Goldilocks and the Three Bears

How we're building the world's biggest optical telescope to crack some of the greatest puzzles in science

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Dark, Planet, Pink, Water, Temperature, Object (computer science), Life, Pressure, Extremely Large Telescope, Walking, Moon, James Webb Space Telescope, Carbon, Harmoni, Telescope, Light, Methane, ELT, Galaxy, Dark side, Oxygen, Orbit, Eye, Gas, Chemistry, Movement, Tick, Astronomy, Solar System, Heriot-Watt University, Starlight, Phosphorus, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Now a large group of astronomers from all over the world is building the biggest optical telescope ever – the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) — in Chile.

Key Points: 
  • Now a large group of astronomers from all over the world is building the biggest optical telescope ever – the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) — in Chile.
  • Once construction is completed in 2028, it could provide answers that transform our knowledge of the universe.
  • With its 39-metre diameter primary mirror, the ELT will contain the largest, most perfect reflecting surface ever made.

Alien life

  • The ELT may also offer an answer to the most fundamental question of all: are we alone in the universe?
  • Occupying the so-called Goldilocks zone, these Earth-like planets will orbit their star at just the right distance for water to neither boil nor freeze – providing the conditions for life to exist.
  • To learn if life is likely to exist on an exoplanet, astronomers must complement imaging with spectroscopy.
  • While images reveal shape, size and structure, spectra tell us about the speed, temperature and even the chemistry of astronomical objects.
  • For giant exoplanets, the Harmoni instrument will analyse light that has travelled through their atmospheres, looking for the signs of water, oxygen, methane, carbon dioxide and other gases that indicate the existence of life.
  • From previous satellite missions, astronomers already have a good idea of where to look in the sky for exoplanets.
  • Tiny shifts in the positions of these features — around 1/10,000th of a pixel on the Andes sensor — may, over months and years, reveal the periodic wobbles.
  • This scale will remain constant over decades, mitigating the measurement errors that occur from environmental changes in temperature and pressure.
  • It is only by looking far outside our Solar System that we can gain a perspective beyond the here and now.


Derryck Reid receives funding from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

KBRA Releases 12 Things in Credit: October 2023

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 30, 2023
Banking, Professional Services, Finance, Optimism, KBRA, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

KBRA releases topical and timely commentary on credit markets, compiled from our weekly podcast, 3 Things in Credit, hosted by our Chief Strategist, Van Hesser.

Key Points: 
  • KBRA releases topical and timely commentary on credit markets, compiled from our weekly podcast, 3 Things in Credit, hosted by our Chief Strategist, Van Hesser.
  • Among the wide-ranging topics Van has addressed over the past month are corporate earnings optimism, a path that challenges Goldilocks outlooks, and credit’s relative value appeal.
  • Each week, we dig into and provide perspective on issues credit-market participants care about.
  • And look for our monthly published recap to catch up on what you might have missed.

Build-A-Bear and Cinemark Announce First-Time Collaboration to Release New Holiday Film 'Glisten and the Merry Mission' in Theaters Across the Country

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Honey, Public, Glistening Pleasure, Avatar, Magic, Life, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Hughes, Unicorn, Snow, DreamWorks Animation, NYSE, Build, Grizz, BBW, Reindeer, Chase, Grammy Awards, Netflix, Animation, Chief content officer, Thelma, Film industry, Entertainment, Cinemark Theatres

ST. LOUIS , Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a first-time deal of its kind for the company, Build-A-Bear Entertainment, a subsidiary of Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. (NYSE: BBW), with Foundation Media Partners, announces a collaboration with Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) to exclusively release the company's new animated feature film Glisten and the Merry Mission in Cinemark theaters across the country starting November 3. The first trailer for Glisten and the Merry Mission, which can be seen at Build-A-Bear® | Merry Mission Movie (buildabear.com) highlights the heartfelt and exciting story reminding everyone that "Christmas is all about believing."

Key Points: 
  • "Cinemark is excited to work with Build-A-Bear Entertainment on this special theatrical film release for Glisten and the Merry Mission," said Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark Chief Marketing and Content Officer.
  • The feature is enhanced with original music including a special holiday song by Ms. Warwick produced by Grammy winner Damon Elliot.
  • The film is based on a storyline inspired by Build-A-Bear Workshop's multi-year best-selling plush, the Merry Mission collection, which includes the enchanted snow deer, Glisten.
  • Tickets for the film will be available starting October 12 at Cinemark.com and on the Cinemark app.

Bodily Injury Costs Increase in California, According to Mercury Insurance

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Umbrella, Insurance, Condo, Accident, Mercury, Policy, Mercury General, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Risk, Injury, NYSE, Home insurance, Safety

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Multi-vehicle crashes, dog bites or a delivery person being injured on your property are some of the unexpected events that are putting Californians' personal financial health at risk. In fact, bodily injury payouts continue to climb year over year since the pandemic started, with the average amount for a liability claim increasing by 66%, according to Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY).

Key Points: 
  • In fact, bodily injury payouts continue to climb year over year since the pandemic started, with the average amount for a liability claim increasing by 66%, according to Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY).
  • "Unexpected accidents are becoming more costly for Californians, which puts them at risk of having to pay out of pocket," said Jeff Schroeder, vice president and chief product officer at Mercury Insurance .
  • So, Mercury has redesigned its umbrella insurance to give Californians an extra layer of protection beyond a traditional auto or home policy.
  • Mercury offers Personal Auto, Mechanical Protection, Ride-Hailing, Condo, Homeowners, Home Cyber Protection, Home Systems Protection, Identity Management Services, Landlord, Renters, Service Line Protection, Business Auto and Personal Umbrella insurance in California.

Bodily Injury Costs Increase in California, According to Mercury Insurance

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Umbrella, Insurance, Condo, Accident, Mercury, Policy, Mercury General, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Risk, Injury, NYSE, Home insurance, Safety

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-vehicle crashes, dog bites or a delivery person being injured on your property are some of the unexpected events that are putting Californians' personal financial health at risk. In fact, bodily injury payouts continue to climb year over year since the pandemic started, with the average amount for a liability claim increasing by 66%, according to Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY). 

Key Points: 
  • In fact, bodily injury payouts continue to climb year over year since the pandemic started, with the average amount for a liability claim increasing by 66%, according to Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY).
  • "Unexpected accidents are becoming more costly for Californians, which puts them at risk of having to pay out of pocket," said Jeff Schroeder, vice president and chief product officer at Mercury Insurance .
  • So, Mercury has redesigned its umbrella insurance to give Californians an extra layer of protection beyond a traditional auto or home policy.
  • Mercury offers Personal Auto, Mechanical Protection, Ride-Hailing, Condo, Homeowners, Home Cyber Protection, Home Systems Protection, Identity Management Services, Landlord, Renters, Service Line Protection, Business Auto and Personal Umbrella insurance in California.

Health evidence against gas and oil is piling up, as governments turn a blind eye

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 4, 2023
People, Review, Methane, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Barium, Asthma, Travel, Depression, Industry, Phenols, Heart failure, Atmosphere, Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, WA, Public, Acrolein, Hydrogen sulfide, Agriculture, Anxiety, Aborigine, Organic compound, Sand, Splenic infarction, Fire, Climate change, Toxicity, Temperature, Carbon, Nitrogen, Government, Coal, Biodiversity, Soil, River, Risk, Mining, Water, Fresh water, Map, Particulates, Cancer, Health, Native title in Australia, Toluene, Climate, Pregnancy, Beetaloo, Food security, Safety, Air pollution, Greenhouse, Benzene, Renewable energy, Natural gas, Fossil fuel, Whaling, Oil, Birth control, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

It’s incomprehensible, then, that many of our politicians support “unlocking the Beetaloo Basin” in the Northern Territory and developing another 48 oil and gas projects across Australia.

Key Points: 
  • It’s incomprehensible, then, that many of our politicians support “unlocking the Beetaloo Basin” in the Northern Territory and developing another 48 oil and gas projects across Australia.
  • Today we have launched a report that demonstrates the many risks of oil and gas development for human health and wellbeing in Australia.
  • Read more:
    Australia's 116 new coal, oil and gas projects equate to 215 new coal power stations

What is the evidence against oil and gas?

    • There is a need to combat widely held misconceptions and repeated misinformation about the safety of the oil and gas industry.
    • New research clearly shows that “unlocking gas” is at least as harmful to the climate as mining and burning coal.
    • Our report synthesises recent scientific and public health research on five areas of concern about oil and gas operations:
    • Fracking is often applied many times to each of hundreds to thousands of wells in a region.
    • Air becomes contaminated with volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, radioactive materials, diesel fumes, hydrogen sulfide, acrolein and heavy metals.
    • Read more:
      Companies that frack for oil and gas can keep a lot of information secret – but what they disclose shows widespread use of hazardous chemicals

What are the health impacts?


    People exposed to oil and gas operations experience a long list of harms. These include:

    Read more:
    Land clearing and fracking in Australia's Northern Territory threatens the world's largest intact tropical savanna

Putting Indigenous people and others in harm’s way

    • Some companies have allegedly violated the rights of Traditional Owners to free, prior and informed consent.
    • The massive disruption of Aboriginal Country and life puts people at great risk of physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual harm.
    • The report also issues a loud warning about sexual violence against First Nations Americans and Canadians associated with oil and gas activities.
    • She is affiliated with the Climate and Health Alliance, Australian Public Health Association and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology.

Gambling market in the UK to grow by USD 2.83 billion between 2021 to 2026 | Growth opportunities led by 888 Holdings Plc and Bet365 Group Ltd. - Technavio

Retrieved on: 
Friday, August 25, 2023
Basketball, Tennis, The Jungle Book, Entain, Sky Betting & Gaming, Research, USD, Government, McInerney Holdings PLC, Light & Wonder, Gambling, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Station Casinos, Risk, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, The, Caesars Entertainment, Sport, Artificial intelligence, Growth, Top Cat, Football, InterQuest Group Ltd, COVID-19

The growth of the online gambling market is driving the growth of the market.

Key Points: 
  • The growth of the online gambling market is driving the growth of the market.
  • Hence, the continued growth of online gambling at the expense of conventional gambling operations will drive the gambling market in the UK during the forecast period.
  • Gambling Market in UK 2022-2026: Market Dynamics
    The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in gambling is an emerging market trend.
  • Gambling Market in UK 2022-2026: Segmentation
    Gambling Market in UK is segmented as below:

What harm could one coal mine do? Plenty – 1.7 million Hiroshima bombs of heat for starters

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Human, Climate, Life, International Energy Agency, Central Queensland, Greenhouse effect, Temperature, Burn, Carbon, Government, Coal, Environment Council, IPCC, Mining, Physics, Biophysical environment, Heat, Environment, Greenhouse, Renewable energy, Natural gas, Tobacco, Oil, Fossil fuel, Agriculture, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, NSW

This year, the Australian government rejected Clive Palmer’s coal mine proposal – but approved three others.

Key Points: 
  • This year, the Australian government rejected Clive Palmer’s coal mine proposal – but approved three others.
  • Why are we still approving coal projects when climate impacts are intensifying?
  • Unusually, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and her department were required to account for climate impacts in a recent decision.
  • It’s no wonder environmental organisations are filing lawsuits to try to stop these mines.

One new mine is the same as millions of nuclear bombs of heat

    • But how can Australia’s environment minister reason that new coal mines won’t do too much damage to the climate?
    • One is the assumption that if we don’t dig up fossil fuels, someone else will.
    • Human activity is causing about 7.8 zettajoules of extra heat to be added to the Earth’s climate system every year.
    • We can think of it instead as around 1.7 million Hiroshima bombs worth of extra heat.
    • That, in turn, would trap heat equivalent to roughly 43 million Hiroshima bombs.
    • Read more:
      Two trillion tonnes of greenhouse gases, 25 billion nukes of heat: are we pushing Earth out of the Goldilocks zone?

We can’t claim we don’t know

    • New fossil fuel project approvals at a time when global heating is accelerating seem like a remarkable disconnect.
    • The Environment Council of Central Queensland is taking Plibersek to court, aided by Environmental Justice Australia.
    • We can’t predict the outcome of the case – it could go either way.

Out of danger because the UN said so? Hardly – the Barrier Reef is still in hot water

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
UNESCO, Greenhouse, Heart, Le Monde, United Nations, Turtle, Politics, Great Barrier Reef, Farmer, Fishery, Water quality, Carbon, Government, Climate change, Soil, River, United, Water, Time, Cattle, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Great Barrier, Weather, Environment, Heat, Increment, Death, Labour, Seaweed, Agriculture, Limestone, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

UNESCO, the United Nations body expected to vote on whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, instead deferred the decision for another year.

Key Points: 
  • UNESCO, the United Nations body expected to vote on whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”, instead deferred the decision for another year.
  • This, an insider told French newspaper Le Monde, was largely due to the change in approach between the former Coalition government and Labor.
  • “It’s a bit like night and day,” the insider said – which was promptly included in Plibersek’s media release.
  • We’ve already experienced this in 2016-17, which brought back-to-back global mass coral bleaching and mortality events including on the Great Barrier Reef.

What has the government done for the reef to date?

    • The list includes: legislating net zero greenhouse emissions, with a 43% cut within seven years; improving water quality with revegetation projects and work to reduce soil erosion; and ending gillnet use in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by 2027.
    • In much of Queensland, that means the runoff heads for the Great Barrier Reef instead.
    • We did see some improvement under the Coalition government, which put A$443 million into trying to solve the issue.

Tinkering while the reef burns

    • You might have seen the positive reports on coral regrowth during the three recent cooler La Niña years and wonder what the issue is.
    • Coupled with a likely El Niño, the reef will likely face the hottest waters yet.
    • And still we fail to face up to the fact that the Great Barrier Reef is dying.
    • Incremental efforts to save the reef, such as looking for heat-tolerant “supercorals”, or replanting baby coral, now look unlikely to work.
    • And we certainly do not have the massive funding required to replant even a small coral reef.
    • Giving the government more time to show the reef is improving seems like a fool’s errand.

Why is Australia having such a warm winter? A climate expert explains

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Human, Radiation, Heat, United Nations, Industry, Climate, Atmosphere, Wildfire, Climate change, United, City, Weather, Greenhouse, Rain, Firewood, Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, Wood drying, Agriculture, Cereal, Goldilocks and the Three Bears

If you’ve been out and about the past few days, you may have noticed Australia is experiencing an unseasonably warm winter.

Key Points: 
  • If you’ve been out and about the past few days, you may have noticed Australia is experiencing an unseasonably warm winter.
  • It’s been t-shirt weather across many parts of the country’s east, including Sydney where temperatures topped 25℃ on Sunday.
  • Should we just enjoy the pleasant conditions, or is it a troubling sign of what’s to come under climate change?

The nice weather, explained

    • Since early July, warmer and drier conditions have dominated, due to a high pressure system sitting stubbornly over Australia at the moment.
    • For example, daytime temperatures in Canberra in July – historically known for its cold winters – were the warmest on record, despite frequent frosty mornings.
    • The high pressure has caused the air over the continent’s interior to warm.
    • This is similar to the weather pattern we see in summer when cities such as Adelaide and Melbourne experience their hottest days.
    • Read more:
      Global warming to bring record hot year by 2028 – probably our first above 1.5°C limit

Looking north

    • Ocean temperatures are well above previous record highs for this time of year.
    • Worryingly, a rapid analysis by international experts suggests the extreme heat should not be viewed as unusual, given the effects of climate change.
    • For example, it says China’s recent record-breaking heatwave should now be expected about once in every five years, on average.
    • But the study found climate change significantly contributed to the recent heatwaves in China, North America and Europe.

A sign of what’s to come

    • But Australia’s temperatures are also unusually high for winter – and this is also cause for concern.
    • Warm winters in Australia can negatively affect some parts of the economy, including the ski industry.
    • The warm, dry conditions may also lead to an earlier start to the fire season in Australia’s southeast.