Sunday, August 22, 2021

What color is the universe?

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It is a bit tamer than you might imagine.

A colorful shot of nebula and stars in deep space. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

When you look up at the night sky, it's easy to think that the universe is a never-ending sea of blackness. But if you measured the visible light from all of the luminous celestial bodies out there, what would the average color of the universe be?

Let's get this out of the way first: It's not black.

"Black is not a color," Ivan Baldry, a professor at the Liverpool John Moores University Astrophysics Research Institute in the U.K., told Live Science. "Black is just the absence of detectable light." Instead, color is the result of visible light, which is created throughout the universe by stars and galaxies, he said. 

In 2002, Baldry and Karl Glazebrook, a distinguished professor at the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, co-led a study published in The Astrophysical Journal that measured the light coming from tens of thousands of galaxies and combined it into a singular spectrum that represented the entire universe.

In doing so, the pair and their colleagues were able to work out the average color of the universe.

The cosmic spectrum 

Stars and galaxies emit waves of electromagnetic radiation, which is separated into different groups based on the length of the waves emitted. From shortest to longest wavelength, the groups include gamma-rays, X-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves and radio waves. 

Visible light makes up a tiny portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of the range of wavelengths, but it is the only part the naked eye can see. What we perceive as colors are actually just different wavelengths of visible light; reds and oranges have longer wavelengths, and blues and purples have shorter wavelengthsThe visible spectrum of a star or a galaxy is a measure of the brightness and wavelengths of light that the star or galaxy emits, which, in turn, can be used to determine the average color of the star or galaxy, Baldry said.

In 2002, Australia's 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey — which was the largest survey of galaxies ever carried out at the time — captured the visible spectra of more than 200,000 galaxies from across the observable universe. By combining the spectra of all these galaxies, Baldry and Glazebrook's team was able to create a visible light spectrum that accurately represented the entire universe, known as the cosmic spectrum.

The comic spectrum "represents the sum of all the energy in the universe emitted at different optical wavelengths of light," Baldry and Glazebrook wrote in a separate non-peer-reviewed online paper in 2002 based on their discovery. The cosmic spectrum, in turn, allowed them to determine the average color of the universe.  

Color conversion 

The researchers used a color-matching computer program to convert the cosmic spectrum into a single color visible to humans, Baldry said.

Our eyes have three types of light-sensitive cones, each of which helps us perceive a different range of visible light wavelengths. This means that we have certain blind spots where we cannot properly register certain colors of wavelengths between these ranges, Baldry and Glazebrook wrote in their online paper. The colors we see also depend on what our reference for white light is as we are observing an object. For instance, the color of an object may appear different in a brightly lit room compared with the outdoors on an overcast day.

Related: What color is the sunset on other planets?

However, the CIE color spaces, created by the International Commission on Illumination in 1931, compensate for our visual limitations by attributing a color to different wavelength combinations as seen by a standardized human observer, which is what the team's computer models used.

The team determined that the average color of the universe is a beige shade not too far off from white. Although this is a rather boring finding, it is not a surprising one, considering that white light is the result of combining all the different wavelengths of visible light and the cosmic spectrum includes such a wide range of wavelengths.

The new color was eventually named "cosmic latte," based on the Italian word for milk, after a poll of the whole research team. Other suggestions included cappuccino cosmico, Big Bang beige and primordial clam chowder. 


The color 'cosmic latte' (Hex triplet = #FFF8E7).

The color 'cosmic latte' (Hex triplet = #FFF8E7) (Image credit: NASA)


Unshifting the red 

A key concept of the cosmic spectrum is that it represents the light of the universe "as originally envisaged," Balrdy and Glazebrook wrote in their online paper. This means that it represents the light as it was emitted throughout the universe, not just as it appears to us on Earth today.

Like all waves, light gets stretched over vast distances because of the Doppler effect. As light gets stretched, its wavelength increases and its color moves toward the red end of the spectrum, known by astronomers as redshift. This means that the light we see is not the same color it was when it was first emitted.

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Cosmic latte is, therefore, the color you would see if you could look down on the universe from above and see all the light coming from every galaxy, star and gas clouds all at once, Baldry said."We removed the effect of redshift from the spectra of the galaxies," Baldry said. "So, it is the spectra of the galaxies when they emitted the light."

Originally published on Live Science.

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Insurance industry seeks to limit fossil fuel exposure amid growing climate threat

In the past 3 years, 9 insurers have ended or limited

 insurance for the Canadian oilsands

Amanda Stephenson · The Canadian Press · 
Of all the institutional investors, insurance companies have perhaps the most on the line when it comes to climate change.                                                               (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

With global climate change threatening to wreak havoc on their industry, insurance companies are increasingly looking to limit their exposure to the fossil fuel sector.

"This was not an issue that was central in the insurance sector, even 7 years ago," said Robin Edger, national director of climate change for the Insurance Bureau of Canada. "But now it is moving at light speed."

In the past three years, 23 major global insurance companies have adopted policies that end or limit insurance for the coal industry, and nine insurers have ended or limited insurance for the Canadian oilsands.

Other insurance companies are making changes on the asset side of their books, divesting fossil fuel investments and adding green energy to their investment portfolios. In July, eight of the world's largest insurance companies — including Swiss Re, Zurich Insurance Group and Aviva — committed to transitioning their portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The "sustainable finance" movement — which seeks to use the power of investment capital to move toward a lower-carbon economy — also includes pension funds, banks, and mutual funds. But of all the institutional investors, insurance companies have perhaps the most on the line when it comes to climate change.

According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the average annual cost of claims for property damage or losses due to severe weather has more than quadrupled over the last decade to $2.4 billion in 2020.

That figure is expected to keep growing. An alarming report from the United Nations earlier this month said the world will cross the 1.5-degree-Celsius warming mark in the 2030s, resulting in more floods, fires and heat waves.

On the hook for more payouts amid ever-escalating risk, the global insurance industry has been lobbying for years for governments to take more action on climate change. But it is only recently that insurers have begun taking a critical look at their own investments in fossil fuel companies.

In Europe — where the disclosure of fossil fuel investments is mandatory for public companies — insurers are moving faster than their North American counterparts, said Victor Adesanya, lead author of a recent DBRS Morningstar report on the topic.

But even in the U.S. and Canada, where the disclosure of fossil fuel holdings is not required, the issue is gaining momentum, Adesanya said. Manulife Financial, for example, has committed to assessing its own $39.8-billion portfolio with the goal of getting to net-zero by 2050.

"For them (North American insurers) to just turn off the taps and stop investing right away, I don't see that happening," Adesanya said. "But there's a trend that has started, and it will begin to ramp up."

Environmental groups are also increasingly putting pressure on the insurance industry, demanding that they stop underwriting coal mines, coal-fired power plants, and other fossil fuel projects.

They have had some success — a handful of global insurers stated publicly this year they would not provide coverage to the TransMountain pipeline expansion.

"To me it illustrates a real shift in the sector," said Mary Lovell, who leads insurance campaigns for the San Francisco-based environmental group Rainforest Action Network. "These insurers understand the reputational risk of being involved with a project as contentious as TransMountain, as well as the material risk of constructing a new pipeline during a climate crisis."

Edger, with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said the industry will be closely watching the COP 26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow in November, where the issue of sustainable finance is expected to be a major topic.

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CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 

U.S. authorities freeze assets, charge British Columbians in 'long-running fraudulent scheme'

Major Canadian player in Panama Papers scandal, former B.C. lawyer Fred Sharp, is charged by SEC, FBI


David P. Ball · CBC News · 
Fred Sharp, a former West Vancouver lawyer, is facing charges from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission as the alleged 'mastermind' of a pump-and-dump investment scheme. (Sharp Art Pictures/YouTube)

Five years after he was named as a major Canadian player in the "Panama Papers" offshore finance scandal, a former West Vancouver lawyer is now facing prosecution in the United States and has had his financial assets frozen by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fred Sharp, who nicknamed himself "Bond" after the film spy, according to court filings, is one of six British Columbians charged by the regulator with "violating anti-fraud provisions" of the U.S. Securities Act.

Sharp and two of his fellow B.C. defendants are also facing conspiracy and securities fraud charges by the U.S. Justice Department.

"Sharp masterminded ... long-running fraudulent schemes that collectively generated hundreds of millions of dollars from unlawful stock sales" between 2011 and 2018, the SEC said on Aug. 12.

Also facing SEC charges are six of Sharp's alleged "associates": Zhiying Gasarch of Richmond, B.C.; Surrey resident Courtney Kelln; North Vancouver's Mike Veldhuis; Jackson Friesen of Delta; Paul Sexton of Anmore, B.C.; and Avtar Singh Dhillon, a Canadian living in California.

The U.S. stock market regulator alleges the co-accused "frequently collaborated with Sharp to dump huge stock positions while hiding their control positions."

WATCH | Panama Papers reveal middlemen between Canada and offshore secrets:

Panama Papers reveal middlemen between Canada and offshore secrets.

5 years ago
3:29
The CBC is one of only two news outlets in Canada with complete access to all the information that was leaked from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. 3:29

The SEC's move comes after the U.S. Justice Department criminally charged Sharp with securities fraud and conspiracy on Aug. 5 — charges also faced by fellow British Columbians Veldhuis and Kelln.

None of the criminal or securities charges have been proven in court.

"Sharp and his co-conspirators are accused of executing a sophisticated, global con that allegedly bilked unsuspecting investors out of tens of millions of dollars," said Joseph Bonavolonta, the FBI Boston's special agent in charge, who helped lead the criminal investigation. "We will do everything we can to hold accountable those who steal from American investors."

Sharp and his co-conspirators are accused of executing a sophisticated, global con that allegedly bilked unsuspecting investors out of tens of millions of dollars.- Joseph Bonavolonta, FBI Boston special agent in charge

In 2016, CBC News was one of only two news outlets in Canada with complete access to all of the financial documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, part of a massive international investigative journalism collaboration known as the "Panama Papers."

Sharp's company, Corporate House, was known as the go-to investment firm for wealthy Canadians who wanted to keep assets private and use offshore tax havens to minimize their tax burden, according to sources in the wealth management industry, CBC News learned.

He created more than 1,200 corporate entities linked to Canada, making him the most significant Canadian player in the Panama Papers trove. According to documents obtained by CBC News at the time, the Sharp-associated companies were instructed not to send any account statements or invoices by mail, email or fax, but to destroy them.

"Printed invoices or statement of accts [sic] should be destroyed," the instructions stated.

At the time of the Panama Papers release, Sharp told CBC News in an email, "Tax planning is a global reality that results from international competition and inefficient governmental regulation ... and is legal."

WATCH | Release of Panama Papers documents:

Panama Papers

5 years ago
2:36
CBC News' Frederic Zalac on the release of Panama Papers documents 2:36

A "pump-and-dump" investment scheme is one in which companies' stock prices are artificially inflated, allowing some shareholders to sell their stock at artificially high prices to other investors, according to the FBI.

Sharp "used the code name 'Bond' (styling himself after the fictional character James Bond)," the Securities and Exchange Commission said in court documents, and "was the mastermind and leader" of a company whose clients included "individuals seeking fraudulently to sell stock in the markets to retail investors — and with various offshore trading platforms."

Another James Bond connection appeared in Sharp's company accounting system, which the SEC said he named after fictional senior spy "Q" in the Bond franchise. The role of "Q," according to the court filings, was "to conceal and obscure the actual ownership and control of the stock they were surreptitiously selling."

Sharp is a former Vancouver lawyer who was suspended in 1995 by the Law Society of British Columbia, which ruled he "knowingly took instructions from a person who was ... disqualified from acting as an officer or director of a public company because of a criminal record for fraud," and for delivering a client's nearly $500,000 cheque "knowing that [the client] had no funds in its bank account available."

In one Sharp correspondence quoted in the SEC's court documents, his company's services were "not limited to trading" but also included payments, loans and "keeping clients out of jail."

If convicted of securities fraud, Sharp could face up to 20 years in prison, plus five years for the conspiracy charges, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

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High-efficiency masks up to six times better at filtering aerosols than cloth, surgical masks: Canadian study


Tom Yun
CTVNews.ca writer
Published Sunday, August 22, 2021 

TORONTO -- A recent study from engineering researchers in Ontario has found that high-efficiency masks are up to six times better at filtering aerosols compared to more commonly used cloth and surgical masks.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo looked into how effective different types of masks are at filtering out aerosol particles, which are solid or liquid particles approximately 0.001 millimetres in diameter and suspended in the air. They published their findings in the journal Physics of Fluids on July 21.

The team put masks over a CPR mannequin that could simulate a person's breathing and exhale aerosol droplets, which were made using olive oil, and measured the amount of aerosols that would be built up in a large, unventilated room. The measurements were taken from two metres away, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)'s recommended distance for physical distancing.

Related Links
Read the full study in Physics of Fluids

The researchers found that R95 masks were able to filter out 60 per cent of exhaled aerosols, and KN95 masks could filter out 46 per cent.

On the other hand, cloth masks and surgical masks only filtered out 10 per cent and 12 per cent of exhaled aerosols, respectively.

“There is no question it is beneficial to wear any face covering, both for protection in close proximity and at a distance in a room,” said lead author Serhiy Yarusevych in a press release​. “However, there is a very serious difference in the effectiveness of different masks when it comes to controlling aerosols.”

Researchers say cloth and surgical masks are prone to air leakage at the top of the mask, where the mask meets the bridge of the nose.

In the early days of the pandemic, health officials in Canada and around the world said that that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was thought to primarily spread through droplets created when people cough, sneeze or talk. But in November, PHAC updated its advice to acknowledge aerosol transmission of the virus.

A growing number of scientists and doctors also believe that aerosols are the most dominant mode of transmission of COVID-19. A paper published in The Lancet in April pointed to long-range COVID-19 spread in quarantine hotels as well as air samples in hospitals that contained viable SARS-CoV-2.

Yarusevych's team also examined ventilation and found that even modest ventilation can significantly reduce the amount of aerosols.

When the researchers conducted the experiment with an unmasked mannequin and a room that had a ventilation rate of 1.7 room volumes per hour, the ventilation managed to eliminate 69 per cent of aerosols. At 3.2 room volumes per hour, 84 per cent of aerosols were gone.

Yarusevych says his data shows that wherever possible, high-efficiency masks should be paired with proper ventilation in indoor settings such as schools and workplaces.

“A lot of this may seem like common sense,” he said. “There is a reason, for instance, that medical practitioners wear N95 masks – they work much better. The novelty here is that we have provided solid numbers and rigorous analysis to support that assumption.”​



A man holds a 3M N95 respirator before an announcement at a facility in Brockville, Ont., Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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#FOREVERCHEMICALS
Are we at risk from wearing clothing with detectable amounts of PFASs or phthalates?

PFASs might be present in clothing, but the presence of a chemical cannot be equated to the presence of risk!

Joe Schwarcz PhD |
MCGILL UNIVERSITY
 20 Aug 2021
Health


Much ink has recently been spilled about our environment, and potentially our bodies, being contaminated by some of the estimated 60,000 chemicals being industrially produced today. That ink itself contains the likes of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates, chemicals of concern because of their hormone disruptive properties, and in the case of PFAS, also because of their environmental persistence. That has earned the latter the nickname “forever chemicals.” Both these classes of substances are found in numerous consumer products. Phthalates are added to some plastics, including ones that are spun into fibres to make them soft and pliable, whereas PFASs have both water and oil repellant properties. It therefore comes as no surprise that these chemicals can be detected when some fabrics are subjected to chemical analysis, mostly at the parts per million level or less.

The first take-away is that what the results of such an analysis really demonstrate is the astounding capability of modern instrumentation to detect vanishingly small amounts of substances. The second point is that the presence of a chemical cannot be equated to the presence of risk! Evaluation of risk is a very complex affair and often comes down to making an educated guess given that the relevant experiment cannot be ethically, logistically or economically performed.

For example, when it comes to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the definitive experiment would involve exposing a group of subjects to varying amounts of these substances and comparing the findings to that of a control group with no exposure. The experimental and control groups would have to be followed for decades, since we are talking about chronic rather than acute effects. To add to the complexity, it should be noted that there are thousands of different PFASs that are in use and they can have totally different toxicological profiles. So which one, or which mixture would be tested? Clearly such an interventional trail cannot be carried out. We are therefore left with human epidemiological studies and laboratory experiments using animals or cells in test tubes. But people are not rats and the body is not some giant test tube, so the relevance of laboratory data to humans is hard to determine.

As far as epidemiological data go, these are clearly relevant, but generally come from large scale exposure. For example, detrimental effects of PFAS have been noted in people living around DuPont’s West Virginia Parkesburg plant where significantly high amounts of PFAS have been found in the water due to improper disposal of manufacturing chemicals. However, this may not mean much for the general population elsewhere with exposure to trace amounts. As we well know, only the dose makes the poison. The same arguments can be made for phthalates, bisphenol A, PCBs, dioxins, furans or the hundreds of other chemicals with potential toxicity that may be encountered in the environment.

All of this is to say that we cannot come to a conclusion about the risk, if any, posed by the tiny amounts of PFASs, phthalates or inorganics detected in fabrics. My guess is that absorption of any of these into the bloodstream would be inconsequential. That, though, may not be the case for cosmetics that are formulated with PFASs such as lipstick, foundations, or mascara. But the biggest concern about exposure to PFAS and phthalates is through food and water. How do these chemicals end up there? Leaching out from discarded items, for one. While wearing fabrics with PFAS may not be an issue, when large numbers of these are discarded, some PFASs end up in the water supply and from there in food. Since PFAS are also used in food packaging, migration into the contents is possible. Then there is the possibility of inadvertent release during manufacture of these chemicals.

The bottom line is that while PFAS in fabrics may pose no risk to the wearer, banning their inclusion in such items means fewer of these chemicals will be produced, and population exposure will be reduced. However, making any recommendation to the public about favouring specific clothing items based on the trivial amounts of PFAS or phthalates found, cannot be justified scientifically.

READ
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“Different From All Currently Known Life?” –Darwin’s Extraterrestrials (Weekend Feature)

Posted on Aug 21, 2021 in Astrobiology, Astronomy, Extraterrestrial Life, Science, SETI, Space, Universe

extraterrestrial life

 

“By now it has become a common futurist prediction and science fiction plot device that intelligent and sentient life forms can be created which are not biochemical in nature and are thus fundamentally different from all currently known life,” distinguished Princeton astrophysicist Edwin Turner wrote in an email to The Daily Galaxy.  “Whether or not this would actually be possible,” he explains, “depends on the nature and origin of consciousness, a topic about which we have little more than entertaining whistling-in-the-dark guesses at this point and no clear path toward obtaining any better understanding of this deep mystery.”

Aliens Shaped by Natural Selection

In a landmark 2017 study published in the International Journal of Astrobiology scientists from the University of Oxford showed that aliens are potentially shaped by the same processes and mechanisms that shaped humans, such as natural selection and are like us, evolving to be fitter and stronger over time.

Only One Known Sample in the Universe

“A fundamental task for astrobiologists is thinking about what extraterrestrial life might be like.” said Sam Levin, a researcher in Oxford’s Department of Zoology. “But making predictions about aliens is hard,” he noted “We only have one example of life – life on Earth — to extrapolate from. Past approaches in the field of astrobiology have been largely mechanistic, taking what we see on Earth, and what we know about chemistry, geology, and physics to make predictions about aliens.”

Complexity’s Arrow

By predicting that aliens have undergone major transitions – which is how complexity has arisen in species on Earth, we can say that there is a level of predictability to evolution that would cause them to look like us.

“In our paper,” said Levin, “we offer an alternative approach, which is to use evolutionary theory to make predictions that are independent of Earth’s details. This is a useful approach, because theoretical predictions will apply to aliens that are silicon based, do not have DNA, and breathe nitrogen, for example.”

 Alien Natural Selection

Using this idea of alien natural selection as a framework, the team addressed extra-terrestrial evolution, and how complexity will arise in space.

Species complexity has increased on the Earth as a result of a handful of events, known as major transitions. These transitions occur when a group of separate organisms evolve into a higher-level organism – when cells become multi-cellular organisms, for example. Both theory and empirical data suggest that extreme conditions are required for major transitions to occur.

The paper also makes specific predictions about the biological make-up of complex aliens, and offers a degree of insight as to what they might look like.

Mirror Sapiens?

“We still can’t say whether aliens will walk on two legs or have big green eyes<” said Levin. “But we believe evolutionary theory offers a unique additional tool for trying to understand what aliens will be like, and we have shown some examples of the kinds of strong predictions we can make with it.”

“By predicting that aliens have undergone major transitions – which is how complexity has arisen in species on Earth, we can say that there is a level of predictability to evolution that would cause them to look like us.”

‘Like humans, we predict that they are made-up of a hierarchy of entities, which all cooperate to produce an alien. At each level of the organism there will be mechanisms in place to eliminate conflict, maintain cooperation, and keep the organism functioning. We can even offer some examples of what these mechanisms will be.

‘There are potentially hundreds of thousands of habitable planets in our galaxy alone. We can’t say whether or not we’re alone on Earth, but we have taken a small step forward in answering, if we’re not alone, what our neighbors are like.’

 Rare Evolutionary Transitions

In subsequent 2019 research from the University of Oxford have created a statistical model that shows the chances of intelligent life existing elsewhere in the Universe are slim. “It’s still unknown,” observes mathematical biologist Michael Bonsall, “how abundant extraterrestrial life is, or whether such life might be intelligent. On Earth, numerous evolutionary transitions were needed for complex intelligent life to emerge, and this occurring relatively late in Earth’s lifetime is thought to be evidence for a handful of rare evolutionary transitions.”

“In addition to the evolutionary transition,” writes Bonsall, “the emergence of intelligent life also requires a set of cosmological factors to be in place. These include whether the planet is in the right place for water to be present, whether life emerges from the water and whether the planet itself is habitable. Most crucial in this is the lifetime of the star the planet is orbiting; if this lifetime is short in comparison to the necessary evolutionary transitions for life, then intelligent observers might never get a chance to emerge (often referred to as the Great Filter).”

The Daily Galaxy, Avi Shporer, Research Scientist, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research via Oxford University and Edwin Turner. Avi was formerly a NASA Sagan Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

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