Eiffel Tower

• The very first step in finding out is to understand how special the Earth really is – and, by extension, our entire Solar System.
• And that’s exactly what my colleagues and I have started to uncover with a new series of studies of star-forming regions.
• In the past decades, astronomers have spotted more than 5,000 planets around distant stars – so called exoplanets.
• We now know that planets are so abundant that you can look up to almost any star in the night sky and be near certain that planets are circling around it.
• This is no mean feat of engineering, with the latest generation of instruments only being available since about a decade.

New findings

• Our team, consisting of scientists from more than ten countries was able to observe more than 80 of these young stars in amazing detail – with our findings published in a series of papers in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
• All the images were taken in near infrared light, invisible to the human eye.
• They show the light from the distant young stars as it is reflected from the tiny dust particles in the discs.

• Unlike the Sun, most stars in our galaxy have companions, with two or more stars orbiting a shared centre of mass.
• When looking at the constellation of Orion, we found that stars in groups of two or more were less likely to have large planet-forming discs than lone stars.
• Another interesting finding was how uneven the discs in this region were, suggesting they may host massive planets that warp the discs.

Christian Ginski works for the University of Galway and frequently works with ESO facilities.

• SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sojern , the leading digital marketing platform built for travel, today shares its latest travel data* ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
• After Qatar hosted the World Cup, the country saw between a 79-255% increase in international lodging searches, bucking seasonal travel trends.
• Tickets for the 33rd Olympic Games went on sale on 30 November 2023, and travel demand to France has already increased substantially.
• Given that summer travel to Paris is consistently strong, travelers need to book their trips early during the Olympic Games.

• In this series, our academics dive into fan cultures: how they developed, how they operate, and how they shape the world today.
• Here is a brief history of how fan cultures shaped – and were shaped by – the internet.

Early adopters

• As early as the 1970s, fans were participating in digital spaces.
• In the 1990s, science-fiction fans established online repositories, using Usenet groups for fannish discussion and fan-fiction distribution.
• The public nature of Twitter (now X) allowed fans to come together in large groups to start trends and campaign.

The public and the private

• Fans move between private and public spaces online, negotiating different identities.
• On platforms like Tumblr and LiveJournal, fans often choose a pseudonym, whereas Facebook enforces a real-name policy.
• Private spaces allow for personal conversations, while fans embrace public channels for sharing fan works and campaigning, for example, for voting or fundraising.

Fan migrations

• Tumblr became the place for “"fuckyeah” fansites, sharing fan works and communicating via GIFs.
• While the launch of Meta’s Threads provided a possible replacement for stan participation, some fans were hesitant to migrate across.
• On Twitter/X, fans expressed they were weary of the new platform, because they did not want their fan activities to be connected to their “real life”.

Transformations

Fans are known for their creative productivity, transforming and remixing their favourite cultural objects in fan-art, fan-fiction, videos, zines and music remixes. Technological advancements made creative production easier to master, and the public and networked nature of platforms has allowed fan works to be circulated to a much wider audience. Audio from fan-edits often become trending TikTok sounds.

How fans shape brands

• Some brands have started to act like fans online, learning from fans’ behaviours to form an affiliation with these engaged audiences.
• On TikTok, brands are participating in fan-based trends, tapping into community-specific knowledge and jokes.
• Brands are also adopting fan language and tone in their captions and comments.
• In my ongoing PhD research, I’ve found fans are working as social media managers for brands, leveraging their expertise to connect with fan audiences.

Kate Pattison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Apparently, they got a chance to eat, pray and/or love their way through the city of Paris with other consciously uncoupled travelers.
• EF's Ultimate Break(up) tour to Paris might be the right Valentine for you.
• EF Ultimate Break , a leading guided, experiential travel company for adults ages 18-35, today unveiled a new tour specifically for the recently single.
• We've got your back, and so will the community of like-minded solo travelers you'll meet in Paris," said Heather Leisman, President of EF Ultimate Break.