The fallacy of false analogies hiding the truth. Example, 16 super earths exist more habitable than ours, and Ukraine lost any affinity for Russia
From the false belief that our Earth is most hospitable to life, to the belief that Ukraine wants to be part of Russia, myths abound, and on Earth itself we have the Russian propaganda machine obscuring due to Putin's pride the geopolitical fact that at BEST Russia will be a Client state to China as the BEST outcome for the Russian Federation
All other outcomes for Russia are far worse
Many times our delusions are to hide unpalatable truths
start with Ukraine
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False Claims About Ukrainians’ Affinity for Russia
Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem is working to show that people living in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine are eager for Russian rule. In every Russia-controlled region, there are credible reports of occupation authorities withholding food, water, and medical aid from Ukrainian civilians until they have accepted Russian passports. State propaganda outlets like?Sputnik??then depict lines of residents seeking Russian passports as voluntary, with residents who offer conveniently pro-Kremlin statements. Russian state media widely reported outgoing head of Zaporizhzhya’s Russia-installed “military-civilian administration” Yevgeny Balitsky’s July 14 statement that a?referendum??on whether “to join Russia or not” will take place in the?first half of September?. Balitsky added, “we will not be a second Kosovo?,” claiming NATO had split the former Yugoslavia apart without a referendum. Yet polling data shows that in a free referendum, Ukrainians in the occupied areas would not choose to join Russia. The National Democratic Institute’s May 2022?poll??found that only 3 percent of Ukrainians would like Ukraine to join the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union, and 90 percent want Ukraine to become a member state of the European Union, with the lowest number, in the east and south, still an overwhelming majority at 84 percent. Recognizing this reality, Russian authorities are stepping up efforts at “re-education.”
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OOPS
now about the special qualities of Earth in the Solar system
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The Ganymede Ocean is believed to contain more water than Europa's,” says Olivier Witasse, a project scientist working on ESA’s future Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE). “Six times more water in Ganymede’s ocean than in Earth's ocean, and three times more than Europa.”In March of 2020, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope revealed the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon --larger than Mercury and not much smaller than Mars.
Identifying liquid water is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth and for the search for life, as we know it“This discovery marks a significant milestone, highlighting what only Hubble can accomplish,” said John Grunsfeld, now retired assistant administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “In its 25 years in orbit, Hubble has made many scientific discoveries in our own solar system. A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.”
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OOPS
Next about the super Earths
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including 16 super-Earths (planets whose mass is between one and 10 times that of our own planet).
One of these planets in particular could theoretically be home to life if conditions are right. It's called HD 85512 b, and scientists say it's about 3.6 times the mass of the Earth. This planet is about 35 light years from Earth. Its location with respect to its star suggests that this planet could have liquid water under certain circumstances.
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Lets review the mythology. In our arrogance, we think "God " made Earth as having the "largest ocean" as a harbor for life
OOPS
'See
The Ganymede Ocean is believed to contain more water than Europa's,” says Olivier Witasse, a project scientist working on ESA’s future Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE). “Six times more water in Ganymede’s ocean than in Earth's ocean, and three times more than Europa.
Righto
And of course at least 16 super Earths
Like all mythologies the one about Ukraine having an "affinity" for Russia is hogwash, i.e. only 3 % of Ukraine now feels that way. The mythologies about OUR planetary ocean and also super earths which may be MORE hospitable to life than our own planet is a case in point
When we believe our own BS, we do it at our peril. Time to smarten up
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Hubble Just Confirmed The Largest Ocean World In Our Solar System And Its Not On Earth
The Ganymede Ocean is believed to contain more water than Europa's,” says Olivier Witasse, a project scientist working on ESA’s future Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE). “Six times more water in Ganymede’s ocean than in Earth's ocean, and three times more than Europa.”In March of 2020, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope revealed the best evidence yet for an underground saltwater ocean on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon --larger than Mercury and not much smaller than Mars.
Identifying liquid water is crucial in the search for habitable worlds beyond Earth and for the search for life, as we know it“This discovery marks a significant milestone, highlighting what only Hubble can accomplish,” said John Grunsfeld, now retired assistant administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “In its 25 years in orbit, Hubble has made many scientific discoveries in our own solar system. A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.”
Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system and the only moon with its own magnetic field. The magnetic field causes aurorae, which are ribbons of glowing, hot electrified gas, in regions circling the north and south poles of the moon. Because Ganymede is close to Jupiter, it is also embedded in Jupiter's magnetic field. When Jupiter's magnetic field changes, the aurorae on Ganymede also change, "rocking" back and forth.
Just as Saturn's moon, Dione is perennially overshadowed by Enceladus and Titan, Ganymede's fame is eclipsed by its sister ocean world, Europa, slated for flybys by NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in the 2020s.
Ganymede's cycles of auroral activity on the surface, detected by the Hubble Space Telescope, reveal oscillations in the moon’s magnetic field best explained by the internal heat-generating tidal sloshing of a huge ocean hundreds of kilometers below the surface. JUICE will fly by the moons at distances between 1000 and 200 kilometers, orbiting Ganymede for nine months, with the latter four months at an altitude of about 500 km. While the oceans of Jupiter's moons are likely buried at significant depth below their icy crusts, radar will be able to help piece together clues as to their complex evolution.
For example, it will explore Europa's potentially active regions and be able to distinguish where the composition changes, such as if there are local, shallow reservoirs of water sandwiched between icy layers. It will be able to find 'deflected' subsurface layers, which will help to determine the tectonic history of Ganymede in particular.
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whereas
https://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/13/16-super-earths-found-outside-solar-system/
领英推荐
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It's not like aliens put up a welcome banner or anything, but scientists now have newly identified at least one planet that could potentially sustain life.
The?European Southern Observatory?has just announced the discovery of more than 50 new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), including 16 super-Earths (planets whose mass is between one and 10 times that of our own planet).
One of these planets in particular could theoretically be home to life if conditions are right. It's called HD 85512 b, and scientists say it's about 3.6 times the mass of the Earth. This planet is about 35 light years from Earth. Its location with respect to its star suggests that this planet could have liquid water under certain circumstances.
Don't get too excited, though; there's a lot more work to be done to explore whether this planet is truly fit for life, in addition to whether there are alien life forms there.
The discovery comes from High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS. HARPS is located at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, and is part of a telescope that's nearly 12 feet long.
Here's how it works, according to ESO: When a planet orbits a star, the star move toward and away from the person who's stargazing on Earth in a regular fashion. That's called a change in radial velocity. Because of the Doppler effect, changes in radial velocity make the star's light spectrum move toward longer wavelengths when it's moving away, and toward shorter wavelengths as it gets closer. HARPS can detect this shift in the spectrum, and infer that there is a planet present.
So far, scientists have confirmed the existence of 564 planets outside of our solar system, according to?NASA's PlanetQuest website, not counting this latest batch of more than 50. Beyond that,?NASA's Kepler mission?has found more than 1,200 exoplanet candidates.
"In the coming 10 to 20 years we should have the first list of potentially habitable planets in the Sun's neighbourhood. Making such a list is essential before future experiments can search for possible spectroscopic signatures of life in the exoplanet atmospheres," said Michel Mayor, who led the HARPS team, in a statement.
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and
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Russia’s War on Ukraine: Six Months of Lies, Implemented
AUGUST 24, 2022
This bulletin is also available in?Arabic,?Chinese,?French,?Português,?Russian,?Spanish, and?Ukrainian.
“Every day we fight so that everyone on the planet finally understands: we are not a colony, not an enclave, not a protectorate. Not a gubernia, an eyalet or a crown land, not a piece of a foreign empire, not a ‘part of the land’, not a union republic. Not an autonomous zone, not a province, but a free, independent, sovereign, indivisible and independent state.”
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY
The date August 24, 2022, marks the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. This year’s Independence Day carries particular significance as it coincides with six months of Russian President Putin’s full-scale war of aggression against the people of Ukraine, their sovereignty, and cultural identity.
The Kremlin’s disinformation and propaganda have accompanied and supported Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, including the attempted annexation of Crimea, support of separatist movements in eastern Ukraine, and the ongoing war of aggression. The Kremlin repeatedly attempts to delegitimize Ukraine as a nation and state in the eyes of the Ukrainian and Russian publics, and international community.
Exposing President Putin’s Playbook
President Putin regularly denies that Ukraine is a true nation. In 2008, he?told??President Bush “Ukraine is not a country,” and in July 2021, he publicly?identified??Russians and Ukrainians as “one people” and declared “the true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.” Putin has repeatedly?attempted??to depict Ukraine as “entirely created by Russia” on Russia’s “historical lands?,” arguing that Ukraine is an “inalienable part of…[Russia’s] own history, culture and spiritual space.” In a February 2022 missive, he?blamed??the first Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin, for “creating Lenin’s Ukraine” and called it “worse than a mistake,” days later launching a full-scale war, in an attempt, to redraw the map according to his own distorted version of history. Over the past six months, Russia’s disinformation and propaganda machine has used Putin’s false claims as a blueprint for campaigns aiming to deny Ukraine its right to independence and even existence.
Imperialism Redux and Weaponization of Maps
Imperial revanchism permeates Kremlin propaganda as it tries to disguise Russia’s desire to re-colonize Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council and former President of Russia, displayed maps to question Ukraine’s legitimacy as a state. Medvedev invoked visions of Russia’s imperial past, sharing in a July 27?Telegram post??before-and-after?maps of the region??in which Ukraine had been shrunken to just the area around Kyiv with the caption: “In President Zelenskyy’s drugged-out brain the picture of his nation’s bright future may look like this, but Western analysts think that in reality it will be this.”
Medvedev cited these supposed “Western analysts” in order to propagate Russia’s colonial fantasy: envisioning Ukraine’s territory reduced to just the Kyiv region, while the remainder of Ukraine would be divided among Russia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary. Such a narrative recalls Putin’s February 2022?speech??questioning Ukraine’s statehood and accompanies intensifying Russian calls to expand its “special military operation” to realize its imperial map. The head of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR), Denis Pushilin, falsely?claimed??that the “Russian cities” of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Odesa, and Dnipro need to be “liberated from Nazism,” while Speaker of the “Crimean Parliament” Vladimir Konstantinov?added??Mykolayiv and Kharkiv to this list.
Russian Historical and Cultural Propaganda Wants to Erase Ukrainian Cultural Identity
Ukraine has existed as a distinct cultural and national identity for centuries, and Putin’s attempts to violently assimilate them into Russian culture are especially heinous given the historical targeting of Ukrainian nationals in the Soviet Union. Under Joseph Stalin, more than three million Ukrainians died in the Holodomor, or Great Famine— a purely artificial food shortage where the entire population of Ukraine was considered secondary to the realization of the Soviet’s five-year economic plan.
In addition to disconnecting the region from Ukrainian telecommunications, the Russian government is?putting up billboards??in Kherson depicting famed Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin and historical commander?Aleksandr Suvorov??alongside the tagline “Kherson – A City with Russian History” and patriotic quotes. The billboards likely serve?two purposes?: to assert a common cultural history and respond to Ukraine’s removal of several Pushkin statues across the country. As one?commentator? described them, the billboards are the culmination of Russia’s “bloody” establishment of control through “Tanks – war – death – occupation – Pushkin.” At the same time, busts of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko are defaced, Ukrainian museums are burned and looted, and when UNESCO officials visited Ukraine in July, they confirmed over 160 cultural sites were damaged since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. Russian bombing has even damaged the memorial at Babyn Yar, where 100,000 Jewish and other Ukrainians were executed by the Nazis during World War II.
Dehumanizing Rhetoric Plus Denials and Threats
Russian propagandists are using dehumanizing language about Russia’s war in Ukraine.?On his primetime propaganda program “Solovyov Live,” Vladimir Solovyov?employed a metaphor??comparing Ukrainians to worms being removed from a cat by a veterinarian in a “special operation.” On the “60 Minutes” program, host Olga Skabeyeva said Ukraine is a “nonexistent country?,” while one of her guests characterized the conflict as a “holy war” and described Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov as “the last bug in line that we still have to put in his place.” Belarusian dictator Lukashenko said on July 21 that the issue of whether Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson are part of Ukraine “is no longer being discussed.” MFA spokeswoman Zakharova?denied??U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s July 13 statement?denouncing Russia’s systematic filtration camps and forced deportation of at least 1.6 million Ukrainians. Both Chechen strongman?Ramzan Kadyrov ?and the U.S.-sanctioned?, SVR-directed?New Eastern Outlook??recently claimed that Poland is next on the list for Russia’s “demilitarization” of NATO.
The Puppetry of Annexation
Putin’s statements have falsely portrayed Moscow’s seizure of Ukrainian land as “returning and reinforcing” Russian territories, especially as the Kremlin has escalated its efforts to annex portions of southern Ukraine. In a?July 20 interview,??Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov revealed Moscow’s long-term intentions for its further invasion of Ukraine by stating “geography has changed” since its March negotiations with Kyiv: “Now we are not just talking about Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. It’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, and other territories.” Russian authorities and their proxies in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya reiterated these claims by?announcing??an election commission would hold a?referendum??on joining Russia. Meanwhile, Russian authorities are integrating “specialists?” into the security services of Russia-held Ukrainian territories and advocating for the establishment of?permanent Russian military bases ?in Zaporizhzhya province to serve as a “security guarantee” and to deter Ukraine’s efforts to liberate these areas. Russia is advancing its “passportization” policy by requiring Ukrainian business owners?to re-register? their businesses with Russian passports. Finally, Russian proxies?circulated a video??on social media announcing the creation of the “Odesa Brigade,” claiming Odesa and Mykolayiv are the next targets for Russian “liberation.” The Kremlin likely intends these efforts to counter Kyiv’s announced offensive to retake Kherson and Zaporizhzhya by the end of the year. Russian authorities in Kherson also announced the formation on July 5 of a “Kherson government” led by “Russian?professionals?” and modeled on the authorities that govern?Russia’s federal subjects??to help expedite “reintegration” despite the pretense of choice through a referendum. Both tactics aim to deny Ukraine’s statehood and legitimize Russia’s colonialism.
Any claims by the Kremlin that Ukrainian people yearn to be annexed by Russia are simply not true. Opinion polls show an overwhelming consensus among Ukrainians that they oppose Russian aggression. According to a University of Chicago June 2022?poll?, 97 percent of Ukrainians see Russia’s invasion as a major threat to Ukraine’s security, and 97 percent want Russia to compensate Ukraine for the destruction it has caused.
False Claims About Ukrainians’ Affinity for Russia
Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem is working to show that people living in Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine are eager for Russian rule. In every Russia-controlled region, there are credible reports of occupation authorities withholding food, water, and medical aid from Ukrainian civilians until they have accepted Russian passports. State propaganda outlets like?Sputnik??then depict lines of residents seeking Russian passports as voluntary, with residents who offer conveniently pro-Kremlin statements. Russian state media widely reported outgoing head of Zaporizhzhya’s Russia-installed “military-civilian administration” Yevgeny Balitsky’s July 14 statement that a?referendum??on whether “to join Russia or not” will take place in the?first half of September?. Balitsky added, “we will not be a second Kosovo?,” claiming NATO had split the former Yugoslavia apart without a referendum. Yet polling data shows that in a free referendum, Ukrainians in the occupied areas would not choose to join Russia. The National Democratic Institute’s May 2022?poll??found that only 3 percent of Ukrainians would like Ukraine to join the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union, and 90 percent want Ukraine to become a member state of the European Union, with the lowest number, in the east and south, still an overwhelming majority at 84 percent. Recognizing this reality, Russian authorities are stepping up efforts at “re-education.” While Balitsky and other Kremlin-appointed officials spread “denazification?” rhetoric and Zaporizhzhya’s Russia-installed “governor” Anton Koltsov forms a puppet government, efforts to impose a new educational system on Ukrainians in Russia-controlled territories intensify. The Washington Post has?reported??Moscow is offering teachers in Russia lucrative salaries to move to Zaporizhzhya and Kherson to “correct” what children there have been taught in the past.
Kremlin state media outlets falsely allege that Ukrainians in the Kharkiv region also seek Russian identities.?Vitaly Ganchev, appointed by Russia as the “head of provisional civil administration of Kharkiv province,” claimed??in a July 6 TASS interview that residents of the “liberated” Kharkiv region “aim to join Russia.?” “People hear that there is a power vertical, we are enacting laws, the introduction of the ruble fills a key economic niche, and they are reorienting to accept the new reality,” he said. Kremlin?disinformation??outlets??immediately?amplified??these false claims. Ganchev was?accused??in April by the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office of high treason for collaborating with Russian forces and attempting to organize a “referendum” to declare a “Kharkiv People’s Republic,”?again?. His tactics appear aimed at laying the groundwork for attempted annexation of the Russia-controlled areas, which constitute 30% of the Kharkiv region, and appear timed to Russia’s increased efforts at “passportization.”
The data are clear: the Ukrainian people in any free and fair referendum would vote overwhelmingly against joining Russia, including those living in Ukraine’s east and south. In a?survey??conducted by the International Republican Institute in April 2022, more than 90 percent of Ukrainians said their opinion of Russia has worsened since the February 24th?invasion. Russian officials recognize this reality despite their disinformation and propaganda efforts. U.S. intelligence?indicates?that Russian officials are concerned about low voter turnout in these sham referenda and know their efforts to legitimize the illegal land grab will lack legitimacy and will not reflect the will of the people.
Ukrainian people are deeply united in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion.?Surveys??reflect that Ukrainians are committed to their country’s democratic development, with a historic 94 percent saying that fully functioning democracy is important to them. Despite the full-scale invasion, 87 percent of Ukrainians show unprecedented optimism about Ukraine’s future.
Ukraine Will Remain Sovereign and Independent
Thirty-one years ago, the people of Ukraine proclaimed their independence as a sovereign nation. Since 2014, and particularly during the past six months, the world has witnessed President Putin using both military force and deceptive statements to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty. He has failed in that goal despite the suffering he has inflicted on Ukraine. As this war continues, the courage and strength of Ukraine’s people has been extraordinary. As Secretary Blinken?pointed?out, “Ukraine has not and will not be conquered. It will remain sovereign and independent. The United States and our allies and partners will continue to stand with them and help provide precisely what they need to defend their freedom.”
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Andrew Beckwith PhD