#Percolate Galactic

[blondebrainpowered]

GIF by Percolate Galactic

[omanatascha]

(via GIPHY)

[diana-andraste]

Bullfighting can be an art Boxing can be an art Loving can be an art Opening a can of sardines can be an art

Charles Bukowski, Style excerpt

Gif by Percolate Galactic

[definitelynotshouting]

*glances up from shoving my hands into hauntingly neutral Speaker concepts* you got any worldbuilding you wants to talk about? I’m love worldbuilding

Okay i let this one percolate for a little bit bc i didnt immediately have anything i could like, coherently speak abt at the time, but i do actually think this could be interesting for yall to hear???

So in hunger au, the universe is quasi-sentient, and all the entities within it (Players, Watchers, Listeners, even Seekers when they were still alive) are like... its fruiting bodies, if we wanna put it in fungal terms, so to speak. Entities are the universe's way of exploring, understanding, and experiencing itself; because of this, everything is connected to it via the Greater Code in some capacity. (For newly Spawned Players especially, this connection is very deep and strong-- its what teaches them how to survive, how to function on their own; its what urges them to make that first crafter and begin playing the game, to learn and to keep learning. I've likened it before to something of a mental umbilical cord, of sorts, that fades over time as the Player emerges into their own.)

The point here though is that everything in the universe is the universe, and is therefore technically the universe speaking to itself, over and over and over again, in many different voices.

Which means that, functionally, there is only one native language in this universe.

This doesnt mean multiple languages dont exist, but the thing is, theyre all conlangs!! Language is in itself a form of play-- its not uncommon at all for Players to develop their own languages, unique dialects, and body-language that are all very server(or even individual)-specific

I dont really have a name for this universal language (frankly id probably just borrow it from galactic; as i told @/raichett when it came up in dms the other night, my skills really do not lie in making conlangs atm 😂😂😂😂😂) but i thought that would be fun to toss out there for you guys to munch on as i edit hunger au chap 10 :] thanks for asking!!!

[honourablejester]

A thought for a sci-fi ghost story.

I was thinking about science fiction and horror in proximity, how to do gothic in space, and I’ll come back to that, I’m percolating on it. But I was sidetracked by a thought about ghost ships. Which can mean anything from an abandoned ship drifting without power, to a ship full of ghosts, to the ghost of a ship. And that. That last one.

You all remember in Event Horizon (1997), when they realise that the rescue ship’s scanners are registering the Event Horizon itself as ‘alive’? The idea of the ship itself as the ghost.

And I’ve been watching some air crash investigation stuff lately, including some tragic CVR recordings, and I remembered one which was just the pilot pleading something along the lines of ‘come on, girl, don’t do this to me, don’t crash on me’.

And in the animated anthology series ‘Love, Death and Robots’, there was a short called ‘Lucky 13’, about an unlucky ship that got a pilot that cared, and may or may not have been sentient enough to make its death count to try and save said pilot.

So I was thinking. There’s a hulk, drifting in space. It’s an old, old hulk, a ship from centuries ago. It’s been spotted here or there a couple dozen times throughout galactic history. Nobody who goes near it comes back. But the thing about it is, it’s not drifting. It can’t be drifting. Because plotting the locations it’s been seen, assuming that the reports are real, it’s been covering a lot of distance in those centuries. Nowhere close to what a ship under actual power would cover, it’s heartbreakingly slow, but it’s covering ground. Or space, rather. It’s moving. Almost as if it’s still being piloted.

And that’s not really possible. Every scan of the ship from someone who survived shows that it’s dead. Dead dead. Whatever power plant was in there is gutted or gone. There is not a shred of motivating power left in her. She’s a hulk. There is no power, there are no life signs, there is no motivating force. Now, granted, every scan of the ship that survived came from ships that kept their distance. Nothing’s out there from someone who got close. But still. She’s dead. She’s a hunk of floating metal. There is nothing in her that should be able to let her move.

But she is. She’s moving. Slowly, oh, so achingly slowly, but she’s moving. She’s going somewhere. Power or no power, life or no life. Four hundred years down the line, she still has somewhere to go.

And maybe we follow a team who spots her. Maybe they were hunting her, the mysterious white whale of the salvaging community, or maybe it was a ship on its own business who stumbled across her, but they see her. And they get close. And they board her.

And things happen. Terrifying things. Things in their heads, things not in their heads. A hulk that’s been dead and powerless and airless and frozen for four hundred years, but things move inside her. Things open. Things close. Systems flare with phantom life. She wants them out. She wants them gone. Get out, get away, leave me alone. Leave me and mine alone.

But someone’s stubborn. And someone stays, someone keeps pushing. Someone finds the thing at the core of her that she was so desperate to defend.

Her power plant is gone. Damn near ripped apart. Whatever happened to her, whatever she ran into all those centuries ago, it did catastrophic damage to her. Absolutely unsurvivable damage. But not instant damage. Not enough to blow her up on the spot. She fought all the way down. And so did her crew. So did her crew. Because the bodies are still there. Scattered, here or there, lying where they fell, the trail of breadcrumbs across the ship that she was doing everything in her power to drive intruders away from. Guarding their bodies. Guarding their rest.

There’s a recording. When they find the first of the bodies, and they don’t touch them, when she realises they’re not going to touch them, she lets them onto the bridge. There’s a ‘recording’. Nothing real. Nothing recoverable. There’s no power. Nothing left alive to record anything. But the boarding team ‘sees’ the recording anyway, phantom signals on a black screen. Phantom voices over dead comms.

“Come on, girl. Come on, girl. Give me just a little bit more. Come on. Come on. We’re so close. One more jump and we’re home. Come on, girl, you can do this. Just a little bit more. Please.”

And she couldn’t. She couldn’t. She didn’t have a little bit more. But by god, by god, she will get them home now. The slow way. The hard way. No engines. No jumps. By no power but her own sheer determination. Desperation. Loyalty. She couldn’t save them. But she will get them home.

The ship is a ghost. There’s no crew. They’re all dead, they’re all gone. They didn’t stay with her. No spirits linger except hers. She’s all alone. But it doesn’t matter. She failed them then. She won’t now. The ghost of a dead ship will carry their bodies home. No matter how long it takes, or how far she has to go. Some loyalties last beyond death. And hers is one of them.

Leave her alone. Leave them alone. She has to carry them home.

… Yeah. I had a thought for science fiction ghost story? The story of the ghost … of a ship. Heh.

[astronomyforastrologers]

The Bootes Contradiction ~ 25 Sep 2024

The Bootes Contradiction ~ 25 Sep 2024, Philip Sedgwick

Before diving in, a Vimeo recording (1 hr. 32 min) of the interview with Sasha Ravich during the AstroMajic event is now available. This is a limited time offer. The video will only be available for viewing through 8 November. For the price of an afternoon matinee, you can tune in to hear the source story of Galactic Astrology, what can be perceived with Galactic phenomena and more. Here’s the link to order the interview and other galactic products and consultations. And now, onto the post.

On or about 09 October, the Sun passes the degree of the Bootes Void (estimated for 2025, 16 Libra 40 / 57 N 50). On or about 10 October, the Sun to Bootes Supercluster (estimated for 2025 18 Li 09 / 34 N 53).

This is more than a fine kettle of fish; this is a most curious contradiction. First, a few background details for perspective. In space there exist eighteen defined superclusters. A supercluster is a collection of galaxies and stars gravitationally compressed into a small region of space. These are spaces of incredible object density. In space there are also three (possibly more, depending upon source material) defined void regions in space. These are areas in which objects appear not so much, thus a void.

Curiously, when projected on the ecliptic the Bootes Void and the Bootes Supercluster coexist in virtual conjunction separated by about a degree and a half of longitude. Looking vertically relative to ecliptic, the void stands about thirteen degrees above the supercluster. This is most fascinating. Two objects seemingly portraying opposite sides of the Bootes nature share virtually the same place on the ecliptic.

Any individual with a connection to the Bootes Void simultaneously enjoys a connection with the Bootes Supercluster.

To personify one of the maladies of Libra, one must make a decision which entity one wishes to portray and when. Or must they? Can a person have it both ways?

A bit about Bootes in clustering the myths together. In ancient lore Bootes was a herdsman (a goddess according to the Egyptians) with an ingenious streak. Bootes is credited with inventing the plough (plow). This creation won great favor with the goddess of agriculture, Ceres, and earned him a place in the heavens upon his death. His agricultural chops also won favor with Dionysus, keeper of the sacred wine, for obvious reasons. Also, Bootes kept the pole stars in check, as part of his flock - a Libran balancing act requiring great attention.

Within Bootes’ nature there is fertility, ingenuity, an ability to arbitrate the position of opposing entities and skill at keeping the flock together. With little imagination, these attributes certainly translate to useable talents that can be applied in the real world or online (implying only a more etheric, nebulous quality to all things done in the realm of cyber).

This fosters the question, should one choose to portray the demonstrated skill sets of Bootes in life, or would slipping into the void be a better option? Is there a more correct option? Perhaps this is like one who cultivates great knowledge that may help the world, and chooses to sit on a mountain top meditating and praying for the world to evolve. Perhaps this is like one who cultivates great knowledge that may help the world and chooses to get in the thick of it with all the people of the world and work in the trenches to ensure a positive outcome for the planet.

A few considerations deserve percolation while deciding which option best suits ones dharmic disposition.

For diving into the void:

Ensure that there is no embarrassment, false humility or imposter syndrome impacting the choice. Know that ones potency is felt with equal intensity while in the void. Recognize the sensation of ghosting felt by others in your absence. Create mitigation communication to abate the disruption caused by this effect. Agree to use ones non physical presence in all known impactful matters. Cultivate a clear intentional focus for life objectives and influence. Master instantaneous, at-a-distance energy transfer methods.

For utilizing the assets of a supercluster

Check that one has no agenda of creating favor or influence as a result of ones talents. Function from the standpoint that when the world becomes a better place because of ones action, life in the world is more palatable and less stressful. Use no gravitational or cosmic influence with the agenda of personal gain... realizing that a betterment of one life likely results from so doing... it’s simply not the intention behind the action. Decide to become a master in perceiving interpersonal energy dynamics and reporting those intricacies to those struggling to maintain personal independence or those mired within the influence of another.

Soon, the Sun transits the Bootes degrees, applying unapologetic attention to the Bootes effect. Will a person choose engagement or withdrawal, or perhaps they feel differing urges at different times? The Sun should ensure that all urges are clear, and hopefully, promptly engaged.

Regardless of the mode of life involvement chosen, recognize engagement, direct or indirect, is in progress. Establish personal energetic intention to support either mode and engage fully and without reservation or hesitation. If the mode of engagement selected presents a radical change of life operational dynamics, consider informing those in your personal sphere of your decision. This ensures that no unwanted energy threads get directed toward you, regardless of your engagement or disengagement.

Is there a convergence zone in which both polarities can exist much like the pole stars Bootes oversaw? Can one change modes of operation over the course of a solar transit? Perhaps. Keep in mind that these degrees of Libra possess extreme drawing power... a.k.a. charisma and charm of the highest order. Once a person taps into the gravity of these degrees, others will be inexplicably captivated by their words, thoughts and actions... and they will not take kindly to being dismissed once engaged.

Is this contradiction Hamlet personified? To be or not to be...? Perhaps the reframe states: To Bootes or not to Bootes... that is the question.

More soon.

There’s nothing like the time of Libra for a cosmic reality check with the transits to create alignment with what one wants to accomplish and how others perceive accomplishment efforts. Whether a half-hour, full-blown session or sequence of sessions, the transits and discovery of galactic intricacies assist the cause. For those wanting to pose a question or two, that’s an option. So is ordering a Galactic Report or diving into the Galactic Trilogy.

One Stop Shopping Order Form Astrological Texts

Meteoric the Movie on Vimeo ZAP! on Vimeo

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Earliest sign of the Universe becoming transparent

Born in fire, cooled by expansion, collapsed by clumpiness.

That is the Universe in a nutshell.

A few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the first stars and galaxies condensed out of immense clouds of gas. Exactly when is a subject of intense research, but so far, astronomers have discovered galaxies all the way back to less than 300 million years after the Big Bang.

Now one of these very first galaxies turns out to reveal an interesting fact about the Universe:

Risk of dense fog with low visibility

One of the reasons that detecting the first galaxies is complicated is exactly because of the gas from which they form.

Newborn galaxies shine most brightly in energetic, ultraviolet light, or UV. But during the first some half a billion years, the gas enshrouding the galaxies, and lying between them, was neutral. Because neutral gas is very efficient at absorbing UV light, this means that only the fainter, less-energetic light can make it through the fog, making observations of the first galaxies extremely challenging.

Galaxies detected in these early epochs are simply invisible at the short UV wavelengths.

Lifting the fog

As UV radiation is emitted from the first sources of light, it slowly begins to transform the Universe. The neutral atoms that hide the galaxies are split apart by the UV light, eventually rendering the Universe transparent.

This process is known as the Epoch of Reionization, and its detailed circumstances are a subject of intense research in astronomy: When did it start, how long did it take, how did it proceed, and which sources were responsible?

Until recently, the consensus was that reionization did not begin until the Universe was around half a billion years old, completing another half billion years later.

But this notion is now challenged by a new study, led by astronomers at the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) at the Niels Bohr Institute and DTU Space. Investigating one of the most distant galaxies, the researchers have discovered a clear sign of reionization beginning significantly earlier than hitherto thought.

Joris Witstok, postdoc at DAWN who led the study, explains:

“Young galaxies shine brightest at a very specific wavelength of light, originating from hydrogen. To astronomers, this light goes under the name “Lyman alpha”. Because of its short UV wavelength, it is easily absorbed by the surrounding medium, and therefore no galaxy from when the Universe was less than half a billion years old has showed us this particular kind of light.”

Galactic bubbles

That is, until now.

What Witstok and his team found was that one of the very most distant galaxies, known as JADES-GS-z13-1, is gleaming brilliantly with Lyman alpha light. 

But how can Lyman alpha escape a galaxy cloaked in dense, neutral gas?

“We know from our theories and computer simulations, as well as from observations at later epochs, that the most energetic UV light from the galaxies »fries« the surrounding neutral gas, creating bubbles of ionized, transparent gas around them,” Witstok elaborates. “These bubbles percolate the Universe, and after around a billion years, they eventually overlap, completing the epoch of reionization. We believe that we have discovered one of the first such bubbles.”

In other words, the detection of the Lyman alpha light is a telltale signature of an ionized bubble, because it would not be able to escape otherwise.

Only with Webb

The observations would not have been possible without the sensitivity of James Webb and its ability to explore the light of galaxies wavelength by wavelength.

“We knew that we would find some of the most distant galaxies when we built Webb,” says Peter Jakobsen, affiliated professor at DAWN, project scientist behind James Webb’s spectrograph NIRSpec, and second-author of the study. “But we could only dream of one day being able to probe them in such detail that we can now see directly how they affect the whole Universe.”

The question remains what exactly is the cause of the ionized bubble. Although the first stars are thought to be very hot and extremely UV bright, there is another possibility:

“Most galaxies are known to host a central, supermassive black hole. As these monsters engulf surrounding gas, the gas is heated to millions of degrees, making it shine brightly in X-rays and UV before disappearing forever. This is another viable cause of the bubbles, which we will now investigate,” Witstok concludes.

TOP IMAGE: The galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1 observed through seven different filters that transmit only part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The farther to the left, the more ultraviolet the light is. While the galaxy is clearly seen in the four longer-wavelength images on the right, it is completely invisible in the shortest wavelengths images on the left. Note that the colors are “false”; the images merely shows where the light is seen. Credit Credit: Witstok et al. (2025).

LOWER IMAGE: A close view on one of the most distant galaxies known: On the left are some 10,000 galaxies at all distances, observed with the James Webb Space Telescope. The zoom-in on the right shows, in the center as a red dot, the galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1. Its light was emitted 330 million years after the Big Bang and traveled for almost 13.5 billion years before reaching Webb’s golden mirror. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen, A. Pagan (STScI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb).

[terriwriting]

And I got an idea for a classic SF setting where

it turns out once a civilization collects all the low fruit, technological and scientific progress grinds to a haul. As a consequence, there are million year old civilizations out there but the difference between us and them is more like Classical Rome and the US, not Homo habilis and us. There's no singularity, rockets still obey Newton, and there's barely any fusion (oddly, total conversion turns out to be a doddle and often the last thing civilizations invent).

Alas, while FTL is doable, it's slow and limited, and lifebearing worlds are hard to get a foothold on so civilizations tend not to spread. When they do spread, it's unevenly (see Percolation Theory).The downside of FTL is it means collapse can spread all across even interstellar civilizations.

Also alas, aliens are _alien_ and bridging the communication gap is hard. As a consequence of that and slow travel times, there's less contact than one might expect. The Great Silence is because almost no one thinks it is worth the investment to talk and if they did, it would be by messenger courier (months to years), not radio (years to millennia).

There _is_ a large scale organization to reduce friction, because experience says not having one is worse. Its name translates as "the least we could do." It's poorly funded and draws mainly from the species at the very high end of the gregariousness scale. It's there to prevent violence. It won't preemptively nuke potentially troublesome species because experience says being the sort of organization that does that leads to poor outcomes. It will jam their jump points so that they can't be used.

The Least has automated monitors in every solar system. The Least has a very large database on the development of civilizations, and all the likely Great Filters they have to survive (or in the majority of cases, fail to). Each new group is an additional headache, so if the Least notices a group barrelling toward self-annihilation, they generally do nothing. Which gets us to Earth.

They've known about Earth for millions of years, maybe longer. They've known about hominins since we started affecting the environment in a major way. Humans check off a lot of the warning signs for a doomed species. As a consequence, the monitor misread the hundreds of nuclear weapons tests as a sustained nuclear war. It sent a notice to the Least to that effect. Then the Least jammed the Sol jump points from the far side, cutting off all communications.

While the data on humans is correct, interpretation by officials who skim those records isn't. Those who remember the humans at all remember them for comparative proximity to a impending supernova (the main reason galactics are interested in our otherwise unfashionable part of the Milky Way) and for being chaotic, fearfully energetic, narcoleptic, violent [1], obligate carnivores with an insane birth rate [2] from a giant, bright, doomed [3] star system. Happily, humans might have wiped themselves out. If they didn't, rebuilding from a thermonuclear war should keep them too busy for space flight for a few centuries. If they do make it into space, all their jump points are impassible.

So where did the human starship come from?

The Least is sufficiently adept for its needs to create translators and thousands of years of watching Earth gave them databases on all the major languages, including a bunch now extinct. As a consequence, the Least will speak to the human ship in English. However, since none of the Least's databases were updated since the 1950s, all of the slang is archaic.

1: Actually, lots of intelligent species are far more violent. They tend not to get past the nuclear weapon Great Filter. Some esp violent examples don't survive pointed stick.

2: For a K-strategy species. The R-strategy guys produce far more offspring but they have a proportionately larger mortality rate.

3: Most ETs come from red dwarf systems.

My responses:

That's a fantastic bit of worldbuilding. Thinking along my own lines… Assuming FTL develops out of roughly contemporary experiments in physics and follows a standard engineering timeline, we're about 100-200 years away from developing FTL. If the Least hasn't updated its linguistics databases since 1950, that would make it over 200 years out of date. It would be like trying to hold a conversation with Jane Austen. Or the basis of FTL could be something with immediate engineering applications, which would optimistically put FTL about 25-50 years away. That would make the gap more like trying to talk to someone from the 1920s. And you'd have the bonus of humans running around in tin cans strapped to nuclear reactors and whatever absurd high energy physics-thing makes the FTL work. You wouldn't really need jump points to blockade a star system either. If the FTL is a convenient warp or hyperdrive type, just slap some sort of blanket interdiction field around Earth. Say from a TMA-1 type object (or maybe a pair and a spare set-up) buried under the Lunar dirt, to protect it from radiation and micro-impacts. The Least comes by once every two hundred years or so to make sure interdictor is still working. It's not that important to them; even if your species survives a limited nuclear war, all of your easy to access resources have been used up, your environment is crap, and your population is minuscule. The interdiction field is more of a technicality, to make sure the really violent types don't somehow manage to crawl out of their own wreckage. An interdiction field would also explain why humans didn't discover the principles behind FTL until relatively late. Our systems had to be really sensitive to detect whatever the signs are. And it would be an interesting bit of tension between humans and everyone elese. "You expoxied our apartment door shut." "Yeah. Sorry. In our defence, we heard gunshots and assumed you were dead. We didn't want the smell to bother anyone."

And:

Thinking some more about it… 1850s-1920s: The observed world has clearly entered a phase of rapid industrialization, with a high potential to develop nuclear weapons. Build the interdiction facility on the moon, take as many low-altitude scans now as you can (There were various UFO crazes through to the 1920s), and then pull back to remote observation. 1920s-1950s: All observations are now done through automated remote systems, including various stealth drones. Observations of Earth's atmosphere reveal growing levels of toxic heavy metals (leaded gasoline), a degraded ozone layer (fluorocarbons), wartime use of nuclear weapons, and growing tensions between nuclear powers. In March 1954, following the Castle Bravo detonation, a mass shooting at the US Capitol, and the start of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the remote observation team decides to pull out of the system and activate the interdiction system. The last atmospheric data shows the Castle Romeo detonation, and is taken as the start of a thermonuclear battle.

[spacenutspod]

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has always been plagued by uncertainty. With only one habitable planet (Earth) and one technologically advanced civilization (humanity) as examples, scientists are still confined to theorizing where other intelligent life forms could be (and what they might be up to). Sixty years later, the answer to Fermi’s famous question (“Where is Everybody?”) remains unanswered. On the plus side, this presents us with many opportunities to hypothesize possible locations, activities, and technosignatures that future observations can test. One possibility is that the growth of civilizations is limited by the laws of physics and the carrying capacity of the planetary environments – aka. The Percolation Theory Hypothesis. In a recent study, a team from the University of the Philippines Los Banos looked beyond traditional Percolation Theory to consider how civilizations might grow in three different types of Universes (static, dark energy-dominated, and matter-dominated). Their results indicate that, depending on the framework, intelligent life has a finite amount of time to populate the Universe and is likely to do so exponentially. The study was conducted by Allan L. Alinea and Cedrix Jake C. Jadrin, an Assistant Professor of Physics and a Teaching Associate with the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. The preprint of their paper, “Percolation of ‘Civilization’ in a Homogeneous Isotropic Universe,” recently appeared online. For their study, the team considered how traditional Percolation Theory could be interpreted in terms of a Logistic Growth Function (LGF), where a population’s per capita growth rate gets smaller as population size approaches a maximum imposed by the limits of local resources (aka. carrying capacity). The Big Bang Theory: A history of the Universe starting from a singularity and expanding ever since. Credit: grandunificationtheory.com Percolation Theory In brief, Percolation Theory describes how networks behave when nodes or links are removed, wherein they will break down into smaller connected clusters. The first known instance of this theory being applied to the Fermi Paradox was perhaps made by Carl Sagan and William I. Newman in 1981. In a paper titled “Galactic Civilizations: Population Dynamics and Interstellar Diffusion,” they argued that the reason humanity has not encountered extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) is because interstellar exploration and settlement are not linear phenomena. In contrast to the Hart-Tipler Conjecture, which argues that advanced ETCs would have colonized our galaxy long ago (hence, they do not exist), Sagan and Newman postulated that interstellar exploration is a matter of diffusion. Geoffrey A. Landis argued these same sentiments in his 1993 paper, “The Fermi Paradox: An Approach Based on Percolation Theory,” where he argued that the laws of physics impose limits on interstellar growth. According to Landis, there is no “uniformity of motive” to be expected from extraterrestrial civilizations: “Since it is possible, given a large enough number of extraterrestrial civilizations, one or more would have certainly undertaken to do so, possibly for motives unknowable to us. Colonization will take an extremely longtime, and will be very expensive. It is quite reasonable to suppose that not all civilizations will be interested in making such a large expenditure for a pay off far in the future. Human society consists of a mixture of cultures which explore and colonize, some times over extremely large distances, and cultures which have no interest in doing so.” Similarly, Prof. Adam Frank and colleagues from NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanetary Systems Science (NExSS) wrote a paper in 2019 titled “The Fermi Paradox and the Aurora Effect: Exo-civilization Settlement, Expansion, and Steady States.” Inspired by the 2015 novel Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, they argued that the interstellar settlement would occur in clusters since not all potentially habitable planets would be hospitable to an alien species. In short, the laws of physics, biology, and evolution impose limits on how far and fast a species can settle our galaxy. Solve for T & H To constrain those limits, the team considered the three main cosmological models of the Universe, including static, matter-dominated, and dark energy-dominated. A static Universe, as originally described by Einstein and his Cosmological Constant, is infinite in terms of space and time and is neither expanding nor contracting. A matter-dominated Universe describes the state of the Universe prior to 9.8 billion years after the Big Bang, a time when the energy density of matter exceeded both the energy density of radiation and the vacuum energy density. A dark energy-dominated Universe describes the latest phase of cosmic evolution, which began roughly 9.8 billion years ago and is characterized by an accelerated rate of expansion. The team also considered all three scenarios in terms of a Logistic Growth Function to determine the number of planets settled with time. From this, the team obtained the two parameters of their study: T, the time needed to settle a spherical section of an ideal Universe that is both homogeneous and isotropic, and H, the Hubble parameter that describes the rate of cosmic expansion – a.k.a. the Hubble Law or Hubble-Lemaitre Law. For a static Universe, they found that settlement follows the LGF, similar to how population growth, the spread of infectious diseases, and chemical reactions do. As they noted in their study, these dynamical systems follow a general pattern beginning with a relatively slow start due to limited sources (in this case, habitable planets). But, as they continue to expand and acquire new sources, this multiplies the number available, and the propagation speeds up. This continues until the number of sources begins to dwindle and/or the elements of the system are exhausted. To their surprise, the team noted similar behaviors when looking at a matter-dominated and dark-energy Universe. As Dr. Alinea told Universe Today via email. “Remarkably, when the space itself is expanding as in the dark-energy and matter-dominated Universes, the process of settlement, for the most part, still follows the Logistic Growth Function. We did not expect this result because a system with expanding space appeared to us as vastly different from a static system. Most of the studies we know on percolation are based on a static lattice (e.g., spread of forest fire, propagation of disease, information diffusion) where the logistic growth behavior is usually observed. Our study ‘extends’ this behavior to cases where the lattice is expanding like our very own Universe.” Steps to the Hubble Constant. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI) Nevertheless, they did find there was a delay in an expanding Universe in terms of the rate of settlement compared to a static one. For a dark energy-dominated universe, they found that the total settlement time (T) was marked with divergence for a large enough expansion rate (H). In accordance with Hubble’s Law, when H is large enough, some planets would expand beyond the horizon and become “unreachable.” In essence, distant planets can be receding faster than the speed of light, making it improbable that an expanding civilization would ever reach them. They also found that in cases where the Hubble Sphere (H) was smaller, the relation between T and H was linear – in other words, T was roughly equal to H (T ~ H). For a matter-dominated Universe, their findings indicated that where H was similarly small, the same relation applied, but where H became larger, the relation changed significantly to T~ H2. In comparison to that of a dark energy-dominated Universe, T did not increase exponentially or reach infinity unless H was infinite. Said Alinear: “This is interesting because a matter-dominated Universe is also characterized by a horizon. It means that for planets far enough from a reference planet in this Universe, they are receding at a velocity faster than light, making it appear that they are unreachable. However, for a matter-dominated universe, in accordance with Friedmann Equation, the comoving Hubble Sphere is shrinking instead of expanding. Put simply and informally, those planets far away from a reference planet in this Universe (that are initially ‘moving’ faster than the speed of light) are ‘slowing down,’ making them reachable, at least in principle.” So… Where Are They? From their results, the team determined that advanced civilizations will generally follow a growth trend that is slow to start but will take off over time, eventually slowing and stopping as the number of “reachable” planets is exhausted. As Dr. Alineal described, “This model is marked by a three-phase pattern: slow settlement rate –> fast settlement rate –> slow settlement rate.” The question remains: what does this mean for Fermi’s time-honored question? How does this three-phase pattern help us refine the search for advanced civilizations expanding across the galaxy? To that, the team concludes that our galaxy may currently be in Phase I, characterized by a slow settlement rate. This could be because only a few intelligent, advanced civilizations are engaged in interstellar settlement right now. “This slow phase can be exacerbated by large distances between”living” planets. But once some number of traveling civilizations is reached, we may enter Phase II, characterized by a fast settlement rate. Given enough time upon entering this phase, we may finally say hello to aliens out there.” The center of the Milky Way as seen from Chile. The core contains very old stars that date back to early in cosmic history. Credit: ESO/P.Horalek CC by 4.0. Moreover, their results address the possibility of humanity becoming an interstellar species someday, perhaps as a means of ensuring the continued survival and development of our species. This represents a challenge in an ever-expanding, ever-accelerating Universe dominated by Dark Energy. But as Dr. Alineal summarized, there are options: “Given enough technology to travel near the speed of light, it is still challenging to reach any planet in the Universe, particularly the far away planets. Having said this, there is a spherical section of this Universe, centered in our location, whose planets are reachable, at least in principle, for possible settlement. Beyond this are planets that “move” away from us at a speed higher than that of light and may not be reachable. Unfortunately, this sphere is shrinking, so a section of the universe that we can inhabit, although large on the human scale, becomes smaller and smaller with time.” “If there is a mechanism to drive the universe to a state such that its expansion rate is the same or similar to that of a matter-dominated universe, then we would be lucky enough to have a Universe that can, in principle, be colonized up to any distance from us; that is, the colonization and human influence in the Universe is not bounded by any sphere unlike that of the dark-energy dominated Universe.” In summary, the answer to Fermi’s question may be that advanced civilizations are in an early, slow phase of expansion that has (so far) prevented us from making contact. But as there spherical volume of Hubble Space (H) that we could occupy expands, we are more likely to get close enough to someone else’s that we will finally know that we’re not alone in the Universe. Similarly, while Dark Energy may limit how far we can reach (within our galaxy, not much farther), a sufficient volume of space would enable our continued development and could prevent a single cataclysmic fate from claiming all of our species. And who knows? Perhaps cosmic expansion will not carry on as it has for the past 4 billion years, and the Universe will slow down and achieve a sort of homeostasis – the kind Einstein preferred to believe in. In that case, our Hubble Spheres may continue to expand indefinitely, and there will be no shortage of intermingling between cosmic civilizations. It does make for some exciting prospects, doesn’t it? Further Reading: arXiv The post Civilizations are Probably Spreading Quickly Through the Universe appeared first on Universe Today.

[olivia-musement25]

Week 3: Digital Community: Tumblr Case Study

Tumblr isn’t just a platform—it’s a whole vibe, the lecture this week taught me that. It is a playground of creativity, deep convos, and unfiltered self-expression. No boring algorithm shoving the same recycled posts at you—here, YOU run the show. Whether you’re diving into niche fandoms, sparking intellectual debates, or just vibing in your own little corner, Tumblr is where ideas flow, anonymity is respected, and communities actually feel like home✨💙.

Let’s not forget one of Tumblr’s biggest perks—anonymity. Byron et al. (2019) call it the ‘Anonymity Benefits,’ and honestly, they nailed it. Tumblr’s design lets users stay anonymous, which can be super freeing. No pressure to perform, no fear of being judged by people you know in real life—just pure, unfiltered self-expression.

For many, especially young people, this creates a safe space to explore their identities, share thoughts openly, and connect with like-minded communities without the weight of social expectations. Tumblr isn’t just a platform; it’s a digital sanctuary where you can be whoever you want to be. And that? That’s powerful. 💫

One of Tumblr’s coolest features? Hashtags! They’re not just for organizing content—they’re a way to showcase diversity. According to Reif et al. (2022) in their article “Love the Skin You’re In”, the hashtag #bodypositive has been used to build virtual communities that empower women to embrace their bodies and push back against societal norms. Sounds amazing, right? And it totally should be!

But here’s the catch—while the movement spreads a great message, the actual content doesn’t always reflect the full spectrum of women’s experiences. Most of the images still show conventionally attractive bodies that fit society’s beauty standards. So, in a way, #bodypositive can be both a challenge to norms and a reinforcement of them. Kinda ironic, huh? 🤔

We need more real diversity in the conversation. Let’s make body positivity actually positive for everyone. ✨

References BYRON, P., ROBARDS, B., HANCKEL, B., VIVIENNE, S., & CHURCHILL, B. (2019). “Hey, I’m Having These Experiences”: Tumblr Use and Young People’s Queer (Dis)connections. International Journal of Communication, 2239–2259. https://researchnow-admin.flinders.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/15489152/9677_38368_3_PB.pdf Percolate Galactic. (2025). percolategalactic-retouching-beauty-standards-thin-waist. Giphy.com. https://media2.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYmQ1dnVvcHgyaW1na3A4cGJuemVwYnYwNWNyZWlyN3ZteTJxaDA2YyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/3o6ZtprHJAAYngnMEE/giphy.gif Reif, A., Miller, I., & Taddicken, M. (2022). “Love the Skin You‘re In”: An Analysis of Women’s Self-Presentation and User Reactions to Selfies Using the Tumblr Hashtag #bodypositive. Mass Communication and Society, 26(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2138442 Urban Outfitters. (2025). Red Cap Alien Brain Love Greeting Card. Pinterest. https://pin.it/2MaSCYWG5

[denimbex1986]

'Well Whovians, we’ve nearly made it. We’re at just under a week until Doctor Who has returned to our screens with the first of three-anniversary specials, celebrating 60 years of sci-fi glory. If that wasn’t monumental enough to tune in, the specials also feature the return of David Tennant as The Doctor and Catherine Tate of Donna Noble. For fans of Classic NuWho, the friendship, and dynamics between The Doctor and Donna were fantastic (pun intended), however, their story ended in tragedy. So how exactly do they end up in each other’s lives again? Why has the Doctor returned to this face? And more importantly, what happens to Donna Noble if she sees him again and remembers? All these questions percolate through “The Star Beast”.

With the 60th anniversary specials, Russell T. Davies returns as showrunner, continuing into Ncuti Gatwa’s tenure as the 15th Doctor, which begins with the upcoming Christmas episode. While every showrunner has brought something unique to Doctor Who, there is something special about having the man who revived the series in 2005 back at the helm of the ship. So with so much pressure to get this right, does “The Star Beast” stick the landing? Continue on for my impressions on the first 60th anniversary special!

Fantastic duo The Doctor and Donna Noble together again

After the events of “The Power of the Doctor”, which was Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Gallifreyan, the Doctor isn’t quite himself. The forced regeneration at the hands of the Master (Sacha Dhawan) has made the Doctor unstable. This was seen in the utter force behind the regeneration from Whittaker’s 13th Doctor to Tennant’s face as the 14th Doctor. However, a new question arises with Tennant’s return as a new Doctor. Why this face? Why now? And why is the universe pushing him towards Donna Noble?

These questions are threaded throughout “The Star Beast”, which was written by RTD with a story from Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons. A story that begins with The Doctor arriving on Earth in the present day, searching for answers but not knowing what they are or what direction to start looking. He’s a bit more unsure of himself when we meet him at the beginning of this first 60th anniversary special, especially when destiny forces him and Donna together once more. A situation he has tried to avoid for years, and yet the universe has something else in store for these two.

He’s fearful of the consequences if Donna remembers who he is because the idea of losing his best friend is too much to handle. And yet, when a starship crash lands in London, with a cute little Meep (Miriam Margolyes) on board, the Doctor and Donna are swept up into a greater galactic conspiracy between the hairy alien and the Wrarth Warriors. Can the Doctor save the day, and get to the bottom of the war raging between these two alien races, without hurting Donna in the process? You’ll have to tune in to “The Star Beast” to find out!

Doctor Who: The Star Beast is a return to form with some exciting upgrades

This first 60th-anniversary special is truly a return to form in every sense of the word. I want it stated on the record that I have loved every season of NuWho. That being said when I watched “The Star Beast”, it felt like something magical had returned to my screen. This first special is quintessential Doctor Who, encapsulating everything from RTD’s era that made it great. The adventure is epic, the alien’s scary, and the Doctor runs around like a madman in a blue box, solving the problem before the credits roll.

However, the episode also captures the heart that RTD is so fantastic at weaving into his stories. There’s a ton of heartbreak in this episode, something I wasn’t necessarily expecting, but again is essential for a great Doctor Who story. The dynamics and care between these characters, both new and old, seal the deal as one of the best hours of Doctor Who to date. I cannot stress how back we are, because for everyone who fell off Doctor Who during Moffat’s era or later, this is exactly the time for you to jump back on. Doctor Who has never felt so fresh and invigorated as it has with the return of RTD, Tennant, and Tate.

There are so many changes in quality for this special. You can easily tell that Doctor Who has that new influx of money thanks to the deal with Disney, as many of the CGI and VFX shots are leagues above where they once were. I’m not kidding, it’s night and day compared to past seasons. So much so, that it’s both awe-inspiring and almost off-putting when you first initially observe it. There are things the new sonic screwdriver can do that I never would have thought possible, at least in the quality in which we see it now.

Ultimately, I think the deal with Disney will be good, as the show still feels just like Classic NuWho, but with a bit of a facelift. It couldn’t come at any better of a time, as Doctor Who needed a bit of a reinvention for its 60th year.

I cried when I saw David Tennant once again as the Doctor. I’m not ashamed to admit that. Part of me knew that I would see Tennant again in Doctor Who, but I always assumed it would be as the 10th Doctor as a one-off, similar to his role in the 50th anniversary. But to have three entire specials dedicated to one of the greatest Doctors, albeit technically a new Doctor and fan-favorite companion Donna feels like a dream.

Both Tennant and Tate are exceptional once again as the Doctor and Donna. Truly, it feels like they easily slipped back into their shoes, without missing a beat. Can you believe it’s been over a decade since they’ve been in these roles together? However, you would never know, as this episode plays like just another chapter in their journey together. If there was ever a way to celebrate this huge occasion, this was it. I couldn’t think of a better way.

Joining them in his episode is Donna’s family, with Jacqueline King and Karl Collins returning as Sylvia Noble and her husband Shaun. While it was great to see both of them return to Doctor Who, their parts were overshadowed by the main event of the Doctor and Donna, as well as by Yasmin Finney. Those who have been following along know that I love Heartstopper practically more than breathing, so it shouldn’t be a shock that I loved Finney as Rose, Donna’s daughter.

Finney is an excellent addition to the cast, however, Rose feels a bit stiff initially among the other already-established characters. I know for a fact that Yasmin Finney is a top-notch actress, so that is more from direction than anything. That being said, after her initial introduction, Rose begins to warm up, part of which is due to the role she plays in the story. However, I think/hope she’ll continue to be a huge part of the 60th anniversary specials, and hopefully beyond.

The Doctor Who 6oth anniversary specials coming soon to BBC and Disney+

My only complaint is that one episode a week for three weeks doesn’t feel like enough after such a long wait. Seriously, “The Star Beast” is the perfect episode to kick off a new era of Doctor Who, clearly setting itself apart from that which came before. It’s a strong story, with an even stronger cast, bringing in long-forgotten monsters and familiar faces.

This is exactly what everyone has been waiting for, which for Disney+ could be bigger than any Marvel or Star Wars series to date. This feels incredibly epic from start to finish, like a movie we needed. I know I’ll be watching it over and over for the foreseeable future, but I can simply not get enough.'

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