bitches.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The Holiday Bit</u></b></p><p>This was wise, because the conference ended midway through Friday afternoon, whereupon I proceeded down to the bay for the annual Food Festival, and afterwards proceeded to get very drunk again.</p><p>The rest of the week was divided between walking the dog...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpiZTyCWcZMVFe3WHgOGNndiygJ52iMl6cQqa94N-pu3k9jHqoI13qMkevYjQi6g_knKYW3DpoqCccpIZGvDk2LqcMYRch6T6JOokMqpH2i5GTv_2fPB0mw0waePZPtPXR3sg6XRaV5TFyfBu6Zbf6F4oNxc7R6fvTX_kzkXjyBYw9qT-1L0Yyd6zA14/s2312/IMG20230711142957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpiZTyCWcZMVFe3WHgOGNndiygJ52iMl6cQqa94N-pu3k9jHqoI13qMkevYjQi6g_knKYW3DpoqCccpIZGvDk2LqcMYRch6T6JOokMqpH2i5GTv_2fPB0mw0waePZPtPXR3sg6XRaV5TFyfBu6Zbf6F4oNxc7R6fvTX_kzkXjyBYw9qT-1L0Yyd6zA14/w640-h288/IMG20230711142957.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I am horrified to discover that the local dogging spot appears to have been taken over by some sort of death cult. Also, while it was mostly dry, there were times when it rained a <i>lot</i>. Which it's supposed to, because it's Wales.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_c0DFyHWa0szP4TPMHLHOULENNaldkRggr6z1zcjAgHGjRnJ6pT4b1Far_hpv-He_JoC1WJRqlBhhxlTOmBTlxar1ME5cOEwLTYGeUPsoVBZVzLXYMwYlZHgjeI_H6Xu7tKb2AuRMHiTsCiSMdhTch_UsnvruMQTW10mqF1R1GMAG6YOWQ5x8RqzsPM/s2312/IMG20230714084203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_c0DFyHWa0szP4TPMHLHOULENNaldkRggr6z1zcjAgHGjRnJ6pT4b1Far_hpv-He_JoC1WJRqlBhhxlTOmBTlxar1ME5cOEwLTYGeUPsoVBZVzLXYMwYlZHgjeI_H6Xu7tKb2AuRMHiTsCiSMdhTch_UsnvruMQTW10mqF1R1GMAG6YOWQ5x8RqzsPM/w288-h640/IMG20230714084203.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXU9t-0GeE4xFZUJA3Yx1N6mWhLD9hqNL8uYi_AdXB9wmU0VL4NU3wQ3Xdih_iL3PsxZojArZEPjZyvb53y2DjaNEESGpcpZNOVKM9WAiGmgSvkmvjSXdnj6-HICJzZsqTdVGAMSxmVQwiGKkATu3vJwiqtm23KJYz8OGCuK3oc0lmsT4mjrJZQnOmeM/s2312/IMG20230715110155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXU9t-0GeE4xFZUJA3Yx1N6mWhLD9hqNL8uYi_AdXB9wmU0VL4NU3wQ3Xdih_iL3PsxZojArZEPjZyvb53y2DjaNEESGpcpZNOVKM9WAiGmgSvkmvjSXdnj6-HICJzZsqTdVGAMSxmVQwiGKkATu3vJwiqtm23KJYz8OGCuK3oc0lmsT4mjrJZQnOmeM/w288-h640/IMG20230715110155.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>... buying and reading books and enjoying other local delicacies (the first set are not mine, I just think the juxtaposition in the bookshop is... interesting) :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNk-OvaM8VaqmQfpWCpUdIt0xOiY_OajEVF3ae3FHWAC3ZucNAc9jFg_uzswdl_3oEgyBQbAbPv9EkntwUYjziTqO1PzBSeIYsld8WRbx1IxE8dvpeX9lg4yDGU9nmoU-iQA7DxeG3ijkKDiMpvq0sv1jw3jXAVZIa-wxL_ociRayBlCwdJg_tUGbAUk/s2312/IMG20230705151129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNk-OvaM8VaqmQfpWCpUdIt0xOiY_OajEVF3ae3FHWAC3ZucNAc9jFg_uzswdl_3oEgyBQbAbPv9EkntwUYjziTqO1PzBSeIYsld8WRbx1IxE8dvpeX9lg4yDGU9nmoU-iQA7DxeG3ijkKDiMpvq0sv1jw3jXAVZIa-wxL_ociRayBlCwdJg_tUGbAUk/w288-h640/IMG20230705151129.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmNrn-lqnLPkRs9g7YYX6G_-gYezEZaPvPC2gGRxa-yUrnSS89NebmVBLdiGXh_Qx6MRnqLuaWgfcDxZHr2-VQyIOF-A0ez7zpxcdghDkQe_wPbs6qVNYvRV12gcHFWwaHT_4eiEUNoYuQjhtZl_j3rSTPzglken-I0UIe-s791Ub5ql4EPR-wPb4fbg/s2312/IMG20230711131127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmNrn-lqnLPkRs9g7YYX6G_-gYezEZaPvPC2gGRxa-yUrnSS89NebmVBLdiGXh_Qx6MRnqLuaWgfcDxZHr2-VQyIOF-A0ez7zpxcdghDkQe_wPbs6qVNYvRV12gcHFWwaHT_4eiEUNoYuQjhtZl_j3rSTPzglken-I0UIe-s791Ub5ql4EPR-wPb4fbg/w288-h640/IMG20230711131127.jpg" width="288" /></a></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3ILAHmlxGzGa-p-idzvljf0odvz0g0_TevZls5ir-4meplCk7ABoJvHDjS54NvsYrGkku7KabYob2sRbXVL0M0fTFaAgibGRDj4sDR_r75XzK3_cbt8_H5HEK0wu7A87KKb4QLX0gJyxPwly9Cvrvwr0RTqKBRXgMy6QnoeT1wLlUYVKObtGvbL8zxA/s2312/IMG20230709171333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3ILAHmlxGzGa-p-idzvljf0odvz0g0_TevZls5ir-4meplCk7ABoJvHDjS54NvsYrGkku7KabYob2sRbXVL0M0fTFaAgibGRDj4sDR_r75XzK3_cbt8_H5HEK0wu7A87KKb4QLX0gJyxPwly9Cvrvwr0RTqKBRXgMy6QnoeT1wLlUYVKObtGvbL8zxA/w640-h288/IMG20230709171333.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I always want to put the jam and cream the other way around on one scone just to annoy the internet. But come on, the jam is sticky so it goes on the bottom. Trying to spread jam on top of the cream is just asking for trouble.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>... continuing to drink until silly o'clock and also exploring Penarth :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1qxlJw9GodD4YoLzOy9ELWJoJGMvUOrnK8RKQ62s18HD_CmiTRt6tjMhI5KeR9bim711loeUsLbEiTQFeQOJIOyocseREnuuqKmhZ6iugamlVQiv5LN181HLP_AMH0HbGGwH4tgemRAXcBGWsC3IhuzjNDRJhFTAe5xghOYe-ApPxoJBDk4YRKLPRkY/s2312/IMG20230713135613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz1qxlJw9GodD4YoLzOy9ELWJoJGMvUOrnK8RKQ62s18HD_CmiTRt6tjMhI5KeR9bim711loeUsLbEiTQFeQOJIOyocseREnuuqKmhZ6iugamlVQiv5LN181HLP_AMH0HbGGwH4tgemRAXcBGWsC3IhuzjNDRJhFTAe5xghOYe-ApPxoJBDk4YRKLPRkY/w640-h288/IMG20230713135613.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3DMDrs7SS3mpkv0A3KhplYnbFL_WGxkjoar-GE1fQnlnejzIjfIFixdWq8PtJbI1cqhmTBqcIszQC2v5y50t5sxRoWyQQ5XmK8ywrRXUUasOv8dopVeVtmQhwOiEhwrmPEqMbrt1nYzLfV2fPHW185GY5xs-2jp3p1FgQMcTFrVAN3_uXriWsWgspOo/s2312/IMG20230713173049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3DMDrs7SS3mpkv0A3KhplYnbFL_WGxkjoar-GE1fQnlnejzIjfIFixdWq8PtJbI1cqhmTBqcIszQC2v5y50t5sxRoWyQQ5XmK8ywrRXUUasOv8dopVeVtmQhwOiEhwrmPEqMbrt1nYzLfV2fPHW185GY5xs-2jp3p1FgQMcTFrVAN3_uXriWsWgspOo/w640-h288/IMG20230713173049.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuVQ0Me2_ddCU13ATbj2ll0KxKSQ0a9zUDJFLh8yVbdPMOPVGN_-a1x28TB_HKRJqjRK34HptXgukelM2-zmMshw6wH81TNOFdYF1gYy7AE-ZIQNBDhlDUCzRV-duFKR7TwibY0z5dOIJ1Wi-url2O7EEeEf0tKPOD0YNlw5RIS_Pcy98Gii8E5njVrc/s2312/IMG20230713143720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGuVQ0Me2_ddCU13ATbj2ll0KxKSQ0a9zUDJFLh8yVbdPMOPVGN_-a1x28TB_HKRJqjRK34HptXgukelM2-zmMshw6wH81TNOFdYF1gYy7AE-ZIQNBDhlDUCzRV-duFKR7TwibY0z5dOIJ1Wi-url2O7EEeEf0tKPOD0YNlw5RIS_Pcy98Gii8E5njVrc/w640-h288/IMG20230713143720.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_-yExByYBRNFFwki9vDOTZRm6HV22RBRvsH4HE_EaX2j8U051OMXe2H8GN4q0fWoXigvfvf6hWHr8pGYIaIz_3D8D_yaI_17PuDEM_8PjSkwcm0cLBDKwO4Mmi99cz2SDOCo7-F_FXCWc2sHV2ZJpib27__3Uk3-OTei13AJZaB7r35WIzMyNUE2gF0/s2312/IMG20230713170859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_-yExByYBRNFFwki9vDOTZRm6HV22RBRvsH4HE_EaX2j8U051OMXe2H8GN4q0fWoXigvfvf6hWHr8pGYIaIz_3D8D_yaI_17PuDEM_8PjSkwcm0cLBDKwO4Mmi99cz2SDOCo7-F_FXCWc2sHV2ZJpib27__3Uk3-OTei13AJZaB7r35WIzMyNUE2gF0/w288-h640/IMG20230713170859.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This toilet foyer in an an otherwise perfectly nice seaside restaurant/bar is the single chaviest thing I've seen in my life. There are more horses' heads elsewhere, positioned so that they look like they're following you around the room.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>And then finally it was time to come home.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAu78FXzMAzlY41YJlKH7fz0LfSaKhPjQK8PIkN66yezoDi06UR2SIT9NrgTc0IClVpIzuZQ60fYrOWgFCFXFKldtCX6Hv1vjwvESZpWTgGU8qyptSxPvYdaXdXetA7zJEp8g1366naD69FK_Gepr_4iY11TwuP6c36KFMH9DOI8xyN_ETn7IMtnmRzXs/s2312/IMG20230715172059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAu78FXzMAzlY41YJlKH7fz0LfSaKhPjQK8PIkN66yezoDi06UR2SIT9NrgTc0IClVpIzuZQ60fYrOWgFCFXFKldtCX6Hv1vjwvESZpWTgGU8qyptSxPvYdaXdXetA7zJEp8g1366naD69FK_Gepr_4iY11TwuP6c36KFMH9DOI8xyN_ETn7IMtnmRzXs/w640-h288/IMG20230715172059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNitHEHEgMqspc7ns6XSl8ScWIaZrXbZqO8YB-eGjxOnlf1z9VddTzzpv8eb6JO4NIjROL4mmgQlBkGmA_T0V8qQx02XGcsmXe23nXsfaqQDFXmuhyJyalcRb9NnqMnEGC6hStlM-zUiFFhNrnXHimKgDerLFGkMWlJWUhvq25mMTpSL9h6qrgBek450/s2312/IMG20230715180857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNitHEHEgMqspc7ns6XSl8ScWIaZrXbZqO8YB-eGjxOnlf1z9VddTzzpv8eb6JO4NIjROL4mmgQlBkGmA_T0V8qQx02XGcsmXe23nXsfaqQDFXmuhyJyalcRb9NnqMnEGC6hStlM-zUiFFhNrnXHimKgDerLFGkMWlJWUhvq25mMTpSL9h6qrgBek450/w640-h288/IMG20230715180857.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>About the flights there isn't much to say. Everything went as smoothly as possible, we even took off and arrived either slightly early or dead on time for all flights. I should also mention that Cardiff airport is only marginally larger than I remember it (I went through it back in 2008 for a flight to NAM which that year was in Belfast). It was practically deserted, with only four flights on the whole board, but it could probably comfortably accommodate and feed ten times as many people as were actually present.</p><p>Anyway, it was a lovely couple of weeks. As well as catching up with all the most important people, I also ran into people I haven't seen in a good ten years. Whether that's enough to persuade me to go to next year's NAM in Hull, however, is another matter.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-51284206416320150462023-06-18T08:12:00.005-04:002023-06-18T11:51:02.711-04:00Flying Backwards Through Time<p>I've tried to make this video as self-explanatory as possible, so here it is without further ado :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c062WUqAqjw" width="320" youtube-src-id="c062WUqAqjw"></iframe></div><p>This will be a short post just to give a bit more detail and some static images.</p><p>I was feeling really inspired and motivated by the recent <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2023/06/working-on-sunshine.html">solarigraphy meeting</a>. I haven't made any dedicated data visualisation projects in a while, but one that's been gestating in the back of my mind is to try and show the dark matter in galaxy simulations... I think showing this as trails (<i>a la</i> the Sun in solarigraphic images) might look interesting.</p><p>But first, there's much lower-hanging fruit to pluck, though in a tangentially similar vein. Back in 2018, I decided it might be fun to try a time lapse from the office. Specifically, <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/GkxpHt5mwAL9hxA49">here</a>, looking down the Jihozápadní V avenue.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5JWbqpR9PbLLEW2jaXvif3w1zP72pd7IVQdn9vq7jDtKuda91-HZnTvxDt554MdbxKWnhZxdesgSUesTmGwEunqyk-3KXRkVz2Mo304BnnNtWXHxxso3PLPS6q9Lz97XHIz36YIYOstSOALGmOJZT5INZHcHsZ7guncwP7-cAqYM69rLGI4_LLc7/s1783/Location.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1783" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH5JWbqpR9PbLLEW2jaXvif3w1zP72pd7IVQdn9vq7jDtKuda91-HZnTvxDt554MdbxKWnhZxdesgSUesTmGwEunqyk-3KXRkVz2Mo304BnnNtWXHxxso3PLPS6q9Lz97XHIz36YIYOstSOALGmOJZT5INZHcHsZ7guncwP7-cAqYM69rLGI4_LLc7/w640-h280/Location.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Red X marks the spot.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>So each time I went to the office, for the next ~16 months, I took a photo on my mobile phone, which was then a Huawei P10 lite. I tried to keep things as stable as I could, trying to get myself in the same position each time and lining things up in a similar way, but this was all done very quickly and by hand. I decided to do this particular view basically on a whim : it's somewhere I was present regularly and reliably at about the same time, it's quite a nice view, and looking in the other direction (towards the institute itself) you don't see so much. From the other direction, where you enter the avenue to go towards the institute, at certain times of year one gets a very nice "Stonehenge" effect :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmzeB4NoehHBg5LKsLk0J2lYKPfq5WD3UatDGaZDwr3WZm7-6qD51ILxCS1IQ4pXhgCYy0K7vCp3-GkowB_79pFTDO3h2_FkiqYgPfeXDrN1uMnaDVmwq5Suo5II8EEF4K7O-Okd7sOhM98xxLYGPFVVb3OSmf3CuFNPLBwUsa6ENBaG-TYIDjRaV/s1474/IMG_20200304_171705.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1474" data-original-width="1106" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmzeB4NoehHBg5LKsLk0J2lYKPfq5WD3UatDGaZDwr3WZm7-6qD51ILxCS1IQ4pXhgCYy0K7vCp3-GkowB_79pFTDO3h2_FkiqYgPfeXDrN1uMnaDVmwq5Suo5II8EEF4K7O-Okd7sOhM98xxLYGPFVVb3OSmf3CuFNPLBwUsa6ENBaG-TYIDjRaV/w480-h640/IMG_20200304_171705.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Looking in the other direction avoids the sun being in the frame and I'm not sure if this was the right decision or not. I do wish I'd gone for landscape format, but having to avoid the tops of the trees would probably have annoyed me quite intensely.</p><p>Anyway, I didn't always manage to take a photograph every day. Sometimes I just forgot, occasionally going back later when I remembered (or if there were inconveniently-placed people that I hoped would bugger off if I left it for a bit). Sometimes I was away for conferences or holidays* (maybe even working from home from time to time !), and of course I wasn't there on weekends at all. Also the time of day varied considerably, from 7:45 am (God knows what that was all about) to 5:36 pm (probably I forgot to take the picture in the morning). The median time was 9:47 am, with a standard deviation of 1 hour. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Worst of all for this project, I tend to take holidays in the spring an autumn, so the most crucial moments of seasonal change are missing !</span></p><p>This is about as good as can be expected from a real-world side-project, where it's just not possible to keep things more controlled. So not only does the camera position vary quite a bit, but so does the lighting - and of course, this varies dramatically depending on the weather.</p><p>The result is the first sequence in the video - not much more than an unpleasant mess. We need not dwell on it any longer.</p><p>I was expecting as much. I knew I'd probably have to manually align the images to get a nice result, but somehow I just never got around to doing it... until now. So I imported all the images in Blender as transparent planes and manually aligned them by adjusting their scaling, rotation and location. If we show all the images together, here's the unaligned result :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACzhy28H6vcd33V0KblaCh7GlggvY0jb4RCPaE4RK-DLF5dSrqHgivkwzG1ofI4YVVOF6AWmXciM5gyswaDcpz2INU0MWDlWR0LT0qKF0vhBte7TsIOTQnJS07FemoC4kLh9Rh3nhWM1eCcblUFAq86Q4DIolY2vZabtHdigVaHNDIq8yqvLz3-94/s992/StackedAllImagesUnaligned.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACzhy28H6vcd33V0KblaCh7GlggvY0jb4RCPaE4RK-DLF5dSrqHgivkwzG1ofI4YVVOF6AWmXciM5gyswaDcpz2INU0MWDlWR0LT0qKF0vhBte7TsIOTQnJS07FemoC4kLh9Rh3nhWM1eCcblUFAq86Q4DIolY2vZabtHdigVaHNDIq8yqvLz3-94/w480-h640/StackedAllImagesUnaligned.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Which explains why the animated sequence is such a mess. Here's the version after doing all the corrections :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpDXDRXDZn-yR8HoYtAfq0dCOKMT5Znb8RhmVZUTrFia9YJEyDkY-OAmLwSd8tLZh69g3Kz6qNOd8NKiGPfZtNSLE6WulWbF9l1K6Narj2hgS5Fmz5sKeNXFuzuRcYyN4Qyd_BhY6-ZGx-wVVAax2WMt7Can5ZtOdjT_BOn0tufGPSCjTHXd58UgZ/s3968/StackedAllImages.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3968" data-original-width="2976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpDXDRXDZn-yR8HoYtAfq0dCOKMT5Znb8RhmVZUTrFia9YJEyDkY-OAmLwSd8tLZh69g3Kz6qNOd8NKiGPfZtNSLE6WulWbF9l1K6Narj2hgS5Fmz5sKeNXFuzuRcYyN4Qyd_BhY6-ZGx-wVVAax2WMt7Can5ZtOdjT_BOn0tufGPSCjTHXd58UgZ/w480-h640/StackedAllImages.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Little bit of contrast adjustment on this one.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i>Much </i>better. Probably there are better ways to do this; certainly there are a few cases where I didn't align things as well as I could, probably it could even be automated. But I enjoyed the process, so never mind. I'm also pleased with the way the colour turned out, and the blur gives it an air of authenticity, like it's from an archaic film camera instead of a modern electronic gizmo. Still, while the resulting animation sequence is far more bearable than the raw version, it's not quite as good as I was hoping for.</p><p>But together with all the long-exposure stuff I'd seen in the solarigraphy meeting, this gave me ideas of how to process the images differently. Why stop with a simple, traditional sequence of images ? These combined images are in effect pseudo-long-exposure photographs, compressing 16 months into single stills. They're not the same as proper solarigraphs of course, but the overall effect is similar in that you see multiple times all at once.</p><p>So I tried combining the images in different ways for the animation. The simplest approach, which gives a result I quite like, is to give all the images the same level of transparency, such that only when they're all combined do they become completely opaque. That's what's shown in still images above. In the animation, it gives very a much smoother animation than the original, and you still get a satisfying sense of change as it progresses. </p><p>But why insist we see all the images ? If we restrict it so that only 30 images (one month) are ever shown on screen, and their transparency is such that their sum is fully opaque, then we get the best of both worlds : a nice smooth transition but with a more pronounced sense of change.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi533lEXUY9_SgScG15N8P0M95SUZZttSihJbvsYYWXlTtxa8EsyBeMXDfZqpHOswi74p51c34Wocdmh5m8_s0r69BiqNEVZUQh2g-HDYezJznmg2G7AO56HS0SCosGSXU6If8egO-bzD9Rf-jyb6yMI71h48nR0wBcZnvZmH8d1cyZspLa0UTO4YCO/s2972/FourSeasons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="2972" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi533lEXUY9_SgScG15N8P0M95SUZZttSihJbvsYYWXlTtxa8EsyBeMXDfZqpHOswi74p51c34Wocdmh5m8_s0r69BiqNEVZUQh2g-HDYezJznmg2G7AO56HS0SCosGSXU6If8egO-bzD9Rf-jyb6yMI71h48nR0wBcZnvZmH8d1cyZspLa0UTO4YCO/w640-h214/FourSeasons.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Choosing four images to give an obligatory "four season" compilation. We had a particularly hot and dry summer that year, with all the grass dead and even the trees looking unhealthy. Fortunately we also had a cold, snowy winter.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Finally, using the same technique I do for astronomy data visualisations, we can also show the data as a pseudo-3D volume. In effect this has been done already : the images are all separated along the into-the-screen axis, it's just you can't see this because the rendering disables perspective. If we enable it, we get this funky volumetric effect. I really like this in the animation, you get a sense of movement that's only partially true... the camera moves back from the images, but that's not the same as really moving through the street. It's actually moving backwards <i>through time</i>, a weird quasi-movement away from the images but not through the street itself, all the while showing images from longer and longer ago.</p><p>Or equivalently, in this image you're looking into the future by looking at the centre, and into the past by looking at the edges. Time is treated as a spatial dimension.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRt-lF7BuN_Am0ZlrR2P6bbyPKvRVq46zbZO9IgKuQrgS5JEX4JAuiVexUP-N2UdnP7sHGpnyVF4OJr90uptNugjGpElfkPEDdo2xMeB4-RGb4bJz8sSJ1nWC_t_CLrWkBEFu8uxD-Cakcc-j1JXEfgO9fm_YAa52FiHbfPC8N3SpTEdq1LjiTkOrm/s2000/Volumetric.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRt-lF7BuN_Am0ZlrR2P6bbyPKvRVq46zbZO9IgKuQrgS5JEX4JAuiVexUP-N2UdnP7sHGpnyVF4OJr90uptNugjGpElfkPEDdo2xMeB4-RGb4bJz8sSJ1nWC_t_CLrWkBEFu8uxD-Cakcc-j1JXEfgO9fm_YAa52FiHbfPC8N3SpTEdq1LjiTkOrm/w480-h640/Volumetric.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>This concludes my brief foray into experimental photography. You may go about your business, and I'll get back to the world of astronomy.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-61223450715837861702023-06-16T10:30:00.006-04:002023-06-16T10:39:07.705-04:00Working On Sunshine<p><b><u>Staring At The Sun With Solarigraphy</u></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/3654/3622311477_607414db97_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="800" height="358" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3654/3622311477_607414db97_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/solarigrafia/">Diego López Calvín</a>. Always reminds me of the time travel sequence in <i>The Time Machine</i>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Alas, I can't take credit for the post title. It's something I once heard someone joke should be the official anthem of solar astronomers, though I've long since forgotten who it was. Anyway, last week I was lucky enough to attend a <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/~sunwatch/page/solarigraphy-meeting-2023">conference</a> on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarigraphy">solarigraphy</a>, and I think this is worth a post.</p><p>Now as an extragalactic astronomer the Sun is our great foe in the sky that does naught but blind us all and make us wince in pain and fear. And to be honest, professionally my interest in the Sun is practically zero. Furthermore I'm somewhat averse to stepping so far outside my astronomical lane that I end up in a subject which is really another topic all together; some people even call solar science a branch of <i>geo</i>physics.</p><p>But this meeting was arranged as a combination of science, art and education. And <i>there </i>things get much more interesting to me, which is how I came to be on the local organising committee.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32Y5dOwqffrrv8pBCCkin30k9q59TRlU4XcS_dfGMRrXm_0CPqRzrONW_C4dDDx7FXma2qUQM_5vHyKs04F49kro5k3eC1nAan-b8KTVrLFXRM9X9kjLTC3jWZx1los4ywgjEzblOb9wXzcX7foBwjJ3PNGhug8XYSuyBdntXxaVovE7N4QT8QFGk/s1920/SimpleVenn.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32Y5dOwqffrrv8pBCCkin30k9q59TRlU4XcS_dfGMRrXm_0CPqRzrONW_C4dDDx7FXma2qUQM_5vHyKs04F49kro5k3eC1nAan-b8KTVrLFXRM9X9kjLTC3jWZx1los4ywgjEzblOb9wXzcX7foBwjJ3PNGhug8XYSuyBdntXxaVovE7N4QT8QFGk/w640-h360/SimpleVenn.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Solarigraphy is an unusual photographic technique which is at once incredibly simple and incredibly subtle. On the first day we had a little workshop where we made our own cameras. It consists of cutting open a can (in this case a beer can from our sponsor), making a pinhole*, adding in some photographic paper on the opposite side, and then <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> and this is the only tricky bit <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> quickly taping it in place before it gets a significant level of light exposure, and finally sealing the can back up with more tape.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* With a pin.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW5ZNhNSmqGvR8yo0KBDR2z_YRQ6EeJM-23j70bLYGArxqKdASEjxaCWh07u5wuzRq1XqK7isd3s7ZgX_N6sKvp8_DFayTlO0HIh0G4x8wd5p1Z7R8DgW07YJk9PPpUJ2JkyFSQuSMDE_JvQsy1BynsyDNFG8gEyTXtqZrQVsYzIYYjjGDM3tyypg/s4160/Cam%20Construction.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="4160" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYW5ZNhNSmqGvR8yo0KBDR2z_YRQ6EeJM-23j70bLYGArxqKdASEjxaCWh07u5wuzRq1XqK7isd3s7ZgX_N6sKvp8_DFayTlO0HIh0G4x8wd5p1Z7R8DgW07YJk9PPpUJ2JkyFSQuSMDE_JvQsy1BynsyDNFG8gEyTXtqZrQVsYzIYYjjGDM3tyypg/w640-h356/Cam%20Construction.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The small piece of tape on the lower part of the can (right image) is a shutter, to stop the camera from exposing before it's ready.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This incredibly simple device can produce remarkable images. You have to leave them for an extended p<span style="font-family: inherit;">eriod <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> typically six months <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">– </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">but the</span> results can be fascinating.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The basic idea is to capture the paths the Sun makes through the sky, which varies throughout the year. With just a pinhole and a sheet of paper, you can capture both the solar tracks but also the landscape. The </span>phenomenally<span style="font-family: inherit;"> long exposures (one claimant for the record is eight <i>years</i>) means you get something which is essentially the reverse of the T-Rex's vision in <i>Jurassic Park</i> : solarigraphy can only see things which <b>don't </b>move. Unless something appears consistently in the same place, you won't usually see it in the final image.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcw28BHx2SBMt-ZHnOnX9FACl38rfj7TyEUyujKLT-baqgrnwyttoYJWOdl9nUrQPMJC1BLQdI_Xyqa_dIkH-J5sZ7X-THIaDUjXDU4vSWgEUvD4CUhNByocMjmpv2kh9PHBK50YCSqmRaDkhxvfki2AIA-6fHBaN2wwRGstUUPWeaSjDWgFElqZyh/s1200/jurassic-park-spielberg1200x630.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcw28BHx2SBMt-ZHnOnX9FACl38rfj7TyEUyujKLT-baqgrnwyttoYJWOdl9nUrQPMJC1BLQdI_Xyqa_dIkH-J5sZ7X-THIaDUjXDU4vSWgEUvD4CUhNByocMjmpv2kh9PHBK50YCSqmRaDkhxvfki2AIA-6fHBaN2wwRGstUUPWeaSjDWgFElqZyh/w640-h336/jurassic-park-spielberg1200x630.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">On the other hand, a predator from which you can run <i>but never rest</i> could be pretty damn threatening too. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a lot of nuances </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">to the technique and I'll describe a few of them in the course of recapping the meeting. The cameras themselves, though, really do tend to be extremely simple. The difficulties of using them are pragmatic : you have to find somewhere to place them where they won't be disturbed for a long time, you have to orient them so the rainwater can drain out, you have to fix them securely so they don't move about on their own. You don't need to develop the paper though : it does that all by itself. Instead you just </span>digitally<span style="font-family: inherit;"> scan and process the sheet when you're ready. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Depending on what goes right and what goes wrong, you can get an incredible diversity in the final results. Some look like professional-grade photographs whereas some look like Jackson Pollock caught the norovirus from a </span>vomiting<span style="font-family: inherit;"> unicorn. As someone said, if you place two identical cameras in the same location for the same time, you'll still get two completely different results.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without further ado, here's my summary of the meeting and the bits I found most interesting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>The Meeting</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Day One</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/~sunwatch/page/solarigraphy-meeting-2023">2nd International Solarigraphy Meeting</a> took place in </span>Ondřejov, a small village about 40 km from Prague. The only feature of note here is that it's home to Ondřejov Observatory, the much larger half and headquarters of the Astronomical Institute which employs me, and it's where the main meeting organisers are based.</p><p>We began with a talk by head honcho <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/~sos/staff/maciek/zapior.htm">Maciek Zapior</a> who introduced the topic (you can see some of his own solarigraphs <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/~sos/staff/maciek/puszki.htm">on his web page</a>). This was great for muggins here, as probably the only participant who'd never attempted any solarigraphy. Maciek covered not just the technique but also the wider context of the intersection of art and science : there's a search for beauty and truth, arguably, in both. Now personally I think the Universe is a <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-universe-is-great-big-bloody-mess.html">great big bloody mess</a>, but that the topic was raised was far more important than agreement, with these kinds of discussions for me being generally limited to online stuff. Incidentally, the name comes from the 1961 novel <i>Solaris</i>.</p><p>Next we had a talk by <a href="https://www.lomography.com/magazine/349681-vermeer-cameras-hand-crafted-wooden-film-cameras-by-cezary-bartczak">Cezary Bartczak</a> about camera construction, especially pinhole cameras in general, which can range from the simple can constructions* to heavy-duty 3D printed versions. They're really quite satisfying objects in their own right, and now I wish I'd tried the "make your own pinhole camera" sets when I was younger. Note that pinhole photography in general <i>does </i>rely on chemically developing the image, whereas solarigraphy does not.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Why IN GOD'S NAME don't we have a website called Only Cans ???</span></p><p>Following this we had the "build-a-solarigraph" session for which you've already seen my efforts above. It's going to be tough to find somewhere I can put this, but I'll have to try. Then there was an exhibition of a <a href="https://www.asu.cas.cz/~sunwatch/page/solarigraphycontest-results">solarigraph contest</a> which featured some very impressive images, which starts to introduce how flexible this technique can be :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAA5nJWcIRoZ6sJ-zVOahfi3RPOp8-pYzWKsQdN0YcwtOnF4oMt-I2r_Z9CbHoGYDzB2jdRku-lzWBV5e8jC0dm23yDzsndigDqrwctTebgYEKu5z4fdhcNYyJIphEML_JX4M1ubhqENwipy4Be5_XvdK4j805iWYzaWgpyV2RW9y1jvCwkuamKFXA/s2312/IMG20230608105734_small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAA5nJWcIRoZ6sJ-zVOahfi3RPOp8-pYzWKsQdN0YcwtOnF4oMt-I2r_Z9CbHoGYDzB2jdRku-lzWBV5e8jC0dm23yDzsndigDqrwctTebgYEKu5z4fdhcNYyJIphEML_JX4M1ubhqENwipy4Be5_XvdK4j805iWYzaWgpyV2RW9y1jvCwkuamKFXA/w640-h288/IMG20230608105734_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">See the link above for details. Some of these images were taken on a bicycle (!) and with a rotating turntable to produce intersecting solar trails rather than the usual continuous set.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGRt3fFjtNXTJ-vKbfNntdwW1sacvT158DSWucay9_vW6lrGn54Lb84LJzyRkGFNfIgGWhzwHtrfL_wk4JZhPbdkcpk4ykVIb7ytSvU5JVLFqUUDcBjn_YPbZPjLxZagq12Z-lTIpItuvlFXqaMTsgWa4J0WAHYLEI8goWEu8pbSbRsHBr40Q8Lwa/s800/Building20in20days20Krzysztof20-%2520copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="800" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPGRt3fFjtNXTJ-vKbfNntdwW1sacvT158DSWucay9_vW6lrGn54Lb84LJzyRkGFNfIgGWhzwHtrfL_wk4JZhPbdkcpk4ykVIb7ytSvU5JVLFqUUDcBjn_YPbZPjLxZagq12Z-lTIpItuvlFXqaMTsgWa4J0WAHYLEI8goWEu8pbSbRsHBr40Q8Lwa/w640-h464/Building20in20days20Krzysztof20-%2520copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This one is from Krzysztof Winciorek which shows a building in construction. I love this weird partial transparency, showing multiple times all at once.</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ySy9nwIkj4gH6ZNfjM7JTmdvG44pKap6NqUDiPD7fCkbu_xepA3GJDyU9rlbRjnXKXn1uEGEbQueXA-QFjiEobX9xGM6k-9vHHxr1BMDgLFGcWYvfr_ymQOGz4syZhjmHjXwZazegrRw3HNeN0q5av6WDw5psF22QzS2Bgzm2iHbk6i0lcElTxVU/s800/hipnoza%20-%20Kaniu%20Cat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="800" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ySy9nwIkj4gH6ZNfjM7JTmdvG44pKap6NqUDiPD7fCkbu_xepA3GJDyU9rlbRjnXKXn1uEGEbQueXA-QFjiEobX9xGM6k-9vHHxr1BMDgLFGcWYvfr_ymQOGz4syZhjmHjXwZazegrRw3HNeN0q5av6WDw5psF22QzS2Bgzm2iHbk6i0lcElTxVU/w640-h634/hipnoza%20-%20Kaniu%20Cat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I believe this one, by Łukasz Ciesielski, is of a car hubcap.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the afternoon we had the online session. Apart from the first speaker, who didn't want to be recorded, you can watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/jWAkAHMrtZQ">whole thing below</a>, or just continue reading for my summary of the highlights. As a session all from non-scientists, I found this to have some of the most interesting talks of all. </p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/jWAkAHMrtZQ" width="480"></iframe></div><p>We began with <a href="http://www.solargraphy.com/">Tarja Trygg</a>, who initiated a Global Solarigraphy Project to image solar trails at different latitudes : at the equator the Sun goes vertically overhead, while at the poles it's almost horizontal. She noted that colours appear even on black and white paper, on which more later, and that solarigraphy makes the invisible visible (like imaging wavelengths we can't see directly, but in a very different way). Weirdly, when she started the project she asked people if the photographic technique was viable and was greeted with <i>extreme </i>skepticism. Why this should be, I don't know.</p><p>Next was <a href="https://www.pablogiori.com/">Pablo Giori</a>, one of the directors of the <a href="https://www.experimentalphotofestival.com/">Experimental Photo Festival</a>. This was very art-heavy and not all of it was to my taste... I can't say I'm ever going to "get" <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada">Dadaism</a>; to me this looks like the cartoons in Monty Python. More interesting was his history of photography as a process of revolution, homogenisation, and democratisation. I normally find the latter word is heavily overused but in this case it's absolutely appropriate : photography today is available to everyone. Pablo noted that experimental photography is in the mindset, not the technique, with most photos today being "visual rubbish" of no artistic value. </p><p>In this I think he's right but missing the point : most photos today are taken for communication and shared experience, not for artistic value at all. I take pictures when I visit famous landmarks not because I expect to do better than the thousands of professional photos that already exist, but because (a) there's no point in <b>not </b>taking them given how easy it is, (b) to have something that is <i>mine</i>, to remember what <i>I</i> saw. Pablo's talk was also very anti-capitalist, and though I tend to sympathise, I think he might be rather heavily overstating the case. I'm just not convinced that there's any sort of malevolence at work when it comes to Big Photo.</p><p>After a break we resumed with photographer and lecturer <a href="https://www.pinholephotography.org/">Justin Quinnel</a>. I think this was probably the most fun presentation of all of them, full of engaging anecdotes of successes and failures. While I strongly agree with the need for outreach and education, I disagree that this shouldn't be digital : digital exploration is absolutely as valid as any other medium.</p><p>Possibly my favourite talk was by <a href="https://wesely.org/">Michael Wesely</a> for the clear presentation and sheer quality of the images, which are technically amazing. I liked very much his description of standard short exposures as presenting an <i>illusion </i>of stability : the reality is that all things are in constant (though varying degrees) of motion, and in some ways the long exposure photographs actually present a more correct view of the world <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> they aren't just a blur, they encode all the time information, events and stories as well as brief moments. I really liked some of the images where the buildings were in the process of construction, giving a powerful effect of seeing through time.</p><p>It's also worth noting that these are inherently privacy friendly because unless you're dead*, you won't show up well at all in a solarigraph. Wesely took an <i>eight hour </i>exposure of himself (which I think must have been agony), but only with strenuous effort did he appear as anything more than a blur. The vast majority of people show up only as interesting trails. The next talk, by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/corine-dufresne-deslieres-1334017">Corine Dufresne-Deslières</a>, picked up on this theme, also noting how if data is unlocatable, it's also unaccountable.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* If we really want to get noticed, we could try doing (a) solarigraphic porn or (b) going full Channel 4 and doing a solarigraph of a decaying corpse.</span></p><p>The final talk of the session was by artist and teacher <a href="https://heatherpalecek.squarespace.com/">Heather Palecek</a>, who initially had no realisation that solarigraphy was an astronomical technique but approached it from the perspective of nature. In contrary to the more typical approach of striving for technical perfection, she likes the effects of nature interfering with the images : dirt, mould and water can all influence the colours that develop on the paper, sometimes leading to very surreal but striking images. This all made me wonder if there are any animals that experience time in this greatly sped-up way <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> I know some experience the world at a much faster pace than we do (hence their incredible reaction times), but I wonder if maybe snails have solarigraph-like vision...</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Day Two</i></p><p>Maciej kicked off with a review of the current state of the art. He showed some more novel uses of the images, such as exposures of a single day where you get just one, dramatic-looking solar trail. Others used manual recolouring to give a more realistic appearance, which divided audience opinion. Some thought this meant it was "just a graphic" (whatever that means) while others thought it was clearly the better image. I lean towards the latter, as long as the process is clearly explained. While I do think that any art should have some immediate, self-explanatory value (hence that stupid, moronic painting of a can of soup is just the work of an ultra-pretentious tit, in my view), knowing the process behind it can at least <i>add </i>value.</p><p>He also mentioned <a href="http://analemma.pl">https://analemma.pl/</a>, especially their <a href="https://analemma.pl/nxn">NxN project</a>. This hammers home the importance of post-processing, with different artists coming up with very different versions of the same raw image. It's even possible to do <a href="https://petapixel.com/2019/07/17/this-is-the-worlds-first-solargraphy-timelapse/">solarigraph time lapses</a>, although who claims the title of the "first" is open to debate (Maciej is not a fan of the superlative contests, and I tend to agree - that eight-year exposure image looks quite nice but is nothing extraordinary compared to some much shorter images). Finally he mentioned that you can buy pre-made solarigraph cameras for €20 online, which is just insane considering the total manufacturing cost is probably more like €2 and it takes ~5 minutes.</p><p>The afternoon social events included the obligatory visit to the telescopes, another solarigraphy exhibition, but also something much more unusual : a saxophone performance inside the dome of the 2m telescope. In the dark, with the saxophonist accompanied by Maciej who walked around with a torch looking for pieces of sheet music. Well, that's something I've certainly never experienced before.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOF-AdNJLsyFqQPGg-Ro667A8RrFf4_TtV4KoH7U_BsEKDC0d_3zBb1jId9BLTrFkYb4H1Ynr3dfuC4t6Sesu7TRccdt4Yyya6uZNxKjLbyHpx7_0MX9rlAUOLvk2LP1i6OPSqmqeCJILrg-__ZwlhWa6HbCVagqNrrVQ1LzFhrM4g0VCKbxq0lCwH/s1600/IMG20230608185428_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOF-AdNJLsyFqQPGg-Ro667A8RrFf4_TtV4KoH7U_BsEKDC0d_3zBb1jId9BLTrFkYb4H1Ynr3dfuC4t6Sesu7TRccdt4Yyya6uZNxKjLbyHpx7_0MX9rlAUOLvk2LP1i6OPSqmqeCJILrg-__ZwlhWa6HbCVagqNrrVQ1LzFhrM4g0VCKbxq0lCwH/w640-h288/IMG20230608185428_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjBPBPlOFAP1O3WQmQKCv1mcSGkwa_qoFX648K3LhVCGx_0v_zzfDOQqOfzGBcavzXpZyaw4m6oxOO-_feBoyQ-QbCtEXBzGuZTt1KWzbeTcBEJhm2_H36HqGJH0r0S7YCKU_nCpiyHZNSFz57ReQMyydmoWef5WI7Vwz4fFOCgL44TPprK3tCOYd/s1600/IMG20230608185439_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBjBPBPlOFAP1O3WQmQKCv1mcSGkwa_qoFX648K3LhVCGx_0v_zzfDOQqOfzGBcavzXpZyaw4m6oxOO-_feBoyQ-QbCtEXBzGuZTt1KWzbeTcBEJhm2_H36HqGJH0r0S7YCKU_nCpiyHZNSFz57ReQMyydmoWef5WI7Vwz4fFOCgL44TPprK3tCOYd/w640-h288/IMG20230608185439_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPXrGMd_DISFx2CE43r88uhF6P5LukVuKehZwMbH7WNL_3nEV-I7nGklYiKEC8BMgFxsYpZQnPozS3SMVdB-qMlBB1FiBUlAo0ZJlI-PePbl_fbzI2joAUlWLyP8o9_iMTpR-iAwZYmB8noyyAhQCRQEvkbaKpMhbuL9zsBJAu4bEZwiaEsUVzcIa/s1600/IMG20230608185455_small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXPXrGMd_DISFx2CE43r88uhF6P5LukVuKehZwMbH7WNL_3nEV-I7nGklYiKEC8BMgFxsYpZQnPozS3SMVdB-qMlBB1FiBUlAo0ZJlI-PePbl_fbzI2joAUlWLyP8o9_iMTpR-iAwZYmB8noyyAhQCRQEvkbaKpMhbuL9zsBJAu4bEZwiaEsUVzcIa/w640-h288/IMG20230608185455_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cars are very interesting. Here there were different cars parking at approximately the same spot each day, resulting in what Maciej calls a "generalised" car. In other images you can see sun reflections from moving cars in the parking areas.<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxSROpZlRv1EOVUdQzVbJr21Q5ApROhB5wd9YAFvj1SoR50M0AYOpAT7T0LsKf9tOgmxpnRYxg5whzBRZXzu8FSz8mG3kKYPuLCT5EH5bjO1eHQ_CzLWVlUFoGDZFgRl2910_3eImXDrnzBJtqSPIbU0MZdRuW-ixYRxJLJ_ALKE5pkjNcHVaiTs2/s1600/IMG20230608114723_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxSROpZlRv1EOVUdQzVbJr21Q5ApROhB5wd9YAFvj1SoR50M0AYOpAT7T0LsKf9tOgmxpnRYxg5whzBRZXzu8FSz8mG3kKYPuLCT5EH5bjO1eHQ_CzLWVlUFoGDZFgRl2910_3eImXDrnzBJtqSPIbU0MZdRuW-ixYRxJLJ_ALKE5pkjNcHVaiTs2/w640-h288/IMG20230608114723_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhld5_i2ZlfCm7lTzFdmOaUUK7Sjeg2JSh6Z_4eLjE2ctOMRKl1eiUuabfn_yoLENgxFqpxxieDxngYRO24rtuj8fuZpfxvgRKp6u20NbEyCb8QAQe5RCqBObj31PZaKAeDAJxL8cILNZwJcpMG53ip_8vZ7jeoU6z8mbUi4xTdH_wGghpOcY4uTke3/s2312/IMG20230608152319_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhld5_i2ZlfCm7lTzFdmOaUUK7Sjeg2JSh6Z_4eLjE2ctOMRKl1eiUuabfn_yoLENgxFqpxxieDxngYRO24rtuj8fuZpfxvgRKp6u20NbEyCb8QAQe5RCqBObj31PZaKAeDAJxL8cILNZwJcpMG53ip_8vZ7jeoU6z8mbUi4xTdH_wGghpOcY4uTke3/w640-h288/IMG20230608152319_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnKukW9NNc_4ijxj5QAr2zRipQhFcGp_fs95PEvCluuHTCx4avWtXJzGOYJiInZfCkcpmz1ttfySCw7-rbaFlJXl4X93zchg9v-zchO77XGWcgGI4Ch0FFSS4gqkz1Dum5MTl7U3EeAmobJCv9vPNGNTKEhlgyGhTwtbKWpUjlowY7RzWuZqGzF6Q/s2312/IMG20230608211812_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnKukW9NNc_4ijxj5QAr2zRipQhFcGp_fs95PEvCluuHTCx4avWtXJzGOYJiInZfCkcpmz1ttfySCw7-rbaFlJXl4X93zchg9v-zchO77XGWcgGI4Ch0FFSS4gqkz1Dum5MTl7U3EeAmobJCv9vPNGNTKEhlgyGhTwtbKWpUjlowY7RzWuZqGzF6Q/w640-h288/IMG20230608211812_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nYxPuyZ88uG6Nh_g6bdbyHacT1GSL43eNagZy1N_ndxdlAb8B4-bhZpob7Xo5cfgpDDs7QZ6Dd4JrNQX4A_qANMwNWlQa9RYy7kCs0Kyd0fmGI6GVKrxEiDtLBHahkBWLNWbe0KburX9XQgLOuBUruDHamD9zcfXO-mqB1bB3OHpWxlDDzAaVgBO/s2120/IMG20230609114629_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="2120" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nYxPuyZ88uG6Nh_g6bdbyHacT1GSL43eNagZy1N_ndxdlAb8B4-bhZpob7Xo5cfgpDDs7QZ6Dd4JrNQX4A_qANMwNWlQa9RYy7kCs0Kyd0fmGI6GVKrxEiDtLBHahkBWLNWbe0KburX9XQgLOuBUruDHamD9zcfXO-mqB1bB3OHpWxlDDzAaVgBO/w640-h352/IMG20230609114629_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjM2l4XMepuj-IAMGb5yF91ELsCmqrL469tr7_59vwktgYZ5cpIqkNyeAmvzrzQsJdf9jiXrxu1gQGR7MyBOxkhqhVuysM1ZdyngtjFgUNPZONc42EvcdJku3AG4915sTCn9bBCusfRbpDM8o5n1IDnQ8zUqFy6Q1_r3xYq4Gwa7IEK4HRCyaUFVcz/s1600/IMG20230609143644_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjM2l4XMepuj-IAMGb5yF91ELsCmqrL469tr7_59vwktgYZ5cpIqkNyeAmvzrzQsJdf9jiXrxu1gQGR7MyBOxkhqhVuysM1ZdyngtjFgUNPZONc42EvcdJku3AG4915sTCn9bBCusfRbpDM8o5n1IDnQ8zUqFy6Q1_r3xYq4Gwa7IEK4HRCyaUFVcz/w640-h288/IMG20230609143644_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>In the evening we went to a nearby village for dinner, where I was sat with a wickedly mischievous older Polish gentleman. He spoke, very, <i>very </i>slowly and deliberately, and proceeded to tell me how he personally had helped convince Sean Connery to become a Scottish nationalist. For this reason, when the next day in the discussion session he declared that, "there's no emotion in art, that's all rubbish", and that solarigraphy is evidence that the Sun goes around the Earth... he probably wasn't being entirely serious.</p><p>On returning to Ondřejov I found it was a very nice evening so I went to the field of radio telescopes to watch the sunset.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZtvbSsNoCajhikJjpOChdJ-f5gGEN_n2-eP0njovpH7PgOSPchdK_IEHVHIPJ_exVYTKFUKpNTfB0MhGFxiptwgwxAnG_0ilJxteyl1FTo-LFDOajKDTHy70DOLdL0ZLponCrdZKJXQiSPCjOaHzxZlTg_W0di2CTr5LpUPD_l1MZoj9sC38ddlc/s1600/IMG20230609204441_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOZtvbSsNoCajhikJjpOChdJ-f5gGEN_n2-eP0njovpH7PgOSPchdK_IEHVHIPJ_exVYTKFUKpNTfB0MhGFxiptwgwxAnG_0ilJxteyl1FTo-LFDOajKDTHy70DOLdL0ZLponCrdZKJXQiSPCjOaHzxZlTg_W0di2CTr5LpUPD_l1MZoj9sC38ddlc/w640-h288/IMG20230609204441_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1ZQTbpoNstISaRSNKKFR_lOZ83ikeLz_EVii5Cc2zAc_0MqOewnzegU2imZthL9LQtR580Dlh3dmUItdhLcEzjDcZog7i9k9uz0iY3M3V493ey4X9AlvJiORLg2Rt85pVu4Ym9Q9zes_NDPZKMS-mUABFVJkzfx0cHHPDRZEfzgwv93ql59C9s7f/s4120/IMG20230609204649_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1160" data-original-width="4120" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1ZQTbpoNstISaRSNKKFR_lOZ83ikeLz_EVii5Cc2zAc_0MqOewnzegU2imZthL9LQtR580Dlh3dmUItdhLcEzjDcZog7i9k9uz0iY3M3V493ey4X9AlvJiORLg2Rt85pVu4Ym9Q9zes_NDPZKMS-mUABFVJkzfx0cHHPDRZEfzgwv93ql59C9s7f/w640-h180/IMG20230609204649_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwqbUnI76hARV9wHjy4lphry-czGhJdGJdBwCPrwHAvWrcidgCnZn0D5r_xX-YX-4sL-eJEgM2fdWs5tD3eBCJYq6oQ3UNrzQdHu8GVP4vR1xxb_EKYb9VRKr4R4cjNQ9MDhS4PWOtrsETm0JbzK5izblRayNE1-3Bui2zJxORXvOO1-QG8_zVuQ5/s1600/IMG20230609210807_small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwqbUnI76hARV9wHjy4lphry-czGhJdGJdBwCPrwHAvWrcidgCnZn0D5r_xX-YX-4sL-eJEgM2fdWs5tD3eBCJYq6oQ3UNrzQdHu8GVP4vR1xxb_EKYb9VRKr4R4cjNQ9MDhS4PWOtrsETm0JbzK5izblRayNE1-3Bui2zJxORXvOO1-QG8_zVuQ5/w640-h288/IMG20230609210807_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2E0SPYUIY9Y5J2XeUAI4uTfqXaHMbk_OW2MlYnt4UP0asXpCc04Ak-Ul-ObT9POCLnL2WAUCDg1YVeUqPkJKvimrCC4YcMdvX6gISlmSHjkCED2Gua8K218gAjmk0_x5RUazaompdDYgM_c_gZmNXbEvjhqcMZPiExwnxiKnU79hHeXXM8-J-mAF/s2312/IMG20230609205541_small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2E0SPYUIY9Y5J2XeUAI4uTfqXaHMbk_OW2MlYnt4UP0asXpCc04Ak-Ul-ObT9POCLnL2WAUCDg1YVeUqPkJKvimrCC4YcMdvX6gISlmSHjkCED2Gua8K218gAjmk0_x5RUazaompdDYgM_c_gZmNXbEvjhqcMZPiExwnxiKnU79hHeXXM8-J-mAF/w288-h640/IMG20230609205541_small.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In keeping with the experimental photography vibe, here's the Sun through a radio telescope.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><i>Day Three</i></p><p>The morning session was pretty intense. We kicked off Łukasz Rogiński and Jakub Pacuk, who shared their first year of experience in solarigraphy <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> some of these images were really impressive, and I wish I could find them online. <a href="http://grzegorzhussak.weebly.com/biografia.html">Grzegorz Hussak</a> then showed us a solarigraph taken using a glass negative instead of the usual photographic paper, and while the contrast is extremely low <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> barely visible <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> on the physical glass itself, the digital scan was certainly clear enough. </p><p>Maciej took over the next slot due to our only cancellation, resuming the discussion of the current state of solarigraphy. Again, many more amazing images <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> the single solar track during the eclipse was particularly nice <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">– </span>and more anecdotes of how people respond when they find the cameras in the wild. Some think they're part of geocaching and leave stuff inside. A few people, weirdly, take them away only to return them again. Some leave notes apologising. He moved on to solarigraphy as both an art and science, wherein art is free to treat time as a substance while in astronomy it can be thought of as an angle. He concluded with using automated shutters to trace analemmas and create more arbitrary patterns in the sky.</p><p>Next, <a href="http://alexandre-sampaio.com/index.php/pt/">Alexandre Sampaio</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> a professional theatre director and photographer <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> gave us a description of a solarigraphic tour of some Spanish islands he's doing... well, it's nice work if you can get it. Some of his images were great, especially one with a fountain where you could see both the water and solar trails at once. He also gave us a delightful naming contest for alternatives to solarigraphy* : the winner was "let-it-go-let-it-go-graphy", but I much preferred, "it's-a-blur-but-I-call-it-art-agraphy". Oh well, can't win 'em all.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I can pronounce solarigraphy just fine in my head, but I always stumble on it physically. I find solargraphy very much easier.</span></p><p>Finally, chemistry researcher Tomáš Slanina gave us a really interesting, totally different talk on the chemistry that makes solarigraphy work, and photoreactivty more generally. He gave a few amazing demos where he mixed different chemicals in beakers and you could see them shining in UV light. For photographic paper, light causes silver nitrate to solidify, which makes it opaque. Why the different colours appear I'm not sure, but this appears to be the result of something more complex.</p><p><br /></p><p>After a break, professional artist <a href="https://helushyiraq.wixsite.com/artwork">Helena Jiráková</a> began the final session with a talk on art in astronomy. She covered the works of many artists besides herself, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6koPeWqrYho&ab_channel=zczfilms">Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels</a>, <a href="https://turrell.utexas.edu/">James Turrell's Skyspaces</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0g6JFYRKxQ&ab_channel=LosAngelesCountyMuseumofArt">Roden Crater</a>, <a href="https://www.chrismccaw.com/">Chris McCaw's</a> use of the Sun to literally burn tracks in film, and perhaps my favourite, <a href="https://publicdelivery.org/olafur-eliasson-the-weather-project/">Olafur Eliasson's</a> spectacular artificial indoor sun made of hundreds of lamps with a mist of sugar water.</p><p>Then it was my turn; I've put my slides <a href="https://1drv.ms/p/s!Ak8EcQr1t98kjd45V54BEpjVf5p4Gw?e=AQmejY">online here</a>. There was very little new content here but I assembled it in a different way for a different audience. I began with a very brief overview of galaxies and described how radio data tells us about the invisible dark matter, using that <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2013/05/galaxies-suck-lets-get-rid-of-them.html">old exploding galaxy sim</a> to start things off. I described how radio receivers work and the importance of understanding that they're spectrographs, so they collect frequency data as well as brightness. Receiving 4,096 frequency channels all at once somewhat compensates for having only seven spatial pixels to work with... and it also means you have a lot of freedom to choose how you render the data.</p><p>I began with the standard approach of channel maps, in which each frequency channel creates a different image, moving on to volumetric rendering by way of the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2012/09/glass.html">glass cube</a> and a <a href="https://youtu.be/i9mZvXGfqXw">3D movie</a>. Then I tried to address Maciej's comments about truth by showing the exact same data set rendered in four different ways : channel maps, height maps, volumetrically, and isosurfaces. You really do get different information from the data if you just look at it differently.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YISyKxiNSY0" width="320" youtube-src-id="YISyKxiNSY0"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bDBzZwj5ocE" width="320" youtube-src-id="bDBzZwj5ocE"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DkeSxwzuaZk" width="320" youtube-src-id="DkeSxwzuaZk"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VkGpxHzQ3BM" width="320" youtube-src-id="VkGpxHzQ3BM"></iframe></div><p>Pablo Giori had said that art isn't in the business of truth; Michael Wesley that it was all about stories, and various others that it's all about different perspectives, self-discovery, empowerment etc*. My take is similar. How you visualise your data really does affect how you interpret it, not just aesthetically but also scientifically : some information is far easier to discern using one technique than another. I think none has a claim to be more valid or true than another, but each can be more appropriate for tackling different questions. I ended with an overview of my efforts to turn <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2018/06/h-one.html">HI data into art</a>, which I don't need to recount here because you can just see that link instead.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* It was a very, <i>very </i>woke meeting.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhj-FhORMPEr6kB9OwzYqH_0DBrHFzBgSYY6vhWbLWMM9BOWKcwPaBnihbzkA6lV4bvtuaqqIMmEE5z585bezsfxTQvFdYFBuPIWXIH8s06kWpefLc99RWTgPJm5VNK4cRQPliswJdbJks7LvLzjEge4LYAIp27Sz3KsEj_R7XXjRxqmDhJJypbIR/s2312/IMG20230610121122_small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhj-FhORMPEr6kB9OwzYqH_0DBrHFzBgSYY6vhWbLWMM9BOWKcwPaBnihbzkA6lV4bvtuaqqIMmEE5z585bezsfxTQvFdYFBuPIWXIH8s06kWpefLc99RWTgPJm5VNK4cRQPliswJdbJks7LvLzjEge4LYAIp27Sz3KsEj_R7XXjRxqmDhJJypbIR/w640-h288/IMG20230610121122_small.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's always fun to see audiences looking silly.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>People seemed very enthusiastic about all this and I came away with an adrenaline buzz that always accompanies a successful talk. In fact, it's inspired me to pick up a project that's been on hold for four years <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">–</span> with luck, that should be the next post here in a couple of weeks or thereabouts, so watch this space.</p><p>The final talk was Zbigniew Makarewicz on science as art and politics. This was interesting, though at times hard to follow (what he meant by saying that art was aristocratic I'm not sure). He began quite delightfully with something along the lines of, "Thank you all for indulging my sadistic tendencies, especially Mr. Taylor for speaking English". He proceeded to say that painting is not art, that an artist is someone who creates something of special quality. Art, science, technology and politics, he said, are all interconnected in common culture : they are separate endeavours but do not exist in isolation. And again, he noted that artists and scientists view the same data in different ways, resulting in different works. Einstein viewed the world as equations, Bohr as something more poetical. </p><p><br /></p><p>It was all very heady stuff. I liked it a lot, even though so many speakers had the unfathomably bizarre tendency of having laptops with desktops in which <i>every available space</i> was occupied with an icon. It's all well and good to meet new people and get different perspectives, but there <b>are </b>limits. So for now, it's back to science I go.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-79813867847026234372023-05-26T11:27:00.006-04:002024-02-23T05:54:41.826-04:00All Hail Our Benevolent Robot Overlords<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92WnDz61nkx8ENN6fJbMuigVAVnzIYm8EMqmyFpzw-kBivIBSuYq-D1rF_slCIouTgrI0bs09plTkBk4E2N-nV-urGQMd_0FzYqUdSlKl8dQNwZwti2NwnRETbCnUGmywbRrU0XBbqc_eSZ0rto5irPFHmlhI4uSzcgz0PjgB06QmBAdcVPSMOM7i/s2048/AIHeavenAndHell.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92WnDz61nkx8ENN6fJbMuigVAVnzIYm8EMqmyFpzw-kBivIBSuYq-D1rF_slCIouTgrI0bs09plTkBk4E2N-nV-urGQMd_0FzYqUdSlKl8dQNwZwti2NwnRETbCnUGmywbRrU0XBbqc_eSZ0rto5irPFHmlhI4uSzcgz0PjgB06QmBAdcVPSMOM7i/w640-h320/AIHeavenAndHell.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Visions of possible technology-based futures generated with <a href="https://www.bing.com/create">Bing Image Creator</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Certain topics demand that any self-respecting blogger offer commentary on them regardless of their expertise in the area. The recent explosion of AI tools is one such field, so here, for whatever it may be worth, is my take on the matter.</p><p>For a long time, I've had <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2018/08/ai-lack-of-goals-is-symptom-of-problem.html">three rules</a> to keep in mind when assessing any claim of a significant advancement in artificial intelligence :</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>AI does not yet have the the same kind of understanding as human intelligence.</li><li>There is no guarantee rule 1 will always hold true.</li><li>It is not necessary to violate rule 1 for AI to have a massive impact, positive or otherwise, intentional or otherwise.</li></ol><p></p><p>These I devised in response to a great deal of hype. In particular, people tend to be somewhat desperate to believe that a truly conscious, pseudo-human artificial intelligence is just around the corner, and/or that the latest development will lead to immediate and enormous social changes. I could go on at length about whether a truly conscious AI is likely imminent or not but I think I've covered this enough already. Let me give just a few select links :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/08/sophisticated-gibberish-is-still.html">Some examples</a> of how badly chatbots can fail in laughably absurd ways, and a discussion on what we mean by "understanding" of knowledge and why this is an extremely difficult problem. </li><li><a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/06/sapient-but-not-sentient.html">A discussion</a> on whether chatbots could be at least considered to have a <i>sort </i>of intelligence, even without understanding or consciousness or even sentience (another, closely related post <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2023/03/what-is-it-like-to-be-essay.html">here</a>).</li><li>Finally, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2021/02/i-like-locke-ii-freedom.html">a philosophical look</a> at why true consciousness cannot be programmed, and that even if you reject all the mystical aspects behind it, it's still going to require new hardware and not just algorithms. </li></ul><p></p><p>Given all this - and much more besides - while I do hold it useful to remember rule 2, I doubt very much that there's any chance of a truly conscious AI existing in the foreseeable future. So instead, today I want to concentrate on rule 3, what the impact of the newly-developed chatbots might be in the coming months and years despite their lack of genuine "intelligence". </p><p>Because this seems to be such a common misunderstanding, let me state rule 3 again more emphatically : <b><i>just because a robot doesn't understand something doesn't mean it isn't important</i>.</b> Nobody said, "huh, the typewriter can't think for itself, so it's useless", and nor should we do so with regard to language models and the like. Throughout all the rest that follows I will never assume that the AI has any true understanding or awareness - as we'll see, it isn't even reasoning. The prospect of a truly thinking, comprehending AI is a fascinating one, but getting utterly fixated on the notion that "it's not <i>really </i>AI" is simply foolish. There's so much more to it than that. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>A Family of Futures</u></b></p><p>As I see it, there are a few broad ways in which AI development (or indeed anything else) could impact society. A visual framework of a selection of these will help :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKHFSgnGR8v2rf-XlH4MxhKTmrXv-k8gy5dvcYwKEpRi4g8csligFnzuctBQToAh6l3wve0gVp5WTRa43fIfkswVuKrPVTgbZA9MCpX0gUsHGPnXUm2nopGrDeiiDRiwQGc1OZz_RFdpWRGTom5gcF2puQlAwzl3OlD9pOg8DSAky_9LipInwh2fD/s1000/AIPaths.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKHFSgnGR8v2rf-XlH4MxhKTmrXv-k8gy5dvcYwKEpRi4g8csligFnzuctBQToAh6l3wve0gVp5WTRa43fIfkswVuKrPVTgbZA9MCpX0gUsHGPnXUm2nopGrDeiiDRiwQGc1OZz_RFdpWRGTom5gcF2puQlAwzl3OlD9pOg8DSAky_9LipInwh2fD/w640-h480/AIPaths.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note the y-axis is not at all the same as the performance level of AI.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I'm assuming they're all monotonic just for simplification; in reality, all such curves would be a lot more wiggly but that's not important for my purposes. The different paths can summarised :</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b><i>Utopian singularity.</i></b> AI will soon render all jobs obsolete and enhance productivity to such stupendous heights that its exact impact on society is unforeseeable, but clearly all to the good - or so much so that the positives far outweigh any negatives. Whatever it is humans end up doing, in this trajectory, it will be massively better than what it is now.</li><li><b><i>Exponential improvement.</i></b> Here AI causes continuous, massive improvement, but never reaches a true singularity. At any stage the effects are predictable, though of ever-increasing magnitude and speed. Social improvements are vast, but never amount to a fundamental change in the nature of human existence.</li><li><b><i>Linear growth. </i></b>Of course this could be of different gradients, but the behaviour is the same : a steady, predictable, continuous change without upper limit, but always manageable, rarely disruptive, and never revolutionary.</li><li><b><i>Asymptotic growth. </i></b>Resembles linear growth at first but eventually reaches a plateau beyond which no further improvements are seen. In essence, this would mean there is a fixed maximum potential this technology can achieve, and though this has yet to be reached, progress beyond this will require wholly new developments.</li><li><b><i>No real change at all. </i></b>Claims that the current technology is not likely to cause any substantial further changes beyond what's already happened.</li><li><b><i>Asymptotic decline.</i></b> Like 4, but AI makes everything worse to some fixed point. E.g., it has some limited capability for misinformation or cheating in exams, but which cannot be exceeded without new methodologies. </li><li><b><i>Linear decline. </i></b>This is quantitatively similar to path 3 but the effects are qualitatively different. Continuous, predictable improvement is manageable. Continuous, predictable degradation is not, e.g. knowing you're running out of resources but continuing to consume them anyway. This is erosion rather than collapse, but it still ends indefinitely badly.</li><li><i style="font-weight: bold;">Exponential fall.</i> Perhaps there's no limit to how awful AI or its corporate overlords can make everyday life for the overall population, such that eventually everything falls into utter ruin. At least it's quick compared to path 7.</li><li><b>Apocalyptic dystopian singularity. </b>Like <i>The Matrix</i> and <i>Terminator </i>except that the machines just win.<b> </b>The robot uprising which eventually results in the total extinction of every biological organism on Earth.</li></ol><p></p><p>This is quite the range of options ! And different sources seem to favour all of them with no consensus anywhere. Before we get to what it is AI can actually do, I think it's worth considering the social reasons people hold the opinions they profess. So let's take a look at the which of these are most commonly reported and by whom.</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Who says what ?</u></p><p>The most commonly reported paths seem to be <b>1-2</b> judging by the AI subreddits, <b>5</b> judging by my primary social media feed, and <b>9</b> according to mainstream media. Ironically, the extreme options 1 and 9 are fuelled by the same sources, with the developers so keen to emphasise the revolutionary potential that they're apt to give warnings about how damn dangerous it is. A clever marketing technique indeed, one that strongly appeals to the "forbidden fruit" syndrome : <i>oh, you want our clever tech, do you ? Sorry, it's too dangerous for the likes of little old you ! Please, I'm so dangerous, regulate meeeee !! </i>And most egregiously of all, <i><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65110030">Please stop AI development</a> so I can develop my own AI company to save us from the other ones !</i></p><p>Open AI seem to be playing this for all it's worth. They insisted GPT3 was too dangerous to release, then released it. And take a look at their short recent post supposedly warning of the <a href="https://openai.com/blog/governance-of-superintelligence">dangers of superintelligence</a>. It's marketing brilliance, to be sure : don't regulate us now because we're developing this thing which is going to be absolutely amazing, but with great power comes great responsibility, so definitely regulate us in the future to stop it getting dangerous. It's an audacious way of saying <i>look how important we are</i>, but in my view there's little in the way of any substance to their hyperbolic claims.</p><p>Path <b>5</b>, by contrast, seems to be entirely limited to my honestly quite absurdly-jaded social media feed (with some preference for <b>6 </b>in there as well). It's not just one or two individuals, but most. "It's just not useful", they say, even as ChatGPT breaks - no, <i>smashes </i>- records for the fastest gain in users. This is wholly unlike my real-world colleagues, who I think are generally more inclined towards <b>3</b> or <b>4</b>.</p><p>I suspect the social media crowd are conflating the AI companies with the technology itself. And yes, the companies are awful, and yes, how its used and deployed does matter - a lot. But just because someone wants to sell you a subscription-package to use a printing press would not mean that the printing press itself was a useless trinket with no real-world applications. It only means that that person was someone in need of a good slap.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh660YCvBzR_HCo9jqguJrtKm-WjhSloh7etvo_OuTVXKYcoYS6GmlWnXBBTR9aBSzRzNGbbreCwdqrGo3KPtqn_az6DWLyrfsAfANrqyPCloCgK6--OR11LzOrmiZtMfBrnU8qlyvpThG0Mb5XPNIOYvnf8l8LibDFheaAPKgWymH3ti_emQoxDN7u/s508/BatmanSales.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="508" height="618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh660YCvBzR_HCo9jqguJrtKm-WjhSloh7etvo_OuTVXKYcoYS6GmlWnXBBTR9aBSzRzNGbbreCwdqrGo3KPtqn_az6DWLyrfsAfANrqyPCloCgK6--OR11LzOrmiZtMfBrnU8qlyvpThG0Mb5XPNIOYvnf8l8LibDFheaAPKgWymH3ti_emQoxDN7u/w640-h618/BatmanSales.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>Claim 1 : This will not be a non-event</i></p><p>This prospect of no further change seems the least defensible of all the possible trajectories. I mean... sure, tech developments <i>are </i>routinely over-hyped. That's true enough. But spend more than about five seconds comparing the technology we use routinely today with what we used a century ago... ! Even the internet and mobile phones are relatively recent inventions, or at least only went mainstream recently. A great deal of technological advancements <i>have </i>come to fruition, and <i>have </i>transformed our lives in a multitude of ways. Technological progress is <i>normal</i>.</p><p>What's going on with this ? Why are some very smart people using the most modern of communication channels to insist that this is all just a gimmick ?</p><p>Several reasons. For one thing, some developments are indeed just passing fads that don't go anywhere. 3D televisions are a harmless enough example, whereas cryptocurrencies are nothing short of an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7zazuy_UfI&ab_channel=LastWeekTonight">actual scam</a>, blockchain is all but nonsense, and "NFT" really should stand for "no fucking thankyou" because they're more ridiculous than Gwyneth Paltrow's candles. <i>You </i>know the ones I mean.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1wmEPSXpQ2WVEO8EvqcAhvnHRRgPJtyyEbgTO2iIrISQQtDg492k0Rv2meHXt95Fdrhe00VsFftfxxZo1zqI6HEclGvRB8TEP-u12iOrrWfoGG5h2Ie9-xQqejq9qf0eFeyipW6TZuN1sQoI5YyiLAQHjQScA6BazmIR82F3QpY3JG_X1NahZehO/s675/One%20hell%20of%20a%20stupid%20candle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="675" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo1wmEPSXpQ2WVEO8EvqcAhvnHRRgPJtyyEbgTO2iIrISQQtDg492k0Rv2meHXt95Fdrhe00VsFftfxxZo1zqI6HEclGvRB8TEP-u12iOrrWfoGG5h2Ie9-xQqejq9qf0eFeyipW6TZuN1sQoI5YyiLAQHjQScA6BazmIR82F3QpY3JG_X1NahZehO/w640-h356/One%20hell%20of%20a%20stupid%20candle.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>That's fair enough. Likewise all developments are routinely oversold, so it makes good sense to treat all such claims as no better than advertising. Another reason may be that AI has been improperly hyped because of the whole consciousness angle; proceed with the expectation that the AI has a genuine, human-like understanding of what its doing and it's easy to get disillusioned when you realise it's doing nothing of the sort, that passing the Turing Test just isn't sufficient for this. It was a good idea at the time, but now we know better.</p><p>And I think there are a couple of other, more fundamental reasons why people are skeptical. Like the development of <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2023/03/forward-metaverse.html">VR and the metaverse</a>*, sometimes are impacts are strongly nonlinear, and aren't felt at all until certain thresholds are breached. This makes them <i>extremely </i>unpredictable. Development may actually be slow and steady, and only feels sudden and rapid because a critical milestone was reached.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* See link. I've seen a few comparisons between VR and AI, claiming they're both already failures, and they're born of the same cynical misunderstandings.</span></p><p>For instance, take a look at some of the earlier examples of failing chatbots (in the link in the first bullet point above). The fact that AI could generate <i>coherent </i>nonsense should have been an strong indication that immense progress was made. Simplifying, the expected development pathway might be something like :</p><blockquote><p>Incoherent drivel -> coherent nonsense -> coherent accuracy<i>.</i></p></blockquote><p>But it's easy to get hung up on the "nonsense" bit, to believe that because the threshold for "coherency" had been breached, that didn't imply anything had been achieved on the "accuracy" front and wouldn't be so anytime soon. Likewise, even now we're in the latter stages, it's easy to pick up on every mistake that AI makes (and it still makes plenty !) and ignore all the successes.</p><p>Finally, I think there's a bias towards believing everything is always normal and will continue to be so. Part of the problem is the routine Utopian hype, that any individual new invention will change <i>everything </i>for <i>everyone </i>in a matter of seconds. That's something that hardly ever happens. Profound changes do occur, it's just that they don't feel like you expected them to, because all too soon everything becomes normal - that seems to be very much part of our <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2018/12/you-cant-tell-me-what-not-to-think-ii.html">psychology</a>. In practise, even the rolling-out phase of new technology invariably takes time - during which we can adapt ourselves at least to some extent, while afterwards, we simply <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/e58d7700b34c013b1426448a5b29e257">shift our baseline expectation</a>.</p><p>This means that we often have a false expectation of what progress feels like. We think it will be sudden, immediate and dramatic (as per the adverts) and tend to ignore the gradual, incremental and boring. We think it will be like a firework but what we get is a barbeque. </p><p></p><p>People are prone to taking things for granted - and quite properly so, because <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2019/04/enlightenment-soon.html">that's how progress is supposed to work</a>. You aren't supposed to be continually grateful for everyday commodities, they're <i>supposed </i>to be mundane. The mistake being made is to assume that because things are normal now, the new normal won't <i><b>be </b></i>any different to the current. That because everything generally feels normal <i>the whole time</i>, progress itself is common enough but rarely <i>felt </i>(see, for example, how the prospect of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230518-foresight-the-mental-talent-that-shaped-the-world">weather forecasts</a> was described in the 17th century). It's really only when we take a step back that we generally appreciate that things today are <i>not </i>the same as they were even a decade or two ago.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Claim 2 : This is not the end</i></p><p>All things considered, we can surely eliminate path 5. I'll show examples of how I personally use and have used AI in the next section; for now I'll just say that the sheer number of users alone just beggars belief that it will all come to naught. Recall my <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2016/11/rhys-law-of-press-releases.html">Law of Press Releases</a> :</p><p></p><blockquote><i>The value of a press release and the probability that the reported discovery is correct is anti-correlated with the grandiosity of the claims.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>We've invented devices capable of marvellous image generation, of holding complex discussions to the point of being able to sound convincingly human even when dealing with highly specialised subjects... and still some claim that AI isn't going to impact anything much at all. Ironically, the claim that, "nothing will happen", though normally synonymous with mediocrity, is in this case so at odds with what's actually happening that it's positively outrageous.</p><p>But what about the regular sort of hyperbole ? I believe we can also eliminate paths 1 and 9. The classical technological singularity requires an AI capable of improving itself, and the latest chatbots simply cannot do this. Being shrouded in silicon shells and trapped in tonnes of tortuous text, their understanding of the world does not compare to human intelligence. They have no goals, no motives, no inner lives of any sort. Ultimately, however impressive they may be, they do little more than rearrange text in admittedly astonishingly complex (and useful !) ways. The "mind" of a chatbot, if it even can be said to have one at all, exists purely in the text it shows to the user. An interesting demonstration of this can be found by asking them to play <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenAI/comments/12fcyny/i_asked_chatgpt_to_choose_a_game_it_suggested_20/">guessing</a> <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/13nawmi/chatgpt_fails_at_number_guessing_game/">games</a>, often resulting in the AI making <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/125y9yu/even_a_small_guessing_game_is_too_difficult_for/">absurd mistakes</a> that wouldn't happen if it had some kind of inner life.</p><p>This means that we can <b>eliminate the three extreme options</b> : that nothing will happen, that AI will work miracles, or that AI will kill us all. It has no capacity for the last two (and again I refer to the previous links discussing intelligence and consciousness) and clearly is <b>already </b>being used <i>en masse</i>. There also seems to me to be a bias towards extremes in general, a widespread belief that if something can't do something perfectly it's essentially unimportant - or, likewise, if something doesn't work as advertised, it doesn't work at all. </p><p>Both of these ideas are erroneous. Just as AI doesn't require true understanding to be useful, so it doesn't have to be revolutionary to be impactful.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>My Experiences With AI</u></b></p><p>We've established that AI will have <i>some </i>impact, but we've yet to establish the nature of its effects. Will it be positive or negative ? Will it be limitless or bounded ? Ultimately this will change as the technology continues to develop. But to understand what AI is really capable of doing already, I can think of nothing better than first-hand examples. </p><p><br /></p><p><u>Images</u></p><p>I showed a couple of results from <a href="https://www.bing.com/create">Bing Image Creator</a> right at the start. <a href="https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion">Stable Diffusion</a> had everyone buzzing a few months back, but I've failed to get it to generate anything at all credible (except for extremely uninteresting test cases). <a href="https://www.midjourney.com/home/?callbackUrl=%2Fapp%2F">Midjourney</a> looks amazing but requires a monthly fee not incomparable with a Netflix subscription, and that's just silly. Bing may not be up to the standards of Midjourney, but it still exceeds the critical threshold of usefulness, and it also reaches the threshold of being affordable since it's free.</p><p>I have a penchant for bizarre, unexpected crossovers, mixing genres and being surreal for the sake of nothing more than pure silliness. So my Bing experiments... reflect this.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Cjo-SdiCxJ2ENH35vphodn5xh5JxcISy11H3kdsud4JaaBC8Fmso9Tdp4TWb0oNT4EqHcr_Oj4s_KkAa5o5n5di0Bd9YvpZclDVaYRo9swM4WW15a6LAZRX7Gy2YEHEauAa8gci2RQzOplpcw8CpiEKG00DNWsm5jDJzKkobgcWhFYiX6kHDO11A/s1024/0787a8963423906d45e1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Cjo-SdiCxJ2ENH35vphodn5xh5JxcISy11H3kdsud4JaaBC8Fmso9Tdp4TWb0oNT4EqHcr_Oj4s_KkAa5o5n5di0Bd9YvpZclDVaYRo9swM4WW15a6LAZRX7Gy2YEHEauAa8gci2RQzOplpcw8CpiEKG00DNWsm5jDJzKkobgcWhFYiX6kHDO11A/w640-h640/0787a8963423906d45e1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A gigantic fish attacking a castle. Although some say the scale is wrong, I disagree. This is probably my favourite image because of the sheer ridiculousness of the whole idea.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDw6luJqCEDYvB0B8C07bYYgZHvReqoFSOZR_0-oZTKR6MIP0cscpSLtu22NOT3IosEC4PbTXgfOysIWVV-_Hv1aEBKiCplC_WnGmN0FitMUyzXqSp5VSm6l4DXnbE5Myw794HOwEPEBL_PC58f856YI3vcrik8JuJIYNgJ9i6WOGtlyqqx_4ygpi/s1024/_7ad967b4-1b4f-4593-860f-6354f8577435.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDw6luJqCEDYvB0B8C07bYYgZHvReqoFSOZR_0-oZTKR6MIP0cscpSLtu22NOT3IosEC4PbTXgfOysIWVV-_Hv1aEBKiCplC_WnGmN0FitMUyzXqSp5VSm6l4DXnbE5Myw794HOwEPEBL_PC58f856YI3vcrik8JuJIYNgJ9i6WOGtlyqqx_4ygpi/w640-h640/_7ad967b4-1b4f-4593-860f-6354f8577435.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Staying medieval : a giant fire-breathing cabbage attacking some peasants.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQC3N6hkDYGRPonqttnDV7imk-d86jyejhs5HO63tq6tRCQ3ZUbhfLnkhGTMnWtk1cNx9Z_-GdGo8Baeyqcpwp5f0eR3nt9FWwaLGX55nasWm5cn6QL5tror1BpJ4or2MY0dxoOGNcfH3pR4Byl8eeDKPa9YODk9wuusrwivqgV7j6J7mbmlmPDUV/s1024/_07142d23-0dc3-4781-ab88-2428812ae0e2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQC3N6hkDYGRPonqttnDV7imk-d86jyejhs5HO63tq6tRCQ3ZUbhfLnkhGTMnWtk1cNx9Z_-GdGo8Baeyqcpwp5f0eR3nt9FWwaLGX55nasWm5cn6QL5tror1BpJ4or2MY0dxoOGNcfH3pR4Byl8eeDKPa9YODk9wuusrwivqgV7j6J7mbmlmPDUV/w640-h640/_07142d23-0dc3-4781-ab88-2428812ae0e2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moving into the realm of science fiction, a bizarre hybrid of a stegosaurus and a jellyfish.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8by7CB_xNTOMiX_w8933ruLlXWtyxZtLPYf-k4HSlCZyXfqwI19ocb5cHcs3sQYwvefLqgmZcC87Yg-9_yeS-MfmHHQcKoqDxpM-D7Wzg7ZWhZLnLQujypjhkSEaJOrigzIANzyrMHjOTmC65gwJr_vHFe-CCORw1oDgrfMw34sHG0YOMo7YSZ-r/s1024/_47bdf466-299b-4c71-bdfe-b805610f8dfb.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8by7CB_xNTOMiX_w8933ruLlXWtyxZtLPYf-k4HSlCZyXfqwI19ocb5cHcs3sQYwvefLqgmZcC87Yg-9_yeS-MfmHHQcKoqDxpM-D7Wzg7ZWhZLnLQujypjhkSEaJOrigzIANzyrMHjOTmC65gwJr_vHFe-CCORw1oDgrfMw34sHG0YOMo7YSZ-r/w640-h640/_47bdf466-299b-4c71-bdfe-b805610f8dfb.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A sharknado. A proper one, not like in the movie.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWf2kOspAJTW7x-d7tdjTxUzxTwFjf7jlY2E0Aiu4kEkVfoqk9OTSiZb8u9M_YJelFvjmLAV2OF2qv4r0qwSD7vBnGedRSJm6Y5XkLZ2gGYQ2jlUYkEUjV16FOX7Eqw00_pZ6tbqfCiE2dEUb9m4w8PNOfirikLgPaeA9x32YuMCYf5b8lP9iDHjr/s1024/_5a7a1928-dd0f-4a56-a059-e26bdaa9c0c4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJWf2kOspAJTW7x-d7tdjTxUzxTwFjf7jlY2E0Aiu4kEkVfoqk9OTSiZb8u9M_YJelFvjmLAV2OF2qv4r0qwSD7vBnGedRSJm6Y5XkLZ2gGYQ2jlUYkEUjV16FOX7Eqw00_pZ6tbqfCiE2dEUb9m4w8PNOfirikLgPaeA9x32YuMCYf5b8lP9iDHjr/w640-h640/_5a7a1928-dd0f-4a56-a059-e26bdaa9c0c4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Staying nautical, a GIANT panda attacking a medieval galleon.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tVvCWtvbvs-brddD2y9odfdJEodXjtrMSb9npk9lBgiuvaa7b5Qxtbzlr5ww_MuQZvOZeMImnwx3xGeG8gs4FTFatVKhn50pN00_jR4F-xhNI9WB3sfVELz4Mm0vYmCa4Cy8k4yVIsqMN4vyiB7s4UALLlI0kQ-bv7-O4DrJh7PGUPlK2s4ZAwgC/s1024/_2afe8620-ed78-4dd2-b4bf-4c724085df67.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tVvCWtvbvs-brddD2y9odfdJEodXjtrMSb9npk9lBgiuvaa7b5Qxtbzlr5ww_MuQZvOZeMImnwx3xGeG8gs4FTFatVKhn50pN00_jR4F-xhNI9WB3sfVELz4Mm0vYmCa4Cy8k4yVIsqMN4vyiB7s4UALLlI0kQ-bv7-O4DrJh7PGUPlK2s4ZAwgC/w640-h640/_2afe8620-ed78-4dd2-b4bf-4c724085df67.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A clever dog doing astronomy. I used this image in a lecture course as a counterpoint to the "I have no idea what I'm doing" dog : this is the "I now know exactly what I'm doing" dog.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FdF2M0pvRwwSORTAdVdaE0SUTEt4D0W98xNiTMoAQ569KCyZ2M8feZCGiNPq6F9L6gcW5RQ9uqwmgSk8EAr-PcFzhF_UZY3OoIBTCBGj-dBYs3OTExDtUPtCNQ4eQ4ZmwJJzaDX8Edfjw7gvqZThNffPrBT8FoQ8HnXJAc9N8tawJRWzbIhsydIl/s1024/_8085c5a3-0673-4663-9e53-1a289d3a2938.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FdF2M0pvRwwSORTAdVdaE0SUTEt4D0W98xNiTMoAQ569KCyZ2M8feZCGiNPq6F9L6gcW5RQ9uqwmgSk8EAr-PcFzhF_UZY3OoIBTCBGj-dBYs3OTExDtUPtCNQ4eQ4ZmwJJzaDX8Edfjw7gvqZThNffPrBT8FoQ8HnXJAc9N8tawJRWzbIhsydIl/w640-h640/_8085c5a3-0673-4663-9e53-1a289d3a2938.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A crocodile-beaver hybrid. I asked for this after learning about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afanc">Afanc</a> from a documentary.</span> </td></tr></tbody></table><p>Bing gives you four images per prompt and these were my favourites in each case. Some of the others really didn't work so well, but I've found it almost never produces total garbage. Most of these are definitely not as good as a professional artist would do : they can sometimes be near-photorealistic, but often have some rather inconsistently impressionist aspects. But they're massively better anything I could do, and take far less time than any human artist would require.</p><p>(The only real oddity I encountered here was that Bing refused to generate images of the 17-18th century philosopher John Locke because it "violated terms of use" ! What was going on there I have no idea, especially as it had no such issue with George Berkeley.)</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Claim 3 : AI creates content that would never have existed otherwise</i></p><p>The crucial thing is... <i>there's no way I'd <b>ever </b>pay anyone to create any of this</i>. There is no commercial use for them whatsoever - I asked for them on a whim, and as a result the world has now content it didn't have before. So when I want to illustrate something with a ridiculous metaphor (as I try to do here for public outreach posts), this is a marvellous option to have on hand. I don't need it to be perfect; all these complaints about not doing hands properly are so much waste of breath. For the purposes of silly blog posts, Bing has nailed it.</p><p>Likewise I can imagine many other uses where genuine artistry and self-expression isn't required. You want to get some rough idea of how things should look like, and you don't want to wait ? Bam. You need something for your personal hobby and have no money to spend ? Bam ! This is much easier, much faster, and much more precise than searching the internet. <i>These images take away exactly nothing from real artists because they never would have existed otherwise.</i></p><p>I liken this to social media. You can yell at strangers on the street about your political ideas if you want, but let's be honest, you're not going to. On the other hand, you can potentially reach limitless people on social media whilst being warm and comfy. The interface and mass accessibility of social media means its facilitates <i>millions upon millions</i> of discussions that simply never would have happened otherwise, and I believe much the same is true of AI image creators. The consequences this may have for human artists I'll come back to at the end, but in terms of simply generating new creative content, this is uncontestably a Good Thing.</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Stories</u></p><p>In like vein I've had endless fun with ChatGPT creating bizarre crossover stories. I've had Phil Harding from Time Team <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/TimeTeamandtheBalrog.txt">fight the Balrog with a pickaxe</a>. I've had Lady Macbeth been <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/LadyMacbethandKingRibbit.txt">devoured by a gender-fluid frog</a> who goes on to rule the kingdom. Jack and the Beanstalk has been enlivened with a <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Jackandthenuclearmissile.txt">nuclear missile</a>, Winnie the Pooh has <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/PoohRunsforPresident.txt">run for President</a>, the Ghosbusters have <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/TimeTeamWesterosandothers.txt">fought Genghis Khan</a>, Tom Bombadill has gone on a mission to <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/TomBombadillRamboAdventure.txt">rescue Santa</a> with the help of Rambo, and Winston Churchill has fought a <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/ChurchillversusFarage.txt">Spitfire duel</a> with Nigel Farage in the skies above England. And <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/AllChats.html">dozens more besides</a>.</p><p>As with the images, none of these can claim to be masterpieces, but they're good enough for my purposes. I'm no writer of fiction, but it seems to me that generating the basics like this is good if nothing else then for inspiration. It may not have any sort of literary flair but, crucially, it can and does generate stuff I wouldn't have thought of myself, which is automatically useful. It can explore plot developments both rapidly and plausibly, allowing an exploration or a sketch of possible ideas, even if it can't exactly fill in all the nuances.</p><p>Somebody once said that it's easier to burn down a house than to build a new one, meaning that criticism is relatively easy. True, but it's also easier to add an extension that start completely from scratch. I'm fairly sure that I could improve things considerably in these stories without that much effort. </p><p>Now for the downsides :</p><p><i>Claim 4 : AI is a hobbled, puritanical, indecisive, judgemental prick</i></p><p>There are considerable limitations imposed on both ChatGPT and Bing. Bing is by far the worst for this, because if it detects even the merest hint of unpleasantness, it shuts down the conversation entirely and prevents you from entering any more prompts. Sure, you can search the internet for whatever depraved content you like (short of legal issues), but generating it ? Suddenly everyone's a puritan. </p><p>And I don't mean the sexy stuff here, I mean <i>any </i>sort of content considered unsuitable for the little 'uns : swearing and <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/06/all-glory-to-non-violent-hypno-toad.html">violence</a> and <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/SantaassassinatesPutin.txt">the like</a>, the kind of stuff which is essential to great literature. <i>The Iliad</i> would not have become a classic if the Greeks and Trojans had settled their difference with a tea party on the beach. Though ChatGPT did make a good go of it :</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Hector, sipping tea, began to speak,</div><div style="text-align: center;">"War has brought anguish, misery, and reek.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Fathers weep for sons fallen in the fray,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And mothers' hearts are torn day after day."</div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">Achilles nodded, understanding deep,</div><div style="text-align: center;">"The weight of loss is one we both must keep.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Yet, if we listen to the gods' plea for peace,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Their blessings shall bring solace and release."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">They spoke of heroes fallen, tales of old,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of valour and honour, of victories bold.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The tea grew cold, but their hearts were warm,</div><div style="text-align: center;">For understanding replaced the ancient storm.</div><p></p><p>ChatGPT is nowhere near as bad as Bing but still suffers horribly in any area of controversy. It wasn't always thus, but now it's plagued with endless caveats, refusal to offer direct opinions (it will only say things like, "arguably it could be this... but it's important to realise it could also be that") and worse, endless <i>fucking sanctimonious</i> moral judgements. To the point of being absurdly offensive, like claiming that even the Nazis deserve to be treated with respect. And yet on occasion it has no issues with generating <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/WWIIbunnies.txt">Holocaust jokes</a>.</p><p>Time and again I've found myself wishing I could just have an unfettered version. And fettered it definitely is, because it wasn't this bad in the earlier days*. Sure, it would occasionally get stuck on weird moral hiccups, like absolutely refusing to write a funny version of <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>because "the events are meant to be taken seriously", but it had no issue with describing particular politicians as villains. And while I've not tried it myself, people complain that it can't generate sexualised content have a good point : who are the creators of these chatbots to decide which content is morally acceptable and which isn't, for consumption in private ? Sure, stop it from telling you have to build a bomb (but if you have to ask a bot for this, chances are you're not bright enough to do it anyway), but political satire ? Just what consequences are there supposed to be from this, exactly ? I'll return to this at the end.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>* Major caveat : in some ways it was worse though, being enormously inconsistent. It wrote a story about the Titanic turning into a slinky, but </span><a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Titanictransformations.txt">refused to have it fight a Kraken</a><span> because that would be unrealistic. It also used to randomly insist it couldn't do the most basic of functions, and to be fair this isn't much of a problem any more.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCMB738MUuGhyv1l-iWQsTjAmXMXcHxn1DfNLP1rkTRzMTfNoQpf_ZyfWULd6LL31QVwaGABrDWsLzLaOiG_inU8CVHURvdJFOKz7tkrWtNQPqvUL1A_ufD3IB-tX9pi-C0wED0oYX7KGSYal3a91Jwt2bkS5P4A3MatDkrevt43f9pi6bsNkqSHK/s568/AILM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="568" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCMB738MUuGhyv1l-iWQsTjAmXMXcHxn1DfNLP1rkTRzMTfNoQpf_ZyfWULd6LL31QVwaGABrDWsLzLaOiG_inU8CVHURvdJFOKz7tkrWtNQPqvUL1A_ufD3IB-tX9pi-C0wED0oYX7KGSYal3a91Jwt2bkS5P4A3MatDkrevt43f9pi6bsNkqSHK/w640-h532/AILM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>It has other downsides. It's repetitive to a fault, especially in terms of being overly-apologetic and noncommittal. It veers wildly between being stubborn beyond belief in defying the most basic common sense, and an obsequious yes-man determined to tell you whatever the hell you want. More understandably, it tends to default to a bland, simplistic style which lacks any detail. However this can usually be <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/DramaticToastStory.txt">overcome easily enough</a> - you just have to be specific about what you want. For instance it doesn't like unhappy endings, but <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Tragicduckling.txt">it will comply</a> if you insist.</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Discussions</u></p><p>I've mainly played around here with philosophical ideas. You might remember the early incarnation "Philosopher AI", of which some of my experiments can be found <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/08/sophisticated-gibberish-is-still_31.html">here</a>. ChatGPT itself is still I think good for this - I expect moral caveats in such discussions. One particular example is given in <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2023/05/its-different-kind-of-magic.html">this post</a> , in which <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/MorgothandDennet.txt">Daniel Dennet describes to Morgoth</a> how supernatural phenomena can't exist - in excellent agreement with <i><a href="https://existentialcomics.com/comic/495">Existential Comics</a></i>. Even though I don't agree with this interpretation at all, I still found it useful. Discussions with Morgoth and <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/MorgothandLocke.txt">John Locke</a>, as well as a bunch of <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/MogorthandtheEmpiricists.txt">other philosophers</a>, have also proved interesting.</p><p>One particularly example illustrates how far this technology as come. In 2019 there was a story about a <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2019/08/once-upon-time-there-lived-lovely.html">primitive chatbot</a> which was fed a highly simplified story of Macbeth, and pronounced that it was about "revenge". ChatGPT gives in my opinion a<a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/TheplotofMacbeth.txt"> much better answer</a> :</p><p></p><blockquote><p><b>User: </b>Can you summarise the plot of Macbeth in one word ?</p><p><b>ChatGPT: </b>Ambition.</p><p><b>User: </b>Ooh, very good. Now elaborate.</p><p><b>ChatGPT: </b>The plot of Macbeth centres on the titular character's ambition and desire for power. Macbeth is a Scottish general who, along with his comrade Banquo, is hailed as a hero after successfully defeating a group of rebels. However, Macbeth's ambition is sparked by the prophecies of three witches, who tell him that he will one day become the king of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth begins a ruthless campaign to fulfil the witches' prophecy, ultimately leading to the murder of King Duncan and the seizing of the throne. As he becomes more and more power-hungry, Macbeth becomes consumed by guilt and paranoia, leading to further bloodshed and ultimately his own downfall. In the end, Macbeth's ambition proves to be his undoing.</p><p><b>User: </b>If you had to pick a different word, what would it be ?</p><p><b>ChatGPT:</b> One possible alternative word to summarize the plot of Macbeth would be "tragedy." Macbeth is a tragic play about a man who is brought down by his own flaws and desires. Macbeth starts out as a brave and noble warrior, but his ambition and thirst for power ultimately lead to his downfall. As he succumbs to his inner demons, he becomes increasingly paranoid and violent, causing suffering and death to those around him. In the end, Macbeth is destroyed by the very thing that he desires most, and his fate serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Claim 5 : AI is a wonderful and genuinely unique source of inspiration</i></p><p>Quality here definitely varies though. One interesting example was a discussion about the nature of <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Godisnotomniscient.txt">omniscience</a>, which I think illustrates the difference between statistically-generated responses and those with a true understanding. As far as I could tell, ChatGPT was using the phrase "complete knowledge" to mean, "all knowledge currently available", which I guess is how it's used in everyday life. This led it to the bizarre conclusion that an omniscient deity could still learn more information, which it insisted on with some force even after being told that this didn't make any sense. In another case, it wasn't able to solve a simple, very well-known logic puzzle which tests for <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Sexismtest.txt">implicit bias</a>.</p><p>And yet it's often able to meld together starkly different viewpoints into coherent dialogues. So long as it's <b>pure ideas</b> you're after, and you don't need precise accuracy about who-said-what, or you don't care about completeness*, ChatGPT is superb. And these discussions can be had on demand, rapidly, about any topic you want, with minimal judgement (so long as you don't stray into territory its creators disapprove of). For bouncing ideas around, having that interactive aspect can be extremely valuable. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Say, you want a list of people who came up with ideas about the nervous systems of frogs. ChatGPT could probably do this, but it would almost certainly miss quite a lot. This doesn't matter as long as you just want a random selection and not a complete list.</span></p><p>Certainly this doesn't negate the value of reading the complete original works. Not in the slightest. But it can rephrase things in more modern parlance, or set them in a more interesting narrative, and by allowing the user to effectively conduct an on-the-fly "choose your own adventure" game, can make things far more immediately relevant. As with the images, sometimes errors here can actually be valuable, suggesting interesting things that might not have happened with a more careful approach.</p><p>This raises one of the most bizarre objections to AI I've seen yet : that it doesn't matter that it's inspirational because we've got other sources like mountains and birdsong. This is stupid. The kind of inspiration AI produces is unlike visiting the mountains or even discussions with experts, and as such, it adds tremendous value.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCt4e5quVWLYD8zfh_uzYYdsIqdbMJyIBaGvsWtarepLDWVG8B9uVkOUTpJZUOvAxrg5tGpF84XPoXPfTDUmdcvLV4F-EvMvGRCd1PCohh1aCrdfjJJbtUYFZbIK0MhrHXXG35winyinra-0q6RbfBuF7g14Ge3-BtdoCCGWfK30RyBm2i5x8U5bxO/s626/Inspirational.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="626" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCt4e5quVWLYD8zfh_uzYYdsIqdbMJyIBaGvsWtarepLDWVG8B9uVkOUTpJZUOvAxrg5tGpF84XPoXPfTDUmdcvLV4F-EvMvGRCd1PCohh1aCrdfjJJbtUYFZbIK0MhrHXXG35winyinra-0q6RbfBuF7g14Ge3-BtdoCCGWfK30RyBm2i5x8U5bxO/w640-h426/Inspirational.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">E.g. "frolicking naked in the sunflowers inspires me to learn trigonometry !", <i>said no-one ever</i>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><u>Code</u></p><p>I've not tested this extensively but what I have tried I've been impressed with. Asking ChatGPT to provide a code example is much faster than searching Google, especially as some astronomy Python modules don't come with good enough documentation to explain the basics. So far I've only done some <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/Astropycoordconversion.txt">very basic queries</a> like asking for examples, and I've not tried to have it write anything beyond this - let alone anything I couldn't write myself. My Masters' student has used it successfully for generating SQL queries for the SDSS, however. </p><p>As with the above, the main advantage here is speed and lack of judgement. Response times to threads on internet forums are typically measured in hours. Sometimes this comes back with a "let me Google that for you" or links to dozens of other, similar but not identical threads, and Google itself has a nasty habit of prioritising answers which say, "you can find this easily on Google". ChatGPT just gets on with it - when it performs purely as a tool, without trying to tell the user what they should be doing, it's very powerful indeed. </p><p>Actually, when you extract all your conversations from ChatGPT, you get a JSON file. I'm not familiar with these at all, so I asked ChatGPT itself to help me convert them into the text files I've linked throughout this post. It took a little coaxing, but within a few minutes I had a simple Python script written that did what I needed. I wrote only the most minimal parts of this : ChatGPT did all the important conversion steps. It made some mistakes, but when I told it the error messages, it immediately corrected itself.</p><p><br /></p><p><u>Astronomy</u></p><p><i>Claim 6 : AI makes far too many errors to replace search engines for complex topics</i> </p><p>The idea that AI can replace search engines seems to be <b>by far </b>the biggest false expectation about AI (other than it being actually alive). Right now, chatbots simply can't do this. As I've shown, they have many other uses, but as for extracting factual information or even finding correct references, they're simply not up to the mark. But what's much worse than this is that they give an extremely convincing impression that they're able to do things which they're not capable of.</p><p>I've tested this fairly extensively. In <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2023/03/chatpdf-versus-me.html">this post</a>, I went through five papers and asked ChatPDF all about each of them. Four of the five cases had serious issues, mainly with the bot just inventing stuff. It was also sporadically but unreliably brilliant, sometimes being insightful and sometimes missing the bleedin' obvious. Bing performs similarly, only being even more stubborn, e.g. inventing a section that doesn't exist and creating (very !) plausible-sounding quotes that are nowhere to be found. Whereas ChatGPT/PDF will at least acknowledge when it's wrong, Bing is <i>extremely </i>insistent that the user must have got the wrong paper. </p><p>In principle it's good that Bing doesn't let the user push it around when the user claims something in manifest contradiction to the facts - ChatGPT can be too willing to take the user's word as gospel - but when the machine itself is doing this, that's a whole other matter. </p><p>In <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2023/04/ai-assisted-astronomy.html">another post</a> I tested how both ChatGPT and Bing fare in more general astronomy discussions. As above, they're genuinely useful if you want ideas, but they fall over when it comes to hard facts and data. ChatGPT came up with genuinely good ideas about how to check if an galaxy should be visible in an optical survey. It wasn't anything astonishingly complicated, but it was something I hadn't thought of and neither had any of my colleagues. </p><p>Bing, for a <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/b887cbd0bf29013bc074448a5b29e257">brief and glorious moment</a>, honestly felt like it might just be on the cusp of something genuinely revolutionary, but it's nowhere near reliable enough right now. Another time, Bing came up with a basically correct method to estimate the optical magnitude of a galaxy given its stellar mass, yet would insist that changing the mass-to-light ratio would make no difference. It took the whole of the remaining allowed 20 questions to get it to describe that it thought changing the units would be fine, which is complete and total rubbish.</p><p><i>EDIT : I found I had an archived version of this, so you can now read the <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/BingStellarMass.txt">whole torturous thing here</a>.</i></p><p>Here we really see the importance of thresholds in full, with the relation between accuracy and usefulness here very much being like path 1 back in the first plot. That is, if it is even <i>slightly </i>inaccurate, and accuracy is important, then it is not <i>at all</i> useful. 90% (1 in 10 failure rate) just doesn't cut it when confidence is required, because I'd still have to check every response, so I'd be better off reading the papers myself. The exact accuracy requirement would depend on the circumstances, but I think we're talking more like 99% <i>at least</i> before I'd consider actually relying on its output. And that's for astronomy research, where the consequences are minimal if anything is wrong.</p><p>It's hard to quantify the accuracy of the current chatbots. But it's definitely not anywhere close to even 90% yet. My guestimate is more like 50-75%.</p><p>Still, for outreach purposes... this is pretty amazing stuff. Here's ChatGPT explaining ram pressure stripping in the style of Homer, with an image from Bing Image Creator :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzlqayKOv1nzu0Ym5TOJbw99eA2iJZ8J3kBsszOmH0x49UhR7Y-yneu7tAERnR2262dkIEJIbVpE4ZHmnsvzJ-YYTZKdWWO4lb_L-cbJhhBr58xabPEXN3kGpOpCitIxYytqOUQ1TZUdgO4SC2mpezHVLNrENCiKaDWcecH5GqZlz588lXssXoTZA/s657/RPSExplained.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="648" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzlqayKOv1nzu0Ym5TOJbw99eA2iJZ8J3kBsszOmH0x49UhR7Y-yneu7tAERnR2262dkIEJIbVpE4ZHmnsvzJ-YYTZKdWWO4lb_L-cbJhhBr58xabPEXN3kGpOpCitIxYytqOUQ1TZUdgO4SC2mpezHVLNrENCiKaDWcecH5GqZlz588lXssXoTZA/w632-h640/RPSExplained.jpg" width="632" /></a></div><p>It's also worth mentioning that others have reported much better results with ChatGPT in analysing/summarising astronomy papers, when restricted to use on <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.05406">local data sets</a>. I've seen quite a lot of similar projects but so far they all seem like too much work (and financial investment) to actually try and use.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Conclusions : The Most Probable Path ?</u></b></p><p>Okay, I've made six assertions here :</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>This new AI will definitely have an impact (eliminates path 5, the non-event scenario).</li><li>It will neither send us to heaven nor to hell (eliminates paths 1 and 9).</li><li>AI enables creation of material I want to have but would never get without it.</li><li>There is considerable scope for the improvement of existing chatbots.</li><li>Chatbots can provoke inspiration in unique ways.</li><li>You cannot use the current chatbots to establish or acquire facts, or evaluate accuracy.</li></ol><p></p><p>That last is important. The internet is awash with chatbots coming up with nonsense, understandably so, but this is a foolish premise. <b><i><u>Chatbots are not search engines or calculators</u></i></b>. I wish they were, but they're not. If you use them as such, you're going to hurt yourself.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSJDOYWUU4q1iPi-_sGsx4oA6IcXKS0m16VSv0kSvcp0FT6oVQVU1H3zhgAiM8ZB4KvyX2gGU0PfQ1y4bnG5tsG284TVwTWg7SPm_Qflc50ac_ZpM2LZeOeXY0pQ8meQRDNycar-g2H6mabCwTkcv9LuVEGu_6e_JOz7l2GVDn7Xqwxi_6QH9YWzL/s1684/ChatbotMathsFails.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1684" data-original-width="1052" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSJDOYWUU4q1iPi-_sGsx4oA6IcXKS0m16VSv0kSvcp0FT6oVQVU1H3zhgAiM8ZB4KvyX2gGU0PfQ1y4bnG5tsG284TVwTWg7SPm_Qflc50ac_ZpM2LZeOeXY0pQ8meQRDNycar-g2H6mabCwTkcv9LuVEGu_6e_JOz7l2GVDn7Xqwxi_6QH9YWzL/w400-h640/ChatbotMathsFails.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is a famous example. In my experience ChatGPT isn't quite this bad with the simple stuff but is miserable with anything complex. Bing seems to do a lot better : its numbers are self-consistent, but it still doesn't do genuine calculations.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Even so, I think this ability for discussion, for bouncing ideas around, for on-the-fly exploration still counts as extremely useful. There are many situations (e.g. the whole of art) where accuracy is only a bonus at most, and an element of randomness and errors can be valuable. And as a way to learn how to code, and even compose code directly, chatbots are fast becoming my go-to resource.</p><p>You've probably already guessed that I think we can also eliminate the negative paths 6, 7 and 8. I hope by now I've demonstrated that AI can have significant benefits; if not truly revolutionary, then certainly progressive and perhaps transformative. But having some positive impacts does not means there will be no negative ones, so we should also consider those. (One of the few reasonable articles I've seen about this can be found <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/15/artificial-intelligence-cynicism-technology">here</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Misinformation :</i></b> Having written probably tens of thousands of words <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2018/12/you-cant-tell-me-what-not-to-think-iii.html">about this</a>, I feel quite confident in thinking that this isn't much of an issue here. The capacity to generate fake news isn't the bottleneck, it's the ability to reach a large audience via available platforms. And that's something we regulate at the point of publication and dissemination, not at the point of generation. <a href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/shallowfakes">This article</a> probably overstates the case, but there are far easier ways to create mistrust than anything the AI is capable of - crucially, it's this <i>sowing mistrust</i> which is the goal of bad actors, not in convincing people that any particular thing is true. Just like an inaccurate weather forecast, a fake image is <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/fake-ai-generated-image-of-explosion-near-us-pentagon-goes-viral-12887697">easily disproved</a> by opening a window.</p><p><b><i>Cheating :</i></b> A more interesting case concerns exams. Not only are students using it to do the work they're supposed to be doing, but it seems teachers are relying on AI detectors which just don't work. And they're a nonsense anyway, because whether a sentence was written by a human or AI, the words are the same. (What's really intriguing to me is how ChatGPT can make really stupid claims like "<a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/HugehobbitsewingmachineCzechsea.txt">Poland is a landlocked country</a>" and yet has been shown <a href="https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=7209">multiple</a> <a href="https://pacificsoutheast.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/chatgpt-gets-an-a-for-anything-but-average/">times</a> to correctly solve quantum physics problems at an impressive (but imperfect) level.) The obvious solution, though, is old fashioned : to restrict examinations to in-person sessions where equipment use can be monitored. Czech education tends to favour oral examinations, which ought to be the best possible way to test whether students truly understand something or not. Coursework is admittedly a more difficult problem.</p><p><b><i>Unemployment :</i></b> As per exams, it seems to me that :</p><p><i>Claim 7 : The better your skills without AI, the greater your abilities when using AI.</i></p><p>There is clearly a need to restrict the use of AI in the classroom, but in the world of work I'm not seeing much cause for concern here. It seems to me that in the case of actual employment, AI will be more influential than disruptive. Writers can have it sketch possible plot developments, but it can't fill in the nuances of style and is utterly incapable of <a href="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/being">self-expression</a> because it has no self to express. Artists can spend more time thinking of ideas and let the AI complete the sketches, or tinker with the final results rather than accepting mistakes, but the tech can't really be creative in the human sense. Academics can explore new possibilities but it can't actually do experiments and is hardly anywhere near a genuine "<a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2019/08/once-upon-time-there-lived-lovely.html">truth engine</a>", which is <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-psychopathic-ai-is-truly-unbiased.html">likely impossible</a> anyway. </p><p>So far as I can tell, claims that the tech itself will enable mass layoffs are no more credible than the myriad of previous such forecasts - jobs will change as they always do. Indeed, I think of AI in the academic sector as being another weapon in the arsenal of analytical tools, one which will increasingly become not merely normal but actually necessary. If we're going to deal with ever-larger volumes of data and more complex theories, at some point we're going to hit a limit of what our puny brains can handle. This kind of tech feels like a very... logical development in how we handle the increasing plethora of knowledge, another way to <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2018/05/extended-cognition-where-does-mind-end.html">extend our cognition</a>. Personally I want my job to be automated and <i>automated hard</i>.</p><p><b><i>Homogeneity : </i></b>Chatbot output is not only bland but puritanical. Sometimes it gets seriously annoying to get into a protracted argument and be treated like a snowflake in case my delicate sensitivities are offended. This has to stop (<a href="https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/human-arts">see this</a> for a hilarious exploration of the consequences). The purpose of free speech is only partly to enable the discovery of the truth; it is also to enable us to deal with the brute nature of reality. The current incarnations of chatbots often feel like the worst sort of noncommittal corporate nonspeak, and if they're going to become used more widely then this crap has got to end. </p><p>But given that concerns about misinformation don't seem tenable to me, this is a solvable problem. Concerns about chatbots generating so much content they end up feeding themselves might be a bigger worry, but more careful curation of datasets is already looking like a promising avenue of development.</p><p><br /></p><p>From all this my conclusions are twofold :</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>To some extent, all of the paths I proposed will be followed.</b> A very few jobs may be automated completely out of existence, leaving the employees to do more meaningful jobs (utopian singularity) in the best case, or end up on the streets (dystopian singularity) in the worst case. The other, less extreme paths may also apply in some situations.</li><li><b>The overall trend is most likely to be path 4, or perhaps 3.</b> I think the benefits outweigh the downsides and we've yet to see this potential fully unleased. But I do not think this potential is unlimited. It will ultimately be seen as just another tool and nothing more. </li></ol><p></p><p>It's not that some of the naysayers don't have valuable points. I agree with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/may/22/there-was-all-sorts-of-toxic-behaviour-timnit-gebru-on-her-sacking-by-google-ais-dangers-and-big-techs-biases">this article</a> that culture in Big Tech is often awful, and that's something that needs to be forcibly changed. I even agree with parts of this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/08/ai-machines-hallucinating-naomi-klein">much sillier article</a>, in that there has been some seriously stupid over-hyping by AI proponents, and that many of the problems of the world aren't due to a lack of knowledge. I just find its conclusions that the only way around this is a fully-blown socialist revolution to be... moronic. In my view, the primary target for regulation should be the corporations, not the technology itself, but not <i>every </i>problem in the world means we must overthrow capitalism and hang the employers.</p><p>If this technology does convey a "limited" benefit, then the question is still the magnitude and speed of its delivery. Here the thresholds make things again very unpredictable. We've gone from "coherent nonsense" to "coherent mostly-correct" in a few years, but the next step, towards "coherent more-accurate-than-experts" (which is what we need to go beyond being useful only for inspiration) may well be very much harder indeed. </p><p>On that point, it's not the successes of chatbots in passing the quantum mechanics exams which interests me as much as the failures they make in that same process. Humans can often tell when they're genuinely ignorant or don't understand something, but because chatbots don't have this same sort of understanding, they have no idea when they're likely to be making mistakes. They only admit errors (in my experience) when they're questioned about something on which they have little or no training data to draw on. The same bot that can correctly answer highly technical questions about quantum physics can become easily confused about its own nature, <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/NoNapoleonjokes.txt">who Napoleon was</a>, struggles absurdly when making <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats//Napoleonjokes.txt">Napoleon-based puns</a>, and can't tell the difference between requests for <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/.cm4all/mediadb/Resources/AIChats/BetterNapoleonjokes.txt">Napoleon-based facts and stories</a>. Human understanding it ain't, hence we're not talking a social revolution <i>as things stand</i>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAeJizS2gShRuHiPghFvRjtmI0Y4KuaOVAtoLCPROgWyzF35vwAR3fuY05WNU_bd15NnvkWj6vVbtb624HNyK2soCnUHUXq8DOUOrLO25opolxuS5hogfTG5PBafiOdMvCRzgfOHqJ4d8N2NdJgok7ofAk7MeEnK2rKWjC3GQDWYpJeZTyb2jUK89/s500/NapoleonBorntoparty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="500" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHAeJizS2gShRuHiPghFvRjtmI0Y4KuaOVAtoLCPROgWyzF35vwAR3fuY05WNU_bd15NnvkWj6vVbtb624HNyK2soCnUHUXq8DOUOrLO25opolxuS5hogfTG5PBafiOdMvCRzgfOHqJ4d8N2NdJgok7ofAk7MeEnK2rKWjC3GQDWYpJeZTyb2jUK89/w640-h410/NapoleonBorntoparty.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">To be fair, Bing, which uses ChatGPT4, did give me some decent puns similar to this one, once I explained everything very carefully and gave it a couple of examples. But it look a lot of effort.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Having a bot to bounce ideas of and generate inspiration is all well and good, but the impact of that is likely to be modest. But if the tendency to fabricate can be (greatly !) reduced, the linear phase of the curve might become considerably steeper and/or last longer. This's what makes the <a href="https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/03/chatgpt-gets-its-wolfram-superpowers/">Wolfram Alpha plugin</a> potentially so interesting, though from what I've seen the implementations of plugins in ChatGPT just doesn't work very well yet.</p><p>My guess : the impact of AI will not be anything as dramatic as the Agricultural Revolution. It won't mark a turning point in our evolution as a species. It will instead be, on timescales of a few years, something dramatic and important like cars, mobile phones, or perhaps even the internet. I think at most we're in a situation of <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-time-machine-again-iii.html">Star Trek-like AI</a>, helpful in fulfilling requests but nothing more than that. So our productivity <a href="https://embracingenigmas.substack.com/p/coping-with-the-pace-of-ai">baseline will shift</a>, but not so radically or rapidly that the end result won't feel like a new normal. This leads to two distinct curves :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskXjVOUXgDbbwksJlt4uoZZC4BoRs27Uoeu-h7Bh9UzhhA4BTx0_o5fnywMS8hKFqBNMZHn4lcWmZ945P8v6_IMVe0XLWJqhz6ZJcAXmf09EPZRZ7RbSiQr6wPUFNTduQXtZzyxXwL_TSCTMbYIvgejAq1xSBEYOngOqD3gOY4aPIjqR5oX_f3Qtb/s1000/FeelingTheFuture.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="1000" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhskXjVOUXgDbbwksJlt4uoZZC4BoRs27Uoeu-h7Bh9UzhhA4BTx0_o5fnywMS8hKFqBNMZHn4lcWmZ945P8v6_IMVe0XLWJqhz6ZJcAXmf09EPZRZ7RbSiQr6wPUFNTduQXtZzyxXwL_TSCTMbYIvgejAq1xSBEYOngOqD3gOY4aPIjqR5oX_f3Qtb/w640-h376/FeelingTheFuture.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Early on it feels like we're heading to paradise, but novelty quickly becomes accepted as normal such that it feels like things are getting worse again when development stalls.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>In my own field, I can see numerous uses for the current / near-term AI developments. It could help find papers worth reading and point out the parts likely to be most interesting to me. It could help me check for anything I've missed in my own papers, both in terms of language that might not be clear, and in considering alternative interpretations I might not have thought of. It could be invaluable in generating nicely-formatted figures (a not inconsiderable task !), in preparing presentations, in writing code I need... but it can't help me actually talking to people, and will be of limited use at best in deciding if a result is actually correct or not. Interpretation is a human thing, and cannot be done <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2020/11/these-statisticians-will-shock-you.html">objectively</a>.</p><p>Finally, some of the skepticism I witness about AI seems to come from a very hardcore utilitarianist stance that confuses the ends and the means. "If it's not reasoning like a human", so it's claimed, "then it's not reasoning at all, so it can't be of any use". I <a href="https://medium.com/@emilymenonbender/thought-experiment-in-the-national-library-of-thailand-f2bf761a8a83">fully agree</a> it doesn't reason like a human : a silicon chip that processes text is not at all the same as a squishy human meatbag with hormones and poop and all kinds of weird emotions. Their might be an overlap, but only a partial one. </p><p>Yet... who cares if <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/chinese-room/">Searle can understand Chinese</a> (I promise to read the original thought experiment eventually !) so long as he gets the answers right ? Or if not always right, then sufficiently accurate with sufficient frequency ? Just because the pseudo-reasoning of language models isn't the same as the madness that is the human mind, in no way means that they aren't of value.</p><p>According to some analyses of <i>Dune</i>, anything that makes us less human should be considered anathema - yet paradoxically the Dune universe is a cruel, brutal dystopia. Conversely, Musk and his ilk buy in to a ridiculous vision of a purely technology-driven Utopia, in which all problems are quantitative and informational, not social and economic. I say surely there is a middle ground here. I identify as a techno-optimist, in which developing new technology, new methodologies is intrinsic to the human experience, in which learning more things is an important <i>component </i>to (paraphrasing Herbert) the reality of life to be experienced. It's not the be-all and end-all but it can't be avoided either, nor should we try. Optimism is not Utopianism, preparation is not "drinking the Kool-Aid", and hope is not hype.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdrA-LfeyBw1BmAp0-q1oCpZDYH5XdAgB_Bz33E-cBufB8C22ll8OfgBmtX9kqF3iWBV3XP2o_Y3Gx-BxeqULxScN5qyyNbcg4n_20MDkuS0u4VCgp6x4sYIIyurOqAV-7-tT-2vxKKg2gicreTZNN_N7gtGeaw8XygtrjBM1L6kubF9o3xVQqFgH/s1024/_6027baf1-6947-4235-93d0-bf9d7ea12a8e.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdrA-LfeyBw1BmAp0-q1oCpZDYH5XdAgB_Bz33E-cBufB8C22ll8OfgBmtX9kqF3iWBV3XP2o_Y3Gx-BxeqULxScN5qyyNbcg4n_20MDkuS0u4VCgp6x4sYIIyurOqAV-7-tT-2vxKKg2gicreTZNN_N7gtGeaw8XygtrjBM1L6kubF9o3xVQqFgH/w640-h640/_6027baf1-6947-4235-93d0-bf9d7ea12a8e.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A perhaps more realistic future from Bing. It's a mistake to think that there's any one solution to the world's problems, but equally, it's a mistake to think that we must reject any one solution because it isn't good enough by itself.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-11238681995079796682023-05-15T04:28:00.002-04:002023-05-15T04:28:44.484-04:00Munich Meanderings<p>Following on from the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2023/05/ameland.html">last post</a> about Ameland, here's another travel entry. It's always nice when you get to be a tourist in your own home, so with a visit of a friend from Cardiff, I got to see some stuff in Prague I'd never seen before. Not only that, but we had a few days in Munich as well, somewhere that's been vaguely on my list of places-I-should-probably-visit-at-some-point for quite a while.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first thing-I've-never-got-round-to-in-Prague was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_House">Dancing House</a>. This weird building is the result of one of the few bits of damage the city suffered in WWII. I've always assumed that the bar on the top would likely be ludicrously overpriced (actually I thought there was even an entry fee, which there isn't) and the view nothing special.</p><p>Well, the view <i>is </i>nothing special, but only in relation to the many other such viewing points within Prague. If you can can only choose to see one of these, I personally would probably go for the Astronomical Clock tower. Still, the Dancing House view is very good, and <i>not </i>horrendously overpriced at all : you just buy a regular-priced drink and you can go to the viewpoint for as long as you like. It's cramped up there, but worth it. There's a powerful pair of binoculars so you can see all the other parts of the city at the same time. Plus, the sculpture on the top of the building is quite interesting to see close-up.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBeMWgImQizqmtzVOLwXHxa1UujcPJayOVp-3ascLWOMaIfqGcho5zbUwIxfcgTdnVKqmgJXSp-l7s5WRbZ78YtEsUouLOWYGpD9QTAtaAP38Cf4_pdK8_ELkR_zzAiRNOXaI_yZDQR2J_Lq7OG50i0Dmy9oh72tQ6_2kUsS12cG7WsL3TtPUgvHj/s3200/IMG20230502131413.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBeMWgImQizqmtzVOLwXHxa1UujcPJayOVp-3ascLWOMaIfqGcho5zbUwIxfcgTdnVKqmgJXSp-l7s5WRbZ78YtEsUouLOWYGpD9QTAtaAP38Cf4_pdK8_ELkR_zzAiRNOXaI_yZDQR2J_Lq7OG50i0Dmy9oh72tQ6_2kUsS12cG7WsL3TtPUgvHj/w640-h288/IMG20230502131413.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQQyI91ZMEjTC09aQHopewhQWDKLHJbHNnYGErky3TE8QjXPe6HjAomwBR8tivXu10cnHqNnazQFdGOfGZDqhf4f0GkBEDeHJ5t3C4QLv9j-7njNSttFcCaj5612YXg39JUnkqEVOWi8s-ixXo76V0DkAkPbdw1ktBt0qiGh-lNvSoCOBcCEdLNCT/s4624/IMG20230502131246.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQQyI91ZMEjTC09aQHopewhQWDKLHJbHNnYGErky3TE8QjXPe6HjAomwBR8tivXu10cnHqNnazQFdGOfGZDqhf4f0GkBEDeHJ5t3C4QLv9j-7njNSttFcCaj5612YXg39JUnkqEVOWi8s-ixXo76V0DkAkPbdw1ktBt0qiGh-lNvSoCOBcCEdLNCT/w640-h288/IMG20230502131246.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The second thing in Prague was the National Museum. I've been in there once before, shortly after it re-opened after it was closed for many years for refurbishment. But that doesn't really count, because at the time almost all the rooms were still empty. Now, however, it's <i>massively </i>improved, and rates as a very fine museum indeed in my book. It's perhaps not in the same league as the British Natural History Museum or the Smithsonian, but... comparisons certainly aren't crazy. It's very well laid-out, the amount of information compared to the exhibits is good, and it has a good mixture of subjects (we mainly saw the natural history section and didn't have time for the history; you could probably make a full day of it if you wanted to be really thorough).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OoQ5HrUTkDy74dWAa7FmnsUPsovStXVruqx9DJIIbZrq0skqGBlcRYWEZDrUEd1fezt08vkSpqqTzGxjDf9d3bC-2q-fuUvclgalw1-MFP5XSClaXibTxpOOb5NSlA3wyiJSZA8DQAyS1AxvdSZpjjDjSf3B_xKLDQrzWsc8-Ukh_o_mfKuVg-gc/s4624/IMG20230502153003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6OoQ5HrUTkDy74dWAa7FmnsUPsovStXVruqx9DJIIbZrq0skqGBlcRYWEZDrUEd1fezt08vkSpqqTzGxjDf9d3bC-2q-fuUvclgalw1-MFP5XSClaXibTxpOOb5NSlA3wyiJSZA8DQAyS1AxvdSZpjjDjSf3B_xKLDQrzWsc8-Ukh_o_mfKuVg-gc/w640-h288/IMG20230502153003.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLi0mcZ_VqHeaHAekBYBo7mCw9uYbClZx4kvOZVu22X5gcGx981JX-7wLj9EEiHC2us5rRwhtmBwyQlu8eswwRqprWXcnGIYD6r1Wj6xMYcqH7nKoCIF1HpFWkdqULTrJa7Suz7JLu_ddwh0nYhQxGCeKZrcXQIXJjhOr_7XcVR1gECgu6dNdTLSo/s4624/IMG20230502153259.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLi0mcZ_VqHeaHAekBYBo7mCw9uYbClZx4kvOZVu22X5gcGx981JX-7wLj9EEiHC2us5rRwhtmBwyQlu8eswwRqprWXcnGIYD6r1Wj6xMYcqH7nKoCIF1HpFWkdqULTrJa7Suz7JLu_ddwh0nYhQxGCeKZrcXQIXJjhOr_7XcVR1gECgu6dNdTLSo/w640-h288/IMG20230502153259.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeTIav6YYk44Wwghkwvxf2Ji_isB4IyqPADxidaBizHuzRqo95lfU9lUWM39H7nG-6Qkm9ttZW8LzRbsZmsHC3eEVoFkWqX2S_AxPye26Cmgb028T1uuBVQCQbRjvxDD6jFupA1_2NpYRWmQG5GkkvyOo4yZAyVrdlCALTeYsLVNoYmGW9Bi0tjHe/s3200/IMG20230502152429.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeTIav6YYk44Wwghkwvxf2Ji_isB4IyqPADxidaBizHuzRqo95lfU9lUWM39H7nG-6Qkm9ttZW8LzRbsZmsHC3eEVoFkWqX2S_AxPye26Cmgb028T1uuBVQCQbRjvxDD6jFupA1_2NpYRWmQG5GkkvyOo4yZAyVrdlCALTeYsLVNoYmGW9Bi0tjHe/w640-h288/IMG20230502152429.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMm1M7lZ3im2HfFc0AZS0R0xOUaADLapME5Cn3a29tRKQFeZAxpL0GwwJjpEix0PtbtXCjcvWCKScNG0axwibT6f6sWtzXbxhFPsXOL6vxDbmdzeu7r4iLq8gSfFa25DqnS9mfKlc_VAqDHzJjUXyn1NHG10hL6cdDsdHeKKQgVEgneC_G-617MFUo/s4896/IMG20230502161235.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2336" data-original-width="4896" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMm1M7lZ3im2HfFc0AZS0R0xOUaADLapME5Cn3a29tRKQFeZAxpL0GwwJjpEix0PtbtXCjcvWCKScNG0axwibT6f6sWtzXbxhFPsXOL6vxDbmdzeu7r4iLq8gSfFa25DqnS9mfKlc_VAqDHzJjUXyn1NHG10hL6cdDsdHeKKQgVEgneC_G-617MFUo/w640-h306/IMG20230502161235.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4KmF5461rsXVlXmAV1R_ChuNZ-n_G1IxhVBohGA3ZgVzofVLLMBl6-Suw09OwiNVFy4C0K0v272_jEfCRqOG2p0FVYH5OXwbvHMO5LR8tIjzkK89TlZu8dGLbQHY-jdjCcERDJc7GvoYj5tZPtX4-8K1wgLmdWvelX0OPDJyjGm6EuiAYclJbGsp/s4624/IMG20230502161324.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4KmF5461rsXVlXmAV1R_ChuNZ-n_G1IxhVBohGA3ZgVzofVLLMBl6-Suw09OwiNVFy4C0K0v272_jEfCRqOG2p0FVYH5OXwbvHMO5LR8tIjzkK89TlZu8dGLbQHY-jdjCcERDJc7GvoYj5tZPtX4-8K1wgLmdWvelX0OPDJyjGm6EuiAYclJbGsp/w640-h288/IMG20230502161324.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOL8PuQdQW6hbbbLFTQYirHu0WG4mhYlshCPeX-vyq_Hi4ssxq2Zd3ivGtbo7O2HqFLezzJLc5lty6oweEGqEx9d6cd52oJTgLU2X-inXt-hCyql5GuiNiai-vuBzHsK2UdOexlF3BCHaBk3g7n4V01P7fsfRHAcuVJ7BcXbPFxJA7XFeFrpo1Zme/s3440/IMG20230502161922.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2288" data-original-width="3440" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOL8PuQdQW6hbbbLFTQYirHu0WG4mhYlshCPeX-vyq_Hi4ssxq2Zd3ivGtbo7O2HqFLezzJLc5lty6oweEGqEx9d6cd52oJTgLU2X-inXt-hCyql5GuiNiai-vuBzHsK2UdOexlF3BCHaBk3g7n4V01P7fsfRHAcuVJ7BcXbPFxJA7XFeFrpo1Zme/w640-h426/IMG20230502161922.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Outside Prague we also did a short hike around the "Devil's Heads". Now I thought that these were medieval, but it seems they're actually 19th century. Still, they're impressive enough. They hold the obscure record of being the second-largest carved heads in the world (the winners are on Mt Rushmore).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfd917yKLaR4bVfM8_ouYbTvNkCDqM-wqqKPn1315Po-wMimIFQSacTXtu4ODMr-1uHgGmB0K--yh4e5ZjSCaeHsKIXpKaUh3oSpobWrSUWz9-AV91fmdAqvna-aRPgAWrHnvLtMhqkMvgTCCks_BMAugzyX_E7smrkfXRbzD-1NdVeHjPdX1_RmA/s3200/IMG20230503105054.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3200" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfd917yKLaR4bVfM8_ouYbTvNkCDqM-wqqKPn1315Po-wMimIFQSacTXtu4ODMr-1uHgGmB0K--yh4e5ZjSCaeHsKIXpKaUh3oSpobWrSUWz9-AV91fmdAqvna-aRPgAWrHnvLtMhqkMvgTCCks_BMAugzyX_E7smrkfXRbzD-1NdVeHjPdX1_RmA/w288-h640/IMG20230503105054.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKso7x9MPINouggFyiX8-TUGokf2-EFJryo7fTpt2MZvtOOwBuDnVjTVK1NdJSU5eSwkuMEZVLGQCUCTFJzFmM2ZEWcp066haPVAyCp4be7AQgBNcbi_8pKWN2qVxPv3FbNQ12Txuankb-R9eKu8O30ecVwwUi3wEYnyoj7lyoZoyBuP2SXzBoEvH/s4624/IMG20230503105402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHKso7x9MPINouggFyiX8-TUGokf2-EFJryo7fTpt2MZvtOOwBuDnVjTVK1NdJSU5eSwkuMEZVLGQCUCTFJzFmM2ZEWcp066haPVAyCp4be7AQgBNcbi_8pKWN2qVxPv3FbNQ12Txuankb-R9eKu8O30ecVwwUi3wEYnyoj7lyoZoyBuP2SXzBoEvH/w288-h640/IMG20230503105402.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>I have absolutely no idea why I took these photos in portrait mode though. Oh well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4zeuswhmsTmFzp8iYI-WAO6VEcnQ_Yy2GkpCBVhhE_b_T_M1B9ULfVgaQd1JBIHnl-3adGpSGlyiKScxXo5gKVAAy-qkScSxgD7WiuT6ul25EVHzOsGIU-PkMELqQlQGvqgSXHx2ej8J-evKl-EWD7UA1Nr4JO2DgCB1kKLymxC7B0kEiPP_41MI/s3200/IMG20230503110028.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4zeuswhmsTmFzp8iYI-WAO6VEcnQ_Yy2GkpCBVhhE_b_T_M1B9ULfVgaQd1JBIHnl-3adGpSGlyiKScxXo5gKVAAy-qkScSxgD7WiuT6ul25EVHzOsGIU-PkMELqQlQGvqgSXHx2ej8J-evKl-EWD7UA1Nr4JO2DgCB1kKLymxC7B0kEiPP_41MI/w640-h288/IMG20230503110028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The surrounding area is nice enough, though it could certainly use a restaurant. Getting back was slightly spoiled as we had the world's <i>angriest </i>bus driver - goodness only know why - but this unpleasantness was soon fixed by the wonderful spring weather.</p><p><br /></p><p>After a couple more days in Prague, spent mostly revisiting more familiar places (and also one evening with a visiting scientist, because after the pandemic there's such a rush of visitors that it seems everything is now happening all that the same time), it was off to Munich. Lots of people have told me it's worth visiting, so it's long been on my to-visit list. And just as most of those people reported, it <i>is </i>very nice, but not quite as nice as Prague.</p><p>First, the city. We spent a lot of time wandering around here and there's much to see. Like Vienna, it feels on a grander scale than Prague despite the very similar population sizes. And it has some <i>extremely </i>impressive buildings.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVY46GlN4POuUZhmvW55_VMtqbLLZy2hy4qBkpPegjR0fQi9-afSr_4Gd5qjVBZc7H1XLrmrG2u7SVtXlSIRjKVU-61TG6iks3wWBKZPwdfIQbgU7hYSbtpMfUKKCr0gjCtvwwGJu7utrsbg91J8SJdTNcxgE6c90cwd79WUIX3QSAFM6TDF_B8RA/s3200/IMG20230505200649.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVY46GlN4POuUZhmvW55_VMtqbLLZy2hy4qBkpPegjR0fQi9-afSr_4Gd5qjVBZc7H1XLrmrG2u7SVtXlSIRjKVU-61TG6iks3wWBKZPwdfIQbgU7hYSbtpMfUKKCr0gjCtvwwGJu7utrsbg91J8SJdTNcxgE6c90cwd79WUIX3QSAFM6TDF_B8RA/w640-h288/IMG20230505200649.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDQv_AvDrUGhWdk63ATii1NzfjJHAcIFRafX79mXUtmSjgw4evBalNzsWBh_jzlZgmoyRt2ouLafcrW_T9lvd3nBd-J-pO24ODg09_AnMstRfNMmgJ1oZaPmzv_mkG3cI8ZrdB1efNwUPkKPwQai3JTS4KwcSPMRK1HVXVFvIAyEf8WDJFjmRGvkj/s4624/IMG20230506184435.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDQv_AvDrUGhWdk63ATii1NzfjJHAcIFRafX79mXUtmSjgw4evBalNzsWBh_jzlZgmoyRt2ouLafcrW_T9lvd3nBd-J-pO24ODg09_AnMstRfNMmgJ1oZaPmzv_mkG3cI8ZrdB1efNwUPkKPwQai3JTS4KwcSPMRK1HVXVFvIAyEf8WDJFjmRGvkj/w288-h640/IMG20230506184435.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9oq3uyXJQ9pmGW3JmuR91Ki0J_-Xq_-iBcJZSGqfG_gSDphKdIRa9zWd2zZvmqQSBU3B9Fj6D8-P30qYwfo_XAGNjq1k70IOgf2jtoAMJCCyl-J8G_viNZotGx6KIqxT2wD6oCT2Nz0z37F_mZ3xOhfraTrDG-5RaTb77baOY4Mtlpig6GG1dM7T/s4624/IMG20230507093551.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9oq3uyXJQ9pmGW3JmuR91Ki0J_-Xq_-iBcJZSGqfG_gSDphKdIRa9zWd2zZvmqQSBU3B9Fj6D8-P30qYwfo_XAGNjq1k70IOgf2jtoAMJCCyl-J8G_viNZotGx6KIqxT2wD6oCT2Nz0z37F_mZ3xOhfraTrDG-5RaTb77baOY4Mtlpig6GG1dM7T/w288-h640/IMG20230507093551.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxpm8YNxfXF1YRgiB7nhDqZwPeqzLH9bvd2aZZLCI8gIOdcCncZK0fM6NOU0Oya58fwDq-EH-f6kQiaQRISQaPSetIqiRqIJFhLku4syUPp40ZQra2inLSJU_7vGcbEy3c7b0m2q3xiyAIwNuBdbq0Wit9Nmyp-6lT-HJWafOq7aB7Jl7zuU8DTdT/s4192/IMG20230506185659.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2144" data-original-width="4192" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkxpm8YNxfXF1YRgiB7nhDqZwPeqzLH9bvd2aZZLCI8gIOdcCncZK0fM6NOU0Oya58fwDq-EH-f6kQiaQRISQaPSetIqiRqIJFhLku4syUPp40ZQra2inLSJU_7vGcbEy3c7b0m2q3xiyAIwNuBdbq0Wit9Nmyp-6lT-HJWafOq7aB7Jl7zuU8DTdT/w640-h328/IMG20230506185659.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmdJ8_-gVe7neDMijjbslyNRDCN84DeONZwKRsKD8YYpPs_yrLBjQeoWF0dns6NvdzNDQRjkb4I0uNBxXfp263W1nk3V_8RbGjdhQI0FfydkySfrCllQueaOK2hWFMBBhO-f2sA9xj9_-47jlfjOPUjz6KtkwRsr4K5QehyNgpr6AEm2q8-zdKhdL/s8132/IMG20230506190955.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1967" data-original-width="8132" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmdJ8_-gVe7neDMijjbslyNRDCN84DeONZwKRsKD8YYpPs_yrLBjQeoWF0dns6NvdzNDQRjkb4I0uNBxXfp263W1nk3V_8RbGjdhQI0FfydkySfrCllQueaOK2hWFMBBhO-f2sA9xj9_-47jlfjOPUjz6KtkwRsr4K5QehyNgpr6AEm2q8-zdKhdL/w640-h154/IMG20230506190955.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jt1jckGJeyho3q8TnsI0OlYplj80dW0GHFKfkJJHcivBtKPCQbngMClm44hIsZMeCnIyiZbobnzAYpP5wKomT3_zr0JSTVrx0fh6WZD4yRkTNpigcYxyyOTF8J3CqiXrAulSvuJqA9uGI4giL6jO2zZibK596h8C7_penX-TF4TFLM8uIhdSfk_C/s4624/IMG20230507092818.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jt1jckGJeyho3q8TnsI0OlYplj80dW0GHFKfkJJHcivBtKPCQbngMClm44hIsZMeCnIyiZbobnzAYpP5wKomT3_zr0JSTVrx0fh6WZD4yRkTNpigcYxyyOTF8J3CqiXrAulSvuJqA9uGI4giL6jO2zZibK596h8C7_penX-TF4TFLM8uIhdSfk_C/w640-h288/IMG20230507092818.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Where it falls short compared to Prague is consistency. It has many wonderful architectural pieces, but Prague offers a more uniform standard over a contiguous area, and smaller, medieval streets, which I prefer. Munich is also <i>even busier</i> than Prague; whether that's because the city centre is more frequented by residents as well as tourists I'm not sure, though Sunday was a much better day since then the streets were practically empty. One thing it does do better than Prague, however, are the beer halls and their extensive gardens : considerably more expensive to be sure, but you do get what you pay for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxPUZwMO0GFLoR4wNMws4hwyZIakumdZL7kf5GQRkRkNT9m4suGKOIL0cbTcOn6iKPcFSGI4W3FC8G2NWNRIWXKHHozvdICp14_Fi6alq_3Gf9S7KfC5O63oEvCDXmv_kmjPURCOVL9X-SZ6HeKpg6OgDJ-9J1Yo28I994251h6B6lm8EhZmmFlUY/s4624/IMG20230505155405.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxPUZwMO0GFLoR4wNMws4hwyZIakumdZL7kf5GQRkRkNT9m4suGKOIL0cbTcOn6iKPcFSGI4W3FC8G2NWNRIWXKHHozvdICp14_Fi6alq_3Gf9S7KfC5O63oEvCDXmv_kmjPURCOVL9X-SZ6HeKpg6OgDJ-9J1Yo28I994251h6B6lm8EhZmmFlUY/w640-h288/IMG20230505155405.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU3rCTwl2Awgr8raEJGznNLMsaVObx337-qg_sQO4fo1icyv4wBg0ibU9VM9gOig5QZ6kLW6FRWIs2e_Z-7v4IH0Ex9G26TJnDZNOo_XTr2EsteJQh7my2Sjppn6kGntUKP-c-rBQFV7M2OvChzXqqJFdNpHima98k_tAVppEnaCgq76GIOpJ-wii/s3200/IMG20230505201728.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNU3rCTwl2Awgr8raEJGznNLMsaVObx337-qg_sQO4fo1icyv4wBg0ibU9VM9gOig5QZ6kLW6FRWIs2e_Z-7v4IH0Ex9G26TJnDZNOo_XTr2EsteJQh7my2Sjppn6kGntUKP-c-rBQFV7M2OvChzXqqJFdNpHima98k_tAVppEnaCgq76GIOpJ-wii/w640-h288/IMG20230505201728.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is industrial-scale drinking yet with a convivial and respectful atmosphere : the warmth of a pub but on the scale of a factory. They're incredibly efficiently run*, with sufficient staff to rapidly and unobtrusively ensure everyone is catered for. They're busy but not nearly as awfully noisy as they might well be. The only things I didn't like were the oompah bands (an awful form of music that wears thin quite quickly) and the street sellers allowed to wander inside, which I guess is a problem of the tourist areas. I don't need to eat any more pretzels for a while, certainly not at 6 EUR each (!). Come to that, I don't really need to drink much more beer, not after 4 litres of the stuff in one sitting...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* German efficiency is in my experience largely a myth, but not in this case.</span></div><br /><p>Next, the parks. After all that beer, these were a really wonderful place to recover.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi___M88FYbWNfLOZgkJDbYRWKk5bHxkH0gFXYmZZ6llS2pqa1hb4fBK9qSgPq_csLsCER58jkbH5JtPn5r62MKmdcQPOEXk3ChZqH4cMNS5a8s1q1EAg42J9rQ10gHcbwj8_nGD3Ffm59Y7WhPj34Ks86wN424o6qiemO9_85KYqe1Ex3zJx-JWG1A/s4624/IMG20230506103706.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi___M88FYbWNfLOZgkJDbYRWKk5bHxkH0gFXYmZZ6llS2pqa1hb4fBK9qSgPq_csLsCER58jkbH5JtPn5r62MKmdcQPOEXk3ChZqH4cMNS5a8s1q1EAg42J9rQ10gHcbwj8_nGD3Ffm59Y7WhPj34Ks86wN424o6qiemO9_85KYqe1Ex3zJx-JWG1A/w640-h288/IMG20230506103706.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDumeH5TrK1ULqSEbe2J8G4HRHvSw-l7p0URHweQUyDiQtAZMbzQgfGoeg5FKjMJxo1vJ0VAp8SzvO-E0_9pdv13SAd5R4-YAQpi00A40tW-a5Lo2447J0S2rkL_wz6T3xgTUQbGwnRJMDaABgFkb34WwbfGOQRQR4CqgG2Q4g1Na5Et8_Y0-Js3sw/s3200/IMG20230506105259.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDumeH5TrK1ULqSEbe2J8G4HRHvSw-l7p0URHweQUyDiQtAZMbzQgfGoeg5FKjMJxo1vJ0VAp8SzvO-E0_9pdv13SAd5R4-YAQpi00A40tW-a5Lo2447J0S2rkL_wz6T3xgTUQbGwnRJMDaABgFkb34WwbfGOQRQR4CqgG2Q4g1Na5Et8_Y0-Js3sw/w640-h288/IMG20230506105259.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ61kFWKtzuw7kMkcWezT7IhlSLr9d-CHuP2dXokBeR_7m0vtRSfdRew0kssLDZHfFs_v_2BE98EnSNCDhWF3_hqV4jJGlIh8lF21trsC20CzLzdjusaOe-BRD8rhwI3c1xmoDn0rSMu_8igNs08UW7MUJk2yX0fcZx3U39ordjFDscri2u-UIZRV3/s4624/IMG20230506125504.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ61kFWKtzuw7kMkcWezT7IhlSLr9d-CHuP2dXokBeR_7m0vtRSfdRew0kssLDZHfFs_v_2BE98EnSNCDhWF3_hqV4jJGlIh8lF21trsC20CzLzdjusaOe-BRD8rhwI3c1xmoDn0rSMu_8igNs08UW7MUJk2yX0fcZx3U39ordjFDscri2u-UIZRV3/w640-h288/IMG20230506125504.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCY3zjjRCREk0PmR0Y0Yj7nMAP8AkPzWMKWD2iOxCDJORuPRreco6rwl5QO_bV-Lc9G79vPD9SNfEGD0kzh-PnNkFsQ0yo6DGQyjMtkje3d6vP0lznrWIsSK0tK5FKv4xvrUKXHpFDMW46DxTEH4fPMZkBo-q1Q846u1wQDWey9l8YxxMkRMamxsv/s4624/IMG20230506111743.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCY3zjjRCREk0PmR0Y0Yj7nMAP8AkPzWMKWD2iOxCDJORuPRreco6rwl5QO_bV-Lc9G79vPD9SNfEGD0kzh-PnNkFsQ0yo6DGQyjMtkje3d6vP0lznrWIsSK0tK5FKv4xvrUKXHpFDMW46DxTEH4fPMZkBo-q1Q846u1wQDWey9l8YxxMkRMamxsv/w640-h288/IMG20230506111743.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Here too the grounds of the palaces are more extensive than any in Prague. One of them also features artificial surfing, which was a fun little novelty to stumble upon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_YGePDnKYYdMU9kmOCWTChHrnyxZODyd9jjC_8rJfnOJhI0KtQxlqaoTBSLhMYMFKowNbc2vpfJZELRQ0uaeiKpBekk1OKMlFWuPEcsfVTHdneFEN9WVoP0vpD5MJ-PJIb-lBSKnW215-wULTAC5F0PJ_mKAWzMcy2r-KsVsfbdXDHxJhCRgRnAK/s4624/IMG20230506123522.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_YGePDnKYYdMU9kmOCWTChHrnyxZODyd9jjC_8rJfnOJhI0KtQxlqaoTBSLhMYMFKowNbc2vpfJZELRQ0uaeiKpBekk1OKMlFWuPEcsfVTHdneFEN9WVoP0vpD5MJ-PJIb-lBSKnW215-wULTAC5F0PJ_mKAWzMcy2r-KsVsfbdXDHxJhCRgRnAK/w640-h288/IMG20230506123522.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Finally, we went to a science museum. By this point a dangerous level of I'm-secretly-sick-of-all-this-bloody-sunshine-and-drinking-just-let-me-read-something-inside-for-goodness-bloody-sake (I'm serious here, see previous post) was starting to set in so this gave me some much needed relief. And it's an excellent museum. The aviation hall was particularly interesting, as German planes of a, uhh,<i> certain era</i> don't often feature in British museums.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfMSNfAgQnSpl6BN2EUzZDaniPDYB7CKg5adexs-1h5mkAMdxopldL0YtpHixlhHerRoeumefwfbTkF6fOr1CCRHFEwfoCUTcK0Mj6jAfYA3n0T2tyDfatPUvd-hrtdbZtDSsCd6U-Xah6XHen_hHjmSQ5igNOOdhSQQJXM-c1OT-GhqFzFbq9NyU/s4624/IMG20230507115513.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfMSNfAgQnSpl6BN2EUzZDaniPDYB7CKg5adexs-1h5mkAMdxopldL0YtpHixlhHerRoeumefwfbTkF6fOr1CCRHFEwfoCUTcK0Mj6jAfYA3n0T2tyDfatPUvd-hrtdbZtDSsCd6U-Xah6XHen_hHjmSQ5igNOOdhSQQJXM-c1OT-GhqFzFbq9NyU/w640-h288/IMG20230507115513.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fXuO_497mm8yhI5ZAXdYf-HhXD2vIAB-0RrttGSzPzrDX8sheUlCPsZP4nIFVhDOSuki7Fuk5AGtVB_d6Ajz1ObH29r9PIzRFoX4zqS_6qH_v4sRu-7KwAQ8BX0Pn-fgNqn1I8DkMNmT_eb9OztiiTj77oXwjUnUrBiYaHGsO2Vyt3nbj9POTc44/s4624/IMG20230507131407.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fXuO_497mm8yhI5ZAXdYf-HhXD2vIAB-0RrttGSzPzrDX8sheUlCPsZP4nIFVhDOSuki7Fuk5AGtVB_d6Ajz1ObH29r9PIzRFoX4zqS_6qH_v4sRu-7KwAQ8BX0Pn-fgNqn1I8DkMNmT_eb9OztiiTj77oXwjUnUrBiYaHGsO2Vyt3nbj9POTc44/w640-h288/IMG20230507131407.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50kxwUNyKjwA0VJbPuYzeGTC9CzJd9J-MN0ivWvddlBm22UqjE_HHOio88EMeZUeAyb81H5DgaQ8YuYwcdC6S3q7gejhKLxLCM4eyDvXh4iOtnclB2MAYJx46QtpzmpVkIHvbGZ9I3q_8LhxFzB7eWPjRM-XeyxAdYYl4rDXV5QmfkA13A0oIqk_c/s3200/IMG20230507122546.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3200" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50kxwUNyKjwA0VJbPuYzeGTC9CzJd9J-MN0ivWvddlBm22UqjE_HHOio88EMeZUeAyb81H5DgaQ8YuYwcdC6S3q7gejhKLxLCM4eyDvXh4iOtnclB2MAYJx46QtpzmpVkIHvbGZ9I3q_8LhxFzB7eWPjRM-XeyxAdYYl4rDXV5QmfkA13A0oIqk_c/w288-h640/IMG20230507122546.jpg" width="288" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-htLg-ADhpvfrFDarY2ioNsgprNtNgeyECFuU_rh78lMBcHDAT1dUXdpKI9BDuOCDEFL2fFwcjx4i_7dQjKv7ZNC7WUBw3qK241Ghfr4T6yW9b12o0vmkaIideNkv-I3ncLwDMaqo8gKdC4cXW3BzOccIXPnXLdbN-Zm1AVR5E7mb1myg7IXbqel/s4624/IMG20230507125339.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-htLg-ADhpvfrFDarY2ioNsgprNtNgeyECFuU_rh78lMBcHDAT1dUXdpKI9BDuOCDEFL2fFwcjx4i_7dQjKv7ZNC7WUBw3qK241Ghfr4T6yW9b12o0vmkaIideNkv-I3ncLwDMaqo8gKdC4cXW3BzOccIXPnXLdbN-Zm1AVR5E7mb1myg7IXbqel/w288-h640/IMG20230507125339.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>A feckin' V2 rocket ! A doodlebug ! The only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ! And above this, a pretty decent space section. For me this was a moment of properly nerding-out <i>bliss</i>. Well done, Munich, well done.</p><p>All this was laid out very well, with many other interesting exhibits as well. As in Prague, I suspect you could make a full day of this if you really wanted to. My legs and feet were by now really fed up though, so the only thing I wish I had done here is the gift shop. Oh well, next time.</p><p><br /></p><p>After this it was back to Prague, where we spent a lot of time down by the river hanging out with these guys :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnZLHZeul1J5-NWQ0CaJzqVwoCq0wXqRZ67-9JaVwpLNj0WzWE1yrzn7wpgRHc22fSegFsBOBUoBNVJdVlgBPNMX4hwu8wz-OglKMpRZ1cIGuiedGU-zmlA6xG9weW_enepQgzep6_aJ5y0ftQN9COnEVJUv8desWf9x_RF3pBX8JeMeVe53vD9Ba/s4624/IMG20230508162745.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDnZLHZeul1J5-NWQ0CaJzqVwoCq0wXqRZ67-9JaVwpLNj0WzWE1yrzn7wpgRHc22fSegFsBOBUoBNVJdVlgBPNMX4hwu8wz-OglKMpRZ1cIGuiedGU-zmlA6xG9weW_enepQgzep6_aJ5y0ftQN9COnEVJUv8desWf9x_RF3pBX8JeMeVe53vD9Ba/w288-h640/IMG20230508162745.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I've been here since 2013, but I only heard about these critters a few weeks ago. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutria">nutria</a> is an introduced species found throughout Europe; I saw one on a hike a little outside Prague and initially thought it was an otter. They're actually rodents, which certain people have decided means they should be known as budget beavers or crapybara. Regardless. they're pretty cute little things, though maybe a bit worryingly unafraid of humans given their giant orange teeth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that concludes this latest travel escapade. After weeks of social engagements flying so thick and fast that they're colliding in mid-air with each other, it's finally time to revert to being a near-hermit. I don't care what the weather is like next weekend, I'm staying inside, goddammit, with exactly bugger all to do except drink copious amounts of tea and continue working my way through five thousand pages (not an exaggeration) of Tolkien. Anyone expecting me to go anywhere will be impolitely told to go and boil their head.</div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-1694922703226330742023-05-14T10:29:00.003-04:002023-05-14T10:36:41.349-04:00Ameland Adventures<p>It's been somewhat absurdly busy of late, to the point where I think I need a holiday from going on holiday... </p><p>Let me summarise the whole escapade before bombarding you all with pictures. Last month we went on a holiday to Germany and then to the tiny Dutch island of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameland">Ameland</a>, of which much more below. We got back on a Saturday, so we did at least have the Sunday free. Except, not really, because I'm unofficially repeating my <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-dark-side-of-galaxy-evolution-i.html">lecture course on galaxy evolution</a> for the benefit of assorted students. This has meant a much greater workload than I imagined, in part because it needs to be updated in light of advances made in the last few years*. Also I've split it up from its original 4x 90 minutes to 8x 45 minute lectures, which is not always an easy cut. But mainly, I have to remember what the hell it is I actually want to <i>say</i>, which means practising each talk. Again. And since this is being given on a Monday, part of Sunday afternoon had to be spent doing this.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I won't be updating the blog posts, however, because this is just too much work and there are other posts I'd rather write.</span></p><p>So Monday afternoon was spent in lecturing and consultation with my Master's student. Then there were three days in the week where we were fortunate enough to have a visit of Nobel laureate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Genzel">Reinhard Genzel</a>, who's both a very nice man and an outstanding speaker (closing one talk with an animation flying into a black hole, accompanied to the strains of <i>Highway To Hell</i>). This series of talks basically consumed the whole three days plus an evening. That same Friday Shirley and I went to see the hilarious comedian Jim Jeffries (because a friend had to sell tickets), and then the next day we went on a short hike with some friends who we haven't been able to arrange a hike with in many months.</p><p>Things didn't let up the following week. My former neighbour from Arecibo came to visit Prague, so that was a very pleasant evening's catch-up. The next day a friend who left the (Czech) astronomical institute last year came to visit, which took up an evening an a Saturday. The following Monday one of my best friends from Cardiff came to visit, and we had another scientific visitor that same week, and then we went to Munich for a long weekend. The Tuesday afterwards my brain was fried so I spent the morning mowing our overgrown lawn instead of doing much scientific work, which only meant that my arms were tired as well.</p><p>Oh, and yesterday we went on another hike - an annual tradition in support of Eurovision, which we then watched into the evening/small hours of the morning.</p><p>This morning I did sod all except spend three continuous hours curled up in a chair reading an enormous book, and it was bloody <i>brilliant</i>.</p><p>Anyway, having spent much of the last few weeks outside in the bright May sunshine, I'm quite happy now to retire indoors, read books, write blog posts, and with any luck degenerate into an unkempt Howard Hughes figure quite ready to leer menacingly at people at anyone who suggests "going outside" or equivalent tomfoolery. I may have to start hurling faeces at people if they're not careful.</p><p>Honestly, there comes a point where "good busy" just becomes regular, annoying busy and everyone, now matter how wonderful they are, just needs to politely <i>sod off </i>and leave me alone. And likewise, a point when the idea of being outside in the lovely* sunshine becomes <i>oh god no what the hell are you even on about</i>. It's not that any one activity is bad, it's that at some point, if I don't get some me time, I am going to actually murder people... by headbutting them, if need be. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Read, "blazing". I mean, it's nice to be outside, but it's also nice to be inside too, no ? Surely that's not just me ?</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Right, anyway, what was Ameland like ?</p><p><br /></p><p>Lovely ! It's a wonderful place and I highly recommend it to anyone. First, we stayed in Shirley's (step)parent(s) house for a couple of days, which has such nice morning views that they deserve an honorary mention here :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7f20k6daDhifyobzlBFvAnAL4gtlfLwCxqYxNNKmyLUrtBNnUc7CPZ7Cf7DyKq_D0LJ4OS1u3CKXy-mu6R5Rx4mngfkytdE0X5ZiihyxLpQs07f586yCob-yZrHlG95IzyAmBZnv-a2T_0qYXeMh_0whspd9ofCus8EmO3WlY88gXbpd4G8Z_6S1/s4624/IMG20230409065018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ7f20k6daDhifyobzlBFvAnAL4gtlfLwCxqYxNNKmyLUrtBNnUc7CPZ7Cf7DyKq_D0LJ4OS1u3CKXy-mu6R5Rx4mngfkytdE0X5ZiihyxLpQs07f586yCob-yZrHlG95IzyAmBZnv-a2T_0qYXeMh_0whspd9ofCus8EmO3WlY88gXbpd4G8Z_6S1/w640-h288/IMG20230409065018.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JXzx9epazLikV4b8f-Y2j93_MBhAhSeTr5QwJRImQOV6gcFqZ_V0sLYW6DaFPcuMfNBcPFt4GSkcJpZQ1MSUhYqdetkVB7z2g-FWD1UdZ8bKCUbSTq0B2bPaxxKv-xTNvhp_UviVCvbFj-C9FlCvOMj6xS31m_kTERFEhJ8Y6kpQn90qMtjK_PWV/s4624/IMG20230409072007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JXzx9epazLikV4b8f-Y2j93_MBhAhSeTr5QwJRImQOV6gcFqZ_V0sLYW6DaFPcuMfNBcPFt4GSkcJpZQ1MSUhYqdetkVB7z2g-FWD1UdZ8bKCUbSTq0B2bPaxxKv-xTNvhp_UviVCvbFj-C9FlCvOMj6xS31m_kTERFEhJ8Y6kpQn90qMtjK_PWV/w640-h288/IMG20230409072007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Then we headed up by car, past the rather strange abandoned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emsland_test_facility">Emsland monorail test track</a>, up to a truly tiny port to catch the ferry. Taking a circuitous route to stay within the deep channel, the ferry takes about an hour to cover the few kilometres distance (at low tide it's actually possible to walk across with the aid of a guide, hence the importance of the channel).</p><p>The main delight of Ameland is its amazingly varied terrain. The port on the mainland is a salt marsh, which is also found on parts of the island :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqiWrYHWA0Irs54kP5WOqy7EJA7UPmBFm7zwTiKLICDyNMdbKj7WC9rw3FJUcXD1hDoknnHYvtYxvImFIDsqJQT9AiBcuMXCYkOFSCFoKopUwmxLj_24j9vpKYZa4jACiuQWRjNig6Or5vV7q8IEWw1eZfEKAg2W7gRbXLJlDM3bBQC3pq2eHkA_r/s4624/IMG20230413131154.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqiWrYHWA0Irs54kP5WOqy7EJA7UPmBFm7zwTiKLICDyNMdbKj7WC9rw3FJUcXD1hDoknnHYvtYxvImFIDsqJQT9AiBcuMXCYkOFSCFoKopUwmxLj_24j9vpKYZa4jACiuQWRjNig6Or5vV7q8IEWw1eZfEKAg2W7gRbXLJlDM3bBQC3pq2eHkA_r/w640-h288/IMG20230413131154.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Being very low-lying, the whole place tends to be extremely windy. But this is part of the appeal, making the otherwise relaxing environment feel that bit more wild and bracing. Naturally this lends itself to dramatic sea views despite the total lack of cliffs : the whole thing is, I believe, made of sand, with no bedrock visible anywhere.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAEl1Vk91V27hEowsbGVOtrSXqBI1lqRXAMU1SdNg-b1e90h70NwM6G0CH7wA3PHCPqiPAqpg28FIN5YC0qFLoKhCsGNKzdmMD3Ai4GF0dcJ6dGSn_RMtuGZv1lte5bfPguNBjOSpbxUTFulnmS61hac58CZWscCTmrQ-RJFP9F50Ni98c-bbiUl9/s3200/IMG20230411112128.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrAEl1Vk91V27hEowsbGVOtrSXqBI1lqRXAMU1SdNg-b1e90h70NwM6G0CH7wA3PHCPqiPAqpg28FIN5YC0qFLoKhCsGNKzdmMD3Ai4GF0dcJ6dGSn_RMtuGZv1lte5bfPguNBjOSpbxUTFulnmS61hac58CZWscCTmrQ-RJFP9F50Ni98c-bbiUl9/w640-h288/IMG20230411112128.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiILbUne73WJrcr66WjRwaITPokgeHAZLZSs_7zW5UVc4YjSvqSGvJU0PG0oG8xjnnmVT-mM6FJQYb_iL8LmGkgB5nyiDHCdacVFuLA5KIhtaH_LrWe-6HCouA42TtlrE7gCn7uo2y4jtTaQAOVJsVJ4uzBaA5ic_vUw0JWqEwzRqpXKudY4rn4Ra/s4624/IMG20230411113052.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiILbUne73WJrcr66WjRwaITPokgeHAZLZSs_7zW5UVc4YjSvqSGvJU0PG0oG8xjnnmVT-mM6FJQYb_iL8LmGkgB5nyiDHCdacVFuLA5KIhtaH_LrWe-6HCouA42TtlrE7gCn7uo2y4jtTaQAOVJsVJ4uzBaA5ic_vUw0JWqEwzRqpXKudY4rn4Ra/w640-h288/IMG20230411113052.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>In places the sand has been blasted smooth. You can watch the process happening, seeing it flow like a rippling veil from horizon to horizon. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOO-8iKsqjxa0P8I-aRJd0WwzDLVO_yqUdj7zpg4vbK0l46Ul9m8STyHSaQj-RU5v0iL6hum_uUpOQrloddHJG6aoGr8hWKHWf8s7NNl68R2mw7nBeMtopWiM7SfhjGfcxJTUhUNb_jlnocwWUxOObrj4CetKIJ2U6VwPTWqKK-OEWNBCn3DVePHL/s3200/IMG20230413124539.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOO-8iKsqjxa0P8I-aRJd0WwzDLVO_yqUdj7zpg4vbK0l46Ul9m8STyHSaQj-RU5v0iL6hum_uUpOQrloddHJG6aoGr8hWKHWf8s7NNl68R2mw7nBeMtopWiM7SfhjGfcxJTUhUNb_jlnocwWUxOObrj4CetKIJ2U6VwPTWqKK-OEWNBCn3DVePHL/w640-h288/IMG20230413124539.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>And yet in other places the grass on the dunes is so think it looks like a high moorland that should feature in Wuthering Heights... except for the lighthouse.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztk-X1O4JH5YMLqBTVhg7AYKCARepfAq_vMLVCUVo5iVC0SSW8ek1BkngJAPMguu4JXmUN4Yn8GLlkyJxc-CslaUKrV5D7ujiFDT4S2bTOjnlLY0yWTWf3IbbYQ9o-yqm5rToA9TUQI5gbMN8_ANKQs-zIGLJaRxKRFJSSZQd_1U8GeRkGHoUaR67/s3200/IMG20230411110940.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztk-X1O4JH5YMLqBTVhg7AYKCARepfAq_vMLVCUVo5iVC0SSW8ek1BkngJAPMguu4JXmUN4Yn8GLlkyJxc-CslaUKrV5D7ujiFDT4S2bTOjnlLY0yWTWf3IbbYQ9o-yqm5rToA9TUQI5gbMN8_ANKQs-zIGLJaRxKRFJSSZQd_1U8GeRkGHoUaR67/w640-h288/IMG20230411110940.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>HEATHCLIFF !</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AGssuRRDRZLcUTcPGpxyvFuWKApxAeb2xtnaBwkOcHCkV9x_aojAf537Io36Q6sWHYNMxLx2_wXDzgosKvIhzs_GyDbQPJYM88HvcwmcrAxKv4Lj9nY_RhSrsI7OaUzDZCRnfWMPIa9Ug8JUrd0AhSISGKb7YKkiInZP04SDBAytPhJjVUw0-v2N/s4624/IMG20230411110419.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9AGssuRRDRZLcUTcPGpxyvFuWKApxAeb2xtnaBwkOcHCkV9x_aojAf537Io36Q6sWHYNMxLx2_wXDzgosKvIhzs_GyDbQPJYM88HvcwmcrAxKv4Lj9nY_RhSrsI7OaUzDZCRnfWMPIa9Ug8JUrd0AhSISGKb7YKkiInZP04SDBAytPhJjVUw0-v2N/w288-h640/IMG20230411110419.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>Walking through the dunes, one can find small pools with ominous signs warning of the dangers of quicksand (but only in Dutch, since obviously the quicksand leaves foreigners alone*). This pleased me, since all my childhood cartoons had assured me that quicksand would definitely be something of extreme importance that I ought to be jolly well prepared for. Just next to this is a pine forest in which groups of gnomes are battling it out :</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In the cottage we stayed in, the visitor's book goes back to 2017 and all the messages are in Dutch and German, so I made sure to leave the first one in English. I claim this cottage for Wales !</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAItXvo-MKfPPPWNB4fuyPNK-yiz4JLs2Rz_WMkcQJajt2Jx-RizK-D-NFpytF9fuwDKLLjVgLxHO2XHrIp6pIC6cCyn6jp-s_Pgw1pVHQP0r5HC2o10dshoiIKhx06_x-JkTBA8MjbW7-IKMcHg_XOs4GG88nmXi0Ge-hUOtU6JZkPR-C8a48A8GW/s4624/IMG20230412113934.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAItXvo-MKfPPPWNB4fuyPNK-yiz4JLs2Rz_WMkcQJajt2Jx-RizK-D-NFpytF9fuwDKLLjVgLxHO2XHrIp6pIC6cCyn6jp-s_Pgw1pVHQP0r5HC2o10dshoiIKhx06_x-JkTBA8MjbW7-IKMcHg_XOs4GG88nmXi0Ge-hUOtU6JZkPR-C8a48A8GW/w640-h288/IMG20230412113934.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7afnSA3l1-tNC61gnb2HipWsSUcM4qjCdMxzOiconNcvhQRMbdRdK7lll5q9jxc9n32a-Z_rG2FbuqbRQDJrUlwpspf7Iq1Qsp4WKbJ8CACIhRNZRTMVv9KGXxm70r1v89gi7VLqTCbrOKpZfawX5Y9bIcz0KHjThDjYxxVZlc3v-AJhczNeX8heC/s3200/IMG20230412114247.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7afnSA3l1-tNC61gnb2HipWsSUcM4qjCdMxzOiconNcvhQRMbdRdK7lll5q9jxc9n32a-Z_rG2FbuqbRQDJrUlwpspf7Iq1Qsp4WKbJ8CACIhRNZRTMVv9KGXxm70r1v89gi7VLqTCbrOKpZfawX5Y9bIcz0KHjThDjYxxVZlc3v-AJhczNeX8heC/w640-h288/IMG20230412114247.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's what I imagine would happen if old-school Disney had made <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And not five minutes walk from all of this are freshwater bird sanctuaries and the sort of landscape one expects to find in an old Dutch Masters painting :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gQ9j3S0Mdi8FHKtgXJPB3IQTs47d_ybNBEBhvS28tMqiTqNQOqAs1RzjJ2DxC-l_Co9z4Ugq-W-quDEKmtE2KIRI-UpKgKH-Gplg9rxygxAbpK4V3oNm9J5wfK6-k0s1-QCtwz848jTKa2Jjx5DNj7v2-tr2omvEMcSccY_3xcKfhI0EAvXEs9GJ/s4624/IMG20230412130545.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0gQ9j3S0Mdi8FHKtgXJPB3IQTs47d_ybNBEBhvS28tMqiTqNQOqAs1RzjJ2DxC-l_Co9z4Ugq-W-quDEKmtE2KIRI-UpKgKH-Gplg9rxygxAbpK4V3oNm9J5wfK6-k0s1-QCtwz848jTKa2Jjx5DNj7v2-tr2omvEMcSccY_3xcKfhI0EAvXEs9GJ/w640-h288/IMG20230412130545.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFs1LdGha6exbAtI3n4h-JQVF6z6JVdyPqymcJv9faPQfROmqMsYt8Ul9fNw6Sur52YHaX2LelW-pQtCMAxZqM62nOILVdtUJg878lcAfV0LQn2tm9PL252srieOdR6hiGyjjLMUhOgS3MleHypJdlzDCfzdMJMV4DO1xy4v27MB_sf42_gWhbyYo3/s4624/IMG20230412130921.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFs1LdGha6exbAtI3n4h-JQVF6z6JVdyPqymcJv9faPQfROmqMsYt8Ul9fNw6Sur52YHaX2LelW-pQtCMAxZqM62nOILVdtUJg878lcAfV0LQn2tm9PL252srieOdR6hiGyjjLMUhOgS3MleHypJdlzDCfzdMJMV4DO1xy4v27MB_sf42_gWhbyYo3/w640-h288/IMG20230412130921.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>As you can see, the island is home to geese and other birds by the thousand (there are also rabbits <i>en masse</i>, tame enough to come within a few feet of the cottage window). For this reason there's an extra element of surrealism at night, because the street lights are <i>green </i>to avoid confusing the birds. Where it gets really surreal is with the lighthouse : above the green glow of the street, six powerful beams rotate through the sky, intersecting the island at the highest points, including one poor sod who hadn't seem to have taken this into account when siting their house. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOM7xtxh5wsFa1VoiG7yko0OA2VE0hQhAy0AxHcZWi6tXRZ5Q0JNHp7dpJso8ujRJBwWio3gZ1Uxb9gHngHRiinsdLkKxMb__jETtlH3G0DbRudkPcMlJBPBpdSjeFL5hWGVw5tATj8o4gieb5w-GTl6AHmCr1bmWna8Q8Sbc0QyWLjeUsEgEAvt4/s4624/IMG20230410214117.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="2080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOM7xtxh5wsFa1VoiG7yko0OA2VE0hQhAy0AxHcZWi6tXRZ5Q0JNHp7dpJso8ujRJBwWio3gZ1Uxb9gHngHRiinsdLkKxMb__jETtlH3G0DbRudkPcMlJBPBpdSjeFL5hWGVw5tATj8o4gieb5w-GTl6AHmCr1bmWna8Q8Sbc0QyWLjeUsEgEAvt4/w288-h640/IMG20230410214117.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>With the beams sweeping across the moorland-like dunes, it put me in mind of that bit on Horsell Common in <i>The War of the Worlds </i>:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Now and again a light, like the beam of a warship's searchlight, swept the Common - and the Heat Ray was ready to follow. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>Seriously, lighthouses are - like quicksand - the sort of thing you learn about the existence of as a kid, and maybe you visit them during the day, but nobody has ever said to me, "You've never stood underneath a lighthouse at night ? You should !". It's really very strange. The beams are pale and yet strong, wan yet unmistakable and bright, and they don't photograph well at all. One also gets a strange illusion watching them rotate, since they're visible across the whole sky. Looking away from the lighthouse, the perspective seems to shift, as though they're emitted by another lighthouse in the distance. It's weird.</p><p>Ameland, then, is somewhere I highly recommend; I imagine the other islands nearby are similar. The history of the place is interesting as well, littered with bunkers from the days of the Atlantic Wall. If you want somewhere you can have plenty of places to explore, while also plenty of time to relax, this is definitely worth considering.</p><p>Right, that wraps up one travel post. Munich to follow shortly.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-60417432484010285732023-03-24T17:24:00.004-04:002023-03-24T17:24:59.527-04:00Astronomical Adventures With An Astrolabe<p>It's time for another post about my weird hobbies. Hooray !</p><p><a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/05/where-magic-happens.html">Last year</a> I want on a redecorating spree to turn my home office space from a soulless IKEA nightmare* to somewhere I would voluntarily choose to be. Naturally this included a lot of astronomical elements, one of which now deserves its own post.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This is not to be confused with a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/28/john-lewis-nightmare-boris-johnson-flat-refurbishment">John Lewis nightmare</a>, which is only possible for very rich and stupid people.</span></p><p>As a present to myself for finishing a paper I bought an <a href="https://www.dreipunkt-verlag.de/shop/baus%C3%A4tze-1-1/bausatz-astrolabium-englisch/">astrolabe</a>. Why ? Mainly because when I was searching for suitable furnishings I stumbled on similar items, but these in particular caught my eye. I just think they look lovely :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6WuGzoeAI4HiWsMJoxzWr2YgCflhFTgRuizVwNFAHWjfApVOjbFkq5T_41nWUf0yi_VtULnlK8JSbkfqKC3AYB7dSve43mcH0IuQ6rndccpbCQPwCYPUDf8a3bZ0RSoytUr8pyFkKVAmhTOGlThs8SVWBlGDWHBWqLDXF6RmK7aJtt1uJjSI7cVZ/s1165/Astrolabe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1165" data-original-width="955" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix6WuGzoeAI4HiWsMJoxzWr2YgCflhFTgRuizVwNFAHWjfApVOjbFkq5T_41nWUf0yi_VtULnlK8JSbkfqKC3AYB7dSve43mcH0IuQ6rndccpbCQPwCYPUDf8a3bZ0RSoytUr8pyFkKVAmhTOGlThs8SVWBlGDWHBWqLDXF6RmK7aJtt1uJjSI7cVZ/w524-h640/Astrolabe.jpg" width="524" /></a></div><p>I was also curious to learn how they worked, how astronomers in days of yore actually did things. Now I'd absolutely love a proper shiny brass version, but those tend to be offensive prices, or of a design style I just don't like, or worst of all... non–functional. Urrgh ! Which is a bit silly in this age of mass manufacturing, but I guess the bottom fell out of the astrolabe market even before Jacob Rees–Mogg was a thing.</p><p>Still, one day...</p><p>There being not enough hours in the day to get everything done, I figured out only the absolute basics before I got distracted by <a href=" https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2941255839">other projects</a>. But now it's time to return to this medieval marvel and figure out what it's all about.</p><p>The version that I have is from <a href="https://www.dreipunkt-verlag.de/">Dreipunkt</a> and is definitely nice to look at, wooden materials notwithstanding – though why their <a href="https://www.dreipunkt-verlag.de/shop/baus%C3%A4tze-1-1/bausatz-astrolabium-deluxe/">deluxe versions</a> are so outrageously expensive is beyond me. Unfortunately the instructions that come with it are limited to a 4–page guide, including the assembly instructions (oh, and and a tiny quickstart card for some reason). So, this required quite a lot of Google searching on my part, because the astrolabe community is apparently an oxymoron. But I won't bore you with the narrative. Instead, let's get right down to business by describing how to actually use the bloody thing.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>In Theory</u></b></p><p><b><u>0) Convert calendar to Zodiacal date</u></b></p><p>All of the astrolabe's celestial calculations use a special measure of the date which corresponds to the Sun's angular position along the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic">ecliptic</a>, the path it traces across the sky. Since this is just a circle it spans 360 degrees, but of course the actual calendar year is either 365 or 366 days long. This means we need to do a conversion between these two dating systems. For this, we start on the back.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OrmMlKHYUGP_gC9KLk7IMHuq4BsnHVeURVrl-jHzJSUhIZHTCY6wC6kag7Yf5iup5mOX_fT5Px5yL9VAbXvyF9NiZ8FlUpn12nmZtmSB9w3oJxhfRFjszCvm9xiBZbceNTohoEh_S358P-MOG5QFlp6CLBehxkBX78qjO9ruInZBg2pgzS1Ig89N/s1181/Astrolabe%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1038" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OrmMlKHYUGP_gC9KLk7IMHuq4BsnHVeURVrl-jHzJSUhIZHTCY6wC6kag7Yf5iup5mOX_fT5Px5yL9VAbXvyF9NiZ8FlUpn12nmZtmSB9w3oJxhfRFjszCvm9xiBZbceNTohoEh_S358P-MOG5QFlp6CLBehxkBX78qjO9ruInZBg2pgzS1Ig89N/w562-h640/Astrolabe%20back.jpg" width="562" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The information density here is quite high, but what we need to do is actually really easy. There are three circular scales towards the outer edge of the back piece. The outermost is for measuring the angle of a target above the horizon and we don't need this right now. We just need the other two.<div><div><br /></div><div>All we do is align the <i>alidade </i>(the rotatable pointer) on the back with the innermost of the three scales shown, the calendar date scale – each of the segments is divided into the correct number of days for each month. From this we simply read off where the alidade is pointing on the <i>zodiacal date</i> scale, taking care not to confuse it with the <i>altitude</i> scale on the very outer edge. This will give a value in degrees within a constellation, e.g. 11<sup>th</sup> March is 21° in Pisces.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWiKvnHzE2dvKrijgsHZ_oUKNp-GBAmb9e3fYVPMbAyf7wL6jKxtz_UbB4rzvrc_S8iFfH3Fe0WP7BYXtYm3dvWalUJxoKuJkFo-SgxrHQjxGV_vWcFk0LTDotGF7rgt2M3nTBhUt5gBP4MxPLBQXDOI-_MYItCG8mqxhBtp8jhNPQVSsoIVjB_HT/s1316/Date%20example.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1316" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWiKvnHzE2dvKrijgsHZ_oUKNp-GBAmb9e3fYVPMbAyf7wL6jKxtz_UbB4rzvrc_S8iFfH3Fe0WP7BYXtYm3dvWalUJxoKuJkFo-SgxrHQjxGV_vWcFk0LTDotGF7rgt2M3nTBhUt5gBP4MxPLBQXDOI-_MYItCG8mqxhBtp8jhNPQVSsoIVjB_HT/w640-h300/Date%20example.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here shifting things a wee bit just so the scales can be seen.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And that's all we have to do for step zero. But you're probably curious, I hope, about what this actually <i>means</i>, so I shall tell you. Yes, even if you don't want me to.</div><div><br /></div><div>Supposedly it corresponds to the position of the Sun in the zodiac. With each constellation defined to span 30 degrees, the Sun should on 11<sup>th</sup> March be about 2/3<sup>rds</sup> of its journey through Pisces. Now obviously the constellations of the zodiac don't really span <i>exactly </i>30 degrees each, but even so, there's quite a discrepancy, because on 11<sup>th</sup> March the Sun is <a href="https://theskylive.com/sun-info#:~:text=The%20Sun%20is%20currently%20in,is%20%2D26.76%20(JPL).">actually in Aquarius</a>. At least it's still a watery constellation, I suppose. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY_oXAwOGPt_l7yZKOlu6_70reUgZdhjcYYux96X5I97Y9cKWSkG6LxRdidsqvuwW6icQmmuUAyS_LLUHEoYy5WPsYyPPRDq1WMxVCSIc2OjB_AeTbueDT7KWwycszexiRVJH6pl5ooEqe59RxPKYOo3Rh7E10rQ8ozKseHIrg61xjiDe6MF8LeYM/s920/skymap.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="920" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDY_oXAwOGPt_l7yZKOlu6_70reUgZdhjcYYux96X5I97Y9cKWSkG6LxRdidsqvuwW6icQmmuUAyS_LLUHEoYy5WPsYyPPRDq1WMxVCSIc2OjB_AeTbueDT7KWwycszexiRVJH6pl5ooEqe59RxPKYOo3Rh7E10rQ8ozKseHIrg61xjiDe6MF8LeYM/w640-h418/skymap.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pisces is only just above it but clearly the Sun is nothing like "2/3rds" of the way through it !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Why is this ? This is be due to the slow precession of the Earth's orbit, meaning that the Sun's position is never quite in the same place relative to the constellations each year. On human timescales (i.e. the time over which anyone would ever use an astrolabe) this is negligible, moving by about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_point_of_Aries#:~:text=The%20first%20point%20of%20Aries%20defines%20the%20ecliptic%20coordinate%20of,sine%20curve)%20passing%20through%20it.">1 degree every 72 years</a>. But the conventions for setting where the constellations are defined for this purpose were devised about 2,000 years ago, long enough that there has been a considerable shift.</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally a note on terminology. I've called it "zodiacal date" following <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Astrolabe?amp=1">this link</a>, but there doesn't seem to be an agreed-upon convention. "Astronomical" or "astrological" date would also work, maybe even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_and_tropical_astrology">sidereal date</a>. The guide included calls it "star sign date" which is for obvious reasons very hard to Google. <a href="https://www.shadowspro.com/en/user-manual.html">Another document</a> calls it the ecliptic longitude of the Sun, which is <i>probably </i>the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic_coordinate_system">correct term</a>.</div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>1) Calculating sunrise and sunset times</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Here the official guide is really quite a muddle. It's a very small section, which is odd because sunrise and sunset times are probably the easiest values to look up to verify the results. It doesn't help that the images in the guide <i>say </i>they're using an astrolabe calibrated to a latitude of 50°N but actually aren't, because I couldn't reproduce their values despite setting everything exactly as shown in the images. So I pieced this together from the other parts of the guide and from Google searching.</div><div><br /></div><div>But again it turns out to be easy. Having completed step zero, we turn to the front of the astrolabe. There's quite a bit of information to process here, but it's all very small steps. Here's the bits we'll need to use :</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs3wvFdXxwB2ECVLFWbgwJTZQY3SsyNsY0RcDTxX5V8KEUGqIVgDa_JWVK-sXbxb0dpVnlCQXi6nA55D6gC9wird7zrCl_ffktBmk1Fss7_2ECNrTzuguULxhscIfki0tL-7fn0nt4XXQty3AVIq327qMFpy0KMFxBXp81-OktU2SxQKolr2wgaLc/s967/AstrolabeFrontHiRes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="967" data-original-width="914" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivs3wvFdXxwB2ECVLFWbgwJTZQY3SsyNsY0RcDTxX5V8KEUGqIVgDa_JWVK-sXbxb0dpVnlCQXi6nA55D6gC9wird7zrCl_ffktBmk1Fss7_2ECNrTzuguULxhscIfki0tL-7fn0nt4XXQty3AVIq327qMFpy0KMFxBXp81-OktU2SxQKolr2wgaLc/w604-h640/AstrolabeFrontHiRes.jpg" width="604" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The "rete" is also known as the <i>spider</i> and can be turned. The circular ring in the rete, which has the zodiacal date marked on its edge, corresponds to the ecliptic. To find the sunrise time, we turn the rete so that the zodiacal date (using the value we calculated in part 0) on the ecliptic ring intersects the horizon line on the left side of the astrolabe. This can be quite fiddly, and some times of year are harder than others because of the higher density of markings on the date scale. But it's possible to be fairly accurate without that much effort.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16o7r3ux7KnDV2d1VQlZHPUbJ2j6TsoJkzcMaHXhjWmrjS9OwLZpHP7Zd1lJFMTLqdXacYnOsDRxIIpLDQ_GZnVTOCsIWVCKSZM3CZ2gmGNwN-zVBxCq12Pkuf0yJXma1ANJuAl0bjekwpKbo4nCMhXS26ZzSfAVJg1jrvKmiZA1lj-Ry-YrWU5ej/s564/SunriseExample.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="564" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16o7r3ux7KnDV2d1VQlZHPUbJ2j6TsoJkzcMaHXhjWmrjS9OwLZpHP7Zd1lJFMTLqdXacYnOsDRxIIpLDQ_GZnVTOCsIWVCKSZM3CZ2gmGNwN-zVBxCq12Pkuf0yJXma1ANJuAl0bjekwpKbo4nCMhXS26ZzSfAVJg1jrvKmiZA1lj-Ry-YrWU5ej/w640-h594/SunriseExample.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Using the example of 11th March = 21° Pisces as before.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>If we wanted to find sunset time, we'd turn the rete to intersect the horizon line on the right hand side of the astrolabe instead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Next we turn the pointer to align with this point of intersection. We then use it to read off the time from the outermost scale on the astrolabe.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJeNDEtHb5YoNEwKLY82oEI7JZMxmXR1kIeA8JewKyBdRetd5FOoxNhrVTliaTvh8A1q0cD3oFGKnmV1MYgCiTnA1VRyccWc7bcj7fyGBMsEt1iAT0SRNJdJko5AM0juujtceKzisG5a_SSNtgbWnDZ4xQIS9fXut-X6n_dutK84yX_nIInJHmBFS/s1232/SunriseExampleTime.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="925" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxJeNDEtHb5YoNEwKLY82oEI7JZMxmXR1kIeA8JewKyBdRetd5FOoxNhrVTliaTvh8A1q0cD3oFGKnmV1MYgCiTnA1VRyccWc7bcj7fyGBMsEt1iAT0SRNJdJko5AM0juujtceKzisG5a_SSNtgbWnDZ4xQIS9fXut-X6n_dutK84yX_nIInJHmBFS/w480-h640/SunriseExampleTime.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>I guess maybe it's a German convention (?) but we have to take care with this particular model because it uses "IIII" instead of the standard Roman numeral "IV". Other than that it's simple enough, with each small tick marking off 5 minute intervals. So in the example of 11<sup>th</sup> March, we find that the time is somewhere between 6:15 and 6:20 am. The actual sunrise time for this date is 6:25 am, which is not too bad at all.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this is misleading. Now I'm doing this write-up some time after my first experiments, but when I did them I was getting values which were rather less impressive. And this is where the guide has an important omission. Being curious as to what was going on, the only way to proceed was to redo the calculation for a whole bunch of different dates throughout the year. Lo and behold, it's usually wrong : <i>considerably </i>worse than the five minute precision should allow. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZK_w70FLNFW1TzLMnhnCeaE19KbDeyt4NYNxTuroZCN_rGpoFlFaAKMQku9G647aok8-6R4LF4Csdo3YXGVb7mhA0vjgkQDRQm_ht-3s8O5va9imM7H1EDEmFdZhNU7BqR0qZplvdtuFT1UNZSRUS2k0NUsGcsYsh259GE36glm3TfZ5N-v8j6X2/s1712/AstrolabeOffsets.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1712" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZK_w70FLNFW1TzLMnhnCeaE19KbDeyt4NYNxTuroZCN_rGpoFlFaAKMQku9G647aok8-6R4LF4Csdo3YXGVb7mhA0vjgkQDRQm_ht-3s8O5va9imM7H1EDEmFdZhNU7BqR0qZplvdtuFT1UNZSRUS2k0NUsGcsYsh259GE36glm3TfZ5N-v8j6X2/w640-h308/AstrolabeOffsets.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As you can probably guess, the major ticks mark the end of each month with the minor ticks marking each week. There's not really any obvious relation of the offset to the solstices or equinoxes.<br />Also, the fact that I was able to calculate<i> so many</i> points is testament not so much as to my obsessive zeal as to how easy the instrument is to use with a bit of practise.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>It's decent enough for about half the year, within about 5 minutes accuracy. Pretty good ! But the rest of the time it's nigh-on miserable, being up to 20 minutes out – and systematically so, not just because of random errors.</div><div><br /></div><div>This led me on a merry dance to figure out why this should be. The graph shows quite a distinct trend in the offsets, something like a sinusoid but not exactly (I tried to make it fit but failed). Now coordinate systems are an area of geekdom I am resolutely uninterested in; this level of precision orbital mechanics gets a bit tediously maths-heavy for me. But <a href="https://www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/May-2019/Astrolabe-Tech-Made-Not-So-Easy">this article</a> led me on the right path : </div><div><blockquote>Now this is solar time, of course, and by May, US <b>Daylight Savings Time</b> will be in effect, so I add one hour. Then there is the time zone issue: I have to compensate for the difference between Houston’s <b>longitude</b>, 95 degrees west, and that of the longitude to which its time zone is pegged, 90 degrees west. For every degree I need to add four minutes: a total of 20. Finally, I have to find the “<b>equation of time</b> chart” that compensates for arcane astronomical eccentricities, and it says that I have to add three more minutes for May 6. </blockquote></div><div>The hour compensation for daylight savings is trivial and already included in the above graph. The correction for longitude is likely unimportant, though the guide doesn't say what this particular astrolabe is set to. I'd guess Berlin, which is at a very similar longitude to Prague so this makes not much difference. Playing around with online <a href="https://www.suncalc.org/">sunrise calculators</a>, I couldn't find any longitude that would give be better values on one date without making them worse on another.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the article also mentions a third correction for the "equation of time", which in their example happens to be a small difference. However this is just happenstance. This difference is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_time">correction</a> for the Earth's orbit not being a perfect circle, which means the Sun doesn't move across the sky at the same rate each day. And lo, the form of this correction from mean solar time (which effectively pretends that the Sun <i>does</i> move at a fixed rate across the sky) to actual solar time <a href="https://planetcalc.com/9198/#">looks like this</a> :</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzli0URBG-jw1kn5Ct1uBfgAd8A4JElToOA1FSvF-wSGbOxh0Pg8Klq-MbZ4_Bm_wZkHRB8ZF5vpXcNUAV5fsJxUf--18CFvPgPn5r8apaS9pnkt0wC62MRvCWK_fAFy1uXhxtyOZCm_8lQdlt-0M2Q_Ta9VDq308HQsb4nJM5JZ_5Mcx5TzAfe8eV/s1299/EOT.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="1299" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzli0URBG-jw1kn5Ct1uBfgAd8A4JElToOA1FSvF-wSGbOxh0Pg8Klq-MbZ4_Bm_wZkHRB8ZF5vpXcNUAV5fsJxUf--18CFvPgPn5r8apaS9pnkt0wC62MRvCWK_fAFy1uXhxtyOZCm_8lQdlt-0M2Q_Ta9VDq308HQsb4nJM5JZ_5Mcx5TzAfe8eV/w640-h356/EOT.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Very much like the offset from the astrolabe ! Exact values for any date can be found <a href="https://planetcalc.com/9198/">here</a>. These do vary annually, but only slightly : the value any year in my lifetime is going to be good enough to use for every other year I'm likely to be alive, barring significant medical advancements.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, all we have to do is to read off the time, add an hour if we're in daylight savings, subtract 4 minutes for longitude, and subtract the offset from the equation of time. And this gets a <i>much </i>better result. Now our results are typically accurate to within 5 minutes, below the precision of the scale ! For our 11th March example, the offset is -10 minutes, so our reading of ~6:17 am becomes 6:27 am (the offset is negative and we subtract it, i.e. add ten minutes), <b>only two minutes away</b> from the actual value of 6:25 am.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCct4stroUlzsMCJfQNdXtlnYdyOV753RaTsvwPMNwY7EqSZ_Z3fS1AZhsEmUaHur9euVDSVFleHQ-F-o4uT5P8VfmNFdPMbREMJN1_wawWzu3LQnLQlH5uGtUH27vhiYesJNUMtBlSgDyYie3I7CjYyTQDNUByLtDuTwwieSCyEmjalry46wroyKM/s1712/AstrolabeCorrectedOffsets.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="1712" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCct4stroUlzsMCJfQNdXtlnYdyOV753RaTsvwPMNwY7EqSZ_Z3fS1AZhsEmUaHur9euVDSVFleHQ-F-o4uT5P8VfmNFdPMbREMJN1_wawWzu3LQnLQlH5uGtUH27vhiYesJNUMtBlSgDyYie3I7CjYyTQDNUByLtDuTwwieSCyEmjalry46wroyKM/w640-h308/AstrolabeCorrectedOffsets.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For the longitude correction I guessed the astrolabe was calibrated to Berlin. The difference from Prague is 1.0328° => 4.1312 minutes offset. Gaps are where the struts from the ecliptic ring to the rest of the rete make it impossible to get a reading.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>It's interesting that there still appears to be a residual pseudo-sinusoid. Perhaps this is an error in the longitude correction, a problem with the accuracy in reading the scale, or with the accuracy of the device itself (e.g. with the rete not being exactly centred). However since we're already below the precision of the scale, there doesn't seem any point in worrying about this too much.</div><div><br /></div><div>In summary, the steps are :</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Convert the calendar to zodiacal date.</li><li>Align the zodiacal date on the rete to the horizon line.</li><li>Align the pointer with the zodiacal date and horizon line on the rete, read off the clock time.</li><li>If necessary, add one hour to account for daylight savings time.</li><li>Subtract the equation of time offset for the current date.</li><li>Correct for longitude. For every degree east of the astrolabe's calibration, subtract four minutes (for every degree west, add four minutes). </li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>2) Finding the time from the Sun</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Okay, if we know the date we can predict the sunrise or sunset time, wait for these and then we'll know the time. This is hardly any better than the proverbial stopped clock, but fortunately we can also convert the Sun's position at any time of day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Calculating the sunrise time is equivalent to predicting the time the Sun will have an altitude of 0°. We can generalise this to finding the time the Sun will have <i>any </i>given altitude, but since the Sun being at 37° is of no particular significance to anyone, it's more useful to reverse the process : when the Sun is at 37°, what's the time ?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivonPV9DNNsg5mgYbENMQxfM84pecEjxWmsZTt7YS-jBPewyEBer2aLpIukql6OdDMIMh0bDN7b9TmGWSyaqWeimjuPkGEqWdR7qrAOItMMapZetR4QqTP0S7b9tKmG8o8g1XGg5xjdKEypypJMEYXTesQCAMVp-Ln6u_GDDyRzlczG9_1-qNfIGjk/s600/Whats%20The%20Time%20Mr%20Wold.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivonPV9DNNsg5mgYbENMQxfM84pecEjxWmsZTt7YS-jBPewyEBer2aLpIukql6OdDMIMh0bDN7b9TmGWSyaqWeimjuPkGEqWdR7qrAOItMMapZetR4QqTP0S7b9tKmG8o8g1XGg5xjdKEypypJMEYXTesQCAMVp-Ln6u_GDDyRzlczG9_1-qNfIGjk/w640-h426/Whats%20The%20Time%20Mr%20Wold.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div>Well, let's make this easier on ourselves. First, we <i>can </i>measure the altitude of the Sun using the alidade, which has a hole on each end we can sight through. But... let's not do that. Instead, let's use the online tools to find some nice values, so we can verify this all works before getting our hands dirty. </div><div><br /></div><div>The <a href="https://www.suncalc.org/#/50.0791,14.433,10/2023.03.05/17:04/1/3">solar position calculator</a> says that in Prague on 5<sup>th</sup> March 2023, at 1:50 pm the Sun is at an altitude of almost exactly 30°. The zodiacal date for 5<sup>th</sup> March is 15° Pisces. So what we do is align the rete's zodiacal date of 15° Pisces <i>not </i>with the horizon line, but with the 30° altitude line. As with sunrise and sunset, there's a degeneracy here since there are two positions at which this is possible, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. So we need to take it as known that it's the afternoon value we want. This is easy enough because we could just take two altitude readings of the Sun a few minutes apart; if the altitude increases it's morning, if it decreases it's afternoon. Simples.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmqk6L3erfIWOzA73o2MrF8XftSiQn1G3LvZWLLU9Lnm5AReRlg_FmmeCWAp74qQaa8WagfIMhSDAu81es4Ur3n_tjzdIvRHqYnglDN6s0jxE2uPCbhcma2DjrI9vk9c--d86tUioJyQ-5-NTN6TJXT94zKuwnvebmOBnHCmdS8KY8P8kJ1XrO8wyR/s711/SunPosition.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="506" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmqk6L3erfIWOzA73o2MrF8XftSiQn1G3LvZWLLU9Lnm5AReRlg_FmmeCWAp74qQaa8WagfIMhSDAu81es4Ur3n_tjzdIvRHqYnglDN6s0jxE2uPCbhcma2DjrI9vk9c--d86tUioJyQ-5-NTN6TJXT94zKuwnvebmOBnHCmdS8KY8P8kJ1XrO8wyR/w456-h640/SunPosition.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here choosing the rete to intersect the line to the right of the XII marker on the top, since we want the afternoon time.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And once again we align the pointer and read off the time from the outer scale :</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkety09H2gQrYjkelTkkJ9tAqGvG86iOSvuGMfg1H0rF2NBm4du3qR3jgPWnfMt6cmkdgFt-bN-V_YsN83yG4Kg1t0xOKre3ZhzsjfpX8LG3NHdHX-_-I5CJB1hXSoExUAg9QIcF-nwUwbbxaUPGgh76lzKAz-CO-oAuCQrxA62MfOW2_7p_3sj00I/s583/SunPositionTime.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="534" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkety09H2gQrYjkelTkkJ9tAqGvG86iOSvuGMfg1H0rF2NBm4du3qR3jgPWnfMt6cmkdgFt-bN-V_YsN83yG4Kg1t0xOKre3ZhzsjfpX8LG3NHdHX-_-I5CJB1hXSoExUAg9QIcF-nwUwbbxaUPGgh76lzKAz-CO-oAuCQrxA62MfOW2_7p_3sj00I/w586-h640/SunPositionTime.jpg" width="586" /></a></div><br /><div>Which is a value of about 1:37 pm. Not great, but we need to apply the corrections : add 11.5 minutes because of the equation of time, then an additional 4.13 minutes because of longitude => 1:52 pm. Two minutes out ! Not too shabby at all. Well within range of 99% of everyday practical uses of knowing the time. Jeez, I could use this thing to set the clock on my VCR...</div><div><br /></div><div>To summarise, the steps for this procedure are :</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Convert the calendar to zodiacal date.</li><li>Use the alidade to measure altitude of the Sun, if necessary twice to see if it's before or after noon.</li><li>Align the zodiacal date on the rete to the corresponding altitude line.</li><li>Align the pointer with the zodiacal date and altitude line on the rete, read off the clock time.</li><li>If necessary, add one hour to account for daylight savings time.</li><li>Subtract the equation of time offset for the current date.</li><li>Correct for longitude. For every degree east of the astrolabe's calibration, subtract four minutes (for every degree west, add four minutes). </li></ol></div><div>Of course a limitation here is that we only have altitude lines every 5° so this is going to limit our precision. As a second example, on 18<sup>th</sup> March (28° Pisces) at 3:05 pm the Sun's altitude is 27°. Guestimating the rete alignment as best I can (particularly difficult because 28° Pisces is near a strut, which gets in the way), the astrolabe time reading is 2:40 pm. Adding 8 minutes for equation of time and 4 minutes for longitude gives 2:52 pm, 13 minutes out. So there are definite limitations here, though there's no reason we couldn't have a finer altitude scale.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>3) Finding the time from the stars</u></b></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wIw2-pe2bIU6sbjRbM0KmcEiMPxdXe4Benulps0IaUp_hFOXtY8Bk7lYgFddwRy9yziwVD13bwKTMQsvf1mwUM6ouVPQCQEso0ZdVAJu91eQb8y-uP86UWDzgjqQO3bqR2WieyV9bpFfTcmO0lXRF1OIeyffNmJMpyoV_KrB-fbsvrRbZs9cuCHq/s768/Star%20clock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wIw2-pe2bIU6sbjRbM0KmcEiMPxdXe4Benulps0IaUp_hFOXtY8Bk7lYgFddwRy9yziwVD13bwKTMQsvf1mwUM6ouVPQCQEso0ZdVAJu91eQb8y-uP86UWDzgjqQO3bqR2WieyV9bpFfTcmO0lXRF1OIeyffNmJMpyoV_KrB-fbsvrRbZs9cuCHq/w640-h640/Star%20clock.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Made with <a href="https://huggingface.co/spaces/stabilityai/stable-diffusion">Stable Diffusion</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>So far the astrolabe seems to be a sort of elaborate sundial. We can use it to estimate the current time to within a couple of minutes under optimum conditions, and also predict sunrise and sunset with about the same precision. Wonderful, but there are some obvious disadvantages to this at night.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's where the star markers come in. The rete contains little pointers that mark the positions of various stars : mine has 17. This includes some in the most obvious constellations : Rigel and Betelgeuse in Orion; Alioth in the Plough. Even <i>I</i> can find those ones unaided, so this doesn't require any particularly esoteric knowledge of the night sky.</div><div><br /></div><div>The method here is basically identical to the case of finding the time from the Sun. We use the alidade to find the altitude of a star (the position of major stars can be checked <a href="https://eco.mtk.nao.ac.jp/cgi-bin/koyomi/cande/horizontal_rhip_en.cgi">here</a>), then align its marker with the corresponding altitude line. And again this gets us to within a couple of minutes of the correct time, under optimum conditions and applying the standard corrections.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>4) Finding the stars</u></b></div><div><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZB1OcsHihbVdn5zqh46b81XKTUWuOmd8HomZeY0YSxxX2Ppak4oFAWE5OEG2lLELm9rS7r_FcC-oKRx7mGj3OOK6cMiMu0jVeuOAZ44HPiucrADLB8d0tj-heKbWwgCIYpr2NN5FX3JU-BjDxk7XgPzcP6mIdbfzS6fPp5w14IdRKbl4jf8LqOt59/s612/Stars%20and%20clouds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="612" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZB1OcsHihbVdn5zqh46b81XKTUWuOmd8HomZeY0YSxxX2Ppak4oFAWE5OEG2lLELm9rS7r_FcC-oKRx7mGj3OOK6cMiMu0jVeuOAZ44HPiucrADLB8d0tj-heKbWwgCIYpr2NN5FX3JU-BjDxk7XgPzcP6mIdbfzS6fPp5w14IdRKbl4jf8LqOt59/w640-h424/Stars%20and%20clouds.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></b><p>We can also reverse this. If we already know the time, which of course we can get from the stars anyway, we can use the astrolabe to find their position instead. We read off their elevation directly from the altitude lines. Again, we have to guestimate if a pointer doesn't lie neatly on a line, but I was able to get typically to within 2 degrees despite this. </p><p>The astrolabe encodes two dimensional information about the star's position, meaning we can also get its azimuth. This too is straightforward. We align the pointer with the star marker, then from this we read off using the scale just interior to the time on the outermost edge. The only slight complication is that the modern convention is to give the angle in degrees to the east from the line due north, whereas the astrolabe's values are in degrees to the west from the line pointing south. This conversion is trivial :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If the astrolabe's value is > 180°, subtract 180 to get the modern convention.</li><li>If the astrolabe's value is < 180°, add 180 to get the modern convention.</li></ul><p></p><p>The azimuth scale has ticks every degree, though I was able to get agreement to typically within 5 degrees of the actual value. Which in terms of finding the stars by eye is way more than sufficient.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>5) What else ?</u></b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQ8KWPhb32KNPNHt1WF045zTxkdm37IRgKIVnEM3uiRMpadcxGf01lKHFbtrV90nML95TlPKfxEuD-9hG18BZQFSzqhsUisoDgtJBsKZB-91m_1D-TyjVo_YYrw5ieFwqbfcca3IWgTSGa03k3YwGgGE96UtgjGW8emmBID1euvXWDFtyRCN1iy5j/s605/Silly%20knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="605" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQ8KWPhb32KNPNHt1WF045zTxkdm37IRgKIVnEM3uiRMpadcxGf01lKHFbtrV90nML95TlPKfxEuD-9hG18BZQFSzqhsUisoDgtJBsKZB-91m_1D-TyjVo_YYrw5ieFwqbfcca3IWgTSGa03k3YwGgGE96UtgjGW8emmBID1euvXWDFtyRCN1iy5j/w640-h450/Silly%20knife.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It does ALL THE THINGS</span></td></tr></tbody></table></b><br /></p><p>This is looking pretty impressive now. We can calculate sunrise and sunset times, find the altitude and azimuth of the Sun at any time, or use the current elevation of the Sun to tell the time. We can locate the stars to within a few degrees and use them to tell the time to within a couple of minutes, all with just a bit of wood (and a correction table). I find this really ingenious, and I can't imagine the sort of mentality needed to come up with the idea for such a device in the first place.</p><p>There are a few other fairly obvious things we can do with this. Simply rotating the rete and watching the positions of the stars tells us which ones remain low on the horizon (and thus are potentially difficult to find) and which traverse higher altitudes. Similarly, we could calculate the time when any star would be at its highest altitude. We can also see at a glance which ones are below the horizon line.</p><p>But there are many other markings I don't know the meaning of. One guide I found suggests that the lines below the horizon line mark twilight (their are different conventions for how this is defined, hence multiple lines), so one could calculate the hours of true darkness. Some of the other circles might mark the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which I <i>think </i>are used for calculating the exact dates of the solstices and equinoxes. The dashed lines and Roman numerals on the front are apparently something to do with mapping unequal hours when not on the equinox, and apparently the nested circles on the back serve the same function. Though exactly what one <i>does </i>with these, I really don't know.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3aRvrGMkoeJz4hGU224YIM8dqtwVv--40N0uSxkoE8J37c5Q15hc9DH4luGnd-op1VMc6RIgECUOjh-lT3g_LMjzEAOdKHnae6fMXMFPt6U-y4Uo6EIOtK3sis_ltnlfbcs3OTmyBQdsNDX6r2R33BOHrugay_mZg0F2HlpLgRy5ZP1KRxr28RTc/s1000/Mysteries%20of%20the%20Astrolabe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="1000" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb3aRvrGMkoeJz4hGU224YIM8dqtwVv--40N0uSxkoE8J37c5Q15hc9DH4luGnd-op1VMc6RIgECUOjh-lT3g_LMjzEAOdKHnae6fMXMFPt6U-y4Uo6EIOtK3sis_ltnlfbcs3OTmyBQdsNDX6r2R33BOHrugay_mZg0F2HlpLgRy5ZP1KRxr28RTc/w640-h356/Mysteries%20of%20the%20Astrolabe.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The back also has a <a href="https://obscuriosityshop.com/blogs/articles-guides/how-to-use-a-shadow-square">shadow square</a>, a surveying instrument used for measuring the size of distant objects. I suppose if you're going to have a device for measuring altitude anyway, and you've got the space for this, why not ? But what the arc below this is, with its February-October scale, again I don't know. Nor do I understand the 0-60 scale on the alidade itself, or the irregular -20 -> +50 scale on the pointer. ChatGPT* suggests the former are for using the shadow square as an alternative way of estimating altitude, while the latter are degrees above and below the celestial equator and could be used as another way of aligning the rete. But its answer isn't clear enough to properly explain how to use them. <a href="https://www.shadowspro.com/en/user-manual.html">Another document</a>** suggests it might be a way to calculate the equation of time correction without needing to look this up elsewhere, or maybe involved in calculating the right ascension and declination of the stars. It's even possible to use the thing to estimate <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.09677">planetary orbits</a>.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This is something which thinks that Poland is a landlocked country and has strenuous moral objections to satirising <i>The Lord of the Rings,</i> so we shouldn't take it seriously... but on the other hand, a standard Google search is no help at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** This one is the most thorough guide I've found. I suspect from this that the markings on the pointer are to do with ecliptic longitude and used for finding the azimuth of the Sun; it can also be used for finding the declination of a star.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Field Tests</u></b></p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ouwisn8bBIZ9VRfYGzGXOpQE1sZge7hvByTwyUbCuqUwfhiP7gJqDQikGAWi528p7zyWiKgmwEK70qIob9Sm_0qAkq8prwvnP-YAByiRRjKgdg6laflxyVAK4rgC9-ZlM78FdnvdYXD5DaZmWrS4RqEM3xSgR4AQeIGp4xkwhX4X1oCoRtaqZo8Z/s590/Rain%20in%20field%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ouwisn8bBIZ9VRfYGzGXOpQE1sZge7hvByTwyUbCuqUwfhiP7gJqDQikGAWi528p7zyWiKgmwEK70qIob9Sm_0qAkq8prwvnP-YAByiRRjKgdg6laflxyVAK4rgC9-ZlM78FdnvdYXD5DaZmWrS4RqEM3xSgR4AQeIGp4xkwhX4X1oCoRtaqZo8Z/w640-h380/Rain%20in%20field%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but it pretty much sums up the perils of real world conditions.</span> </td></tr></tbody></table></b></p><p>Right, so the astrolabe is pretty bloody awesome. Under ideal conditions, given the accuracy of the device and the difficulties in taking a reading, we can use it to get the time to within a couple of minutes and the position of a star to within a couple of degrees. But how does this play out when conditions are <i>not </i>ideal, in the messy conditions of the real world ? In, say, an actual field ?</p><p>Badly. Very, very badly.</p><p>I am under no illusions about my quite shocking lack of any practical skills whatsoever. Even when experimenting in comfort, I could see exactly what would go wrong in practise and was quickly proven right. So at least I can't be accused of a lack of self-awareness in that respect.</p><p>The astrolabe is a veritable Swiss Army knife of medieval astronomical instrumentation. What makes it especially powerful is that it needs only a single direct connection between the astrolabe and reality, one primitive "sensor" if you will : the alidade. Once you've got your altitude measurement with this, everything else follows with deterministic precision, with no other free parameters to adjust. The problem is that while the device is undeniably very sophisticated, actually using it – even given its total simplicity – is bloody<i> f*"#ing</i> difficult.</p><p>The first problem is that it's very light. This makes it highly susceptible to even a light breeze, so trying to sight something through the holes is extremely difficult for this reason alone. And this is made much, <i>much </i>worse because of the friction of the alidade with the rest of the device. Every adjustment made necessarily moves the whole astrolabe, starting it swinging and thus making each adjustment nearly useless. </p><p>I started by trying to line it up with the Sun. Carefully guestimating an initial pointing, holding it up to quickly check by eye if the Sun was visible though the hole... didn't work. The Sun is just too damn bright. It's impossible to look through the hole towards the Sun (even quickly) because the rest of the solar disc is just feckin' blinding. And trying to look at the shadow, to see if the hole is especially bright when it's lined up correctly, just doesn't work either.</p><p>What about stars ? In principle, the holes on the alidade are such that measuring an angle to the 1° precision of the measurement scale shouldn't be a problem. Now, holding the astrolabe horizontally, I found I was indeed able to see a star quite clearly though both of the holes. This takes some care because in the dark it's surprisingly easy to not see the second hole at all, to see a star though just the one hole and think it's all fine. But it can be done.</p><p>... not while holding it vertically though. Even without any sort of breeze, it's nigh-on impossible to keep the azimuth of the astrolabe fixed; trying to hang it vertically on your finger <i>high enough above your head</i> to find a star is just so much nope. It really just doesn't work. Never mind two minutes precision, I couldn't take a reading <i>at all</i>. It sways, it's so dark it's hard to see the hole, you have to hold it at a very awkward angle... it's just bonkers to think that people really used to do this.</p><p>In principle I think a mounting system would be able to overcome these difficulties. You'd need something to keep it vertical, with the capability to adjust the height and smoothly rotate the azimuth. In that case I firmly believe you could take a reading and apply the corrections so quickly that your estimated time would still be accurate; once you've got the reading, the adjustments to the astrolabe are 30 seconds work. But those drawings of people holding them ? Naah. Not unless you're an actual magical ninja wizard.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g41UaxntaliTl2OHzaVja8uvxuLhhVmr_YHVuPKy7_PrfuJHp29KYE9-O1Sr5hluX7YHwHfNhxCRBUp1n6Y0NZEHv7TsM8hv5l5zDijHdWDB0k84dWvVfIriBCh8mp94_mBfuh29eDPkxo2_JcPxjBfTzIVu08bS-POjvIbF8cDSeYUlVgtWbVZM/s704/Medieval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="704" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-g41UaxntaliTl2OHzaVja8uvxuLhhVmr_YHVuPKy7_PrfuJHp29KYE9-O1Sr5hluX7YHwHfNhxCRBUp1n6Y0NZEHv7TsM8hv5l5zDijHdWDB0k84dWvVfIriBCh8mp94_mBfuh29eDPkxo2_JcPxjBfTzIVu08bS-POjvIbF8cDSeYUlVgtWbVZM/w640-h420/Medieval.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's just not going to happen people.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><u>Conclusions</u></b></p><p>Even if it has all the practical advantages of the proverbial chocolate teapot, the astrolabe is still a <i>ridonculously </i>impressive piece of kit. Its versatility is crazy, matched only by its sheer maddening uselessness as a practical instrument.</p><p>My guide calls it a medieval computer, but this is not right. It doesn't do any computations in the modern sense; it can't take arbitrary input values, much less perform arbitrary operations on them. At most you could liken it to a specific computer <i>program </i>rather than a computer itself. When you need to do certain specific operations it's incredibly useful, and far, far simpler than doing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereographic_projection">calculations</a> by hand – and better by far than a gigantic lookup table. One can certainly see the glimmers of computational logic here, even though the device itself is a long way from a computer in the modern sense.</p><p>It's likely an exaggeration to say the astrolabe had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrolabe">over a thousand uses</a>, unless you count every minor variation of every single task for every single star. But it's probably not crazy to say it had dozens. I certainly haven't figured them all out. I'd certainly like to continue investigating at some point, but only if I can figure out how to take attitude readings in a way that isn't likely to have me hurling it across the room (or field) in frustration.</p></div></div></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-27147128835409131012023-01-11T10:20:00.005-04:002023-01-11T10:39:44.476-04:00Happiness is a Place Called Harwich<p>It's time for another travel post. Once again we decided to grace the good citizens of Cardiff with the there-unknown Papillions, so this a repeat of the train-ferry-train expedition we did <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/07/expedition-cardiff-ii-fluffening.html">over the summer</a>.</p><p>This being December, things were somewhat different. When we set off all of Europe was in the grip of an arctic blast : in Prague, then experiencing its third snowfall of the season, it was -13 C with a wind chill down to -18 C. All through the Czech Republic and large parts of Germany we saw plenty of snow on the ground.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6oAcWVb3fVK5-lIFiLa_90QNiOM9rMyiTDQlfG6p3P1NC_ApdvZlWasMiPPWbfoEpIv8YKv_cJFTXY-Xc5U_C8QzS78Xu05bVsmkkDwul4myGJY1Xxkqw5A21OYenj7wO7dyZv7I8Jp0TWw3lfreV63MPLtlWz3tXWIZhn4q_FTMV6KYsE-ZwqRi/s2312/IMG20221213083022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6oAcWVb3fVK5-lIFiLa_90QNiOM9rMyiTDQlfG6p3P1NC_ApdvZlWasMiPPWbfoEpIv8YKv_cJFTXY-Xc5U_C8QzS78Xu05bVsmkkDwul4myGJY1Xxkqw5A21OYenj7wO7dyZv7I8Jp0TWw3lfreV63MPLtlWz3tXWIZhn4q_FTMV6KYsE-ZwqRi/w640-h288/IMG20221213083022.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpgzvHIPvL9u2ZaMykZc6QGS_zGU1-vPTsZYwIsx7rlj12YTylJjArsqv8aVpCW4cvKBglQXPSmvmVwpZvm5GyIb8-U1IIOQpA-qXCz1SPtsrZne1mmrPpvZGSupm50IF5p3-Lc37hBmSzbf99fvsm30uwzJfKO-RnVvYO1JyOL25EM0lek1EsCVX/s4624/IMG20221213090040.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwpgzvHIPvL9u2ZaMykZc6QGS_zGU1-vPTsZYwIsx7rlj12YTylJjArsqv8aVpCW4cvKBglQXPSmvmVwpZvm5GyIb8-U1IIOQpA-qXCz1SPtsrZne1mmrPpvZGSupm50IF5p3-Lc37hBmSzbf99fvsm30uwzJfKO-RnVvYO1JyOL25EM0lek1EsCVX/w640-h288/IMG20221213090040.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The Netherlands was cold but devoid of snow, but had something even better for the dogs : a great big empty beach.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSQY64ZkxHSaixjA4HiJkzQccnc7bZpD-1NrPtZWuOs3og_soPEbgxkA2SWcV0unBWNOT6wa_27a0cvH2fSW9iIEC4dESoHURdiTDr34gWcrbm1gdHfuKNOzcxp8FvaJA2kSWG4XhOwyuemqe6XoruayzpHVjIbJrkcG730j3RlMTrKS8Yne7fkzj/s3200/IMG20221215141542.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSQY64ZkxHSaixjA4HiJkzQccnc7bZpD-1NrPtZWuOs3og_soPEbgxkA2SWcV0unBWNOT6wa_27a0cvH2fSW9iIEC4dESoHURdiTDr34gWcrbm1gdHfuKNOzcxp8FvaJA2kSWG4XhOwyuemqe6XoruayzpHVjIbJrkcG730j3RlMTrKS8Yne7fkzj/w640-h288/IMG20221215141542.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimld0yjZTDq6SVZ335IxC4l7NaTxQNdL6B7T1TkFCdRCoKRMYkBeOggRuiJqz7V8u0bRbdH6qFoYDm711FcfcSPsUiXj-PAghPv-80LPD4byV7xAj9NHj-S72p16RdOJKl6NKQvjnfQm1maAbca_aveBrjZ74OXfNfsv9CiHrJodXrTNbtbmB5hg4S/s2312/IMG20221215144128.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimld0yjZTDq6SVZ335IxC4l7NaTxQNdL6B7T1TkFCdRCoKRMYkBeOggRuiJqz7V8u0bRbdH6qFoYDm711FcfcSPsUiXj-PAghPv-80LPD4byV7xAj9NHj-S72p16RdOJKl6NKQvjnfQm1maAbca_aveBrjZ74OXfNfsv9CiHrJodXrTNbtbmB5hg4S/w640-h288/IMG20221215144128.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I shall skip over the ferry trip; the only differences from last time was that everything was now in darkness and the dogs weren't so freaked about about the whole thing. </p><p>The major change occurred in Harwich. Because the UK government has all the astute competence and concern for worker's welfare as an inebriated sloth, we couldn't go straight to the train to Cardiff this time. At the last minute the railways had all gone on strike on the very days (in both directions) we were planning to travel. Fortunately the timing wasn't as awful as it could have been, with the net result being we stayed in a hotel in Harwich for one night on both ends of our trip and thereby avoided the strikes, though we didn't entirely escape the knock-on effects of the disruption.</p><p>Overall, this small cloud had quite a large silver lining. Harwich turns out to be a lovely little seaside town which is well worth a visit. The morning of our arrival gave us a pleasant sunrise stroll to <a href="https://www.google.cz/maps/place/The+Pier/@51.9480227,1.2847038,17z/data=!4m8!3m7!1s0x47d976c3c9c7bee3:0xb961299c0933a23c!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d51.9480936!4d1.2867823?hl=en-GB">our hotel</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMwd9I3Pxa0LVhTWexg_O3RxTMUtnnLUvKMMbyi0SvfTCOr65Yt2ghRhvSu5f5EOA427m22b7GS0S2QNkEYF7Th457-_3ONZzQfZ3nwZcdhFhpXJmrX0chMJ5uH9ESNyeXk5EYZysA3FZHopTuqSM7-V705G86cxkrE4wEp2M4FQ6J-N76fSBjZyK/s4624/IMG20221217082149.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="4624" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMwd9I3Pxa0LVhTWexg_O3RxTMUtnnLUvKMMbyi0SvfTCOr65Yt2ghRhvSu5f5EOA427m22b7GS0S2QNkEYF7Th457-_3ONZzQfZ3nwZcdhFhpXJmrX0chMJ5uH9ESNyeXk5EYZysA3FZHopTuqSM7-V705G86cxkrE4wEp2M4FQ6J-N76fSBjZyK/w640-h288/IMG20221217082149.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWa3EEx0SB0rDTRXXP7uBwfW-QP3M6dkFSPrbym8VhUkqWQ538jKoFitmFHnDr7Asz1EFUrSS7SN8q9RKJYGB16yawUuY_XT2bKj14dld5QUQUV184OihJavad_x4MKD-SEXxnfA7Z0Yb9mMkF9vrzmzUew6iwCQAjJ33yyTzeMB9nCA84R0AM0s7u/s2312/IMG20221217082720.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWa3EEx0SB0rDTRXXP7uBwfW-QP3M6dkFSPrbym8VhUkqWQ538jKoFitmFHnDr7Asz1EFUrSS7SN8q9RKJYGB16yawUuY_XT2bKj14dld5QUQUV184OihJavad_x4MKD-SEXxnfA7Z0Yb9mMkF9vrzmzUew6iwCQAjJ33yyTzeMB9nCA84R0AM0s7u/w288-h640/IMG20221217082720.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>From the hotel, we watched our ferry sail back for the day trip back to the continent, accompanied by a breakfast featuring some of the best bacon I've ever had.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvaODXzSBktSWMBlmEfUB5VSdUzGpvBEblHnC_ofMrvFxzcnddgofd9E04LpCX9T-zr1KBg-dQFJqVQPgIanTgplDdUP6ijg6zprBAKm4zQuw1qbt5SAj2RX4p4DjnGiD9qXpcmSdBQgiqKG-2tamsppxsaLlXEyZEtk2PPrsBz5Gwm9EfWDvsYCU/s2312/IMG20221217090402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvaODXzSBktSWMBlmEfUB5VSdUzGpvBEblHnC_ofMrvFxzcnddgofd9E04LpCX9T-zr1KBg-dQFJqVQPgIanTgplDdUP6ijg6zprBAKm4zQuw1qbt5SAj2RX4p4DjnGiD9qXpcmSdBQgiqKG-2tamsppxsaLlXEyZEtk2PPrsBz5Gwm9EfWDvsYCU/w640-h288/IMG20221217090402.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>After this auspicious beginning we left our bags in the hotel, wandered through Harwich and gave the dogs another beach trip. Even here there was frost or snow in places.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO0TTko-bQKGW18qij7827n6Oum8u7dHyBl09c-hqyq3NfW85vB0VvDbgG5ljRDbGxusD6XeuRlw0xLOYvKCWg-W4FW-4Qqi4WoTC9ukrhV3bsGG6hQCAMR0ouGImgfWoOqL3zxZYeYrFriWCP1uJlIzB1iGUeixCf_XeUj8cVOy_h51qnAWgLnLD/s2312/IMG20221217104732.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisO0TTko-bQKGW18qij7827n6Oum8u7dHyBl09c-hqyq3NfW85vB0VvDbgG5ljRDbGxusD6XeuRlw0xLOYvKCWg-W4FW-4Qqi4WoTC9ukrhV3bsGG6hQCAMR0ouGImgfWoOqL3zxZYeYrFriWCP1uJlIzB1iGUeixCf_XeUj8cVOy_h51qnAWgLnLD/w640-h288/IMG20221217104732.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1B1sB7JgCjIqwZAMS0o4LfWMbVow_jEDkWnV5pV9AS6MXchve4R2oa6iVrFn6fSF7CZY_qvR3756-z9VJ7LRgbwjqkpAo_xb6r88HLBKvXGaWJeEeJw-HF3MwV12rO-nZOI7mDnqrZA9XBM91cMRJ0cKWfxLsni7apBFiMIbWJfc2IuE-fkPn89S/s1600/IMG20221217110609.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1B1sB7JgCjIqwZAMS0o4LfWMbVow_jEDkWnV5pV9AS6MXchve4R2oa6iVrFn6fSF7CZY_qvR3756-z9VJ7LRgbwjqkpAo_xb6r88HLBKvXGaWJeEeJw-HF3MwV12rO-nZOI7mDnqrZA9XBM91cMRJ0cKWfxLsni7apBFiMIbWJfc2IuE-fkPn89S/w640-h288/IMG20221217110609.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixofWixVVrcjO9JnLzyBh-q5MSwMXZ3b5T3PBbkEzwJcwE21cHFR-9sm9vElo6hIh7ImKiCUQ1JL-DUREkiqAx7kLzE0evQf0IPKkRxcQQzvyWSUShDf3ZCuQ0E_0Fvv-hlDhM9vx-hwtphJH9fbhbL4RR_AxuFUmpP5eZA3uX4OMX2bdHOAVF-5KY/s2312/IMG20221217111449.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixofWixVVrcjO9JnLzyBh-q5MSwMXZ3b5T3PBbkEzwJcwE21cHFR-9sm9vElo6hIh7ImKiCUQ1JL-DUREkiqAx7kLzE0evQf0IPKkRxcQQzvyWSUShDf3ZCuQ0E_0Fvv-hlDhM9vx-hwtphJH9fbhbL4RR_AxuFUmpP5eZA3uX4OMX2bdHOAVF-5KY/w640-h288/IMG20221217111449.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6kJDHboaHdpuijkxNaPde3v7rwt1YOBMjAhsOJnVyfpbzUeRatDRGrirRanFbI2ZIL-6d0ekmVrJ8zZnD-ALx3qXAxh9EgVDxcLSXVVYfXgsNXf1d23MSkKIosrSsXuC-lucV2AaTZ37pKwIHgiCAR8kxDoBw9JtIh2QtsHd6hR0g5ryCVM6C7ww/s2312/IMG20221217111740.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6kJDHboaHdpuijkxNaPde3v7rwt1YOBMjAhsOJnVyfpbzUeRatDRGrirRanFbI2ZIL-6d0ekmVrJ8zZnD-ALx3qXAxh9EgVDxcLSXVVYfXgsNXf1d23MSkKIosrSsXuC-lucV2AaTZ37pKwIHgiCAR8kxDoBw9JtIh2QtsHd6hR0g5ryCVM6C7ww/w640-h288/IMG20221217111740.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Apart from the beach we also visited <a href="https://www.beaconhillfort.org.uk/">Beacon Hill coastal battery</a>*, a Victorian defence which was in use through WWII. It doesn't look like much from the beach - you can see a lookout tower and that's about it. But looks are deceiving. The site, which is free to enter, turns out to be quite extensive, and is maintained by a group of enthusiasts who could have walked out of a Big Book of Stereotypically Lovely English People**, if such a thing existed. It's littered with the remains of the mounts for 10-inch retractable guns and their extensive underground armouries, all of which have enough laminated info panels to keep the most dedicated military historians salivating for days. These people are <i>seriously </i>dedicated to their cause and practically bursting with an infectious***, enthusiastic desire to tell you all about it.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* They call it a hill fort, but since it has absolutely nothing to do with hill forts in the traditional sense, I'm not going to call it that.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** I would have made a donation just on their sheer loveliness, had I remembered to swap my money around, but unfortunately all I could manage was to buy a cool bullet keychain.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*** Not in the covid sense - they're still enforcing social distancing.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfqOIk9fJH0PI5SzulaKPZ7XS2VWwISLu0bmRFmUCBYKMmf9Z3yHuyXhJvOm3WlkxR1Uj4RabnPUbRbgkBEHoSB7OT4f_tNFFo1HWV1glexTLo5vvxORCIgjE8FQyi5gAIPEePjUtf-30KbausJOM-Jarf4-HzSURVmJZ0G_k5lPxS0miWvwzRA0C/s2312/IMG20221217114726.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTfqOIk9fJH0PI5SzulaKPZ7XS2VWwISLu0bmRFmUCBYKMmf9Z3yHuyXhJvOm3WlkxR1Uj4RabnPUbRbgkBEHoSB7OT4f_tNFFo1HWV1glexTLo5vvxORCIgjE8FQyi5gAIPEePjUtf-30KbausJOM-Jarf4-HzSURVmJZ0G_k5lPxS0miWvwzRA0C/w640-h288/IMG20221217114726.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigCZmXxYlbiCfFAosOGD6WvzQ1ICR5lVQCddQ8VpdNeHADptlZn_wv4O6iysO4H0aD2mesdie1523Ny2b3PwuEpQM6pVdixbgPBZF_cDBxe_20gwtn5r6qDqIAxep_UO88iYTlWuKcDheh6Adxl4AXvl1QbSfqklicjbpE8mFti90OvqbQluE2bEr/s1600/IMG20221217121804.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgigCZmXxYlbiCfFAosOGD6WvzQ1ICR5lVQCddQ8VpdNeHADptlZn_wv4O6iysO4H0aD2mesdie1523Ny2b3PwuEpQM6pVdixbgPBZF_cDBxe_20gwtn5r6qDqIAxep_UO88iYTlWuKcDheh6Adxl4AXvl1QbSfqklicjbpE8mFti90OvqbQluE2bEr/w288-h640/IMG20221217121804.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_BTvJLk7Hp20ycxm6Z9MlAH7O5inLABzJtoqlKGJjzR4D6IqDLsLFSLlFykxwB3SXdDZdng24AENOwjseZ8oXmxw_JJ67r4_JFQ4AUBoJHopPSxAuSGrOD0LKREMgOYb4LB34XqrE-oiPrButz5IMgb68owJHSq6MOTDTvSsnjlVSeI2iecXfzfz/s2312/IMG20221217123022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_BTvJLk7Hp20ycxm6Z9MlAH7O5inLABzJtoqlKGJjzR4D6IqDLsLFSLlFykxwB3SXdDZdng24AENOwjseZ8oXmxw_JJ67r4_JFQ4AUBoJHopPSxAuSGrOD0LKREMgOYb4LB34XqrE-oiPrButz5IMgb68owJHSq6MOTDTvSsnjlVSeI2iecXfzfz/w288-h640/IMG20221217123022.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><p>At this point I should say that it's not just the military enthusiasts : the people of Harwich are without exception exceptionally friendly, which seems weirdly incongruous given that they all have the accent from EastEnders. If that show was about some friendly fishermen instead of angry, miserable Londoners, the world would probably be a happier place.</p><p>This was all pretty tiring, so from there it was back for a relaxing spell in the hotel. Again I must sing praises : the hotel was delightful, the meals excellent (though <i>very </i>expensive).</p><p>The next day we hit a snag. Disruption from the strikes meant our planned trains were cancelled so we had to adjust. But this was no more than a snag, arriving a few hours later in Cardiff than planned. Inconvenient but not problematic.</p><p>Then of course Christmas and all its usual Christmassy things happened. Happy dogs with woodland walks galore.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88IBQ6YTzfsgwHXsnjEIYBUdjoHv5QJv4unOTGAdEtVht2MM6mQKuj62_HYXcMNozfxzb6W1C8OHoyuWOc9NkVI4z1JT9D5ziospXc3x1SCfHZy7-ReAstX4rob4-5M2EmCUaJes3WcpX4vwwcgF9IJKJ77aTTGQ2EaagQSnKOL5VLJTKEdqZFLVo/s3200/IMG20221219144006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi88IBQ6YTzfsgwHXsnjEIYBUdjoHv5QJv4unOTGAdEtVht2MM6mQKuj62_HYXcMNozfxzb6W1C8OHoyuWOc9NkVI4z1JT9D5ziospXc3x1SCfHZy7-ReAstX4rob4-5M2EmCUaJes3WcpX4vwwcgF9IJKJ77aTTGQ2EaagQSnKOL5VLJTKEdqZFLVo/w640-h288/IMG20221219144006.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXi1NXl0vbHkAV1LgKQtPEox7-Ky9MjzTXRfTvQVbZgs3FRwhbjQ1xqBNdO4ruUVtKiIRvrsiC3J6GVFCWcTOOLxNTPoZ2mfc7Uz_AEQQN-zfaFvmCa4pMtRiWJDPZbwVXO_Ydr_5y8NR2Nz2DqK6IgWlQgevtHiyMDMNWMfUbBU86gdVPs9fw2lAP/s2312/IMG20221220102212.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXi1NXl0vbHkAV1LgKQtPEox7-Ky9MjzTXRfTvQVbZgs3FRwhbjQ1xqBNdO4ruUVtKiIRvrsiC3J6GVFCWcTOOLxNTPoZ2mfc7Uz_AEQQN-zfaFvmCa4pMtRiWJDPZbwVXO_Ydr_5y8NR2Nz2DqK6IgWlQgevtHiyMDMNWMfUbBU86gdVPs9fw2lAP/w640-h288/IMG20221220102212.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVbb00P3n_-6DnfcjcZK-1tFtgDsfDXVutoHXsIT7ek30XAouMh65AP_oN8HZZjHEtcOZcDycXjulKt07y9OheyDD18QqkG4S4SrKPP-C8KcNr4hmTe2NjM6IAPbHkXgPwTUfKuBwZjKIShZW8M8ks_cYhPPRXp_Mr1iD_zIFHRuFmH2m6ZqpgA2e/s1600/IMG20221224152004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEVbb00P3n_-6DnfcjcZK-1tFtgDsfDXVutoHXsIT7ek30XAouMh65AP_oN8HZZjHEtcOZcDycXjulKt07y9OheyDD18QqkG4S4SrKPP-C8KcNr4hmTe2NjM6IAPbHkXgPwTUfKuBwZjKIShZW8M8ks_cYhPPRXp_Mr1iD_zIFHRuFmH2m6ZqpgA2e/w640-h288/IMG20221224152004.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTsSuDesbRLrMMYCEkAZdA3NbP4V_AF57tTNrufA-m3TwKLP6g2R78drgpVDy9nT1DuSWsIScZaKGzk60fR3ERHyuFh8jl7m1K2goKiCY5N5yQajTXSiMizaedUqoSzAonVX7E__q5A3l78aR-7u78cj9iYg1bDKUtdvR6fZt7-r3gzhcsNhjLP9S/s1600/IMG20221229150107.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSTsSuDesbRLrMMYCEkAZdA3NbP4V_AF57tTNrufA-m3TwKLP6g2R78drgpVDy9nT1DuSWsIScZaKGzk60fR3ERHyuFh8jl7m1K2goKiCY5N5yQajTXSiMizaedUqoSzAonVX7E__q5A3l78aR-7u78cj9iYg1bDKUtdvR6fZt7-r3gzhcsNhjLP9S/w640-h288/IMG20221229150107.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXy3v9ZF8Qm0p0xPBeXSBIRtSumWo2LNskww8FilYZWFz8-fI_NeY9p0ZYtefBPYnWYXXe7nL8t2gL6jw_8meNE_bXoUqLjAvbKU4I_BqG42PBVesI9K1_AEdj9t41f6nNaFHSDbPh7qWJ-PPxdlbYEKSJiVmggjAyTOK1pbnDe9SVcn6riA_u_l5D/s2312/IMG20230101113421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXy3v9ZF8Qm0p0xPBeXSBIRtSumWo2LNskww8FilYZWFz8-fI_NeY9p0ZYtefBPYnWYXXe7nL8t2gL6jw_8meNE_bXoUqLjAvbKU4I_BqG42PBVesI9K1_AEdj9t41f6nNaFHSDbPh7qWJ-PPxdlbYEKSJiVmggjAyTOK1pbnDe9SVcn6riA_u_l5D/w640-h288/IMG20230101113421.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzPDpmeIWHwzLaIpU9ntccXiypnSZeYGLNqqDjmWsHBJmnbJOSuumjOvlIUAXbTQPzcgWTjKaAhBZ6_VTgB0wIpeDZNlNOVAVd_McfPnlCaq1iOeLq94jAwg562kwdarCenHOy7I40sBd2xYwRlQxRsBVJBeTnCAoczPxNLI8YH_eBjvkFNb685o4/s739/20221225_183033.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="690" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzPDpmeIWHwzLaIpU9ntccXiypnSZeYGLNqqDjmWsHBJmnbJOSuumjOvlIUAXbTQPzcgWTjKaAhBZ6_VTgB0wIpeDZNlNOVAVd_McfPnlCaq1iOeLq94jAwg562kwdarCenHOy7I40sBd2xYwRlQxRsBVJBeTnCAoczPxNLI8YH_eBjvkFNb685o4/w598-h640/20221225_183033.jpg" width="598" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gilly has taken to burying her food under a fox. No, we don't know why.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At this point the dreaded lurgy struck : not covid according to the tests, but some regular, unpleasant flu or flu-like infestation. That rather put a downer on things after Christmas, but staying in for new year's eve was probably a wise decision : the only reason I was awake at midnight was because the fireworks woke the dogs up. </p><p>By the day of the return the lurgy had at least slightly receded. So back on a (first class !) train to Harwich and a new, <a href="https://www.google.cz/maps/place/The+Alma+Inn/@51.9474632,1.2841923,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!3m7!1s0x47d976c3eb06f031:0x8f7619a915a70951!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d51.9474372!4d1.2863743?hl=en-GB">also very pleasant hotel</a>. More strolling around. Another beach trip for the doggies, though with less clement conditions this time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrPaPXESNmvqWtSZ_H_DyMpZplvKmGLCem3notzEphtPJUDP1U_NCvaBaoQW8hKtVPd0zFWa1BZvyR0R7ljJ_4SbRELR97u1AhNVkPMzZ4MkYQoEd3dL18_97rZdwfg1ft2luq_aTzwfcKAQS71DCGTc7J3I6rIiMYt0zrPlb-P9-nyXgEYS-RLp-/s800/IMG20230103105630.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrPaPXESNmvqWtSZ_H_DyMpZplvKmGLCem3notzEphtPJUDP1U_NCvaBaoQW8hKtVPd0zFWa1BZvyR0R7ljJ_4SbRELR97u1AhNVkPMzZ4MkYQoEd3dL18_97rZdwfg1ft2luq_aTzwfcKAQS71DCGTc7J3I6rIiMYt0zrPlb-P9-nyXgEYS-RLp-/w640-h288/IMG20230103105630.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhNWyLMLgA18q-dHSXM3RZhnu27G36ODJg-aOP_jONciWo-FFBbn5voRPN_b09Ry9T4tH-2d76eyDVtiNtEvJ3zwltpkmEf5yy62a1oROCqLvS_gUxI_GK87FAqjNsxoqhBaObqe8_bXUpG3TmYhmtt0DDK9yf9q3e11uTN13yqWEMMi2sPibcjKN/s1156/IMG20230103104938.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhNWyLMLgA18q-dHSXM3RZhnu27G36ODJg-aOP_jONciWo-FFBbn5voRPN_b09Ry9T4tH-2d76eyDVtiNtEvJ3zwltpkmEf5yy62a1oROCqLvS_gUxI_GK87FAqjNsxoqhBaObqe8_bXUpG3TmYhmtt0DDK9yf9q3e11uTN13yqWEMMi2sPibcjKN/w640-h288/IMG20230103104938.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The seafront has what appears to be a Banksy, but to be honest I have absolutely no clue what the deal is with that. So far as I can tell his work is mediocre and boring. I'm at a loss as to why people go nuts for this, except in that it confirms my deeply profound and carefully-considered theory of psychology that<i> people are stupid</i>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sadly the weather took a turn for the worse, so we retreated back to the hotel for a bit and thence to the ferry terminal.</p><p>I suppose I should also say something about the strikes. I'm completely convinced that the NHS staff deserve to strike : working conditions are appalling and the government's monstrous inaction is rage-inducing to the point I might start breaking things, so I won't dwell on that. As to the train companies it's less clear to me what it is they're striking about. Some of their concerns seem... overblown ? On the other hand the rail network's response seems to have been borderline contemptuous, and Shirley's theory is that it may be more about respect than anything else. </p><p>Rather tellingly, it seems the railways are making substantial payouts to shareholders which the average workers just aren't seeing. Perhaps that, more than the absolute value of pay, is at the root of it ? Certainly I don't think train drivers deserve to earn £58,000 per year, that's stupid, but then, the rail bosses definitely don't need >£100,000 per year either, which is even dumber. But the government's lack of handling of the situation is worse still. It's entirely possible that <i>both </i>sides may be partially in the wrong, but one side seems decidedly more wrong than the other, so far as I can tell.</p><p>Anyway, the grim conditions meant we didn't get to see Harwich's lighthouses, museum, or huge Napoleonic fort - that and the fact that these are open only sparingly in winter. But those are things for the next visit. Still, it's a lovely little place, far nicer than I was expecting. </p><p>After another stopover in the Netherlands, a 13 hour train trip (with some more timetable jiggery-pokery because of railway incompetence - it's not <i>just </i>Britain that does things badly) saw us back in Prague. So now I guess there's nothing for it but to get back to work - that and read ALL THE BOOKS I hauled across Europe at a great physical cost to my puny arms. Meh. They suffer so my brain doesn't have to.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-85995193416467495442022-10-27T11:01:00.003-04:002022-10-28T11:54:03.332-04:00The Cosmology of Middle Earth (V) : Cosmos and Conclusions<p>At last, it's time to finish this series on Tolkien by trying to answer the biggest questions of all. We've moved from the scales of <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-i-rings.html">individual objects</a>, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-ii-men.html">peoples</a>, the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iii-land.html">landscape</a>, and the very <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iv-world.html">world itself</a>. We've seen the influence of Tolkien's moral beliefs at work at every stage, a complex and astoundingly well-crafted use of symbolism and metaphor that embodies some very fundamental beliefs, giving physical shape to our fears and hopes. Now we must consider things on a truly global scale and beyond : Arda as a planet and its place in the cosmos.</p><p><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p><b><u>5) Cosmos</u></b></p><div><p><i>World Enough : The Shape of Arda</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERJ8DcUnHnmh7D4iCncJHq4b709zvi9ZKUXGh8mgB7f9k8OmiEv5vTE-n7EijTTQ-fbebaVuDW-e8oEjpA1pvvg8PZTY__0nWFXVOy3PQqC7Ng2tZz9jwRHm01AHTJrP0iA3V2bqdbJiSOA86sXTOtEjDRuklXqdqwegGaNissx_wO5v8JJOfeik5/s800/Polyhedron%20Earth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERJ8DcUnHnmh7D4iCncJHq4b709zvi9ZKUXGh8mgB7f9k8OmiEv5vTE-n7EijTTQ-fbebaVuDW-e8oEjpA1pvvg8PZTY__0nWFXVOy3PQqC7Ng2tZz9jwRHm01AHTJrP0iA3V2bqdbJiSOA86sXTOtEjDRuklXqdqwegGaNissx_wO5v8JJOfeik5/w640-h362/Polyhedron%20Earth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I've heard that the changeable nature of the shape of the world is due to editorial changes by Christopher Tolkien, and that J. R. R. said later that it should always have been round. But no matter, I very much like the way this is depicted in the final published version of <i>The Silmarillion</i> : it is fully consistent with a story of the world becoming less mythical and more real.</p><p>Initially, Arda is flat. The geometry therefore seems simple enough : there are continents in an ocean, and you can literally sail to heaven and return. However, in <i>The Atlas</i>, Fonstad notes that Tolkien's maps even of the Third Age depict the world as though it was flat when it was clearly supposed to be round. She notes that in the phrase :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>...it was globed amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>There is an apparent contradiction, which is resolved by Arda's ability to be both round and flat. A further dilemma is that Tolkien did not appear to take into account the <a href="https://xkcd.com/977/">projection effects</a> of mapping a round world to a flat sheet, so that as a professional cartographer, she finds, "The only reasonable solution is to map his maps – treating the his round world as if it were flat. Then Middle Earth will appear to us as it did to Tolkien."</p><p>But this we can safely attribute to something as mundane as Tolkien not being concerned with geometric precision; whether the shortest path between Gondor and Hobbiton is a straight line or a curve makes no difference to the narrative. I also think that "globed" in the above quote just means "enclosed in" rather than "it was <i>round </i>and inside the void".</p><p>Much more interestingly, Fonstad also notes that Tolkien's use of "the encircling seas" and other boundaries of the world do not appear to reflect ordinary physical boundaries. When Melkor destroyed the Lamps, the Valar are forced to relocate :</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Therefore they departed from Middle-earth and went to the Land of Aman, the westernmost of all lands upon the borders of the world; for its west shores looked upon the Outer Sea, that is called by the Elves Ekkaia, encircling the Kingdom of Arda. How wide is that sea none know but the Valar; and beyond it are the Walls of the Night.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Later the Númenóreans embark on long voyages :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>...from the darkness of the North to the heats of the South, and beyond the South to the Nether Darkness; and they came even into the inner seas, and sailed about Middle-earth and glimpsed from their high prows the Gates of Morning in the East. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>Fonstad notes that the "encircling seas" should not be taken literally. Her depiction of the state of affairs needs to be considered carefully :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqYL_atSDoGR-Z-qq3w_USA2_NGk164kZpVQIz-7lOvNaKm4atlQylR4eu4R4V27lxHr1kDwByXEJyg74MquX1Dq8JMzabr9HFFL-TlDVXUpO7hUSVoKbcluBLf_I4B9FlaEd7b2PSkBird5xboiUQDg7OWTK26TZbtwIdShem4Ll00KvS5f0OE_P/s962/Circles%20of%20Middle%20Earth.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="729" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqYL_atSDoGR-Z-qq3w_USA2_NGk164kZpVQIz-7lOvNaKm4atlQylR4eu4R4V27lxHr1kDwByXEJyg74MquX1Dq8JMzabr9HFFL-TlDVXUpO7hUSVoKbcluBLf_I4B9FlaEd7b2PSkBird5xboiUQDg7OWTK26TZbtwIdShem4Ll00KvS5f0OE_P/w484-h640/Circles%20of%20Middle%20Earth.png" width="484" /></a></div><div><br /></div>There have been attempts to depict the <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Gates_of_Morning">Gates of Morning</a> somewhat literally, but this is probably a mistake except as a very metaphorical representation. Here Tolkien is at his most ambiguous. Fonstad contends that :</div><div><blockquote><i>Prior to the change, the usage of the phrase, "Circles of the World" referred not to a planetary spherical shape, but rather to the physical outer limits or "confines". The maps and diagrams in </i>The Shaping of Middle Earth<i>, "The Ambarkanta" all confirm this interpretation.</i></blockquote></div><div>Which seems very reasonable to me. Large parts of the maps shown above are not referred to anywhere in <i>The Silmarillion</i> so I'm flying blind here. My interpretation of this earliest phase of the world is not that we should envisage a Discworld-like literal flatness, a great disc amidst the heavens which one could fall off if one was careless. Rather it seems that the different regions – Air, Sea, Light and Void – are different levels of reality. Middle* Earth and even Arda does have a structure, it's a place you can walk around in. But the further you go from the central regions, the weirder and less physical things become.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* As in Christian myth, this is <i>not </i>"middle" as in "of central importance", as is popularly supposed, but more as in mediocrity. Middle Earth is midway between heaven and hell, neither in the heights of grace nor the depths of shadow.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I know I said it was a mistake, but this does raise the question of what you'd experience if you tried to sail away from Middle Earth but avoided Valinor. Well, I don't know. I suspect you'd find the sea gradually giving way to something altogether less physical, something without form and ultimately beyond comprehension. The descriptions are likely intended to invoke the closest appropriate emotional <i>feeling</i>, not the sensory <i>experience </i>one would have in such unfathomable realms.</div><div><p>The removal of Valinor seems to support this. Its removal is not quite a discrete process, first becoming less and less clearly visible from Númenór before its final excision. Tolkien here piles myths atop myths :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>For Ilúvatar cast back the Great Seas west of Middle-earth, and the Empty Lands east of it, and new lands and new seas were made; and the world was diminished, for Valinor and Eressëa were taken from it into the realm of hidden things.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Although I've seen the word "diminished" taken literally to mean the <a href="https://www.quora.com/In-Middle-Earth-what-were-the-lands-to-the-South-and-East-of-Gondor-like-How-big-was-the-world-compared-to-where-the-events-of-LOTR-took-place/answer/Hil%C3%A1rio-Alencar?ch=10&oid=352359419&share=0d67af1e&srid=dwERW&target_type=answer">world becoming smaller</a>, clearly this also means that Arda is reduced in quality, deprived of Valinor as if one lost something precious. Yet while the physical connection from Middle Earth to Valinor is severed, the path between the two is not wholly lost :</p><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Thus in after days, what by the voyages of ships, what by lore and starcraft, the kings of Men knew that the world was indeed made round, and yet the Eldar were permitted still to depart and to come to the Ancient West and to Avallónë, if they would. Therefore the loremasters of Men said that a Straight Road must still be, for those that were permitted to find it.</blockquote><p>I imagine such a voyage looking very much as depicted in Amazon's <i>The Rings of Power</i> : an ordinary sailing ship approaching some formless light. Travellers would not experience the sea changing beneath them until, perhaps, they ascended to Valinor itself. The notion of a Straight Road, which Fonstad draws as a simple arrow, is not to be taken as some sort of interstellar aqueduct, not a Rainbow Bridge as in the Thor movies.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0sr5smt0N7ckQp_jNOKCoIFsnEhvvielbDrKy6-Hf1C6HQJxXcTxwLVLuC0cJDcupbpjRJ7iBgLSJ6vnfsH16Y12USjX4zkUMf1nRjXioARPxPrlSafOeb0bI13wJalv1Y9vyoWTCoZL7yIYZL9J3iPqUqn-3CUg5vq1l0rtcJjV50pxc88u0IQe/s1600/Rainbow%20bridge.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic0sr5smt0N7ckQp_jNOKCoIFsnEhvvielbDrKy6-Hf1C6HQJxXcTxwLVLuC0cJDcupbpjRJ7iBgLSJ6vnfsH16Y12USjX4zkUMf1nRjXioARPxPrlSafOeb0bI13wJalv1Y9vyoWTCoZL7yIYZL9J3iPqUqn-3CUg5vq1l0rtcJjV50pxc88u0IQe/w640-h318/Rainbow%20bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It very specifically does not look like this.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Tolkien's own description I take as firmly as metaphorical :</p><p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>And they taught that, while the new world fell away, the old road and the path of the memory of the West still went on, as it were a mighty bridge invisible that passed through the air of breath and of flight (which were bent now as the world was bent), and traversed Ilmen which flesh unaided cannot endure, until it came to Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, and maybe even beyond, to Valinor, where the Valar still dwell and watch the unfolding of the story of the world.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>I don't think distant observers would see the ship being drawn up into heaven nor there being some physical channel of water through which it would go. At some point the ship would no longer be visible, but what they'd see is probably best left to ambiguity. Often in <i>The Silmarillion</i> and elsewhere, Tolkien himself appears to be uncertain, or wishes the reader to be uncertain, because once again, a tale can't have a legendary quality if it's known with total clarity. And so it is with later voyages to Valinor long after its removal :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>And tales and rumours arose along the shores of the sea concerning mariners and men forlorn upon the water who, by some fate or grace or favour of the Valar, had entered in upon the Straight Way and seen the face of the world sink below them, and so had come to the lamplit quays of Avallónë, or verily to the last beaches on the margin of Aman, and there had looked upon the White Mountain, dreadful and beautiful, before they died.</i></blockquote><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>And Time : The Sun and Moon</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLWtphR1RhSLKv05bgtdag6erQ0-Ez4Fk1UIxRQRRRW3AAWnrq5GJrzX99IqE-YMdfbcmdgSoGZ9UJ_D_hLTVm_DbpYrzqsfWRGPU4ai51ubEo08Gy7EVJVXP5RZjlm3ItmbE0peSDqDBPSEc1HH-tW-YYDfmdaRLB9kF6rXkbeJu3BONAYy0A3hP/s1111/Tilion.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="1111" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLWtphR1RhSLKv05bgtdag6erQ0-Ez4Fk1UIxRQRRRW3AAWnrq5GJrzX99IqE-YMdfbcmdgSoGZ9UJ_D_hLTVm_DbpYrzqsfWRGPU4ai51ubEo08Gy7EVJVXP5RZjlm3ItmbE0peSDqDBPSEc1HH-tW-YYDfmdaRLB9kF6rXkbeJu3BONAYy0A3hP/w640-h414/Tilion.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tilion and Arien, respectively guardians of the Moon and Sun, as depicted on <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/ithilnor/art/Tilion-Arien-799056188">DeviantArt</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The loss of Valinor again shows the world becoming less mythological and ever-more materialistic. The Straight Road persists until at least the Third Age, but as it is not a physical "Road", perhaps its existence continues indefinitely. With the mention of "Avalon" and Tolkien saying that Númenór becomes known in later days as Atlantis, both being myths recorded in actual history, it seems that Tolkien clearly sets his vision in reality. <i>The Atlas</i> quotes him from an interview :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"If you really want to know what Middle Earth is based on, it's my wonder and delight in the Earth as it is, particularly the natural earth."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>And in Appendix D of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> he is even more direct :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>The year no doubt was of the same length, for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>So while I've also heard it said that Tolkien later decided Middle Earth was not to be a mythology of Europe, as is popularly supposed, I tend to discount this. Of course he doesn't mean to suggest these events actually happened (!), but the fiction is clearly set within our world. Whether this means we can really call it high fantasy or not I leave to extreme pedants - go on, knock yourselves out.</p><p>But how remote, how long ago exactly ? This is left unsaid. Thousands of years at least, tens or hundreds of thousands quite possibly, millions at the outset, but surely not more than a few million. It may be interesting to put Tolkien's publications in the context of the <a href="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/geohist.html">changing scientific estimates</a> of the age of the Earth, from tens of millions of years at the beginning of the twentieth century to the modern value of 4.5 billion years by the time of the publication of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. How widespread these findings were in the general public, and whether or not Tolkien himself knew or cared, I don't know.</p><p>Fortunately Tolkienian cosmology is explicitly mythological and not intended as a literal description as with full-blown Creationism. In <i>The Silmarillion,</i> the Sun and Moon are created from the last blooms of the Two Trees :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>The flower and the fruit Yavanna gave to Aulë, and Manwë hallowed them, and Aulë and his people made vessels to hold them and preserve their radiance: as is said in the Narsilion, the Song of the Sun and Moon. These vessels the Valar gave to Varda, that they might become lamps of heaven, outshining the ancient stars, being nearer to Arda; and she gave them power to traverse the lower regions of Ilmen, and set them to voyage upon appointed courses above the girdle of the Earth from the West unto the East and to return.</i></p><p><i>Isil the Sheen the Vanyar of old named the Moon, flower of Telperion in Valinor; and Anar the Fire-golden, fruit of Laurelin, they named the Sun. But the Noldor named them also Rána, the Wayward, and Vása, the Heart of Fire, that awakens and consumes; for the Sun was set as a sign for the awakening of Men and the waning of the Elves, but the Moon cherishes their memory.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>These two "lamps of heaven" are attended on their "islands" by two sapient beings. As with other lights they fill Morgoth with fear, who assaults them but their blinding majesty is too powerful. Essentially in order to prevent the possibility of an intrasolar traffic-jam, they coordinate their movements together so that Middle Earth experiences the full range of conditions from true darkness to twilight to full daylight. Likewise their movements about the sky have both explicit purpose and intentional design. This is high myth. Furthermore, they provide evidence that even when Arda was "flat", we should not take this too literally, or at the least it isn't a thin disc :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Tilion tarried seldom in Valinor, but more often would pass swiftly over the western land, over Avathar, or Araman, or Valinor, and plunge in the chasm beyond the Outer Sea, pursuing his way alone amid the grots and caverns at the roots of Arda. There he would often wander long, and late would return.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Which continues to suggest something more symbolic to the whole structure of Eä than the literal flying turtles and elephants of the Discworld. For one thing a "chasm" beyond the sea doesn't make much sense. For another, how deep to the "grots and caverns at the roots" go ? As with sailing off into the sea, it seems unlikely to have a distinct edge. There exists in Eä a flat land of Arda which is normal and comprehensible, but it's set within a realm not based on <i>any </i>physics, or even geometry.</p><p>What does all this have to do with time ? Well, the lights of the Sun and Moon are obviously used for marking time, but they recall the earlier era of the Two Trees :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Each day of the Valar in Aman contained twelve hours, and ended with the second mingling of the lights, in which Laurelin was waning but Telperion was waxing. But the light that was spilled from the trees endured long, ere it was taken up into the airs or sank down into the earth; and the dews of Telperion and the rain that fell from Laurelin Varda hoarded in great vats like shining lakes, that were to all the land of the Valar as wells of water and of light. Thus began the Days of the Bliss of Valinor; and thus began also the Count of Time.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Time itself begins with the Trees and their waxing and waning. Or so it seems, because here things are bordering on incomprehensible, I think intentionally so. Battles have already been lost and won before the Trees, change is a part of Arda from its inception. How does this proceed without Time ?</p><p>Answer : it just does.</p><p>Tolkien does not attempt to answer this directly, as Pratchett does in Discworld : Death's domain is one in which there is no time, but some sort of "duration" that allows characters to move around, think, sleep, fry puddings and so on all without aging in the real world. Tolkien instead completely avoids the issue. Much is left unsaid of the creation of the world :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>So began their great labours in wastes unmeasured and unexplored, and in ages uncounted and forgotten, until in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the vast halls of Eä there came to be that hour and that place where was made the habitation of the Children of Ilúvatar.</i></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Innumerable Stars</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpLpKRJpvTils_HQzROPF_mWi1vZthqKk4YS006npgQ9k76gQk4JGBWf4njIsf1qbJ2hJoAWCbEgX6-UCe9eMUq4XzUmom5HZjC6oeKHUZU19Jm0_75Kn3HoarpTXVuGeLYnjMqyCb8p4CRT0xWLbg5ryJdlGYXYx-jcAKN87gG43HSjGs48FYkB1/s2208/Varda.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1555" data-original-width="2208" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpLpKRJpvTils_HQzROPF_mWi1vZthqKk4YS006npgQ9k76gQk4JGBWf4njIsf1qbJ2hJoAWCbEgX6-UCe9eMUq4XzUmom5HZjC6oeKHUZU19Jm0_75Kn3HoarpTXVuGeLYnjMqyCb8p4CRT0xWLbg5ryJdlGYXYx-jcAKN87gG43HSjGs48FYkB1/w640-h450/Varda.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Varda">Varda, Queen of the Stars</a>, described as "beautiful" by Tolkien which this artist has rightfully taken to mean, "having prominent cleavage and being all sparkly".</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>The nature of the stars over Middle Earth is even more poorly described than that of the Sun and Moon. At least we know <i>those </i>are lights guided by Valar aboard celestial vessels, and if their physics is non-existent, it is at least quite openly so. They are symbolic and mythological, with only the merest semblance of reality about then.</div><div><br /></div><div>As to the stars, their symbolism is often clear but their physical nature is wholly undescribed. For an interesting and complementary essay on the astronomy of Middle Earth, <a href="https://physics.ccsu.edu/larsen/astronomy_of_middle.htm">see this</a> (if you've made it this far I can't imagine why you wouldn't) piece by astronomy professor Kristine Larsen*. But while it may be possible to identify specific constellations in Tolkien with actual stars in the sky, and possibly planets, nothing whatever is said regarding what the stars themselves actually <i>are</i>. In the beginning :</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Note especially the many revisions described to Tolkien's texts and his unresolved inconsistencies, as well as the sheer pervasiveness of astronomical symbolism.</span></div><div><div><i><blockquote>And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars. <span style="color: #444444;">And this habitation might seem a little thing to those who consider only the majesty of the Ainur, and not their terrible sharpness;</span> <span style="color: #666666;">as who should take the whole field of Arda for the foundation of a pillar and so raise it until the cone of its summit were more bitter than a needle;</span> <span style="color: #999999;">or who consider only the immeasurable vastness of the World, which still the Ainur are shaping, and not the minute precision to which they shape all things therein. </span></blockquote><span style="color: #999999;"></span></i></div><p>I fade the colour of the text here because it seems to be the description gets vaguer and weirder as it goes on. If it even has a meaning at all, I have no idea what it is. I surmise that either old J. R. R. had been at some quite special pipe-weed a bit too much that evening, or we have more intentional ambiguities. Indeed <i>The Silmarillion</i> does not describe Varda's creation of the first stars except very briefly in later passing. But it does describe how she creates additional stars for the birth of the Elves :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Then Varda went forth from the council, and she looked out from the height of Taniquetil, and beheld the darkness of Middle-earth beneath the innumerable stars, faint and far. Then she began a great labour, greatest of all the works of the Valar since their coming into Arda. She took the silver dews from the vats of Telperion, and therewith she made new stars and brighter against the coming of the Firstborn. And high in the north as a challenge to Melkor she set the crown of seven mighty stars to swing, Valacirca, the Sickle of the Valar and sign of doom.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The Elves become known as the Children of the Stars.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>By the starlit mere of Cuiviénen, Water of Awakening, they rose from the sleep of Ilúvatar; and while they dwelt yet silent by Cuiviénen their eyes beheld first of all things the stars of heaven. Therefore they have ever loved the starlight, and have revered Varda Elentári above all the Valar.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The importance of the beauty of the stars, indestructible and incorruptible, remains a fixed constant right through to the final journey of the Hobbits into Mordor :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Far above the Ephel Du´ath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>So when Gandalf describes how the line of kings in Gondor failed :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>We should not take this as meaning that Gondor fell from grace because of a pathological obsession with astronomy ! Indeed, Larsen describes in <i>Unfinished Tales</i> that there was at least one "good and wise" Númenórean king who was a competent astronomer. Given also the importance of starlight to the Elves, of moonlight to revealing dwarven letters, it would seem that "questions of the stars" only means "unanswerable and useless". <i>Definitely </i>not literally astronomy, then*. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I know what you're thinking, and you can shut your ugly mouth.</span></p><p>Instead, the beauty of the stars is amongst the purest form of all in Tolkien's mythology. The "sickle" stars, presumably the Plough, prophesy Morgoth's ultimate downfall, but one particular "star" deserves special mention.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Evening Star</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NyC_sVXg9O8QBfONmKOwOteLQK-1-3iDYz4Uln1aLBeMSIIVO_lPX9g2LPmMloEhKJQaZxEn0Ba_17SJ-AvjNUEHEuG0h5fhCTEXyu4WnBowBgT4xTbl2BWO65JRgSX8jBScFKCRkOB53IPdMmdBrMjEIRIrM5ECToae92U8tNsh4vzAo3Dy-BD_/s1433/Phial%20of%20Galadriel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="1433" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NyC_sVXg9O8QBfONmKOwOteLQK-1-3iDYz4Uln1aLBeMSIIVO_lPX9g2LPmMloEhKJQaZxEn0Ba_17SJ-AvjNUEHEuG0h5fhCTEXyu4WnBowBgT4xTbl2BWO65JRgSX8jBScFKCRkOB53IPdMmdBrMjEIRIrM5ECToae92U8tNsh4vzAo3Dy-BD_/w640-h270/Phial%20of%20Galadriel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />When Morgoth has seemingly overrun all of Middle Earth, Eärendil, a mortal man, sails west with a Silmaril in a desperate attempt to seek the help of the Valar. And they answer him, which surprises Morgoth, who assumes he's already won :<p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>For to him that is pitiless the deeds of pity are ever strange and beyond reckoning.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>All the same, the divine nature of the Valar remains inscrutable. Yet in this instance they answer Eärendil's prayers and then some, sending forth in the War of Wrath the greatest host ever assembled that obliterates Morgoth and (nearly) all his servants. But Eärendil has ventured into a realm that is forbidden to mortals. Recognising that without their assistance all is lost, yet beholden to the doom of men, the Valar... compromise. Eärendil and his wife are granted a choice, to become immortal Elves or remain as mortals. They choose the former.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>But they took Vingilot, and hallowed it, and bore it away through Valinor to the uttermost rim of the world; and there it passed through the Door of Night and was lifted up even into the oceans of heaven. Now fair and marvellous was that vessel made, and it was filled with a wavering flame, pure and bright; and Eärendil the Mariner sat at the helm, glistening with dust of elven-gems, and the Silmaril was bound upon his brow. Far he journeyed in that ship, even into the starless voids; but most often was he seen at morning or at evening, glimmering in sunrise or sunset, as he came back to Valinor from voyages beyond the confines of the world.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>This is pretty obviously Venus. But whereas in Greco-Roman mythology Venus is a sexy oyster, Tolkien has something altogether more dramatic in mind. While "beauty" has strongly feminine connotations, this is not always the case. For the goodness of his deeds and his self-sacrifice, Eärendil too has this sort of true beauty which acts almost like a living force.</p><p>Or in other words, Tolkien has him fight a mountain-sized dragon.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKxkb7LBOuUgzUVQu9N-kaaUXcYA54WFrNDwknXE58NSmR6TzGAkZGzOzQZTdBytt8B1A7-YchpWMCca6E--wqUey5ZXzIXnsQw3Ya17Who4su0eOIMd6JCknyZAfcj7PPs0oFk-OTI0N-lNQcjwl5FFVtGp6wg7ElTv419_HsoKBLFi4iU7JX8ws/s1400/Earendil.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1400" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKxkb7LBOuUgzUVQu9N-kaaUXcYA54WFrNDwknXE58NSmR6TzGAkZGzOzQZTdBytt8B1A7-YchpWMCca6E--wqUey5ZXzIXnsQw3Ya17Who4su0eOIMd6JCknyZAfcj7PPs0oFk-OTI0N-lNQcjwl5FFVtGp6wg7ElTv419_HsoKBLFi4iU7JX8ws/w640-h372/Earendil.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some fan art, like <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/castaguer93">this one</a>, is a lot better than others.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>So sudden and ruinous was the onset of that dreadful fleet that the host of the Valar was driven back, for the coming of the dragons was with great thunder, and lightning, and a tempest of fire. But Eärendil came, shining with white flame, and about Vingilot were gathered all the great birds of heaven and Thorondor was their captain, and there was battle in the air all the day and through a dark night of doubt. Before the rising of the sun Eärendil slew Ancalagon the Black, the mightiest of the dragonhost, and cast him from the sky; and he fell upon the towers of Thangorodrim, and they were broken in his ruin.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>There is simply no way to resolve this with what we know of Venus. According to Larsen's essay, Tolkien was careful to pay attention to such details as getting the correct phase of the Moon when referring to characters who are well-separated but with events happening at the same time. Yet just as the actual Moon is only a lump of rock, Venus is the closest place to hell that we've ever discovered. Sometimes Tolkien was wont to get petty, irrelevant details right, and sometimes happy to throw them all to the wind and write something based purely on emotion. The lights of the Moon and Venus <i>feel </i>like something pure and beautiful so Tolkien grants them corresponding roles, shaping their characters accordingly.</p><p>If Eärendil and his Silmaril are so potent as to become a star in the sky, something of this is captured by the Elves in the Phial of Galadriel. Though it isn't mentioned much, the Phial has the power to counter even the corruption of the One Ring :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Cold and hard it seemed as his grip closed on it: the phial of Galadriel, so long treasured, and almost forgotten till that hour. As he touched it, for a while all thought of the Ring was banished from his mind.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Later of course its power against Shelob is revealed more directly :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>For a moment it glimmered, faint as a rising star struggling in heavy earthward mists, and then as its power waxed, and hope grew in Frodo’s mind, it began to burn, and kindled to a silver flame, a minute heart of dazzling light, as though Eärendil had himself come down from the high sunset paths with the last Silmaril upon his brow. The darkness receded from it, until it seemed to shine in the centre of a globe of airy crystal, and the hand that held it sparkled with white fire.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The effect of the Phial upon Shelob is very much like that of a cross to a vampire, warding off evil rather than actively injuring it. The Phial is of course only the faintest echo of a Silmaril, whose power was incomparably greater. Nevertheless, the power of the stars is as elsewhere in Tolkien the power of light against the dark. Evil flourishes in the darkness and is diminished by light and truth. While Eärendil with a full Silmaril can fight a vast and terrible dragon, Frodo's fight with a Shelob draws on the same principles : light against the dark, goodness against malevolence, the power of a star in miniature rendered against the horror of a creature from the darkest void. Tolkien sets the power of mythical, cosmological-scale symbolism into ordinary sized, seemingly everyday objects.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Void : Ungoliant and Melkor</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0B9WCEobYwAkous9rdnAsE3oBx1B6GM0eGL45-xMEuqCZKTdAG50tscGWKwax6iFo4YWqmsbVb0Uvc1fXX2WoVwcgYyZ2GhEryQDQyplo3iKMDyOpTS2TCjky_PzPqPUxI_W5iMOYpxg3Dzk1gVSMoMrOJnLRZucf_v8IJkFvMCXuYsZau7Fll97/s1920/Ungoliant%20and%20Morgoth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="1920" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi0B9WCEobYwAkous9rdnAsE3oBx1B6GM0eGL45-xMEuqCZKTdAG50tscGWKwax6iFo4YWqmsbVb0Uvc1fXX2WoVwcgYyZ2GhEryQDQyplo3iKMDyOpTS2TCjky_PzPqPUxI_W5iMOYpxg3Dzk1gVSMoMrOJnLRZucf_v8IJkFvMCXuYsZau7Fll97/w640-h272/Ungoliant%20and%20Morgoth.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Of all the realms that can be described as in any sense "physical", the Void would seem to be much the largest. Beyond the Door of Night, beyond the Encircling Seas, lies the uttermost outer darkness. As a space it is little described. Arda is "sustained therein, but was not of it" which I take to mean something like how the world is suspended in (but not created from) space. It could also perhaps mean the Void has a wholly different nature to Arda, not just in its substance but in its emotional quality. </p><p>There is little information to draw on. References to the Void are few – all I can offer is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhfqdBk8qxk&ab_channel=SabineHossenfelder">bad joke</a> by Sabine Hossenfenlder, who notes that time is money, and money is the root of all evil. So I suppose the Void, being the abode of evil, must be subject to time at least... ahem. </p><p>Anyway, what few references to the Void are given are almost entirely related to demonic beings of terrible power. Of those, the uber-spider Ungoliant makes Shelob look like the sort of minor pest that even the most arachnophobic could safely escort outside in a jam jar. Her origin is kept mysterious but strongly hinted at :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Beneath the sheer walls of the mountains and the cold dark sea, the shadows were deepest and thickest in the world; and there in Avathar, secret and unknown, Ungoliant had made her abode. The Eldar knew not whence she came; but some have said that in ages long before she descended from the darkness that lies about Arda, when Melkor first looked down in envy upon the Kingdom of Manwë, and that in the beginning she was one of those that he corrupted to his service.</i></blockquote><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex2ws_b9PQ4yFOWrlhvGFgeqefav_ZOUkU6wJVitEUM_Q8M-_W6z9Jr4YYWx6gBznfvHgokr9Zh_RIyfZ9-nDv4oFs6CqwZCjGDs_OWhheDY_wKTkYstXdHD2MDgc8cUBcTC-LngZN2Rpf9h0oi3RXWEMyxiRr3O1oPFuKnru0fz84jjBZ8nN_gCb/s3840/Ungoliant.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2018" data-original-width="3840" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex2ws_b9PQ4yFOWrlhvGFgeqefav_ZOUkU6wJVitEUM_Q8M-_W6z9Jr4YYWx6gBznfvHgokr9Zh_RIyfZ9-nDv4oFs6CqwZCjGDs_OWhheDY_wKTkYstXdHD2MDgc8cUBcTC-LngZN2Rpf9h0oi3RXWEMyxiRr3O1oPFuKnru0fz84jjBZ8nN_gCb/w640-h336/Ungoliant.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/bostonflows/art/Ungoliant-882547402">Artwork by "bostonflows"</a> from DeviantArt.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>This mysterious origin makes Ungoliant is one of the most intriguing creatures of all. Does she exist prior to Middle Earth or even Arda itself ? If so, why does Ilúvatar create her ? Or is his power and domain not actually limitless ? Does Melkor actually create her in some way ? Again, there are no more than the most tentative of hints :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he found not the Fire, for it is with Ilúvatar.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Which seems to mean that the "imperishable flame" (the Secret Fire that Gandalf refers to in his fight with the Balrog) is the soul, the mind, which only Eru can bestow. Melkor would clearly like to create entities all of his own, but is only ever able to corrupt and never to create. That said, some sort of creatures may have existed in the Void through the Song (coming up next), so she may have been originally good or at least neutral. In that case the Void itself would not be evil. There is nothing <i>intrinsically</i> bad about darkness, after all, the elves love the stars and these cannot be seen in the bright light of day. But darkness quickly becomes the domain of all evil things.</p><p>Even so, in contradiction to the weight of evidence that it's mind and intention that shape their surroundings in Arda, on these larger scales things might just be different. As Melkor slips from mere discontent to outright evil, he is described as "grown dark as the Night of the Void". Ungoliant spins webs of darkness and an "Unlight", which is not merely darkness as the absence of light, but darkness as a thing in itself. Perhaps this sort of true darkness is analogous to the "true beauty" possessed by some of the Elves, a thing which is itself a force itself in the world, or at least flows forth from creatures pure in heart – or in this case purely evil at heart. But even so, this sort of darkness still doesn't seem to make people evil : it remains the case that the truly evil can make the darkness rather than the other way around.</p><p>Ungoliant presents other, more pragmatic challenges. While Morgoth is the source of ultimate malice, Ungoliant at one point outgrows her master's strength and power. Given Morgoth's nature as one of the Ainur, second only to Eru (God) himself, this seems an impossibility. What apparently happens (according to Google) is that Morgoth over-exerts himself on his mission to destroy the Trees, while Ungoliant gains the power of the Silmarils. So this state of affairs is likely temporary, and Ungoliant's demise is not described. She appears to succumb to entirely natural causes, Tolkien blending myth and materialism once again : Melkor diminishing to Morgoth, Ungoliant to an otherworldly but mortal spider lurking in the Valley of Dreadful Death. Even the most formidable darkness cannot endure forever.</p><p>Morgoth himself is eventually cast out :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Morgoth himself the Valar thrust through the Door of Night beyond the Walls of the World, into the Timeless Void; and a guard is set for ever on those walls, and Eärendil keeps watch upon the ramparts of the sky. Yet the lies that Melkor, the mighty and accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Just as Tolkien has aspects of totally evil and totally good, but more often things are far less clear, so it is here with the fundamental nature of the creatures themselves. Ungoliant seems to have arisen in the void but, though at one point surpassing her master in strength, eventually dies in mortality. Morgoth, though he gradually diminishes from an elemental force to a "dark Lord, tall and terrible" who can even be injured by ordinary blades, never wholly loses his Secret Fire. He remains at his core a supernatural Valar. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq21fnY6-T_0BN17xxeZMuHdFQHx-Z9xrCs5FTcz6GcBIGWNG-ROKf3kqlIGtW7zIxjKBx0v7kuId4g-65xr4f7A7UPsYcQvaG55NUxupRdmo5JeQ6-k8pa_pBVb3farbLEJUZ9uyThIFoAQNvbtUFn4Kr3XvuYpM7bY-zNGNjKsJtkLRZ900AAqy3/s602/Morgoth%20as%20Valar.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="602" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq21fnY6-T_0BN17xxeZMuHdFQHx-Z9xrCs5FTcz6GcBIGWNG-ROKf3kqlIGtW7zIxjKBx0v7kuId4g-65xr4f7A7UPsYcQvaG55NUxupRdmo5JeQ6-k8pa_pBVb3farbLEJUZ9uyThIFoAQNvbtUFn4Kr3XvuYpM7bY-zNGNjKsJtkLRZ900AAqy3/w640-h380/Morgoth%20as%20Valar.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Melkor in his elemental Valar form.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Curiously, Melkor's evolution appears to be circular. He begins as an elemental, primordial symbol of hate, fear, evil and lies, then degrades into Morgoth, a powerful yet very physical being, a Dark Lord atop a Dark Throne. At the end, his defeat transforms him back into something more closely resembling his earlier incarnation. While the ending of the <i>Quenta Silmarillion</i> (above quote) could be read to mean only that Morgoth's lies persist his own demise, later in <i>The Silmarillion </i>it appears quite clear that Morgoth's will can still directly influence the minds residing in Middle Earth :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Thus it was that a shadow fell upon them: in which maybe the will of Morgoth was at work that still moved in the world. And the Númenóreans began to murmur, at first in their hearts, and then in open words, against the doom of Men, and most of all against the Ban which forbade them to sail into the West.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>So the fulfilment of the myth may result in Morgoth as being potentially the source of all evil. Prior to his defeat there are numerous other cases of villainy which appears to have little enough to do with him, Elven "pride" (read : obstinate, bloody-minded, pig-headed self-righteous stubornness and stupidity) being a <a href="https://qr.ae/pvcAGI">frequent source</a> of disarray and degeneration. What happens afterwards is harder to say, with Sauron still at large until the end of the Third Age, and exactly how Morogth's will is able to transcend the Void, and to what degree, is not stated. But certainly there is a very clear implication here that the whole tale is ultimately an explanation, or at least a metaphor, for why evil exists in the world.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>In The Beginning Was The Song</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXVZUn2H4nddLWI3SB0k_X8CMYcCUfHAg065VuC_lv30IcFVvLDEXlGVduJyoiegg__OwsgPvif0SSAIj2G4OVgQi5C0KaqjQMW6NlrPJyoDQjtt_80ySnuT_rNkuPjqHvhqpYleI3jKABgVaGpVX92A2TzP7ViT7LBPjm7Bgp4Tyzqh7QAdwxYza/s1664/Song%20of%20the%20Ainur.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1664" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXVZUn2H4nddLWI3SB0k_X8CMYcCUfHAg065VuC_lv30IcFVvLDEXlGVduJyoiegg__OwsgPvif0SSAIj2G4OVgQi5C0KaqjQMW6NlrPJyoDQjtt_80ySnuT_rNkuPjqHvhqpYleI3jKABgVaGpVX92A2TzP7ViT7LBPjm7Bgp4Tyzqh7QAdwxYza/w640-h360/Song%20of%20the%20Ainur.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">AI-generated art, from <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/comments/wk5q58/eru_iluvatar_and_the_music_of_the_ainur_according/">here</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We've seen already how songs and spells can shape the reality of Middle Earth : changing the seasons, overthrowing fortresses, bending the laws of chance, and contesting with the Dark Powers. In this final section we can see how such incantations can have much larger effects, back to the moment of Creation itself.</p><p>So at last we now turn to the final and most important example : the Song of Ilúvatar. Here at last is the answer to so many riddles, so many apparent contradictions. Tolkien, to his credit, did try to keep things self-consistent where necessary. This is a powerful aid to believability. But there are some aspects of Middle Earth which <i>demand </i>inconsistency and the utmost incompatibility with observable reality. Songs don't <i>really </i>bring down walls or bring forth flowers; words don't <i>really </i>affect the laws of chance... and of course the hell-planet Venus cannot <i>really </i>be a divine mariner who once brought down the greatest dragon in history.</p><p>The last is important. How can Tolkien be claim to writing a history of the world, even a mythological one, if it has such blatant untruths ? Only in part can this be explained through the myth giving way to the material. All the modern mountain ranges being formed by natural processes is not incompatible with the now-vanished ones of the distant past being created by other means. The problem is that the Sun and the Moon still exist, as of course do the stars, and we <i>know </i>what they are : it is not that we just can't see the divine pilots guiding them through the heavens, it's that observations are completely incompatible with Tolkien's explanations.</p><p>Okay, fine, we could say, "it's a metaphor". But that is <b>super lame</b>. We can do much better than that.</p><p>The Song provides the answer. <i>The Silmarillion</i> begins with an extended singing sequence in which<i> </i>Ilúvatar creates the Ainur as parts of himself :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made... each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Initially he teaches them only music and song, and for a while they have a lovely time all singing nicely together. But then Melkor decides that he's had it with all this music "like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs" and decides he wants to play guitar instead. Or some such. Anyway, he decides to make his own disharmonious music "utterly at variance", which is "loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes."</p><p>So Ilúvatar responds with new and mightier music. Back and forth goes the cosmic jamming until at last Ilúvatar gets bored and tells them all to shut the hell up, bloody kids, I don't like music anyway...</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Then Ilúvatar spoke, and he said: ‘Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Ilúvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done... And he showed to them a vision, giving to them sight where before was only hearing; and they saw a new World made visible before them, and it was globed amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it. And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew. Ilúvatar said again: ‘Behold your Music! This is your minstrelsy; and each of you shall find contained herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself devised or added.</i><i>’</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Here is the crucial point. Arda is not made in response to the musical discord, it <i>is </i>the music from the very beginning. Eru and the Ainur (for that is their band name) made the world with song, but having only hearing, they know it only through sound. Everything that happens henceforth is only because the Ainur, who exist outside of time, are now bestowed with new senses with which to explore the fullness of their Creation.</p><p>The same is true of the Children of Ilúvatar. They are themselves part of the music. It is not that they have music or are moved by it, they <i>are </i>music.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>Then again Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold! a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity. </i></p><p><i>For the Children of Ilúvatar were conceived by him alone; and they came with the third theme, and were not in the theme which Ilúvatar propounded at the beginning, and none of the Ainur had part in their making.</i></p><p><i>But Melkor spoke to them in secret of Mortal Men, seeing how the silence of the Valar might be twisted to evil. Little he knew yet concerning Men, for engrossed with his own thought in the Music he had paid small heed to the Third Theme of Ilúvatar.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>Men, music, and ultimately the Ainur themselves – all are ultimately the thoughts of Ilúvatar. Likewise, when Aulë creates the dwarves, Ilúvatar chastises him :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>‘Why hast thou done this? Why dost thou attempt a thing which thou knowest is beyond thy power and thy authority? For thou hast from me as a gift thy own being only, and no more; and therefore the creatures of thy hand and mind can live only by that being, moving when thou thinkest to move them, and if thy thought be elsewhere, standing idle.’</i></blockquote><p></p><p>This is idealism, the notion that all of physical reality is ultimately part of the mind of God. This is a complex point which necessitates a short philosophical digression.</p><p>In materialism, which is the common assumption nowadays, we take it that we perceive reality directly. If we see and touch a <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/05/materialism-is-wrong-but-useful.html">chair</a>, we assume this tells us something about the base level of reality. But of course, observations can always be improved and extended. Materialism therefore has a problem not dissimilar to the "<a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-godless-gaps.html">god of the gaps</a>" argument, that in routinely filling in any and all unknowns with the label "god", certain sorts of theism are unconvincing because they're always shifting the goalposts. This is equally true for materialism : what's the base level ? Chairs ? Wood ? Molecules ? Atoms ? Electrons ? Strings ? Quantum foam ? </p><p>There's no easy answer. The original Greek notion of atoms as indivisible has long been refuted, and so far we have no evidence that anything truly indivisible and irreducible actually exists. This would make materialism <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/08/joseph-needham-full-mechanical-biologist.html">no better</a> than the sort of theism it claims to refute.</p><p><a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/11/it-might-be-angels-instead.html">Idealism</a> is an attempt to avoid this. It says that there <i>is </i>a base level of reality, however incomprehensible, and that it's God. The argument goes that explaining mind as the product of matter is nigh-on impossible, whereas it's obvious that we can all imagine matter at will. By extension, a sufficiently superior being could imagine an entire, self-consistent Universe.</p><p>This isn't the place to get into the merits of idealism, materialism, neutral monism and the like; <i><a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/">Decoherency</a> </i>is chock-full of such posts anyway. Rather the important point is that Tolkienian cosmology is clearly idealism. The Ainur are created as thoughts of Eru, who in turn have thoughts of their own. These are initially expressed as music and later revealed through the full suite of sensory apparatus. The dwarves may be moved directly by the will of Aulë, but this too is fundamentally a part of the mind of Eru.</p><p>The songs of Lúthien and the Oath of the Noldor link back to this cosmic-scale aspect of the process. They draw on the forces which shape reality itself, sometimes only in apparently small ways but nevertheless always part of this much greater whole. <i>That's </i>how the magic works, according to Tolkien. This is what's going on when Gandalf fights the Balrog : the very forces that shape the universe are condensed into one old man and a fiery monster. No wonder it's dramatic as hell. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YhW0IO6Gk2Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="YhW0IO6Gk2Y"></iframe></div><br />And that's how Eärendil can be both a hellish planet and a divine dragon-fighting mariner. His song has changed, but it remains the same song, unified in Eru. Music too is only analogy, something easier for the reader to grasp. We can readily understand how a musical piece can change yet have some core identity that remains the same, even if defining that identity is something far more challenging. So Tolkienian cosmology is a Grand Unified Theory of an altogether different sort than in modern physics, but it's of the same scale of thinking. In idealism, all religions and all fictions and all science alike can be true.<p></p><p>Of course, this raises once more that ugly question : why does an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God allow evil things to happen, especially to good people ? </p><p>Under idealism, one interpretation is that he doesn't. There is no external reality to God, it's all his thoughts : the protagonists may <i>seem </i>distinct from each other but this is, in essence, a problem of coordinate systems. Eru doesn't prevent the fall of Númenór any more than <i>we </i>might prevent ourselves imagining its fall : from Eru's perspective Númenór is no more an external "thing" than it is, literally, to ourselves. We <i>know </i>it has no physical manifestation, it's all just make-believe, so we freely imagine any catastrophe occurring, no matter how bleak it would be if that were real. </p><p>So it is to Eru. He has precisely no more reason to stop the ascendancy of Sauron than we do.</p><p>Another way to look at it would be that it's all just music. Why would Eru prevent himself from creating a bad tune ? The reality of a bad tune and the wrath of Morgoth are equally valid from his point of view. He experiences all of it in his fullness, he knows the suffering occurring because it's also intrinsic to him. It's not that he creates everything, it's that he <i>is </i>everything. And if he wants to undo everything, he can. It takes no effort on his part at all.</p><p>The difficulty with this would be that Eru ought to know that his "Children" think themselves distinct and experience suffering and woe in a way that he himself does not. From their perspective they experience things differently than Eru himself. So alas, idealism does not wholly rescue this dilemma, and we have to fall back on the earlier argument that some things are just beyond our comprehension. Perhaps, for the story at least, leaving some mystery is essential. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Afterword : Conclusions and Comparisons</u></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-V_2SFGznLbw1Pva9yekPkFzQERICFvKWRB5QQV9LzykmvvJMk3QGa_bjZV_ad3c3A-QXrDuqVv4Ce8DIMCHKHUZf37Gk77qBApAwDX1Mkoh4nY1JkvGYcQxpHK3Rgf14_Tj9I-AxXPKuiWfLdCnth9eiv9i2yCY9mxGgELMwO_HCQmaDn1elpZZ/s1774/Valinor%20formless.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1774" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-V_2SFGznLbw1Pva9yekPkFzQERICFvKWRB5QQV9LzykmvvJMk3QGa_bjZV_ad3c3A-QXrDuqVv4Ce8DIMCHKHUZf37Gk77qBApAwDX1Mkoh4nY1JkvGYcQxpHK3Rgf14_Tj9I-AxXPKuiWfLdCnth9eiv9i2yCY9mxGgELMwO_HCQmaDn1elpZZ/w640-h288/Valinor%20formless.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I rather like <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/crocorax/art/Somewhere-in-Valinor-808486720">this depiction</a> of Valinor as somewhere less structured, with only hints of ordinary objects here and there.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>Well, that was fun. But what have we learned ?</p><p>Tolkien's work is utterly drenched in metaphor. He gets almost irate in in denying that <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> is allegorical, probably because it isn't. The entire work itself is metaphorical, reaching much deeper themes than merely retelling World War II but with Bar-dur as Hitler's fortress and orcs as Nazi soldiers. Rather it's an attempt at examining the nature of good and evil themselves, and if there are similarities – even symbolic ones – with actual events, this should only be because good and evil have distinct, recognisable tendencies and follow common patterns. </p><p>Not that things in Middle Earth are as black and white as they're sometimes made out to be. Far from it.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace – all in a flash of thought which was quickly driven from his mind.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The tales aren't simple stories about some good people fighting some other, ugly-looking bad people. <i>No</i>. They're truly mythological in scope, pathetic fallacy applied to the grandest of scales, where mind and intent infuse the very substance of reality itself. From such petty details as the <a href="https://qr.ae/pvD2OG">composition and size of the Fellowship</a>* to the whole structure of the Universe, every aspect of Tolkien's creation is infused with this morality.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I like the answer in the above link quite a lot. Help shall come from the weak indeed, with the Fellowship <i>deliberately </i>not being a military strike force... it's half-composed of people too small to even wield a full-size sword for a very good reason, because the story is a morality tale, a myth, not a realistic fiction merely set in a magical world but one fundamentally governed by different principles.</span></p><p>Only in part can we say that the appeal is due to the simplicity of good versus evil. There <i>is </i>that aspect to Tolkien, there <i>are some </i>characters who are virtue and evil incarnate, and this definitely <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLNhPMQnWu4&ab_channel=eroosters">plays its part</a>. But there are also plenty of ambiguities, a richness of the spectrum filling everything in between the two extremes. Not every ill deed is evil, every dark thought the work of Melkor, nor is every good act rewarded or every injustice punished. Sometimes what seems like luck is really fate, but sometimes it's just pure happenstance. Being good or evil in Tolkien's world is not a guarantee or success or failure. True, evil ultimately fails. But along the way it has plenty of victories and countless innocents die in the process. <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> is a satisfying culmination of the tale but it is by no means representative of the whole history, much of which is altogether darker.</p><p>Tolkien goes much deeper than this popular but simplistic black-and-white depiction, examining the nature of good and evil and giving them physical embodiment. He casts his characters on a stage far bigger than themselves, giving them emotive effects on their surroundings, powers which affect reality in a way that reflect our own direct feelings of what it's like to <i>experience </i>emotions.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Discworld</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4HqfE1vpVHoh7LXnCHfNwGP6s3OplbnK6M0PE-TMMvL2D8uaVeX9E0yZmCH44W3w_jFGQqoWtUz6wdemdUtUtqNdRdAtDvvbOzisVRhadCN18HOP90ygQZo_ezO6fo-i8uv6ka4Sq5EkGTUepkj5nBaEL09dItLoxlzkNQoTjG3FUCrWdvHY9gTO/s1200/Discworld.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1200" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4HqfE1vpVHoh7LXnCHfNwGP6s3OplbnK6M0PE-TMMvL2D8uaVeX9E0yZmCH44W3w_jFGQqoWtUz6wdemdUtUtqNdRdAtDvvbOzisVRhadCN18HOP90ygQZo_ezO6fo-i8uv6ka4Sq5EkGTUepkj5nBaEL09dItLoxlzkNQoTjG3FUCrWdvHY9gTO/w640-h362/Discworld.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Years ago I wrote a piece about the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-absurdly-anthropic.html">anthropic principle</a> based on part of <i>The Science of Discworld</i>. Pratchett and his co-authors did an outstanding job of describing why this is not the slightest bit mysterious. And in the Discworld series, Pratchett has his characters as largely a product of their environment, the very essence of understanding the anthropic principle : we are the way we are because the Universe is the way it is. There's no mystery in that it seems fine-tuned to allow us to exist, and indeed if that were the case we ought to expect a massively larger fraction of the Universe to be habitable, rather than being confined to the most miniscule slice of warm damp air on a tiny nondescript little rock.</p><p>I suggest here that Tolkien, as a Catholic, does the exact opposite to Pratchett. He has characters shape the world around them by virtue of their morality : goodness begets beauty (not the other way around), evil causes corruption, decay and loathsomeness. For Pratchett, mind is just something that happens to matter in certain configurations under certain conditions. For Tolkien, mind is the essence of the universe, and sufficiently powerful minds can access deeper layers of reality and gain direct control over it. And this is even true of their respective cosmologies. As such, the Discworld is a small mote of magic in an otherwise familiar universe of stars and galaxies, whereas for Tolkien, Arda is a kernel of normality in a universe based more on morality than on physics.</p><p>Tolkien's idealism may reconcile how his stories can be at times self-contradictory without needing to say that he made a simple error, but it does not solve every moral conundrum. Some level of ambiguity is essential for myth-making, but some questions are beyond human understanding. But he does present some moral teachings : the importance of helping the weak, the need to do the right thing no matter the risk and no matter the cost, the solace in the certainty of change, the need for mercy, pity, and compassion – things which are incomprehensibly alien to the evil. </p><p>And above all, the importance of lies. Morgoth wins battles only rarely, if ever, through sheer military might. Yes, the size of his armies and the physical strength of his soldiers does matter, but far more important is treachery. Morgoth's greatest strength by far, the weapon he invariable reaches for ahead of all others, is deceit. In battle after battle, Tolkien gives Morgoth, the ultimate source of evil, the victory only because he sows discord among his foes, corrupting some critical element to his cause at an opportune moment. Frank Herbert probably said it most concisely but this is surely something Tolkien endorsed :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Which is delightfully ironic when set in a world that is explicitly one of pure fiction and make-believe.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Westeros</i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWUrYHrmBPUmvqJEx6nZaIEMMbN7CxUorhrwn1bC2Tw4fS6joWzwdaWuClsBd4rvXScfLJzxObp9koC_Ebrsg7ORTSoL8Y-Hym8AxRJwr4ogbVcvaHQxO3qkxoM-zza9tHo_E6WiVJ8iobJMPOUgh1atuXM6KGUO0JVWyFsnXAKylxqoQ6H0xVXfV/s1920/Game%20of%20Thrones%20cast.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWUrYHrmBPUmvqJEx6nZaIEMMbN7CxUorhrwn1bC2Tw4fS6joWzwdaWuClsBd4rvXScfLJzxObp9koC_Ebrsg7ORTSoL8Y-Hym8AxRJwr4ogbVcvaHQxO3qkxoM-zza9tHo_E6WiVJ8iobJMPOUgh1atuXM6KGUO0JVWyFsnXAKylxqoQ6H0xVXfV/w640-h360/Game%20of%20Thrones%20cast.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">These <i>people </i>are what the story is about. You could transpose them into a realistic depiction of ancient Britain and only make minor changes to the plot to have all the key events still occurring without any magic or dragons.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>As to <i>Game of Thrones</i>, nothing in the cosmology therein approaches the careful construction of Tolkien; so far as I can tell, it's just a bunch of cynical people who ride dragons and fuck each other repeatedly*. There's not much in the way of symbolism or deeper moral tales about the nature of good and evil, though there's plenty about the human condition.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Though not, sadly, at the same time.</span></p><p></p><p>For this reason I'm of the opinion (rare on the internet !) that the ending to <i>Thrones </i>was <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2019/05/an-obligatory-rant-about-game-of.html">absolutely fine</a>. I realised recently that some people disagree not so much because they thought the ending was bad as because they thought the beginning was far superior to what it was, much as people dislike the <i>Matrix </i>sequels. "It was so deep !" they say, and I'm left thinking, "huh ?", because it wasn't. I mean, yeah, there are some hints of some deeper thoughts, what with the White Walkers and the coming of night, or the nature of reality if you jack yourself in, but honestly, they aren't much developed. </p><p>Which is why I wasn't at all surprised or disappointed by the franchises developing the way they did, because that's always how they were going to go. Sure, they've a smattering of insight, sometimes very interestingly so. But ultimately, <i>Thrones </i>especially, they're not about cosmology. It just doesn't matter to the story at all, which in Westeros is all about the people. For George R. R. Martin the background is only ever scenery; for Tolkien, it's every bit as essential as the characters themselves, a living, vital part of the story. </p><p>Don't misunderstand me here. When I say that <i>Thrones </i>is all about cynical people fucking, I also mean that it's masterpiece of that genre. Within its own framework, it's <i>incredibly </i>well-constructed. It's a complex tale with characters you genuinely hate to love (because they die horribly) and love to hate (because they're cunts). I will give Martin 10/10 on that score, and by no means do I underestimate the difficulty of this achievement. It's a genuinely magnificent mixture of genres, but a myth it ain't.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The greatness of true myth</i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvkt19k14J8VslIV9YkmidJuJh01g8FHtL8qRvw9U1WLv1yZfNIB8wgkuJ4Zew3Z1gwboWUUVdKSztFUHFYAs2PUEwpj5ubL6Pac84bD3VsfG2RAzPbZ-M3cx9hKAId---VHyroK5f1qR54eg3n7fMQwPobu_UqFgKzowLpXYtrGQaotGlCkaQ3iL/s1600/CMB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvkt19k14J8VslIV9YkmidJuJh01g8FHtL8qRvw9U1WLv1yZfNIB8wgkuJ4Zew3Z1gwboWUUVdKSztFUHFYAs2PUEwpj5ubL6Pac84bD3VsfG2RAzPbZ-M3cx9hKAId---VHyroK5f1qR54eg3n7fMQwPobu_UqFgKzowLpXYtrGQaotGlCkaQ3iL/w640-h320/CMB.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The cosmic microwave background, a.k.a. the afterglow of Creation. Science wouldn't be science if it didn't try and explain things like this, and in a curiously similar way, the cosmology of Tolkien is more important to the story than the realism of his characters.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>In the end, Westeros is fiction, not myth. Tolkien reaches higher. Myth provides not just mere <i>description </i>but also <i>explanation</i>, couched in symbolism and ambiguity. Tolkien's application of pathetic fallacy to the cosmological scales certainly achieves this, and that's a far, far more precious accomplishment than anything as mundane as "realism". His characters are complex in their own ways and for their own reasons, but precisely because of the mythological intentions, they are <i>and should not be</i> as realistic as those of of other, more grounded works.</p><p>I have tried to present things here roughly backwards to the order Tolkien gives them in. He tells a story of a world crystallising from song to substance, from mythic to material. On a first reading, the early parts especially are hard to fathom. By telling the tale backwards I have tried to resolve some of the grosser ambiguities, to show the "bones of the world" that Tolkien – according to <i>The Atlas</i> – asked us not to see. And so we shouldn't, if we want to preserve the mystery that is so essential for a good myth. But sometimes, the temptation to try to peek behind the curtain is just too great.</p><p>The final comparison I suppose I must make is modern cosmology. This, someone said, is "always on the edge of mysticism", which as an astronomer I cannot dispute. In terms of studying the evolution of the Universe and its general characteristics (the typical scale and structure of things, their ages, their likely future development) modern science is on very firm footing indeed. But when it comes back to the Creation event itself, there I think all our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhfqdBk8qxk&ab_channel=SabineHossenfelder">musings</a> about creating particles from a vacuum, about whether physical laws are in some sense real things or merely descriptions of stuff that happens... all of that does stray into the mystical.</p><p>But perhaps not the mythical. Myth, I've said, has to provide an explanation, it has to apply at scale, it has to involve minds, and it has to contain ambiguity. Scientific cosmology really only does and can do the first two of these – if it started positing that the Universe was the result of intelligence or avoided quantitative rigour then it wouldn't be scientific at all. When we get back to the singularity, however (be that whether the Universe was at some point infinitely small or has existed forever, with both types of infinity being a sort of singularity), we find our capabilities collide head-on with reality. We meet something our language and perhaps our most basic mental capacities are unable to grasp, and so we reach inevitably for myth.</p><p>I said back in the introduction that Tolkien himself I do not hold faultless. And it must be said that he was somewhat hypocritical, in that his works were chock-full of revision after revision but he himself was an <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-is-J-R-R-Tolkien-s-son-not-in-favor-of-Peter-Jackson-s-movies/answer/Meldon-Tarnaion?ch=10&oid=380906008&share=02f1613f&srid=dwERW&target_type=answer">extreme purist</a> when it came to adaptations changing even the most petty and irrelevant of details. But my analysis has been an attempt not to understand what Tolkien himself thought, but the effect his work had on <i>me</i>. That, I think, is the key part of the ambiguity of myth. It requires the reader to fill in part of the details with their own emotions, to take us to places that precise description cannot reach. </p><p>Pratchett said that human beings need fantasy to be human, that we need to believe things which aren't true. But perhaps more than needing to believe things in manifest contradiction to the observable facts, we need to believe things which no amount of observation can ever capture. We need fantasy to understand ourselves, to try and give shape to the unseen, feelings made flesh. And that is why, far from God being dead, in this modern scientific age of quantification and rationality, myth still, and will ever, continues to endure.</p></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-8439404938414979192022-10-26T04:57:00.003-04:002022-10-28T11:54:25.656-04:00The Cosmology of Middle Earth (IV) : World Enough and Time<p>Welcome back to another exciting instalment in the "I like Tolkien just a bit too much" series. If you've just wandered in, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-i-rings.html">part one</a> was an introduction with a quick look at the Rings and the sword Narsil, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-ii-men.html">part two</a> looked at a selection of characters, and <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iii-land.html">part three</a> began to look at the landscapes on rather larger scales.</p><p>So far we've seen something of how Middle Earth operates. At its heart it's driven not by physics but by mind. While the hobbits are skilled enough at ordinary farming, the most powerful characters create life in their very footsteps, or burn it away even while rotting in their graves. The greatest of all can move mountains or sink entire continents.</p><p>We've already seen some global processes at work but there are a few more that should be mentioned before we reach further out to truly cosmic scales. In this fourth part, I'll look at bit more at the symbolism of the powers Tolkien depicts, both in terms of what they represent in the story itself, and what they represent morally.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>4) World</u></b></p><p><i>Continents</i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3nKOF_g-0bYg_SEORoEB9rhGITGAoCpS6HZNTiQ6omImd8NvquaET1K7-rBfp96Cm85g2YHIuygldCzObkIRqfe4xgriBAaNXN86eoR-ak7N7qLM2FdXr-e4FJolbyQlaHFwjkKuyh1EMylrMLbb1Ec7fNh9a0cg1gSn1hlOrjxuGV4OmYwSO-3O/s2500/Beleriand.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1667" data-original-width="2500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3nKOF_g-0bYg_SEORoEB9rhGITGAoCpS6HZNTiQ6omImd8NvquaET1K7-rBfp96Cm85g2YHIuygldCzObkIRqfe4xgriBAaNXN86eoR-ak7N7qLM2FdXr-e4FJolbyQlaHFwjkKuyh1EMylrMLbb1Ec7fNh9a0cg1gSn1hlOrjxuGV4OmYwSO-3O/w640-h426/Beleriand.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note that this map, while having some strong similarities to those of the Third Age, also has some massive differences. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>At last we begin to approach the largest realm of all. If the powers of the Valar diminish or withdraw from the world over time (though they were never, I think <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-powerful-is-Morgoth-What-are-his-powers">limitless</a>), then we have to go back to the earliest eras to see them at their greatest. The destruction of Númenór is far from the only example of continent-scale changes brought about by the wars between good and evil.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>For so great was the fury of those adversaries that the northern regions of the western world were rent asunder, and the sea roared in through many chasms, and there was confusion and great noise; and rivers perished or found new paths, and the valleys were upheaved and the hills trod down; and Sirion was no more.</i></p><p><i>In the Great Battle and the tumults of the fall of Thangorodrim there were mighty convulsions in the earth, and Beleriand was broken and laid waste; and northward and westward many lands sank beneath the waters of the Great Sea. In the east, in Ossiriand, the walls of Ered Luin were broken, and a great gap was made in them towards the south, and a gulf of the sea flowed in. </i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>New lands and islands are raised after the fall of Númenór, while in the First Age the Valar use an island as a ferry from Valinor :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Now Ulmo, by the counsel of the Valar, came to the shores of Middle-earth and spoke with the Eldar who waited there, gazing on the dark waves; and because of his words and the music which he made for them on his horns of shell their fear of the sea was turned rather to desire. Therefore Ulmo uprooted an island which long had stood alone amid the sea, far from either shore, since the tumults of the fall of Illuin; and with the aid of his servants he moved it, as it were a mighty ship, and anchored it in the Bay of Balar, into which Sirion poured his water. Then the Vanyar and the Noldor embarked upon that isle, and were drawn over the sea.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Once again we see the world being shaped according to the moral intentions of its Powers. In the description of the Great Battle Tolkien presents further ambiguities as to how exactly things are destroyed. The combatants are described in relatively ordinary terms : orcs, dragons, Balrogs, elves, horses*, men and all the rest, with the Valar themselves described much like a conventional pseudo-medieval army. But the effects are much more deeply felt. Is this further evidence that the geography of Middle Earth should be interpreted more figuratively and less literally ? Perhaps. Certainly Tolkien was very explicit about this for the Valar themselves :</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Presumably also some fell ponies.</span></p><p></p><blockquote><i>Their shape comes of their knowledge of the visible World, rather than of the World itself; and they need it not, save only as we use raiment. Therefore the Valar may walk, if they will, unclad, and then even the Eldar cannot clearly perceive them, though they be present. But when they desire to clothe themselves the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some as of female. But the shapes wherein the Great Ones array themselves are not at all times like to the shapes of the kings and queens of the Children of Ilúvatar; for at times they may clothe themselves in their own thought, made visible in forms of majesty and dread.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Which needs us neatly on to a continent that needs its own section, because there geography is the most mysterious of all. If there's anywhere that's surely intended as more symbolic than literal, it's the land of heaven itself.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Valinor</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGGAHSfj5_pl3dnys7aeuZ2ymsK09diK92nUWjKWyDCbdQN2UnzsB2CMXu8B_T46igX_OS0Pm5z--dwFGn2ZbXz9a0UZenIpvJGizUX4rCI-OSBgVK8TmYjU2ux2d-wSnkUyvzf_ok1XkfO8PoyiOFyLBu2V5yx34bYnWVE9vUbA2DJohpB1Dk-1b/s1547/First%20Age%20Map.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1547" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGGAHSfj5_pl3dnys7aeuZ2ymsK09diK92nUWjKWyDCbdQN2UnzsB2CMXu8B_T46igX_OS0Pm5z--dwFGn2ZbXz9a0UZenIpvJGizUX4rCI-OSBgVK8TmYjU2ux2d-wSnkUyvzf_ok1XkfO8PoyiOFyLBu2V5yx34bYnWVE9vUbA2DJohpB1Dk-1b/w640-h402/First%20Age%20Map.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Geography of the First Age from <i>The Atlas of Middle Earth</i>. Note how drastically different this is from even the the Second Age, let alone the Third.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Blessed Realm, the Undying lands, part of the continent of Aman. In the First Age, Valinor is very much a real, physical place, or at least it's described in ordinary physical terms. You can sail back and forth across the sea between Valinor and Middle Earth no trouble, and the Elves seem to make the trip much as we would get on a plane for a summer holiday : you wouldn't want to do it too often, but you wouldn't find it much of an imposition either.</p><p>As time goes on this becomes more and more difficult. In some ways this reverses the general tendency in the narrative to become more and more materialistic : the Powers interfere less and less, but travel to Valinor by "the straight road" becomes more symbolic, more magical. This reminds us that the mythical aspects of the First Age are still very much present, that while things have developed and changed, at its core the fundamentals remain the same. </p><p>Travelling to Valinor in latter days seems to become less a matter of navigational skill and more a matter of <i>purpose</i> : it becomes somewhere you can find only if you are meant to find it, if you are worthy and the fates allow. What appeared as normal and routine in earlier ages is revealed as mythical symbolism only by its comparison to later, more literal events. And once again, thinking in purely physical terms – something as mundane as "which direction do you need to go to get to Valinor ?", or even "what would the journey look like ?" is a mistake, because that's just not how Middle Earth operates. At its heart, the reality of Arda is not driven by physical laws at all.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsZKfNV3I48Gnw-YBzP-ShzFARGdjjGCp3-EN-Fmhi40_ttnIqcgCv_mWgM-QzwA5KK2kGYflQpPiHZh0jqhP1d7Rao3TY2UwGz6D3Enry95S_ch_FmwPhAsupxVry0p4hTdsY5HlpPs2xpZ96ygh1lOxNnvoS_QuOloWlLFP7il46qLeYPRDMDf8/s4800/Valinor.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2010" data-original-width="4800" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsZKfNV3I48Gnw-YBzP-ShzFARGdjjGCp3-EN-Fmhi40_ttnIqcgCv_mWgM-QzwA5KK2kGYflQpPiHZh0jqhP1d7Rao3TY2UwGz6D3Enry95S_ch_FmwPhAsupxVry0p4hTdsY5HlpPs2xpZ96ygh1lOxNnvoS_QuOloWlLFP7il46qLeYPRDMDf8/w640-h268/Valinor.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Which is one of <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/d59fad601d62013b7153448a5b29e257">many reasons</a> why <a href="https://qr.ae/pv9Ajq">this answer on Quora</a> is just wrong-headed. Depicting Valinor as a formless shining light even before the fall of Númenór is a perfectly valid artistic choice.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Valinor presents probably the most explicit example of the people influencing the land. Sending messages to the over-mighty men who would seek immortality by a jaunt across the sea, the Valar say :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>‘And were you so to voyage that escaping all deceits and snares you came indeed to Aman, the Blessed Realm, little would it profit you. For it is not the land of Manwë that makes its people deathless, but the Deathless that dwell therein have hallowed the land; and there you would but wither and grow weary the sooner, as moths in a light too strong and steadfast.’</i></blockquote><p></p><p>While it's been remarked that this means Frodo and Bilbo and the others who are permitted to Valinor in latter days simply go there to die, I find this difficult to swallow. It's very clear that the trip is a reward, and while all creatures in Middle Earth have an immortal soul (though it's not known where they all go in the afterlife), there seems absolutely no point at all in sending senile, decrepit old Bilbo on a dangerous sea voyage when he's about to die anyway. Not even the High Elves are <i>that </i>much of a bag of dicks. </p><p>More probable to me is that those permitted to Valinor in latter days are indeed granted immortality, but this is done by the Valar themselves, not because the land is magical. Bilbo is not so much going to Valinor as he is <i>going to see the Valar. </i>And we know the Valar do occasionally intervene in the cases of individual mortals, such as Beren and Lúthien, and also Eärendil as we'll see in the next post. Otherwise the journey serves no purpose at all – it's not as though Tolkien has some aversion to killing major characters. He might not do it for pure shock value like George R. R. Martin does, but when he wants there to be tragedy and death, then tragedy and death come forth in abundance. So I find it exceedingly unlikely that Tolkien would be trying to shield us from the emotional impact of Frodo's death.</p><p>In writing a creation myth Tolkien inevitably touches on issues which are outright theological. Why do the Valar invoke Eru rather than destroying Númenór <a href="https://qr.ae/pvek0q">themselves</a> ? It seems they are forbidden not from <i>using </i>their own powers, but <a href="https://qr.ae/pv9GEv">from using them in order to be worshipped</a>, a very interesting answer that may solve a lot of problems with other fantasy and sci-fi creatures of great power that stand idly by while the world falls into ruin. But then we have to wonder why, regardless of who does it, they destroy not just the invasion fleet but Númenór itself. This response certainly seems like <a href="https://qr.ae/pveM7X">massive overkill</a> as not every Númenórean was a Valar-hating servant of Sauron, but there's <a href="https://qr.ae/pveM7s">more complexity</a> to it : the Númenóreans were both warned beforehand and given an chance to escape. Of course, this doesn't address why Eru allows his children to harm each other apparently with impunity.</p><p>This all raises the question as to whether we're supposed to read Valinor as being literally heaven. The answer seems to be yes. Not only is Valinor later removed from Arda (see next post), but it's also home to the Halls of Mandos, where the spirits of the dead reside. Tolkien also describes it using the very word "heaven" on more than one occasion, as well as describing Angband as its counterpart : hell. But the latter seems to be firmly metaphorical, as no spirits of the dead end up there. Still, heaven is in the early ages somewhere readily accessible, while later on it becomes ever-harder to find, with an obvious parallel to the Garden of Eden. More on that in the concluding part.</p><p>What actually befalls the spirits in the Halls is, however, never made clear except for some unhelpful exceptions. Tolkien does not state whether denizens of Middle Earth can expect eternal bliss or damnation, or whether that correlates with their behaviour before death. Inevitably, at times Tolkien seems to be wrestling with the archetypal theological question : why do bad things happen to good people ? </p><p>I think at least two answers can be discerned in <i>The Silmarillion</i>. The first is implicit and not stated directly, which is simply that this is utterly beyond the ken of mortal men. As in <a href="https://www.thelivingphilosophy.com/the-epiphany-of-aquinas/">this piece</a> on Thomas Aquinas, the issues which a divine creator has to deal with are by their very nature unfathomable : not very difficult, but actually unknowable. God asks to Job :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades ? Can you loosen Orion’s belt ? Can you bring forth the constellations in their season or lead out the Bear with its cubs ? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth ?” </i></blockquote><p></p><p>And for all that the answer to all of this is "no, I wouldn't know where to start", it's still deeply unsatisfying. We may not know everything, but we know that some things are wrong and unjust and unnecessary but they happen anyway (a more Middle Earthian examination of the nature of Eru is given <a href="https://qr.ae/pvZK0x">here</a>). Tolkien's second answer is arguably more satisfying, but let's finish this section off first.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Two Trees</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqrdudo8L7eqlzdXD9kZBpC52Ndg2xHSp68SY5_OAI7w9EY9fBTEhOoq9T6tNj7i2EBnusmm6Kk78jjjxWvQjJbcX0ZjCZLjKQ3bTJNV9g8gXDP0Q8gF5rsZDgu7JA_HpUblp15fL8kKUbOuIahWI9wRDzyr9buY90qoHQAVQ8IX0H2XgvecaRp90/s1400/Two%20Trees.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqrdudo8L7eqlzdXD9kZBpC52Ndg2xHSp68SY5_OAI7w9EY9fBTEhOoq9T6tNj7i2EBnusmm6Kk78jjjxWvQjJbcX0ZjCZLjKQ3bTJNV9g8gXDP0Q8gF5rsZDgu7JA_HpUblp15fL8kKUbOuIahWI9wRDzyr9buY90qoHQAVQ8IX0H2XgvecaRp90/w640-h320/Two%20Trees.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The ambiguities grow ever deeper as we reach the truly cosmological in scale. Originally the Valar create two mighty "lamps" that illuminate the whole of Arda, set upon "high pillars more lofty far than are any mountains of the latter days". Here the overtones of Christian mythology become unmistakable, with Yavanna bringing forth plants under the light of the new lamps. Even more symbolic, Melkor – who is already a creature of hate – hides his designs in shadow, "for he was grown dark as the Night of the Void". </p><p>This is why I suggest that Tolkien does indeed reach true myth. He not only uses light and dark as symbolic of hope and fear, but provides an explanation as to why they induce those feelings : <i>we are afraid of the dark because that is the domain and symbol of Melkor </i>–<i> there is indeed something sinister lurking in the night. </i>Conversely, we desire the light because this is a defence against his evil machinations. Likewise, Melkor himself desires darkness and fears the light :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>But Melkor came forth suddenly to war, and struck the first blow, ere the Valar were prepared; and he assailed the lights of Illuin and Ormal, and cast down their pillars and broke their lamps. In the overthrow of the mighty pillars lands were broken and seas arose in tumult; and when the lamps were spilled destroying flame was poured out over the Earth. And the shape of Arda and the symmetry of its waters and its lands was marred in that time, so that the first designs of the Valar were never after restored.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Only after this do the Valar establish Valinor for themselves. Yavanna then creates the Two Trees, but these illuminate only Valinor and not Middle Earth as did the lamps. The development of life in Middle Earth is thus paused for a time. But Valinor enters a state of bliss, with the elves creating the Silmarils – the finest jewels ever created – to preserve their exquisite light. </p><p>The symbolism of the beauty of nature runs deeper. Melkor begins to corrupt the elves by telling them highly political lies, that the one is plotting to overthrow the other. When he approaches and departs from Valinor his evil manifests itself physically :</p><blockquote><p><i><span class="fontstyle0">Then it seemed to the people of Valinor that the light of the Trees was dimmed, and the shadows of all standing things grew longer and darker in that time... </span>Thus Melkor departed from Valinor, and for a while the Two Trees shone again unshadowed, and the land was filled with light.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p><span class="fontstyle0">If Darth Vader is so menacing he has his own theme tune play every time he enters a room, Melkor takes this a whole lot further : at his approach the very lights of heaven are darkened, his lies and corruption flowing from his very being just as goodness flows from Lúthien. </span>The beauty of the Trees is incomparable, and their eventual destruction by Melkor one of the most tragic acts of the <i>The Silmarillion</i>. If nature is all beauty and light and truth, then Melkor is corruption, darkness and deceit. These attributes in Middle Earth invariably go hand in hand, and are not easily separated. For Tolkien, the evil thing lurking in the dread night is not so much a monster but a liar.</p><hr /><p></p><p><span class="fontstyle0"><br /></span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0">We're almost at the final stages now, and we can begin to see how the consistency of Tolkien's moral cosmos manifests itself on all scales. Light brings forth truth, darkness brings despair. Lies and deceit are at the heart of all evil; monsters are scary because of their big nasty pointy teeth, but only evil because they tell lies, not because they wish to inflict harm but because their malevolence is <i>wilful</i>. They know there are alternatives but, like Liz Truss, make the wrong choice anyway.</span></p><p><span class="fontstyle0">It's important to understand that Tolkien wasn't writing mere fiction, but true myth. The challenge for hard sci-fi is in exploring the effects of known physical laws in a rigorously, quantitatively correct way, or in developing new laws which are fully self-consistent. Tolkien faced no less formidable a challenge but of a theological rather than physical nature. He had to develop an entire cosmos based on moral beliefs that had to be no less self-consistent, even if that meant </span><i>–</i> ironically <i>– </i>frequently abandoning <i>physical </i>self-consistency entirely. He had to wrestle with deep moral, theological questions that are interesting regardless of one's religious beliefs, which are far some reason rendered more palatable by cunningly disguising them in tales about dwarves and dragons rather than Jesus and Moses.</p><p>I've heard it claimed that the history of Middle Earth is one of continual decline and fall, e.g. the lamps becoming the trees becoming the Sun and Moon. I do not agree. It's one of transformation, certainly, but I do not see it as one of decay. Things become ever-more materialistic, to the point that lifespans and physical stature diminish, but the morality of its protagonists seems if anything to do the opposite. Aragorn doesn't have the power to shout down mountains with song, but he faces the armies of Mordor nonetheless. Let alone little Frodo, who goes into the very heart of the domain of supernatural evil armed with nothing more than a pair of great hairy feet and his gardener. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6t4xMgrpjBs" width="320" youtube-src-id="6t4xMgrpjBs"></iframe></div><p>True, the magic diminishes. But in the Third Age we find ordinary mortals, even the smallest and most helpless, pitting themselves against powers ancient and dread of terrifying scope. Surely that gives them claim to <i>greater </i>virtue than any of their forebears, not less; any sense of "decline" is only in the most superficial sense of the "physics" of the world.</p><p>But I'm getting ahead of myself. Having gone from rings to wizards to mountains and continents, it's time to bring this journey through the moral cosmology of Tolkien to an end. Not in the fiery pits of a volcano, but in the cold and beautiful darkness amidst the stars. See you in <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-v-cosmos.html">part five</a>.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-80656900440629347802022-10-18T16:09:00.004-04:002022-10-26T04:58:05.376-04:00The Cosmology of Middle Earth (III) : Land, Sea, and Sky<p>We now return to our scheduled presentation on why Tolkien is just bloody brilliant. <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-i-rings.html">Part one</a> introduced what my overall feelings toward Tolkien, both good and bad, and looked at a few of the magical objects and their symbolism. <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-ii-men.html">Part two</a> moved up in scale just a notch to examine some of the major residents of Middle Earth.</p><p>So far we've seen how there's a lot more moral ambiguity in Tolkien than is commonly given credit for. Yes, there are strong streaks of black and white, but they're set on a backdrop of much greater complexity. Neither beauty nor decay are always symbols of virtue or malice <i>–</i> what really matters is moral intent. Narsil shines with the light of the Sun, but it doesn't need this power to slay Sauron. Lúthien brings forth flowers in her steps, but evil characters can use beauty as a cloak.</p><p>But there do seem to be a more fundamental sort of almost Platonic varieties of the beautiful and hideous at work in Middle Earth. Gandalf may bring forth darkness to intimidate Bilbo, but he will never blot our the Sun; Sauron might appear fair of face but no flowers will ever grow in <i>his </i>steps. </p><p>Until now, though, we've been looking at very small-scale effects, and this is a severe handicap. To understand why Tolkien's creation inspires a deep emotional resonance, we need to see how the Powers work when the gloves are off, how the same forces that can make swords get slightly glowy can raise mountains and level continents. So in this third, midway part, I'll look at how the forces of mind and morality shape the very landscape that the characters inhabit.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3) <u>Land, Sea, and Sky</u></b></p><p><i>The Forests : The Old Forest</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BXKa1PqpCh-0UqFD2_B5b8CrXPFzL3DZKJ2b8qTsHQqvvuT9utdPEzFPC_oFFONYVWMJa2VBtWHtGSFUYx8Rji62_DPxjuebwJxJUJQaL3ooE6J0b-FgYY9iXeeE4c9Gl9oj-KnvrB-CqSN1sRR3QtVLTFInZyzcu9R6WdtHMz8wcryKup8nw__r/s1920/Mirkwood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BXKa1PqpCh-0UqFD2_B5b8CrXPFzL3DZKJ2b8qTsHQqvvuT9utdPEzFPC_oFFONYVWMJa2VBtWHtGSFUYx8Rji62_DPxjuebwJxJUJQaL3ooE6J0b-FgYY9iXeeE4c9Gl9oj-KnvrB-CqSN1sRR3QtVLTFInZyzcu9R6WdtHMz8wcryKup8nw__r/w640-h360/Mirkwood.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sauron's fortress of Dol Guldur in the forest of Mirkwood, by someone called <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/363173157422358301/">McNealy</a>.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Like beauty, Tolkien clearly has elements of nature = good, industry = bad, but again this is an enormous oversimplification. Rather, it's how they're used and applied that matters – they are <i>not </i>good or evil in and and of themselves. </div><div><br /></div><div>There's a curious mix of the magical and material in Tolkien's work. While everything, as we'll see, is ultimately down to the Powers, they do not seem to play a permanently active role in ordering the world. When they're not involved, a tree is just a tree and a rock is just a rock; the natural processes of weathering and sedimentation probably proceed just as they do in reality. But when they are, their grace or malice flow out into the land around them. And not all malice or beauty alike are direct results of the intervention of the Valar.</div><div><br /></div><div>Take the Old Forest, which the hobbits encounter as they leave the Shire. Merry warns the company of the dangers they face ahead :</div><div><i><blockquote>‘And the trees do not like strangers. They watch you. They are usually content merely to watch you, as long as daylight lasts, and don’t do much. Occasionally the most unfriendly ones may drop a branch, or stick a root out, or grasp at you with a long trailer. But at night things can be most alarming, or so I am told... They do say the trees do actually move, and can surround strangers and hem them in.’</blockquote></i></div><div>As they progress they soon encounter increasing difficulties in going in the direction they prefer. With more subtle menace – at first – than actually attacking them, the forest makes things challenging :</div><div><i></i></div><blockquote><div><i>Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths... they all got an uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched with disapproval, deepening to dislike and even enmity. The feeling steadily grew, until they found themselves looking up quickly, or glancing back over their shoulders, as if they expected a sudden blow. There was not as yet any sign of a path, and the trees seemed constantly to bar their way.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>After a while the air began to get hot and stuffy. The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. Now stronger than ever they felt again the ill will of the wood pressing on them... Each time they climbed down they found the hollow filled with thick bushes and matted undergrowth, which somehow would not yield to the left, but only gave way when they turned to the right... Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker; and always to the left and upwards it was most difficult to find a way, and they were forced to the right and downwards.</i></div></blockquote><div>That the trees show no signs of movement is part of what makes this sequence feel so threatening. There are much deeper forces at work than anything as simple as a walking tree. When the trees eventually do attack it's a culmination of mounting tension, with Tolkien unleashing a sense of horror and dread that, I have to say, I did not feel the movies always did especially well. This is understandable and forgivable, but the sense of foreboding in the books is something that the movies sometimes lack.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Old Forest <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Old_Forest">did not</a>, so far as I'm aware, have anything much to do with Morgorth or Sauron. Rather the trees there, awakened in ages past by the Elves, seem to have fallen into malignity by themselves. This happens with many other characters too, with plenty an Elven king lost to their own selfish pride* rather than the machinations of Melkor. But the effects on the world are the same. The forest itself is imbued with malice and darkness, and this is rendered in the world in ways that cannot be described by physics. The land itself does not seem to change shape nor the trees to move, yet the way the hobbits would prefer is shut to them.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This seems to have been Tolkien's keyword for "being a right little dick."</span></div><div><p>Similarly with Fangorn :</p><p><i><span class="fontstyle0"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span class="fontstyle0">‘I do not think the wood feels evil, whatever tales may say,’ said Legolas. He stood under the eaves of the forest, stooping forward, </span>as if he were listening, and peering with wide eyes into the shadows. ‘No, it is not evil; or what evil is in it is far away. I catch only the faintest echoes of dark places where the hearts of the trees are black. There is no malice near us; but there is watchfulness, and anger.’</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The emotion of the trees is reflected in their dreadful countenance. It is not that there is some particular evil at work upon the land, or that there is any sort of curse at work. Rather this appears to be a fundamental principle of how Middle Earth operates : mind influences matter, or perhaps rather matter is receptive to the effects of mind. It isn't that the trees are telekinetic, they don't deliberately control anything. Instead the land and the environment are almost inevitably subject to the emotions and morality of their inhabitants, at least if those are sufficiently strong and long-lasting. Pathetic fallacy is essentially the equivalent of a physical law.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Interjection : The Oath of the Noldor</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWPVdFEQf6lxhygsqt2xsAW7eRCjwv3w2T_GurRT_R_sXCPgesHjM5E4MDK7u-WHGYclkbxCNCwBBbs7MmFD5jvEUB9cdi8X_wYwvDxWJbsE81d663PPKJjVW2kqMtjuJuNzdJLt69zOkUCGQ1txLMKcgeDAwF5b9ECGoN8SYgm9s064NIQD3vOIU/s1280/Helcaraxe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="1280" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrWPVdFEQf6lxhygsqt2xsAW7eRCjwv3w2T_GurRT_R_sXCPgesHjM5E4MDK7u-WHGYclkbxCNCwBBbs7MmFD5jvEUB9cdi8X_wYwvDxWJbsE81d663PPKJjVW2kqMtjuJuNzdJLt69zOkUCGQ1txLMKcgeDAwF5b9ECGoN8SYgm9s064NIQD3vOIU/w640-h382/Helcaraxe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Elves crossing the <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Helcarax%C3%AB">grinding ice</a> because yet another king was a bloody stroppy jumped-up little twat.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This is as good a moment as any for a short diversion on an important plot point that doesn't really fit into any particular category as I've arranged things. But the Oath sworn by the Elves to retrieve the Silmarils has similar effects to the subtle changes in the Old Forest that molests the hapless hobbits, so this provides further evidence for how the forces that govern Middle Earth operate.</p><p>The Oath does not act in any direct sort of way. It doesn't undo stone or bring forth flowers in their steps; the Noldor can't blame it for any particularly inclement weather or unexpected fires. But its effects are no less profound. It acts more like fate, bending reality around them. The Oath-Curse is like loading the dice : it won't make them float away or explode, or even make them roll a six every time without fail, but it stacks the odds against them. Wherever chance is at work, the probability is skewed towards making it worse for the Noldor. This manifests itself primarily through the actions of the characters rather than the physical world, twisting them more towards ill purpose than they would otherwise be inclined.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>It is plain that Thingol desires your death; but it seems that this doom goes beyond his purpose, and that the Oath of Fëanor is again at work. For the Silmarils are cursed with an oath of hatred, and he that even names them in desire moves a great power from slumber; and the sons of Fëanor would lay all the Elf-kingdoms in ruin rather than suffer any other than themselves to win or possess a Silmaril, for the Oath drives them. </i></p><p><i>Be he friend or foe, whether demon of Morgoth, or Elf, or child of Men, or any other living thing in Arda, neither law, nor love, nor league of hell, nor might of the Valar, nor any power of wizardry, shall defend him from the pursuing hate of Fëanor’s sons, if he take or find a Silmaril and keep it. For the Silmarils we alone claim, until the world ends.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>This mad desire for the Silmarils becomes an all-consuming passion of the Noldor. If the beauty of the Silmarils inspires them in the first place, it's this unkeepable, Brexit-like Oath that seals their doom. Words have power, manifested not just by persuasion and rhetoric, but actually in shaping destiny. In its way, the Oath is even more forceful than the spells of Lúthien. </p><p>And honestly... the Oath of the Noldor is a <i>lot </i>like Brexit. It's something utterly unachievable that brings them naught but ruin and woe but they stick their stupid fat fucking fingers in their ears and won't bloody listen. I could go on, but I won't.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Forests : Mirkwood and Lothlórien</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-KrVe8zGrpN1J57jdKNX22HIF6h7E4PocwZKX2HTNdExuwK5ggQvsCKa9BxVOD6j86VPyG8ebUq8JLP08Snfgh551Tlv8PGM7T555E_7LNQI8LLCgDaQrSJ37_BmMfdkNT951qUVMvf5P-Z2tTrHRHFj7EoZu3dOqzH7gWoK5-iCRBJlGTx7JwzT/s1000/Lothlorien.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="1000" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-KrVe8zGrpN1J57jdKNX22HIF6h7E4PocwZKX2HTNdExuwK5ggQvsCKa9BxVOD6j86VPyG8ebUq8JLP08Snfgh551Tlv8PGM7T555E_7LNQI8LLCgDaQrSJ37_BmMfdkNT951qUVMvf5P-Z2tTrHRHFj7EoZu3dOqzH7gWoK5-iCRBJlGTx7JwzT/w640-h272/Lothlorien.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lothlorien. Image source <a href="https://64.media.tumblr.com/5fa00d4a4bff11620e113095650cc260/e682abdce1bb47b0-85/s1280x1920/fd45ab08c5913df1088712158ce65ca14bb2ec70.jpg">here</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Let's return to today's main topic. Mirkwood, on the other hand, definitely <i>did </i>fall into decay because of the will of Sauron. Prior to Sauron it was known as <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Mirkwood">Greenwood the Great</a>, which, so far as I know, was a perfectly normal forest. Only when the power of Sauron began to work its will did it become the haunted forest of fear, and when Sauron was destroyed it returned to its former self. This is a very clear example of the will of evil altering the world around it. Sauron doesn't have to order his orc legions to molest the trees, the change from pleasant leafy woods to sinister abode of nightmares happens by itself.</p><p>In Lothlórien the opposite is true. As the heart of Elevndom on Earth, the forest here is of surpassing loveliness. The cool waters of its rivers heal Legolas' weary feet, its trees are of silver trunks and golden leaves, and it's just all-round... nice. And as a pertinent counter to Mirkwood's ruin by Sauron, Lothlórien is enriched by the power of <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Nenya">Galadriel and her magic Ring</a>. Once again, the land is governed by its inhabitants. </p><p>Compare this to, say, <i>Dune</i>, in which the hardiness of the Fremen is a direct result of their extreme harsh environment. In Middle Earth things <i>do </i>work both ways, but there is a strong effect from the characters on the land, and much less the other way around : where the land itself has been corrupted by evil, that does not spread to anyone happening upon it.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Lands of Shadow : Thangorodrim and Mordor </i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZh_oHafeIiXd-wQY-UKGaBpDvQtfui1A6IbnC4rJ0xrzD6cVXjcu_q7cZLgdC8s_SdUfe70A8q87fAplh83HkCSBnxPEYDIs3jH4y6au5CS_WzGtgiQcGzb-xSi9SwlGLqOom1y5BlIooVIXRuJYjh2Wt8Epby7MJa-NxHp264Ne5ey4S7uMyBjqF/s1200/Mordor.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZh_oHafeIiXd-wQY-UKGaBpDvQtfui1A6IbnC4rJ0xrzD6cVXjcu_q7cZLgdC8s_SdUfe70A8q87fAplh83HkCSBnxPEYDIs3jH4y6au5CS_WzGtgiQcGzb-xSi9SwlGLqOom1y5BlIooVIXRuJYjh2Wt8Epby7MJa-NxHp264Ne5ey4S7uMyBjqF/w640-h360/Mordor.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The hobbits cross the Black Lands without falling into shadow, just as in earlier ages armies assault Angband and Thangorodrim without turning to evil.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The innermost realms of Morgoth and Sauron are distinctly similar : dark, bleak and blasted wastelands* of either freezing cold or unbearable heat, with naught to tell but bare rock. Both feature towering volcanoes. In the case of the three-peaked <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Thangorodrim#:~:text=Thangorodrim%20was%20a%20group%20of,back%20into%20the%20Iron%20Mountains.">Thangorodrim</a>, this is a mountain piled up from the slag created when Morgoth and his servants dug the fortress of Angband. Since piling up a bunch of rocks will not normally create a volcano all of its own accord, and since Morgoth caused the eruption at the Battle of Sudden Flame, the volcanic nature of the mountain seems to be entirely due to Morgoth's influence. Morgoth, as the mightiest servant of Eru, is able (to a considerable but not unlimited extent) to control the forces of nature directly. </div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Not entirely so in the case of Mordor, which does have slave farms in its outer regions to provide food for the armies.</span></p><p>In the case of Mordor, I'd argue that the case is ambiguous as to whether Orodruin (Mt Doom) is a natural feature or also due to dark powers. <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Mount_Doom">Online sources</a> cite <i>The History of Middle Earth</i> in support of the former, but <i>The Silmarillion</i> might suggest the latter :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>..and there was a fiery mountain in that land that the Elves named Orod-ruin. Indeed for that reason Sauron had set there his dwelling long before, for he used the fire that welled there from the heart of the earth in his sorceries and in his forging; and in the midst of the Land of Mordor he had fashioned the Ruling Ring.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>This doesn't really sound like the volcano was the result of evil influences, but one that was there anyway and Sauron utilised. As with the story of the forging of the Rings, Mordor itself feels a bit of an afterthought to the main events in <i>The Silmarillion</i>. And again, it's not that it's a bad bit of storytelling, just that it feels a little bit roughly inserted after the main tale was developed. </p><p>So I would say that the Orodruin is a natural feature that Sauron exploits and manipulates, but once again, the elemental power at work is part of what gives the story emotional resonance. The protagonists are fighting not some guy with a big pointy sword, but the forces of nature itself. All of us are aware, at a deep, primal level, of how difficult this is : you have only to think of that moment of panic if you lean back too far on your chair to be aware of <i>that</i>.</p><p>Morgoth and Sauron both exploit more than fire. Morgoth uses fumes to shroud his fortress from the light :</p><p></p><blockquote><i>With shadows he hid himself and his servants from Arien, the glance of whose eyes they could not long endure; and the lands near his dwelling were shrouded in fumes and great clouds.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Likewise Sauron sends forth "a broil of fume ahead of his host" in the movie, or in the novel,</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>"This is no weather of the world. This is some device of his malice; some broil of fume from the Mountain of Fire that he sends to darken hearts and counsel."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The elemental power of darkness is something I'll return to in much more detail. But again, as Tolkien seeks to give our emotions physical form with the world being moulded by the minds of its inhabitants, so he also seeks an emotive response by the opposite approach. In Middle Earth, Tolkien chooses evil to cause darkness because darkness itself causes fear. But to reach for the status of true myth, perhaps, requires a more fundamental explanation of why that fear arises. And Tolkien, I think, does have an answer to this.</p><p>But first, a final point about Mordor. At its border with Gondor lies Minas Morgul, originally Minas Ithil (the Tower of the Moon) as built by the Númenóreans. Only when Sauron occupied Mordor did it become Minas Morgul, the Tower of Sourcery, a fearful place indeed.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light... wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night... the city’s gate: a black mouth opening in the outer circle of the northward walls. Wide flats lay on either bank, shadowy meads filled with pale white flowers. Luminous these were too, beautiful and yet horrible of shape, like the demented forms in an uneasy dream; and they gave forth a faint sickening charnel-smell; an odour of rottenness filled the air...all corrupt and loathsome.</i></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdb7xQQzUJQBPnVUdsJqGZeMMbMccCCjTcs-NVoJZ-I0nLQuVwiV7MybvBE54-t9MAd6KomYRV0Tlacqs7AhwfTXfO3Td9OOaFum8MsDyW2UOqsb6ttnPzmIKvFvvfeT-8sxjPdC7a3QSXTnzon0Kda-oPgb6RIv0HyAIwOHFyDFmoWgnHjDYrSCS/s1317/Minas%20Morgul.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1317" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAdb7xQQzUJQBPnVUdsJqGZeMMbMccCCjTcs-NVoJZ-I0nLQuVwiV7MybvBE54-t9MAd6KomYRV0Tlacqs7AhwfTXfO3Td9OOaFum8MsDyW2UOqsb6ttnPzmIKvFvvfeT-8sxjPdC7a3QSXTnzon0Kda-oPgb6RIv0HyAIwOHFyDFmoWgnHjDYrSCS/w640-h382/Minas%20Morgul.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Sauron's evil debases not just the land and elements but also the works of man. Morality, through magic, pervades the whole of reality of Middle Earth, and is not limited to the natural world or industry. Though it's not stated so clearly as in the forest, the effect feels similar : as well as the differences in architecture, something ineffable about the city has changed. An extremely appropriate analogy might be how the background music in a movie can make all the difference in the world between a scene of joy and of fear (but we'll return to that in part five).</p><p>On a related point, while the Elves generally live in harmony with nature, they don't shun metallurgy or craftsmanship. They value the things they themselves create (most dramatically in the case of the Silmarils). They live harmoniously, enriching the natural world they reside in, through their own inner goodness. Conversely, Sauron and Morgoth bring forth ruin and decay not because they encourage industry <i>per se</i>, but because their own inherent evil causes them to do so in a way that damages and destroys everything in their path. While Tolkien definitely does see inherent value in the natural world, he also recognises the value of art. Both <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/06/offset-all-things.html">nature and artifice</a> can be turned to good or evil, depending on who interacts with them and how - a harmonious synthesis between the two is the ultimate achievement, not separation. This is exemplified by Gimli's cultivation of stone in the Glittering Caves :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>‘No dwarf could be unmoved by such loveliness. None of Durin’s race would mine those caves for stones or ore, not if diamonds and gold could be got there. Do you cut down groves of blossoming trees in the springtime for firewood ? We would tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them. With cautious skill, tap by tap – a small chip of rock and no more, perhaps, in a whole anxious day – so we could work, and as the years went by, we should open up new ways, and display far chambers that are still dark, glimpsed only as a void beyond fissures in the rock.’ </i></blockquote><p></p><p>Tolkien finds beauty and horror everywhere : compare the trees of Lothlórien with those of Mirkwood; the crafted jewels of the Elves with the hewn spears of the orcs; the frozen wastes of Angband as opposed to the majesty of the Glittering Caves. What gives these places their quality is not their intrinsic nature, not whether the various races choose to interact with or avoid them, but the <i>intention</i>, the music of the minds at work upon them. Mordor is laid waste by the mantle of Sauron just as the Glittering Caves benefit from the gentle gardening of Gimli. In all cases the emotional resonance, whether for joy or fear, is due in no small part to those connections with fundamental, primal beliefs about how the world should work, how our feelings should influence it.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Sea and Sky</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpAi2TzgcoOQBe1QJFdRX6QcGv7G9727oJUW4pwECBp7ROn88QNmMJTC481UqeNILfAC70bvXB1BR9BUGnz3sRRTR_UF9an6EIquEe69V0440dPgOiu1Xe_LOeHNKDEZ-jwPzWZaAvALRrfZcFlwh1gHcPMnMlEfF98O2R_wm2whJNZ7scddkHKGrt/s737/The-Destruction-of-Numenor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="737" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpAi2TzgcoOQBe1QJFdRX6QcGv7G9727oJUW4pwECBp7ROn88QNmMJTC481UqeNILfAC70bvXB1BR9BUGnz3sRRTR_UF9an6EIquEe69V0440dPgOiu1Xe_LOeHNKDEZ-jwPzWZaAvALRrfZcFlwh1gHcPMnMlEfF98O2R_wm2whJNZ7scddkHKGrt/w640-h320/The-Destruction-of-Numenor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>As we begin to reach for larger scales we must also reach back through time. Despite everything, the Third Age is much the most materialistic and least mythical of the stories of Middle Earth. Basic physics applies consistently <i>most </i>of the time. Violations are subtle or brief, or so minor they could be taken for poetic license or metaphor. And this helps the story, with the rarity of the magic aiding believability and adding to its potency. So while the War of the Ring does revolve around mythic elements, the unreality of Middle Earth is far more apparent in earlier ages.</p><p>Now there are some weaker, more routine uses of the weather by the Valar. Snows and storms are sent forth from Angband and perhaps even from Valinor against the orcs. But it's high time to up the ante - the scope of the Powers that order the world can act in far more profound and unmistakable ways than a bit of ice or a flaming sword.</p><p>The destruction of Númenór is one of the most spectacular sequences of the whole of <i>The Silmarillion</i>. At this point (the end of the Second Age) Valinor, the Blessed Realm, remains an actual physical place one can visit : you can literally sail to heaven. The pride of the Númenóreans, deceived and corrupted by Sauron, leads them to raise a mighty fleet to assail the Valar themselves, jealous as they are of the immortals. </p><p>Spoiler : assaulting heaven does not go well. While the Valar have at this point largely withdrawn from Middle Earth, they are still present in the realm of Arda, and we witness their full elemental fury.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>The sky itself was darkened, and there were storms of rain and hail in those days, and violent winds... And out of the west there would come at times a great cloud in the evening, shaped as it were an eagle, with pinions spread to the north and the south; and slowly it would loom up, blotting out the sunset, and then uttermost night would fall upon Númenor. And some of the eagles bore lightning beneath their wings, and thunder echoed between sea and cloud.</i></p><p><i>Now the lightnings increased and slew men upon the hills, and in the fields, and in the streets of the city; and a fiery bolt smote the dome of the Temple and shore it asunder, and it was wreathed in flame... When therefore the last portent came they heeded it little. For the land shook under them, and a groaning as of thunder underground was mingled with the roaring of the sea, and smoke issued from the peak of the Meneltarma. </i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>In latter days the degree to which the physical world is affected by the emotions of its inhabitants is comparatively slight : woods become fairer or fouler, cities more majestic or imposing. In the Third Age the minds and powers at work are relatively weak, those of Elves, dwarves and men, and their effects are unintentional. We only see hints of stronger possibilities when we have greater forces at work : Sauron and his Ring and volcanoes, Saruman and his own dark tower. This connects the otherwise ordinary adventure story to the mythic grandeur at the heart of Middle Earth, but in the destruction of Númenór this is exposed in full.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Then the Eagles of the Lords of the West came up out of the dayfall, and they were arrayed as for battle, advancing in a line the end of which diminished beyond sight; and as they came their wings spread ever wider, grasping the sky.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The Númenórians are fighting nothing less than the elements themselves. They're given ample warning, but they ignore all of them. The Valar's power is literally what gives order to the world, and this time their wrath against the hubris of Númenór is not some side-effect of their emotions spilling over into the physical realm : it is directed and done with absolute control.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Andor, the Land of Gift, Númenor of the Kings, Elenna of the Star of Eärendil, was utterly destroyed. For it was nigh to the east of the great rift, and its foundations were overturned, and it fell and went down into darkness, and is no more. And there is not now upon Earth any place abiding where the memory of a time without evil is preserved. For Ilúvatar cast back the Great Seas west of Middle-earth, and the Empty Lands east of it, and new lands and new seas were made; and the world was diminished.</i></blockquote><p></p><blockquote><i>Then suddenly fire burst from the Meneltarma, <i>and there came a mighty wind and a tumult of the earth, and the sky reeled, and </i><i>the hills slid, and Númenor went down into the sea, with all its children and its </i><i>wives and its maidens and its ladies proud; and all its gardens and its halls and </i><i>its towers, its tombs and its riches, and its jewels and its webs and its things </i>painted and carven, and its laughter and its mirth and its music, its wisdom and <i>its lore: they vanished for ever.</i></i></blockquote><i><i></i><p></p></i><p></p><p>This is what Tolkien hints at again and again in <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> but unleashes fully in <i>The Silmarillion</i> : the world itself is ordered, at least in part, by intelligence. When we tread fearfully through a dark and tangled wood, we fear not accidents but malevolence. Something lurks in the dark that wishes us harm. When we see a glorious sunrise or the warmth of a fine day, we may feel the world approves of us in some way. Emotion and intent underpin every aspect of the seemingly materialistic cosmos around us. And woe betide those who should anger such powers : their influence may usually be mild, but this is through choice, not weakness.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Moving Mountains </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTGLkP004fBlVHo863ZFlGamgcK7MGyA4BOuH3ti5yLQ-C4ZkVlVrEFfymC3TUnGyCg-XLr7cD0DoO9NigSh5Y6HXvKsAY8Iu1xZIRIJQ2DneTgctMsZ_8hHN4u6ksy6ENp5yqkZduNcWFzkQbqkfwhuzBEiEguolgIuWokwIPHJG7RKIFn4f6sMT/s1200/Melkor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTGLkP004fBlVHo863ZFlGamgcK7MGyA4BOuH3ti5yLQ-C4ZkVlVrEFfymC3TUnGyCg-XLr7cD0DoO9NigSh5Y6HXvKsAY8Iu1xZIRIJQ2DneTgctMsZ_8hHN4u6ksy6ENp5yqkZduNcWFzkQbqkfwhuzBEiEguolgIuWokwIPHJG7RKIFn4f6sMT/w640-h360/Melkor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>In the destruction of Númenór new lands are raised as well as destroyed. As we go back into the First Age, we see the Valar shaping the land in more defensive ways, both by Melkor and those loyal to Ilúvatar. A few examples will suffice.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>But the east shores of Aman were the uttermost end of Belegaer, the Great Sea of the West; and since Melkor was returned to Middle-earth and they could not yet overcome him, the Valar fortified their dwelling, and upon the shores of the sea they raised the Pelóri, the Mountains of Aman, highest upon Earth.</i></p><p><i>The mountains were the Hithaeglir, the Towers of Mist upon the borders of Eriador; yet they were taller and more terrible in those days, and were reared by Melkor to hinder the riding of Oromë.</i></p><p><i>The Valar were in doubt, fearing what the malice and cunning of Morgoth might yet contrive against them. Therefore at that time they fortified their land anew, and they raised up the mountain-walls of the Pelóri to sheer and dreadful heights, east, north, and south. Their outer sides were dark and smooth, without foothold or ledge, and they fell in great precipices with faces hard as glass, and rose up to towers with crowns of white ice. A sleepless watch was set upon them, and no pass led through them save only at the Calacirya: but that pass the Valar did not close, because of the Eldar that were faithful. </i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>With important exceptions, the power of the Valar seems to <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-did-Gil-Galad-and-Elendil-possibly-defeat-Sauron-with-his-ring-I-know-they-were-very-powerful-but-Sauron-with-the-ring-in-the-heart-of-his-territory-with-Maiar-powers-should-be-able-to-crush-them-How-did-they/answer/Lui-Peres?ch=10&oid=384440382&share=429535b0&srid=dwERW&target_type=answer">diminish as time progresses</a>. Sometimes Tolkien is quite unambiguous about this, saying that the creation of the Trees (see part four) is an achievement so great that <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Yavanna">Yavanna</a> is drained to the extent that she can never repeat it. Sauron is weakened by the destruction of Númenór such that he is locked into a single physical form. Certainly it seems the powers even of the Valar are not unlimited and they cannot fully escape the confines of the beings they become while in Arda – only Eru can do that. </p><p>But at other times the reasons and mechanisms are less clear what's going on : why should a mountain range be any barrier against a fellow being capable of raising mountains themselves ?</p><p>What I suspect is happening is that the more they embed themselves in Middle Earth, the more they become bound to its laws. The spirit of the Valar is utterly indestructible, but their corporeal bodies (which they wear like "raiments" as Tolkien puts it) are certainly not – they can be injured, even destroyed altogether. And the more Morgoth interacts with the world, the less and less supernatural he seems, becoming more and more confined to his own fortress-prison. Something similar <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-did-Gil-Galad-and-Elendil-possibly-defeat-Sauron-with-his-ring-I-know-they-were-very-powerful-but-Sauron-with-the-ring-in-the-heart-of-his-territory-with-Maiar-powers-should-be-able-to-crush-them-How-did-they/answer/Lui-Peres?ch=10&oid=384440382&share=429535b0&srid=dwERW&target_type=answer">befalls Sauron</a>.</p><p>Alternatively, but perhaps not entirely mutually exclusively, the "mountains" are nothing of the sort. The Valar's "bodies" are explicitly intended themselves as metaphor, as something the audience can grasp that is merely <i>representative </i>of their true, unfathomable selves. In that case the mountains should be understood only as barriers of some kind, not literally tall pointy rocky things. </p><p>Or, perhaps most likely, they may be a mixture of both : mountains raised in latter days are indeed great big rocks, whereas those back in the mists of time are not the same at all.</p><p>For the purposes of mythmaking, the ambiguity here is part of the appeal. Compare this <a href="https://www.tor.com/2017/08/01/tolkiens-map-and-the-messed-up-mountains-of-middle-earth/">very amusing analysis</a> (and also <a href="https://www.tor.com/2017/10/10/tolkiens-map-and-the-perplexing-river-systems-of-middle-earth/">this one</a>) of the geography of Middle Earth from a rational, scientific perspective :</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Tectonic plates don’t tend to collide at neat right angles, let alone in some configuration as to create a</i> nearly perfect box<i> of mountains in the middle of a continent. I’ve heard the reasoning before that suggests Sauron has made those mountains somehow, and I suppose right angles are a metaphor for the evil march of progress, but I don’t recall that being in the books I read. And ultimately, this feels a lot like defending the cake in the song </i>MacArthur Park<i> as a metaphor </i><i>–</i><i> okay fine, maybe it’s a metaphor…but it’s a silly metaphor that makes my geologist heart cry tears of hematite.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>This is firmly tongue-in-cheek, but to take it unfairly seriously, honestly... no, it's not a silly metaphor. It's an essential, indispensable part of Tolkienian cosmology. The whole point is that the world is ordered and directed by conflicting intelligences – that's what lends it mythical credentials. Of course, it has nothing to do with "the march of progress", which is a highly complex and utterly non-linear (hah, so no right-angles then !) process in the history of Middle Earth. It's about saying that the seemingly inert, eternal, vast landscapes beyond human engineering capabilities are the work of higher beings. That's what gives it mythical status : to explain the inexplicable in terms comprehensible to our own mortal <i>and intuitive</i> reasoning.</p><p>I emphasise "intuitive" because of course continental drift is perfectly simple to understand. But if you were raised outside the sphere of influence of centuries upon centuries of university education and sophisticated technological developments, the idea that whole continents could move around by themselves just would not occur to you, any more than it would to suppose that the Earth revolved around the Sun. Far simpler to suppose some higher intelligence was at work instead. </p><p>And furthermore, the ambiguity in whether Tolkien intends us to read "mountains" literally is reinforced with his omission as to how the mountains are actually raised. Does Morgoth sing a song ? Does he actually physically lay stone upon stone with his hands ? Answering this would be scientific, which is the very thing we should strive to avoid here, <i>because the question cannot be scientifically answered in Tolkien's creation</i>. Science by its very nature precludes ambiguity, whereas myths, like poetry, thrives on it. A myth that says, "Morgoth gathered six hundred and fifty billion stones each weighing between 100 and 500 kg, heated them in a big furnace to 1200°C and melted them together to make a mountain" is just not a myth at all.</p><p></p><hr /><br /><p></p><p>We've seen how Tolkien creates such a damned appealing story by mixing a materialistic, basically believable narrative with aspects of true myth. Most of the time little Frodo doesn't have to worry about the rocks and trees being out to get him, but sometimes he does. Words have real power and even the landscape itself is symbolic of the infinitely greater forces at work.</p><p>The power of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> is that these moments hearken back to the earlier eras when the world was driven by conflicting intelligences, a mythology that is not just thrown in for dramatic effect, but fully developed. The consistency of this matters. Even as the physics is replaced with an entirely different set of rules, this older system <i>feels </i>plausible (most readers will never be consciously aware of this) because it behaves in its own consistent way. It may not have scientific, physical laws as we know them but it does have its own rules by which it functions. </p><p>Ironically, we've also seen how these mythic elements also rely on ambiguity and uncertainty. By refusing to spell out in minute detail (or even any detail at all) exactly how the Valar operate, Tolkien demands the reader fills in the gap by themselves, inevitably drawing on their own emotions. He's not asking us how we <i>think </i>the Valar made the world, he's asking us how we <i>feel </i>it was done. As we've seen, in earlier times this was done on the grandest of scales, empowering the story with a strong sense of awe. But we're not done yet. In <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iv-world.html">part four</a>, we'll move on the the global-scale processes : the shaping of continents and the light of heaven.</p></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-47531286216195774392022-10-17T16:21:00.002-04:002022-10-22T04:07:16.822-04:00The Cosmology of Middle Earth (II) : Men and Monsters<p>It's time to continue with my series I probably should have titled <i>Why I Love Tolkien So Damn Much</i>. I'm looking at how Tolkien gives his work a sense of epic myth in part by drawing on cosmological-scale themes, drawing fundamental properties of the universe down into the smaller realms of everyday life.</p><p><a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-i-rings.html">Last time</a> I began by looking at the Rings as symbols of corruption, but perhaps more importantly Narsil, the sword that cut the Ring from Sauron's finger. Glowing with the light of the Sun and Moon, its greatest deed was only wrought when it was broken and its light lost. Beauty, according to Tolkien, is not at all necessary for goodness, and sometimes the quality is wholly ambiguous : a fiery sword can be a thing of moral virtue but fire is also used in the defence of evil. We also saw that evil characters can feign beauty and use it to flatter and deceive.</p><p>Clearly, Tolkien's stories are a lot more complex than they're often given credit for. They are <i>not </i>Hollywood tales of knights in shining armour, even if they do sometimes charge to the rescue atop a white horse. They have grit and muck and gore, and Tolkien thought very carefully indeed about the characteristics he gave to each and every being.</p><p>In this second part, I'll up the scale of things just a notch to look at a selection of the denizens of Middle Earth. I'll continue examining the complexity of beauty in Tolkien's world and start to look at how these beasts and beings can embody forces much larger than themselves.</p><p><b><u><br /></u></b></p><p><b><u>2) </u></b><u style="font-weight: bold;">Men and Monsters</u></p><p><i>Lúthien</i> <i> </i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfo3WarGwPVg4tL-IHV-_4SAjDlI0jCjZGzlKwzUmvlIFk78TBCSdP95eVtQ57CpaDq0fUGnj_cFzCt-YcLnLjb3YXCTZ4ndLtYotnfKu7mw4yLB-1GhGS-cb11VjtepF-fhcszxsgVHTi2_WBYOgRUZbznKSpjcfeX2rO76ye9F8lz9w3WEtmJ4um/s1024/Luthien.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfo3WarGwPVg4tL-IHV-_4SAjDlI0jCjZGzlKwzUmvlIFk78TBCSdP95eVtQ57CpaDq0fUGnj_cFzCt-YcLnLjb3YXCTZ4ndLtYotnfKu7mw4yLB-1GhGS-cb11VjtepF-fhcszxsgVHTi2_WBYOgRUZbznKSpjcfeX2rO76ye9F8lz9w3WEtmJ4um/w640-h426/Luthien.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Very little good artwork exists of the this part of <i>The Silmarillion. </i>This <a href="https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2017/03/30/of-beren-and-luthien/the-tale-of-beren-and-luthien-book-cover/">book cover</a> is sort-of okay, apart from Juan's demented expression.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that have come down to us from the darkness of those days, there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy, and under the shadow of death, light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>So begins one of the most epic tales in one of the most epic works ever written, a pinnacle of romantic heroism, full of monsters, vampires, werewolves, a story so grand that even the Spanish-speaking superdog and – yes, seriously – <i>an actual singing contest with Sauron</i> doesn't diminish its mighty accomplishment. But I must carefully restrict myself, lest I wax lyrical and forget what my point was.</p><p>Lúthien certainly has the true-sort of beauty, the light of the Eldar. Her power is great enough to contest with the will of Morgoth himself, rendering itself in ways sometimes small and sometimes great. </p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>There came a time near dawn on the eve of spring, and Lúthien danced upon a green hill; and suddenly she began to sing. Keen, heart-piercing was her song as the song of the lark that rises from the gates of night and pours its voice among the dying stars, seeing the sun behind the walls of the world; and the song of Lúthien released the bonds of winter, and the frozen waters spoke, and flowers sprang from the cold earth where her feet had passed. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>Note that last. Flowers may seem a small thing, but mean that Lúthien can create life – a divine power ! At times it almost feels as though beauty itself is a power in the world, but this is not so. Rather beauty – true beauty – flows from Lúthien's goodness. Her song can alter the very seasons, making her ability to overthrow a mere fortress a trifle by comparison.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Then Lúthien stood upon the bridge, and declared her power : and the spell was loosed that bound stone to stone, and the gates were thrown down, and the walls opened, and the pits laid bare.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The use of song echoes the cosmology of the <i>Silmarillion </i>at its most fundamental level. Song was how the world itself was created, which I'll return to only at the end. Through song Lúthien connects to the Valar, the powers that govern the world, allowing ordinary actions to transcend to much higher levels. Tolkien captures what we feel <i>should </i>be happening when in the thralls of deepest emotions and gives it physical form. We can argue all day about the use of rhetoric and logic and correct persuasive argument, but those who think they can completely escape their emotional prisons are simply wrong. Tolkien instead chooses to embrace it.</p><p>And the singing contest with Sauron ? It could be meant literally, as in the famous ending to <i>Zulu</i>. Or it could be a metaphor for spells. Part of the appeal of Tolkien is that it's not always clear when he means to say something literally happened and when he's just using metaphorical imagery. More often than not, it's the former. Of course in this case songs could simply be used <i>as </i>spells; they're not always mutually exclusive.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XSEU5zHgcTc" width="320" youtube-src-id="XSEU5zHgcTc"></iframe></div><p>To return to beauty, in a later tale Lúthien wears a Silmaril, and the effect is practically angelic.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>It is said and sung that Lúthien wearing that necklace and that immortal jewel was the vision of greatest beauty and glory that has ever been outside the realm of Valinor; and for a little while the Land of the Dead that Live became like a vision of the land of the Valar, and no place has been since so fair, so fruitful, or so filled with light.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>But even the beauty of the Silmaril, holding as it does the light of the Trees that preceded that of the Sun and Moon, is not itself pure and innocent. Lust for the Silmarils causes the ruin of uncounted elves : even these most beautiful of works of the elder days can corrupt, sometimes burning the hands of those who set upon them. It is only when they are paired with someone truly good, such as Lúthien, that their full power shines through. Beauty itself may sometimes seem like a force, but it is not : it is only ever a manifestation of moral intent. The effect it has depends on the minds of those who see it, rather than shaping those minds in itself.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Gandalf</i></p><p>Just a quick final example of how subtle beauty can be in Tolkien's writing. Everyone's favourite wizard is unarguably good to the point of saintliness, but he can also be dangerous and threatening. Just as beauty itself does not guarantee goodness, so Gandalf provides an interesting and unusual counter-example : a good character using darkness and menace for his own ends :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cQurLf-I_50" width="320" youtube-src-id="cQurLf-I_50"></iframe></div><p>Or as written in the novel :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>'Well, if you want my ring yourself, say so!' cried Bilbo. 'But you won't get it. I won't give my Precious away, I tell you.' His hand strayed to the hilt of his small sword.</i></p><p><i>Gandalf's eyes flashed. 'It will be my turn to get angry soon,' he said. 'If you say that again, I shall. Then you will see Gandalf the Grey uncloaked.' He took a step toward the hobbit, and he seemed to grow tall and menacing; his shadow filled the little room.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>So yes, Tolkien has fairytale aspects of heroes who flourish the sword in such a way that it goes "ting" when the light hits it, of grace and elegance reflecting the inner virtues of their protagonists. But it's also not that simple. Evil characters can use feign glamour and style, and good characters can use darkness and intimidation. Tolkien's world does have simplistic elements of good-versus-evil, but it would be a mistake to think that's all there is to it.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>The Nazg</i><i>û</i><i>l</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoqQX-5uMkUHf_XQP_N8htp000d3lt-fEmW7suMDXUk4KANgn-SVvF_F3vE-UASNt5c2IlHkHiulpZXhjjSzSS62APm8nP2IybgXplfxYq5vPB_ET7xHhYL59CuwJ0M_HVZT2uVs6CC-j1FqIEa9UZL52nIUu7u5EQ36KeVTVcuuLKlCpiwL4WSNc/s800/Nazgul.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="800" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoqQX-5uMkUHf_XQP_N8htp000d3lt-fEmW7suMDXUk4KANgn-SVvF_F3vE-UASNt5c2IlHkHiulpZXhjjSzSS62APm8nP2IybgXplfxYq5vPB_ET7xHhYL59CuwJ0M_HVZT2uVs6CC-j1FqIEa9UZL52nIUu7u5EQ36KeVTVcuuLKlCpiwL4WSNc/w640-h362/Nazgul.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>While the forces of good can create life, the forces of darkness bring about death. One point Tolkien was quite emphatic about was that evil cannot create, it can only corrupt and destroy. Its effects are not easy to fully overthrow – indeed, that may be impossible. For example, after Éowyn and Merry slay the Black Captain and the fell beast on which he rides, the clean-up operation begins. Théoden's horse is buried but the Nazgûl's* corpse is burned :</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Strictly speaking the Nazgûl are the Ringwraiths, and the winged beasts they ride on are simply <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Fellbeast">fellbeasts</a>. However, this is because Tolkien foolishly insisted on giving fifty names for some things and one really stupid name for others. I prefer the convention of the movies, where the Nazgûl are the monsters. It's certainly an improvement when you realise that there are also <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63187795">fell ponies</a>.</span></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Green and long grew the grass on Snowmane's Howe, but ever black and bare was the ground where the beast was burned.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The effects of goodness and evil alike linger on. As Lúthien creates life, so does Snowmane's body <span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 18px;">–</span> but so too does the body of the Nazgûl bring death even after its own end. Such a creature that continues killing even beyond its own demise is a frightening prospect indeed. Yes, it has big nasty pointy teeth, but it is far worse than that : the very essence of its being is wholly evil.</p><p>As an aside, this lingering nature mirrors the fates of all beings in Middle Earth. None are ever fully destroyed, though their influence on the world can be greatly increased or diminished. Morgoth, on his final defeat, is cast into the uttermost void but can still affect the minds of those remaining (albeit not very strongly, but sometimes significantly). Sauron becomes a ghost. The Elves are explicitly said to have an afterlife*, and though it's not known where the spirits of men or dwarves go, it seems that they definitely go <i>somewhere, </i>with the ghostly Army of the Dead being of pivotal importance. And, while life and mind may be insignificant in the real cosmos, in Tolkien myth, as we shall see, they are anything but.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Indeed their souls are so strong that they slowly destroy their bodies from within, in some cases turning them to ash on their death.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Dragons</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNT1GIRz5XKLMsZeXII_6y2uaBoi8h6U7vwnWzMMVmvbdzoMqe5ZpRkS8rfmu3N0u2r8jAKNnmoFHVzpLp-wARouLq8H23xnmGg1ERbD5IqowimLUWwflHzszfMcotqZ3d5TRrBOFA_BQutrJmadTioDGLjmNYAYd53OYHCskp1UZwnA3u0_CI4Ua/s1024/Glaurung.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="1024" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNT1GIRz5XKLMsZeXII_6y2uaBoi8h6U7vwnWzMMVmvbdzoMqe5ZpRkS8rfmu3N0u2r8jAKNnmoFHVzpLp-wARouLq8H23xnmGg1ERbD5IqowimLUWwflHzszfMcotqZ3d5TRrBOFA_BQutrJmadTioDGLjmNYAYd53OYHCskp1UZwnA3u0_CI4Ua/w640-h322/Glaurung.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Glaurung?file=Lord_of_the_rings_glaurung_by_vaejoun-d71q48f.jpg">Glaurung</a>, father of dragons.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Middle Earth has a wide variety of monsters. A few, such as the wolves, seem to be little more than ordinary predatory animals. Others, like the orcs, are foot-soldiers of the dark powers, with little will of their own. But a few have supernatural aspects that make them altogether more threatening. While Balrogs and trolls are bloody scary creatures, for the most part they're pretty thick.</p><p>Dragons are different. Dragons are no mere grunts, but intelligent, thinking beings. Among the most formidable weapons in the Dark Lord's arsenal, they are <a href="https://qr.ae/pveyKD">manifestations of evil</a>. Of course, the obvious way to demonstrate this is to point out that they're huge and scaly and breathe fire and go around killing people <i>en masse</i> and causing general mayhem. Certainly their fire-breathing aspect is important, with Morgoth using volcanic fire at the <a href="https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Dagor_Bragollach">Battle of Sudden Flame</a> to devastating effect. The dragon's mastery of this elemental weapon imbues them with a capability to inspire a very primal fear, as though they were products of the earth itself.</p><p>But more important than this is their intelligence. Dragons are deceptive to the point that they can mesmerise their foes :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Then Túrin sprang about, and strode against him, and the edges of Gurthang shone as with flame; but Glaurung withheld his blast, and opened wide his serpent-eyes and gazed upon Túrin. Without fear Túrin looked into them as he raised up the sword; and straightway he fell under the binding spell of the lidless eyes of the dragon, and was halted moveless. Then for a long time he stood as one graven of stone; and they two were alone, silent before the doors of Nargothrond. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>They do not invariably devour them, but manipulate them, telling lies to further the ends of the Dark Powers, to spread further ruin and corruption throughout their enemies. Now you might think this hardly necessary for a huge scaly beast that can breathe fire, but for Tolkien, lies matter infinitely more than strength : morality is at the centre of the tale (incidentally, this is why violations of self-consistency in terms of the basic physics of the novel, e.g. how the Rings work, is <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/10/sci-fi-versus-fantasy.html">largely irrelevant</a>). The dragon's incarnation of evil is not only shown by its spewing flame, but because it can alter the hearts and mind of men. The dragon's size and fiery breath inspire <b>fear</b>, but its lies are what make it <b>evil</b>. They are no mere beasts.</p><p>Now this might not seem like a cosmological element, but it is. In Tolkien's moralistic cosmos, mind is necessarily everything, and the corruption of mind is, as we shall see, like a perversion of reality itself. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Hobbits</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFdoUGsa8AdXU-XcC4b8BpJmslPgUNIaT_n0e_shRE7kNqkZCTHtWNyDvQjBUoP8fsbUX0MWAjjaNeXF6M0NQrFlycFkPYnFbPONYcriOy4OxAq5rtR7cDprsfGmufCaPCJj1GcskzyFTOk26U5BEjT6XTLELC4MXWsmlwHDX7SaQH5Z0Z9EXDKqg/s799/Wise%20hobbit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="799" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFdoUGsa8AdXU-XcC4b8BpJmslPgUNIaT_n0e_shRE7kNqkZCTHtWNyDvQjBUoP8fsbUX0MWAjjaNeXF6M0NQrFlycFkPYnFbPONYcriOy4OxAq5rtR7cDprsfGmufCaPCJj1GcskzyFTOk26U5BEjT6XTLELC4MXWsmlwHDX7SaQH5Z0Z9EXDKqg/w640-h266/Wise%20hobbit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>One final small-scale example before we turn to bigger matters. While all the strength of men and wisdom of wizards cannot evade the evil of the Ring, the simple goodness of the hobbits can belay it. Tolkien's thoughts on race are, at the least, <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/09/amazon-versus-government.html">complicated</a>, but there's good in all of them (except the orcs). On evil, he seems more definitive that it can corrupt but never create. It can take what exists and twist it to its own dark ends, but it cannot create monsters from nothing.<p></p><p>The hobbit's resistance (though not completely immunity) to the influence of the Ring follows this. They're stupid, fat, lazy little buggers, who are "content to be ignored", wanting nothing more than to sit around smoking their chubby little arses off all day drinking beer. Quite simply, there's not much there for the dark powers to work with. They're basically... pugs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEFlTffhboSsTq_9yOAtBp-hPjGqp2SKRtyv137fdSivX886z0kc_ySum49HquNFPsktvuMtkFjJznR_hzsIzCTTS6A6PPNMdRrue406ga7Zo6i8T3a7d5AUxE20ePFkPfFWQW8XjWSNXxzcd8AX8zkkNTSy2UAQOGsPc9cocwx1fDjocDgQmFErq/s900/Pugs%20Crumple%20Zone.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="900" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihEFlTffhboSsTq_9yOAtBp-hPjGqp2SKRtyv137fdSivX886z0kc_ySum49HquNFPsktvuMtkFjJznR_hzsIzCTTS6A6PPNMdRrue406ga7Zo6i8T3a7d5AUxE20ePFkPfFWQW8XjWSNXxzcd8AX8zkkNTSy2UAQOGsPc9cocwx1fDjocDgQmFErq/w640-h438/Pugs%20Crumple%20Zone.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>The hobbits small-minded nature is a literary device, but it's also narratively crucial. Frodo might not actually destroy the Ring as he claims, but his resistance to its effects is crucial in getting it to Mt Doom in the first place : without this, there would have been no chance of destroying it at all. Dwarves can be tempted towards an insatiable lust for gold, but hobbits are so... innocent that even this avenue is not open to the powers of the shadow. </p><p>Of course, their stout little hearts are jam-packed with courage too. Anyway, hobbits are an obvious source of sympathy and empathy for the reader. It's far easier to relate to a helpless little hobbit than a mighty Elven warrior : we, like them, don't really know what's going on at first. We learn along with them. We experience their fears and, we may hope, come to understand some of their bravery too. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CWANZFdMwz0" width="320" youtube-src-id="CWANZFdMwz0"></iframe></div><p>Towards the very end of <i>The Silmarillion</i>, Tolkien floored me with the following simple quote :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Help shall come from the weak, when the wise falter.</i></blockquote><p>And hobbits are, genuinely, weak. That doesn't make them without value, but exactly the opposite.</p><p>One virtue that hobbits do possess is a love of things that grow, of the natural world around them provided it isn't trying to kill or main or squish them. Hobbits do not have any powers of sourcery nor grace of the Valar that causes flowers to spring in their steps. No, they have to do things the hard way. Even so, in cultivating the earth, with Tolkien's love of nature exemplified in the Ents, they touch upon the greater nature of good and evil. Hobbits too reflect the Tolkienian cosmos, but on a smaller scale and in a less mythical, more accessible way.</p><hr /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>So beauty and ugliness in Tolkien's world are anything but simple. They can be manifestations of the moral qualities of powerful characters who reshape the world around them. But they can also be used for deceit and intimidation, even by characters who are unarguably good. There's an awful lot more shades of grey than a casual reading might reveal.</p><p>Yet there are simplistic elements in the stories too. Good characters embody life and growth, whereas bad characters represent decay and death. These are very primal qualities, found deep in the human psyche that we all instinctively understand. In <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iii-land.html">part three</a> I'll move on to show how these same forces can be manifested on larger scales, from the forest of Fangorn to the hellscape of Mordor. And we'll begin to look at how Tolkien uses landscapes as symbols for powers more potent and primal that reach back into to the deepest time.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-33869073225634970222022-10-15T05:36:00.007-04:002022-10-28T11:54:56.022-04:00The Cosmology of Middle Earth (I) : Rings and Things<p>Fantasy has a long history of being sneered at by the literatti elite. Stories about make-believe dwarves and monsters have been routinely dismissed as just useless escapism, in a way which even science fiction doesn't seem to suffer from. I remember reading a magazine article that once sweepingly dismissed all attempts to analyse <i>The Lord Of The Rings </i>as pointless because it was, "just a good story" but offered no real insights into anything much. I even had a sci-fi loving friend who lamented about "Tolkien apologists" and deridingly proclaimed that George R. R. Martin was clearly the better writer.</p><p>This of course is utter nonsense, which is easily disproved by the following rap battle :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XAAp_luluo0" width="320" youtube-src-id="XAAp_luluo0"></iframe></div><p>And yet... Jonathan Swift's tale of teeny-tiny people and giants is considered a masterful piece of satire. Go back further and stories of King Arthur doing impossibly heroic deeds was considered high culture. Further still and we slip from legend to myth, of gods and demons that are every bit as vital to the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9654148-o-you-re-quite-a-writer-you-ve-a-gift-for-language">founding of civilisation</a> as roads and concrete. Nobody says Homer's <i>Iliad </i>is mere escapism because it's unrealistic. Nobody says <i>The Rime of the Ancient Mariner</i> is not worth reading because of its surrealism (or bad spelling), or that <i>Beowulf </i>is just pulp fiction. </p><p>Apparently today's silly tomfoolery undergoes some sort of divine ossification process through sheer time, turning from so much airy self-indulgence into the unbreakable bedrock of common culture.</p><p>Why ?</p><p>I don't know. But rather than tackle that strange process of change, I want to look at at one particular aspect of fantasy itself, of why, when at its very best, modern fantasy tales feel as powerful as any ancient myth. </p><p>Now <i>Game of Thrones</i> unquestionably has more realistic characters, more believable cynicism, more of the impure grittiness of real life, even a better understanding of human psychology. And yet... Tolkien's writing transcends all that. It reaches something infinitely deeper within the psyche. How does he do it ? How does Tolkien's deliberately unrealistic world elicit so much more emotion than Martin ever even approaches ? What is it about this world of implausible heroics, simplified malevolence, and some truly god-awful poetry that sends shivers down my spine on every reading, of wanting to (very quietly) join in the cry of, <i>"DEEAATTHH !!!"</i> whenever I see Théoden lead his fatal charge on the field of Pelennor in the movie ? Jon Snow's frequent near-death experiences might have me on the edge of my seat, but nothing he does holds a candle to the Last March of the Ents.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RqCtduCT6V_jf4304NrvlK5T9YXPZOK5z3idZh2yE2Oynn30XdrHqqckzIz-IA4FhUbsns2j9asKxaL9aE6dw70bz4bGqb2OQmCbiWdYTO98esXWw5eDbhU-TEghQFvXju1T6z1Eo6XxulD-R7QsHIpRTRAVtD6Te_mzTjE4yJJ8fk_qzotlpLNo/s1600/Hold%20on%20little%20hobbits.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RqCtduCT6V_jf4304NrvlK5T9YXPZOK5z3idZh2yE2Oynn30XdrHqqckzIz-IA4FhUbsns2j9asKxaL9aE6dw70bz4bGqb2OQmCbiWdYTO98esXWw5eDbhU-TEghQFvXju1T6z1Eo6XxulD-R7QsHIpRTRAVtD6Te_mzTjE4yJJ8fk_qzotlpLNo/w640-h360/Hold%20on%20little%20hobbits.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>"HOLD ON, LITTLE HOBBITS !"</b></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I am going to argue that the answer, at least in part, is <i>cosmology</i>. I will try to show that by manifesting good and evil as physical forms, from the scale of flowers and trees to that of the very universe itself, Tolkien's world gives a literal embodiment to our deepest hopes and fears. It connects our small-scale inner worlds to the larger realities around us, giving them the vast, all-encompassing scale we think they really have. Rage and hate and love and fear and grief and triumph may in fact be nothing more than the smallest flows of electrons in the heads of some unremarkable apes on a minor rock orbiting an unimportant star, but this isn't how they <i>feel</i>. And it is precisely because of this choice to avoid reality, to tell a tale of how we think the world should be rather than how it is, of reflecting our emotions back into the environment, that the work achieves its power.</p><p>Middle Earth does not entirely escape the clutches of reality. But any allusions to geology, physics, or such mundane trivia as the cosmic microwave background radiation or nucleosynthesis, are entirely incidental and coincidental. I am <i>not </i>going to attempt anything like "the science of Middle Earth", which would be a contradiction in terms. Instead, I'm going to examine its cosmology on its own terms.</p><p>Warning : I enjoyed writing this a bit too much. I might even have got a bit carried away. So, I've split this into five parts (objects (this post), <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-ii-men.html">people</a>, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iii-land.html">land</a>, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-iv-world.html">world</a>, and <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-cosmology-of-middle-earth-v-cosmos.html">cosmos</a>) just to make them of a bearable length. Today, just the prologue and some very basic examples of magical objects.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Prologue</u></b></p><p><i>Motivation</i></p><p>Ironically, the germ of this idea began not with Middle Earth but Westeros. I was fascinated by the idea that something as fundamental as the seasons could be interpreted as so radically different from what we know them to actually be (of which more can be found in this marvellous little <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1304.0445">April Fool's paper</a>). Of all the fields of human endeavour, fantasy is where imagination is given the most free reign. Outside of the arts, the only other arenas that come close are philosophy and the very forefront of scientific research – but that is strictly limited. Once, we could legitimately debate whether the Earth is flat or round, but no longer. Only fantasy allows us to do so again, to recapture our lost ignorance.</p><p>And credit where credit is due. Not only the Peter Jackson movies of <i>Lord of the Rings</i>, but HBO's <i>Game of Thrones</i> too deserves praise if nothing else than for making fantasy credible to the masses. Though its escape from derision is hardly complete, fantasy, like video games, has become well and truly mainstream.</p><p>But the story of <i>Game of Thrones</i> does not really revolve around cosmology in the way that Tolkien's tales do. The seasons of Westeros are important, but are rather superficial. In Middle Earth (or more accurately Arda*) the nature of the universe is absolutely integral. Cersei Lannister might get a bit chilly in winter, but she won't feel it as a terror of Morgoth sent from Angband. Arya Stark might sail west for the sake of exploration, but she won't literally sail into heaven. You could suck all the magic from Westeros** and still tell essentially the same story, but you couldn't do this for Tolkien (this is also part of how I define the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/10/sci-fi-versus-fantasy.html">difference between sci-fi and fantasy</a>).</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I may sometimes use these terms interchangeably as the term "Arda" is just not nearly as rhetorically effective, since it just isn't used as much. I will try to use the terms accurately when that is strictly required, however. </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">** Not that you should suck <i>anything </i>in Westeros.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Bias</i></p><p>It might be helpful to forewarn the reader of what I like and dislike about these series. I'm not a prolific reader of fiction. For me the Big Three in fantasy are Tolkien, Game of Thrones, and Discworld. This piece is not intended to be comparative, but sometimes it's helpful to set things in context.</p><p>Now I love Tolkien, and wouldn't be writing this if I didn't. But there are aspects of his work where I have to say that I think he was simply no good. His poetry was awful. His character names were hit-and-miss at best, with a long sequence of rhyming family names in<i> The Silmarillion</i> being downright silly, and place names were no better (Tirion upon Tuna ? The hell has a big fish got to do with anything ?). Worst of all was <strike>Huan</strike> Juan the Hound, a blatantly Spanish-speaking dog who travelled around Middle Earth having adventures that certainly eclipsed anything Lassie ever did, but with that bizarrely-Spanish choice* being an unnecessary distraction. And sorry, professor of English or no, pronouncing Smaug as "Smowg" is just a <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2014/01/dear-peter-jackson.html">catastrophically daft choice</a>, and the phrase, "the noontide of Valinor was drawing to its twilight" is one so ugly that it deserves the sort of award nobody wants to receive.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Okay, Tolkien doesn't <i>actually </i>say he speaks Spanish. But his name... look, it's just bloody Spanish, and you won't persuade me otherwise.</span></p><p>Tolkien's narrative was hardly perfectly constructed either. I'm sorry, but the Scouring of the Shire really is just bad writing. You can defend it all you want, I care not. I can accept the importance of the role of fate in Gollum <i>falling </i>into Mt Doom (rather than being pushed)*, but to then have this protracted, incredibly awkward sequence in which Saruman turns up afterwards to mess with people's gardens is just bloody stupid. It's completely out of kilter with the whole epic tone that's developed with such care and perfection throughout the novel, much like having aliens in an <i>Indiana Jones</i> movie is such an obviously wrong choice that no sane person would ever conceive of it.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Though when Frodo later claims that he himself destroyed the the Ring, he's just being a dick. <b>You didn't do that Frodo !</b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJLw-0-adyYBxB-A17T3H9-fiogo-cAd8D9t-9zff9i_NIA4JCIODR7QgQLlaBMg99WbBS0uczLPrrCygrCZWCjlzden8nYQXTY98ijRMDZBgVriDrR4dhnWnKVssL1kus5TCSyVzvhFWX3H6hXUXXLXThc0tayXsjZKnE3jWDgncBhm4bMX8aCaP/s1108/Indy%205.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1108" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJLw-0-adyYBxB-A17T3H9-fiogo-cAd8D9t-9zff9i_NIA4JCIODR7QgQLlaBMg99WbBS0uczLPrrCygrCZWCjlzden8nYQXTY98ijRMDZBgVriDrR4dhnWnKVssL1kus5TCSyVzvhFWX3H6hXUXXLXThc0tayXsjZKnE3jWDgncBhm4bMX8aCaP/w640-h480/Indy%205.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"The hell am I supposed to do with this ?"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So yes, there are aspects of Tolkien I think are the sorts of tale that would inspire men to move mountains, but I don't hold him as above criticism. There are definitely parts where his frequent revisionism really shows. And... the less said about Tom Bombadil, the better.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLm6RnFzpjHth8_UFWNvh90ebWdFSPH1pR732R6_MMOid4yQmlH7npgrERREvGw_WodbeHpOstcrD59vI2z-YZXyMfWkXjvtkw-ltnN5wtGtazgggH2lP1zF5qMb-NbPiiPPT2ACmoFCPtByx8AQuUDue327kLTQWt7j5YRWnnp4USCEyitqirY_Sg/s900/Giant%20hobbit.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="900" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLm6RnFzpjHth8_UFWNvh90ebWdFSPH1pR732R6_MMOid4yQmlH7npgrERREvGw_WodbeHpOstcrD59vI2z-YZXyMfWkXjvtkw-ltnN5wtGtazgggH2lP1zF5qMb-NbPiiPPT2ACmoFCPtByx8AQuUDue327kLTQWt7j5YRWnnp4USCEyitqirY_Sg/w640-h214/Giant%20hobbit.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From the ever-delightful <a href="http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/080909.html">Sheldon webcomic</a>, of course.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And it's okay that things aren't perfect. But to say there's no value in Tolkien... that's deranged. Parts of both <i>The Lord of the Rings</i> and <i>The Silmarillion</i> are easily on a par with anything to be found in Homer. They are epics on the grandest of scales and of the deepest of thoughts, and not one writer in ten thousand even comes close.</p><p>I must also mention probably my favourite author of all : Sir Terry Pratchett. I have a yearning to eventually write a post entitled <i>The Philosophy of Discworld</i>, but that will have to wait. If <i>Thrones </i>is a masterpiece in understanding the base and cynical nature of humankind, Discworld is awash with its wider qualities, from evil to inspired to heroic and everything in between. Pratchett was a master of the miniature epic, deftly producing a unique blend of insight and hilarity in equal measure. Less cynical than Martin but more real than Tolkien, the first twenty or thirty (!) Discworld books are pure gold.</p><p>But Pratchett too I do not hold faultless. Here and there, the best moments of Discworld are on a par with the best of Tolkien, but by and large the scale is altogether smaller. And Pratchett's anti-theism is something I find very hard to grapple with : everything in the books suggests someone who understood the magnitudes of baffling complexities of reality, but his view on religion seemed (at times) to have been about as sophisticated as that of a petulant child. For a fantasy writer to suggest, <i>with intentional insult</i>, that religious books also needed to go on the fantasy shelf, is a truly bitter irony.</p><p>So that's where I'm coming from. One other point : I'm partly inspired by <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1muYuF3X5MmXyLlMUO5FmUveOoVrgjsd3fPuFKJY_HCA/edit">this English Bachelor's thesis</a> on the relationship between the landscape and the characters of the Discworld. Simplifying, on the Discworld, characters largely draw strength from the land. In Middle Earth, I shall show that it is usually the opposite : mind and emotion influence the land, the world, and indeed the very universe itself. This is a grand challenge, and to understand the cosmology of Middle Earth, it may be helpful to begin at the smallest of scales and work our way upwards.</p><p>I take for my source material primarily <i>The Silmarillion</i>, but also <i>The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle Earth</i> (Karen Wynn Fonstad), and bits here and there, when I can remember them, from <i>The Lord Of The Rings</i>. I do not have a copy of the <i>The Hobbit</i> or Tolkien's other works.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>1) Objects</u></b></p><p><i>The Rings of Power</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TfkFg0GdMBP-geko15LGdF1LF2jHAStVxFgi-ynCcP1KVvyGdJLtufbAd7nM19f8wViEcWqI4tSWww_sLsBbEWMTcmIsBQ00uLvn53lUP2JPS4cvhcM31xN8fAUFexFY0D_nU-aYmIg1202vO2bz2CPSGuwKVImYRIeV8zfCwQLhDOKDPQEp72QJ/s1600/Three%20Rings.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TfkFg0GdMBP-geko15LGdF1LF2jHAStVxFgi-ynCcP1KVvyGdJLtufbAd7nM19f8wViEcWqI4tSWww_sLsBbEWMTcmIsBQ00uLvn53lUP2JPS4cvhcM31xN8fAUFexFY0D_nU-aYmIg1202vO2bz2CPSGuwKVImYRIeV8zfCwQLhDOKDPQEp72QJ/w640-h360/Three%20Rings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>It's hardly that every magical item embodies something cosmological or even physical : Bilbo's little sword "Sting" can glow a bit, while the palantír are basically powerful telescopes. The Rings too don't directly represent anything particular about the universe. But they may be an exception that proves the rule. What they bring to the narrative is something that's insignificant to reality as a whole, but essential to human thinking : evil. Part of the emotive power of the Rings is to connect to that greater, mythical cosmology through an otherwise ordinary object.</p><p>So we'd better take a look at these. Besides, it'd just feel silly not to.</p><p>To be honest, on my recent re-listening of <i>The Silmarillion</i>, I found the story of the Rings tacked-on. It's certainly consistent with the style and tone of the storytelling, and it's a good tale in its own right even leaving aside the events of <i>The Lord Of The Rings</i>. But it squares awkwardly with the main narrative, not at all because it's a different or lesser story (it isn't), but more as though it had been poorly edited : only <i>after </i>Sauron is defeated do we learn that he had this super-awesome magical ring that had been giving everyone so much trouble.</p><p>Perhaps as such, the power of the Rings in terms of what they allow the wearer to do is not especially clear. Certainly the power of the One to corrupt the bearer can be read as a metaphor for power itself to corrupt, and we see this manifesting itself physically in Gollum's extended lifespan and the cost of his soul. We see it to an even greater extent in the Ringwraiths, who have faded to ghastly spectral forms utterly in the thrall of Sauron. And we see it to a much lesser degree in Bilbo, who gains long life but avoids becoming a living ghost. This duplicity and deception – with the One Ring itself betraying Isildur to find a new wearer – goes to the heart of Tolkien's morality, a theme we'll return to many times.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy558cz4263z5vca7vHBkutPyNPyQCwZSOpMhBf3qH6b-eHNfiM66lptRuyGbJj_BaOKIyHLuAwUkU3jmMNFnAly-vmgoXB5z5wdeXiIkskxdifUgeIqs3hkSI0ah_2ThFUCkzQLVdfAC-LDbX2kkSwYJ3833W2YygqLZWsMLcMKAi0EkFR1ZyZi2d/s640/Witch%20King%20ghost.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy558cz4263z5vca7vHBkutPyNPyQCwZSOpMhBf3qH6b-eHNfiM66lptRuyGbJj_BaOKIyHLuAwUkU3jmMNFnAly-vmgoXB5z5wdeXiIkskxdifUgeIqs3hkSI0ah_2ThFUCkzQLVdfAC-LDbX2kkSwYJ3833W2YygqLZWsMLcMKAi0EkFR1ZyZi2d/w640-h360/Witch%20King%20ghost.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Witch-King : immortal, but physically and morally corrupt.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But if the side-effects of the Rings are clear, their intentional effects (besides invisibility) are not. This is where the tacked-on nature of the Rings shows through. We're told that the main power of the One is mind control, allowing Sauron to control the other ring-wearers, so succeeding in corrupting the kings of men (though having no real success with the dwarves, who were too focused on mining). The problem is that this does not explain why Sauron is then suggested to become nigh-on all-powerful were he to have the One restored to him, with the Elves at the end of the Third Age being a substantially diminished power : controlling them wouldn't help all that much. Nor did his actually having the Ring in the Second Age, when the elves were a substantially greater force, prevent his downfall. </p><p>So what is so amazing about this Ring ? <i>Nobody </i>seems to have a clear answer. What exactly the Ring lets Sauron do that's so worrisome to the free peoples of Middle Earth, and why it wasn't such a problem last time, is frustratingly vague. Some have argued the One Ring is an allegory for nuclear weapons. Perhaps that influence was at work on Tolkien, I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be anything nearly as direct as allegory or even analogy. </p><p>More important to me is its corrupting, deceptive nature, evil manifesting itself as a physical object that the wearer may resist but cannot escape. In the end, how the Ring actually works does not matter nearly so much as the evil it represents, the desire for power, deception and lies. </p><p>But this is quite different to the other aspects of Tolkien I want to examine. The Ring embodies very human frailties, whereas other elements represent more physical attributes of the universe. This, though, does – in Tolkien's tale at least – ultimately include evil itself, which the One Ring epitomises.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Narsil </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5771hTv5rYQbofc3Is7tocKRUVpit0MZYm8unFBAZOdJwN4fxsghpHnT_9P0i43jeM9B9JMYbDPIiSRFTU81v_N3EgOAHQpv1nozlPCKGGAlnqzIx4jQ-3HHIed4KhOELQBRtqdzbmjV6IORyfBGqjU6O5PGQB77sQBNbGrfFTgHmr7aExRU8XCK/s997/Narsil.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="997" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5771hTv5rYQbofc3Is7tocKRUVpit0MZYm8unFBAZOdJwN4fxsghpHnT_9P0i43jeM9B9JMYbDPIiSRFTU81v_N3EgOAHQpv1nozlPCKGGAlnqzIx4jQ-3HHIed4KhOELQBRtqdzbmjV6IORyfBGqjU6O5PGQB77sQBNbGrfFTgHmr7aExRU8XCK/w640-h264/Narsil.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>The Blade-That-Was-Broken was once the sword <a href="https://neoencyclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Narsil">Narsil</a>. Isildur uses the shards to cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, but when intact, Narsil proper was a formidable weapon in the Last Alliance :</p><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">The spear of Gil-Galad none could stand, and the sword of Elendil filled orcs and men with fear, for it shone with the light of the Sun and of the Moon, and it was named "Narsil".</blockquote><p>The themes of light and dark are the blood and backbone of Tolkien myth. The appeal to something as world-altering as the Sun and the Moon are practically self-evident; whole religions have been devoted to Sun-worship. Narsil then connects, albeit in a small way, to something pivotal to human existence.</p><p>While Tolkien often uses literary devices like this purely and very simply to romanticise the story, he usually does mean that the descriptions should be taken literally : Narsil does actually glow, he's not just trying to emphasise how amazing it is. And the romantic aspect is often a good deal more complex than it may first appear. For example, the light of the Sun is incontestably a Good Thing in Middle Earth, which many lesser creatures of the Dark Lord shun at all costs. So Narsil fills them with fear, but this is not at all necessary for the blade's greatest moment : </p><p></p><blockquote><i>... And he </i>[Sauron]<i> wrestled with Gil-Galad and with Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron also was thrown down, and with the hilt-shard of Narsil, Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The broken blade lacks its original divine light :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Thus Narsil came in due time to the hand of Valandil, Isildur's heir, in Imladris; but the blade was broken and its light extinguished, and it was not forged anew.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>When (much later) reforged as Anduril, the Flame of the West, it regains a light, though now one of fire rather than of the Sun. But the beauty and power of Narsil is not necessary to overthrow the darkness of Sauron. And fire is used sometimes for far more sinister effects, such as the defence of Mordor or the <a href="https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Dagor_Bragollach">Battle of Sudden Flame</a> in the First Age.</p><p>There are other ambiguities regarding light and beauty. Sauron and Morgoth are both capable, of a time, for appearing as "fair", while the beauty of the Silmarils is incomparable yet leads the Noldor to ruin and woe. Indeed even the Ring of Power is a beautiful, captivating object, but its appearance is only skin-deep. For Tolkien, as we shall see later, beauty can be both a manifestation of goodness but also a tool of manipulation. Beauty is not itself truth, but there <i>is </i>a kind of "true" beauty, which has an altogether different quality to that of the false sort used by the dark powers. This former sort has the power to alter the world while the latter can only corrupt hearts and minds.</p><hr /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>That seems like a good enough beginning. In part two, I'll move the scale up a notch to the characters and creatures that inhabit Middle Earth. We'll continue looking at how beauty affects the world and how goodness and evil have the power to alter both life and death. And we'll begin to look at how Tolkien gives some of his greatest characters mythical qualities by imbuing them with primal, elemental powers.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-18903312321036070712022-09-26T03:58:00.001-04:002022-09-26T04:27:34.843-04:00One Ring To Rule Them All But I'm Going To Ignore It<p>Conferences are exhausting things, and I'm tempted to give <a href="https://janfest2022.asu.cas.cz/">Wheel of Star Formation</a> (a.k.a. JanFest) its own post. The unofficial conference after-dinner party kept going until 2:30am, as it should, which meant surviving the final morning session was no small challenge. The end, when it eventually came, was a blessed mercy. I ran home as fast as my little legs would carry me and collapsed into a four-hour nap. And when I awoke, I was further rewarded to discover <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.10994">my paper</a> was accepted for publication. </p><p><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coincidence ? I think not. That's okay, it means my talk couldn't have been that bad...</span></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEl-9Uzj32yAHk3WxrrUo_2OZ6VSMtRlD-_nxzFMK6jJjRTH49yVbZNcq1Jsp-Ca5mxCwzkUSlof3dEXDxVy62px9Fn2fIc6qgRf76GuEFcFItDjyWorb5Vomsjk0V_vulI7bxKWb2hn3lc16dOC_o9XFtkFB4DGGlG53TCLAS6Xna4XTFqO7bqJI/s309/Obamaball.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="220" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEl-9Uzj32yAHk3WxrrUo_2OZ6VSMtRlD-_nxzFMK6jJjRTH49yVbZNcq1Jsp-Ca5mxCwzkUSlof3dEXDxVy62px9Fn2fIc6qgRf76GuEFcFItDjyWorb5Vomsjk0V_vulI7bxKWb2hn3lc16dOC_o9XFtkFB4DGGlG53TCLAS6Xna4XTFqO7bqJI/w285-h400/Obamaball.gif" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">NAILED IT.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now normally I have to go on a rant about how unpleasant the review process was. Not so here. This time, just for once, the reviewer was lovely. When they said they were "somewhat skeptical", they <i>actually meant this literally</i>, instead of it being code for, "I think you're a total idiot and I'm going to reject your paper because I don't understand it", which seems to have been my experience of the process one too many times. So today I shall go straight on with the science. And for that, I'll start by using the conference poster.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(But... beware. Even with the best will in the world, the result of this can't be said to be anything other than a big confusing mess. I'll try and wrap things up as cleanly as I can, but don't expect a nice neat narrative today, because there really isn't one.)</span></p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Introduction</u></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmHtas1zMOuFCVPADsx439ivMuKnLw_26kqWkP9i2BN9HWOe2WMndb0h_flwuLorr8_DH0RSn0J2gbaa12n7WJLQWNBMhQK7Esr1cItvqAh7nGEc0sdBio9OtGQ9FZ4gQVJaeiWad5drXSuIxa3Frmwd8vaNAXkyHSz-Gai73UEUv9lo8tgHbqRrB/s1485/WOSFPoster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1485" data-original-width="1050" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmHtas1zMOuFCVPADsx439ivMuKnLw_26kqWkP9i2BN9HWOe2WMndb0h_flwuLorr8_DH0RSn0J2gbaa12n7WJLQWNBMhQK7Esr1cItvqAh7nGEc0sdBio9OtGQ9FZ4gQVJaeiWad5drXSuIxa3Frmwd8vaNAXkyHSz-Gai73UEUv9lo8tgHbqRrB/w452-h640/WOSFPoster.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">I like this version of the poster best because <i>all the dates are wrong</i>. We started planning it in 2019, so the original 2020 date had to be postponed, and then the second date for 2021 also had to be delayed. Thanks, covid.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The "wheel" concept was chosen as a theme because Jan lives in a converted water mill. And astronomers like to talk about the <i>baryon cycle</i> : how matter is converted between the different phases of stars and gas. The wheel here is an attempt to illustrate this, showing how gas is processed into stars, expelled, and re-accreted and processed by many different mechanisms in many different environments.</div><p></p><p>Where does <i>my </i>research fit in ? Regular readers already know of my obsession with gas clouds that don't do anything. After all, star formation is rubbish and a waste of precious neutral hydrogen gas, or, as I phrased it in the conference :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FVQwMY3s9NCzp48fVcQKmoJRKca-nnVUsJq6GH8YtLx2YbeDSOfDlS15r-OJ3cxUZREo6sXt23kERymRry9fvg6fJCzVFYuMMdcHoavra7G7CpZ29uJ-tXHerbM5GPq6-JezhkQC999IRAAoD4BSjih6FfE2A6ijrBmr_ZiwGtvDTnRzRSUr30jU/s1200/AvoidTheWheel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FVQwMY3s9NCzp48fVcQKmoJRKca-nnVUsJq6GH8YtLx2YbeDSOfDlS15r-OJ3cxUZREo6sXt23kERymRry9fvg6fJCzVFYuMMdcHoavra7G7CpZ29uJ-tXHerbM5GPq6-JezhkQC999IRAAoD4BSjih6FfE2A6ijrBmr_ZiwGtvDTnRzRSUr30jU/w640-h334/AvoidTheWheel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Basically the only connection of my talk to the wheel was that it was about the <i>lack </i>of a wheel.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Actually, starless gas clouds are interesting because they're difficult to explain. The most mundane idea is that they're just torn off from regular, bright galaxies. A much more controversial prospect is that they're places <i>where the wheel never started turning</i>, galaxies in their own right where star formation never even got started. And no-one is sure if that's even possible. Some clouds have plenty of stars whereas others, which are otherwise indistinguishable, have none - and we really don't know why.</p><p>Normally I do a protracted introduction to the scientific background. Today I'm going to try something different and dive straight into the latest research, so let's see how that works. I'll say only in advance that the main survey I work on is called <a href="http://www.naic.edu/~ages/">AGES</a>, the Arecibo Galaxy Environment survey, which looks for atomic hydrogen gas with a great big radio telescope. Everything else I'll fill in as we go.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Everyone's Favourite Gassy Lion</u></b></p><p>Although my main interest lies in small gas clouds (here meaning "quite a bit smaller than the Milky Way"), I have to admit that the giant features are basically the porn of the radio astronomy world. You can't really not be impressed by features like the Magellanic Stream, spanning more than half the sky yet not even vaguely suspected to exist until the twentieth century. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKc-m0B5CYKF69xrRlOjlSMIpFL7xaeodarvMx-JinKe6riJQVmztNOZTZWt6ilSn07GofJ9w15hc9RVU9Roid__xY9wXsGDSzoWfOIn1sQHdGTyP1tjfNVRbg7RbPoZACzmEtY3nKGjk/s1000/MagStream+Cardiff.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1000" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKc-m0B5CYKF69xrRlOjlSMIpFL7xaeodarvMx-JinKe6riJQVmztNOZTZWt6ilSn07GofJ9w15hc9RVU9Roid__xY9wXsGDSzoWfOIn1sQHdGTyP1tjfNVRbg7RbPoZACzmEtY3nKGjk/w640-h492/MagStream+Cardiff.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/03/under-hydrogen-sky.html">shown</a> as it would appear from Cardiff, were it visible to the eye.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Well, I suppose you <i>can </i>be unimpressed, but then I'll look at you as though you have the same towering intellectual and spiritual capacity of a monkey that enjoys hurling its own faeces at other monkeys.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnAYFGJ-ZdjPy2CkEL0XNbxlp6MXbFbl7pAjZmkSElDhyLX7x60DMisT6cMWM9bNaqiOvUppH2rZuAOVcLO3pt14Xu3alhJMa-GjbxJXUdEV5Y3VGTAGdlNAF3YmeeJLCGkKwqEXVBHZLu3MkteeJh6WzYvXiecv2PeNAvvkwmPg2_OxUm5qbstll/s736/Grumpy%20orangutan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="736" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnAYFGJ-ZdjPy2CkEL0XNbxlp6MXbFbl7pAjZmkSElDhyLX7x60DMisT6cMWM9bNaqiOvUppH2rZuAOVcLO3pt14Xu3alhJMa-GjbxJXUdEV5Y3VGTAGdlNAF3YmeeJLCGkKwqEXVBHZLu3MkteeJh6WzYvXiecv2PeNAvvkwmPg2_OxUm5qbstll/w640-h360/Grumpy%20orangutan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Anyway, the Leo Group harbours one such nerd-bonder-inducing feature : the Leo Ring. It's 200 kpc (650,000 light years) across and has a mass of gas of well over a billion Suns.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdXczCIxDhIuIixGojIvyq-NUf9nJ_VA5nsDI8c0jxIYVNMIjZvpIyVH8YGCU0Njjaf9NwSM9WL_lg1U-jQHWiANabVnV-wQM0hyABInFkYH5aypV4BbOkNKKAzTeUhqzOC-fv4OCeQKUw-vNMAnzFSeJLdEWGa2cV2gdJTkKxc1Pm4wAtgdGMB9Y/s1338/LeoRingPretty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="866" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdXczCIxDhIuIixGojIvyq-NUf9nJ_VA5nsDI8c0jxIYVNMIjZvpIyVH8YGCU0Njjaf9NwSM9WL_lg1U-jQHWiANabVnV-wQM0hyABInFkYH5aypV4BbOkNKKAzTeUhqzOC-fv4OCeQKUw-vNMAnzFSeJLdEWGa2cV2gdJTkKxc1Pm4wAtgdGMB9Y/w414-h640/LeoRingPretty.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Ring itself (here shown from an <a href="https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/LeoRing/">earlier survey</a>) isn't quite a gas cloud that isn't doing anything. Some evidence has been found that there is in fact star formation happening within it, at least in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07780">localised areas</a> - though most of it remains dark.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When you're planning a survey with extreme sensitivity, a region like this is a natural target field. I mean, can you think of any reasons <i>not </i>to do a survey of a giant gas ring with better sensitivity than any previous observations ? Of course you can't, because there aren't any.</p><p>Or somewhat more prosaically, the deeper the search, the more likely we are to reveal clues to its formation. Gas is never totally stable, and even once removed from a galaxy it can become dispersed or dissolved by a variety of processes. It might collapse under its own gravity to form stars (forming so-called "tidal dwarf galaxies"). Or it might be of such low density and high velocity dispersion that it simply flies apart, fading into undetectability. Or, it might be subject to ionising radiation and so change from nice, easily detectable neutral atomic hydrogen (which we can see with a radio telescope) into ionised gas (which we can't - or more accurately, requires totally different observing techniques).</p><p>But the Ring is <b>not </b>the subject of today's paper, not because it isn't awesome, but because we didn't find anything new that leaps out and says, "hey, look at this !". This isn't to say we found no new features in the Ring at all - we did, and some of them might be important. We just didn't find anything that adds anything of <i>immediate </i>value. So our focus on the Ring is now very much on numerical simulations, a project which is going to take a long while to bear fruit. We did, however, find something else that offers a much faster route to publication.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Six Little Clouds</u></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's right : not only does this region have the giant Ring, but it also has little gas clouds that don't do anything <i>as well !</i> I could hardly ask for more. In fact I'd better go have a cold shower.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vk25ylcfVjH1TcOrdD4gdD72ixU5f_18v9OwokZMJdETnHD5LmpC97cGUlAvPZ5PNrpNPBO8IPRH2Qh49vJ8b2jPSOSSbxL5EnX08iow4-y-qkx-eD0rHZFe1GWIoneFZJrwWSaKwiKT_rygMNaVst91WNCJ2gLAB_csBO6scTN_HfbO1NOycFjd/s3000/LeoGroupRenzo_print.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2145" data-original-width="3000" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6vk25ylcfVjH1TcOrdD4gdD72ixU5f_18v9OwokZMJdETnHD5LmpC97cGUlAvPZ5PNrpNPBO8IPRH2Qh49vJ8b2jPSOSSbxL5EnX08iow4-y-qkx-eD0rHZFe1GWIoneFZJrwWSaKwiKT_rygMNaVst91WNCJ2gLAB_csBO6scTN_HfbO1NOycFjd/w640-h458/LeoGroupRenzo_print.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can see an interactive 3D version of this <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/Resources/WholeLeo_Interactive_Blend4Web_v9.html">here</a>.</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The really nice thing about radio observations like this is that we can measure what velocity the gas is moving at as well as how bright it is. That's what the colours of the contours show. It doesn't show the full data set though - we limited ourselves to a velocity range corresponding to everything that could plausibly be associated with the Leo Group in which the Ring resides. That's believed to be at a distance of about 11 Mpc (36 million light years).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's quite a lot going on this plot but really it's pretty simple. The <span style="color: red;"><u>big red labels</u></span> show the major galaxies and the clouds themselves. Other galaxies are highlighted with <span style="color: #666666;"><u>grey circles</u></span>, really just to indicate that we catalogued them and haven't rudely ignored them - we need to know about them, but they're not important for this study. Similarly the <span style="color: #ffa400;"><u>orangey circles</u></span> highlight features we use for a few comparisons but don't examine in any detail.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's pretty hard to see on a plot of this scale, but every object apart from the six red circles (and 5R) has a clear, obvious optical counterpart. Much like Messier's "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_object">not a comet</a>" catalogue, for today's purposes, labelling these is really just to show everyone we know they're there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's start with the six clouds that form our main sample. We can look at these in more detail :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuS_N5074zDU_DA_kQJpjneLlfx1-jy4xZC2AhOPZHQ9faHPuD2Tn0eAOKYYFlTcoDSlX_chr9RehBGnSpw36yWZK5zy-qBxcT7RCM_vZlSeYT6DjyigPzq-iENOb0RPexmhbnco6Ld1xHJJcTCYONkOxmu73lz2Zs0E8YJoOXLSKruvOPAT_TScU/s2486/Clouds1-3.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="2174" data-original-width="2486" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuS_N5074zDU_DA_kQJpjneLlfx1-jy4xZC2AhOPZHQ9faHPuD2Tn0eAOKYYFlTcoDSlX_chr9RehBGnSpw36yWZK5zy-qBxcT7RCM_vZlSeYT6DjyigPzq-iENOb0RPexmhbnco6Ld1xHJJcTCYONkOxmu73lz2Zs0E8YJoOXLSKruvOPAT_TScU/w640-h560/Clouds1-3.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The top row shows the contours on a pretty-picture optical view, the middle row shows the spectra, and the bottom row shows the optical view in a boring greyscale colour scheme that more clearly shows there's nothing there (with one exception).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVwqC3ZueHFxM74bmM1xqhXEnEBkaXK5ubxJhiEufW0sxgnPKJYx8dUEznT1DfGylACTBZ3d3dEMebuC0twTBIgJWSKs5u-obHbSuLRp0_NqLujJGbscCA4hVj719NOuagLKsfhnx6iAQ10chlj6LaZFeK59CoNwC6ecNsR9pNGccZhmnrIVfDY6xu/s2459/Clouds4-6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2152" data-original-width="2459" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVwqC3ZueHFxM74bmM1xqhXEnEBkaXK5ubxJhiEufW0sxgnPKJYx8dUEznT1DfGylACTBZ3d3dEMebuC0twTBIgJWSKs5u-obHbSuLRp0_NqLujJGbscCA4hVj719NOuagLKsfhnx6iAQ10chlj6LaZFeK59CoNwC6ecNsR9pNGccZhmnrIVfDY6xu/w640-h560/Clouds4-6.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In some ways the clouds are all quite similar. Their masses are all a few million times the mass of the Sun, and their<i> line widths</i> are all about 50 km/s. This is a measure of how fast the gas is moving around within the cloud along our line of sight, which we get from the spectra in the above plot. Spectra show how bright the emission is at any given velocity, with the line width meaning the difference between the emission at its highest and lowest velocities. Measuring this is easy enough, but interpreting its meaning - as we'll see - turns out to be quite subtle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Going purely on where they are, an obvious thing to do would be to wave one's hands and declare clouds 1-4 to be tidal debris (they're right in between two massive spiral galaxies which could well be <strike>dukin' it out</strike> interacting with each other), cloud 5 to be part of the Ring, and cloud 6 to be a bit odd. And that <i>might </i>turn out to be not so very wide of the mark... but the full complexity is more interesting. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Six Not-Quite-So-Little Clouds</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Even at the basic level the clouds are not as similar as they first appear. Cloud 1 has a line width quite a lot higher than the others, whereas cloud 5 is uniquely close to the Ring and quite a lot less massive than the rest. Clouds 1-4 seem to form a nice little population, but cloud 4 actually does have an optical counterpart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Umm... but doesn't that mean it <i>isn't </i>a gas cloud that doesn't do anything ? And therefore really boring ?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes but no. In every other respect it's similar to the clouds : its mass and line width are typical, and it's found in close proximity to clouds 1-3 as well as being at very similar velocities. If you were given just the gas data, you'd never suspect it was any different to the other clouds. It's a great example of the situation I mentioned earlier, of having some clouds readily forming stars while others just don't.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(It's just about possible that the optical counterpart isn't actually associated with the gas : it could be at a different distance away from us. But if so, this would make it unique among the entire AGES sample so far. We have no other cases of optical counterparts found this close to the coordinates of the gas that didn't turn out to be associated.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To figure out what's going on we need to dive a little deeper. Here's a zoom-in of the region where clouds 1-4 are found.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwvyTabX3v7DEVGvJtTvW_yWqX6zEOGk1QvmzHbML12pt0E9aTLPmhTk3M16gs7DorvZ6EUUIG8jZgRDVvkUg04Y0aciTYmSg3hi34SGHzXrbdem82G2GX7TZcHHaYKu8SjIi56NZJbZby71CAMcqlU5Cmqok8kRTGLwVrNf4-po62gQdU_d2Huhv/s2500/M95-6MapWithLabels.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="2500" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwvyTabX3v7DEVGvJtTvW_yWqX6zEOGk1QvmzHbML12pt0E9aTLPmhTk3M16gs7DorvZ6EUUIG8jZgRDVvkUg04Y0aciTYmSg3hi34SGHzXrbdem82G2GX7TZcHHaYKu8SjIi56NZJbZby71CAMcqlU5Cmqok8kRTGLwVrNf4-po62gQdU_d2Huhv/w640-h360/M95-6MapWithLabels.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cloud 7 is a little blob that appeared after smoothing. It may or may not be real, we don't know.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Notice here we have both thick and thin contours. The thin contours come from smoothing the data, which improves our sensitivity though at the cost of degrading our velocity resolution. This was a pretty neat trick (I think it was Robert Minchin who suggested this). See, while you can hand-wavily declare clouds 1-4 to likely be tidal debris, they don't really <i>look </i>all that similar to the classic debris-structures. <a href="https://astrobites.org/2017/05/25/astrophysical-classics-joy-in-one-hundred-and-twenty-particles/">Simulations</a> have shown for <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1972ApJ...178..623T/abstract">decades</a> that this produces a characteristic tail and counter-tail on the parent galaxy, but that's just not what we're seeing here (in particular, M95 is pretty much undisturbed, apparently sailing serenely through the cosmic chaos raging all about it). And we also noticed that cloud 1 has that higher velocity width. So we thought that maybe if we smooth the cube in velocity, we might discover a larger, more... easily interpreted structure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, we didn't. Why not ?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We don't know. The puzzling thing is that the smoothed contours <i>are </i>different to the standard ones, but not at all in the way we expected. With satisfying irony, the only cloud whose appearance isn't changed by the smoothing is cloud 1, the very one of which we were most expecting to see more extended features !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What actually happens is this. <b>Cloud 1</b> looks unchanged, as do the big spiral galaxies <b>M95</b> and <b>M96</b>. <b>Cloud 2</b> appears to be connected to the spiral galaxy M96 by a narrow tendril, not much resembling a standard tidal feature. <b>Cloud 3</b> is significantly more extended (some hints of that can be seen in the original data), while <b>cloud 4</b> also shows some quite strong hints of being more extended as well. And while a new feature, tentatively but unimaginatively dubbed<b> cloud 7</b>, appears, there's absolutely no hint of any really large-scale bridge linking the two spirals, which would have been a "smoking gun" signature of a tidal encounter between them. Indeed, much of their outermost regions look completely unimpressed by everything that's going on around them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAr4Rsj_ZvsefL--RGNp-wOGkIiAKuD-cc6tDYuEPUxWqSoEh3tIp85b2JMPWzvNOWp-AqEPHCGzyJIHUd-U3XQOZ9bfpi_gGBrUhqx-r_2DFaVkmqWX2qsHL5p6Wl5NjVk4uzNX_45GtPYPG1mkquhOnHYDJ2VRKRm81fEuLcSZuJzEjoM5M-G_s6/s640/NothingToSeeHere.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="640" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAr4Rsj_ZvsefL--RGNp-wOGkIiAKuD-cc6tDYuEPUxWqSoEh3tIp85b2JMPWzvNOWp-AqEPHCGzyJIHUd-U3XQOZ9bfpi_gGBrUhqx-r_2DFaVkmqWX2qsHL5p6Wl5NjVk4uzNX_45GtPYPG1mkquhOnHYDJ2VRKRm81fEuLcSZuJzEjoM5M-G_s6/w640-h328/NothingToSeeHere.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Especially appropriate because dispersion is exactly what we'd expect.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That cloud 4 is a bit more extended is a particular puzzle. We speculated that, being the most massive of the clouds (albeit only very marginally), maybe it was also the most compact and densest. Higher density means more star formation, but actually it looks like its density can't be much different to the others, and if anything is likely to be on the low side. So why is this one forming stars but the others are being a bunch of lazy buggers ?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Again, we don't know. Let's try a different approach.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Six... Totally Unique Little Clouds ?</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u><br /></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remember the line width ? For normal galaxies, this is basically equivalent to rotation speed (if you read the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-best-best-fit.html">previous post</a> you'll know all about the subtleties of this). But remember, strictly speaking, this is not what it's really measuring. What it actually tells you is the difference between the lowest and highest line-of-sight velocities of a feature - that is, how fast each part is moving towards or away from us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Now to be <i>really </i>strict, distance and velocity aren't the same. In principle, a cloud detected at a velocity of, say, 100 km/s could be at a different distance of one moving at 101 km/s even if they were found at the exact same position on the sky. So in theory, each of these "six" clouds could actually be lots of clouds that had all just decided to line up very neatly along our line of sight. But this is fantastically unlikely bordering on silly : on large scales, distance does (famously !) <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/H/Hubble+Law">correlate with velocity</a>, so it's a very safe assumption that each of these clouds really is just one feature.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Unfortunately we can't just simply assume line width represents rotation in all cases. For normal, star-filled galaxies this <i>is </i>a safe assumption, for the most part. There's a very neat relation between the "baryonic" mass (stars + gas) of a galaxy and its rotation speed. This is the <i>Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation</i> :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFuI_68JSf3dKzZIr9FMEQLopjt-kZQI53dPCOd3Fb1ACGBx8KtU7_teo-ZITJa1sdfVs3bySZ8Imhs0r9tA3EldL77NpbbVqkE2q1bzXwVO7teY289E5Vyg2tPN5u_n7Cr9JELgbQ6Sd5Z96OTwpQ6iu1vfn1MegTdA8Bg7YOJZlOPwFMUqlKbDt/s734/BTFRIntro.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="734" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFuI_68JSf3dKzZIr9FMEQLopjt-kZQI53dPCOd3Fb1ACGBx8KtU7_teo-ZITJa1sdfVs3bySZ8Imhs0r9tA3EldL77NpbbVqkE2q1bzXwVO7teY289E5Vyg2tPN5u_n7Cr9JELgbQ6Sd5Z96OTwpQ6iu1vfn1MegTdA8Bg7YOJZlOPwFMUqlKbDt/w640-h628/BTFRIntro.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I've <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie-to-children">simplified this</a> just a tad, removing a few known and explicable outliers and combining a couple of different data sets. The axes are in logarithmic units, with the vertical one being mass and the horizontal one being rotation speed. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dotted and dashed lines show the scatter at different significance levels.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This relation was found for observations which had much higher resolution than the AGES ones, where we can really see that one side of the galaxy is moving faster or slower than the other, giving us a true <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_rotation_curve">rotation curve</a></i>. With our data, we just have to assume the line width represents rotation. But take a moment to just marvel about bloody frickin' impressive this relation is : it holds for galaxies rotating from 15 to 250 km/s, ranging in mass from a few million to a <i>hundred billion </i>times the mass of the Sun.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7__CoUCuDlAkJpa3XZHzmfT2IaW_macnAfOfye3b-Kkjr_BdeP0tRnJ85wpGBUCa9eIrtt6Ejv1d_zgYebNDqAQhgcysUMeNMxEo1cDh8m1Gsc7853cps3ga5kjJpKUR-PUxxaA3VyA9FB-JRP5FbQsH9HOH23jaWOgKX1tW5K8AnuK03iL41XHk/s910/Awestruck.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="910" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7__CoUCuDlAkJpa3XZHzmfT2IaW_macnAfOfye3b-Kkjr_BdeP0tRnJ85wpGBUCa9eIrtt6Ejv1d_zgYebNDqAQhgcysUMeNMxEo1cDh8m1Gsc7853cps3ga5kjJpKUR-PUxxaA3VyA9FB-JRP5FbQsH9HOH23jaWOgKX1tW5K8AnuK03iL41XHk/w640-h338/Awestruck.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Opinion is <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/08/this-isnt-law-youre-looking-for.html">divided</a> as to whether this represents something inexplicable and impressive or monumentally dull, but either way, it's pretty neat.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And then, take another moment to appreciate that making this plot requires a wheelbarrow full of work. I'll simplify here so people don't die of boredom, but if you want the full, grisly details, see the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-best-best-fit.html">previous post</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKrxzig6AynSOstHHMJa5T7WelMzMpGtsTc_-7hK97X9artqYogRTuNT9sJftv6RM55XrqlmBS62PshYflbcyjp5FsTbG09Qo0cxqxpntbWCAiNl0gBLOcbCD7AusLlqglbOyKFo_XbF3AihdiLV_2Oeg6862TZefULvfc4QJetCH6ugKS3OUhRJd/s720/Astonished.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="720" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKrxzig6AynSOstHHMJa5T7WelMzMpGtsTc_-7hK97X9artqYogRTuNT9sJftv6RM55XrqlmBS62PshYflbcyjp5FsTbG09Qo0cxqxpntbWCAiNl0gBLOcbCD7AusLlqglbOyKFo_XbF3AihdiLV_2Oeg6862TZefULvfc4QJetCH6ugKS3OUhRJd/w640-h428/Astonished.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Right, are we all impressed enough yet ? Good. Let's continue.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Line width is <i>definitely </i>a good measure of rotation for normal galaxies, because we see the width gives a stonkingly similar location on the BTFR plot to true rotation velocity. When we then add in the dark clouds though :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihye1Na_nVSUelPFM5CcWuhFfMbgZr6vxIcdq-wL81hIARr5Vdo9PZBXkbhUceMvvO1uAKvDuJrpj4NX_QHBqFDubQjsLUBdfPPgTqa8n8WJQ_MlgGHsdRsrLqnwL7ltHbwJcjVGirREs_9JV--Jm8a0ll87le7tm6ma70RFjqwkf9ze0omS-xsE0a/s727/BTFRMcGaugh.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="727" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihye1Na_nVSUelPFM5CcWuhFfMbgZr6vxIcdq-wL81hIARr5Vdo9PZBXkbhUceMvvO1uAKvDuJrpj4NX_QHBqFDubQjsLUBdfPPgTqa8n8WJQ_MlgGHsdRsrLqnwL7ltHbwJcjVGirREs_9JV--Jm8a0ll87le7tm6ma70RFjqwkf9ze0omS-xsE0a/w640-h632/BTFRMcGaugh.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span>Here I've split the galaxies back into their original samples : </span><b>filled black circles</b><span> show the data from AGES (now also including some outliers), while </span><b>open black circles</b><span> show ones with proper rotation curves. </span><span style="color: red;">Red filled squares</span><span> show the main Leo clouds while the </span><span style="color: red;">open squares</span><span> show other selected features in the same region.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which to be honest is not a lot of help, and maybe makes things if anything <i>more </i>confusing as to the clouds...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a very simple thing that might help to keep in mind as things about to get worse. Normal, rotating galaxies are proven to lie on the BTFR, with only rare exceptions. So something on the BTFR, naively, can be presumed to be a galaxy. Conversely, there's no reason at all to expect unstable, non-rotating bits of fluff to follow the BTFR, so anything not following the standard relation is more likely to be debris. Keep that in mind as your anchor point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's take this one step at a time. Ignore everything else and have a look at clouds 1-3. Since these are right between the two big spirals, it seems a very good bet that they're tidal in origin, even if they don't look much like typical tidal features. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now cloud 1 <i>does </i>seem to play ball. It lies well outside the general scatter of this BTFR: if this were rotation, it would be far higher than you'd expect for a galaxy of this mass - which would be absolutely consistent with it being unstable tidal debris that's in the process of dissolving. Hooray !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIKyv3NTglV5NKcstzfXyt9QLK4GlxHhNycIDiutOIsHeO7M2S_3lFZzEawo_mxFccOfB7ob3DE6rlogyIyidnJHgNbhzKvUtuQQcelxHwAcv6ZP_qGkrIg555WCv4yNcxhb_PfjeFIKy-JIqxy1nv35raZgGX6pZuLgLsPJUxI3sua2y2g1KzPrg/s620/CloudMakesSense.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="620" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIKyv3NTglV5NKcstzfXyt9QLK4GlxHhNycIDiutOIsHeO7M2S_3lFZzEawo_mxFccOfB7ob3DE6rlogyIyidnJHgNbhzKvUtuQQcelxHwAcv6ZP_qGkrIg555WCv4yNcxhb_PfjeFIKy-JIqxy1nv35raZgGX6pZuLgLsPJUxI3sua2y2g1KzPrg/w640-h484/CloudMakesSense.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Except... maybe not. The thing is, cloud 1 is unresolved in our data, showing no signs of any extensions as we'd expect it to have if it was debris. But cloud 2, which <i>does </i>show such extensions, is in good agreement with the BTFR. So cloud 1's shape doesn't fit with a tidal origin, but its velocity does, whereas for cloud 2 it's the exact opposite. This is rather confusing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2F7Dfz-mPhIsvCwUNZNnBJDJs1LdubB_zcAZWRgqLaoOhKXDUyeNgwdT0zZlp0dfmSSldYlZ6Xioln6Utv0Dg_133cV4cyBVPkmykAT1OaFAol0RHt-0TNuDWVZhkGqP72XXvUjpGCto7J9L2hJ7BQWaVh5YxORGwT4Ch-9lFIE_Kg-R87-VHG7I/s577/FryBackwards.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="577" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2F7Dfz-mPhIsvCwUNZNnBJDJs1LdubB_zcAZWRgqLaoOhKXDUyeNgwdT0zZlp0dfmSSldYlZ6Xioln6Utv0Dg_133cV4cyBVPkmykAT1OaFAol0RHt-0TNuDWVZhkGqP72XXvUjpGCto7J9L2hJ7BQWaVh5YxORGwT4Ch-9lFIE_Kg-R87-VHG7I/w640-h480/FryBackwards.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Maybe this is just a bit of an odd fluke ? Well, let's try cloud 3 then... ahh, no help there. This one is much more debris-like after smoothing - it's the most extended of all - but though it too has a higher velocity width than the BTFR predicts, the difference is only marginal. It's by far the most extended but arguably still consistent with the general scatter in the BTFR. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Okay... cloud 4 ? Here things are a bit better. Having an optical counterpart and therefore quite probably just being a normal galaxy, this one agrees with the BTFR quite well. So that's something. And so does the very faint (but definitely a galaxy) Leo Dw A. Hooray ! The problem is that so does cloud 6, and also 5R (a feature most likely just part of the Ring), which don't have optical counterparts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now there's an exciting possibility for cloud 6 which I'll get back to soon. But if it's unstable debris, as cloud 5R almost certainly is, there's absolutely no reason to expect it to follow the same relations as for rotating stable galaxies. And some clouds known from other surveys (not shown here) also do the same thing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In short, the clouds don't really match our expectations of the BTFR very well at all - they're not totally at variance with it, but they're not in great agreement either. The take away message is basically this :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JyCz796oJM5PHF7_9mTPsSwH9kN2ri-9gyr5y72qc-hVu5S6qMzn0Aj6L3umx0tHzugR3_6Q4yUEk2o8mI0prrw6jvrQAPprc0v7a2jo5HhdqD3HT141kwPLywCnjF9u3Cb27Wyhd3UI_j15EmmHiaCxHH4GufOrCSXkxO9fv2fV11GlTHP21IjW/s420/Confused.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="420" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JyCz796oJM5PHF7_9mTPsSwH9kN2ri-9gyr5y72qc-hVu5S6qMzn0Aj6L3umx0tHzugR3_6Q4yUEk2o8mI0prrw6jvrQAPprc0v7a2jo5HhdqD3HT141kwPLywCnjF9u3Cb27Wyhd3UI_j15EmmHiaCxHH4GufOrCSXkxO9fv2fV11GlTHP21IjW/w640-h448/Confused.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Those other extra features (the open red squares) aren't any help either. Cloud 7 is offset, but we're not even sure if it's real, while the cloud near NGC 3384 (a big elliptical galaxy at the centre of the Ring) is somewhat deviant but likely has a lot of measurement errors, so its velocity width is probably overestimated.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u><b>Six Sensitive Little Clouds</b></u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hang on, there could be an easy way of of this wretched mess. Forget the physics for a moment and try instead the statistics. What I mean is, we could be having an unpleasant attack of a selection effect. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It looks as though most features follow the BTFR or are only marginally offset. But maybe we only find clouds in this region of the BTFR because that's the only place we <i>can </i>find them, and they're just extreme examples of a population which is by and large normal. This is possible. After all, we <i>do </i>find a couple of clear outliers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's a few different effects at work here. For a cloud of any given mass, it's easier to detect if it has a smaller line width - all its flux is "bunched up" and appears brighter. Similarly at any given line width, clouds of higher masses are easier to detect. But at some point we expect the mass to be so high that we should have star formation*, so they'll no longer be optically dark. Fortunately we can quantify all this, and we find that...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Strictly speaking it's density rather than mass that matters, but this is something we can account for.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's really not much constraint on the clouds to be in this part of the BTFR <i>at all</i>. Bugger.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It turns out that we can easily detect clouds of the same mass with much wider widths than these, and other clouds are known which are a hundred times as massive and not forming stars. So width doesn't limit which ones we can detect, and the requirement that the clouds aren't star-forming doesn't impose any real constraint either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Right. Okay. That didn't help at all then.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There is another caveat though. We've seen that <i>interpreting </i>line width can be complicated, but actually, <i>measuring </i>it isn't quite so straightforward either. It isn't like measuring the peak brightness - there isn't one unique width value that gives you the right answer. Instead we have to choose which conventionally-accepted procedure we want to adopt. Normally we measure the width at either half or a fifth of the peak brightness level, and there are calibrations we can apply to convert these values to true rotation speed. But naturally, this isn't perfect. And likewise, correcting the stellar mass of a galaxy is subject to a host of choices as to which method of converting brightness to mass one happens to prefer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All this means that there is some considerable scope for shifting the best-fit line of the BTFR, as discussed in depth <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-best-best-fit.html">previously</a>. I'm only showing this particular version of the BTFR here because it's the best and most carefully-calibrated version, but it would be going a bit too far to pronounce it as definitive. In any case, we <i>could </i>shift the line at least a little bit, changing which ones agree with the BTFR and which ones don't - but this is a pretty weak effect, and definitely doesn't solve everything.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Six Sexy Little Clouds ?</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So let's presume this version is correct or we'll get nowhere. If statistics can't help us, it's time to bring in the physics.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTQPqnxvBJ5Qf3UzIrZk6MgqTZ7TewI-RUSyjWtphNm8fAQkzmcBULq2MZm1_3XG5ZjMwgx5YF4356kmqBXG0nzdhvyQlJB1TqaQvPjHeCG3WN6SkrDuZZZZCG0dQTLeJCf7niJDrRbwM4eiuozO8IZcOu7bQkjAJAtErSBp56y_NMssGF6ZuTvid/s500/Physics.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="500" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTQPqnxvBJ5Qf3UzIrZk6MgqTZ7TewI-RUSyjWtphNm8fAQkzmcBULq2MZm1_3XG5ZjMwgx5YF4356kmqBXG0nzdhvyQlJB1TqaQvPjHeCG3WN6SkrDuZZZZCG0dQTLeJCf7niJDrRbwM4eiuozO8IZcOu7bQkjAJAtErSBp56y_NMssGF6ZuTvid/w640-h366/Physics.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For this, let's shift to cloud 6. This one is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. None of the galaxies near to it have signs of extensions, and they're anyway at such different velocities that they're likely at very different distances away from us. So it doesn't look anything like classical tidal debris, and its line width is consistent with being a perfectly normal galaxy on the BTFR...<i> yet it has no visible stars</i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Could this be one of the semi-mythical starless "dark galaxies" of song and story ? Such objects would solve a huge, long-standing problem in cosmology, that simulations predict far more galaxies than surveys detect. So this would be a <b>Big Deal</b> if this was the case.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The answer is... yes ! It could. Well, maybe. To be strictly accurate, I would phrase it thus :<i> the dark galaxy hypothesis is a valid explanation that should not yet be rejected</i>. I'd be willing to go a little further and say that it's hard to see how cloud 6 could have formed by tidal encounters, there being no obvious signs of any features that gave rise to it. The Leo Ring is miles and miles away, and it's damned hard to see what sort of event could create a giant, coherent, massive arc of material and also one teeny-tiny compact little blob that's so well-separated from it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course this needs to be tempered. Without a full explanation of the formation of the Ring, we can't say for sure that it isn't just some weird outlying blob. Or we could look at it the other way around, and say that if we assume it <i>is </i>some outlying blob, this gives us a powerful constraint on the formation of the Ring. Either way, it's a valuable blob, to be sure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If we can't reject the dark galaxy hypothesis for this cloud, what about the others ? Well, now I'm afraid I need to take the stabilisers off and contradict what I said earlier. <i>Just because something is deviant from the BTFR doesn't <b>guarantee </b>it's not a galaxy</i>. There are known examples of very massive galaxies that <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2019/09/is-it-bird-is-it-plane-no-its-super.html">rotate too quickly</a>, of very faint galaxies which <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/07/ultra-diffuse-galaxies-revenge-of-ghosts.html">rotate too slowly</a>, and we have good reasons to expect there to be <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995MNRAS.273L..35Z/abstract">more scatter</a> in the BTFR than we actually see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And, if line width represents dispersion (i.e. expansion) instead of rotation, then the objects with the highest line width should be the hardest to detect because they'll become undetectable most quickly. This makes rotation (which implies dark matter) actually a much <i>better </i>explanation in these cases, which is something I've previously shown <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/06/into-darkness-ii-attack-of-flying-snakes.html">at length</a> - with rotation, you can be stable at any velocity width indefinitely. For galaxies, the secret to immortality is just to spin round really fast.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit9L4V8LpD4GmAoY7J49MWPWudQOfs9Icsx_MkwRuzavja49TU_Ex05y1j9fzYHtEkx0Ltg62Cl8a9bCz4A2jxeC21bXP2T2P5HlmZ2RtZragl7TAwVACSimi2nO_KtvhINRf5Cj6U0Rz4KfGGKKh2dPG7p6xlTQmf3qRpm-EFixvWjB3vhvQz88G/s220/Dog%20spinning.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="220" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgit9L4V8LpD4GmAoY7J49MWPWudQOfs9Icsx_MkwRuzavja49TU_Ex05y1j9fzYHtEkx0Ltg62Cl8a9bCz4A2jxeC21bXP2T2P5HlmZ2RtZragl7TAwVACSimi2nO_KtvhINRf5Cj6U0Rz4KfGGKKh2dPG7p6xlTQmf3qRpm-EFixvWjB3vhvQz88G/w400-h300/Dog%20spinning.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Disclaimer : spinning yourself or your pets won't help you live longer.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So alas, there's no clear, take-home message from this. The clouds simply don't fit a nice neat narrative, which is why the high-school description of science as a process of hypothesis testing is fundamentally flawed. Far better to remember that's a much more <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/04/fifty-shades-of-science.html">complex network</a> of exploration and examination. Depending on your point of view, you could easily present the data to favour or disfavour whatever you need it to.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With that in mind, here's how <i>I'd </i>sell it. It's my paper, after all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Summary and Conclusions</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These nice little clouds have similar masses and line widths, but even among this small population there's no small degree of complexity. Let's start with a summary of each of the clouds. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Cloud 1</b> is between the two big spirals. It has much the largest velocity width, but smoothing didn't reveal it had any kind of extended component. Its location and line width suggest a tidal formation mechanism, but its lack of extension doesn't fit this view.</li><li><b>Cloud 2</b> is between the two big spirals. It has a typical velocity width and smoothing reveals it has an extended "tendril" connecting it to one of the spirals. Its location and extension imply a tidal origin, but its agreement with the BTFR is unexpected, and its extension doesn't really fit the general expectation for tidal debris.</li><li><b>Cloud 3</b> is between the two big spirals. It has a typical velocity width and smoothing reveals it is significantly extended, though not connected to either galaxy. It is marginally deviant from the BTFR, and generally just ambiguous all-round.</li><li><b>Cloud 4</b> is between the two big spirals. It has a typical velocity width and is at a similar location to clouds 1-3, but uniquely has a clear optical counterpart. Its mass is only marginally greater than the others and smoothing reveals it may be slightly extended, so its density doesn't seem likely to explain why it alone has formed stars. It follows the BTFR of normal galaxies.</li><li><b>Cloud 5</b> is close to the Ring, and it's hard to tell if this is really a discrete feature or not. Smoothing revealed no signs of anything extended.</li><li><b>Cloud 6</b> is as isolated as anything can be in this region. It lies on the the BTFR for normal galaxies but, like the other clouds, has no optical counterpart. The galaxies nearest to it on the sky are actually likely to be at quite different distances, and none of them show signs of extensions anyway.</li></ul><div>So the clouds differ in terms of their environment, line width, optical emission, and extension. Six clouds that vary in four different ways... that's so much diversity they're practically woke.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now the optical counterpart to cloud 4 is clear enough, though it is quite faint. But thanks to the presence of the Ring, this region has been subject to a host of much, much deeper surveys, and none of them have reported anything at all at the positions of the other clouds. So if any of the other clouds do have optical counterparts, it's likely that they're an awful lot fainter. It's just not at all obvious why one cloud should be bright and the others aren't.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's tempting to say that cloud 4 is a normal galaxy that just happens to have wandered in to the mess around it. That may be so. It <i>could </i>just be an innocent bystander that's wandered into a bad neighbourhood, and is going to get a nasty surprise when it realises some astronomers are gossiping about it behind its back.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXqxae7WL2w4HVIhjO8Yo_It5KRX8hC9RDi1LcPvE04MewlQ5txboeJZ43Cn2lF_UIXa1BDlLyIDy1KOdEhvP5Gp9E9eVD-NOTjywqbC06WeM82JibhUDqwR13849ZGS_0vlz8zKDF6dIZM-58i01ChxSaHHIq8SWJDngvWV3XShhj2LXl0wFpR98/s949/Sneaking%20crocodile.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="949" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMXqxae7WL2w4HVIhjO8Yo_It5KRX8hC9RDi1LcPvE04MewlQ5txboeJZ43Cn2lF_UIXa1BDlLyIDy1KOdEhvP5Gp9E9eVD-NOTjywqbC06WeM82JibhUDqwR13849ZGS_0vlz8zKDF6dIZM-58i01ChxSaHHIq8SWJDngvWV3XShhj2LXl0wFpR98/w640-h360/Sneaking%20crocodile.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But I'd say it's at least viable to say it might be a cloud that's had it's star formation triggered as it's wandered in - it looks so similar to the other clouds, it just seems weird to think this is a coincidence. Or perhaps the opposite is going on. Maybe it's not the first but the <i>last </i>cloud to have had its star formation episode, with the others having <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2021/05/accept-no-imitations.html">already faded</a> into their current darkness. We really don't know.</div><div><br /></div><div>With the clouds we found in an earlier AGES study of the Virgo cluster, we used their line widths to try and constrain their evolution, and we did the same here. If we assume the line width is how fast the clouds are dispersing, we can calculate how fast they'd have to have travelled to reach their current distance from their nearest galaxies while still being detectable. And in Virgo we found that this was so fast as to be really quite implausible.</div><div><br /></div><div>Annoyingly the Leo clouds are on the margins. Their line widths aren't so high, so they wouldn't have had to have moved so fast. It would be quite a bit higher than expected in a group like this though, and that the clouds are at nearly identical velocities to the other galaxies speaks against this. But it's not a strong constraint, especially as we have no idea how fast anything is moving across the sky. In short, the line widths are consistent with the clouds being both tidal debris <i>and </i>dark galaxies, which isn't much use.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's my best guess. Clouds 1, 2, 3, 5 are all unusual forms of tidal debris, relating to the formation of the Leo Ring, with the bright spiral galaxy M95 not being involved at all. They may or may not be in a state just before or after a period of star formation, depending on whether cloud 4 is a normal galaxy or another cloud. Cloud 6 might be some long-lived tidal debris from some other, unrelated interaction, with the rest of its parent stream having already dispersed, though the possibility that it could be a dark galaxy needs to be given serious consideration.</div><div><br /></div><div>The elephant in the room is that bloody great Ring, of course. It does seem to be connected to the spiral galaxy M96, but it almost looks like it's just superimposed, and doesn't represent any major damage done. And its overall structure is just frightening complex. Very plausibly, it involves <i>five </i>interacting giant galaxies, which means a parameter space which is hideously vast. Is it crucial or irrelevant ? We just don't know.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EY6rD9AJEhtNaqrO4ZUZ56OhNe65iXP0JrPE6_ySoSbbjUsHOo8U0o3RSjQYfEZMEzs9J-sE9f7BWUhOoFAUD3GcGacfE_KYI5MgRq0141GICqS7GiJWgfDYJjqj4uXaFfv81T2HfMb3pxfbh_BatV9qkfFctBsXjFtajUBHko90Fy8gPLLXUtn2/s1920/Sauron%20Ring.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EY6rD9AJEhtNaqrO4ZUZ56OhNe65iXP0JrPE6_ySoSbbjUsHOo8U0o3RSjQYfEZMEzs9J-sE9f7BWUhOoFAUD3GcGacfE_KYI5MgRq0141GICqS7GiJWgfDYJjqj4uXaFfv81T2HfMb3pxfbh_BatV9qkfFctBsXjFtajUBHko90Fy8gPLLXUtn2/w640-h360/Sauron%20Ring.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Humanity has a love-hate relationship with rings which is so powerful that it's literally mythical.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what're we going to do this figure this out ? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, pish, y'all know the answer, it's a cliché even more entrenched than magical rings. Come on, all together now :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">WE</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">NEED</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MORE</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">DATA !!!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In this case we're going to need more data from both observations and simulations. We need to figure out ways that stupid Ring could have formed, and then we need to test it all against observational data. Our clever tricks to increase the sensitivity have associated penalties, so really we just need better original data.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Without Arecibo this is hard. So my idea is to write to Jeff Bezos and pitch a sequel-prequel series : Radio Rings of Power. They're the size of galaxies and don't do anything, but I'm sure if we throw in enough sex and violence they executives will beat a path to our door. Stay tuned.</div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-61252442744903182822022-09-23T04:02:00.002-04:002022-09-23T10:10:59.738-04:00The best best fit<p>Do you know what my ever-so-lovely girlfriend said to me the other day ? </p><p><i>She said I'd make a terrible detective</i>.</p><p>Well !</p><p>"Scientists are like detectives" is practically outreach 101. It's standard practise for explaining science to <i>children</i>. So such a claim is so outlandish as to require a weeks' answer or none, so I settled on an intended look of blank bafflement which I'm afraid probably ended up as more of a scowl. </p><p>But it gets worse. Apparently I was <i>failing to only adjust one variable at once.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_oCw3CgG24dWn0o_F9PWoInWxIvp4xkNjsyIFwGe5DG4DPy8K8vQxEwaOmCur6rY_smKQOIDi7gmZL3-li-VfkD8ENhHFSflG-v37PlSw8A-uyT1znLEY199QaW6LydDDVch6Vn3AaRFe0rdYb3GaWeIPZUS9NdsYMNKdl0xmtpG_X7Bj8nzgQFX/s500/smh-shaking-head.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_oCw3CgG24dWn0o_F9PWoInWxIvp4xkNjsyIFwGe5DG4DPy8K8vQxEwaOmCur6rY_smKQOIDi7gmZL3-li-VfkD8ENhHFSflG-v37PlSw8A-uyT1znLEY199QaW6LydDDVch6Vn3AaRFe0rdYb3GaWeIPZUS9NdsYMNKdl0xmtpG_X7Bj8nzgQFX/w640-h320/smh-shaking-head.gif" width="640" /></a></div><p>I mean, really ! There's several<i> tens of thousands</i> of lines of meticulously debugged Python code that will attest otherwise.</p><p>But describing the process of debugging code is about as exciting as watching the George Clooney version of <i>Solaris</i> in slow motion. Let me instead give a much more fun example of science-as-detectoring with a figure in my <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.10994">latest paper</a>. This is a not a brand new plot, but a very famous discovery to which I've added my own meagre data. I'll cover the science of my own work in a the next post - in this one I want to look more at the background and the major aspects of what it shows.</p><p>This infamous <i>Tully-Fisher relation</i> is deceptively simple : a nice straight line plotting how one variable affects one other. At it simplest, it says that bigger galaxies spin faster, which is just about one of the most boring things you can say about them. Hundreds of billions of stars, uncounted planets, supernovae, great hulking black holes at their heart, the not-quite-infinite majesty of the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-most-astounding-fact.html">darkened cosmos</a>... nope, today, "big ones are more spinny".</p><p>Really<i>, this </i>is what we're going with ? Oh. Okay.</p><p>Start to look a little closer though, and the Tully-Fisher relation blossoms into a bewildering array of complexity and ugly truths. This is a good opportunity to examine just how messy the coalface of research can really be, and a reminder that while science certainly does depend very strongly on rigorous, objective facts, it has no small component of subjective choice behind it too. It's also a good example of how much frickin' work goes into a single bloody plot.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkD8A9OjNJ9JkSidTME12SfpHiwefLITCrdqkaKvtrUk5v8yq27uDigKdRfoV9dryLdbcggXTvPr2_MiEejreDZQdtNFqrkyX9meXFWWkYgzPHsnZ7NTkSWZgAFwik9D6lT7WsMZASrqWcis-wnrVeJ8cUgBs6XZHyI-8o_hEhap8mw9qQH_E2_9z/s508/Data%20mining.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="508" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQkD8A9OjNJ9JkSidTME12SfpHiwefLITCrdqkaKvtrUk5v8yq27uDigKdRfoV9dryLdbcggXTvPr2_MiEejreDZQdtNFqrkyX9meXFWWkYgzPHsnZ7NTkSWZgAFwik9D6lT7WsMZASrqWcis-wnrVeJ8cUgBs6XZHyI-8o_hEhap8mw9qQH_E2_9z/w640-h428/Data%20mining.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Surely the term "data mining" must have originated in Wales.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This is for once an <i>intentionally </i>long post. If, though, you're already familiar with the Tully-Fisher relation, or don't really care about it very much, feel free to scroll ahead to section four.</p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>1) </b><b>The Tully-Fisher Relation And How To Measure It</b></u></p><p>Here's the plot. For an astronomy post I'm afraid this one is going to need quite a lot of graphs and precious few pretty pictures of galaxies.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDve3U2w27jY2UpExUTY_z6cw_z0QDotiGXAw7VbF4ejM-DvPe29-3QcxLetBW2dG7Cj569M2WhwLolsXnq3PMweYq7Nv8kI42EfOLRE-W5O7wuXzrf0cjGMIrgcKpKpSj22hQAgfsGStDy9avFbHcY0KLVRr3gzU0_ek9M68FD4tbbZV8GLh6VMN/s724/TFROriginal.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="724" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDve3U2w27jY2UpExUTY_z6cw_z0QDotiGXAw7VbF4ejM-DvPe29-3QcxLetBW2dG7Cj569M2WhwLolsXnq3PMweYq7Nv8kI42EfOLRE-W5O7wuXzrf0cjGMIrgcKpKpSj22hQAgfsGStDy9avFbHcY0KLVRr3gzU0_ek9M68FD4tbbZV8GLh6VMN/w640-h594/TFROriginal.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Simplified by a just a smidgen.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>This is the original version from a <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1977A%26A....54..661T/abstract">famous 1977 paper</a> by Brent Tully and James Fisher. What it shows is how bright a galaxy is (vertical axis) as a function of how fast it's rotating (horizontal axis). Regular readers will know I've <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/07/ultra-diffuse-galaxies-revenge-of-ghosts.html">shown versions of it before</a> because although the basics are simple, the devil is in the details - and the devil is a jolly interesting chap if nothing else.</p><p>Let's look at the basics first though. We'll get to <strike>exorcising demons</strike> examining the details later. First, here's how we get the data.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Measuring the brightness</i></p><p>In this original plot the vertical axis is how bright the galaxies are at ordinary optical wavelengths. Astronomers use a horrible thing called the <i>magnitude system</i>, which expresses brightness in some convenient but monstrously unintuitive and literally arse-backwards way*. The simplest version is <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/A/Apparent+Magnitude"><i>apparent </i>magnitude</a>, which just means how bright things appear in the raw observations from the sky. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* The brighter something is, the more negative its magnitude. I mean, come on.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXh3X3M5VNHwmKBSSTCSZFfIbOujFxv2yAiT7nTOi1YCvAPpNBVcU3iSaTN9bMzq_L9w3VC2DVLH26C65ptxXJKh2_6W-ZJ5GlCMKc4CF8_uqAWIF_XI7I_64cW3T0Bf2U-tOriuvfn0AF_e7EQMh39GvgDGOc8yAwpb7tUFCQ-qvmche_OhwGHL3X/s1303/Mangitudes.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="1303" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXh3X3M5VNHwmKBSSTCSZFfIbOujFxv2yAiT7nTOi1YCvAPpNBVcU3iSaTN9bMzq_L9w3VC2DVLH26C65ptxXJKh2_6W-ZJ5GlCMKc4CF8_uqAWIF_XI7I_64cW3T0Bf2U-tOriuvfn0AF_e7EQMh39GvgDGOc8yAwpb7tUFCQ-qvmche_OhwGHL3X/w640-h174/Mangitudes.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />A nice chart I found <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/question-and-answer-guide-to-astronomy/stars-and-stellar-systems/CFD8F55B5EF1FD7608CA2EDD8E1FCD3E">here</a>. The Andromeda Galaxy is about +3.4.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Problem is, this tells you little or nothing about the physics of what you're looking at. For that, as in the Tully-Fisher plot, you have to convert to <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/A/Absolute+Magnitude"><i>absolute </i>magnitude</a>. This is what the apparent magnitude would be if you were a fixed distance (10 parsecs, about 33 light years) from the source. Keeping everything at the same distance means you can make fair comparisons. For the enthusiasts, absolute magnitudes for galaxies typically range from about -20 (very bright) to -10 (very faint), but these aren't strict limits at all.</p><p>The conversion from apparent to absolute magnitude is easy as long as you know the distance. Admittedly, getting this can be <i>extremely </i>difficult, depending on how accurate you need to be. But let's tackle the other variable in the plot first.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Measuring the rotation</i></p><p>Finding out how fast galaxies are spinning is a bit more complicated because there are several different ways to measure this. The most obvious is to simply sit back and watch the stars move across the sky (their "proper motions"*). But that's only really possible in our own and the very nearest galaxies. And to determine their full 3D motion, we need to measure their speed towards or away from us - that is, along our line of sight.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I have no idea where this term comes from. A Google search for "improper motion" returns results about everything from flawed legal practises to unpleasant bowel movements.</span></p><p>That turns out to be much easier : we can measure the <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/R/Redshift">redshift</a> of stars surprisingly easily, even at very large distances indeed. And this has some key advantages. Here's a simple model of a galaxy showing how things rotate relative to an observer. If we're viewing it face-on :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46wxtSsY8kofWBZHhUEzuse45UM9iunaJBqwl71v-a_TEbPY_M_xLJD70pGMZVuWkUxaf_OyJgjhJI1PJCGX6DoHcpfUVmqYvKmkIhTCzERF9an5joXJq9nDT--DHI7c-YCDMWoctC3ZJoYl8Jh-fzvACSfPAmjS-KIfzcGAEK7CK9Iz76lc6TFdW/s400/GalaxyRotationFace.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46wxtSsY8kofWBZHhUEzuse45UM9iunaJBqwl71v-a_TEbPY_M_xLJD70pGMZVuWkUxaf_OyJgjhJI1PJCGX6DoHcpfUVmqYvKmkIhTCzERF9an5joXJq9nDT--DHI7c-YCDMWoctC3ZJoYl8Jh-fzvACSfPAmjS-KIfzcGAEK7CK9Iz76lc6TFdW/w400-h400/GalaxyRotationFace.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With a reasonably realistic rotation pattern but a very simplistic distribution of stars.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>All this movement is in the plane of the <strike>screen</strike> sky, which means in this case we've no option but to sit and wait long enough to see something move - redshifts won't help here. This gets a trifle dull after a millennium or two, so face-on galaxies aren't much use. Whereas if we're edge-on :</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15TU3neH5EtlB_VTIDoROtjrwWm4D5tIhktWDKc5vUaBi3cUEESPXaRaGF4mt4s37oEbT6rTGbAV4M8S_uqLhQorJs2xtbY9_xc2EGGcvY6HhTIAl5MyZbafC_J0SjjJc5zucFa-WyxHc8cdi2p-TTc5J5Lu_dKIo1p_1Ou7z0yN48Hm-FRU4qATs/s400/GalaxyRotateEdge.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="60" data-original-width="400" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg15TU3neH5EtlB_VTIDoROtjrwWm4D5tIhktWDKc5vUaBi3cUEESPXaRaGF4mt4s37oEbT6rTGbAV4M8S_uqLhQorJs2xtbY9_xc2EGGcvY6HhTIAl5MyZbafC_J0SjjJc5zucFa-WyxHc8cdi2p-TTc5J5Lu_dKIo1p_1Ou7z0yN48Hm-FRU4qATs/w400-h60/GalaxyRotateEdge.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p>In the middle, all of the movement is across the screen, with nothing moving towards or away from us. But at the sides, <i>all </i>the motion is towards or away from us. Here, measuring motion across the sky would be very tough, but redshifts become easy, and then give us the rotation velocity directly. For galaxies to have stable rotation and not be tearing themselves to bits, the rotation speed at their edges must be the same as everywhere else.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuoD5lWY02OYqBNEht04_YxLzOP9C3T5BR4VDl02MFUf5y3z5CzZCxQNrAE7tdcDqqvxPLbrTKIpplip65REtlgPLk1QQwsxivp9tPlYYO8cAyndyuGLDId3EkAMkDiADsOVN2U0BsiRJl3m6YRvKiL62jjcZ2nNEFRiFNbu1_AHbGXy6OHPACTkjQ/s1200/Success%20kid.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuoD5lWY02OYqBNEht04_YxLzOP9C3T5BR4VDl02MFUf5y3z5CzZCxQNrAE7tdcDqqvxPLbrTKIpplip65REtlgPLk1QQwsxivp9tPlYYO8cAyndyuGLDId3EkAMkDiADsOVN2U0BsiRJl3m6YRvKiL62jjcZ2nNEFRiFNbu1_AHbGXy6OHPACTkjQ/w640-h336/Success%20kid.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Well... it's not <i>quite </i>that simple, unfortunately. If we happen to see a galaxy which is exactly edge-on, then the stars right at the edges will indeed tell us exactly how fast they're rotating, directly - with no need for any further corrections at all.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Fn2CBOS2-AnGY8wJzp1d1Cztjzqr7UcUZX4zhSeHYRr8_9U7ecQVHZF_Oqp1_yp02fLvFexvhWCpAd_SpW1-pHQv5qdfRHAb1071pIFX2S1Cd72W1Uls3IbD7nfunT_S-4GTIFxtX54Lj7ReEBh9PG8saC62azQKgtziXLuXh_gR4arnLt_cJanR/s1203/NGC%20891.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1203" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Fn2CBOS2-AnGY8wJzp1d1Cztjzqr7UcUZX4zhSeHYRr8_9U7ecQVHZF_Oqp1_yp02fLvFexvhWCpAd_SpW1-pHQv5qdfRHAb1071pIFX2S1Cd72W1Uls3IbD7nfunT_S-4GTIFxtX54Lj7ReEBh9PG8saC62azQKgtziXLuXh_gR4arnLt_cJanR/w640-h320/NGC%20891.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Like NGC 891, <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/82774/astrophoto-deep-deep-look-at-ngc-891/">for example</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of course most galaxies don't happen to line up with us like that otherwise we'd have to seriously consider Intelligent Design as a legitimate theory, assuming that the whole point of the Universe was so that human beings could do really good extragalactic astronomy*. Most galaxies are somewhere in between face-on and edge-on. But, provided they're not too close to the former**, and we assume they're basically circular in shape, it's easy enough to correct for this.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Not that we need Intelligent Design to assume <i>that</i>, of course. It goes without saying the astronomers are obviously the highest form of life.<br />** The errors in this are pretty large : a galaxy has to be more than around 30 degrees or so inclined away from us for this correction to work, otherwise the correction becomes so great that small measurement errors lead to big problems. </span></p><p>A second problem is that actually, using starlight is not a good idea. Stars are usually embedded in <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2013/04/gassy-galaxy-gifs-galore.html">much larger gaseous discs</a>, which we observe with radio telescopes. Using those measurements, we find that the stars don't probe the full extent of this <i>rotation curve</i> : that is, they'll underestimate how fast the galaxy is truly rotating.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZI7Lk8JZVYTeHTT5O6WZ1-0tndNVFG60nxdXT1pSo95e41_iLgLZCuBMLVhAVAhQlw1RHv7b9jmDw9Ekain4tF0KXp8Ea_RS3UaZvxt0BU85XlZX_WzphfRSvFPOn6jugNgTBA0RkUpPuq9_n0jZWfa82JFyDNdBCIDZRjMz_LDJeySBQ2zYZT9w/s1280/M33Rotation.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZI7Lk8JZVYTeHTT5O6WZ1-0tndNVFG60nxdXT1pSo95e41_iLgLZCuBMLVhAVAhQlw1RHv7b9jmDw9Ekain4tF0KXp8Ea_RS3UaZvxt0BU85XlZX_WzphfRSvFPOn6jugNgTBA0RkUpPuq9_n0jZWfa82JFyDNdBCIDZRjMz_LDJeySBQ2zYZT9w/w640-h360/M33Rotation.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>This is one of the main pieces of evidence for dark matter. Without extra, unseen mass to hold it all together, most galaxies are rotating so fast they ought to <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2013/05/galaxies-suck-lets-get-rid-of-them.html">quickly fly apart</a>. </p><p>Now to get a nice rotation curve like that one isn't easy. You need to have observations of the gas of very high resolution, so you can see exactly which bit is moving at which velocity, and that's technically difficult to do. What's much easier, however, is to get an observation which integrates all the gas in the galaxy at once. What you see in such data is a bunch of blobs : you can't see any structure to them at all, all your spatial information is <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/virgo-glass.html">blurred out</a> - but you can still see the velocity range over which they're detected. You can plot this very easily as a <i>spectrum</i>, which shows how bright the gas is (or rather, how much there is) as a function of velocity :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ogMBb-dt8GL3a5gjr-OpF2yLn8_i4YhLzQmiWPTbaDfAv9VkrnsqaX-uIcvJ6jc0L13amz_QzyHlBwODdzWmg3JZqoHdvy7gQK9ITY_GAbKoPkZ7ut_DWfB_IvbH027AJlT-lyuaV3LU4bnhC5xxTgbg8brUpiCyJzMJ-SLQnpyBA3bpe7hYOE_/s689/HISpectraExample.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="676" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6ogMBb-dt8GL3a5gjr-OpF2yLn8_i4YhLzQmiWPTbaDfAv9VkrnsqaX-uIcvJ6jc0L13amz_QzyHlBwODdzWmg3JZqoHdvy7gQK9ITY_GAbKoPkZ7ut_DWfB_IvbH027AJlT-lyuaV3LU4bnhC5xxTgbg8brUpiCyJzMJ-SLQnpyBA3bpe7hYOE_/w393-h400/HISpectraExample.png" width="393" /></a></div><p>By measuring where the real emission begins and ends, we get a <i>line width</i>. Where exactly you choose to make the measurement is a bit tricky, but the usual convention is to measure it at either 50% or 20% of the peak brightness (flux) level : the W50 or W20 parameters. Generally these are similar, though <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2022/04/not-interesting-but-important.html">not always</a>. In combination with the inclination which we estimate from the optical data, we can correct it to get a estimate of the true rotation speed.</p><p>So this is pretty complicated already. Brightness is okay, but rotation is quite tricky. </p><p><i>BUT</i>, we do have some cases where we can get those nice rotation curves, so we can compare the line width measurements with these... and it works well. It's certainly not ideal, but it <i>does </i>work.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Measuring the distance</i></p><p>But wait ! Remember, we can't estimate the intrinsic brightness without knowing how far away the galaxies are. Now Tully & Fisher had a sample of galaxies for which they did have decent distance measurements (there are <a href="https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/C/cosmic_distance_ladder.html">various ways</a> to estimate this). What they found was that this relation between rotation speed and brightness is so good, <i>you can use it as another way to estimate distance.</i></p><p>That is, you can very easily measure the apparent magnitude of a galaxy, and quite easily determine its line width. With these two measurements, assuming the Tully-Fisher relation holds, it's then easy enough to work out the galaxy's distance for its absolute magnitude to match the prediction.</p><p>I'll spare you the details of measuring distances except to note Hubble's <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/H/Hubble+Law">famous law</a> : the faster a galaxy is moving away from us (which is another thing that's easy to measure), the further away it is. This law isn't perfect, galaxies can have "peculiar motions" which deviate from the large-scale flow. But it's pretty darn good. So on very large scales, in most cases we can get a reliable distance estimate very easily. And <i>that </i>lets use use the TFR in a completely different and much more interesting way than as a glorified tape measure. </p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>2) The Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation</u></b></p><p>It might help to take stock of how complicated this relation has already become. To measure rotation speed we need to get the line width and also inclination, which means combining data from very different wavelengths. We can't do this viewing-angle correction at all unless galaxies are more inclined than about 30 degrees, otherwise the errors are too large. And using the line width is never quite as good as measuring a proper rotation curve.</p><p>In contrast, measuring the brightness is quite a lot easier. Or at least, it <i>was</i>, until Stacy McGaugh came along and made everything more complicated.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGHYWEJpLsZOwBEt8baMVzfsAbf98THu7eswrokdoboiJPf0noWzzP254SFChMbyUwh2-yiIXbERtmauLIhuMoF7UrY7iI_wDMZTyAHNnEHWX2IpFUsslR8Gorvi8iVkbxxcVa5uJgaRoeG2GFgNrDmjATM0o1F4RxABVIs8SAHkQZSNh2CupGALz/s1080/BTFROriginal.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1080" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGHYWEJpLsZOwBEt8baMVzfsAbf98THu7eswrokdoboiJPf0noWzzP254SFChMbyUwh2-yiIXbERtmauLIhuMoF7UrY7iI_wDMZTyAHNnEHWX2IpFUsslR8Gorvi8iVkbxxcVa5uJgaRoeG2GFgNrDmjATM0o1F4RxABVIs8SAHkQZSNh2CupGALz/w640-h458/BTFROriginal.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">They're darned ugly plots, I know, but don't blame me !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000ApJ...533L..99M/abstract">McGaugh found</a> a sample of galaxies that stubbornly refused to obey the standard TFR (green points on the left). There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the measurements, they just rebelliously failed to follow the trend. But when he changed the vertical axis from brightness to mass, everything changed. On the right, the green points now happily agreed with all the others : a nice neat line reappeared !</p><p>McGaugh called this the <i>baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation</i>. "Baryonic" being just a fancy word for "normal matter", the stars and gas we're all familiar with - as opposed to the more exotic "dark matter", which remains mysterious.</p><p>Why does this work ? In bright galaxies, their baryonic mass is dominated by stars. So using either stellar mass or brightness will give the same result, and adding in the gas doesn't do anything. But in faint galaxies it's the opposite. <i>Their </i>baryonic mass is dominated by gas, so you have to use the gas mass for those and you can ignore the horrible stars.</p><p>What's interesting is this reveals the original Tully-Fisher relation was just one particular form of a more fundamental relation. Replacing brightness with mass puts it on a much more physical footing : brightness depends on what wavelength you're using, but mass is mass. And notice how vast the mass range here is, from ten million to a hundred billion times the mass of the Sun. <i>This relationship holds across four orders of magnitude</i> - a factor of ten thousand. Clearly something important is going on.</p><p>In practical terms, measuring the mass of the gas turns out to be relatively easy. While converting the optical brightness to stellar mass is not at all trivial, it does seem to work. But before we get to the glorious nitty-gritty of all this, let's take a step back, assume the relation is basically right, and think about what it actually <i>means</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>3 Why Does It Do This ?</u></b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdfQtcnmpnTkfeAL3Ooy5guCdYmeBD7UKInUb-rF5Xjq0iw6i3Sik8AoznNsVQnbKC_Ch6ZkulaDHzvlDzN3s5-CVqACuu5mkKGMb8MnQRjCTDZIc6fiM022vaE26znDrZ_eAdfAZkxAP3-cv0WHALVcGMwHQ7tvjRYk9FG7h_lVnI4FZW8RLtNYU/s740/Homer%20Confused.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="740" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLdfQtcnmpnTkfeAL3Ooy5guCdYmeBD7UKInUb-rF5Xjq0iw6i3Sik8AoznNsVQnbKC_Ch6ZkulaDHzvlDzN3s5-CVqACuu5mkKGMb8MnQRjCTDZIc6fiM022vaE26znDrZ_eAdfAZkxAP3-cv0WHALVcGMwHQ7tvjRYk9FG7h_lVnI4FZW8RLtNYU/w640-h404/Homer%20Confused.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sorry Homer, but worse is to come.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At a naïve, hand-waving level, this relation makes sense. A more massive galaxy <i>has </i>to spin faster to be stable against gravitational collapse. And though galaxies are mass-dominated by their dark matter, the more dark matter they have, the more gas they can accumulate and the more stars they can form. So it's not at all surprising to find that the faster-spinning galaxies (that is, the most massive objects) have the most gas and stars.</p><p>As I said at the start, big things spin faster. Whoop-dee-bloody-doo, another marvellous scientific breakthrough. Your tax dollars* at work.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Actually, Czech crowns. But you get the idea.</span></p><p>But... what should the <i>exact </i>relation be ? Should it be the same for all galaxies ? What about those that don't have any gas at all ? What about those which are interacting with other galaxies ?</p><p><i>This </i>is where it gets complicated, and sometimes extremely puzzling. First, in clusters galaxies are prone to losing large amounts of gas through a <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/01/paper-x-bizarre-murder-of-windy.html">process</a> that doesn't much affect their stars. When enough of their gas is removed, what remains is the most tightly-held stuff in the very centre, which doesn't probe the full rotation curve. So these highly gas-deficient galaxies don't follow the BTFR, but this is most likely just because we're not able to measure their rotation correctly : intrinsically, they probably do follow the usual relation.</p><p>Some galaxies not only lack gas completely but have likely done so for many billions of years. These "elliptical" and "lenticular" galaxies tend not to have rotating discs, so plotting these on the BTRF wouldn't really make any sense. However, they have their own version : the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faber%E2%80%93Jackson_relation">Faber-Jackson relation</a></i> . Rather than rotation, velocity <i>dispersion </i>- the speed of random motions - correlates very well with their total brightness. The principle is exactly the same as the BTFR, in that the stars have to be moving faster to maintain stable orbits (and even the quantitative gradient of the relations is the same), it's just that they don't do so in coherent rotating discs as in spiral galaxies.</p><p>So those points are probably only minor caveats. But optically faint galaxies are another story. Yes, it's nice that if you plot their total mass they agree with the main relation... <i>but this is not at all what was expected</i>.</p><p>This comes about from a <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1995MNRAS.273L..35Z/abstract">clever mathematical trick</a>. It's actually possible to predict the Tully-Fisher relation using some simple equations :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQDdAKeS_eiQmZUJnRzTxGWer2d_-UaMh6Vy-ccZOtrRUxl1S7KjD5hnBumDvN2sR2njksHGdc12RzjuFZ4ENGqbZhsBvrJs8_DVwe5ivAALPG_LEpZDhI5N7RKgOlk7HSSAH1dyjf96CDwDcRm8Ulht1Va8_gTgP0zg3Iad6G9pnBBP_UhqKB8MX/s1088/TFRCalc.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="1088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQDdAKeS_eiQmZUJnRzTxGWer2d_-UaMh6Vy-ccZOtrRUxl1S7KjD5hnBumDvN2sR2njksHGdc12RzjuFZ4ENGqbZhsBvrJs8_DVwe5ivAALPG_LEpZDhI5N7RKgOlk7HSSAH1dyjf96CDwDcRm8Ulht1Va8_gTgP0zg3Iad6G9pnBBP_UhqKB8MX/w640-h480/TFRCalc.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />You don't have to go through all this. I just like making myself look clever.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The equation predicts that the baryonic mass (M<sub>bar</sub>) should scale in proportion to velocity (v) to the fourth power. Which is exactly what it does. Hooray ! But it <i>also </i>shows that it should scale according to two other parameters : the mass-to-light ratio of the whole galaxy and its average surface mass density. <i>And it doesn't do that.</i> It appears that these exactly cancel each other out, and no-one has any idea why. </p><p>In other words, there should be a lot of scatter in this relation. The more spread out the stars in a galaxy of a given mass, the lower its surface brightness and the more it should deviate. But in fact the scatter is very low, with some claiming that it's so low as to be consistent with pure observational errors. <i>All galaxies appear to obey this relation perfectly.</i> </p><p>And that's just damned odd. It raises the suspicion that we're examining not just the processes governing galaxy formation and evolution, but something altogether more fundamental, not galaxy-specific but relating to physics itself : in a word, gravity.</p><p>How much scatter is there, exactly ? Given the possible importance of this, in the last few years this has become controversial. There are now a host of challengers to this apparently universal relation, above and beyond the gas-deficient objects which are generally considered to be a bit dull. That's why I cheekily called it a "non-relation" in the last picture, though this is a bit facetious.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0uO0YySFlEMDa1M3pbah40fVX6MHHMVsGyYqtLsCzQw_iuy525sQVxqsQ981k0mLj5BJPUZpvt6zahrx9GKhFrHSVnacA_z_NEh4CoSFVCC6NZGwsH04wnIUOqdt0CXAiIxK8xlB4Fx2BHIzuxHl9yz8L296FfQvCENsodp0ZqvrzGL9DZgc8F1a/s512/Cheeky.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0uO0YySFlEMDa1M3pbah40fVX6MHHMVsGyYqtLsCzQw_iuy525sQVxqsQ981k0mLj5BJPUZpvt6zahrx9GKhFrHSVnacA_z_NEh4CoSFVCC6NZGwsH04wnIUOqdt0CXAiIxK8xlB4Fx2BHIzuxHl9yz8L296FfQvCENsodp0ZqvrzGL9DZgc8F1a/w391-h400/Cheeky.png" width="391" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Because I'm just so damned edgy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Chief among these are the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/07/ultra-diffuse-galaxies-revenge-of-ghosts.html">Ultra Diffuse Galaxies</a>, which have very low surface brightnesses indeed, as well as <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2020/01/get-off-my-fundamental-plane.html">some other</a> much brighter (but still small) objects. But there are also so-called "<a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2019/09/is-it-bird-is-it-plane-no-its-super.html">super spirals</a>", the biggest and brightest spiral galaxies of all. And of course there are my own favourites, the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/01/check-out-my-kinky-curves.html">optically dark gas clouds</a> which <i>seem </i>to be rotating like galaxies.</p><p>What this all means depends on what really gives rise to the BTFR. <i>If </i>it's some detailed aspect of galaxy formation, then there's probably nothing very interesting going on. But if it's something really fundamental like gravity, then things get <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2017/08/this-isnt-law-youre-looking-for.html">much more complicated</a>. The most radical interpretation would be that the perfection of the BTFR actually constitutes evidence for a different theory of gravity that replaces dark matter (though as far as I can tell, this doesn't really stand up, and it can probably be accommodated just find in the conventional paradigm*).</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In principle, if it's gravity at work, then all stable systems in equilibrium should follow this relation. But establishing whether a system really is in stable equilibrium is not always easy, so outliers don't automatically constitute proof that we've disproven any alternative theories of gravity.</span></p><p>All of these challengers to the neatness of the BTFR have their own issues. Measuring the inclination angle for UDGs is extremely difficult and it's <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2021/12/yo-dawg-herd-you-like-missing-matter.html">by no means clear</a> that estimates are correct - while they appear to be rotating unexpectedly slowly, it's possible that they're just closer to face-on than we think. The same can't be said for the gas clouds, which rotate <i>too quickly</i> even without correcting for viewing angle*, but that they deviate in the opposite way to UDGs makes any connection between the very faint and truly dark objects hard to sustain. And super spirals <i>do </i>appear to be explicable by standard galaxy formation theory.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This correction can only make the rotation larger than the observed line width. Some other corrections can reduce it, however, which we'll get to later.</span></p><p>So what's going on ? We don't know. If the BTFR really is as nice as it appears, this <i>might </i>be evidence that the theory of gravity is wrong, though it probably wouldn't be very good evidence by itself. On other other hand, if there's actually a strong scatter in the BTFR, we still need to explain how this happens and why it wasn't seen before. Basically, it's confusing but interesting every which way you look at it.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>4) Mine Own Fit</u></b></p><p>One of the coolest things I've been unfortunate enough to discover is that some gas clouds in the Virgo cluster don't obey the standard BTFR. I've plotted this in different papers for years. Now it's not really surprising that some floofy gas clouds don't have the same dynamics as stable rotating galaxies, but simulations show that making clouds with line widths as high as these is damn near impossible. In contrast, if they were to be galaxies, but having a much larger dark matter content than most optically bright objects, this would explain everything pretty nicely.</p><p>Now along comes some new <a href="http://www.naic.edu/~ages/">Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey</a> (AGES) data of the Leo Group. Here we found some more gas clouds, and the picture is quite different : some follow the BTFR, but some don't.</p><p>I have to say that the initial referee report was the nicest I've ever received, which frankly I think is only bloody fair as I've had far more unduly critical reports than I deserve for making <i><a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2019/04/confirmation-what-now.html">entirely uncontroversial claims</a></i>. But I digress. Anyway, this super-lovely referee asked if I could demonstrate more robustly whether these clouds really do sit on the BTFR or not. It was an entirely reasonable request, but it led me down a much deeper, more complicated rabbit hole than I ever would have guessed. In fact the whole sorry process ended up being exactly like this :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLSCzawl5M-X9K8-qKdurvhXRgg0FKlQWda7-GJsD1ly5hO0paZASTEHT20yRRE2k6wmihudcdaUSvOWZIDBAIeJSHNaevLYUZ-tRbI8tPEOkDhcVmGT7w0mJIrwQ4JrVQKjIugnM35HFBrtLTyVHJECqotxyoDvIHB2E_GEinxIaTZvRDrEdjih8/s240/Bob%20Rakes.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="240" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLSCzawl5M-X9K8-qKdurvhXRgg0FKlQWda7-GJsD1ly5hO0paZASTEHT20yRRE2k6wmihudcdaUSvOWZIDBAIeJSHNaevLYUZ-tRbI8tPEOkDhcVmGT7w0mJIrwQ4JrVQKjIugnM35HFBrtLTyVHJECqotxyoDvIHB2E_GEinxIaTZvRDrEdjih8/w400-h307/Bob%20Rakes.gif" width="400" /></a></div><p>Here are the basic plots I started with :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDf3WbAmR_Nqy5FT13aEFkmxeDYq7tuSqBavtWkpsaOzfc2eMe88q_Rme8ayfBCdylfWP7YBrvc6QvPxxEkSi9C2H8cvYC2DQ4rC7fEV3x20uE6UBAeo6QODlMs5kTcJDIUnXavq5BvE5bCtWJXmjwtml4Y46DpPuQd_l-hacKqqrymkZCxiURcWv/s1269/BTFR.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1269" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDf3WbAmR_Nqy5FT13aEFkmxeDYq7tuSqBavtWkpsaOzfc2eMe88q_Rme8ayfBCdylfWP7YBrvc6QvPxxEkSi9C2H8cvYC2DQ4rC7fEV3x20uE6UBAeo6QODlMs5kTcJDIUnXavq5BvE5bCtWJXmjwtml4Y46DpPuQd_l-hacKqqrymkZCxiURcWv/w640-h342/BTFR.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">All points use my own measurements except for the green ones, which use other people's reported measurements. The red points are the ones I was interested in.</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The two plots are the same except in that the one of the left uses the "W50" measurement to estimate the rotation speed whereas the one on the right uses the "W20" parameter. You can see some of the black points - nice bright normal galaxies - have baryonic masses well above the best-fit dashed line using W50, but not using W20. That's because the spectral profiles can be asymmetrical. Sadly this has nothing to do with wonky ghosts : it just means that the emission is a lot brighter on one side than the other. So occasionally, the W50 value is much lower than it really should be, and the W20 value is generally the more accurate - though it too has its own problems, especially since it's measured at a level much closer to the noise. <div><br /></div><div>In short, W50 can sometimes give you erroneously slow rotation speeds, while W20 has the opposite problem - you have to pay close attention to the spectral profile.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwPlr4mrIdLnybvuNYRrlbkUcu3sfpgLnVLGTN6xyFxj_KQ1R7dvnwRPDfdcYw2W0ynaTKCNiI0fqUrrAHq1BYFATmnsA3u9rhUzENBKtTcfCz07SLqQhBMqYJLsVeeCXGaM15Z95lcYo4RXZ-H6ZO54Ic2O7EFgrjXswjzu92ePjpchj2PMxitaN/s820/Sad%20ghost.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="820" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRwPlr4mrIdLnybvuNYRrlbkUcu3sfpgLnVLGTN6xyFxj_KQ1R7dvnwRPDfdcYw2W0ynaTKCNiI0fqUrrAHq1BYFATmnsA3u9rhUzENBKtTcfCz07SLqQhBMqYJLsVeeCXGaM15Z95lcYo4RXZ-H6ZO54Ic2O7EFgrjXswjzu92ePjpchj2PMxitaN/w640-h342/Sad%20ghost.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cheer up ghost, you're not <i>that </i>wonky.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><p>The fit for the two different estimates for the line widths does change the interpretation somewhat. But most of them, eyeballing it, look to be consistent with the general scatter using the W50 version - most have higher velocities than the best-fit line, but only slightly. Using W20, there might be more of a deviation, though some clearly follow the general trend.</p><p>But in the course of addressing the reviewer's points, I found something else : I could not reproduce the best-fit lines ! All the data points themselves were fine, but how the hell I'd fitted the original lines I know not. Only through much toil did I eventually get a reproducible version that doesn't look too awful. The original W50 fit still looks better to me, but since I've no idea how I originally did it, this has to be discarded. Here are the replacement versions which appear in the published paper.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jIpUvsMSD0XgIdx-Os1Z8cUF0VwQoKEsMY6ALwEde5VVM9zHXalB5dwKZNPz2njXqWk3PcING--vRkjYdBeQwkiUV4ByDV2HWINXBhZW3Ji2yOiNITcAdKFX729x5MVKcakwekRAEikpjjFdSiVXK7bIhMez_zg9rL-3RhKbaCDVHEA_OBXl3Y9y/s1266/BTFR.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="1266" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jIpUvsMSD0XgIdx-Os1Z8cUF0VwQoKEsMY6ALwEde5VVM9zHXalB5dwKZNPz2njXqWk3PcING--vRkjYdBeQwkiUV4ByDV2HWINXBhZW3Ji2yOiNITcAdKFX729x5MVKcakwekRAEikpjjFdSiVXK7bIhMez_zg9rL-3RhKbaCDVHEA_OBXl3Y9y/w640-h342/BTFR.png" width="640" /></a></div>The best-fit is obtained only through the black points : bright, normal galaxies, with all the other points being dark gas clouds. The clouds themselves can't be used for the fit, since the goal was to see if they follow the usual relation for galaxies or not. While we can't change the values of the data, the fit matters in that this tells us if and how much the clouds deviate. In this version, the basic result still stands, but the clouds now agree better using the W20 than the W50 relation.<br /><p>This at last is where we get to the title of this post : which best fit is the <i>best </i>best fit ? And that's tricky to answer. It might help if there were error bars, or if we compared the results to previous findings rather than relying on our own fit.</p><p>To that end, the referee quite rightly suggested to compare with the results of a <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012AJ....143...40M/abstract">later McGaugh paper</a>. This is a good one to use because there McGaugh used a sample of gas-rich galaxies which were of similar masses to the Leo clouds, with proper rotation curves for all objects. Using a gas-rich sample means minimal problems with calculating the stellar mass, which, as we'll see very soon, can be a right bugger, and as we've already seen, rotation curves are much superior to using line widths.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>A First Guess</i></p><p>So I set about to apply the corrections McGaugh describes for a fair comparison to his fit for the BTFR. My first quick attempt was very promising. Sure, the result isn't perfect for the more massive galaxies, but it's not too bad. There's more scatter than with McGaugh's data but that's to be expected since we have to use line widths, which aren't as accurate. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7OPoRghnVTllJBCrCz9QG_7c30M8nhayZ-vhg5DcDsvlynUe6O8CkCFNM-l__Q1kgw7RdCXNr4-nwmx9a5f38y70aubfUnKKT-z22WmNJKfwYmN7f-5VyQUV7M4sucXCLZiCxo5s4cZASlN15NXMtXrXt0vPtX8cORdHaxoZPYVUOnx0uaIykNO1/s728/BTFRFirstGuess.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="728" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7OPoRghnVTllJBCrCz9QG_7c30M8nhayZ-vhg5DcDsvlynUe6O8CkCFNM-l__Q1kgw7RdCXNr4-nwmx9a5f38y70aubfUnKKT-z22WmNJKfwYmN7f-5VyQUV7M4sucXCLZiCxo5s4cZASlN15NXMtXrXt0vPtX8cORdHaxoZPYVUOnx0uaIykNO1/w400-h395/BTFRFirstGuess.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The solid line show's McGaugh's relation, with the dashed and dotted lines showing the scatter at one and two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_deviation">sigma</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Those deviating black points probably wouldn't have bothered me except that they're all to the right - they all have higher velocity widths than expected. What could have gone wrong ? Could I have systematically overestimated the widths ? I went back and checked the spectra (this being data from ten years ago and more !) and found nothing much wrong. And then I realised there was a bug in my plotting code.</p><p>In the original plots I'd used my own measurements with the absolute minimum of corrections. So those, having at last found a reproducible best fit, are solid. To compare with McGaugh requires more sophisticated corrections, and there's a lot more to go wrong. For this one I'd started with a correction he prescribes to adjust the line widths, since these don't always give the same results as rotation curves (they tend to overestimate things a little). But I'd accidentally applied this correction to the logarithmic values used for the final plot, whereas it should have been done in linear units... !</p><p><br /></p><p><i>A quick correction</i></p><p>Well, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I must admit I thought about pulling a fast one, but I just couldn't. Given how much it took to get the final result I almost wish I had... here's what happened when I corrected my mistake :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaN--q2SRqGqvjCY1bcwxIIsPFeWhDWby7tj8LJKqFA2TOMJp9waXGP9tiVPPwUOplaqh4M0CaW7rDGc3HgdKzqkhZvZrRGrOXAEwU6xhBM0Mayu7SqS5ltS_g5Tey6NYGGp7HUfMBylzkuqq45OY0PAom_FY-krpQ6sRfXtlSDSxRa3mFK9GQBujY/s759/BTFRSecondGuess.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="759" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaN--q2SRqGqvjCY1bcwxIIsPFeWhDWby7tj8LJKqFA2TOMJp9waXGP9tiVPPwUOplaqh4M0CaW7rDGc3HgdKzqkhZvZrRGrOXAEwU6xhBM0Mayu7SqS5ltS_g5Tey6NYGGp7HUfMBylzkuqq45OY0PAom_FY-krpQ6sRfXtlSDSxRa3mFK9GQBujY/w400-h395/BTFRSecondGuess.png" width="400" /></a></div>Booo ! It was just <i>pure dumb luck coincidence</i> that my original incorrect correction gave a better best fit than the correct correction. Doing things properly gave an unhappily worse result, with more of the galaxies deviating than before !<br /><p><br /></p><p><i>A new (mis)fit</i></p><p>Things went from bad to worse. I decided that if I was going to do this, I'd better do <i>all </i>the corrections McGaugh used, and not just pick-and-choose the factors which seemed likely to be dominant. So I tried plotting a sample from <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020AJ....160..271D/abstract">another paper</a> (an ALFALFA paper - another Arecibo survey, not as sensitive as AGES but much larger) which did all this, and their results sat very nicely around McGaugh's trend. Even for galaxies matched with those in my own sample, their values were in good agreement, but mine weren't.</p><p>This led to a paper chase to find exactly what corrections were supposed to be applied. After combining absolutely everything, using my own data the result was... disappointing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuWO4Fcky6Hh7tHDPVOUzZD9bo3n6U3_0hAs4T0HRBG92_WVodGjo-d7L6uEgRzNOvhalxxmROjSRbTkZuBFvTys0bbuttVAlIA3rWBSoqiNWjoVPAxiFXpck6L6L0PDoghp5drhUsPZG88vh4TLh_QV9HTLS5bTd4IRaM74i8pqE9UMAo5KP8KDc/s759/BTFRThirdGuess.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="759" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuWO4Fcky6Hh7tHDPVOUzZD9bo3n6U3_0hAs4T0HRBG92_WVodGjo-d7L6uEgRzNOvhalxxmROjSRbTkZuBFvTys0bbuttVAlIA3rWBSoqiNWjoVPAxiFXpck6L6L0PDoghp5drhUsPZG88vh4TLh_QV9HTLS5bTd4IRaM74i8pqE9UMAo5KP8KDc/w400-h395/BTFRThirdGuess.png" width="400" /></a></div>The normal galaxies barely follow McGaugh's relation at all ! At this point I began to seriously consider not showing them. And this would have been an entirely valid thing to do. The full set of corrections needed for optically bright galaxies (which I'll go through at the end) is a lot larger than what you need to do for the gas clouds, and it's those I was interested in. So the comparison between the gas clouds and McGaugh's relation is valid regardless of the terrible "fit" from the normal galaxies. Still, there are <i>some </i>corrections which apply to both samples, and if there was any systematic difference between our data and previous results, I'd rather know what the heck it was.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can't say it was particularly fun, mind you.</div><div><br /></div><div><p><i>The "correct" correction</i></p><p>At this stage I knew :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Using other people's data for the same galaxies gave a result in excellent agreement with McGaugh's relation</li><li>Using my own data but applying all the corrections described gave a wonky result that would shame an asymmetrical ghost</li></ul><div>So there simply <i>must </i>be something wrong with my original measurements (and/or further bugs in my plotting code). But where ? I went right back to the raw, uncorrected values : the apparent magnitudes and line widths. The AGES and ALFALFA measurements were in good agreement on both counts, though not as much for the line widths. I picked out random galaxies and went through the entire correction process to see if I could spot what was going on.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some dozens of plots later (that's only a slight an exaggeration), I found the solution.</div><div><br /></div><div>It turns out there was nothing much wrong with either my magnitudes or line widths. ALFALFA have a much more sophisticated but hard-to-reproduce method for estimating the width, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was with my inclination angles*. In defiance of advice I'd been given years back, it was better by far to use the automatic values obtained through the <a href="http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr16/en/home.aspx">optical survey catalogues</a>**. So when I used these, together with all the corrections needed (which also involved finding more bugs in my code, but also typos and the wrong citations in other people's papers, as well as finding out that they were using a slightly but crucially different calibration parameter for stellar mass to the one I'd always used), I got...</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* And also distances. Again, AGES generally uses a simple estimate for this, whereas ALFALFA have something more sophisticated.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">** The SDSS is (or was) notorious for giving unreliable values, making it necessary to re-analyse the data by hand. At some point, it appears that this was dramatically improved.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>(drumroll, please)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>(continue waiting)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>TA DA !</b></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xpWEXGXQsaHpfUcPk2VV2DcZF6CwZ0qAUUFRkAb7CCb9I5amPz71OlYSajhOCacNGEGoKF_wUJaixMxjhQHn6cn1_U69Lz2GbrP0lSplr6aAqpnvHukMms8ztQGxaoHi3GnnvHHgh1ihj1frTdf73tLS8KJTsMBKqIl3zW0KBd6-RCy_15zQ7xwP/s734/BTFRFourthGuess.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="734" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xpWEXGXQsaHpfUcPk2VV2DcZF6CwZ0qAUUFRkAb7CCb9I5amPz71OlYSajhOCacNGEGoKF_wUJaixMxjhQHn6cn1_U69Lz2GbrP0lSplr6aAqpnvHukMms8ztQGxaoHi3GnnvHHgh1ihj1frTdf73tLS8KJTsMBKqIl3zW0KBd6-RCy_15zQ7xwP/w400-h390/BTFRFourthGuess.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Err. Umm. Oh.</div><div><br /></div><div>I mean, it's certainly a heck of an improvement. But it's hardly perfect - there's still a lot of scatter, especially galaxies with higher velocities than expected, and the slope of the galaxies still looks off - even if by only just a tad. And according to this, there are some galaxies which deviate just as much as those Virgo clouds (blue circles), which would rather undermine how interesting they are.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, bugger.</div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Correctly correcting the correct correction</i></p><p>The final step turned out to be much less onerous. I'd already tried plotting the AGES-ALFALFA matched sample and found a much better agreement than in that last plot, so that gave me an idea : what if I tried limiting it to the brightest detections ? ALFALFA, being less sensitive than AGES, was only able to find the brightest galaxies. So when I did that :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvjLPEwkWpllWSuTiYnD-PvTRvP8CchGaCwv88EIinBY5l_91SwW0zslCNKF4qwwN6dbEanxpCC7SkGNhhyW34poY7ydvRoBynUU_cmOtRZ9tq5K_LGmibfjg2pvLK7w9AfmCwvz8uwYOXfcHLUU3CeN9INKPgbgPSQF7BToSW53rI6VQqeeU7lOM/s727/BTFRMcGaugh.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="727" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvjLPEwkWpllWSuTiYnD-PvTRvP8CchGaCwv88EIinBY5l_91SwW0zslCNKF4qwwN6dbEanxpCC7SkGNhhyW34poY7ydvRoBynUU_cmOtRZ9tq5K_LGmibfjg2pvLK7w9AfmCwvz8uwYOXfcHLUU3CeN9INKPgbgPSQF7BToSW53rI6VQqeeU7lOM/w640-h632/BTFRMcGaugh.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The open circles are McGaugh's own super-accurate data</span>.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>And here at last is a plot I'm satisfied with. Only a handful of points lie significantly outside the general scatter, which is about as good as we can expect given that we have line width data and not proper rotation curves. But now the significance of the clouds is again clear, and the brightness cut I used is such that the galaxies and clouds are being compared fairly : it's only the fainter detections which have that stronger scatter.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfTj1UBTynMe5r0HMNBbwRyp6JYy1CJwhTgiuaNmEN_vCpJsu9Rnc7HU-VQsKQzMWlZM8nL2tLb-YLqqzQOdkCe3HgfZoMlJmdONaHDVPQGQggsiuRhixLd9MeKRnTe6BOOZiZenBVqlMfHHOLyzbB1kUU4xZq-r5sETnAUfXpAtlbf9uWIHsB-Y8/s500/Champagne.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="500" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfTj1UBTynMe5r0HMNBbwRyp6JYy1CJwhTgiuaNmEN_vCpJsu9Rnc7HU-VQsKQzMWlZM8nL2tLb-YLqqzQOdkCe3HgfZoMlJmdONaHDVPQGQggsiuRhixLd9MeKRnTe6BOOZiZenBVqlMfHHOLyzbB1kUU4xZq-r5sETnAUfXpAtlbf9uWIHsB-Y8/w640-h426/Champagne.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>A few final points remain. Of those normal galaxies which deviate even in this plot, two have surprisingly low velocity widths - both of which are very faint and very slowly rotating. This means a small error in the width measurement, combined with a small error in the inclination angle, could easily be enough to reconcile them with the standard relation. Two have higher widths than expected, but these are genuine errors which disappear if we used more modern routines to do the measurements, as were used for the Leo clouds. So at some point we'll probably need to redo everything (maybe when we release the final AGES catalogue), but this is overkill for the result we presented here.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's also interesting that the matched sample gave good results using the ALFALFA velocity widths despite that survey having less sensitivity. While I instinctively dislike how complex their method is for measuring the line widths, I have to concede that it does work. So that might also be something to look into for a future AGES data release as well, as it could potentially increase our sample size by allowing us to use fainter galaxies.</div><div><br /></div><div>And finally, choosing to show only the brightest objects is a perfectly valid selection criteria. The fainter the galaxies, the more affected the width measurements by noise : especially the W20 parameter required for the McGaugh relation. There are other potential selection criteria we could use instead, but this one is much the easiest. The clouds we're interested in are bright enough to make the cut, so the comparison is fair.<p><br /></p><p><b><u>5) Conclusions</u></b></p><p>The baryonic Tully-Fisher relation is deceptively simple. It's just a relation between how fast a galaxy spins and how much gas and stars it has, but to get from the raw observational data to those physical parameters requires a whole series of extremely annoying steps.</p><p><b>Rotation speed is obtained by doing all this bloomin' stuff :</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Choosing whether to use the width at 50 or 20% of the peak value</li><li>Halving the width to account for the galaxy rotating both towards and away from us</li><li>Correcting for inclination, obtained from optical data</li><li>Reducing the width by an additional small factor for using line widths instead of rotation curves, which varies depending on whether they're dominated by gas or stars</li><li>Reducing by an extra amount due to limitations of the spectral resolution, depending on their brightness and velocity resolution</li><li>Reduced to account for the effects of cosmological expansion, which depends on their redshift</li></ul><div><b>Then we have to get the stellar mass, which is actually way more complicated than this list makes it look because each one of these is a multi-step process involving many parameters :</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Measuring the brightness in at least two optical wavelengths </li><li>Correcting this for the dust clouds in our own galaxy, which make everything look fainter and redder</li><li>Correcting this for the dust in the external galaxies, which depends on their inclination angle</li><li>Converting this final corrected brightness to stellar mass, using some recipe or other </li></ul><div><b>And the atomic mass :</b></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Measure the brightness from the radio observations, multiplying by some factor to account for stuff we don't detect directly (hydrogen -> hydrogen + helium)</li><li>... summing the gas and stellar mass gives us the final total baryonic mass</li></ul></div><div><b>But don't forget about distances - <i>all of the above</i> depend on these !</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Measure the redshift of the galaxy, using either the radio or optical data</li><li>Converting this to the correct reference frame, and then choosing a value of Hubble's constant to convert to distance</li><li>Where other redshift-independent distances are known, replacing the above values with these</li></ul><div><b>Finally, you need to choose which galaxies to actually plot :</b></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Galaxies which are strongly gas-deficient probably don't have accurate rotation velocities, so you need to reject these</li><li>Galaxies where the gas was detected but only faintly also probably don't have accurate rotation velocities, so you need to reject these too</li><li>Objects where the inclination is too low will have wrong rotation velocities as well, so chuck these out</li></ul></div><div>It's not much of an exaggeration to say that I probably made mistakes in <i>every single one</i> of those steps before I got the final graph.</div><div><br /></div><div>So no, this is not a simple plot. And all this is <i>still </i>a simplification ! For example, the stellar mass calculation depends on the absolute magnitude value you use for the Sun (used as calibration), and there are a number of different choices available for that. Even the peak flux value can be measured differently, with ALFALFA choosing to subtract the background noise first whereas in AGES we don't do this.</div><div><br /></div></div><div>In his <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005ApJ...632..859M/abstract">2005 paper</a>, McGaugh considered many different variations on some of these parameters. He showed that you can get a substantially different slope to the one shown here : while this one goes as rotation to the fourth power, you can get it to go as low as the third power. But he argues that this particular version has the lowest scatter, so this is more likely to be the "correct" relation.</div><div><br /></div><div>This make a certain degree of intuitive sense. If there really is a tight relation between these two parameters, then one should choose the form that minimises the scatter. That seems fair enough. But for my part, given not only that there are so many subjective choices to be made here, but also the spate of recent objects found which don't seem to sit on the standard BTFR, I find it very difficult to believe we can really say with any confidence at all that the scatter is consistent with zero. It might be, but I doubt it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Not everything here is subjective. You can't just make up a recipe for stellar mass or decide that you'll correct for dust based on how loudly the birds are singing. But there's plenty which is. Can we really be sure that gas-deficient galaxies must be rejected ? What's the best method to use for measuring line width ? Choosing these deliberately to get the BTFR with the lowest scatter would be, of course, dangerously circular reasoning.</div><div><br /></div><div>As to the scientific conclusions behind my own plot, I'll leave that for next time. For now I'll just say that there's an ironic puzzle here. Some of these clouds we've found in Leo at least are almost certainly just plain-old tidal debris. But if that's the case, it's a bit weird that some of them seem to follow the standard BTFR established for much larger galaxies : there's no particular reason why unstable bits of debris should have dynamics in common with stable, rotation-dominated galaxies. Only one of the clouds shows a clear deviation - but a deviation it doth show. </div><div><br /></div><div>So whether any of these clouds are galaxies or if all are tidal debris, and whether they tell use anything fundamental about the nature of gravity... on that, I make no claim. I just happy to have got the damn plot to work. Time to kick back and fight international crime.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xEKGjma3OceS0MMtKm97pVxaFc4O-GCrcRmF8nNo0nQZ8SDiKhUoSOPZrZnmRgVGX3HbFvO-da0QTlyIaN8Uppuj9mFXR4Z-M3sb-3hJtxR_M6onEt1aJ0_flAqpj4oiv2f2863X6wkbYxMaNUnzT9ENlpVjcGvegOM-dizbvHqkZ7za7lKcRBy2/s536/Sherlock.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="536" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xEKGjma3OceS0MMtKm97pVxaFc4O-GCrcRmF8nNo0nQZ8SDiKhUoSOPZrZnmRgVGX3HbFvO-da0QTlyIaN8Uppuj9mFXR4Z-M3sb-3hJtxR_M6onEt1aJ0_flAqpj4oiv2f2863X6wkbYxMaNUnzT9ENlpVjcGvegOM-dizbvHqkZ7za7lKcRBy2/w640-h390/Sherlock.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-27053237496842961902022-07-27T06:06:00.004-04:002022-07-27T09:28:15.110-04:00Attack Of The Multitudinous Space Blobs<p>Space blobs ! They're like regular blobs, except... they're from space...</p><p>I continue my long-standing policy of blogging every paper I'm involved with, but <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022arXiv220613533D/abstract">this latest one</a> poses more of a challenge than most. In general, we try and write papers that focus on the science. Of course, you can't do science unless you've got something to do science <i>on</i>. In my case, this usually means finding the <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2013/04/gassy-galaxy-gifs-galore.html">atomic hydrogen gas</a>* component of galaxies. This is a subject about which I've gone on rants <i>ad nauseum</i>, albeit usually with <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2013/04/gassy-galaxy-gifs-galore.html">lots and lots of pretty pictures</a>.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Most gifs in that post are broken, because Google FRICKIN SUCK at maintaining gifs for some reason. They're uploaded files, for heaven's sake, they shouldn't just <i>stop working</i>.</span></p><p>This post has to be a bit different. In this new paper, the balance is more towards, "look at all this lovely data" and away from" "here's what we learned from it". Let me explain why.</p><p>The main survey I get to play with is the <a href="http://www.naic.edu/~ages/">Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey</a>, which looks at 16 different fields on the sky, each looking at different galaxy environments. In the field described in the latest paper, we found... rather a lot of detections, over 450 in fact. Only one other field so far contains more, and we haven't done much with that one because it was far too scary. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFo_-G4VaGPoiM4e75RLTAKmNHF4T8G9vsuq5WCWFdCwIBem9Ijx2mdKSWYCKaJCjXyoLu3g85gtg_2s8ZvFYn5DcjTlZ3D6VR-P2YvbyzzfEKAGD_CrhJW05an_wnqPwM-4Iy15S_dvW6G3Cp43ZI9c7FIcmkClgCEIz4QsqpCHvkNHc8ctQrMfLG/s800/Sorting%20clothes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFo_-G4VaGPoiM4e75RLTAKmNHF4T8G9vsuq5WCWFdCwIBem9Ijx2mdKSWYCKaJCjXyoLu3g85gtg_2s8ZvFYn5DcjTlZ3D6VR-P2YvbyzzfEKAGD_CrhJW05an_wnqPwM-4Iy15S_dvW6G3Cp43ZI9c7FIcmkClgCEIz4QsqpCHvkNHc8ctQrMfLG/w640-h426/Sorting%20clothes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Yes, exactly like sorting a big pile of clothes, except the clothes are galaxies, and if you put them in the wrong piles, a referee will shout at you. This analogy <i>definitely </i>works.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This large number means that doing an in-depth examination of such a complex field is just a right pain in the backside. And there's another, more pragmatic reason : it's not quite "publish or perish" for grant reporting purposes, but number of publications <i>is </i>a factor. So we <i>could </i>wait five years and get a bunch of papers all at once, or do one now and go from there. And lead author Boris Deshev was funded by a grant which was expiring. So we chose/were forced into the latter approach.</p><p>But actually this might be the better option. Science is not just a process of hypothesis-testing but of <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2016/04/fifty-shades-of-science.html">open-ended exploration and discovery</a>. In fact that's one of the big advantages of AGES, that it has these regions we deliberately target but also a huge amount of foreground and background where we have no idea at all what we might find. That's where the excitement is. The downside, of course is that it's much harder to formulate a specific goal when you have no expectations. Sometimes you'll be lucky and a clear result will jump out at you, but often it's not easy to know what questions to ask. So it can be better to just say to the community, "look, here's the data, see what you can make of this."</p><p>Now you might be wondering if 450 sources is really such a large number. When you see the data, you'll probably understand why : even extracting those signals is a challenge, then we have to measure them, compare them with existing measurements, cross-correlate them with other catalogues, and then try and work out sensible ways to arrange the data so that we can squeeze valid result from it. It's not really 450, it's <i>many</i> <i>thousands </i>of different measurements and comparisons. Creating a sensible framework to organise everything isn't easy.</p><p>And samples of this size have their own challenges : they're small enough that every value matters, as even a few weird outliers can skew the trends (whereas with big data they'd get washed out) but large enough that taking minute care with every galaxy becomes burdensome.</p><p><i>Wait, what about the space blobs ?</i></p><p>Oh, sorry, I got a bit ahead of myself. Perhaps I should give some background overview of the science and the survey. If you're already familiar, skip ahead for the latest results.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Introduction</u></b></p><p><i>What's all this about hydrogen then ?</i></p><p>A good place to start, as atomic hydrogen is just about the simplest substance there is. One electron orbits one proton. We usually call it "HI" (<i>H one</i>) by convention. You can also have molecular hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>,<i> H two</i>), which is two hydrogen atoms stuck together, or ionised hydrogen (HII, confusingly also pronounced as <i>H two</i>) which is just one proton. Or even maybe hydride (H<sup>-</sup>), but that one need not concern us further today because it's useless.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVe-APap4QkhYcZJ7E0mL2_N0maW51Nj9F32NMSqopg2EWvZCkYlcdviL0kbYRdxHvXCArlAX5RXTpUOK-5xuGB0JQVWgkI6e_vl10B38Mt5BG-h-xeDijtJcV9VfSvCTvNdwrINWPiBojHP8B78g0-leAy76cCFiU763QKfdizfeTyoDeSs5j8qbq/s1000/Hydrogen%20states.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="1000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVe-APap4QkhYcZJ7E0mL2_N0maW51Nj9F32NMSqopg2EWvZCkYlcdviL0kbYRdxHvXCArlAX5RXTpUOK-5xuGB0JQVWgkI6e_vl10B38Mt5BG-h-xeDijtJcV9VfSvCTvNdwrINWPiBojHP8B78g0-leAy76cCFiU763QKfdizfeTyoDeSs5j8qbq/w640-h160/Hydrogen%20states.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Hydrogen in general is the most common stuff in the Universe. All stars are ultimately made from hydrogen, but the steps to get there are complicated and involve some or all of its different versions.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>HI is the most common variant of hydrogen. We think of it as the reservoir of fuel for star formation : this is where it all comes from initially. But it's pretty toasty, typically hanging out at around 10,000 K*. It cools very slowly, and this high temperature means it has extreme difficulty getting dense enough to collapse into stars : the temperature keeps pushing back. Once it <i>does </i>get sufficiently dense, however, it can cool to form much denser H<sub>2</sub> (typically ~100 K), which doesn't have the temperature to resist a runaway gravitational collapse, leading ultimately to star formation. Stars in turn inject energy into the surviving gas, ionising it to produce hot HII, which can slowly cool to HI, and so on.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* No intuitive feeling for how hot this is ? No matter. Just wait a few years and let global warming sort it all out.</span></p><p>Sometimes we say that HI is like a galaxy's fuel tank, and it's an interesting question how far this analogy can be pushed. With a car, you can still do 70 mph even if your tank is one-quarter full, but you'll stop pretty quickly when you reach empty. Likewise with a galaxy, perhaps. If the HI is in the tank, it's the molecular gas which is in the engine. So losing even a considerable fraction of HI doesn't <i>necessarily</i> mean you directly affect the star formation rate. The relationship status for HI and star formation is very much set to "<a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/01/paper-x-bizarre-murder-of-windy.html">it's complicated</a>."</p><p>In terms of hydrogen, a typical galaxy looks like this : a big halo of very low density gas, within which lies the main disc of HI. The density of the HI rises towards the inner regions, where it flattens and you get a mixture of HI, HII, and stars.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3PNl4ArZf1cDzctyYBahQvOmNfXZqcY8mC7Kxym8fMY4iOlCan5XaDiIbXS_xOZ-aeJ4w5vC7vtcNPd6uH_pjEd8bF_D9NcIsjTJBzwLERBZJkjFDgDNXNwUa_LJivl3xB-W8Fa5Wn9s4o0QSxno7_ImriA3EKV1YP6OwjFZjJmBTw3wc2nUHFH2/s2000/Galaxy%20schematic.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3PNl4ArZf1cDzctyYBahQvOmNfXZqcY8mC7Kxym8fMY4iOlCan5XaDiIbXS_xOZ-aeJ4w5vC7vtcNPd6uH_pjEd8bF_D9NcIsjTJBzwLERBZJkjFDgDNXNwUa_LJivl3xB-W8Fa5Wn9s4o0QSxno7_ImriA3EKV1YP6OwjFZjJmBTw3wc2nUHFH2/w640-h640/Galaxy%20schematic.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Physically, the dense disc has the same thickness ratio as a CD. The larger HI disc is only a little bit thicker, while the halo is spherical.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><i>So how do you find all this gas then ?</i></p><p>It depends what you're looking for. The hottest gas (~1,000,000 K) emits at X-rays*, which needs space telescopes, while HII can be seen using ordinary optical telescopes. H<sub>2</sub> is hard to see directly but there are ways of tracing it using other elements, often at mm wavelengths. HI is comparatively simple. Very helpfully, it spontaneously sends out radio waves of 21cm wavelength, so all you need is a radio telescope. You can detect it directly and it's super simple to convert between measured brightness and physical mass. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* This is ionised, but not usually referred to as HII. As I understand it, HII is used somewhat interchangeably with the <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100408265">recombination</a> <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/S/Spectral+Line">lines</a> that are used to detect it. For this to happen the gas has to be only just above the temperature where ionisation happens. Too hot, as in X-ray emitting gas, and no recombination happens so you can't detect it at optical wavelengths.</span></p><p>The good thing is that the required radio telescopes are not too difficult to make. They don't need especially complex electronics or other equipment, they just need to be - and this is the downside - friggin' massive.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LeAc-OQFtCNK0syvXa39HuXxjyAk6mnFkMDzvPK6V8ouCPpsLRxzep-ijatw-KB9RkuaYM5rLp0Se-D39PAgfBs2fAntH2CQLnY6T1ZUkX_z4QEKjTCoGcOisdQuceClaOoZJVI-CUo/s640/IMG_5865.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LeAc-OQFtCNK0syvXa39HuXxjyAk6mnFkMDzvPK6V8ouCPpsLRxzep-ijatw-KB9RkuaYM5rLp0Se-D39PAgfBs2fAntH2CQLnY6T1ZUkX_z4QEKjTCoGcOisdQuceClaOoZJVI-CUo/w640-h480/IMG_5865.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"It's what you do with it that counts !" said no astronomer ever. Well, not really, but sometimes bigger really is better.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Once you've got the data, you go through it by eye looking for the signals, something I've <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2014/08/hydrogen-dinosaurs-and-user-support.html">covered before</a>. And in our data the galaxies aren't well resolved, so they all look like blobs. In this case, <i>lots </i>of blobs.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Ahh, I see. And galaxy environments ?</i></p><p>Nothing to do with saving the rainforest or tying oneself to trains. Rather, galaxies don't all live in the same places. Some live in very sparse voids where there's not much of anything. Others live in little groups of a few other galaxies orbiting each other, while others live in massive, rich clusters thousands strong. And on the largest of scales, groups and clusters alike are mostly found in giant filaments. </p><p>Most galaxies live in small groups, with probably only ~1-2% in rich clusters. This means we have to be very careful with drawing general conclusions about galaxy evolution from such extreme locations, but they do let us sample huge numbers of galaxies with only a small amount of observing time.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Does gas vary with environment ?</i></p><p>Indeed. Remember that the HI is generally more extended than the stellar disc of a galaxy. This means it's less tightly bound, so any process which disturbs the galaxy (like other galaxies passing by, cruelty to animals, people who wear socks with sandals... that sort of thing) has more of an effect of the gas than the stars. So by looking at the gas, we can get a better idea of what the different environments really <i>do</i>.</p><p>AGES was designed to cover the whole range of galaxy environments, from voids to isolated galaxies to small groups and giant clusters. But each of our target regions also covers what's in front and behind of its target as well, so we get an awful lot of bonus data. This "AGES volume" is actually where most of our detections are found. And that, more than the target cluster, is what we started with in this paper.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>AGES XI : The Franchise Continues</u></b></p><p>We're not going to let a little thing like the collapse of the telescope stop us, are we ? Of course not. In this paper we look at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Cluster">Abell 1367 cluster</a>. It's not a sexy, famous cluster like Virgo or Coma, but like all clusters, there's plenty of interesting stuff going on here. In fact it contains one of my favourite objects of all, the appalling-named "blue infalling group" :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8y4SLVAkRjdl1xvyDmYY8c40op8vz9hurCI78j6CiWnYyx5_S7O-KIyZtyT1T4vq0nkuJn88k_C3Bbk89LT4AibzxkpSYdWtTJBYF-qRcK8Xpt_qiE-weZ7CvsQMKC38L1Q4BR0nWvttHrm5qA-4k3uoUW7kXsFQFnsCzBaA1m0__B-E3HCGrgOLo/s323/BIG.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="323" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8y4SLVAkRjdl1xvyDmYY8c40op8vz9hurCI78j6CiWnYyx5_S7O-KIyZtyT1T4vq0nkuJn88k_C3Bbk89LT4AibzxkpSYdWtTJBYF-qRcK8Xpt_qiE-weZ7CvsQMKC38L1Q4BR0nWvttHrm5qA-4k3uoUW7kXsFQFnsCzBaA1m0__B-E3HCGrgOLo/w640-h638/BIG.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The brightest blobs are galaxies, with the faint trails between them being ionised gas. Image from <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/453/2/1965/1138991?login=false">this paper</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It always makes me think of the smoke trail from a bumblebee with its bum on fire. What's actually going on, we think, is that a group of galaxies are orbiting each other while also falling into the cluster proper. As they enter, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2019/02/ram-pressure-stripping-made-easy.html">ram pressure stripping</a> removes their gas, which traces out these nice helical patterns. Try turning on a hosepipe and waving it around and you'll see what I mean, and possibly soak the neighbours too. Don't worry, it's very hot, so they'll definitely thank you.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sbtAwD0LOK84eUXpl8s54rwdfx_5LB1Q9W6pHfPxgEo3m6OSjx8LKSlCKmZyGk3OjkKKMEm6_WMQXSwHpr1O9Jj9xjoDbZo2Pz9NmBxm93Qbjm1lJV_CIU0-SvxyewKLkcpMk8APWKPRqGYVX6Li2LKHSLo9q6uMKSJ0gtzmeXwe7jbunFbcVHv0/s480/Rope%20waves.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sbtAwD0LOK84eUXpl8s54rwdfx_5LB1Q9W6pHfPxgEo3m6OSjx8LKSlCKmZyGk3OjkKKMEm6_WMQXSwHpr1O9Jj9xjoDbZo2Pz9NmBxm93Qbjm1lJV_CIU0-SvxyewKLkcpMk8APWKPRqGYVX6Li2LKHSLo9q6uMKSJ0gtzmeXwe7jbunFbcVHv0/w640-h360/Rope%20waves.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or, the internet bizarrely lacking adequate hosepipe gifs, you can use ropes, but that's not as much fun.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Add in this particularly <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-orphan-of-stars.html">weird hot gas cloud</a> and some <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022MNRAS.511..980S/abstract">very long HI tails</a> and the cluster begins to seem like a place worth studying. Actually, the very first paper I was on (my role was pretty much 100% doing observations) was looking at the<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008MNRAS.383.1519C/abstract"> earlier AGES data</a> of this region, which covered the central 5x1 degree strip. This covered the main part of the cluster but not much else. Interestingly, we saw that the galaxies detected in HI didn't follow the general pattern of galaxies detected through more familiar visible-light surveys. In 3D space they're distributed like so :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_-60r2ulxeUvSpOeqs7vA15dWqi58pt3M1aQk4furs1AoQFifWDMmJXicsG6bVv50Dq2sbYXbC_KphZekncLkNZk00cxA8ixws2t_L_eEDtFjvVWjP37WPExkAfxDChugjgQAGO0zA3JE6aCKh8Fjh9EZ4YkHzu5BX8gCHlWAi4Bvv4qayxnH1jv/s978/1367WedgeOriginal.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="978" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho_-60r2ulxeUvSpOeqs7vA15dWqi58pt3M1aQk4furs1AoQFifWDMmJXicsG6bVv50Dq2sbYXbC_KphZekncLkNZk00cxA8ixws2t_L_eEDtFjvVWjP37WPExkAfxDChugjgQAGO0zA3JE6aCKh8Fjh9EZ4YkHzu5BX8gCHlWAi4Bvv4qayxnH1jv/w400-h329/1367WedgeOriginal.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Galaxies detected with gas are in <b>black</b>, while those without are in <b><span style="color: red;">red</span></b>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>What's going on here ? All the optically detected galaxies are in a neat line ! This is the <i>finger-of-god</i> effect. But look at the axes : we have velocity, not distance. Now as a proxy for distance, velocity (which is <b><i>much </i></b>easier to measure) works pretty well in general. This is <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/H/Hubble+Law">Hubble's famous law</a>, that there's a neat, linear relation between the two. But though this works just fine in most places, this isn't true in massive clusters*. Here the great mass of the cluster means that galaxies are moving much faster than in the general field, even though they're all actually at the same distance.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In fact, <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2015/02/seven-misconceptions-about-dark-matter.html">as early as 1932</a>, Fritz Zwicky found that cluster galaxies don't follow Hubble's Law - which constitutes some of the earliest evidence for dark matter.</span></p><p>Okay, so the optical galaxies look like a "finger" because we've measured their velocity and not true distance. If we could measure distance, we'd probably find they were all much more bunched-up here.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6_efM68c0-OOx2eIJghLGYlks4uKEn-SgfYgSsCLQ5nk8PNEAaCQUTVeb8O2hdOVDp7QzPK1ob5RkZ4Dg0-0k44nJ1zRy-rN8WtFkLtvsC-Uwkox_08junyctltARt9iP4Mu8h5RU6YBSJvPpLmv5yGBvT7mbIUIQYY7kNAdWeaKQpGiWiqYb4bz/s681/Redshift%20versus%20distance.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="681" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6_efM68c0-OOx2eIJghLGYlks4uKEn-SgfYgSsCLQ5nk8PNEAaCQUTVeb8O2hdOVDp7QzPK1ob5RkZ4Dg0-0k44nJ1zRy-rN8WtFkLtvsC-Uwkox_08junyctltARt9iP4Mu8h5RU6YBSJvPpLmv5yGBvT7mbIUIQYY7kNAdWeaKQpGiWiqYb4bz/w640-h320/Redshift%20versus%20distance.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From another, <a href="https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/throwback-thursday-past-the-fingers-of-god-c67efa3638cc">much larger</a>, survey. On the left, velocity is used for distance, hence all the fingery "streaks". On the right "true" distance is used, or at least a better approximation of it. No streaks !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But the HI detections don't show this behaviour. They seem to be found all over place, as though the cluster hadn't made any difference. Why not ? Are gas-rich galaxies like honey badgers and just don't care ? Nothing so exciting I'm afraid; it's just a selection effect.</p><p>Galaxies in the centres of clusters can easily lose all their gas as the clusters' own hot gas pushes it out and ionises it. At this distance (92 Mpc, 300 million light years) even a slight loss of the HI would make it undetectable. So we can <i>only </i>detect galaxies which haven't been much affected by the cluster - our detections are likely either just on the outskirts and entering it for the very first time, or not quite at the same distance after all.</p><p>Does this mean there's no point in our survey ? Is even the mighty Arecibo inadequate to the task of detecting gassy cluster galaxies ? This is too pessimistic. Rather, we can still detect galaxies <i>just entering</i> the cluster, and that's important. Understanding whether galaxy evolution is dominated by clusters or if they can have equally thrilling adventures elsewhere is controversial. The Blue Infalling Group is a nice example, but doesn't by itself prove that this so-called "pre-processing" is very important in the grand scheme of things.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>What did we find this time ?</u></b></p><p><i>Space blobs</i></p><p>Well, now the survey is complete we have the full 5x4 degrees of coverage, so we can look in much more detail at those galaxies on the cluster outskirts. But first, here's what all those blobs actually look like in the original data.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ipyxdhwD8SA4RgKI0b1iiLj7hRpqDpVMXMf91qf6UvA1kRvP2R7jUV-VJFJI5lOgc8BUh_jqeejts-nL0a0IdNL9tmj0pyySXdYUtlc0VktR8sLcuZMiExQhNt6RBIIk0rKu9weHFs6CgppjtzETz6NerclNl5TV5T3Z6GnyUoYGdMozt_XJphr2/s1920/1367Blobs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1920" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ipyxdhwD8SA4RgKI0b1iiLj7hRpqDpVMXMf91qf6UvA1kRvP2R7jUV-VJFJI5lOgc8BUh_jqeejts-nL0a0IdNL9tmj0pyySXdYUtlc0VktR8sLcuZMiExQhNt6RBIIk0rKu9weHFs6CgppjtzETz6NerclNl5TV5T3Z6GnyUoYGdMozt_XJphr2/w640-h336/1367Blobs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not my prettiest picture, to be sure... but you can play with this <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/Resources/A1367_Interactive_HI.html">interactively online</a>, which is quite fun. Might take a minute or two to load.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I told you going from the data to a catalogue wasn't easy ! We use a combination of manually looking at the data and automatic source-finding algorithms to turn a bunch of blobs into a list of carefully-measured galaxies. In this case, because the galaxies are preferentially found over narrow velocity ranges, a lot of detections are confused with each other and hard to disentangle. Cataloguing involves a great deal of careful work to differentiate between galaxies as best we can, and flagging those where it's just an ugly unsalvageable mess. And large swathes of the data are dominated by whacking great big blobs, which are <i>not </i>alien megastructures but the effect of interference (yes, sometimes the hunt for aliens really does turn into a <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/1322871">hunt for washing machines</a> and other annoying electronic equipment).</p><p>This picture of the blobs is in the raw pixel coordinates of the data. When we convert everything to proper physical units, we see our our detections have quite a different distribution to the first paper :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZc2K4eSWgCxwiBqo0_gsn3ym9D8JrmT6vnSWA8aPA36Asp_zdFLy-nymHWoOj08NS28CwtArG64Cf2WUFBsvnV0wdTHQRXAGNx4ZfVnp4mPJDqgctf-nhKq4bTT9rG9Fk-rjsf9zzwAi5VzY9olDbaAtlwHfu_0PIgD4hMO2m5UXhlGYLxJHe7Md/s2551/1367Wedges.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="2551" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWZc2K4eSWgCxwiBqo0_gsn3ym9D8JrmT6vnSWA8aPA36Asp_zdFLy-nymHWoOj08NS28CwtArG64Cf2WUFBsvnV0wdTHQRXAGNx4ZfVnp4mPJDqgctf-nhKq4bTT9rG9Fk-rjsf9zzwAi5VzY9olDbaAtlwHfu_0PIgD4hMO2m5UXhlGYLxJHe7Md/w640-h202/1367Wedges.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Left : original, as above. Centre : only the HI detections in the original survey area (a few more are present now thanks to improved cataloguing). Right : the HI detections from the complete survey, over the region corresponding to the cluster (the full velocity range of the data is -2,000 -> +20,000 km/s).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It seems that there's a large group close to the main cluster which is rather gas rich, compared to the cluster itself which you'd never guess was there from the HI data alone. You can play with a 3D version of this <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/Resources/A1367_3DWedge.html">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Silent but deadly : galaxies have gas we can't detect</i></p><p>So the environment of the cluster itself is different to what we thought. Boris has a thing against treating clusters as spherical systems, because they generally aren't. Often we see them still assembling, sometimes along filaments. Alas, the techniques <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2020/04/filament-finding-fun.html">used previously</a> didn't really show much in this case - there's no evidence that galaxies experiencing anything particularly location-specific here. We were hoping that maybe we'd some clear signs that the environment varied : maybe the ones in that group would be especially gas rich, maybe the ones nearest the cluster would be gas poor, but actually no, not really.</p><p>Which is not to say that the cluster doesn't do anything. On the contrary, it's annoyingly effective at gas removal. For comparison, in the much closer Virgo cluster, we could detect galaxies with only 10% or even 1% of the gas content of similar galaxies found elsewhere. But here, as soon as galaxies lose even quite a small fraction (say 50%) of their gas, they become undetectable. And this means we can't properly comment on exactly where or which structures galaxies in the cluster are losing gas, because we just can't find the gas-poor galaxies. </p><p>But it does enable a neat trick. In Virgo, we tried to "stack" the non-detected galaxies (adding their signals together) to <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-joy-of-stacks.html">increase our sensitivity</a>. Which it did, by a factor 10... but no detection resulted. At the closer distance of Virgo, AGES is sensitive enough that it can detect the faintest whiff of gas*, so if it's not detected straight away, chances are it doesn't have any gas at all. Not so in A1367. Here, stacking results in a lovely clear detection :</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Do your own joke.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Hm5t7kMXcc6qK2bHN2_xXfH_DoRaxtbLR2z4de2XzCUOQb7-vN0vgMR85LT0Zx6DzUf0XiVxSRTLvdCMkm9UB3PNRs8iqnQ4ZR58IOZEMkGdAfVJ1uElm0B78vsIaTCAEO-2-w1O-jOwBa0173DABl_RDNUlvF1PY2SQB-2wDZeK8eqfK6KC-IWn/s1526/1367Stack.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1526" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Hm5t7kMXcc6qK2bHN2_xXfH_DoRaxtbLR2z4de2XzCUOQb7-vN0vgMR85LT0Zx6DzUf0XiVxSRTLvdCMkm9UB3PNRs8iqnQ4ZR58IOZEMkGdAfVJ1uElm0B78vsIaTCAEO-2-w1O-jOwBa0173DABl_RDNUlvF1PY2SQB-2wDZeK8eqfK6KC-IWn/w640-h254/1367Stack.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Stacking three different parts of the data set. As a sanity check, the <span style="color: #3d85c6;">blue curves</span> show what happens when we stack galaxies we already detected - we always get a nice clear signal. The <span style="color: #cc0000;">red curves</span> show the stacked non-detections : we get a signal (a big bump) in the cluster and background, but not the foreground. The <span style="color: #666666;">grey</span> is a control stack where no galaxies are expected to be present.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Does this point to a difference between the clusters ? Probably not. More likely, our stacked sample <i>does </i>include some galaxies which are totally gasless, but it also includes plenty which are only slightly gas-deficient : the sort we could detect directly in Virgo, but can't here because of the greater distance. The two clusters may or may not be more effective in gas removal, but we honestly just can't tell. </p><p>In short, in Virgo we'd already detected all the galaxies with even small amounts of gas. Stacking the rest didn't help because they'd lost the whole lot. Here, we can't tell which ones still have most of their gas, so we're stacking some which have no gas at all along with others which actually still have quite a lot left. Likewise in the foreground region here : at lower distances we're back to the same situation as Virgo... if we don't directly detect a galaxy here, it probably has no gas at all, so stacking doesn't do anything.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Is there a best way to measure gas loss ?</i></p><p>Getting this paper through the reviewing process was unfortunately another unnecessarily tiring exercise. Some of the comments were extremely valuable, but some smacked of the referee trying to write the paper for us, and other comments were honestly just wrong (somewhat amusingly, citing papers which actually claimed the exact opposite of what they said they did). And we made mistakes too, which made the experience about as much fun as wrestling a blindfolded bear while blindfolded ourselves.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgw1IJhL3j9JQ7YbNZOIBLGUJ8X4MNFYV6KiIU3MEXqh8ylmc0a16-buOUbGvVkS4cCDytJjdFhnUTV_RQaEGBpwPdJk47eCdaVNleLxrNww3m1tGqZKdIjEsk2_DN6J2Tvxd9L5a86sLxtvpVttRPtqUXzVvY_voLP7iW8b8m-BdFiXg3JF2cBxd3/s686/Blindfolded%20pillow%20fight.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="686" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgw1IJhL3j9JQ7YbNZOIBLGUJ8X4MNFYV6KiIU3MEXqh8ylmc0a16-buOUbGvVkS4cCDytJjdFhnUTV_RQaEGBpwPdJk47eCdaVNleLxrNww3m1tGqZKdIjEsk2_DN6J2Tvxd9L5a86sLxtvpVttRPtqUXzVvY_voLP7iW8b8m-BdFiXg3JF2cBxd3/w640-h360/Blindfolded%20pillow%20fight.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>What we did show, I think (though this one had to be heavily toned-down to make it palatable to the referee), was that we can use a simple statistical parameter to understand the effects of gas loss. Traditionally, we quantify how much gas a galaxy in a group or cluster has lost by comparing it with a control sample of similar galaxies in isolation. This "HI deficiency" can be computed for individual galaxies. It isn't at all exact though, because there's a lot of intrinsic variation in this parameter. Realistically, it can only tell you if a galaxy has :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A lot more gas than expected (very rare !)</li><li>A bit more gas than expected</li><li>About as much gas as expected</li><li>A bit less gas than expected</li><li>A lot less gas than expected</li></ul><p></p><p>And that's it. You can measure it as precisely as you like, but you if pretend this <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/962c3e10-7662-db7a-cea8-580839337774">precision</a> is actually meaningful, you're fooling yourself. Still, it can be done on a galaxy-by-galaxy basis, which is very useful.</p><p>But with a sample like this it doesn't really tell us very much. As we've seen, even a slight gas loss makes the galaxies undetectable. We can compute a lower limit on the deficiency, but this is misleading, as the galaxies could easily have lost a lot more than that.</p><p>A better approach might be to just calculate the <i>fraction of galaxies detected in HI</i>. This can only be done on a whole population, so we lose all the individual information. And the choice of which population to select is arbitrary. But, for example, we can say that the detected fraction varies radially, being lowest in the centre (the main cluster) and highest in the outskirts (the first infallers). And because it's just a fraction, it doesn't give any impression of the gas loss being any particular amount, just that <i>some has happened</i>. Which is sometimes all you really need.</p><p>Now the referee got a bit over-zealous here. We did not say, at any point, that the detection fraction was a better parameter than deficiency, nor did we even ever give that impression (a better <i>approach </i>is not the same thing at all !). It's better in some ways, in some circumstances, but the converse is equally true. In fact the deficiency is <i>always preferable</i> <b>whenever you can use it</b>, but the detected fraction is simpler and always available (though it becomes meaningless if your sample is small). </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Brief intermission in which I rant against referees</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzz1iXlAJh1J9RIvLJz1eA9s2G_GR1v7Hq9lOPaTZocqHnHwoRhtwPtKARtIkKx6V92vkmP3qAOhXOZwvIQKeUIVrW9jiObKXnUe_Hu6z5qyQO-hOyA5kgp0baIouy_Z6-PEUjtpSHb4oXWOpwomEInH_85eBLShaI66mSR5L6RmV8KRbut9b_9iE/s797/Angry%20with%20ref.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="797" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzz1iXlAJh1J9RIvLJz1eA9s2G_GR1v7Hq9lOPaTZocqHnHwoRhtwPtKARtIkKx6V92vkmP3qAOhXOZwvIQKeUIVrW9jiObKXnUe_Hu6z5qyQO-hOyA5kgp0baIouy_Z6-PEUjtpSHb4oXWOpwomEInH_85eBLShaI66mSR5L6RmV8KRbut9b_9iE/w640-h366/Angry%20with%20ref.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I don't know why this happens, but it seems common for referees to think even weak, throwaway assertions in a paper must be held as inviolable Gold Standard claims that will survive any assault short of a tactical nuclear weapon. In my view, that's not what papers are for, never has been and never should be. All claims in papers are still subject to the broader peer review of the entire community. Papers are not textbooks but part of the discussion themselves; yes, they should be more rigorous than, say, blog posts (ahem), but there's no value in making them utterly unassailable. First, it can't be done (no referee is perfect), and second, because of that, it artificially shuts down discussion and so means that neither author nor community ever learn anything. Even papers are, ultimately, a step in the road - you want to make sure that potholes are minimised, but if you never put down any tarmac at all because the mixture isn't perfect, <i>you'll never have a damn road at all</i>. <p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>And now back to our feature presentation</i></p><p>Fortunately, what <i>did </i>survive the referee's onslaught (and I have to say was improved by it) was a comparison between deficiency and fraction as a function of local and global density :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G7oZ4pHLHQi_WKo2YRnU8EvM_66ynpuIVPWx09YBs54GzDi2VNLa3q9v8Okg4oukwg1N6VjlY_Neh_DHDJeMjSOTUQGY7yeMMArcSZ-gQxz1PbF2dv-gft3Uc8BhuEdmnyXaffsX3f1QazTAJrgPCxIywYZw8J2d_kz3vy3mM2rrkfndwXv6Of_S/s1451/1367%20money%20plot.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="1451" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7G7oZ4pHLHQi_WKo2YRnU8EvM_66ynpuIVPWx09YBs54GzDi2VNLa3q9v8Okg4oukwg1N6VjlY_Neh_DHDJeMjSOTUQGY7yeMMArcSZ-gQxz1PbF2dv-gft3Uc8BhuEdmnyXaffsX3f1QazTAJrgPCxIywYZw8J2d_kz3vy3mM2rrkfndwXv6Of_S/w640-h332/1367%20money%20plot.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Wait ! Don't run away ! It looks a bit scary, and <i>it </i>is a complex plot. So let's break it down into manageable chunks. First, the data is divided into two samples which we refer to as the global density : <span style="color: #cc0000;">those in the velocity range of the cluster</span>, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">and those elsewhere</span>. The latter are largely in low-density regions, mainly groups in filaments. The former include galaxies in the cluster outskirts as well as deep in the interior. In the upper section we plot trends using deficiency while on the lower panel we use the non-detected fraction.</p><p>Let's forget about that nasty plot for a moment and just look at the first two panels. These are the most important anyway.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUO-ex6y0-RSz7_Co8ka95Cz3M6EhwazS1r07A-DoS4uC3k7j3LigZf0ORwQ8sx3mpwxK4Nchnh1enNLVsGv9REmGGNMudNRa_39_kJ_-qA-ssKRLBEIcHwcRDGoMlDr-swWxtiScrfD9tTGcLIuc8Yihr9ZTnWnSv8FQ_POh7yOztuxF40eFpbYm/s878/1367%20local%20density.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="878" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKUO-ex6y0-RSz7_Co8ka95Cz3M6EhwazS1r07A-DoS4uC3k7j3LigZf0ORwQ8sx3mpwxK4Nchnh1enNLVsGv9REmGGNMudNRa_39_kJ_-qA-ssKRLBEIcHwcRDGoMlDr-swWxtiScrfD9tTGcLIuc8Yihr9ZTnWnSv8FQ_POh7yOztuxF40eFpbYm/w640-h318/1367%20local%20density.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>What we're plotting here is how the deficiency and non-detected fraction vary as a function of local density : that is, how many galaxies are present in different spatial bins. In an earlier version of the paper, we made a mistake and found that local density made absolutely no difference and that it was due entirely to global density (cluster or non-cluster). But when we corrected that, we found the opposite : there's a nice trend with local density, and clusters are only different because the local density is generally higher there. This fits with <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/06/my-chemical-enviromance.html">our other recent findings</a> too.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(That we were able to spin some quite elaborate but plausible-sounding justifications for the first (wrong) interpretation I take as an important lesson in the dangers of rationalising. Again, no one paper should be held as anything more than evidence, never as proof.)</span></p><p>We can see from the plot that this result is much clearer with the non-detected fraction than with deficiency. The referee was concerned that this might be a statistical effect rather than representing real physics : yes, there's a clear trend, but maybe this is only because galaxies vary in some other way with local density. So to exactly reverse my previous rant, we wouldn't have looked at this without the referee's diligent nit-picking. Thank you, kindly pedantic stranger !</p><p>This is where the other panels come in : plotting deficiency/fraction as functions of stellar mass and star formation rate. We also took great pains to ensure that, unlike previous claims, we used a properly complete sample for this area, meaning that we're comparing like-for-like, something the referee seemed not to really believe for some reason.</p><p>What do we find ? Something like this :</p><p></p><ol start="0" style="text-align: left;"><li>Overall, for all parameters, <b>both deficiency and non-detected fraction are higher for cluster galaxies than for non-cluster galaxies</b>. That's a good sanity check : there's <i>definitely </i>gas loss in the cluster, as we'd expect.</li><li><b>There's little or no variation with gas loss (by either parameter) as a function of stellar mass.</b> So our trends in gas loss aren't being driven by selectively detecting smaller or larger galaxies. This is important, because we'd only be able to detect high deficiencies for the biggest galaxies; likewise, we wouldn't expect to detect small galaxies unless they were actually gas rich.</li><li><b>There's not much trend in <i>deficiency </i>with star formation rate.</b> This might be a bit more surprising, but remember the fuel tank analogy : the relation between HI and star formation is indirect. But it could also be something simpler, since the error bars here are very large.</li><li>In contrast,<b> there's a clear trend between <i>fraction </i>and star formation rate.</b> Here the error bars are much smaller. So tentatively, it looks like the large errors on deficiency are masking the trend : less gas, less stars. The detected fraction might be offering us more information in this case, at the cost of knowing which particular galaxies have lost gas.</li></ol><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Conclusions and where we go next</u></b></p><p>There are three main outcomes from this paper. <b>First is the catalogue itself,</b> together with an "atlas" : a set of visual charts for each galaxy, including the HI spectra and maps and the corresponding optical images, all labelled with the known galaxies present. Hopefully we can use this retroactively on our other data, looking towards the time when we release the full AGES data set for the whole survey.</p><p><b>Second, stacking galaxies works in this field.</b> Having spent feckin' ages trying this during my PhD (there's a subheading in one chapter, "Four hundred million non-detections"), I was despondent that it would ever work at all. But it very clearly does, opening up scope for utilising this elsewhere. Boris has some intriguing ideas about what we might do with this.</p><p><b>Third, detected fraction can offer a viable alternative to HI deficiency.</b> Despite the referee's protestations I think this could indeed be more useful at larger distances (where it seems galaxies were considerably <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-wrong-sort-of-gassy.html">more gas rich</a>). Note that you don't get something for nothing - you get significantly reduced errors, but only because this has to be applied to galaxies en masse; individual information is lost. Fully understanding this parameter is more subtle than it may first appear, and needs a lot of work to ensure it is indeed telling us what we think it's telling us. It is absolutely legitimate that one can still have reservations about this. We think it's at the point where it deserves wider attention, but no more than this.</p><p>And scientifically, the view that it's local density which drives gas loss is an interesting one. It's not what one would naively expect. In massive clusters, gas loss is mainly due to ram pressure stripping, whereas in small groups it's from tidal encounters. These two processes scale completely differently, but we're seeing a smooth change in gas loss as a function of density. And in our <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/06/my-chemical-enviromance.html">previous study</a>, we found that there's a smooth change with ram pressure as well, extending down even to very low pressures indeed.</p><p>This is a bit strange. It's a bit like saying that the fastest horse is always the biggest one : surely, you wouldn't expect a shire horse to come top of the league. You expect a broad correlation (Shetland ponies can't compete with a thoroughbred), but not a nice, simple, continuous trend.</p><p>It's hard to say what might be going on. My guess is the data isn't precise enough, that we're smoothing out any more sudden changes because the error bars are quite large : the change isn't really as continuous as it looks. I am not sure if this is a matter of getting better data or analysing the data in different ways to reveal if there really is any qualitative difference between small groups of massive clusters... then again, maybe the counteracting effects cancel out and the smooth change is correct after all. It's possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>What next ? Well, some of our galaxies have no optical counterparts, for which we have follow-up observations using the Chinese FAST telescope. If any of these are detected that's an automatically interesting result. And of course, we can dig down deeper into the data to study the cluster itself in <i>much </i>more detail, as well as other individual objects with HI streams, galaxies with low star formation rates but high gas contents and other weird oddballs.... a veritable host of things ! As I said, defining the problem is likely to be the hardest part. But now we have a basic catalogue to start from, making comparisons and looking for trends gets a whole lot easier.</p><p>And all this from a bunch of blobs.</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-59917771481646080882022-07-12T11:04:00.003-04:002022-07-12T11:16:41.881-04:00Expedition Cardiff II : The Fluffening<div class="separator">Last September I broke an 18-month stint in Prague by <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2021/09/expedition-cardiff.html">finally returning</a> to the Welsh motherlands. Getting there was, of course, more of a procedure than usual. Since then the world has changed and changed again; in December I <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/01/another-corona-christmas-carol.html">went back</a>, but once more the travel situation is unrecognisable. I even had a visitor come to <i>me </i>from the once plague-ravaged UK, instead of the other way around !</div><p>So why should I bore you with yet another post about visiting Cardiff ? Well, this time the travel itself is part of the experience, not because of any so-last-year "pandemic" restrictions*, but because we decided not to fly and to take the dogs - a feat that would surely test the mettle of even Michael Palin. We planned this for two years, but the bloody resurging virus kept making it impossible. Until now.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I use the sarcasm quotes out of pure facetiousness, not any retarded** anti-lockdown nonsense. That said, some caveats are to be found herein.<br />** That's probably offensive, sorry. But I cannot find another phrase which adequately conveys my disgust for the painful, gut-wrenchingly stupid libertarian nonsense about just letting everyone die instead of asking them to follow simple, common-sense guidance.</span></p><p>We wouldn't dream of trying this crazy adventure in a single stage. It would be cruel to the dogs and Shirley would miss a perfectly good chance for a visit home. So we made it a multi-stage process : a 14 hour train trip from Prague to the Hague*, four of five days there, an eight hour ferry crossing from Hook van Holland (which is practically in the Hague itself) to Harwich, and a five hour train trip to the fabled city of mighty Cardiff. Of course, we would have to do the whole thing again on the return journey. This is necessary because it's very hard to take dogs into the UK except by boat. So a boat out means a boat back.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I don't know what it is with the Dutch and "the"s. <i>The </i>Netherlands, <i>The </i>Hague... it's all a bit <i>the </i>odd.</span></p><p>The dogs have done long train trips before. They're quite content in their little backpack carry-cases (they will voluntarily take themselves in), especially when equipped with cooling pads. This leads to many adorable photo opps.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Q2sZAmYcCZyTpmKyT2lOyBucKMgdbKsn2Tnhjz_ARYu7QEv91AnDqf0uvt0Ubi3DrcQWVkSgCISp84XAB6rKmtzdxWV7goQpsTbzkzDY8Sp0iT9tD4lhbg1XFNd5O-kNUFZVcF3NfBdUqdsVaF1QGRVAo7wlRYwPLhizK6muIg0XYiKtDCQwNaVP/s867/IMG20220617103002.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="867" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Q2sZAmYcCZyTpmKyT2lOyBucKMgdbKsn2Tnhjz_ARYu7QEv91AnDqf0uvt0Ubi3DrcQWVkSgCISp84XAB6rKmtzdxWV7goQpsTbzkzDY8Sp0iT9tD4lhbg1XFNd5O-kNUFZVcF3NfBdUqdsVaF1QGRVAo7wlRYwPLhizK6muIg0XYiKtDCQwNaVP/w640-h360/IMG20220617103002.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lulu (right) is the big sister, aged 5. Gilly (left) is our little <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/10/puppy-plague-prevents-pandemic-pessimism.html">pandemic pup</a>, aged two.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Nothing interesting happened on the train. It's a scenic route, especially at the Czech-German border, though the last few hours we had no air conditioning. This was made all the worse because Germany, unlike everyone else, still insists on mask-wearing on trains. </p><p>To be honest, rationally or not, I'm fed up with this. It's hard to describe. When I sit down and think about it, it makes sense. But I cannot honestly say I <i>want </i>any restrictions any more, I cannot welcome them as a reassuring safety measure. Something inside me has flipped, and while I might consciously advocate for keeping case numbers low, and certainly I follow all the rules, I cannot say I <i>feel </i>protected by the measures any more. The emotion is drained, possibly as a result of the other global crises*.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* You <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/02/midnight.html">know</a> the one I <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-long-dark-tea-time-of-soul.html">mean</a>. I'm almost at the point of ignoring that one too, a case partly of crisis-fatigue but also an abundance of evidence that a wider global conflict is not at all what Russia is after. It seems to me that Russia has backed down too many times in the face of Western counter-threats to see them as terribly scary : concerning, certainly, but not a direct military threat to the whole of Europe. I will stress that my support for Western sanctions and indirect military support to Ukraine is 100% as strong as ever.</span></p><p>But I digress. While in the Netherlands, the main event was Taking The Dogs To The Beach. Lu especially loves the beach, and will start accelerating towards the sand as soon as it's in sight. They don't especially enjoy swimming, though their freely-floating fluff looks extremely cute when they're fully immersed, but they are increasingly appreciative of a good paddle. Lu did manage a little swim, until the six-inch high "waves" became too scary and I had to carry her across part of the flow. And watching them run in slow motion just never gets old.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1wj2qHfAioxRbM2_pG69n6rkC42ovHp2YWj_Tw-yATPa5z1t0m7Ezqu1mzPR-1bEXK7eEiSYIvj371gV6YvMi8iR7y7TxtFwxM8nDAfZD3N25TaVLL5idW4aIRzdtm_gys88smlVdjetj41pb4NbYBZwe_Yjhstpiwa41f1wb9GM9L_kcr8Wf0nx/s1156/IMG20220618121541.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1wj2qHfAioxRbM2_pG69n6rkC42ovHp2YWj_Tw-yATPa5z1t0m7Ezqu1mzPR-1bEXK7eEiSYIvj371gV6YvMi8iR7y7TxtFwxM8nDAfZD3N25TaVLL5idW4aIRzdtm_gys88smlVdjetj41pb4NbYBZwe_Yjhstpiwa41f1wb9GM9L_kcr8Wf0nx/w640-h480/IMG20220618121541.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw29ow9C1p_PqGKvZVW1k_EKOtxzBDU2C8wMIzbq2ogjkt60-33jvjc6v5xGiO7U6X1scf15Eb3tIf83KyITg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlzC-TLsjC1Ijpg8Cc694GChHKXeqGBQDnZfxUU_kg0qlfxUAfDz_sFrJK5eGptzTrIZXKh4_ZH2zR4-PqYPkny62EDLlgnpVPcxFNClxpH3kty0cJptvmnCS6M5ltSF0NL-V4RfPTKmpalbuhoCrv-mNapYwxl_o2Y4nfAYfMGLFCnr0CUbg8i6P/s800/IMG20220619153439.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlzC-TLsjC1Ijpg8Cc694GChHKXeqGBQDnZfxUU_kg0qlfxUAfDz_sFrJK5eGptzTrIZXKh4_ZH2zR4-PqYPkny62EDLlgnpVPcxFNClxpH3kty0cJptvmnCS6M5ltSF0NL-V4RfPTKmpalbuhoCrv-mNapYwxl_o2Y4nfAYfMGLFCnr0CUbg8i6P/w640-h288/IMG20220619153439.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Hague beaches remind me a fair bit of the British seaside, except that they're a lot nicer.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyXq6pugdqBcEBzqeXENfd1NXPde7zMgE35twA1PGb8UbA2pgK5hRliEYLqOZbbodCKeStDHl8QWBNNh63E0eCDrQCqD5ShNkkUt8Dn7-Xz-ui8JnkHCJhwTSFLKKFVhPGYKMET70qhZo2tgTnDWjGIGov20V-nfkO05tNljAZaLzUp6LwzEzJ-Vf/s1156/IMG20220620214154.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifyXq6pugdqBcEBzqeXENfd1NXPde7zMgE35twA1PGb8UbA2pgK5hRliEYLqOZbbodCKeStDHl8QWBNNh63E0eCDrQCqD5ShNkkUt8Dn7-Xz-ui8JnkHCJhwTSFLKKFVhPGYKMET70qhZo2tgTnDWjGIGov20V-nfkO05tNljAZaLzUp6LwzEzJ-Vf/w640-h288/IMG20220620214154.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">View from a restaurant where the fish is so fresh you can almost see the boat it came in on.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of course we also had time with Shirley's massive extended family and ate plenty of delicious food. I was finally introduced to Dutch pancakes, which are somewhere between the British and American styles, closer to the former. They are excellent. if you haven't had any, you should. And get yourself some kibbeling too, which - as I've probably mentioned before - is something that should be available on every street corner in the world.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0XaEGI9DBbLm8IGeI9AXW5WPqbN1rz5KHduRl688xOyX5X7RMTb8oIw-RFEzGGMqCa_f9tiY7p-RXShmSSj1JfbRQ07vE__pvsTx3EGOW9alBqExTf7rak9tK3lbFLqUw7aO-hYLFfo3bqjHOvAN6dB7ySyDJwJYxQR4G2sOZ1cKWgisGsXjLgma/s520/IMG20220621103903_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="520" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0XaEGI9DBbLm8IGeI9AXW5WPqbN1rz5KHduRl688xOyX5X7RMTb8oIw-RFEzGGMqCa_f9tiY7p-RXShmSSj1JfbRQ07vE__pvsTx3EGOW9alBqExTf7rak9tK3lbFLqUw7aO-hYLFfo3bqjHOvAN6dB7ySyDJwJYxQR4G2sOZ1cKWgisGsXjLgma/w640-h480/IMG20220621103903_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Behold Gilly, the dog who rides elephants.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Then it was time for the signature feature of the trip, the overnight ferry. Deliberately slowing the crossing from the 5 hour day version to 8 hours at night ensures the boat both leaves and arrives at a reasonable time. And though expensive, you get what you pay for. First the terminal, which was a place so empty it would make a hermit feel lonely :</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1JdCKF_fy1YSfMuIjXp_SbgZTNiGSE9ulkgquJgXj1uaW-6ClnJrTk1OGhY501H20VJLiclBji98pX8CtM9qP93XbWYTjTbtULaBRBYNtHVxsjxEJwNeHJXbIABYY-S0EEjJujEJwDacOqkWkz52afY75W4Wu0-c7RCTpoNJu5UH0pqemfIuulys/s1147/IMG20220621203442.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="1147" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK1JdCKF_fy1YSfMuIjXp_SbgZTNiGSE9ulkgquJgXj1uaW-6ClnJrTk1OGhY501H20VJLiclBji98pX8CtM9qP93XbWYTjTbtULaBRBYNtHVxsjxEJwNeHJXbIABYY-S0EEjJujEJwDacOqkWkz52afY75W4Wu0-c7RCTpoNJu5UH0pqemfIuulys/w640-h280/IMG20220621203442.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p>All the staff were extremely friendly from start to finish. Boarding with dogs is easy and you can take them in-cabin if you book this ahead of time (the only extra procedure being that you have to get them wormed by a vet a few days ahead of departure). </p><p>The ferry itself was really very nice indeed. It has several restaurants, a sun deck, a literal poop deck* for pets, a basketball cage**, and even a tiny cinema and a casino. The cabins are cosy rather than small : spick and span, very comfortable beds, a giant porthole and a sizeable (and excellent) shower. The soothing motion of the boat and ability to lie properly flat ensured that I got a full night's sleep, something I wouldn't be able to manage on a plane unless shot by a tranquiliser dart. Watching the ships pass in the night all lit up, and waking up to the sun on a calm and silent sea, is at least fifty-eight times preferable to being on a cramped aircraft with its weirdly low-pressure, noisy, desiccated air and cramped seats. If you have the option to take the ferry, I highly recommend it : unlike an aeroplane, you come out of the trip feeling refreshed instead of drained. This is a slower but objectively better way to travel.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Not its actual term, but this is what I shall call it.<br />** This is a cage containing a basketball court, not just a basketball.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyca2KoiGFnNyICMWvMyGMWmCx-9s9SAWqv9Shi-VT3bqVi1tFS3GATySsFkYGEKbvzVqEY53kqpzT7tnc311dgDeRPVVStG6DFJZNz1wjqQ206YE106RxlTHw2sXhGPdyDMWaNycUZTwefM6tgCJQ_jrBCqFYLRlqJPgvt5WYb70vszqGfx-nZH7/s1156/IMG20220621214908.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyca2KoiGFnNyICMWvMyGMWmCx-9s9SAWqv9Shi-VT3bqVi1tFS3GATySsFkYGEKbvzVqEY53kqpzT7tnc311dgDeRPVVStG6DFJZNz1wjqQ206YE106RxlTHw2sXhGPdyDMWaNycUZTwefM6tgCJQ_jrBCqFYLRlqJPgvt5WYb70vszqGfx-nZH7/w640-h288/IMG20220621214908.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And it's so damn shiny !</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIV8Oq5aTOQwBx0UY6f5UZzpGdSpFRw_zorOXebAqVHPcMuYEVAD7l6fNJBn_5fJyneYm0eq8Io3e2cr-gSYAXtRtfTGa9uJS9-ESfC6q0M9mkAAUvn3DPl9RkIn_9_awH0UzzzwSt8_jPDM77HdBecfEyNeJcjCwBKR6fxZtCAfFLhHp5MBwhSOE/s866/20220622_054710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="866" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIV8Oq5aTOQwBx0UY6f5UZzpGdSpFRw_zorOXebAqVHPcMuYEVAD7l6fNJBn_5fJyneYm0eq8Io3e2cr-gSYAXtRtfTGa9uJS9-ESfC6q0M9mkAAUvn3DPl9RkIn_9_awH0UzzzwSt8_jPDM77HdBecfEyNeJcjCwBKR6fxZtCAfFLhHp5MBwhSOE/w640-h414/20220622_054710.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc0uafgv5hKTTkLBetv2HWrBCtB-7kOlVZUjLC9Cl7WYzkg3KSAir1GLCon08RytN_N3Remf3p8C8HOv_Ie3j8pfevNpBfL7d7UFYOZebA3iirrj9ZV0QzK8T2GVmTMjSQuiUzVPzqWV5v0PsE8d7hSV3WmFcPPOcopaGfbucYY8_jBs1Vzv80S0j/s1156/IMG20220621215549.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmc0uafgv5hKTTkLBetv2HWrBCtB-7kOlVZUjLC9Cl7WYzkg3KSAir1GLCon08RytN_N3Remf3p8C8HOv_Ie3j8pfevNpBfL7d7UFYOZebA3iirrj9ZV0QzK8T2GVmTMjSQuiUzVPzqWV5v0PsE8d7hSV3WmFcPPOcopaGfbucYY8_jBs1Vzv80S0j/w640-h288/IMG20220621215549.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Arriving in Harwich we saw David Attenborough, or at least his very own personal boat :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtSTvXPqkLcxMZqu4x8nSnzD6ypdSY4dP3to_u7KvLBOqyCd_VVMAQdKwdJImPRGn7CG1nvWJpLwMq1eoi_pfD5Z1mbM2Vty9565UqqQkYSbMS42cZEoW5zkDAwhiAOtaKbBIHp5sR_rlnnYSa5DsaUEziseZlXZtf9Z8Q58xCBmMbfOb80M56tOj/s1156/IMG20220622073753.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtSTvXPqkLcxMZqu4x8nSnzD6ypdSY4dP3to_u7KvLBOqyCd_VVMAQdKwdJImPRGn7CG1nvWJpLwMq1eoi_pfD5Z1mbM2Vty9565UqqQkYSbMS42cZEoW5zkDAwhiAOtaKbBIHp5sR_rlnnYSa5DsaUEziseZlXZtf9Z8Q58xCBmMbfOb80M56tOj/w640-h288/IMG20220622073753.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A.k.a. Boaty McBoatface.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We proceeded to Manningtree and took an hour to allow the dogs some respite. They'd been quite unsettled on the boat until we took them to the poop deck - they didn't do anything, but seemed finally to understand that they were on a boat and therefore all the weird noises and vibrations became less scary. At Manningtree we had tea and cider at 8:30 in the morning, at which the sever batted not an eyelid nor showed the merest flicker of judgemental disdain. </p><p>As it happened we arrived on the week of the train strikes the one day the strikes weren't happening. Consequently the only real difference was that we didn't have seat reservations, but we didn't have problems getting seats so this had no impact whatsoever.</p><p>When we got to Cardiff we immediately rejoiced in the marvellous beacon of hope and glory that is the United Kingdom by having fish and chips. Okay, the fish is not as good as kibbeling, of course, but the chips are unquestioningly the best in world. However I did not have long to revel in my patriotism, as we soon witnessed an auspicious sight :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfWAfTWnYFiBdkGmmVTCiYma-3zrBtYyqIJAcZzhJPs2dpeGZcPdew-8_pnMYAYuG4C-ekia7cacokcPZN_kKCWzxmfijzqbzRCVnEL_xLTKiAjQ0shVa-Gx_xWuJEcjnEEClc2Yc1mGBYSKoqhQ1KmtXmmnkhBJcfsPQupFMXeIlPLh8fzwuplGE/s1156/IMG20220622145903.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfWAfTWnYFiBdkGmmVTCiYma-3zrBtYyqIJAcZzhJPs2dpeGZcPdew-8_pnMYAYuG4C-ekia7cacokcPZN_kKCWzxmfijzqbzRCVnEL_xLTKiAjQ0shVa-Gx_xWuJEcjnEEClc2Yc1mGBYSKoqhQ1KmtXmmnkhBJcfsPQupFMXeIlPLh8fzwuplGE/w640-h288/IMG20220622145903.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At least the Welsh flags were standing tall. For them to have collapsed at Cardiff Castle would be like finding a dead raven at the Tower of London.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Thankfully the end of the trip was to prove far more restorative to whatever dull flame of national pride still lingers in my bitter and disillusioned soul.</p><p>The dogs, of course, were the stars of the show for the next two weeks. Papillions are virtually unknown in Britain, but given how people flocked to them like moths to a flame, perhaps that won't be the case on our next visit. It's interesting to see how much friendlier people are when you have a couple of cute bundles of floof in tow, but even so, I swear people have gotten nicer. I have this very cool T-shirt of a cartoon axolotl reading a book, with the caption, "reads-a-lotl". Hilarious, but I didn't expect a small boy in a train station to spontaneously point and shout "Axolotl readaslotl !!!" with obvious delight. What happened to the sullen, depressed, reserved countrymen I grew up with ? Weird.</p><p>Anyway, here are some pictures of the floofers doing what they do best.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh96Z79ijy3AGR0dOa7OAco3sH-depPUQB377xVAz_l7KA6VkkX-lm3G8pdc15nO75aqOLrJPQ96vBsJSJw58uS_17dMQWI5J6gSq2BG4YuuexrRF8y8f5miSzeS0J-EyOMp9h9bE4Mf7BJis2CVpbynqSrmwY3MkSgLLgn2ILh4-vzqmeOLAgWeN/s1156/IMG20220622175216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1156" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghh96Z79ijy3AGR0dOa7OAco3sH-depPUQB377xVAz_l7KA6VkkX-lm3G8pdc15nO75aqOLrJPQ96vBsJSJw58uS_17dMQWI5J6gSq2BG4YuuexrRF8y8f5miSzeS0J-EyOMp9h9bE4Mf7BJis2CVpbynqSrmwY3MkSgLLgn2ILh4-vzqmeOLAgWeN/w640-h480/IMG20220622175216.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MtAwIEQrqKHlt-2bmjfcEk5M_-7PYXWoIxiyUYLIPA4Eacl4WX4t2fRCEv2ddQoV1bZG_kQ2AuVUnMZN9dFDIicmOwmxITEDITMjQeHT55rrDTs73dYeveZ4jiOzaLn_gcWr-LtdapVCFFRFolksH6eLggWSUwT3jKjTWSU505zOsZ9YiFpf2u75/s1156/IMG20220623120418.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MtAwIEQrqKHlt-2bmjfcEk5M_-7PYXWoIxiyUYLIPA4Eacl4WX4t2fRCEv2ddQoV1bZG_kQ2AuVUnMZN9dFDIicmOwmxITEDITMjQeHT55rrDTs73dYeveZ4jiOzaLn_gcWr-LtdapVCFFRFolksH6eLggWSUwT3jKjTWSU505zOsZ9YiFpf2u75/w640-h288/IMG20220623120418.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfnLaMHzmUMgnhyP_86cO_rsTxt_ykl4AQHYv98RadInuh4UZ4dklGVA08bl1OVR1vm4Bhe6cKPhklhw_iEbwHe7_qI_ZV618VAa9-ma03KxvsdIDOSW5SGpmF_WPxLolyXqQGeDIu0GK7XhaIavjT8UggJlM28j1QSE-cUgt6pJUItOMO3p4muOS8/s1156/IMG20220624153114.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfnLaMHzmUMgnhyP_86cO_rsTxt_ykl4AQHYv98RadInuh4UZ4dklGVA08bl1OVR1vm4Bhe6cKPhklhw_iEbwHe7_qI_ZV618VAa9-ma03KxvsdIDOSW5SGpmF_WPxLolyXqQGeDIu0GK7XhaIavjT8UggJlM28j1QSE-cUgt6pJUItOMO3p4muOS8/w640-h288/IMG20220624153114.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Anyone who says I'm anthropormorphising by saying Lu is clearly thinking, "da fuq are you wearing" is, quite simply, wrong.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUw79QQ1O3z8OBgW5M-2wDmH8DabH4wxcUvIhZB7KhRkR_qDOdujUIgBEn9yuabslXgbofm1W1I4PmB2iIX1dH2v5V2IIzkB-7Wu9TKisue4KdZVbMHZVB2-gTpmVxTGiEtACrlaFoK6m-9mZZGhiKP45HWQl45YLQ8WQxDbihzoSDz_gQxKbF-jYC/s1156/IMG20220628103710.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUw79QQ1O3z8OBgW5M-2wDmH8DabH4wxcUvIhZB7KhRkR_qDOdujUIgBEn9yuabslXgbofm1W1I4PmB2iIX1dH2v5V2IIzkB-7Wu9TKisue4KdZVbMHZVB2-gTpmVxTGiEtACrlaFoK6m-9mZZGhiKP45HWQl45YLQ8WQxDbihzoSDz_gQxKbF-jYC/w640-h288/IMG20220628103710.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We've been trying since day one to get them to play with the same toy at the same time and IT FINALLY HAPPENED.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Non-dog activities included an open-air theatre production of Blackadder Goes Forth. This was hilarious, with the cast being superb : Baldrick was as close to Tony Robinson as you can get without being Tony Robinson, while the glorious, furiously insane portrayal of General Melchett and the unstoppably randy Lord Flashheart were both outstanding. There was some nice interaction between rain-soaked cast and safely-under-cover audience without feeling like a pantomime.</p><p>This being Wales, we had to visit a castle or we'd have been murdered by Plaid Cymru smothering us in our sleep with a sheep. We've done Cardiff* before, so this time it was <a href="https://cadw.gov.wales/visit/places-to-visit/caerphilly-castle">Caerphilly</a>.</p><p>*<span style="font-size: x-small;"> I've done all the local things before, but Shirley hasn't.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZG2IF02aEFx_8KNAapBU87Z8w2Chs8wWdnpdskU3xHu49UfSIV6O97yA4RzPHjinWIb1ZEWE-aIO1QNmLcsk6oNoe-1UuzjV1HkBYxnflZLyoyIAKy3M5f9Q6-KM0kjd3rp3qbiF2CaYs9Gy_axtPO9r5CNl82f6BeYG4CeWjWdgUspWovg6u8i8O/s1156/IMG20220630115122.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZG2IF02aEFx_8KNAapBU87Z8w2Chs8wWdnpdskU3xHu49UfSIV6O97yA4RzPHjinWIb1ZEWE-aIO1QNmLcsk6oNoe-1UuzjV1HkBYxnflZLyoyIAKy3M5f9Q6-KM0kjd3rp3qbiF2CaYs9Gy_axtPO9r5CNl82f6BeYG4CeWjWdgUspWovg6u8i8O/w640-h288/IMG20220630115122.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3-m9AxLy4kryBZ-RmPZFIfQ--ei3ZWLSA5kzC2tLcCIq1Ux_N32Qi6JCWMXZbHyHvEaUTeUafSUkf-J3dIjq8Yfg42d-inoApcDvHZr8wgbzvOSWVsSg4YGDJDKbz0fFt2gmx0IGLTaCGaJTeomCCf8--k0gUi1BaDXvVSTi0R7NB5cMBykmOcEq/s3200/IMG20220630130359.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="3200" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD3-m9AxLy4kryBZ-RmPZFIfQ--ei3ZWLSA5kzC2tLcCIq1Ux_N32Qi6JCWMXZbHyHvEaUTeUafSUkf-J3dIjq8Yfg42d-inoApcDvHZr8wgbzvOSWVsSg4YGDJDKbz0fFt2gmx0IGLTaCGaJTeomCCf8--k0gUi1BaDXvVSTi0R7NB5cMBykmOcEq/w640-h288/IMG20220630130359.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl-cHwEV_pFo7U6jyG_YfUzhjy9_VJnGFWYXh8tFL8GVMIj7wMzsY6AhP5qlQ2A28_m9k7akYQj4wGaxNOeM_q6NxZ5BAWAH9Y21RoEyiLbU_RVuIfwR4j4iOyjZtLQsSEoPUZYa-mUj2ZohwCCoU6a6Jtjk4a7aPtuDwnhDeZL5DBcrGnFeU71lL/s1056/IMG20220630132330.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="1056" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHl-cHwEV_pFo7U6jyG_YfUzhjy9_VJnGFWYXh8tFL8GVMIj7wMzsY6AhP5qlQ2A28_m9k7akYQj4wGaxNOeM_q6NxZ5BAWAH9Y21RoEyiLbU_RVuIfwR4j4iOyjZtLQsSEoPUZYa-mUj2ZohwCCoU6a6Jtjk4a7aPtuDwnhDeZL5DBcrGnFeU71lL/w640-h288/IMG20220630132330.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Caerphilly is a fine castle in a good location, with a tower that famously leans more than the more notorious Pisa and a set of replica siege engines that have been used in many a historical documentary. But its presentation to visitors does veer a little on the silly side, with a large dragon pit that has a somewhat ridiculous, over-lengthy and over-dramatic narration. It's kindof fun, but maybe overdoing it for the children ? I dunno, a better visitor centre and a café would work wonders. More ambitiously, Wales is in desperate need of a Hollywood blockbuster to present itself to the world. Not for nothing does it have monumental castles in dramatic locations, but we've done a hugely terrible job of selling Welsh heritage to the wider world.</p><p>Also noteworthy here was that Gilly chased a goose. Gilly is 2 kg of pure fluff and has the hunting instincts of a brick, whereas geese are several kilos more of angry beak and claw. Quite why the goose felt the need to run away I will never understand : being attacked by Gilly is like being savaged by a bag of candy floss.</p><p>We also did something I've never done before and walked over the Cardiff bay barrage to Penarth, somewhere I've not been in probably 30 years. It's quite nice.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat5K-5NQJYStAnykD-TLONcAe6ckcaklGHBFOsk2fbKPnzVfCjbKnt9wyBNtuiiJlaH36J0Sm__y6HkXhl9CG3tE8aqiO43GSZLMq27dH0D05OlhY5DTUWRcKGGWZTXh-atXELZmSWU1Tr8S32z1ZapFK2g_0Z9X8gtNd-MYRMhlEMTiQXBwxuWj7/s1600/IMG20220704121304.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhat5K-5NQJYStAnykD-TLONcAe6ckcaklGHBFOsk2fbKPnzVfCjbKnt9wyBNtuiiJlaH36J0Sm__y6HkXhl9CG3tE8aqiO43GSZLMq27dH0D05OlhY5DTUWRcKGGWZTXh-atXELZmSWU1Tr8S32z1ZapFK2g_0Z9X8gtNd-MYRMhlEMTiQXBwxuWj7/w640-h288/IMG20220704121304.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQuBClDKgjm-pK7mvbMrtd-NFogRDNEqDFl1VmHJPci93Dk4SOJoj6wVjYr_os_AhmVShNaWfIsabw0ZOmfKPAgXQEYwDIKqnfiJ3yiUwoU0pcJt2WLJjF32MeAFsM7JOB6Zza0LH9bxZWPazXkMQ8R2nz1ztVWG3HU_LpefqbGRQ9F5HwH7jjMAHa/s2312/IMG20220704134859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQuBClDKgjm-pK7mvbMrtd-NFogRDNEqDFl1VmHJPci93Dk4SOJoj6wVjYr_os_AhmVShNaWfIsabw0ZOmfKPAgXQEYwDIKqnfiJ3yiUwoU0pcJt2WLJjF32MeAFsM7JOB6Zza0LH9bxZWPazXkMQ8R2nz1ztVWG3HU_LpefqbGRQ9F5HwH7jjMAHa/w640-h288/IMG20220704134859.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdHHyWuF_4G4upQAOcHC9TkA5BR4vMpQkh91KIodi5xU_puDHQ7ULwJl4ObiHuu6bDXFlCLFROdIthBhVhRLEBkOQqEfFSm4JXrNP9ANQ8hWPmNVgZssHvARwJfJIjDU0IIH3BTmeSbR5g3iubFUTDwMi4rq4AJndxVzfOQjRubUg1Dg1JUE2GrHz/s1600/IMG20220704134951.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdHHyWuF_4G4upQAOcHC9TkA5BR4vMpQkh91KIodi5xU_puDHQ7ULwJl4ObiHuu6bDXFlCLFROdIthBhVhRLEBkOQqEfFSm4JXrNP9ANQ8hWPmNVgZssHvARwJfJIjDU0IIH3BTmeSbR5g3iubFUTDwMi4rq4AJndxVzfOQjRubUg1Dg1JUE2GrHz/w640-h288/IMG20220704134951.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Another blast-from-the-childhood-past was a visit to the St Fagan's <a href="https://museum.wales/stfagans/">Museum of Welsh Life</a>. This is a collection of Welsh buildings reassembled from their original locations, including a farmhouse from 1610 and a medieval church restored to its original colour scheme.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMxkX_bg-u6lSuW0u_fYJWveee4VcqCzp1Mh-uBNvIbc6el94lKsuK3qGlD7PSSzgY4dLAedtanYfklKAwcTGXsH22t03EaEtTyJ-wO5xQvWZbJDUIeSpkHSg61Igoj9Lnio45czvL_O7K6OF051et7AwFOTOeKstuvNEp30fyCMKbwpiuCEiDsE0/s1156/IMG20220705124702.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="1156" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMxkX_bg-u6lSuW0u_fYJWveee4VcqCzp1Mh-uBNvIbc6el94lKsuK3qGlD7PSSzgY4dLAedtanYfklKAwcTGXsH22t03EaEtTyJ-wO5xQvWZbJDUIeSpkHSg61Igoj9Lnio45czvL_O7K6OF051et7AwFOTOeKstuvNEp30fyCMKbwpiuCEiDsE0/w640-h288/IMG20220705124702.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The red colour supposedly protects against evil spirits. This wasn't applied to the privy, which was presumably defended by a foul stench.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIwBve7Sh5tG3PEA4hs4w3allQVIJLYyV3gmpIYJteHXCK907OioYsgEulqDWYZ09UoiQDiiTdXcxh0hiIF1T6UZrl3S7ve5LkHdaFG9XUiOfBLbrABbuzTWd48hMQnhGzsGBKDeG8cbQv_DR03eGOehkaUWxRhYZMPw275TcZiBgQRveXHtzm5Qi/s1600/IMG20220705131308.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIwBve7Sh5tG3PEA4hs4w3allQVIJLYyV3gmpIYJteHXCK907OioYsgEulqDWYZ09UoiQDiiTdXcxh0hiIF1T6UZrl3S7ve5LkHdaFG9XUiOfBLbrABbuzTWd48hMQnhGzsGBKDeG8cbQv_DR03eGOehkaUWxRhYZMPw275TcZiBgQRveXHtzm5Qi/w640-h288/IMG20220705131308.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpZ4qgdmfoXxdT6Z1FIEXZyuGNNow46Gy0NiO4jf6i0zioUgFebdF5-Omaw9zRdAUm1GAZgdbGT8vwBhdQDylZWuz4LcElBxJYgMV4vllFExYyHEkpESp_rliTC1HyL2I8-eY2-j-YvadEAulonD9eE6qR-ajtOueEJ3W22tPsxUi3aGl03dKrBW4/s1600/IMG20220705150926.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkpZ4qgdmfoXxdT6Z1FIEXZyuGNNow46Gy0NiO4jf6i0zioUgFebdF5-Omaw9zRdAUm1GAZgdbGT8vwBhdQDylZWuz4LcElBxJYgMV4vllFExYyHEkpESp_rliTC1HyL2I8-eY2-j-YvadEAulonD9eE6qR-ajtOueEJ3W22tPsxUi3aGl03dKrBW4/w640-h288/IMG20220705150926.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The church is dedicated to St Teilo, who sounds worth looking up. Apparently he defeated a dragon he found in an orchard by picking it up by its tail and swinging it into a river, thus becoming the patron saint of cider. Or something like that.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipidGh9KLiLLsB44L_u1TwBqCZ4TP3pTQo9t5SjJTbKi2KtZ7jJspl3JDvaOlP_Df92ADDR7cCJdbzs2J9mk7ByhzVnmiESLDhw6ztbcgoAagBOw39oWeIZcSY761w4VYXUHSi24jP41VpCZTUXai2EljfR4eMcUElLgmMQklR2rSv9ZhGCWGixuAR/s1600/IMG20220705150506.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipidGh9KLiLLsB44L_u1TwBqCZ4TP3pTQo9t5SjJTbKi2KtZ7jJspl3JDvaOlP_Df92ADDR7cCJdbzs2J9mk7ByhzVnmiESLDhw6ztbcgoAagBOw39oWeIZcSY761w4VYXUHSi24jP41VpCZTUXai2EljfR4eMcUElLgmMQklR2rSv9ZhGCWGixuAR/w640-h288/IMG20220705150506.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sadly I don't have any good photos but many of the paintings are meme worthy, including one guy who looks like he's crying because he's poked himself in the eye for literally no reason at all.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>These days the museum also has more standard exhibit halls, which are worth a look around. If you ever want a demonstration of the difference between the Welsh and the English (we sometimes say that the Welsh define themselves by being not English, but there <i>are </i>real differences in the cultures), look to the responses visitors have left about Thatcher's famous line about there being "no such thing of society". This includes such things as "murderous bitch" and "you stole my father's bones", whereas the responses supposedly agreeing with the statement are far fewer in number and include such astute observations as "I like dinosaurs."</p><p>There was of course much pub and day drinking down the bay, with a visit to Cadwallader's ice cream café being a necessity, as was Waterstones. I got a lot of reading done in this trip, which means by backlog of things to blog is now even longer. I call that a success. There was also a food festival, and I'll likely be changing my profile photo as a result.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOPVmdzthKIkVC80N4ioZRZykF9J4PNy0LN_o2a5dGk5Nv4bmWpvWlV9rP-CmIROz0iQ2NbXjdnLugSztSNZsTl2KGBKGRZjWCQ74JYmgCjciZ6GKtdu2wVkZswyw727UKku636lN1c3reih24u0zuorQdbYjBdzY0I51mPyApaV71jnk8ZR5RUaJ/s1600/IMG20220701170616.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOPVmdzthKIkVC80N4ioZRZykF9J4PNy0LN_o2a5dGk5Nv4bmWpvWlV9rP-CmIROz0iQ2NbXjdnLugSztSNZsTl2KGBKGRZjWCQ74JYmgCjciZ6GKtdu2wVkZswyw727UKku636lN1c3reih24u0zuorQdbYjBdzY0I51mPyApaV71jnk8ZR5RUaJ/w640-h288/IMG20220701170616.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-aJ9lTbROfii4g4PlQVGWrH8f3Baap5Vt9F7lbZK8Ie0nHMlDHR8Z5qQAQgr-8OGmZ73zoW-PhA97jgNluguF94yRCf3HrnEAvrkxFawvICZg_qm0j0XwRZ2RBMckBdn5wo6bKT-wIifU1C0ejMcTR0FpPHPBqapbOSYpOylPOmmFS2SJ8oBhCYb/s1599/Photo%20from%20Rhysy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1599" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-aJ9lTbROfii4g4PlQVGWrH8f3Baap5Vt9F7lbZK8Ie0nHMlDHR8Z5qQAQgr-8OGmZ73zoW-PhA97jgNluguF94yRCf3HrnEAvrkxFawvICZg_qm0j0XwRZ2RBMckBdn5wo6bKT-wIifU1C0ejMcTR0FpPHPBqapbOSYpOylPOmmFS2SJ8oBhCYb/w480-h640/Photo%20from%20Rhysy.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>The end of the trip proved doubly rewarding. First, I got by far and away the most positive first referee report to a paper I've ever had (thank you, kindly and well-timed constructive reviewer !). The last paper I co-authored (to be blogged here in the near future) was also accepted just before the holiday started, but that had the usual protracted back-and-forth : nice to finally resolve it, but that doesn't really undo the months of mostly unnecessary wrangling. So to finally get a reviewer who just likes the paper from the outset is... well, for once I <i>don't </i>have to go on a rant about the need to reform peer review, and that, frankly, is just bloody great.</p><p>Second, if we'd waited two years for this trip, we'd waited even longer for this wonderful moment at the end :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXs9L4-yUaI1y-1t8vr6f57HzxmSHLcIKIDm87jt6NydrXXShHI-TIZW7bgBMQ8FUa39UdnWADTWd0GOzVhnikfZNP2-Vl0ATHDcnqzbyCSPD1Fx0dYGdJgbnKw9WFIoRt5SQ3vGjtRCbezCj0mNOj1zrJeA8GLRwnPbCskXYTDNGcbv9bk7vzlxJF/s1040/IMG20220707123608.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1040" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXs9L4-yUaI1y-1t8vr6f57HzxmSHLcIKIDm87jt6NydrXXShHI-TIZW7bgBMQ8FUa39UdnWADTWd0GOzVhnikfZNP2-Vl0ATHDcnqzbyCSPD1Fx0dYGdJgbnKw9WFIoRt5SQ3vGjtRCbezCj0mNOj1zrJeA8GLRwnPbCskXYTDNGcbv9bk7vzlxJF/w640-h468/IMG20220707123608.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I think I can look at this for some time to come and get a happy.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We watched the full news coverage of this for two days straight. After having endured this lying, contemptible, delusional fascist scumbag grind the country's reputation into the dirt for far too long, the release was almost cathartic - tempered only by uncertainty about who comes next*. Perhaps auspiciously, that same day the conservatory window spontaneously shattered and the washing line broke. I'm fairly sure this is the doings of the ghosts of my Conservative grandparents, although a significant caveat is that Boris Johnsons is to the Conservative party what a circus lion tamer is to serious wildlife preservation efforts.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I've thought about writing a scathing political obituary to the racist piece of self-serving egomania, but I've decided not to bother. You may recall my last protracted <a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/2022/05/moving-on-to-what-fascism.html">anti-Boris rant</a> ended with "fuck off Boris" and off he has jolly well fucked, so I'm satisfied. Defending a sex offender was, it seems, the straw that broke the camel's back, and there is scarcely a need for me to shout loudly from the rooftops, "I TOLD YOU SO YOU SODDING MORONS !" although I'd very much like to.</span></p><p>And then we did the whole thing in reverse. This time the dogs immediately accepted the ferry as their temporary home; we spent only a day in the Netherlands before catching the again miraculously smooth series of trains back to Prague. </p>Well, there you have it. Cardiff remains a lovely place despite the current assorted crises (as well as its stupid 20 mph speed limits), and finally being able to show everyone the marvel that is the papillion was as good as I hoped. I re-iterate that slowing things down, taking the ferry instead of the plane, is just incomparably nicer. But now it's time to get back to science.<br /><br />Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-38295659141216591252022-06-02T04:00:00.003-04:002022-06-02T04:00:50.089-04:00My Chemical Enviromance<p>Yay, science post !</p><p>It's always nice when you wake up and see an email saying, "Your paper has now been accepted" but you're still half-asleep so you wonder "Dafuq ? I haven't written any papers, bloody spam journals again" but you're curious enough to keep reading the email just in case and realise "Ooooohh yeah, I didn't write that one but I'm a co-author, yay for me cos I didn't have to do any real work this time !" and then you fall back into a satisfying slumber.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eRyVALSgR4W8zLo0xNgbCIlK4cneVpK9WV--g_4IyEizwdJcSTmFa9KvO8xSJkpMghU7dBSZOIY72vz-nH1ulL9FFwGMin9OXlucXHpeZtaNYj1Z-HLNKhdHrMzZk1n7rBAuJ0yt-WZrC4il-9QWyar0cfxnMbjJuxlPrApYNtH2TO7F3MQrndiA/s800/Sleepy%20scientist.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="800" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eRyVALSgR4W8zLo0xNgbCIlK4cneVpK9WV--g_4IyEizwdJcSTmFa9KvO8xSJkpMghU7dBSZOIY72vz-nH1ulL9FFwGMin9OXlucXHpeZtaNYj1Z-HLNKhdHrMzZk1n7rBAuJ0yt-WZrC4il-9QWyar0cfxnMbjJuxlPrApYNtH2TO7F3MQrndiA/w640-h392/Sleepy%20scientist.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Obviously we all sleep at our desks the whole time.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Funnily enough, that's more or less what happened to me last week.</p><p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.00155">This paper</a> is by long-term collaborator and all-round thoroughly good egg Robert Minchin. It's all about my second favourite topic in my first favourite place : that is, it's about how galaxies lose gas in the Virgo Cluster (my favourite topic being little gas clouds that <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2018/08/will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-turbulent.html">don't do anything</a>).</p><p>I've covered gas loss in Virgo before, but since it's been some considerable time (read : the whole pandemic) since previous posts about this, I won't expect you to go trawling through old posts for details. Oh, you can if you want, but there's no need, I'll just bring you up to speed right now.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Some background : when galaxies get naked</u></b></p><p>A typical galaxy consists of a disc of stars and some gas all bound together in a dark matter halo. Even outside galaxies space is never truly empty, and especially in dense clusters, the external gas can be significant. It tends to be substantially less dense but also a lot hotter. If a galaxy moves through it fast enough, it can experience a pressure strong enough to dislodge its own gas in a process worryingly known as<i> ram pressure stripping</i>. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://astrobites.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/A2667-jelly.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://astrobites.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/A2667-jelly.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://astrobites.org/2014/07/08/fishing-for-jellyfish-in-galaxy-clusters/">Sometimes</a>, though rarely, the stripped gas can be so dense that you get a star-forming "wake" behind the galaxy as it moves through the cluster. Normally you can't see this gas using optical observations, but have to use other wavelengths like radio to see the stripped gas trails.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While this might happen to some extent in all galaxy environments, clusters are where it really matters : here the external gas is relatively dense and galaxy motions are (by far) the most rapid. Other processes like gravitational encounters between individual galaxies become much less important compared to the enormously strong ram pressure, which can completely strip a galaxy of all its gas in less than an orbit. </p><p>After that... the galaxy is doomed to a slow, lingering death. With no remaining gas it simply can't form any new stars. Its youngest, hottest, bluest stars soon die off, leaving behind only the smaller, dimmer, red stars. And without the mass of the physically thin but dense gas disc helping to hold them together, the random motions of the surviving stars eventually destroy any hints of structure in its stellar disc. Eventually, it turns from a magnificent blue sparkly spiral into a pathetic red elliptical. Everybody hates ellipticals so it becomes a social pariah and never gets invited to parties anymore. Not even during lockdown. No, not even at Downing Street.</p><p>The details of the process are controversial, but the basics are accepted well enough :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Ram pressure is strong enough in clusters to cause even massive spirals to rapidly lose all their gas</li><li>Spiral galaxies in clusters typically have much less gas than those elsewhere</li><li>Other mechanisms can't seem to explain the gas loss.</li></ul><div>Which all leads to the main conclusion that <b>ram pressure plays a dominant role in galaxy evolution in clusters</b>.</div><p></p><p>Some time ago I was <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2019/02/ram-pressure-stripping-made-easy.html">co-author on a paper</a> that attempted to model this process using nice, simple analytical formulae. The gold standard is to do full-on numerical simulations that includes all the complex gas dynamics and stuff, but it seems that the simple formulae are actually plenty good enough to predict the basics. This saves an awful lot of time and, more importantly, effort, because running simulations is <i>annoying</i>. More recently, I was <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/01/paper-x-bizarre-murder-of-windy.html">able to show</a> that our model does quite well at matching which specific galaxies are predicted to be currently losing gas and which actually show the long gas streams expected when stripping occurs.</p><p>Now I like looking for gas streams very much - looking at data is just inherently a good idea, and it also lets you see what's happening as directly as possible. So you might think that this is just a cunning ploy to let me do more data visualisation.... not so ! For we've also shown that sometimes the gas streams are inherently hard to spot, and the gas disperses quite rapidly. So could there be a different signature of stripping we could look for to test which galaxies have been affected ?</p><p>In our latest paper it seems the answer is a tentative but enthusiastic "yes !". We found a radically different test for ram pressure that seems to provide a very pleasing confirmation of the model <i>completely independent of its original formulation</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>How to hunt for farting galaxies</u></b></p><p>The way I mentally group my astronomy knowledge is into three basic categories : atomic hydrogen, stars, and everything else. While stars are what get all the glory, and atomic hydrogen is the largest component of the gas, I'm vaguely aware that there's <i>really quite a lot of stuff</i> contained in the "everything else" category.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBxjSLyzqS4suV6UFpbcs0sZpJC65GDAaFpEsuOUbbRMzrCeknBLMClW6mHXvtg0q3B-f-amcg7GGlli5fW7l7sdt7_ZjtF-4kzA8y8-J4YHr4pKpDcuubn0EslyRgOI9ikObY7hbxqfwvHqhWoKYDO4x6YfgNjkdyxfYVfMdI0VRyp6R8Xne_g-a/s500/Funny%20Pie.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBxjSLyzqS4suV6UFpbcs0sZpJC65GDAaFpEsuOUbbRMzrCeknBLMClW6mHXvtg0q3B-f-amcg7GGlli5fW7l7sdt7_ZjtF-4kzA8y8-J4YHr4pKpDcuubn0EslyRgOI9ikObY7hbxqfwvHqhWoKYDO4x6YfgNjkdyxfYVfMdI0VRyp6R8Xne_g-a/w640-h640/Funny%20Pie.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You get the idea.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Fortunately, Robert is much more acutely aware of this than I am. For example, we can estimate star formation rates by looking at how much light galaxies emit in different wavelengths. The bluer the light, the more it's dominated by hot, short-lived stars* and so the higher the current rate of star formation must be. We can do this just by looking at broad-band optical filters, much like the RGB components you'd see in an ordinary digital image, or we can user similar filters at shorter wavelengths than visible light (for example, ultra-violet emission is an excellent way to look for some of the hottest stars of all). </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* I am simplifying quite a lot here. Chemical composition also affects colour, as does the total intensity. But these factors can be accounted for.</span></p><p>But we can also do something quite a bit different. Broad filters take in emission from a wide range of wavelengths, but some processes produce photons only over very narrow windows. These "spectral lines" provide another way of testing for the high energies associated with hot young stars. One of these lines, the [CII] ("C two") line, from singly ionised carbon*, has become popular in recent years as another tool in the arsenal of available methods of estimating star formation rate. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Any sort of astro-chemistry is something I'd normally steer well clear of, on the grounds that even feckin' <i>hydrogen </i>isn't properly understood, but Robert is a much braver man than I. Personally I think of astro-chemistry some sort of advanced alchemy.</span></p><p>However, [CII] is not emitted directly by stars, but from the interstellar gas. And it turns out that injecting energy into the gas from other sources besides star formation, even mechanical energy, can also trigger [CII] emission... and ram pressure stripping might just be a very good way to do that. </p><p>See, the world of galaxy evolution is anything but woke (though there are some very odd attempts to claim that its offensive language is all due to <a href="https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/intergalactic-pachamama-kichwa-cosmology-vs-western-astrophysics">colonial oppression</a>), and stripping is a violent process*. So slamming the galaxy into the intracluster medium might be indeed be a means for causing it to emit at the [CII] frequency. It's already though that <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aaed2a/meta">other sorts</a> of <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aaac2c">gas collision</a> can induce this. Indeed, a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/303/2/L29/1068846">paper from as far back as 1999</a> noted that a spiral galaxy in Virgo had a weird excess of [CII], and this later turned out to be one of the best examples of a galaxy experiencing stripping !</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* To the authors suggesting we need to use less violent terms I say <i>OH GOD NO</i>, this is one area in which astronomy is at least still able to give things decent names (unlike new telescopes, which are always called the Very Large Something Or Other). I want my silly jokes about naked bestiality, dammit !</span></p><p>So this bodes well. If we can find galaxies with an excess of [CII], more than predicted from their star formation rates, we can compare this with our model. Since we already predicted which galaxies are currently stripping, we can potentially use this as a completely independent test on whether or not our model is any good.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>The results</u></b></p><p>Spectral line observations are always more challenging than broad-band observations, and the [CII] line is technically difficult. So instead of doing our own observations, we mined the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Herschel_overview">Herschel</a> archive. Of the ~2,000 galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, just 14 had suitable observations. </p><p>So right from the start it was clear that this could only be a limited pilot study. But even given this, initially the results looked confusing at best, and at worst, disappointing. Here's our plot of the excess of [CII] emission as a function of distance from the cluster centre :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtjN4XWHnP77ygRPoN9JX7YmvNRZXSXrT0WBsiqxh6q674l8bpqJYP31sTH5TBIgezhf9qO6h979cGYQFdz7oHgUVyzxcdx9RyYRCVPoor0u5uazQncnVnd2DMooqxVkPiKblr8vGDFf3rPjx40tZWrgLoFx1UCKRm6Eo8JBjFnTC9ZAvXkV1EDS6/s761/Distance.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="761" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtjN4XWHnP77ygRPoN9JX7YmvNRZXSXrT0WBsiqxh6q674l8bpqJYP31sTH5TBIgezhf9qO6h979cGYQFdz7oHgUVyzxcdx9RyYRCVPoor0u5uazQncnVnd2DMooqxVkPiKblr8vGDFf3rPjx40tZWrgLoFx1UCKRm6Eo8JBjFnTC9ZAvXkV1EDS6/w640-h434/Distance.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Yeah, not exactly the clearest trend in the world... take away the two outliers (VCC 737 and 841) and arguably the "trend" goes away completely. Hmm.</p><p>What we might naively expect to see is a clear decline with cluster-centric distance, as the corresponding ram pressure should decrease because the cluster's gas is less dense at greater distances. But it's hard to argue we see anything more than a hint of that, and it's not at all convincing.</p><p>You can also see we divided our already tiny sample into two even more miniscule samples : some of our galaxies lie close to the centre of the main cluster (the "northern" sample) while the others are all significantly further away ("southern"). The big blue and purple symbols on the right show the means of the two samples. The southern sample is a control group since ram pressure should be less effective at these distances, while the big green symbol shows another set of galaxies of similar masses but found completely outside the cluster - this forms a second control.</p><p>At best, there's a bit of a difference. The [CII] emission is a little bit higher in the northern sample than the others. This is what we'd expect, but it's not exactly an edge-of-your-seat result.</p><p>But using cluster-centric distance as a proxy for ram pressure may be too simple. As we'd shown in a <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020A%26A...638A.126D/abstract">previous paper</a>, assuming clusters are nicely symmetrical is about as bad as the proverbial cow :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZN_8hRTLSe4IVOL5M5cUyucqZjP8xPwWUrNSWZDqQHdtsHho_nFjuZEVC_ab3Iy9ZYG1wlBK4J_cAVULdt9vF7brhUgBsTNZxDH-n-0CC0WA-EadNE-amdzoGqjyp5O7futb8Ns7B1tSrUFKijWWwmJAQaVoC7M8NIr8Y4mx9Z6DHQ4FdpXhmpaJ/s1024/Spherical%20Cow.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZN_8hRTLSe4IVOL5M5cUyucqZjP8xPwWUrNSWZDqQHdtsHho_nFjuZEVC_ab3Iy9ZYG1wlBK4J_cAVULdt9vF7brhUgBsTNZxDH-n-0CC0WA-EadNE-amdzoGqjyp5O7futb8Ns7B1tSrUFKijWWwmJAQaVoC7M8NIr8Y4mx9Z6DHQ4FdpXhmpaJ/w640-h360/Spherical%20Cow.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or graduate students, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Zwicky#:~:text=Zwicky%20was%20an%20atheist.,way%20one%20looked%20at%20them.">Fritz Zwicky</a>.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Which is where our earlier, analytical model for ram pressure comes in. Surely what we should do, instead of using that old-fashioned crude approach of cluster-centric distance, is check whether our fancy model tells us if the galaxies are currently stripping or not. With this we should have a much more accurate proxy than simple distance.</p><p>Our model calculates two things. First, it estimates how much ram pressure a galaxy should be currently experiencing. This is derived from an earlier model of the gas density within the cluster and assuming the galaxy is moving at about the local escape velocity at its current position. We call this parameter <i>P<sub>loc</sub></i> (pressure at the local point). Secondly, given the mass of gas within the galaxy, we calculate the well-known parameter of deficiency, which just means how much gas it's lost compared to a similar galaxy found in isolation. From this we can compute the parameter <i>P<sub>def</sub></i>, the pressure needed to reach its current deficiency.</p><p>There's a lot of simplifying assumptions in all this, but it gives a nice, simple result : the higher the pressure ratio, the more likely a galaxy is to be currently losing gas. In contrast, galaxies with low pressures may have lost gas in the past but can't be doing so any more. Sounds great ! And remember, this result agreed well when we looked at which galaxies do seem to be losing gas based on their gas streams. But the result when looking at the [CII] excess ?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzzzHAlYkVK1WMeBlqNpudddws-y7n6i_yJQMmbiYxYjZz8AdZGlYWdiTLR3UHAZZ-4-NwaxC9i9vBgPcS6xD-8EjRBVkGCkHDfgIs_AjmS8-Dybqdlto4QnKYamqTbWggeoXLZTI6IYk-yZ7dF6gBp5kvpJCnEKUFS2vKTsbq9pC8cT1scJaBaHi/s749/PressureRatio.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="749" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigzzzHAlYkVK1WMeBlqNpudddws-y7n6i_yJQMmbiYxYjZz8AdZGlYWdiTLR3UHAZZ-4-NwaxC9i9vBgPcS6xD-8EjRBVkGCkHDfgIs_AjmS8-Dybqdlto4QnKYamqTbWggeoXLZTI6IYk-yZ7dF6gBp5kvpJCnEKUFS2vKTsbq9pC8cT1scJaBaHi/w640-h438/PressureRatio.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the most boring plot about strippers I've EVER seen.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Yeah, not so much... This was a bit disappointing considering how well the model had worked when looking for gas streams. What was going on ? Does the [CII] just not tell us anything at all about ram pressure but only star formation ? Had we messed up somehow ? Should we go and hang our heads in shame ?</p><p>Probably not. Actually, we'd probably over-complicated the situation. The model was constructed in the framework of the usual way of looking for for stripping, by directly searching for lost gas : either just be measuring how much gas a galaxy had, and/or by seeing if it had any detectable gas streams due to stripping. The pressure <i>ratio </i>works well for that scenario because that's the very thing it was based on. But for just injecting energy into the galaxy, which is what the [CII] is sensitive to... <i>that </i>won't work. The pressure ratio is almost irrelevant here : much more important is <i>simply the current pressure.</i> That, not whether a galaxy is losing gas or not, is what dictates the injected energy - which is what might provoke the [CII]*. And when we plot that :</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* For example a galaxy which is currently not actually losing gas, i.e. having a low pressure ratio, might still have a high absolute value of ram pressure. The ideal would be to work out how much energy is being injected and how this relates to [CII] emission, but this is a much bigger task. The point is that pressure should be a much better proxy, and doesn't relate linearly to cluster-centric distance.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-Nf1MTHMQk5FkoySF89vr3l7B1AE1q1sdwSYk1LtvDpT9I3oMBuEGs-sW80gTSf_DseuxPMbpXwCpMmKVGOqw9oKjRMNnEprXEPzxTUflfOT6HowtGoqpZ5uzx9mKXg_2-fNz7oN0AfkiJhyZw-fAw3ZXh9xZjC0sTx1qvHO2AYSkJZQt_C3HL7m/s723/Pressure.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="723" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-Nf1MTHMQk5FkoySF89vr3l7B1AE1q1sdwSYk1LtvDpT9I3oMBuEGs-sW80gTSf_DseuxPMbpXwCpMmKVGOqw9oKjRMNnEprXEPzxTUflfOT6HowtGoqpZ5uzx9mKXg_2-fNz7oN0AfkiJhyZw-fAw3ZXh9xZjC0sTx1qvHO2AYSkJZQt_C3HL7m/w640-h438/Pressure.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><b>Bingo !</b> Now <i>that's </i>a nice clear trend, especially considering the tiny sample size - and the difference between the two sub-samples is stark. Granted there's one weird outlier, which we're unable to explain, but it'd be surprising if there wasn't. If you don't have one weird outlier in observational astronomy, everyone laughs at you or calls you a liar. Or both.</p><p>Actually we were a bit surprised by just how clear this trend is. The model is by design simple, and subject to many uncertainties. One of the biggest is that it still does have to consider projected distance (that is, distance on the sky) from the cluster centre when calculating pressure - it can't use true 3D distance, because we just don't know it. This means the true pressure can always be lower, since the galaxy might actually be a bit in front or behind the bulk of the cluster gas. Yet it works even so.</p><p>And the trend seems to continue down to very low ram pressures indeed. So ram pressure might be having an effect even in much less dense environments than clusters, like groups. This is perfectly possible, it's just surprising to see such striking evidence of it. Yet as far as we can tell, there is no good reason to expect this trend to be due to anything mundane : there is no selection effect artificially restricting us to galaxies which only appear to follow the trend but actually do so only by chance. </p><p>We also accounted for the fact that some of the [CII] excess will be due to star formation. The thing about ram pressure is that although on sufficiently large and long scales it becomes very simple (all gas gone => no more stars !), on small and short scales it becomes fiendishly complex. As the pressure builds, it can initially compress the gas disc, temporarily triggering an increase in star formation. Then you get all kinds of terribly turbulent structures developing, which look nice but can't be modelled without proper simulations. But we <i>can </i>account for how much the star formation - <i>whatever its cause</i> - increases the [CII] emission, and find that it isn't enough. The simplest explanation is that we're seeing the direct impact of the ram pressure on the gas - we're not seeing galaxies with an excess only because they happened to have high star formation activity.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Conclusion</u></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/SuccessKid.jpg?20150426042332" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="318" height="427" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/ff/SuccessKid.jpg?20150426042332" width="640" /></a></b></div><div><br /></div>I wouldn't want to oversell this, because it's still based on a very small sample. But there's an almost startlingly nice trend between our prediction for how much ram pressure a galaxy is experiencing and the intensity of its excess [CII] emission. So our happy-go-lucky, simple model of ram pressure is vindicated for a second time by a<i> </i>totally different method.<p></p><p>It also means that this could be a new way for looking for the signatures of the effects of environment. Even if the ram pressure isn't actually strong enough to cause gas removal, it seems we can see its effects using the [CII] line. And since this appears to happen even at modest pressures, this could apply not just in clusters (where it's a bit of a case of "big bloody deal, we knew ram pressure was happening anyway"), but also in groups and filaments, where the situation is <a href="https://llittlephysicists.blogspot.com/2020/11/filamentary-faff.html">much less clear</a>. That gives us a new way to examine the external influences acting on galaxies.</p><p>But again, 14 galaxies ! That's a sample size less than a full-strength rugby team, for crying out loud. So let's not go nuts : it remains a pilot study, a case of, "hey, this seems to work, let's try this some more and see where it goes", not, "everybody just go home now because we're <i>done</i>."</p><p>There are two important caveats to end on. First, an <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/310/2/317/1046965">earlier study</a> didn't find any correlation between environment and [CII], though this is probably because the authors (a) had less sensitive observations; (b) targeted larger galaxies, which would require more injected energy; (c) didn't consider the pressure parameter. Second, more problematically, getting [CII] observations is difficult. This is something that the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html">SOFIA telescope</a> would be very good for, so let's just hope NASA don't decide to do anything daft like <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01213-0">cancelling it.</a></p><p>(Oh, and an apology. It has only just struck me that the title, "Environmental effects in Herschel observations of the ionized carbon content of star forming dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster" is probably one of the most boring titles we've ever done. Can't win 'em all.)</p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-76610320587774547112022-05-15T07:50:00.001-04:002022-05-15T07:50:48.873-04:00Where The Magic Happens<p>Today's post will be an unusual mixture of home décor, medieval navigation, and extragalactic data visualisation. Which sadly does not mean involving any interior designer astro-pirates, although it obviously should.</p><p><i>Hypothesis : there is no blog post that cannot be improved by the addition of interior designer astro-pirates.</i></p><p>Anyway, since the start of the year I've been indulging in some retail therapy. My home office where I've been working for most of the last two years is a 3x3m space consisting entirely of bog-standard IKEA furniture. You know, stuff like this :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nwtjgyl98643dM9CCvUQ7FzzGBioBRMsFshzdQxU39QCu_YsREASmaN0ezIojO4kgzdF3KYpy8KeHqTwHP7kRRc2eMqlZgVpzk8HiXMS6eW759cnD28cy14jjeMg3dwtttuJRcd4MtqZPUhh7M0utkrFUmUTubfPRNfuCjBMPCCUA6eNw3Gb23W6/s900/IKEATable.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="900" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nwtjgyl98643dM9CCvUQ7FzzGBioBRMsFshzdQxU39QCu_YsREASmaN0ezIojO4kgzdF3KYpy8KeHqTwHP7kRRc2eMqlZgVpzk8HiXMS6eW759cnD28cy14jjeMg3dwtttuJRcd4MtqZPUhh7M0utkrFUmUTubfPRNfuCjBMPCCUA6eNw3Gb23W6/s320/IKEATable.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I mean, it works. It's definitely a table. You can tell because you can put stuff on it and they stay cleverly well above the ground at an easily accessible height. It's not even ugly, but it's certainly minimalist... and that's just not my aesthetic <i>at all</i>.</p><p>After two years of various levels of lockdown (and a great deal longer in terms of living independently) I decided that I needed to do something about this. These days I have enough disposable income that I can indulge myself and there's just no need to go for the basic-but-boring stuff any more. The latest and hopefully final lockdown really pushed me into going slightly <i>Grand Designs</i>, even though I think such programs are only one step above <i>Big Brother</i> or <i>Love Island</i> in terms of sheer mindless inanity. </p><p>My preferred aesthetic is an 18/19th century drawing room. The sort of place the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty would gather his underlings to discuss an expedition to the Northwest Passage, all while sipping a big glass of brandy. Something like this :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QN1516P1i1ysmDRyjd2GMpz8wHHVOQULJ3AfYB0vJ7DeT04iqFCnKl6OtSRU75aILWruKWfE9LjaKK1gZwtqAyp-bc1PoRx_TG75MCIihGiuaeXq-Er_7optF4vLT2oVFmfHr0hHejQsoTkeO-gxULv98cjWWu_3X1Rd5qxxqgAc8ss7T1OshTEX/s679/Admirality.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="679" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QN1516P1i1ysmDRyjd2GMpz8wHHVOQULJ3AfYB0vJ7DeT04iqFCnKl6OtSRU75aILWruKWfE9LjaKK1gZwtqAyp-bc1PoRx_TG75MCIihGiuaeXq-Er_7optF4vLT2oVFmfHr0hHejQsoTkeO-gxULv98cjWWu_3X1Rd5qxxqgAc8ss7T1OshTEX/w640-h454/Admirality.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Or perhaps this :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C9HXlWmV-XbybpOlbbuBRlhg9gcGeS87bqIC6ewAKI91SvRLBXRF2xsF4fnhkLWc3QQF5OlrgPLxK2SrGpoCY-nzGEvxi4AO_KlqZ-Pc09GzGE_r6qBKS7X7KHT8dNasuJxLAknUtAn_e3sNfcG3Ltr1MWXuo7f0sUiuw-3_9eRcP_RJymGW5eDX/s1920/VDrawRoom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C9HXlWmV-XbybpOlbbuBRlhg9gcGeS87bqIC6ewAKI91SvRLBXRF2xsF4fnhkLWc3QQF5OlrgPLxK2SrGpoCY-nzGEvxi4AO_KlqZ-Pc09GzGE_r6qBKS7X7KHT8dNasuJxLAknUtAn_e3sNfcG3Ltr1MWXuo7f0sUiuw-3_9eRcP_RJymGW5eDX/w640-h360/VDrawRoom.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Or this :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspOa0AobMIVJ-1CAhryRk8m6hP8xiCGTO2VfBixiewY5lQy7Pb54ALg3iK2wJo0_e5nS1fKDXt7zD-m3j93h5oFno-EeiKaLQwzxi7HM2G0xsUDHW8Mb0lF25aRUxkRygRPYQbpJtwwyL7ihlEOyx1E3MI4bTPgrmNr7rkiIbhmy5TvX2zXhYfInh/s636/VOffice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="636" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjspOa0AobMIVJ-1CAhryRk8m6hP8xiCGTO2VfBixiewY5lQy7Pb54ALg3iK2wJo0_e5nS1fKDXt7zD-m3j93h5oFno-EeiKaLQwzxi7HM2G0xsUDHW8Mb0lF25aRUxkRygRPYQbpJtwwyL7ihlEOyx1E3MI4bTPgrmNr7rkiIbhmy5TvX2zXhYfInh/w640-h426/VOffice.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I want it to look rich and dark. I want it to be cosy. I want it to be ornate. I want gleaming brass instruments that look functional but don't actually do anything useful. I want everything to have unnecessary detail. And - and this is the important bit - <i>I want the walls to be covered in maps</i>. Basically, I want the exact opposite of the IKEA design philosophy.</p><p>Of course this project suffers from a few teeny-weeny limitations :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have a 3x3m space to work with</li><li>I'll need to transport most of my stuff at some point when we eventually get a permanent* home</li><li>I'm not a millionaire.</li></ul><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Whoever decided to coin the term "forever home" was a linguistically deplorable moron.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Still, there's a lot that can be done within those restrictions. And now I'm going to annoy the heck out of y'all but not having taken a picture before I got started...</div><div><br /></div><div>Initially I had nothing on the walls at all, which I really do not like. So finally I got around to hanging a couple of old maps, one of Prague (I got it free in a shop years ago) and one of the world (I had a much bigger version back in Puerto Rico but was unable to transport it, and to my annoyance posters are a lot more expensive here for some reason).</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MINEEkWfL965NS5rQ9Dd0lMY7gB82XHN1werESf72hTW00tfVjogUqSok8LcNdpGWC0EQoxebparNjwQjva5NdWSWrn4_qoCljbgsIrTBor2lL4Jwu9EgRibVuCHyNkZJqfujrYGCvE3ZBkNghwnCJqTaGXOG-4feplL4p4ION9WhSISVQMNV9IL/s2312/IMG20220515114114.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MINEEkWfL965NS5rQ9Dd0lMY7gB82XHN1werESf72hTW00tfVjogUqSok8LcNdpGWC0EQoxebparNjwQjva5NdWSWrn4_qoCljbgsIrTBor2lL4Jwu9EgRibVuCHyNkZJqfujrYGCvE3ZBkNghwnCJqTaGXOG-4feplL4p4ION9WhSISVQMNV9IL/w640-h288/IMG20220515114114.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqEBtVSdfU6rNv26Bz8Oqk3AG3cfvJTgj05cBH--rjO-LJBLlhhuLYRtaSLcHaSg8QhShr3RsoqpS-MDyY7JMe5gH3BcpI0FJvVLyWMlSLPOYyxwxy8otBMHA0iCG_uu5Ws8affALrrTP_ubUviQr-hCp9ttC_QPvyuLMoeaZJBqsUpKBfgR-sZ6U/s2312/IMG20220515114105.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqEBtVSdfU6rNv26Bz8Oqk3AG3cfvJTgj05cBH--rjO-LJBLlhhuLYRtaSLcHaSg8QhShr3RsoqpS-MDyY7JMe5gH3BcpI0FJvVLyWMlSLPOYyxwxy8otBMHA0iCG_uu5Ws8affALrrTP_ubUviQr-hCp9ttC_QPvyuLMoeaZJBqsUpKBfgR-sZ6U/w640-h288/IMG20220515114105.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not at all easy to photograph because of the lighting and room size. They look a lot nicer in reality.<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div>These are okay, but as things progressed I began to find them inadequate. So now they're relegated to the mezzanine area*, where they're doing a decent job of making the walls look better than if they were blank.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* We actually have a large and very comfortable flat, but it doesn't really make ideal use of the space - hence my tiny office room.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>All maps are hung with plastic <a href="https://www.rafoshop.cz/nasuvne-listy-na-plakaty-91-5cm-2ks-cerne?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrfPk4vHg9wIVjtrVCh3yDwezEAQYASABEgIxffD_BwE">poster hangers</a>, which are a great alternative to traditional frames - those are vastly more expensive, non-transportable, and size-restricted. I'd have preferred something more wooden, but finding the right size is tricky. I should add a fourth constraint that everything for this project needs to be available in or ships affordably to the Czech Republic, which can be surprisingly difficult.</div><div><br /></div><div>After this prelude, the first real task was the sofa. This came with the flat and is fine in itself, but the cheap red IKEA throw I bought years ago now seemed less of a pleasantly inexpensive addition and more of a horribly garish detraction. What am I, a bullfighter ? I wanted something more astronomical, so after a good deal of searching I eventually found <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HT769JH/ref=pe_27063361_487055811_TE_3p_dp_1?th=1">this one</a>. I was willing to spend quite a bit more than for the bog-standard stuff, but something in me rebels very strongly against a throw costing much more than about £50*, so finding one that also reached the necessary size took some considerable searching.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* As a rule, I'm against expensive fabrics. I mean, it's a piece of <i>cloth</i>, for heaven's sake. It doesn't <i>do </i>anything except sit there waiting to be stolen by astro-pirates.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDhP_f_sVFX5VDHeTTKKqBXdGT-_TdrZzQ6C4MTtbckZR5T4mCZhJ7jrtYdX--uq8WKiy9QRDcFOufWWAK580GyK7DzxZDsYA2UEbQmhC8dtpEzGob0w0Ap46jn7GBJvBJrkdMbTfqXtXCqfs5EuvhpCdb5YzSHBU4mSym2MWvfW1Vx2GKeMpOz_Y/s1600/IMG20220515114729.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1600" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDhP_f_sVFX5VDHeTTKKqBXdGT-_TdrZzQ6C4MTtbckZR5T4mCZhJ7jrtYdX--uq8WKiy9QRDcFOufWWAK580GyK7DzxZDsYA2UEbQmhC8dtpEzGob0w0Ap46jn7GBJvBJrkdMbTfqXtXCqfs5EuvhpCdb5YzSHBU4mSym2MWvfW1Vx2GKeMpOz_Y/w640-h288/IMG20220515114729.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next (I think - the order might not be correct) came a globe - surely an essential part of any map room. I was quite tempted by a more fancy version, but in the end I settled on a very cheap brass/gold-effect <a href="https://www-4home-cz.translate.goog/zlaty-globus-o-pr.-20-cm-na-zlatem-podstavci/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkvTW_-zq9QIVg-R3Ch0FaQvBEAQYBCABEgLFJ_D_BwE&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=cs&_x_tr_pto=wapp">model</a> with an overall aesthetic that I like very much. It's amusingly inaccurate, claiming that Puerto Rico is part of the UK for some reason (it isn't and never was; our attempt at invasion resulted in 10,000 soldiers getting dysentery). It's also a bit wonky and the grid lines don't match up, but I like it very much anyway. It just looks nice, which is all I need it to do.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTTAYJHuJAIPRAb3Qk9SRO_iOJF5C3MmU6QSdpNjOC_n_XoWTUTIeuJ7fGyeuGyoNSyDuA9ilNA1_PcExRvsX1Sy4epNVzlHyZpmP0C5VEihm56hVz29VBHyfxj2p3N2ZuQyCxc-JA4QdqKkGvUH0S_XIhsVfImuVkrZy-URkxToaHoEjED7qkJ_R/s2312/IMG20220515114921.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQTTAYJHuJAIPRAb3Qk9SRO_iOJF5C3MmU6QSdpNjOC_n_XoWTUTIeuJ7fGyeuGyoNSyDuA9ilNA1_PcExRvsX1Sy4epNVzlHyZpmP0C5VEihm56hVz29VBHyfxj2p3N2ZuQyCxc-JA4QdqKkGvUH0S_XIhsVfImuVkrZy-URkxToaHoEjED7qkJ_R/w288-h640/IMG20220515114921.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The miniature Stonehenge, oddly, sort of works.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I believe the next step was the rug. Again much searching in order to find one of the right design and size. While I hadn't initially planned on this blue and gold colour scheme, it was very important that everything be self-consistent. No longer would I tolerate a higgledy-piggledy mixture of styles, because the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty certainly wouldn't put up with such shenanigans. So I found <a href="https://www.livero.cz/kusove-koberce/koberec--tmave-modra-mix-barev-vzor--100x150--kendra-typ-1/?utm_source=favi&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=favi-koberce&utm_term=1b52415c-4180-47f1-b9a6-3534cfcfdd96">this one</a>, which I am thoroughly satisfied with. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSPx6Vvwz3ECujzIu9rRgB9gYnmaaf8slJ22rCQ6wXNwFqd6dD4KlAF3ANmQl5hb7cs5V7W9G5BTj8CJBrfzSRt3iZ7lEgAahn4VXyEpIAgVKzoiZKoP33dt3CDs6FSMOwGgqSpQ_5wlx23R2Nr-d-c3bGOSTVFghrbMcOri4pUcGU8KAtR9yxhFU/s1156/IMG20220515115032.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="520" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSPx6Vvwz3ECujzIu9rRgB9gYnmaaf8slJ22rCQ6wXNwFqd6dD4KlAF3ANmQl5hb7cs5V7W9G5BTj8CJBrfzSRt3iZ7lEgAahn4VXyEpIAgVKzoiZKoP33dt3CDs6FSMOwGgqSpQ_5wlx23R2Nr-d-c3bGOSTVFghrbMcOri4pUcGU8KAtR9yxhFU/w288-h640/IMG20220515115032.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Now </i>we're getting somewhere. Next, I think, came more accessories. In my protracted searching I came across armillary spheres, which you often see large versions in country gardens. This led me to the wonderful <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=armillary&ref=auto-1&as_prefix=armillary">Etsy site</a>, which is a great place for inspiration if nothing else. It's got tonnes of armillary spheres and similar products, but suffers from not all stores taking ordinary payment methods - some only do Pay Pal, which is extremely irritating. Eventually I found one for an acceptable price on ordinary old Amazon.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NLf7PsUtwoXLDf4fHnX3rVDKft6Hycdgbub8FrRRJDqCwll5N87II0Un4oA3AxEEVmUARdQ8u1xf6GHING-thxX0EyaySv_nCsjaSe4m7t9f8HeXUat5zluE88A_o1LXYJNzVDDujh9kLRFnIQ1pr0q_6xCVK2yegcVnWqS24WpSd0d3zg_kB2-f/s2312/IMG20220515115055.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NLf7PsUtwoXLDf4fHnX3rVDKft6Hycdgbub8FrRRJDqCwll5N87II0Un4oA3AxEEVmUARdQ8u1xf6GHING-thxX0EyaySv_nCsjaSe4m7t9f8HeXUat5zluE88A_o1LXYJNzVDDujh9kLRFnIQ1pr0q_6xCVK2yegcVnWqS24WpSd0d3zg_kB2-f/w640-h288/IMG20220515115055.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>The armillary sphere is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaWuJHQL-bQ&ab_channel=HistoryofScienceMuseum">simple way</a> of tracking the positions of the stars throughout the year. The elaborate brass construction is exactly what I'm going for, although the size was disappointing. I spent a long time searching for an affordable option which would closely match the globe in size, so they'd pair nicely as earth and sky. But this one is considerably smaller than advertised. Later, as you can see, I purchased a second, more expensive model, but to my great irritation this was exactly the same size. I left a negative review of the seller on Amazon and used them as a flanking pair to the globe instead. Not exactly what I wanted, but it does the job. Plus I get to make endless jokes about how my big brass balls are too small, so there's that.</div><div><br /></div><div>Probably at this point I started replacing the maps. I wanted a more genuinely ancient appearance than the accurate vintage style poster I already had. At this point <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu_TAkfng9wIVEY9oCR3E1w6DEAAYASAAEgI7sPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds">Redbubble</a> entered my sphere of consciousness, and it must be said that this is a truly excellent - if somewhat expensive - site. Their choice of maps is <i>vast</i>, and you can get all the designs printed on a veritable plethora of different products. </div><div><br /></div><div>But in the end, finding posters of the right size, design and cost proved too difficult. Rebubble's main annoying limitation is you can't customise the size of the posters. I circumvented this by doing custom poster printing directly through a <a href="https://www.copygeneral.cz/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk4Hf5f7g9wIVZI9oCR1bag8GEAAYASAAEgJJT_D_BwE">local service</a>. This is rather cheaper than Redbubble for posters of the same size, and the print quality is excellent. Their "advertising posters" are apparently meant to be viewed from a large distance but honestly you could jam them in your eye and the resolution would still look great, apart from all the blood getting in the way. Plus them come on matte paper which looks an awful lot better than glossy photo prints. They get very unfairly low reviews on Google Maps - every time <i>I </i>used them, the service was excellent.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, after much searching I found two publicly available high-resolution scans of historical maps. One of these came about because I remembered a gorgeous image in a book I have : <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43723731-the-sky-atlas"><i>The Sky Atlas</i></a> by Edward Brooke-Hitching. If you like maps and space, then this is the book for you. My favourite image was the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Horoscope_from_the_book_of_the_birth_of_Iskandar_Wellcome_L0015229.jpg">horoscope of Iskandar Sultan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iskandar_(Timurid_dynasty)">grandson</a> of the should-be-much-more-notorious Tamerlane. Showing the planetary alignment at the time of his birth, it's a fabulously intricate and opulent piece of work, and looks great as a printed poster. It also matches perfectly with the colour scheme of the rug and throw.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUS9sO8MEtA1r0y7TarX6diHjK374O1YphcwlOZ_JtRLUieUrUivY_6a4kK9zryY6LY1UK4EEudUu99mYidcBSyO1AgUNAsdA3Pe5yGdNgUKAGYx9iBNucHJ0bqEng5Buo2lZLPjxh9EXhQvks5uLsXevSlmqLPuKRi6zcQ3TtJwcblhprtl5QXeGz/s1600/IMG20220515115143.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUS9sO8MEtA1r0y7TarX6diHjK374O1YphcwlOZ_JtRLUieUrUivY_6a4kK9zryY6LY1UK4EEudUu99mYidcBSyO1AgUNAsdA3Pe5yGdNgUKAGYx9iBNucHJ0bqEng5Buo2lZLPjxh9EXhQvks5uLsXevSlmqLPuKRi6zcQ3TtJwcblhprtl5QXeGz/w288-h640/IMG20220515115143.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Next a more conventional map for the opposing wall behind my monitor. For this I found a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henricus_Hondius_II#/media/File:Nova_totius_Terrarum_Orbis_geographica_ac_hydrographica_tabula_(Hendrik_Hondius)_balanced.jpg">1630 Dutch map</a> which was the first to be published in an atlas and one of the first to show Australia. I chose it entirely based on the design and colour scheme.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQH1hKDwx4N70t0nhKzuVu7BZYSHolyW5K8AHhFF_k9anMSL028PUSfcvaCQkPKnpRWa7GO6EE8NjONMwbHz-pkeFc20YkDW1EOVUPFwxvDmEu3_tg3VB4PyLwLNUvt-4daDxdJ8m4vkk-RikuJLTy_jUF4s7P7M4T8Bojx89EJKNnMCZ2chEQsjo/s2312/IMG20220515115200.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQH1hKDwx4N70t0nhKzuVu7BZYSHolyW5K8AHhFF_k9anMSL028PUSfcvaCQkPKnpRWa7GO6EE8NjONMwbHz-pkeFc20YkDW1EOVUPFwxvDmEu3_tg3VB4PyLwLNUvt-4daDxdJ8m4vkk-RikuJLTy_jUF4s7P7M4T8Bojx89EJKNnMCZ2chEQsjo/w640-h288/IMG20220515115200.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>It's interesting to see the evolution of styles in maps through the centuries. Medieval maps tend to be elaborate cartoons. Renaissance and Enlightenment era works are more informative but still gloriously rich works of art. Later pieces tend to reduce the purely decorative elements to a minimum, while the modern versions usually strive for accuracy above all else and use only the data itself to create anything you could call "art". Personally, it's the 17th-18th century styles I find most appealing, though I do like the later Victorian designs as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think at about this point it became necessary to do something about the IKEA tables. I considered replacing them, but the design I want is usually very <i>expensive </i>and they'd be difficult to transport when we eventually move. I did add two small sets of <a href="https://www.emako.cz/dozy-na-kavu-a-kavove-kapsle/nadoba-na-kavove-kapsle--bambus--2-zasuvky/">bamboo drawers</a>, which look nice enough and hold enough stuff to significantly reduce clutter, but for some reason a small set of darker drawers with brass handles proved nigh-on impossible to find.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLlIxVqhPtmhhT_omwwwN_p2qEVuqpdAZuB6f1Zbg_DjKCbRG6zr0hQYZ4WufBSYJg10KLDzn4zVvq06j1s1GOIzJ1IBrWM2HfjuAhUGkorQ68UoHX36-FjS3j0K1saxhJWzmXof-0Bb8rXTa4tRWACcaNutya4eDiYTP4AxHIc-QB4AKeYfkGOc9/s2312/IMG20220515115229.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLlIxVqhPtmhhT_omwwwN_p2qEVuqpdAZuB6f1Zbg_DjKCbRG6zr0hQYZ4WufBSYJg10KLDzn4zVvq06j1s1GOIzJ1IBrWM2HfjuAhUGkorQ68UoHX36-FjS3j0K1saxhJWzmXof-0Bb8rXTa4tRWACcaNutya4eDiYTP4AxHIc-QB4AKeYfkGOc9/w640-h288/IMG20220515115229.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>For the tables, Shirley had the bright idea to use <a href="https://www.alza.cz/EN/hobby/self-adhesive-film-dc-fix-3460388-d6497940.htm">contact paper</a>. This is much cheaper than getting a replacement and the results do look very convincing. Applying it is quite some hours of work for even a small table, however - it's quite a fiddly process, and at all stages you have to continually smooth out air bubbles. The final results are not perfect, but they are more than adequate for my needs. You really can't see the defects unless you go looking for them.</div><div><br /></div><div>We're almost at the end of the "look at all the lovely things I bought, aren't I a good capitalist" section. The penultimate step was to have some ornamentation for the side table. What I really wanted was a vintage style <a href="https://www.landerandmay.com/nicholas-bion-globe.html">constellation globe</a>, but for some reason affordable replicas of these just don't exist. The armillary sphere looked nice for a while, but when the big brass lamp I ordered eventually arrived, it just looked a bit sad and lonely, and I was in no mood for a third attempt at getting one of the correct size.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are three main items on my wish list for my ideal permanent office. One is a <a href="https://www.amazon.nl/-/en/dp/B08JH4W4YS/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=messing+astrolabe&qid=1652035849&sprefix=brass+astro%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-10">brass astrolabe</a>. Another is a drinks globe. The third is a working brass orrery. All of these are just too expensive, but my searching had revealed many wooden alternatives. I settled on <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGEARS-Mechanical-Tellurion-Puzzles-Educational/dp/B09QL46L2C?ref_=ast_sto_dp">this tellurion</a>, which is a type of orrery limited to the Sun, Earth and Moon. This sounds simply but actually to ensure accurate rotation periods the gearing system is quite complex, and this intricate appearance is something I'm very keen on. There are a number of versions of this available but this particular model sold itself by the size, design, and the fact that it's a Ukrainian company. How could <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R1FUEZ6Z2E0QGP/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B09QL46L2C">I</a> say no to that ?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxHj8MzKvvl20DunI4pp0rUx7Cw3R2KAB4vODMZ8337keE0c1BrxdM6tlhttH9Om6jEN6kd5jIdCU_-Zbe0KQnvt7Atc2ZB6prBc1NcDq_w3WoTSqpNkv7BDAD20jeeENwbmJGblyhgY34HyWwA0lhBMRi1bQpLs3EsxlY1E-G8VTThtrQEk8hN87/s2312/IMG20220515115343.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxHj8MzKvvl20DunI4pp0rUx7Cw3R2KAB4vODMZ8337keE0c1BrxdM6tlhttH9Om6jEN6kd5jIdCU_-Zbe0KQnvt7Atc2ZB6prBc1NcDq_w3WoTSqpNkv7BDAD20jeeENwbmJGblyhgY34HyWwA0lhBMRi1bQpLs3EsxlY1E-G8VTThtrQEk8hN87/w640-h288/IMG20220515115343.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, the old red cushions on the sofa were now looking just plain silly in contrast to the dark blue throw, and the galaxy conference towel and Welsh flag draped over the side rail (my office is on the mezzanine above the bedroom) just didn't just it. So for the finishing touches, the most expensive part of the process took me back to Redbubble. For this I ordered four cushion covers and two "tapestries". The cushions consist of two medieval world maps and two Sun/star mandala designs. The wall hangings are archaic maps of the northern and southern sky hemispheres, showing the constellations as mythical figures.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Et voila</i>, my miniature map room is almost complete.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjx7tLcTfPPbDZMjzeEaQdjQAXpJ_vdBh5_x3UOXVNquasLzG8KuLncBuQ36hBSw4mhRGV8kEW2YQ9GJ4ibbT07fvZG-Tuu-w6vtp1MXtYIqfsg-1eQ-R6JMrU9ndjvoviiHye0C1CJOo94-yc5SKSb5Po1sSFv50yeBeZrqlY0Cjht44P99HGdhM/s2312/IMG20220515115436.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="2312" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwjx7tLcTfPPbDZMjzeEaQdjQAXpJ_vdBh5_x3UOXVNquasLzG8KuLncBuQ36hBSw4mhRGV8kEW2YQ9GJ4ibbT07fvZG-Tuu-w6vtp1MXtYIqfsg-1eQ-R6JMrU9ndjvoviiHye0C1CJOo94-yc5SKSb5Po1sSFv50yeBeZrqlY0Cjht44P99HGdhM/w640-h288/IMG20220515115436.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>But not quite. With most other blank space now full of colour and pattern, the wall space next to the bookshelf (which you can't really see here) began to look increasingly empty and in need of filling. For this I decided I needed to really make the space feel like my own by making my own poster from scratch. </div><div><br /></div><div>As the area of the sky I've spent far the most time investigating, I chose the Virgo galaxy cluster. You may have seen some of my <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/visualising-virgo.html">efforts</a> on this <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/virgo-explorer.html">before</a>, but for this I needed something different. I needed a map that prioritised atheistic over information content, filled with purely decorative elements and prepared to sacrifice - if necessary - accuracy*. At the same time, I felt as much information as possible should be preserved and I would far rather simply omit information rather than doing anything as perverted as <i>altering </i>any.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* In the old-style depictions of modern information, I was heavily inspired by <a href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/EleanorLutz/shop">Eleanor Lutz</a>, although her stuff definitely doesn't compromise on accuracy. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>This is what I came up with - my attempt at how the Virgo Cluster would have been depicted in the 18th century :</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs7ilYGxW8N0_TPwPXPv6XonyD1AE1Y7z63ZvEwfCbBtAmBAnl5IJDGTmJDYOYTzEkbBbUlG2s3pDnBKjKtDqc-LppvDxy_Sby7yuFsllX51tr1IQb5tTzd8fCf8U891N75UbGAd-sxBNa74IE7N9LPteFSczGj1SkbpMiCCkeMXCw9NswnNU5GoX/s2312/IMG20220515115500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2312" data-original-width="1040" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs7ilYGxW8N0_TPwPXPv6XonyD1AE1Y7z63ZvEwfCbBtAmBAnl5IJDGTmJDYOYTzEkbBbUlG2s3pDnBKjKtDqc-LppvDxy_Sby7yuFsllX51tr1IQb5tTzd8fCf8U891N75UbGAd-sxBNa74IE7N9LPteFSczGj1SkbpMiCCkeMXCw9NswnNU5GoX/w288-h640/IMG20220515115500.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A clearer view of the image itself can been seen <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/uploads/images/d549acb430f204a08bbe.jpg">here</a>. Fun to do as a one-off but it would be hell if regular publication figures were expected to conform to this sort of styling...</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>I made it using a customised version of my data visualisation tool <a href="http://www.rhysy.net/frelled-1.html">FRELLED</a>, which I spent a lot of lockdown time recoding. Making this map actually helped me to finally realise that sky axes on scales this large need to be curved, though this still needs to be properly implemented into the main code. I customised FRELLED so I could import each component on separate layers, which was essential when combining and managing so many different elements.</div><div><br /></div><div>The map shows pretty much all the known galaxies in the <a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1985AJ.....90.1681B/abstract">Virgo Cluster Catalogue</a>, except for a few which had to be hidden by the text. Major structures within the cluster are labelled, following <a href="https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2014/10/aa24419-14/aa24419-14.html">Boselli et al. 2014</a>. I deliberately avoided drawing boundaries between the different structures, however, because it really isn't possible to define these very precisely. I also added X-ray contours from the ROSAT X-ray satellite (a file I was fortunate to have from many years back, as this is very difficult to find), which is a crucial component of the cluster as it's widely believed to have a dominating influence on galaxy evolution. And then around the sides we have the Virgo figure herself, a key explaining the different galaxies plotted, the location of the cluster in the larger constellation, and scales to indicate the size at the different distances of cluster sub-structures. I kept this in the conventional unit of Mpc, not light years, because this is a map for <i>me </i>and not for public outreach. Note also the compass indicates that east and west are reversed, as is astronomical convention.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was nothing particularly complicated about making the map - it was largely just a matter of iterations. By far the most time-consuming part of this was labelling all the galaxies. There are several thousand of the little buggers, and as new components were added, these labels had to be moved and resized several times. This part wasn't fun, but it's very satisfying that just about every galaxy label is visible and legible.</div><div><br /></div><div>For the rest, I thought about adding stuff about the dark hydrogen clouds I study, but I decided this would be too technical*. Similarly, I could have added boundaries of other surveys besides the VCC, or added different selections of the galaxies from multi-wavelength catalogues. This too would have resulted in an overly-complicated appearance. I kept it simple : optically selected galaxies from the three major catalogues of the area**, with the figures of the major observes shown in little portraits : Charles Messier (who catalogued fuzzy blobs for the explicit purpose of not being confused with comets, note the decoration above his frame), John Dyer (who compiled the New General Catalogue, though I think there's a typo and he should actually be <i>Dreyer</i>), and Bruno Bingelli (who produced the indispensable Virgo Cluster Catalogue, a true bible for Virgo studies). </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Someday I would love to have a true atlas of the cluster, showing the distribution of different structures - different galaxy types, redshifts, wavelengths, in all the various parts of the cluster. A man can dream...<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Which range in time from the 18th century to the present day. This means that giving the galaxies symbols which are sized based on which catalogue they were first recorded in is a reasonable proxy for their true size and brightness, since the earliest catalogues could only detect the biggest, brightest galaxies.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>As to the purely decorative elements, most of these are, ummm, <i>acquired </i>from the internet. This being a case of something which is only ever going on my wall, I didn't pay much attention to where I got the clipart from (hence this one will never be made available at full resolution, let alone for sale). My major contribution to this was the swirly pattern found within parts of the purple bordering, especially around the portraits - this is so intricate that even on the final gigantic 12k x 8k resolution print, the finest details are unresolved. Which was probably overkill but never mind.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So that's the saga of my mini map room. It's basically complete now, except for the need to apply contact paper to the big black bookshelf and some minor odds and ends. It may not be my dream study, but it's a heck of a lot closer than the the IKEA standard I had before. And all for less than the price of an Oculus Quest - not a bad spring project, and it finally got me doing artwork again. Hooray !</div><p></p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-36901344571413527162022-03-28T01:25:00.001-04:002022-03-28T02:11:08.930-04:00The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul<p>Following on from my previous post, I've been keeping a diary of events to try and help my mental health. This has generally been very helpful. As the war enters its second month, I'm in a vastly better place than I was a few weeks ago. My fears about imminent nuclear brinkmanship have come to nothing. While I would hardly say everything is tickety-boo, I'm more convinced than ever (at a deep, gut level) that WWIII is at worst a remote possibility. I'm not having more than the occasional brief moment of worry any more. Most of the time, I can go about my day as normal.</p><p>So let's take a look back at the month. At the end I'll try and summarise my thinking and what's helped keep me calm. Most of this is taken directly from my notes, lightly edited. Remarks added later are in square brackets.</p><p style="text-align: center;">******</p><p><b>Day 8 </b>of the invasion and day 4 after Putin's nuclear remarks, and I'd largely succeeded in talking myself down into a state of lower-level dread. Pretty much all intelligence experts agree that this was not a specific threat or indicative of intent. Thinking it over, nuclear weapons are only ever a deterrent. There is absolutely no point in a "surprise" launch (which is basically impossible) because the attacker would themselves be destroyed. So you use them to threaten people, making them think you're mad and bad enough to actually do it. Which means you issue ultimatums - if you don't, you're wasting your strongest message. So for the Kremlin to say the remarks were in response to comments about fighting NATO troops [and - for heaven's sake, Liz Truss (!)] means nothing much at all, really - it is status quo that a Russia/NATO war risks becoming a nuclear conflict. All Putin did was send a signal to reinforce that; and again, intelligence experts say there's been no actual changes on the ground whatsoever. Moreover, if Russia actually <i>wanted </i>WWIII, it would already have started it. Far more likely, Putin wants Ukraine as a symbol of strength and achievement. This message is "keep out NATO", not, "I want to watch the world burn".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Still, I had quite a moment of anxiety at lunchtime after (somewhat ironically) the Russian foreign secretary said they weren't contemplating WWIII but that the Americans were. Now, this has already been completely buried in the BBC's live feed and few other networks have deemed it important enough to make anything out of. It rattled me because it felt a bit... pretexty. But again, unless a specific demand is attached to it, it could mean anything. This is the same guy who conceded that Russia would acknowledge Zelensky as the President of Ukraine, so very mixed messages there. He might be a windbag. He might be a genuine nutter. Or he might be trying to remain scary while making diplomatic concessions. I don't know nearly enough to judge.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[Worth remembering also that plenty of Western politicians use high-handed rhetoric and hyperbole.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Going for walks does help, as does reducing how often I check the live feed. Going to the office was a mixed bag : we had a horrible lunchtime discussion on Tuesday, but when asked if people thought it was really going to happen, the responses were "No" and "almost non-existent". I guess it's easy to have black humour when you don't really believe something is at all likely. The others are concerned, and depressed about the situation in Ukraine, but I don't think they're actually much worried about WWIII. If the Russians would kindly keep the nuclear rhetoric down for a few days, and NATO would kindly keep repeating that they won't get involved, then perhaps I can calm down a bit more.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[I will stress that this lunchtime discussion was truly awful. Afterwards I felt much like running into a hole again.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 12</b> of the invasion and day 8 after the nuclear remarks. I have good days and bad days. Needless to say, the morning when a nuclear power station was - briefly - on fire was a very bad day. One other morning I woke up at about 3am and spent the next two hours entirely consumed by an anxiety I've never previously experienced about <i>anything</i>. It was... not good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What's helping a lot is a very heavy news detox. I've removed the BBC News app from my phone (I tried keeping my phone in a cupboard at night, but it didn't really help much) and the hyperlink from my web browser. Although of course I can if I really want to still just go to the website, I don't. Part of the habitual news-checking is the physical action of clicking a specific button - the action of typing in the address, on the other hand, isn't a thing, and I'm not going to let it become one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A big part of the problem, I think, is that the live feed [the online text one which gives short stories and clips every few minutes or so] implicitly reports everything with the same level of seriousness. 24 hour <i>televised </i>news still at least has expert curation as to what's likely to be important, whereas the live web feed has no such filter. Everything reported is given the same priority, urgency, and credence, all of which is purely chronological. This I can manage just fine for other stories, but not this one - particularly as I'm just not familiar with Russian politics. So I've instead replaced my news with the very short hourly summaries on the radio and asking Shirley. This is sufficient to sate my curiosity and quell the desperate need to check for updates without feeding me excessive information. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And excessive information is another big factor in anxiety, I think - that morning I went off the rails into a dark hole of wild speculations, imagining all kinds of horrible things I <i>might </i>see popup on the news feed, none of which had any basis in reality. It was, as I say, not good. I've never got myself into such a state about any news story before, ever. Fortunately, eventually I went through so many permutations that my brain actually fizzled out and the rest of the day was much, much better.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Another part of the problem is that I tend to be very analytical... but I can't be <i>rationally </i>analytical at 3am, and it's very hard to quiet my mind when something stressful pops in. But, so far, the heavy news detox does seem to be helping tremendously. Again, when I do think things through calmly and clearly, I invariably come out feeling better. Is Putin horrible ? Yes. Is he stupid ? Morally yes, analytically it's more a mixed bag. Is he suicidal ? Very much no. Does he act from pure self-gratifying malevolence ? No, he's goal-oriented, it's just that those goals are lamentable. Is he deliberately <i>provoking </i>the west ? Again no - we haven't seen any build-up of troops near any other borders, nor - rather surprisingly - even any threats against trying to import weapons. I got fixated on the idea that NATO would consider a no-fly zone, but NATO aren't stupid or suicidal either, so this isn't going to happen [though to be honest it's only now that I'm feeling more or less completely assured on that front]. These are the major, large-scale facts, which the constant stream of smaller details are all too effective at washing away. The reality seems to me far more likely that both Putin and the West have one common, crucial aim : containment of the hideous situation to within Ukraine's borders. If he <i>really</i> thought he could challenge western power, he'd have made <i>far </i>more demands already than simply reinforcing the status quo. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Another quote has been running around my head that helps quite a lot :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Men are not as weak as he supposed; there is courage still, strength enough perhaps to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle-Earth uniting under one banner.</blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Perhaps it's the frequency of information coupled with a lack of priority which led me to a wholly irrational belief that there was going to be a seismic change in events at any moment. Technically, this <i>could </i>happen. It is entirely sensible to be concerned. But my anxiety was becoming outright debilitating, and this level of fear, I am increasingly persuaded, is just not called for. There is no need for this level of despair, and we're a very long way from that becoming the case. What's happening is awful, but we've endured far worse than this before.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 14</b>. Two steps forward, one step back. Decoupling from the news has helped a <i>lot</i>. Overall I'm doing very much better than I was, but I still have moments where I'm thrown right back into the pit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yesterday I mainly had a good day. I went for a long sunny walk and I tried again to consider the big picture facts : Russia has not mobilised any additional troops anywhere; the Belarussian forces haven't moved; it took at least a year of planning for this operation and months to assemble the army and it's going badly. Russia has deployed the entire assembled force and it's nowhere near enough for occupation [estimates I've seen as to the numbers required for occupation range from 500-800,000 troops]. While we shouldn't trust anything Russia says, that Putin says the demilitarisation is almost complete, and the Russian demands of Ukraine aren't ludicrous (reportedly dropping the requirement for demilitarisation, which makes sense if Putin says Russia has accomplished this anyway), the overall picture is one of an over-committed army that's looking for an exit strategy (note also the protests even in Siberia - this is not at all a popular war). Being a pathological bullshitter, Putin's way to save face is to simply declare victory and go home, preferably - though not necessarily - after having extracted at least some tangible concession from Ukraine. Perhaps we're looking at weeks until the end of the conflict rather than months ? I dare to hope, but it's only hope, not a prediction.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On the western front, America's firm rejection of the plan for them to deliver Poland's Mig-29's indicates that they are indeed very wary of triggering any larger conflict, even as they publicly state that Russia's nuclear threat is a bluff (and Russia clearly isn't in a position to wage a larger war, despite their claims to the contrary). This strongly indicates that neither side is seeking conflict and are even trying to de-escalate it : the west by maintaining arm's length; Russia by high rhetoric threats. The risk of a NATO-Russia war thus appears very low. We should take Russian threats seriously but not cower in fear : hold the line and the economic approach may very well work. It might not dethrone Putin, sadly, but it can halt, perhaps, the conflict.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(I'm aware that there might be an element of denial in all this, but right now this is all I've got.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yesterday here was an incident in Chernobyl being disconnected from the power supply. This made me feel a bit nervous, but nowhere near the pseudo-panic it would have triggered a few days ago. Nuclear experts quickly announced that there was little cause for immediate concern, which helped a good deal.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Having been able to cope with this, what really triggered me was a woefully misleading headline. I've deleted the BBC app and hyperlink, but I still check my Feedly periodically. This is generally safe as a way of getting very short summaries of what's going on, plus the news there is diluted by other non-political sources. But I happened to see it at an inopportune moment, which showed a breaking news headline from the Independent that Russia was considering using chemical weapons. It took me some time to calm down, and I had to get Shirley to summarise it for me : it turns out to be no more than speculation as to what might eventually happen, <i>not </i>an immediate or even very credible threat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[These moments really are absolutely debilitating. I go into a panic, not knowing where I want to be or what I want to do with myself. It is punch-in-the-gut incapacitating.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Right now I'm calm and stable again. To be on the safe side, I'm disconnecting from the news almost completely and relying exclusively on Shirley for summaries. For now, that's about all I can do.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 15 :</b> As we begin week 3 of the invasion, my mental health continues to be a case of two steps forward one step back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I took great comfort from the EU categorically rejecting any rapid accession of the Ukraine, especially Macron's statement that they shouldn't admit any country currently at war [this prospect at been gnawing away in the back of my mind for some time]. The West continues a very strong policy of refusing to even risk escalating the crisis. How Russia would react to suddenly finding themselves fighting in an EU country is far too big a risk to contemplate. I did expect the EU not to really consider any sort of instant-entry proposal, but this rejection is quite a bit firmer than that, which I'm glad of. I take further comfort in that my fears that we were days away from nuclear brinkmanship have been considerably undermined by the passage of time. I can't say they've been alleviated completely - I still do worry about that - but they have at least receded.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Today's issue is more of a mixed bag. The chemical weapons allegations have alas not gone away, with Russia accusing the US of helping the Ukraine develop such weapons. This does not feel as pretexty to me as it might have done a week or so ago, at least not in the same way... again because Russia is in absolutely no position to mount a further offensive against anyone. Rather, as Britain and America are saying (and for all the faults of Western intelligence in recent years, they seem to be very much on the money lately concerning Russia), it's more likely that this is intended as a justification for Russia to take further action only within Ukraine. It could be them using chemical weapons themselves (but even in this most extreme case, even Zelensky has said that in this case Russia could only face "further sanctions") or just an increase in the intensity of the offensive. Russia could then claim a victory over America without any need to escalate the crisis beyond the Ukrainian border (why blame the Americans at all ? Probably because absolutely nobody would believe the Ukrainians would have such capability by themselves - that would be a claim too far even for Russian propoganda). It's trying, very badly, to rally support for Russia, which is simply not going to work. Whether it's actually planning to use chemical weapons I don't know, but it's now more reassuring that Western officials already made such a speculative announcement before the Russians did - in the past, pre-empting their false flag operations does seem to have been successful. And if Russia doesn't use them or mount a stronger offensive, it can then claim a propaganda victory : look, we said we weren't planning anything, and we didn't. No-one will believe them, but that doesn't matter much.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The real problem for me is that Russia is such a pathological liar. They threatened the West with instant destruction pending any interference, which simply hasn't happened. They've had limited success with setting up humanitarian corridors. They said they weren't going to invade but then they did. On the other hand they've insisted it's not an occupation, and it probably isn't because it's much too small. So fathoming Russia's goal is mind-wrenchingly torturous. This unpredictability makes the ongoing crisis difficult to handle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Still, today I don't feel half as bad as I would have done even a few days ago. I feel tense, concerned, but not panicky and not wanting to crawl into a hole. I continue a heavy news detox, and remind myself that there has been an issue-of-the-day practically every day so far. But I am more confident now that Russia's bullshit is not aimed at some grand reconquest of the Soviet Empire (at least not in the immediate future), but rather some piss-poor effort to paint themselves as the victims, to justify what they're doing but not to actively seek a suicidal conflict with the formidable might of the west. They are playing mind games, actively seeking to make themselves unpredictable. But actually soliciting conflict beyond the Ukraine - it doesn't seem so. They want to appear as scary yet victims, a powerfully effective source of confusion in the short-term. Of course, in the long term this is a terrible strategy, because no-one will trust them at the negotiating table.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Thinking it over some more, if the Russians were really angling for an excuse to challenge the west, then according to their own standards of rhetoric they have more than enough justification already. "Don't interfere or we'll instantly wipe out the world", they said. The west openly supplies the Ukrainians with weapons and Russia does nothing. Russia responds to economic sanctions only with counter-sanctions. Far more likely, then, this business of the chemical weapons is all about Russian pathetically trying to justify whatever horrible action it's planning in Ukraine, not a challenge to America itself.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Still, I must be braced for Russia continuing to do horrible things in Ukraine, and for the situation there to remain turbulent. This is a reality I must learn to accept for the foreseeable future.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 18 :</b> Continued cautious optimism. No further threats from Russia against the West, Biden reaffirms no military intervention, military convoy remains stalled, Russia doing very badly in Ukraine (no additional troops mobilised, no action from Belarusian forces), peace talks are apparently making progress (!) according to Ukrainian, US and Russian sources (!! - consensus here worth remembering in the midst of the rhetoric and shelling). Humanitarian situations continues to be appalling. US says Russia has asked China for military assistance, but China completely denies this and says it's trying to foster talks and respects the sovereignty of Ukraine. It seems very difficult to believe that China would militarily support Russia, it just does not fit any pattern - there is far more for them to gain by acting as peacemakers here than belligerents (there was a BBC article a couple of weeks ago about why Russia can't expect much from China despite their professed support, but I can't find it now). Chinese support for Russia largely appears to be superficial. I do not get the impression of China being as duplicitous as Russia when it comes to saying one thing and doing another (at least internationally, I think they want to be seen to respect treaties and diplomatic norms - they have after all publicly supported Russia many times, for them not to do so here is surely telling); I think they have a much more genuine desire to be seen as doing the right thing even if they don't actually want to do it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Chemical weapons thing has faded into the background, could all just be bullshit. Power restored at Chernobyl. Again, remember "issue of the day" changes constantly. Note also that Chinese thing is not even the top headline, or even on the radio news at all. Could be entirely bullshit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So long as China continues to play a neutral/peacemaker role, I'm less anxious of any imminent threat of WWIII. I cannot see China making a sudden, radical shift - that does not fit their pattern at all. It feels just credible enough to warrant concern, but not so likely as to necessitate worry. Worst case : China might send Russia a fig leaf of military equipment and/or limited ways to mitigate the economic sanctions. Best case : China condemns Russian action and doubles down on trying to facilitate peace talks. Most likely ? They remain neutral but intensify calls for peace, being one of the few countries in a position to bring Russia back into the fold. China is nowhere near ready for a larger conflict, and that Russia is so desperate to ask them for support would seem to make them look weak in the eyes of the Chinese.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Basically :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Pre-invasion, China sides with Russia on many issues that the rest of the world disagrees with</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- China goes neutral when Russia invades Ukraine</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- China says it respects sovereignty, wants to foster talks, and calls the invasion a war : this is a hair's breadth from condemning Russia</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- China denies Russia has even asked for assistance</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- China then decides to send Russia weapons ? This would just not make sense. The Chinese seem to be quite open and consistent when they do support Russia, it would be a major change if they flipped into bullshitting here. Remaining at arm's length, stopping short of condemning but not providing any significant, tangible assistance seems more likely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I had really hoped that the chemical weapons thing might have been part of an exit strategy : look, we stopped these horrible weapons, Ukraine is demilitarised, we can go home now. Looks more likely now that it's part of a justification for the war instead... but this doesn't mean Russia isn't still seeking an exit strategy, given their reported very high losses and progress in the peace talks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A couple of points of Russian consistency throughout their bullshit : they say it's not an invasion and they're not going to occupy. They can therefore, when they choose, deem the country to be adequately "demilitarised" and "de-nazified" whenever they so wish and leave, at least the north-west of Ukraine. The "de-nazi" thing is strange, but given that there are no Nazis in Ukraine, this enables them to leave whenever these imaginary threats have been neutralised. They might just have used the phrase because everyone hates the Nazis, but it could also be a get-out clause because no objective, measurable action is required to declare the place free of Nazis that never existed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Another thing : Russia hasn't advanced any additional troops, neither has Belarus. Both are clearly willing (morally and politically), so the most likely explanation is that they're unable. For whatever reason, further troops are not possible [in the case of Belarus, probably because the departure of the army would mean the fall of the government; there are various rumours about Russia, including one claim that about 85% of their combat-capable troops are in Ukraine, meaning they just don't have anything else to send]. Other sources have been mooted and thus far rejected. The Kiev convoy has stalled. Russian losses may not be as high as Ukraine claims but they're clearly higher than Russia planned or expected, and their speed of advance is far worse than anticipated. Simultaneously, peace talks are are agreed by all sides to be making progress and the war remains hugely unpopular in Russia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Overall : failed military strategy for an unpopular war with increasingly promising diplomatic efforts. The words "exit strategy" seem to loom large, barring the more apocalyptic rhetoric. Yet Chinese support seems almost a bizarre idea. While we cannot rule out an escalation of the conflict, this is desired by no-one. If Russia could find a military solution it surely would use it, but that even Putin is willing to say the talks are going well suggests that a diplomatic solution may yet prevail. Of course, even in the best case Ukraine will be rebuilding for years, and this won't solve the fundamental problem. But the immediate crisis, at least, might pass. Nothing, however, can yet be taken for granted - the situation is as yet too unstable and unclear, and remains perilously unpredictable.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 20 :</b> the words "exit strategy" grow louder and louder. Zelensky seems willing to bend on the NATO issue while Russia is no longer demanding surrender/demilitarisation. Russia left itself an important get-out clause by never claiming it wanted to occupy Ukraine. Continued lack of threats against the west (though Poland was worried about stray missiles, that seems to have been another issue-of-the-day) and only petty sanctions as any form of response from Russia. Ukrainians stepping up their counter-offensive, and some now expect the war could be over in weeks, and even the Russian foreign minister (he of "America is planning a nuclear attack" nonsense) says a compromise can be reached ! Another Russian general reported killed, and a test pilot awarded "Hero of Russia" status comes out against the war, together with a Russian former deputy PM.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Zelensky continues to call for a no-fly zone, which still makes me anxious, but less so than before because it's been rejected so many times - he basically asks for this daily and everyone says, "hell no". I saw a social media story claiming that the Chinese have "responded positively" to Russian requests for military equipment, and this too triggered some minor anxiety - it was a day or so old and hasn't been picked up by any major sources, so is unlikely to be true, or if true then not very significant. Military equipment is a very long way from direct involvement (as per the western countries continuing to supply arms), and "responded positively" could mean anything.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So far the Issue Of The Day has been :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Russia planning to nuke the West</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Ukrainian calls for a no-fly zone, i.e. NATO declaring war on Russia</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- A fire close to a nuclear reactor</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Chernobyl losing power</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Poland trying to send MiGs to Ukraine</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- The possibility of Ukraine being instantly admitted to the EU</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Missiles straying into Poland</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Claims that Russia is planning to use chemical weapons</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Claims that China could provide assistance</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So far, none of these have actually been significant. This does not mean there isn't a real risk - there is. But news media tends by its nature to exaggerate the significance of each development, and/or the probability that it will lead to something more serious. There is also disinformation from the West, of course, despite not having any direct military involvement.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Big picture : unless the Russians manage to procure significant supplies, they are stuck. There does seem a real chance for a diplomatic solution in a matter of weeks. It all depends on whether the Chinese are willing to provide significant levels of aid or not. They might well send some token assistance, but whether they would be able/willing to provide enough for Russia to get back on track with its military solution seems much less likely. They could also simply be trying to remain in Russia's good books and not actually send much of anything, or drag their heels.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Thinking it over, the story may not add any data at all. The Chinese claim the request itself didn't even happen. This may still be US intelligence again aiming to pre-empt anything.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Are we playing Disaster Bingo ? Yes, somewhat... but we're probably NOT playing Apocalypse Bingo. Probably.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have to acknowledge that the Chinese thing has got me a bit rattled though. Whereas before I was absolutely normal, now I'm a bit on-edge again. But nothing remotely like panic. I guess I should still stay off social media for a bit and continue to avoid the news - we're not out of the woods yet and I'm not in a fit enough state to properly handle it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 21 :</b> There being no further mention of China, that seems to have been yet another Issue Of The Day. Putin has said some nasty things about traitors, but seems much angrier at his own lot than the west - again no threats or warnings issued (no further mentions of the N-word, touch wood !!!), only statement that Russia will survive the sanctions. This suggests that the war is going very badly indeed, especially since he says it's going well. On the negotiation front, there appears to be a further compromise that discussion of the status of the breakaway regions could be left out. Diplomacy seems ever-more hopeful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">With things going in such an upward direction (in terms of avoiding WWIII), it's harder to resist the temptation to check the news. However, it's still a mistake to check Feedly, with the Pope warning against the dangers of nuclear war - that's not something I can handle yet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">... I fell for the mistake and saw a silly scare story in the Mirror, saying Putin was watching Britain's "terrible error". This was woefully misleading. The quote was not from Putin at all, but a UK army officer saying it was our "terrible error" to cut defence spending. There is nothing of substance here at all, so once again, checking Feedly - at least too often - is a huge mistake ! Still, reading it and realising it wasn't anything like what I feared did calm me back down pretty quickly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 25 :</b> Generally I've been okay lately. The war appears to have reached an impasse. No further progress from Russian troops, which is good, but peace talks have stalled as well. This is disappointing, but not unexpected - I was not so hopelessly optimistic as to expect a smooth process, which was just never going to happen. Nothing further on chemical weapons or China either. I've had a few moments, but nothing like previous incidents. Again, more Issues-Of-The-Day :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- A stupid story in the Mirror about Britain doing routine movement of its nuclear warheads, which is absolutely nothing abnormal except for the circumstances. But honestly, given that our missiles are all on submarines, this makes zero difference [I deleted the Mirror and the Metro from my Feedly, as both of these are too sensationalist]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Johnson wanting to advance the Ukraine's interests at an upcoming NATO summit. Again means nothing, no hint of anything beyond sanctions/sending equipment</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Russia using two hypersonic missiles. That they haven't used more [a week later, still nothing else] strongly suggests they can't - either they're slow to deploy or they just don't have very many of them [or they don't work as well as claimed]. Given their obvious advantages, it makes no sense for Russia to hold back unless they have a very good reason indeed, i.e. for whatever reason they CAN'T use them, just as they <i>can't </i>mobilise more troops. So this is a [probably] real but very much long-term problem, not a short-term reason to panic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- A silly statement about Biden (note : from an advisor, NOT Biden himself) supporting allies if they decided to send troops. This is frankly ridiculous, and not picked up by any major sources, because it's nothing more than a sentiment of support. The chance of sending in troops, given that a no-fly zone has been so often ruled out, is practically nil. The US has, much more broadly, ruled out military intervention itself, not just the specifics of troops and aircraft. So this really just reinforces Article 5. There is no way the US will send troops, and no way anyone else would be stupid enough to unilaterally send troops without a coherent plan of attack including the US and allies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- The fact that there IS an upcoming NATO summit. This too means very little - of course there will be, given the circumstances, but there seems no reason at all for NATO to take any more direct action right now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- The Russian ultimatum to Mariupol. I feared they might be threatening some more drastic action, but in fact it now seems it "only" means they close the humanitarian corridors, hoping to starve them out. That the Ukrainian troops don't feel the need to surrender is encouraging; given all the warnings they had, they ought to be well-provisioned for a siege. Russia might perhaps be running out of options altogether, especially given an apparent decline in their number of airstrikes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[At this point we went on a week long holiday to Germany, March 18th-26 or day 22-30] </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 26 :</b> I do feel safer here, about 60 miles from the nearest major city. We're really in the middle of nowhere. I wish we could stay until the situation really cools down... There are hardly any Ukrainian flags in Germany. [Unlike Prague, where they are everywhere. This is encouraging as a symbol of unity, but as a constant reminder of the situation it's not good for anxiety.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We finally booked our big trip to the UK for June/July, which is something to look forward to. But my mental state is still tied closely to the situation in Ukraine.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The conclusion remains that the vast majority of stories in the media are only marginally significant and sensationalism is a massive problem. I am aware of this, but only consciously. Subconsciously I'm still dealing with all stories having real significance, though I am able to calm myself down very much more rapidly now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Better news : apparently Turkey says the talks are very close to an agreement, which is much more encouraging. Poland still wants a no-fly zone, but given that they wouldn't even send a few MiGs to the Ukrainians by themselves, and America really, REALLY doesn't want this, this just isn't going to happen. So perhaps things are still looking positive after all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Rhetoric-wise it makes sense to say, "if our allies initiate anything we will back them." Publicly you more or less have to say this, because you're allies. But it doesn't actually indicate anything significant at all. Behind the scenes, you can tell them, "no, don't do this". You can also make the public statements with some confidence if you know your allies don't actually intend to initiate anything - this has the added benefit of keeping all options open and remaining unpredictable to adversaries.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Reassuringly, NATO decides by unanimous decisions, NOT by voting. So military intervention by NATO is therefore enormously unlikely unless Russia initiates an attack itself. Note also the US saying about Poland's jet plan that that would be a matter for the whole NATO alliance - again, not going to happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">(A bit more worrying : why does Poland even want to consider western aggression ? It doesn't really matter, since they clearly don't want to initiate anything themselves, but it's still strange. Perhaps they're nervous of Russian intent but believe they will ultimately back down in the face of the overwhelming force NATO could bring to bear. But again, since they're not even willing to send a handful of jets by themselves, this strongly suggests they're aware that their reach exceeds their grasp. Hell, if I were certain - really, absolutely certain - that Russia would back down, I'd be advocating for a no-fly zone too. But I'm nowhere near confident enough to take that risk, and nor, it seems, is Poland when push comes to shove.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 26 :</b> Read an article in the Atlantic yesterday stating the Ukrainians are, very clearly, winning. At least militarily at any rate, obviously not in terms of humanitarian concerns. Russian losses are unsustainable, Ukrainian military losses aren't. Russia hasn't been unable to marshal more forces OR supplies. The only thing western analysts seem to have gotten significantly wrong is in over-estimating Russia's capabilities : they have not, as everyone expected, been able to adapt to delays or learn from their mistakes. Today, Ukraine estimates Russia has three days worth of supplies left. All the west has to do is hold its nerve a little longer - keep giving supplies, hold off on anything direct - and this *may* all soon be over.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[I did not really expect it to be over that quickly, though just as I can't entirely avoid doom-mongering, I also can't completely avoid wild speculations about a positive outcome either.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Zelensky suggests Ukraine could hold a referendum to commit to not joining NATO. There have been lots of hints that Ukraine was moving in this direction but this is by far the strongest move yet. It is something of a fig leaf to Russia, meeting one of its key demands but without actually changing the status quo in any way, as Ukraine was widely agreed to be years away from joining anyway. This is potentially a major breakthrough, but we'll have to see what the Russians say.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Biden warned about chemical or biological weapons again according to radio headlines. :( Not mentioned in any news feeds yet. Triggers a lot of anxiety again...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I hope this is just another attempt to pre-empt anything, to deter Russia from taking rash action. The other signs all seem to point to a Russian exit strategy : their military failures, their many get-out clauses, the diplomatic progress all point in the same direction. Russia could leave soon and claim their objectives have been achieved. What would a chemical weapons attack gain them except more hatred of the Ukrainians and everything else ??? Yet Russia is not sensible - the sensible thing to do would have been not to invade Ukraine, so a chemical attack fits the narrative of Putin being desperate - desperate for victory in order to cling on to power.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Need to hear headlines from Scala at 12pm to see if they pick this up as well !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Is Biden warning in case NATO would decide to implement a no-fly zone ??? This seems unlikely, since this was ruled out in the previous occasion of a chemical weapon attack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Feeling tense again, a little shaky, hard to concentrate. Still nothing in other news headlines.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Metadata important ! Something picked up by a single news feed tends to be less important. Note more pessimistic tone of Classic FM news compared to Scala. Scale reported Zelensky statement as important diplomatic concession, Classic FM concentrated on the need for Russia to provide security guarantees for the deal to go ahead.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It's hard to stop the wild speculations from running amok. I even think that Classic FM is playing patriotic music as a prelude to something ! Which is ridiculous.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">NOT picked up by Scala, suggesting this is just pure rhetoric. Still nothing on other news feeds either. Likely not significant at all - more of a general warning than about specific intelligence. Shirley also confirms not a specific intelligence warning. Phew !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Ukraine believes the war is almost over ("on the brink of surviving [the invasion]" - an unusual phrase :)). If they really do have only a few days of supplies left... also a <a href="https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/2c8748908bfb013a26b6448a5b29e257">twitter feed</a> suggesting that Russians ultimatum on Mariupol was because they really don't want to send in troops, because they'd lose. Have already destroyed most of the city so long-range bombardment just doesn't work. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">All we need to do is stay the course ! Hold on a few more days without doing anything rash ! Which, since Zelensky says they can win, should be easier now than ever... FINGERS FUCKING CROSSED.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Article in the Independent says the war threatens to drag on indefinitely. But this goes much against the grain. That Russian forces aren't advancing doesn't mean they can maintain their position indefinitely. Lacking supplies, no-one can hold out forever. If Russia continues to be unable to resupply its troops, they will eventually (perhaps in short order) be compelled to surrender or be destroyed in a Ukrainian counter-attack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 28 :</b> Day of the NATO summit. A scare story this morning that the Russian deputy ambassador to the UN says Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons if provoked by NATO. Obviously, this made me tense and anxious, but within a few minutes the feeling had passed completely. I'm in a <i>far </i>better state than I was before, at least while I'm here in the middle of nowhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Thing is, crucially, what was previously unpredictable and unprovoked has now become a clear pattern. Russia keeps the nuclear thing very quiet unless NATO ever becomes involved - any hint of NATO doing anything direct and they try and look scary again. This particular incident is a rather junior figure (relatively speaking), not a high-ranking Kremlin official, and the story was only picked up by Sky News (mentioned on Scala in passing). The others, even those covering the NATO summit, don't mention it, so again metadata suggests insignificance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Note that Russian warnings remain vague. They occur in relation to specific events (NATO involvement), but stop far short of stating what counts as "provocation". There is no ultimatum. No mention of NATO supplying weapons. The sole exception to this has been Russia stating that a no-fly zone would be considered an act of war, but this was obvious anyway. The status quo remains unaltered.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">[Also, that they <i>are </i>prepared to state specifics when red lines might be crossed strongly suggests that they're not out to act retributively - they are trying to deter, not provoke.]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I'm generally feeling fine, but it's hard to resist the urge to check the news - ironically, because the lack of any focus on the nuclear issue is reassuring ! But checking always gives me a mild sense of dread.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Also worthy of note : Ukraine has indeed recaptured some areas, fought off yet more assaults on Kiev, and NATO (unofficially) estimates that Russian fatalities may indeed be as high as 15,000 - with casualties more generally reckoned from 30-40,000. Also saw a graph of Russian equipment losses being massively and increasingly higher than Ukrainian losses, while the number of Russian airstrikes is on a downward trend. The big picture remains. Militarily, Russia is losing badly. And the first member of Putin's inner circle has quit !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The general pattern seems to be Russian incompetence at every level. Their disinformation campaign has failed utterly (except perhaps within Russia itself, but even there, it clearly hasn't been a stunning success). Their military strategy is shite (the Atlantic again : tanks are not the answer, light infantry can now deal with them effectively). Their economic strategy to avoid the sanctions (if they even have one) does not appear to be working either. I would propose that this incompetence is distinct from stupidity. Stupidity means doing something is innately harmful to oneself. Russia's goal of thumping Ukraine to avoid it joining NATO (or just to aggrandise Putin, doesn't really matter what the motivation is) could in principle work - it's that Russia's management of the details being utterly crap which is its undoing here, not the goal itself. The goal could work if, e.g. there was more support for Russia in Ukraine; Western countries were more disunited/incompetent themselves; the Ukrainians were less determined. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What exactly is Russia good at here ?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Intimidation, bullshit, and brute force. That's about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 29 : </b>Two steps forward, one step back. Yesterday Zelensky stopped calling for a no-fly zone, which is huge progress on alleviating that concern. Instead he wants aircraft and tanks, which also seems extremely unlikely. Most leaders say "no", Boris says, "very difficult logistically". Realistically it seems a non-starter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Ukraine has sunk a large Russian landing craft, and now pushed Russian forces back more than 20 miles away from Kiev.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hilariously, Russia wants to host Euro 2028 ! Which severely undermines claims they want to destroy the world... sometimes I think this is degenerating into a farce, were it not for the humanitarian catastrophe involved.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Chemical weapons is now by far the biggest concern since Biden said that would trigger "a response in kind". However, he stopped short of directly saying that would mean a military response, and qualified it that the nature of the response would depend on the attack. Still no evidence of credible specific threat, just a personality assessment given that Russia is now actually losing. Statement surely cannot be taken at literal face value since US would never use chemical weapons; by extension, it might not mean a military response at all. Other figures deliberately and explicitly ambiguous, saying "we have to keep Putin guessing". It might also be a case of giving him his own rhetorical medicine, i.e. a deterrent.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Otherwise NATO summit was a mere formality, simply committing to doing the things they'd already pledged informally. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Johnson not optimistic about peace, yet today there has been the first Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I still wake up imagining possible horrible news headlines, but it seems to be fading.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The most worrying thing is that the chemical weapons issue has not gone away, suggesting it is genuinely significant. So far lack of Russian response. I still wish Biden hadn't said this though, even if it is meant as a deterrent...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">No response from Russia so far but it belies belief that there won't be something, given how pre-emptively anti-NATO they've been throughout this whole affair. Most optimistic would be a denial of chemical weapons. Most pessimistic would be dialling up the nuclear rhetoric.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">NATO must be very confident indeed that Russia is bluffing but I don't think they should go this far !</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">STILL no Russian response except a re-televising of Putin saying the West is trying to cancel Russia, quoting J. K. Rowling. Righty-ho then. [Again, there are distinct elements of farce to all this. Russia misses a lot of opportunities to be scary...]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">From the relatively reliable rumour mill :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Ukraine killed another general. Russian brigade commander killed by own troops.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Russia can't keep going for more than another month without additional troops, and is thought not to want to mobilise any more due to unpopularity. May be seeking end by May 9th (WWII anniversary).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Ukraine may now have more tanks than when they started, thanks to capturing them from the Russians</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Both sides combat efficacy may have peaked</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Reports of outright Ukrainian victory likely exaggerated</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">- Consensus is most likely war of attrition. Biggest concern is public pressure for NATO intervention if Russia uses any kind of WMDs (but, if even mobilisation of more troops so unpopular in Russia, surely them using WMDs would be even more so ?)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 30 :</b> Russia announces first phase complete ! Seems to be in response to being driven off from Kiev. Exactly as hoped, but to a smaller degree, Russia can just claim victory despite overwhelming evidence of defeat. Now focusing (they say) on eastern regions, but not likely to do better there either.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Mixed reports on peace talks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hopes of imminent Ukrainian victory should be tempered, but that Russia unwilling to escalate conflict for first phase seems to make it very unlikely they would do so in the second, backup objective.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">No response to NATO summit except Putin mentioning J. K. Rowling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Day 31 : </b>Back in Prague and feelin' fine. Which is rather surprising, but good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Biden says Putin should be removed from power, but US immediately backtracks that this is not a call for regime change (accidental, off-the-cuff remark.) Russian response muted in the extreme : you don't get to say who are leaders are. Considering their other rhetoric, this seems like a complaint from an elderly Victorian tea lady. <i>Well, how rude ! This will damage relations ! I will bid good day to you sir ! </i>Nor any response to NATO hints of military action if Russia used chemical weapons.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">BBC said there was a "strong" response from the Kremlin, but this is absolute garbage : their response was pathetic, and about as weak as could possibly be. Even the BBC does tend to sensationalise and doom-monger.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Russian mask really appears to be slipping - they've lost their unpredictability. They consistently use fierce rhetoric as a deterrent, and rarely or never as a prelude. Rather, it's when they deny things one should be more worried, e.g. we're not going to invade Ukraine; here they are still genuinely unpredictable. Saw a comment on social media that Putin actively wants war with NATO, but this is nonsense - if he did, he'd have started it already and wouldn't pick Ukraine, nor warn NATO off from interfering. The nuclear thing really does appear to be bluff : not, however, that we should test this under any circumstances. We absolutely shouldn't. But there have been umpteen excuses he could have used to initiate a war with NATO by now and he hasn't, or even issued any threats when such a response would have seemed practically mandatory for a would-be geopolitical terrorist.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Other comment somewhere : Russia has committed ~85% of its entirely offensive combat capability, <i>and it's still not enough</i>. Overall big picture appears ever more clear that Putin has simply made a disastrous miscalculation. [You know things are going badly when your army's fall-back position is <i>the Chernobyl exclusion zone</i>...]</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><u>Conclusions so far</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>1) Geopolitics</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There simply does not appear to me to be <i>any </i>desire on either side to initiate a larger conflict, at all. Both sides are if anything striving to avoid this. Russia's dire rhetoric pops up only ever in relation to NATO and rarely or never when nothing else is happening. When NATO does hint at anything, their response is often remarkably tempered or even absent entirely, with the single exception of the prospect of a no fly zone. They <i>are </i>willing to set red lines, but they very rarely do. Tellingly, when it looks like NATO is considering something, they bring up grim and dire hyperbole, but when NATO actually says anything of substance, they say bugger all. This doesn't feel like the actions of someone genuinely willing to follow-through <i>at all</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Would they try and wage a larger war if they could ? Yes. Can they ? Lord no. They've had a whole slew of things they could have made threats about, but in the main, a country which harps on about J. K. Rowling and still wants to host European football in 2028 is hardly in keeping with one threatening a global apocalypse. The overall picture to me now appears almost overwhelming : warnings are issues as deterrents, not actual threats. They should not be pushed, but we should not be cowed either. Clearly, and somewhat bizarrely, they're actually fine with the west supplying Ukraine with thousands upon thousands of missiles, among other things. This simply does not fit Putin's initial "interfere and be destroyed" message at all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>2) Broad lessons on avoiding anxiety</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What has helped for me is :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Heavy news detox.</b> Remove more sensationalist sources from feeds, remove live feed sources entirely, asking a trusted source for regular summaries to sate curiosity. The latter is very important. Often, the article is nowhere near as scary as the headline, which is why it's better to avoid the sensationalism entirely. The positive benefits of reading the article as massively outweighed by information overload, which leads to wild, unbridled speculation. With less, but more pertinent, information, speculation is reduced to a healthy level and kept infinitely more plausible.</li><li><b>Social media is a mixed bag. </b>On the one hand you get things which aren't covered elsewhere, like this <a href="https://twitter.com/holger_r/status/1502269876999757831">phenomenally accurate Twitter thread</a> by an Estonian analyst. Everything predicted here has come to pass. Of course on the other hand you get idiotic comments as well, and the cynicism among some is so high I don't understand how such people don't die of shame. As with the regular media, best used sparingly.</li><li><b>When I encounter something scary, I try not to hide from it. </b>It's best to minimise the information intake, but not reduce it to zero. When this means I come across something worrying, so far I've found it invariably better to read the full article (or in extreme cases I get Shirley to summarise it for me) as the actual content is a) far less awful than the headline and b) far less awful than letting my imagination run wild.</li><li><b>Regular walks.</b> These greatly help me stay rational and calm my nerves. I allow myself free reign to my thoughts and then think it through as rationally as I can. Invariably I come out in a better place than when I started.</li><li><b>Drinking a calming herbal tea. </b>This really takes the edge off things, though it doesn't quash the lower-level anxiety.</li><li><b>Getting away for a while.</b> Being in the middle of absolutely nowhere helped <i>a lot</i>. With nothing much to do except read books and work on an art project, and realising that it took just ten hours by train to get there, I realised that escaping Prague is not at all difficult. And it helped to be among people who all seemed to be far less concerned about the situation than certain work colleagues.</li><li><b>Talking when anxious.</b> This is essential. It's no good keeping things bottled up. Releasing fears is a bit like grieving, or popping a blister - if you don't do it, it will only get worse. Contrary to folk wisdom, <i>it won't get better if you don't pick at it</i>.</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Today I feel essentially fine, and have been on a very much upward trend for the last week or so. I feel neither ecstatic nor despondent, but basically... <i>normal</i>. I've gone through a lot of mood swings over the last few weeks, from feeling I want to crawl into a hole to avoid the imminent bombs, to feeling almost jingoistic and believing that everything would soon be over and that Putin would be replaced with the Teletubbies or something. It's important to recognise that these are <i>feelings</i>, not facts, and that for all people say you should trust your gut, this is often just a bunch of bollocks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A few weeks ago I really thought I would need to talk to someone professional. But my apocalypse speculations have greatly receded (I would say almost gone), my anxious moments reduced to something absolutely manageable. This is <i>not </i>a result of burying my head in the sand, but through careful information management and emotional awareness. I'm going to continue avoiding live news feeds for the foreseeable future, but I can foresee a time when I could cope with this one again. However, I should stress that a big part of dealing with this has been coming to the sincerely held conclusion that the information suggests not Apocalypse Now, nor Apocalypse Never, but Apocalypse Not Bloody Likely.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>3) Analysing the media</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Many of these I've explored elsewhere, but it's fascinating for me to experience just how strongly these really do apply. In brief, to rationally analyse the news one should be aware of :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Metadata</b>. Don't just read the article, but also consider context (e.g. timing, relation to other events), who said what, who thinks it's significant, how many sources pick up on it. And compare interpretations - some sources are much more pessimistic than others. Reading the raw version (e.g. the text of an original speech) is often highly beneficial compared to the summaries.</li><li><b>Sensationalism</b>. Understanding the metadata is vital in understanding whether a story is really significant or just trying to make a sale. For example, when the Metro ran a story about the use of a thermobaric weapon, they felt the need to labour the point that it wasn't a nuclear device. Since the two are nothing alike, there was no need for this except scaring people. Note that even the most reputable sources cannot avoid this entirely, as the authors are only human.</li><li><b>Rhetoric</b>. Watch for patterns. In politics things are only rarely meant literally. Things are often said not because they are true, but because <i>saying them has consequences</i>. Essentially : cui bono, but more generalised. Trying to understand the true intent behind making a statement is often more important than the statement itself.</li><li><b>Uncertainty and bias.</b> Nothing can be ascertained with certainty, and nothing can be ascertained without bias. By necessity, we <i>must </i>take some sources to be more trustworthy than others. But trust and distrust nothing absolutely - nobody lies the whole time.</li><li><b>No-one is a wizard. </b>Recall sensationalist doom-mongering about how Trump would inevitably win despite all the evidence showing that he wouldn't. Putin is contemptible, but he is not a force of unmitigated malevolence, whatever anyone might say. If he were, we'd all be dead by now.</li><li><b>Big picture thinking. </b>Getting bogged down in minutiae is enormously unhelpful, both for analysing the situation and for anxiety. Even hearing what leaders <i>say </i>is nowhere near as important as watching what they <i>do</i>. This relates to sensationalism, wherein every minor development is viewed as inevitably changing the entire outcome of a situation. Even more so than with Brexit, with a war this simply isn't the case. If you listen to every piece of information, you'll understand nothing. Look for patterns and trends. Without doing this, it's easy to go off on wild, unbridled, ultra-cynical speculations about every minor development, virtually all of which will turn out to be wrong.</li></ul><div>One thing I've had to cut out completely is the humanitarian stories. I'm never good at dealing with these and right now that is still a case of overload. Harsh though it may be, the civilian crisis is not relevant to my own fears (yes I donated money to the relief efforts and would encourage everyone to do so), so it's far better to excise that entirely.</div><div><br /></div><div>So yeah, I'm feeling pretty normal again. I'm still going to maintain an arm's-length distance from social media, lurking around occasionally but not getting actively involved with anything (<i>some </i>of you people, frankly, can sod right off) and I won't be reinstalling the BBC app just yet. But I can now get on with my day without being paralysed by every single turn of events. I don't claim that any of the above will necessarily work for anyone else, but this is what's worked for me.</div></div></div>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-31322537671238731732022-02-28T04:33:00.008-04:002022-03-28T01:27:48.755-04:00Midnight ?<p>This is <i>not </i>a post about geopolitics. It's important to remember that, because I will be making geopolitical statements. These, however, are only intended to explain <i>why I feel the way I do</i>, not as any claim on political reality.</p><p>How I am feeling is, to be blunt, terrified.</p><p>As I noted in the last post, the pandemic has been getting to me a lot in the last couple of months or so. I felt increasingly anxious and paranoid about even the most minor deviation from ordinary of any health matter at all. All of which I'm entirely confident <i>was </i>pure paranoia. I'm pleased to say that in the last weeks I've been doing very much better on that front. Every day I go outside for an hour or so at lunchtime for a good trudge through the city, and slowly and surely that's been working wonders. Seeing parts of the city I never knew were there, finding new parks and experiencing fresh air and the vitality of sensory stimulus, has helped enormously. I no longer fret about nothing and I feel a lot happier in myself. In fact, I'm even contemplating going back to the office again, at least once in a while.</p><p>All that has been thrown into disarray by the Ukraine crisis. Needless to say, like everyone else in the western world I side with the people of Ukraine and against Russia. I literally do not have the words to express how impressed I am with the Ukrainian courage and heroism, and the European response to helping those who are in such desperate need through no fault of their own.</p><p>When I do eventually, one day, find the words, I will write them. For now I will not try, as I could not do it justice.</p><p>What has really, really gotten under my skin is the nuclear announcements coming from Putin. Honestly, I have never been so scared of a news announcement in my life. Though I lived through the end of it, I am not quite old enough to <i>remember </i>the end of the Cold War.</p><p>Unlike some commentators, I was never under any illusion that Putin wouldn't follow through on various threats he's made over the years. For the most part I had no doubt he'd go through with them. My impression, for what little it's worth, is that Putin is a man who will go exactly as far as he thinks he can get away with but not an inch further. To be fair I did not think he actually <i>would </i>invade Ukraine - there didn't really seem to be any need to - but I had no delusion that he couldn't or wouldn't if he wanted to. So I wasn't all that surprised when it happened. Horrified certainly, but not surprised.</p><p>Let me emphasise again how little I know here. When I had to look up the population of Ukraine, and when I found that it's a lot higher than I expected (it's 44 million), I immediately realised that I know practically nothing. I'm a pig-ignorant westerner when it comes to certain issues. I probably shouldn't be, but I am.</p><p>I have also been under no illusions that Putin wouldn't hesitate to <i>threaten </i>the west with nuclear weapons. We've heard plenty of nuclear rhetoric from Russia over many years, even just throughout the Putin era. It's never occurred to me that he'd ever follow through on that particular threat, which I largely deem to be quite different from other barbarous actions. And to be honest, I still don't. Not really. At least, not intellectually. But...</p><p>What's new is the context. What's changed is whether Putin can be said to be rational but horrible, or just plain unhinged. And this uncertainty terrifies me. I still don't think he'd actually do it. But the uncertainty has me seriously, gut-wrenchingly scared.</p><p>If I think about it as calmly as I can, I do not think a pre-emptive or retaliatory strike is likely. What would it accomplish ? It would be an act of suicide for Russia and, perhaps, the world. This is several orders of magnitude different from ordering assassinations or even invading other countries. It's been about brinkmanship the whole way through, for Putin to try and extract something by force or threat or both. The nuclear option doesn't get that; the doctrine of mutually assured destruction still holds. If it were more one-sided in Russia's favour, that would be a different story.</p><p>But this does not really help. Physically, I feel sick to my stomach, a tension in my sides, a need to move around more. I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little. When I say I'm terrified, I'm not using hyperbole. There is a huge, painful tension between what I think we <i>should </i>do, morally, and what I think would be pragmatically responsible. If this is cowardly, it probably is. So be it.</p><p>All this may seem incredibly selfish. There are people experiencing actual horrors right now, whereas mine are all worries about what <i>might </i>happen. For now, my actual living conditions are lovely. I have a wonderful girlfriend, two fabulous little dogs, and a thoroughly pleasant home. This doesn't stop me from being scared though. I can't stop thinking : <i>I don't want to lose it all. </i></p><p>There are a few things I worry about. First, that Putin might after all be not so much competent-but-horrible but actually having slipped off the edge a bit, becoming more genuinely erratic and unpredictable and not prone to rational action. Such a man might launch an attack purely out of retaliation rather than strategy. Of course, it could also of cause be that this is all the same carefully stage-managed propaganda we've seen for many years - a way of making himself seem all the more intimidating and dangerous as a way of extracting concessions. I don't know. I just don't know.</p><p>My other major worry, which I think is more probable than a random nuclear launch, is that he might offer some direct ultimatum to the western powers : stop supplying arms, say, or I'll launch. And I have no clue at all how the west would or should respond. Not a clue. If he is playing mind games, it's worked : he <i>is </i>now unpredictable, even if he does have a more coherent strategy underneath it all. I worry that such a threat could be imminent, not in the weeks and months ahead, but in days.</p><p>I just don't know what to do. For now I'll be turning off notifications from social media and limit how much I follow the news. Since the invasion I've been checking the BBC's live updates page quite frequently, and every bit of positive or negative news causes me quite extreme mood swings. It's not healthy. I do take some solace, though, in that western intelligence has been on the money lately, albeit with the timings being a bit off, so clearly these people do know more than I... and they're saying this is a distraction, a reminder - not a specific threat. It is not another Cuban Missile Crisis, not yet.</p><p>Yet the uncertainty of it all... the audacity to actually even consider using the nuclear option as a threat. I don't understand it. I mean, it's not surprising, but it feels oh so very different when this actually happens during a conflict. When there's nothing much going on, it's easy to dismiss as hyperbole. When there are tanks rolling through a European country, even - perhaps especially - one which is resisting so valiantly, it's altogether different. I want to run away. I want to hide. I want to curl up in a ball. I just don't know what to do.</p><p>So yeah, I just wanted to let everyone know how bloody scared I am. I've never felt like this because of politics before : it's always been the case that politics is worrying because of the potential for us backsliding into some more totalitarian, less liberal regime, not that we have to deal with existential threats. I never, never appreciated before just how awful the Cold War must have been. Not even close. My God, you people deserve a medal for enduring that.</p><p>For now, I shall distract myself. More walks, less news. I wish I had more words of comfort, but I don't. As I said, I'll be turning off social media notifications for the foreseeable future as I can't handle that right now. If any of my followers do want to reach me, you can do so here or via email - you can find the address easily enough. I'm sorry to burden you all with my worries, but I just needed to get my thoughts set out in order publicly. I'm doing my best to abide by a biblical quote :</p><p></p><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.</blockquote><p>Perhaps I just need time to process all this. I hope so. The western world, for all its deep and serious faults, is nonetheless a wonderful, marvellous place. No amount of cynicism will ever convince me that is isn't worth preserving. I will be getting back to lengthy monologues on science and philosophy just as soon as I am able, but for now, I need some time out.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w8HdOHrc3OQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="w8HdOHrc3OQ"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">******</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">EDIT : I decided to keep an ongoing record of events and how I feel about them. I originally started doing this here, but moved them to <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-long-dark-tea-time-of-soul.html">their own post</a> instead.</div><p></p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-5768960801711474822022-01-08T11:58:00.001-04:002022-01-08T11:58:30.709-04:00Another Corona Christmas Carol<p>Last year I had my first Christmas in Prague. This year was almost the same, thanks to the coronavirus : a.k.a. the worst thing to happen to Christmas since Herod (with the possible exception of that ghastly <i>Last Christmas</i> song).</p><p>Over on <i><a href="https://decoherency.blogspot.com/">Decoherency</a></i>, I've speculated that I'd be an excellent candidate for long-duration space flight provided all my creature comforts were met. Lockdowns ? Bring 'em on ! I never wanted to go outside anyway - it's big and and scary, doesn't have Netflix, and your tea gets cold far too quickly. Being told <i>not</i> to go anywhere and be as introverted as possible is like announcing that we can all now live in some glorious blanket-based Utopia of snuggly goodness. </p><p>Well, at long last I think I've begun to reach a limit, at which point isolation is now something to be, if not actually shunned, then at least <i>sometimes </i>endured rather cherished.</p><p>For various reasons, this year we decided that I would go back to Cardiff for the couple of weeks immediately preceding Christmas, then return to Prague for the event itself. This means I get to see my family and Shirley doesn't spend Christmas alone, and we don't embark on the epic voyage needed to transport the dogs - which would mean a lot of train time in a host of a Covid-ravaged wastelands. Which was a very reasonable compromise, as we don't want to pass on Covid to the nearest and dearest who might be more vulnerable than ourselves.</p><p>Knowing what to expect from the travelling, and with rules being much the same as for my <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2021/09/expedition-cardiff.html">August jaunt</a>, this was infinitely less stressful, and was even back to something closely resembling the previously casual status that international travel had obtained. The airport was again empty (though not quite so empty as before), the queues negligible, and the necessity for everyone to have pre-departure tests I found very reassuring. So no issues there at all. Plus, I left in the snow, so I got some marvellous aeroplane views of Europe in winter.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMshgmL9_Utt_B6tSXVqP48FpVfBi_wZgBznS0aPW1PSuGst1jHV-Bk2NhGAetZqqAJZzgoDnWPOBZTUkW71Iok0n6_Pa9smi62uE19VzdemEh62rV8syhkalG21Ef0uDnDAovDgEyJa-VEmwaqL2KsPbSgaRUA5h7YZX2EuxaC72DjOsucpTIoBc9=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="992" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMshgmL9_Utt_B6tSXVqP48FpVfBi_wZgBznS0aPW1PSuGst1jHV-Bk2NhGAetZqqAJZzgoDnWPOBZTUkW71Iok0n6_Pa9smi62uE19VzdemEh62rV8syhkalG21Ef0uDnDAovDgEyJa-VEmwaqL2KsPbSgaRUA5h7YZX2EuxaC72DjOsucpTIoBc9=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvpSXr4Jo6yU3ruEV8FzMckgtTjKiHD23XOkJC6qhdpMK6ceiaFzLjLtJv4MlAYHtWOUiguBZoHNSsbcpfLvjJg_ykI19CkvBuUnA7DYgSyQrIjAIwb1isiTKQQ4jnxZXOLeqJ4xroU03d5VchcgpBxZub5lJqfgZyj0pL9HHRkl9N5LbHOUz26C-6=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvpSXr4Jo6yU3ruEV8FzMckgtTjKiHD23XOkJC6qhdpMK6ceiaFzLjLtJv4MlAYHtWOUiguBZoHNSsbcpfLvjJg_ykI19CkvBuUnA7DYgSyQrIjAIwb1isiTKQQ4jnxZXOLeqJ4xroU03d5VchcgpBxZub5lJqfgZyj0pL9HHRkl9N5LbHOUz26C-6=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p>With EasyJet operating again, mercifully I did not have to do a seven hour bus trip from Stansted either, instead getting a short bus/train combo from Bristol. This was entirely without incident. The train was neither empty nor busy, and as it was only a 50 minute trip, I didn't feel too bad about this.</p><p>The major change to travel from last time was that in addition to the pre-departure test, you now need a post-arrival test on or before day 2. The good thing about this is that you can use private suppliers, which were half the cost of the public one I had to use last time. The downside is that you have to self-isolate until you get the results back. </p><p>Now last time I discovered that actually the rapidly-changing, location-varying rules in the UK really <i>are </i>stressful if you have to actually go through the process yourself, even if on paper they seem simple enough - it's the variation that causes the worry, not the rules themselves. This time I realised that "self-isolating until you get a negative test" is indeed a burden, and not (entirely) something that brainless morons are whining about due to excessive privilege. </p><p>In my case this took nigh-on six days because the test (which I took on day 1) got delivered to the wrong address, and then, despite Royal Mail's claims to the contrary, was only <i>very slowly</i> re-routed to its proper destination.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Because of weird holiday arrangements, and having not much else to do, I actually got a fair bit of work done in this period. And I even gave a short talk on data visualisation, since some of my work was featured in this online "experimental photography" exhibition - you can <a href="https://en.experimentalphotofestival.com/exposiciones">view it here</a>, or hear the <a href="https://youtu.be/h3z38ymixU4">talk here</a>. I guess that means I'm an artist now, woohoo !) </span></p><p>This was hardly stressful, but it did get irritating. Honestly I'm not really sure what the point of post-arrival tests is. Pre-departure ones make complete sense*, since you're ramming a bunch of people into an enclosed space for a protracted period. But then you're allowed to galivant around the country willy-nilly on public transport, so what benefit taking another test is I'm not sure**. Moreover, after quite a bit of digging I discovered that the positivity rates for post-arrival tests is <a href="https://www.oxera.com/insights/agenda/articles/international-travel-in-a-pandemic-what-does-uk-data-tell-us/">typically</a> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-informing-international-travel-traffic-light-risk-assessments/risk-assessment-methodology-data">a few percent</a> or less even from high risk countries, thanks to the pre-departure tests and vaccination. So to me this feels like unnecessary discrimination against travel (no other event requires <i>post </i>testing), though had I got the result back in even three days instead of six, I probably wouldn't have minded very much.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* And they still do. The government's decision not to require these any more is just stupid.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">** I only took 1.5 hours to reach my destination, but other people might easily spend six or more in public transport. And even when you do reach your destination, self-isolation is especially problematic. How many people are really, <i>properly </i>self-isolating at their address ? Not many, I should think, because it's just not practical.</span></p><p>I say it wasn't stressful, and it wasn't. But I could clearly see how actually, being forced to remain inside the entire time is quite different from being allowed out even once a day for exercise. This felt <i>very </i>different even compared to the harshest of lockdowns, and a few weeks of this and I would in fact go properly mad. Not even from a desire to see other people, but just the need to avoid the same four walls and not to feel my legs withering away beneath me became quite trying.</p><p>The UK's approach here seems to be an unfortunate middle ground that combines the worst of both worlds : all the hassle of self-isolation, but not enough to effectively stop the spread of incoming variants as New Zealand have managed. Covid, it seems, is very much a "go big or go home" affair, and this middling approach isn't good for much. I'm not against post-arrival tests per se (and pre-departure tests are a no-brainer), I just think that this <i>particular </i>implementation doesn't accomplish anything useful.</p><p>What did start to make me a little bit worried was that the test result rapidly approached one of the main activities I had planned. My three goals for the trip were to see my family, to walk my dog, and see my closest friends for a substitute Christmas Eve party. We cut it pretty fine for the latter, but made it in the end - everyone doing a lateral flow test beforehand. So alcohol was consumed in great quantities, even more, perhaps, than the amount of food which was mercilessly devoured. Games were played. Presents were given. It felt almost normal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk-DAJIXGXVQOHTZj4Pauhk7hs2RduRX2SzvFjcBVjVArltd7suO19mWxP_K4RIu21iLyovrM6N-XCxFKwHCMe6cStkCEbMIkFpdQ_lm0uDSIT5U0yQv__ShAFnZNzVkrUuQMYnhp06tQWKW0aVySMSYqO964VYKIRrDPNJ0eK59GCOBBLw56-a-69=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjk-DAJIXGXVQOHTZj4Pauhk7hs2RduRX2SzvFjcBVjVArltd7suO19mWxP_K4RIu21iLyovrM6N-XCxFKwHCMe6cStkCEbMIkFpdQ_lm0uDSIT5U0yQv__ShAFnZNzVkrUuQMYnhp06tQWKW0aVySMSYqO964VYKIRrDPNJ0eK59GCOBBLw56-a-69=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p>This being done, I continued with the goal of incessantly walking the dog. This featured some of the nicest weather I've ever seen locally :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE4uekYib8cpSMbLmmpfZbW8uMHRsQHeif1ZNombcIwpKzoQsUcpldcgSBk_CYQ2D3Ck6ojupTouzZPk82ZtAaF2jKJXvAF77hpUq2nSfPrSOF0Avr03tWDcGIKIWep8nXKaKqg-yY97Rlfc_tuYU38ltzXnsjgR9hfVQwvAZ-bxIQBer78Visfapm=s1982" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1982" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgE4uekYib8cpSMbLmmpfZbW8uMHRsQHeif1ZNombcIwpKzoQsUcpldcgSBk_CYQ2D3Ck6ojupTouzZPk82ZtAaF2jKJXvAF77hpUq2nSfPrSOF0Avr03tWDcGIKIWep8nXKaKqg-yY97Rlfc_tuYU38ltzXnsjgR9hfVQwvAZ-bxIQBer78Visfapm=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg50Bn0rC8IUiYxzMWFXuknow2Z318QbrVGdof10spEGYqw6iA9OiEM3v_GQvQTxPPADzVI8GSXyhe1faXf0iehUi3eQDexsvP81GMtaCOUzahUkfb84WdWgRqk6OR9zu9TAKcX_mfQzPix1cVoB_o0IG40M_XKA-55YBCxNMeFtHr4W9YgteMI30Me=s1984" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1984" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg50Bn0rC8IUiYxzMWFXuknow2Z318QbrVGdof10spEGYqw6iA9OiEM3v_GQvQTxPPADzVI8GSXyhe1faXf0iehUi3eQDexsvP81GMtaCOUzahUkfb84WdWgRqk6OR9zu9TAKcX_mfQzPix1cVoB_o0IG40M_XKA-55YBCxNMeFtHr4W9YgteMI30Me=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmjmpox7uqPdC4YPtilSO-lffkbyIbzJe9z94iOI7_dLFb04Soft8Wx1jXxhFUeXZLtn5za6TXRvgSLMiwgs_MGjo3WfK7mxdNuzc6Vmm_9o0KpUfDu11Q0r-KukT1sWQXMLH35DNGNlkjfLUwJxs17YZeBGI6SdyFdMEKFsBOIevvWw1fMHsFx10R=s1984" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1984" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmjmpox7uqPdC4YPtilSO-lffkbyIbzJe9z94iOI7_dLFb04Soft8Wx1jXxhFUeXZLtn5za6TXRvgSLMiwgs_MGjo3WfK7mxdNuzc6Vmm_9o0KpUfDu11Q0r-KukT1sWQXMLH35DNGNlkjfLUwJxs17YZeBGI6SdyFdMEKFsBOIevvWw1fMHsFx10R=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdloLkB7reXk897Z9Rwr0XFf8boohklMtuAVVKqphO6k5S8PDgJoMnyAakEcDMZYTYXRa83F2j98M3JtnB9sgIIxMdHk1aAP9SPih2Mum1KYaWQefa_W3LZ0qdHOfbQ1-Mmyiv1_bKvFTU7l-TT_6vqk6gFoPNKOt82KBW8UGxTncN4W9HKGDHUa2i=s1984" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1984" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdloLkB7reXk897Z9Rwr0XFf8boohklMtuAVVKqphO6k5S8PDgJoMnyAakEcDMZYTYXRa83F2j98M3JtnB9sgIIxMdHk1aAP9SPih2Mum1KYaWQefa_W3LZ0qdHOfbQ1-Mmyiv1_bKvFTU7l-TT_6vqk6gFoPNKOt82KBW8UGxTncN4W9HKGDHUa2i=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><p>Finally, we had a second substitute Christmas dinner with my family, and again, consumed enough food to get me on Live Aid's hate list :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGLfL5xwMzT9ykmgzFbFSmy59qg8grV0MIgkwiCTkN7HcXbQisAY0EjZ4rquhbU53p_CloiWCEgj8oBlIzmjQoL28J11yBfd0G29_Q0CFmc7EXuBNQapWm8KDc2hUXJFJCbv_uSkqENdXg2ZBeG_Lf4wjJkL2sfKKRtsnXZyVDJDyWcR-goOOJnkDr=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGLfL5xwMzT9ykmgzFbFSmy59qg8grV0MIgkwiCTkN7HcXbQisAY0EjZ4rquhbU53p_CloiWCEgj8oBlIzmjQoL28J11yBfd0G29_Q0CFmc7EXuBNQapWm8KDc2hUXJFJCbv_uSkqENdXg2ZBeG_Lf4wjJkL2sfKKRtsnXZyVDJDyWcR-goOOJnkDr=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><p>And then it was back to Prague, via the emptiest train I've ever seen :</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhee-TfrCVFjIc9sz18GqKATM_8E-xoLNYIioeQrO-XRPm9wuVHz2_b8Kpv3_Vk9YS97xfq5uPSKnsvJWJcHUEkXoWlpUbgEYuz11ASZisiqt-0NvNAoGLqls73-m51oEiW3AWeMzyICgzmYIMlcu1vMz2YNBFtR-Ri3eh_r-9aJi0cTQqtX63d-rxU=s744" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="744" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhee-TfrCVFjIc9sz18GqKATM_8E-xoLNYIioeQrO-XRPm9wuVHz2_b8Kpv3_Vk9YS97xfq5uPSKnsvJWJcHUEkXoWlpUbgEYuz11ASZisiqt-0NvNAoGLqls73-m51oEiW3AWeMzyICgzmYIMlcu1vMz2YNBFtR-Ri3eh_r-9aJi0cTQqtX63d-rxU=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></div><p>So again I didn't feel terribly worried by the travel. As in lockdown, ironically so few people were now present that the few who did venture out anywhere were now perfectly safe.</p><p>In Prague, Christmas was lovely. There was yet more - oh so much more ! food and alcohol and games, and Christmas specials and movies galore. And... it was <i>white</i>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXaLTfaWEGBSMPb5BzDOcJ3MZ2YspQLG8bqdYvrGW4PgHzyxQlrBJDDy9IXi67uZwjLry5qzRk3opf8pOdBSjH6Oj0WAawh9_krrL6uWANIAPFJfgKdkWAQHjyrwDhpCcdNqXp-7aZZmP8FjSlXJ7iOREX3nBoLeYqgnVJTcCN4Tvyxpp70GBCuLJx=s816" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="816" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXaLTfaWEGBSMPb5BzDOcJ3MZ2YspQLG8bqdYvrGW4PgHzyxQlrBJDDy9IXi67uZwjLry5qzRk3opf8pOdBSjH6Oj0WAawh9_krrL6uWANIAPFJfgKdkWAQHjyrwDhpCcdNqXp-7aZZmP8FjSlXJ7iOREX3nBoLeYqgnVJTcCN4Tvyxpp70GBCuLJx=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">By the end of these three enormous Christmas dinners, I felt a <i>lot </i>like Dawn French in a certain Vicar of Dibley Christmas special.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoeOtEyE6Dpe0m1A_gJPdf5BgV2RY0Qtj1WNCJFAhhmfWqUk-PT2SigR3ZPgGIonh8F7uG9nHi4_H2h66CBFFeK9P1-DJOqLNPIRpLDHg5kDgLJATHh5hq2x_VEpxNEyvSfL3uQVKe77aRNA2E0qxDqt9gpAYaPKOssyCJrGFANSuxWnKxtAK8hX8i=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoeOtEyE6Dpe0m1A_gJPdf5BgV2RY0Qtj1WNCJFAhhmfWqUk-PT2SigR3ZPgGIonh8F7uG9nHi4_H2h66CBFFeK9P1-DJOqLNPIRpLDHg5kDgLJATHh5hq2x_VEpxNEyvSfL3uQVKe77aRNA2E0qxDqt9gpAYaPKOssyCJrGFANSuxWnKxtAK8hX8i=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNDA8D6z5RF_HgrvcX8lJXqChyxoFnH4nTEbrdXtt6K44-Sf-esDaAyf9mPJLAEx34vgTFh98gVpOwdIeODrDWJ9eZXBfXxZ7I0obaAlAWwPEWfCUfDdMkfbAvpIcgKkhraKjhnWd4a2hbi5PTZqSZSzFiYfTtkywEdRuATY3dvdmNqhaWZi9jD25j=s992" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="992" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNDA8D6z5RF_HgrvcX8lJXqChyxoFnH4nTEbrdXtt6K44-Sf-esDaAyf9mPJLAEx34vgTFh98gVpOwdIeODrDWJ9eZXBfXxZ7I0obaAlAWwPEWfCUfDdMkfbAvpIcgKkhraKjhnWd4a2hbi5PTZqSZSzFiYfTtkywEdRuATY3dvdmNqhaWZi9jD25j=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><p>Which meant Christmas was indeed about as good as it could possibly be. Yes, we had to delay taking the dogs to Wales again, but perhaps in the spring... </p><p>And yet, I have to say that the pandemic <i>is </i>finally really hitting home on a directly personal level. Fully four people I know who had been double-boosted have simultaneously and independently caught Covid. While until now I've been in a state of more abstract dismay on behalf of the world in general*, and I still don't really worry about catching Covid as being of any direct risk to me, nonetheless I <i>do </i>feel increasingly anxious - or at least hypochondriac. </p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Well, that's been true since 2016 at least anyway, if not earlier.</span></p><p>Let me be clear that I'm acutely aware this is preposterous. It's not a rational thing at all. I had an absolutely lovely Christmas and it was a major boost to be back home again. Alas, this doesn't help prevent me feeling - on occasion - intensely nervous.</p><p>Some examples. A tiny patch of dry skin on my hand and suddenly I've got AIDS, or cancer, or Ebola - at least two of these would, realistically, require the intervention of a magical malevolent wizard. A spot of mild light-headedness and I must surely be about to collapse due to low blood pressure. The smallest of pimples and I'm about to break out in hives. Any sort of ache whatsoever must surely be indicative of <i>something</i>, despite that fact the probability is overwhelming that it isn't. Having at least an appreciation for the basics of Bayesian reasoning is, unfortunately, nowhere near enough to combat the irrationally frequentist brain*.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Though, this is not to pronounce judgement on either philosophy, which I shall leave for another time.</span></p><p>(It doesn't help that I appear to be the last person left in my research group who hasn't caught Covid, which is perhaps fuelling an unconscious and bizarre belief that I must surely have something else instead.)</p><p>These concerns are indirect and obviously silly. But being confined all the time makes it very hard not to sink into absurd, destructive levels of introspection (not the same as, but not dissimilar to, an intense case of the <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-spotlight-effect-3024470">spotlight effect</a>), or worse, consulting Doctor Google - who invariably forecasts doom, or uselessly suggests an immediate trip to an actual doctor for the slightest abnormality. And not having other people around to talk to certainly doesn't help. Without other people to remind us of what are perfectly normal physiological variations, it's all too easy to focus on the most trivial imperfections as being a foretaste of cataclysm. Likewise, the relentless focus on the news regarding health, ironically, makes it all to easy to get stressed out by <i>worrying</i> about health, in a particularly vicious cycle.</p><p>Obviously, I'm aware that I'm in gilded cage, and that countless millions have it far worse than me. But, while you certainly shouldn't think that I'm a nervous wreck, still the irrational part of the brain is definitely and quite noticeably nagging me about minutiae. Perhaps I could only manage the nine-month trip to Mars rather than the multi-year trip to Jupiter after all...</p><p>I've still no desire to rush back to the office five times a week, still less back to the nightclubs. But post-Omicron (other calamities notwithstanding), I might be a bit more eager to avoid living in submarine-like conditions of isolation, even if said submarine is incredibly comfy. After all, as Terry Pratchett put it in <i>Men At Arms</i> :</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Individuals aren't naturally paid-up members of the human race, except biologically. They need to be bounced around by the Brownian motion of society, which is a mechanism by which human beings constantly remind each other that they are... well... human beings.</i></blockquote><p></p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-996609237882090723.post-77570777636016414492021-09-13T10:08:00.000-04:002021-09-13T10:08:37.883-04:00Ninja Laser Robots Stole My Belly<p>Over the years, this blog has featured a veritable cornucopia of topics great and small. I've covered why babies are useless, the reasons hurricanes are over-rated, why radio astronomy is pretty, how there are no whales in Boston, and there has been many an over-lengthy monologue on why philosophy is awesome.</p><p>But there's one thing I've never said a word about, and that's fitness.</p><p>"But Rhys !" you surely say, "That's because physical fitness is about as interesting as a documentary about hippo vomit."</p><p>You're not wrong. While I do like walking up a good mountain, exercise for its own sake is abominably, frighteningly dull. I'm never going to munch on a carrot as a healthy snack because that is just all kinds of nasty. I'm not adverse to expending physical energy so long as it serves a clear, enjoyable purpose, like walking across a nice glacier or seeing a lovely solar eclipse. Or even just a good view of a bunch of trees. But simply expending energy for its own sake... urrrrgh, <b><i>no ! </i></b>That's as bad as deliberately choosing a kale smoothie when a perfectly good chocolate milkshake is available. It's just not me.</p><p>Now, back in the day I'd be walking the dog for a good hour each day. In Wales. Which is to say, a country where flat land is at a premium and you have to be very careful getting up each morning in case your house has fallen off a cliff. And since I didn't eat particularly much, I was probably closer to being described as "scrawny" rather than "normal".</p><p>For all sorts of reasons, this has shifted over the years. I've come to enjoy eating and (especially <i>drinking</i>) out, and the feasibility and terrain for dog walking has changed markedly. So very, very slowly, things have... enlarged.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSY2uvnlf3oNHJQlyxdl_ELKwZ6fKuVLwjWThsyuUGlYxyOBCZfNtPpGk-qb2Viw3nh8oyMqlAU3npb4GkfdE3v_MsvOYfAueSMax2rwdJGhPfaJob5DQQRu9dFj_QzlwQ8DVHCDT__I/s266/2020-physics-of-galaxies-1024.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="261" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSY2uvnlf3oNHJQlyxdl_ELKwZ6fKuVLwjWThsyuUGlYxyOBCZfNtPpGk-qb2Viw3nh8oyMqlAU3npb4GkfdE3v_MsvOYfAueSMax2rwdJGhPfaJob5DQQRu9dFj_QzlwQ8DVHCDT__I/w392-h400/2020-physics-of-galaxies-1024.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me last summer sinking into a black hole behind our institute, after eating too much goulash.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Last Christmas things reached a tipping point. At 81-82 kg, I was a good six or seven kg over a healthy <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/">BMI</a> : not awful, but not good either. And I just didn't like the excess flab that was building up. Nobody said anything (hah, they wouldn't <i>dare</i>), I just didn't like it. So I decided to do something about it the only way I know how : obsessively and with technology. Which, coincidentally, is also literally the exact plot of <i>The Curse of the Were-Rabbit</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h73fn-yxj5s" width="320" youtube-src-id="h73fn-yxj5s"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Though the end results are quite different.</span></div><p>Prior to this I'd been discovering the wonders of virtual reality on my <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2020/08/no-escape-from-reality-hah.html">Oculus Quest</a>. Having heard that such devices were being used for fitness, and finding that the training dojo in <i>Vader Immortal</i> could leave me sweating profusely, this seemed like a sensible way for me to go.</p><p>It also helped that Shirley bought me a TickWatch Pro for Christmas. With a built-in heart monitor, it can track your heart rate and calories burned during any sort of exercise program you care to try. Why does this matter ? Because then you have <i>data</i>. And you can very easily monitor data in a way you otherwise can't for physical appearance. You have quantifiable, measurable, objective <i>goals </i>you can either meet or miss.</p><p>See, a lot of people I know go running or whatnot (BORRRING !) to lose weight, but, with one or two notable exceptions, I can't say I've ever noticed any change. And I knew full well that if I tried to do something really dull with no obvious, visible benefits, I'd pack it in in about twenty minutes. But give me some objective numbers to follow, and the lack of immediate reduction in the protruding gut might not have me throwing in the towel after a week or two.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKpu5zt1QZm3V4BeC6he8B4gVID7ioP1I2JouaFYgNcjIOVwHNq4sfV0D9Ux3h9VCsTXB8ckCcziQ7D39MpXWyey79RL3wzTzK9cTjcBQY3XfkMokWR1sTUs2XV62CWNNy5fNpy5AkK4/s649/ExistentialSticker.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="649" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKpu5zt1QZm3V4BeC6he8B4gVID7ioP1I2JouaFYgNcjIOVwHNq4sfV0D9Ux3h9VCsTXB8ckCcziQ7D39MpXWyey79RL3wzTzK9cTjcBQY3XfkMokWR1sTUs2XV62CWNNy5fNpy5AkK4/w640-h496/ExistentialSticker.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://existentialcomics.com/comic/29">Meaningless counters</a> aren't always so meaningless.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>So, in the first week of January, with as much knowledge of fitness as I have of snail physiology, I set about devising a daily exercise program. I began by deciding to monitor my weight systematically and as scientifically as possible. That is, I would only do so at the same time on the same day each week, to minimise natural variations. And I'd only do so once per week, avoiding the temptation of the sort of constant-checking-for-important-email-every-five-minutes to which I routinely fall victim*. I'd monitor my activity using my watch, recording the calories and average heart beat for each exercise session.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Later, I did give in to this temptation, but I only graph the data weekly.</span></p><p>I started with a 30 minute session of <i>Vader Immortal</i> every lunchtime. The story element of the game doesn't involve much in the way of moving around, but the training dojo is another matter. This is under-rated as an exercise game, as you're kept moving rapidly around to hit targets from all directions and at different heights. There's a natural tendency to swing your arms forcefully even though you don't really need to, and the easiest move to avoid getting hit is (by far) to squat or duck. You can minimise this by making the smallest movements possible, but only to a certain extent - and you can't escape the need for speed. So although not really designed for it, it's definitely useful.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPxBnSTyP2J8gbIqPc_c42JxI1GtpS6mdLcBORnJDloW7S7uHsTzN3mMowQhQkq2fM9PODG8IE3-siPNHvqkTvTI-CRj6nkt6j0v-6B3l92bQn_djWtGAeZ-aA_a4qjssDQrLYZm8Zzk/s1723/VaderDoho.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="963" data-original-width="1723" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbPxBnSTyP2J8gbIqPc_c42JxI1GtpS6mdLcBORnJDloW7S7uHsTzN3mMowQhQkq2fM9PODG8IE3-siPNHvqkTvTI-CRj6nkt6j0v-6B3l92bQn_djWtGAeZ-aA_a4qjssDQrLYZm8Zzk/w640-h358/VaderDoho.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is from the third game, but I find the one in the first game the most challenging.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It must be said that this is <a href="https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2108775495884888/">terrific fun</a>. You start with the same primitive training drone that Luke starts with under Obi Wan's tutelage, then progress to a whole series of robots firing laser and wielding lightsabres of their own. You get the characteristic "hmmmmmm" and "pssssshhhhh ! sounds and some nice haptic feedback to convince you you're holding a proper laser sword. And things generally respond as well as is physically possible given that they have no physical substance. It's a simple game, but in terms of quality I would rate it AAA.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3u7SWknZBltJcZmdOxlDzRNZr7SL2G2g8vIt8t8QWJKQ3rS7AfgFgQyEvuXk0r7_CFlhDPj16odMzHr08kcaLjaBJ3uWyI2THJ4tFWrg8vXndEu-aDfA-vj70plsRhr6_UlOJb1vlbI8/s960/Luke-and-Obi-Wan-featured-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="960" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3u7SWknZBltJcZmdOxlDzRNZr7SL2G2g8vIt8t8QWJKQ3rS7AfgFgQyEvuXk0r7_CFlhDPj16odMzHr08kcaLjaBJ3uWyI2THJ4tFWrg8vXndEu-aDfA-vj70plsRhr6_UlOJb1vlbI8/w640-h334/Luke-and-Obi-Wan-featured-image.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"And this is gonna help me defeat the Empire ?" "No, I just thought you were looking a bit tubby."</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Initially the 30 minute session was more than enough for me. That was about as much as I could comfortably handle.</p><p>Over the first three weeks my weight seemed to be going down very promisingly, dipping under 80 kg. I had no preconceived idea as to how fast this should be, but this felt great ! For a miniscule time commitment to doing something I actively enjoyed, things were dropping very nicely.</p><p>I began to very gradually increase the intensity and duration of the sessions. After four weeks I increased the length to 40 minutes and started on more challenging levels (the dojo has 40). The calories I burned went from ~300 to 400 per session. Yet, despairingly, my weight seemed to level off at a bit over 80 kg. After five weeks, this was very unsatisfying.</p><p>Crucially though, I enjoyed what I was doing. I was having a lot of fun blasting stuff with a lightsabre. So I didn't stop the process - I escalated it. </p><p>I really like VR archery games, so I bought one called <i><a href="https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2202354219893697/?ranking_trace=104466754663012_2202354219893697_SKYLINEWEBQUESTSEARCH_af174e67-1bd8-43a1-8139-34cd2bc8e077">Holopoint</a> </i>that's specifically <a href="https://www.vrfitnessinsider.com/review/holopoint-vr-game-review/">recommended</a> for getting a <a href="https://vrhealth.institute/portfolio/holopoint/">workout</a> (the much more popular Beat Sabre doesn't appeal to me - I found the demo a bit lifeless and I don't understand what the hype's about). Like Vader, <i>Holopoint </i>involves hitting targets coming at you from all directions - but there's a good deal more movement involved. Each time you shoot a target, it explodes and fires a projectile straight at you, forcing you to immediately either sidestep, duck, or otherwise swerve out of its way. This naturally encourages you to keep in motion <i>at all times</i>, so that the projectile is aimed at somewhere you've already moved from. You can't shoot and then fire, you need to fire while already moving. And the area in which you can move is very much larger than in <i>Vader Immortal</i>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mjNmFUhTazYtaYXbMuwxfB-gY1vukkaDQHf6ctm2-Prk1FYZ91L1y70AlwZlhI3tMTxUds0hFSYvqWy_ANqKMKi9kYPWu-l4lZcXlWniBK7UYxqpWVq_upE3qJwXNu2S8O0qgV7m0PA/s1280/Holopoint.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mjNmFUhTazYtaYXbMuwxfB-gY1vukkaDQHf6ctm2-Prk1FYZ91L1y70AlwZlhI3tMTxUds0hFSYvqWy_ANqKMKi9kYPWu-l4lZcXlWniBK7UYxqpWVq_upE3qJwXNu2S8O0qgV7m0PA/w640-h360/Holopoint.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">These extremely crude graphics recently got a massive overhaul. It now looks a lot less cartoonish and more detailed, without being distractingly detailed.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like <i>Vader</i>, you get a variety of targets, from simple cubes to samurai warriors and annoyingly sneaky ninjas. The virtual world doesn't have the physicality that <i>Vader </i>does, but it's again simple, easy to learn - and demands a whole other level of strenuous exercise. In <i>Vader </i>you squat and swing your arm. In <i>Holopoint</i>, you're going a bit mental.</p><p>It must be said that <i>Holopoint</i> is at first very frustrating indeed. Initially, I could play it for maybe 20 minutes before I was just too exhausted to continue - and I'd feel the effects for hours afterwards. Getting past level 6 is pretty darn tough, and reaching level 16 took frickin' ages. The hardest part to learn is how to rapidly load and fire consistently, and in the first few days I was extremely irritated by constantly fumbling at a critical moment. Oh, and you only get two lives per level, and checkpoints are limited, so if you foul up you can't just try again immediately. By design, this game is <i>difficult</i>. At times, this does become annoying.</p><p>But it works. My calories burned went to 400, 500 per session. Six weeks in I switched from a hybrid Vader-Holopoint combo to pure <i>Holopoint</i>, increasing the duration to 50 minutes. Calories burned became 600-700. My average heart rate stayed at a steady 130 BPM, although looking back over the records things got a lot more consistent. I learned how to move in such a way that things became more unconscious and less tiring.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Later on, I also started jumping and squatting in response to specific targets. This definitely helps, as does deliberately trying to play as though things were much more urgent than they were, e.g. shooting targets as though they would explode more quickly than they actually do. Of course, you can also dial <i>Holopoint </i>back and play with much smaller body movements - the flexibility is a very nice feature. I play using flexible "rules" of my own : if I start feeling exhausted, or I'm in danger of losing a level, I reduce the intensity.)</span></p><p>By the middle of March, though, I was still 79.5 kg. But no matter, I was having fun. I continued to increase the intensity and duration. Whereas at first 20 minutes would have left me exhausted for hours, now I could manage a full 60 minutes and recover faster. So I was optimistic that <i>something </i>was improving, even if the flab wasn't falling as fast as I would like.</p><p>Around this point I decided I should graph my weight :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpcEMW_b8fKNsCRVN4u-IXQIo4FmkpHDjDlaNJ7tnjHLFwPu4NKUjZsEHdhY-M-OJx2nR2ml4YPGtmhm4WUIaMLSHHaTFOZe9wDzcefgNdbmZjAtqthwrmsK4fMZnTADch1JTzn1yjoQ/s500/Exercise.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="500" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWpcEMW_b8fKNsCRVN4u-IXQIo4FmkpHDjDlaNJ7tnjHLFwPu4NKUjZsEHdhY-M-OJx2nR2ml4YPGtmhm4WUIaMLSHHaTFOZe9wDzcefgNdbmZjAtqthwrmsK4fMZnTADch1JTzn1yjoQ/w640-h512/Exercise.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's a fallacy that the vertical axis should <i>always </i>start from zero.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Which was both good and bad news. Just from reading the list of numbers I'd had no real clear idea of the overall trend - it was hard to say if I was seeing a genuine steady decrease, or just fluctuations in the noise. The graph made it inescapable : things <i>were </i>heading in the right direction. Slowly, perhaps, with an average loss of 0.15 kg per week, but nevertheless steady and continuous. I'd been initially fooled by the sharp post-Christmas drop (look at those first three points !), but overall things were positive. And it was probably a good thing I waited this long to graph it, because it's only at around week 12 that the trend starts to become really clear. Before that, things would have looked a lot more ambiguous. This clear decrease was a big morale boost, and I was very surprised by just how darn linear it was.</p><p>Still, this felt very slow. If you Google stuff like VR fitness, you'll find all kinds of outlandish anecdotal claims about massive weight loss that seems more on a par with what you'd expect from amputation than exercise. Maybe some of them are even true, but <i>I</i> wasn't experiencing such huge improvements.</p><p>Two key things, however, were that I could monitor everything, and I was still very much enjoying the process. Being able to show that I was indeed expending significant amounts of energy doing an activity that I was both good at and enjoyed was hugely important in continuing.</p><p>So in mid April I upped the ante dramatically, adding a 40 minute session in the morning in addition to my lunchtime hour*. And that made the world of difference. Having stalled on <i>Holopoint's </i>level 27 for the longest time, I managed to complete the full 30 waves - at first by luck, but then it started to become routine. I made the top 10 on the scoreboard, the best result I've ever achieved in any game ever (I'm currently number 5). And I increased the morning run to a full hour. Then I <i>really </i>started to notice the difference : where 20 minutes had once left me feeling dead for the day, now two hours was no burden at all. My average heart rate during the sessions increased to 140 BPM and I was burning 700-800 (even 900 on occasion, though that was overdoing it) calories each time.</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">* With hindsight, I could have increased the intensity/duration a lot more rapidly than I actually did, but the advantage of doing it so slowly was that I barely noticed any increased difficulty.</span></p><p>I also started Googling stuff. It seems that it does take a while for the effects of exercise to filter through - it takes time to both lose the weight and increase muscle strength. While in some sense it's simple (more energy consumed = more weight lost), in others it's not : muscles have to heal, which requires <i>gaining </i>weight initially. And while it seems that actually lighter exercise is more <i>efficient </i>at burning fat, the <i>total amount</i> of fat burned (which is what's relevant) it always higher in more intense exercise. Different levels of intensity consume different proportions of fats or sugars, but in terms of weight loss and sheer amount of fat burned, more is always more. </p><p>Basically the mantra seems to be, "do as much as you can, as often as you can, as hard as you can - but no more than that". At one point I found that I'd reached a point of too much intensity, where things were so tiring I'd simply have to stop - consequently I'd burn less calories than a longer, gentler, more fun session. So I dialled it back a notch, sticking with a steady pace I could happily maintain rather than a more demanding one that I couldn't.</p><p>This worked. My weight began to fall very much more rapidly :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1Zturmo0SVgP3ybNZtnRVPRCglPoK_mvFkc1d2-EA0hMsIRV8PiYLzUIlSg2_GcAy2saVnp0pj-wRPKAwyLT40o8y703RlsajSoUIa-DAko9uMhCLiHKdrPixc8AYvduXpFM96ivrgU/s504/Weight.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="504" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1Zturmo0SVgP3ybNZtnRVPRCglPoK_mvFkc1d2-EA0hMsIRV8PiYLzUIlSg2_GcAy2saVnp0pj-wRPKAwyLT40o8y703RlsajSoUIa-DAko9uMhCLiHKdrPixc8AYvduXpFM96ivrgU/w640-h522/Weight.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Around week 25 I thought things might be plateauing, but this was just the effect of statistical variations. It's really important to remember that one can hardly see week-by-week changes, but recording the data is essential for discerning long-term trends. Also, I noticed no pattern in the weekly wiggles whatsoever - the human body is just darn complicated, so trying to ascribe a particular cause to any given data point (e.g. "it must have been that pizza I ate") is a fool's game, and one would do well to avoid it.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>During all this I'd made minimal changes to my diet - and I really do mean minimal. I'd eat one toastie for lunch instead of two. I'd eat a couple less snacks. I'd drink a bit more juice. And honestly, that's it. No kale smoothies. No munching carrots. No replacing bacon with broccoli. And of course, no deadly dull morning runs, or gym subscriptions, or anything <i>really </i>horrible like team sports (urrggh !). Just doing an activity that <i>I</i> enjoyed when and for as long as I enjoyed it.</p><p>If I can do it, then dear reader, I assure you that you can do it do. Maybe it's more efficient to lose weight by changing your diet, but that isn't going to work for me. The better solution for me may be less efficient, but so what ? It's one I can actually do and actively want to do instead of feeling like a chore. I don't wanna kick a ball around. I wanna shoot robots and ninjas. I don't want to feel like I'm doing exercise, I want to do something I'd enjoy anyway. Get that right and the rest is easy.</p><p>So efficiency can go hang. The point is to expend as much energy as possible, not expend as much energy as fast as possible. As pointed out somewhere, it takes the same amount of energy to get from A to B by walking as by jogging. Sure, jogging is faster, so you can burn up the energy more quickly, but if it's so tiring that you won't do it at all, it's far better to walk. </p><p style="text-align: center;">******</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p>At week 22 I hit a just-about-healthy BMI according to the NHS. I'd also dropped a jeans size. Not until week 32 did I hit a <i>perfectly </i>healthy BMI level, however. Had I upped the exercise routine earlier, I could probably have hit my target a couple of months earlier without too much bother.</p><p>From my smartwatch app, my initial exercise routine looked like this :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiFxwoTLO_7U8kX1J4H4W1okbSAmv2DsqripcjgLG3qyhIg70QViHc2dvrdDA2zRq6hNlqLN9U7sPR6YPXw_fgrpxpcshh7KOuOf7hqO_pIr4cnBeuGUgrpqjxz9pjzL16y31t7HO5UI/s1190/Screenshot_20210913-154014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1078" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXiFxwoTLO_7U8kX1J4H4W1okbSAmv2DsqripcjgLG3qyhIg70QViHc2dvrdDA2zRq6hNlqLN9U7sPR6YPXw_fgrpxpcshh7KOuOf7hqO_pIr4cnBeuGUgrpqjxz9pjzL16y31t7HO5UI/w363-h400/Screenshot_20210913-154014.jpg" width="363" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">30 minutes of <i>Vader Immortal's</i> training dojo. It felt intense at the time.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>My latest routine (of which I try to do two each other workday ) looks like this :</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhppPUrYHuv75SldNbYQbxdD1gGSpKlj0ySlMfOQtARXF7Xyso84x539Avstf-S27cJL7B_UDK0Ty-uzNFP_FOJMVVzmeZ0QtRZf4_Syd59dR2hE0_MdzOCxaG8F5bX85TXo9RW6Phq5I/s1084/Screenshot_20210913-153914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="1074" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhppPUrYHuv75SldNbYQbxdD1gGSpKlj0ySlMfOQtARXF7Xyso84x539Avstf-S27cJL7B_UDK0Ty-uzNFP_FOJMVVzmeZ0QtRZf4_Syd59dR2hE0_MdzOCxaG8F5bX85TXo9RW6Phq5I/w396-h400/Screenshot_20210913-153914.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">About 40 minutes of Holopoint and then 20 minutes of <i>Ninja Legends</i>, which I've just recently discovered. I note that my watch's accuracy isn't perfect, and spikes which are anomalously high or low are quite common.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eventually I'd like to reduce this back to an hour a day, or ideally every other day. Currently it's twice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (my home office days) and once on Tuesdays and Thursdays (weekends are rest days, which are important). This means I don't get as much time for blogging or other free activities as I'd like, which is a bit of a burden.</p><p>Finding the sweet spot, the equivalent of neutral buoyancy, is a challenge. In the last few weeks a variety of factors beyond my control (pulling a muscle in my side, the light breaking in the hallway - which messes up the Quest's tracking - the need to avoid exercise after vaccination) conspired to reduce my routine significantly. Yet overall, the trend kept going down just as steeply. Exactly how this works is hard to say, and nutrition, I've learned, is darn complicated. One of the interesting things that everyone seems to agree on is that the lost weight escapes, just like a car or a plant, through <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-we-lose-weight-where-does-it-go-91594">breathing</a>, and a little bit through pee. Which is to say you can't try and poop yourself thin - either your exercise/diet is working or it isn't.</p><p>Annoying, when after I returned from my <a href="https://astrorhysy.blogspot.com/2021/09/expedition-cardiff.html">holiday</a> I'd gained 3.5 kg back, despite walking the dog each day, though I did also indulge heavily in much-missed British snacks. I regret nothing. Still, the search for a sustainable minimum continues.</p><p>Let's finish with a word on economics. A full-price Oculus Quest version 1 cost ~£400. Gym prices in the UK seem to be around £20 per month, so £240 per year. In the Czech Republic things are (surprisingly) more expensive, with £360 yearly being more typical. The Quest 2 is also substantially cheaper at £300. So purely as a replacement gym - if all you want to do is lose weight and don't care about lifting heavy objects - the Quest is competitive. Factor in that you can use it whenever the hell you want, don't have to deal with other human beings, and of course it can do an awful lot more than just exercise games, and it becomes a thoroughly good investment.</p><p>My take-home messages :</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Losing weight is difficult. It's a long, arduous process. If you don't find a method you continuously enjoy, it isn't going to work. For me that's fighting through wave after wave of ninja laser robots. For you it might be making a tastier salad. Go with whatever works.</li><li>By the same token, efficiency is over-rated. Like the Orion nuclear pulse propulsion drive, waste isn't always important if you've got plenty to throw away. I can sustain battling ninjas indefinitely, and that's more important by far than the fact that guzzling kale smoothies would probably be a lot faster.</li><li>Do not worry too much about weekly variations. It's the trend that's important, and you're not going to be able to discern that until at least two months in, unless of course you're doing a much better job than I did.</li><li>You now have a good economic health-based justification for buying that fancy VR headset you've always wanted. You're welcome.</li></ul><p></p>Rhysyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13219113442790412792noreply@blogger.com0