Slow news day? In 2020? Ha!

Just a few of the things that crossed my desktop this morning:

Astronomers have detected phosphine gas in the clouds on Venus, which is a strong indicator of life.
Astronomers have also detected a ping-pong-ball-sized black hole orbiting the sun, getting as close as 133 kAUs in its orbit.
An aircraft made a precautionary landing on an Interstate in Tennessee, and got a full police escort on take-off. No one was hurt.
Car manufacturers are teaming up with insurance companies to share data on almost every aspect of how you drive.
The Democratic governor of Nevada slammed the president for holding a "reckless and selfish" rally inside a Las Vegas arena over the weekend.
Disappointed would-be marijuana retailers have sued to get some of the remaining Illinois licenses, saying the process as run has created an oligopoly that harms consumers.
Via pro photographer Scott Kelly, Iain Stanley explains why your camera equipment matters less than you think.
There are currently 8 active tropical systems in the Western hemisphere today, including the 21st storm of the Atlantic season.

And last night, Cubs pitcher Alec Mills threw the club's 16th no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the history of Major League Baseball, there have only been 315 no-hitters. The last time the Cubs won a no-hitter was 51 years ago.

David Harper
9/14/2020 6:55:07 PM +00:00 |

Apropos the discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus, I watched the press conference, and the scientists were careful to say that they weren't claiming to have found evidence of life, only that they had looked at several possible non-biological sources of phosphine, and none seemed likely to generate enough to match the observations.

I'm old enough to remember the hullabaloo when a biochemistry experiment on board the Viking Mars landers appeared to show biological activity when a Martian soil sample was mixed with a "soup" of simple organic molecules. It turned out that the chemistry of the Martian soil is altered in unusual ways because it is exposed to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation at a level that we don't get on Earth. That's what caused the reaction, not Martian bacteria.

There's still a lot we don't know about the geology and chemistry of Venus. It may turn out that there are non-biological ways to produce phosphine in such an exotic and extreme environment.

The Daily Parker

Slow news day? In 2020? Ha!

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David Harper

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