[PHOTO] A covering of snow on the ground

The thinnest sheet of snow covered the concrete outside of my apartment yesterday morning.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• blogTO lets us know about planned subway closures and reports about Sam the Record Man's sign.


• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly talks bravely about her recent failures.


• Centauri Dreams speculates about the future.


• Crooked Timber examines the strength of the labor movement within the Democratic Party even if it wanes in the United States at large.


• D-Brief notes a Chinese mechanical chameleon.


• Language Hat shares Winnie the Pooh in multiple languages of the North Caucasus.


• Steve Munro notes the collapse in Union-Pearson Express ridership.


• The Planetary Society Blog updates us on Curiosity.


• Progressive Download's John Farrell notes a simulation suggesting black holes could be gateways after all.


• Torontoist uses a photo of mine to illustrate an article on the LCBO.


• Towleroad recommends Key West.


• The Volokh Conspiracy notes Amazon Web Services' support in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

[LINK] Three links on the detection of gravitational waves by LIGO

First, from Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait, "LIGO Sees First Ever Gravitational Waves as Two Black Holes Eat Each Other".

Gravitational waves (not to be confused with gravity waves, which are a totally different thing) are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, caused when a massive object is accelerated. By the time they get here from distant astronomical objects, the waves have incredibly low energy and are phenomenally difficult to detect, which is why it’s taken a century to discover them since they were first predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Essentially every other prediction of GR has been found to be correct, but the existence of gravitational waves has been maddeningly difficult to prove directly.

Until now. And what caused the gravitational waves they detected at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory is as amazing and mind-blowing as the waves themselves: They caught the death spiral and aftermath of two huge black holes 1.3 billion light-years from Earth, merging together in a titanic and catastrophically violent event.

Mind you, we’ve had some good evidence such binary black holes existed before this, but this new result pretty much proves they exist and that, over time, they eventually collide and merge. That’s huge.

The black holes had masses of 36 and 29 times the mass of the Sun before they merged. After they merged they created a single black hole with a mass of 62 times that of the Sun. You may notice those masses don’t add up right; there’s 3 solar masses missing. That mass didn’t just disappear! It was converted into energy: the energy of the gravitational waves themselves. And the amount of energy is staggering: This single event released as much energy as the Sun does in 15 trillion years.

I know. There is nothing about this story that isn’t incredibly cool.

Second, Gizmodo's Maddie Stone and her "Holy Shit! Scientists Have Confirmed the Existence of Gravitational Waves".

That announcement has just come. Gravitational waves were observed on September 14th, 2015, at 5:51 am ET by both of the LIGO detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. The source? A supermassive black hole collision that took place 1.3 billion years ago. When it occurred, about three times the mass of the sun was converted to energy in a fraction of a second.

[. . .]

After a series of upgrades that lasted from 2010 to 2015, LIGO was back online this past fall. With more powerful lasers and improved system for isolating the experiment from vibrations in the ground, the prospects of detecting the first gravitational waves have never looked better. Some scientists even predicted that we’d have our first positive detection in 2016—but few could have known how quickly it would come.

In fact, LIGO saw gravitational waves almost immediately. The team then spent the entire fall exhaustively investigating potential instrumental and environmental disturbances to confirm that the signal was real.

According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, when a pair of black holes orbit on another, they lose energy slowly, causing them to creep gradually closer. In the final minutes of their merger, they speed up considerably, until finally, moving at about half the speed of light, they bash together, forming a larger black hole. A tremendous burst of energy is released, propagating through space as gravitational waves.

The two black holes behind the all the hubbub are 29 and 36 times the mass of the Sun, respectively. During the peak of their cosmic collision, LIGO researchers estimate that their power output was 50 times that of the entire visible universe.

Third, here is the paper in Physical Review Letters, "Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger".

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10 −21 . It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203 000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ . The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410 +160 −180   Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09 +0.03 −0.04 . In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36 +5 −4 M ⊙ and 29 +4 −4 M ⊙ , and the final black hole mass is 62 +4 −4 M ⊙ , with 3.0 +0.5 −0.5 M ⊙ c 2 radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

[URBAN NOTE] "Queen and Dovercourt Starbucks Closes, “Drake You Ho” Culprit Still at Large"

Torontoist's Vicky Mochama, on the subject of the now-departed Starbucks at Queen and Dovercourt, has a nice humour feature imagining the memo sent to Starbucks re: Queen Street West's gentrification.

MEMO: Neighbourhood Assimilation Meeting

TO: Howard Schultz, CEO
FROM: Starbucks Marketing, Gentrification Division
November 1, 2005

Howard,

Our team has been working towards a neighbourhood strategy for Toronto’s Queen and Dovercourt location.

Any business with an eye on success will want to fit into the ultra-hip neighbourhood of West Queen West. It’s a neighbourhood that prides itself on creativity, youthful energy, and edginess, as well as not being Parkdale. The community has lots of notable landmarks, including Trinity Bellwoods, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (…Canada, right?), and The Drake Hotel. The Drake has re-opened following a massive renovation. Our research has shown that this will bring to the area more money and attention. Naturally, residents hate it.

The full memo is at Torontoist.

[URBAN NOTE] "Market Gallery's "Tunnel Vision" exhibition highlights Toronto's subway story"

Transit Toronto's Robert Mackenzie writes about an exhibit about Toronto's subway system that I do have to see.

Toronto’s subway system is much more than a few lines on a map or a list of numbers on a spread-sheet. Every day for more than 60 years, it has been the backbone of the city and has moved billions of passengers.

From Saturday, February 13 until Saturday, June 11, the Market Gallery presents “Tunnel Vision: The Story of Toronto’s Subway” in partnership with the Toronto Transportation Society and the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation. The exhibit focuses on the enormous effort to keep the subway rolling, enabling gallery-goers to better appreciate the vital role rapid transit plays in Toronto. It highlights the building of Toronto’s subway system with photographs, maps and artifacts and explores the complexity and massive scale of subway operations.

Toronto Transportation Society members, Adam Zhelka and Robert Lubinski, are guest curators for the exhibition — Robert is also a contributor to Transit Toronto.

[LINK] "Ancient Martian lakes may have harboured life, researchers say"

CBC reports on some suggestions that ancient Martian basins might have housed lakes perhaps as hospitable as ones on the Tibetan Highlands right now.

Deep water basins formed on Mars more than three billion years ago may have once been habitable, according to a new research paper which its authors say lends credibility to the theory that there was once life on the Red Planet.

Scientists from the Planetary Science Institute in Tuscon, Ariz., have been studying a region of Mars close to a massive volcanic plateau, and theorize it may have once been a habitable environment.

Groundwater circulation beneath the surface of this site may have helped to create some of the planet's deepest basins, wrote scientists J. Alexis Palmero Rodriguez, Cathy Weitz and Thomas Plaz in a paper published in the journal Planetary Space and Science.

The researchers suggest the basins may have been alternately covered with lava and water over the course of hundreds of millions of years, creating the right balance of temperature ranges, water pressure and nutrients necessary to sustain life.

Shallow lakes may have formed in these lava-covered basins within the last few tens of millions of years, they say.

"The temperature ranges, presence of liquid water, and nutrient availability, which characterize known habitable environments on Earth, have higher chances of forming on Mars in areas of long-lived water and volcanic processes," Rodriguez said in a news release.

[LINK] "Apple smartphones affected by ‘Error 53’ spark controversy"

The Toronto Star's Raju Mudhar writes about how Apple's control-freak tendencies are resulting in consumer outrage. Justifiably, I think!

Whose iPhone is it anyway?

That’s one of the questions surrounding Apple’s smartphones after a growing number of people have reported their devices being made unusable — accompanied by an “Error 53” message — after having them fixed by a third-party repair shop.

Thousands of consumers have reportedly been affected by this error message, according to the Guardian, which has sparked talk of lawsuits against the computer giant.

Apple said in a statement that this error stems from a security feature of iOS9, related to its Touch ID fingerprint scanner in the Home button of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S models. “This security measure is necessary to protect your device and prevent a fraudulent Touch ID sensor from being used. If a customer encounters Error 53, we encourage them to contact Apple Support,” the company said in a statement.

[. . .]

“It’s outrageous . . . they’re really extending their rights and reach, and it’s not clear to me the justification for doing so,” said David Fewer, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa.

“Because it certainly looks like they are interfering with my property.”

[LINK] "Senegal to Add 200 Megawatts of Solar Through IFC Program"

Bloomberg's Brian Eckhouse notes Senegal's development of solar energy.

Senegal plans to build as much as 200 megawatts of solar power, with at least half of that up and running within two years, after joining an International Finance Corp. program designed to promote wider use of clean energy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Senegal is the second country to join the IFC’s Scaling Solar initiative, after Zambia signed on last year, the lender said in a statement Tuesday.

The effort will bring a needed injection of electricity to Senegal, where just over half the population has access to electricity, according to the World Bank. Under the program, the IFC helps organize competitive auctions, offers financing and provides some guarantees against risk.

The first auction, for at least 100 megawatts of capacity, is expected this year, according to Jamie Fergusson, chief investment officer and global renewables lead at the IFC.

[LINK] "South Korea Planning to Pull Firms From North Factory Park"

Bloomberg's Sam Kim notes the continued breakdown of inter-Korean relations, as South Korea pulls out of the Kaesong industrial park in the north. A more recent news report suggested the North nationalized the holdings of the South there.

South Korea is pulling out of an industrial complex jointly run with North Korea, taking aim at their last remaining symbol of economic cooperation to punish Kim Jong Un for a recent nuclear test and rocket launch.

“An extraordinary measure is needed to force North Korea to give up its nuclear arms,” South Korean Unification Minister Hong Yong Pyo told reporters Wednesday. The government did not want companies and funds for the Gaeseong factory park used for North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, Hong said.

The withdrawal, which takes effect immediately, will impact more than 120 South Korean companies employing about 54,000 North Korean workers at the complex that sits just north of the heavily armed border.

South Korea is seeking to dry up North Korea’s coffers at a time China, while condemning Kim’s actions, has been reluctant to support tougher sanctions -- including on energy imports -- that could destabilize an ally. South Korea is also considering opening its soil to a U.S. ballistic missile defense system opposed by China.

Gaeseong has long been viewed as a source of hard currency for the isolated government in Pyongyang, which had no immediate response to the decision. North Korea has received 616 billion won ($514 million) in cash since the complex began in the early 2000’s, including 132 billion won last year alone, Hong said. South Korea’s government and private citizens have invested more than 1 trillion won, he said.

[URBAN NOTE] On the travails of Toronto's Union-Pearson Express

The Union-Pearson Express has been getting quite a lot of attention in the last few days, especially as ridership statistics have come out. It has been subjected to a very critical editorial in The Globe and Mail: "A product of political imperatives, it was powered by political choices, not a careful analysis of where the greatest number of underserved commuters are, and what would be the most cost-effective way of serving them." That paper's Adrian Morrow has noted that no less a person than premier Kathleen Wynne has talked about the need for a redesign, perhaps to make it a commuter route of some sort.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says the province will look at lowering fares on Toronto’s struggling airport express train and turning it into a commuter line in a bid to boost ridership.

[. . .]

“There actually is a Metrolinx board meeting … and looking at the fare structure is something they’ve said they are going to do,” the Premier told reporters Monday. “I expect there will be a reassessment of not just [the fares] but some of the other issues around UP Express.”

One possibility is to encourage more daily commuters to use the train, rather than focusing primarily on business-class air travellers. The train currently makes two intermediate stops in the west end, at Weston Road and Dundas Street West.

“It wasn’t designed for [commuters], but there are two stops, there is Dundas West and there is the Weston stop, so there is the possibility for it to be used in some partial way for getting downtown,” Ms. Wynne said. “That’s what Metrolinx has to look at. They have to look at all of the options and figure out how to get more people, I mean, that’s the bottom line: How do we get more people riding the UP Express? That is self-evident that that needs to happen.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/2016/02/10/upx-chief-laments-lack-of-early-adapters.html

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski notes that Kathy Haley, executive in charge of the Union Pearson Express, is defending the line against the apparent overestimation of usage.

Stressing that the airport train was on time and on budget, UPX president Kathy Haley conceded that price is a factor in the lagging ridership numbers. But it’s not the only issue, she said.

She did not realize “how deeply entrenched” those air travellers’ behaviours were, Haley said following a Wednesday Metrolinx board meeting.

[. . .]

UPX ridership hit a low of 65,593 in November, down by more than 13,000 passengers from the October high of 79,000. It will take about 7,000 riders a day for UPX to break even, something Metrolinx was targeting within three years of the launch. There were about 2,200 per day in December.

This may be why Metrolinx, as I saw on Transit Toronto, will be offering free rides on this weekend coming, from the 13th to the 15th. I'll be riding it: I am curious to see what the experience will be like.

[MUSIC] What music do you listen to?

Right now, I'm in the process of trying to figure out a few things. One of these things is music. What do you listen to? Are there particular artists you opt for, in any particular genres? What stands out in your aural life?

Please, discuss and let me know.