Desert Falcon Enterprises, LLC

Jack Johnson - Upside Down

2023-02-06T12:47:25Z

Jack Johnson - Upside Down

The Importantance Of Foreground In Landscape Photography

2023-01-30T08:03:58Z

The Importance Of Foreground In Landscape Photography

The foreground layer takes landscape photography to the next level. When out in nature, it’s easy to devote your attention to distant snowy peaks, red canyons or gently rolling hills. But just because the lighting is perfect and your focus is spot on doesn’t mean the photo can’t be improved.

Be sure to look at what’s close to you. It’s often the foreground in your photo’s composition — the part closest to you — that gives the viewer proper perspective and added dimension.

Adding depth

Most landscape photos are shot with a wide-angle lens to capture the magnitude of the scene. In essence, this compresses distance. The effect on the viewer is that they see a scene where everything is far away and very two-dimensional.

A foreground element, by its very nature, will draw the eye. But more than that, it will work to add depth to the overall scene. It adds that third dimension to a 2D photo. It deepens the scene by giving a sense of distance. The viewer is now drawn in because they have been granted spatial awareness.

In the example below, the castle wall in the foreground provides depth to the photo. The viewer can properly perceive the amount of drop-off from the cliff to the valley below, and perhaps even feel like they are standing at the wall.

How To Photograph Into The Light With Stunning Results

2021-03-24T21:33:29Z

How To Photograph Into The Light With Stunning Results

Credit: Digital Photography School.com

Green leafy vegetables essential for muscle strength leafy vegetables essential for muscle strength Date: March 24, 2021

2021-03-24T21:22:08Z

Green leafy vegetables essential for muscle strength

Source: Edith Cowan University

Summary: Eating just one cup of leafy green vegetables every day could boost muscle function, according to new research. The study found that people who consumed a nitrate-rich diet, predominantly from vegetables, had significantly better muscle function of their lower limbs.

READ MORE: Science Daily

Technosignatures and the Age of Civilizations

2021-03-18T02:59:00Z

Technosignatures and the Age of Civilizations

by PAUL GILSTER on MARCH 17, 2021

Given that we are just emerging as a spacefaring species, it seems reasonable to think that any civilizations we are able to detect will be considerably more advanced — in terms of technology, at least — than ourselves. But just how advanced can a civilization become before it does irreparable damage to itself and disappears? This question of longevity appears as a factor in the famous Drake Equation and continues to bedevil SETI speculation today.

In a paper in process at The Astronomical Journal, Amedeo Balbi (Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) and Milan Ćirković (Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade) explore the longevity question and create a technosignature classification scheme that takes it into account. Here we’re considering the kinds of civilization that might be detected and the most likely strategies for success in the technosignature hunt. The ambiguity in Drake’s factor L is embedded in its definition as the average length of a civilization’s communication phase.

Immediately we’re in shifting terrain, for in the early days of SETI, radio communication was the mode of choice, but even in the brief decades since Project Ozma, we’ve seen our own civilization drastically changing the radio signature it produces through new forms of connection. And as Balbi and Ćirković point out, the original L in Drake’s equation leaves open a rather significant matter: How do we treat the possibility of civilizations that have gone extinct?

These two authors have written before about what they call ‘temporal Copernicanism,’ which leads us to ask how the longevity of a civilization is affected by its location in our past or in our future. We are, after all, dealing with a galaxy undergoing relentless processes of astrophysical evolution. As we speculate, we have to question a value for L based on a civilization (our own) whose duration we cannot know. How can we know how far our own L extends into the future?

Image: Messier 107, a globular cluster around the disk of the Milky Way in the constellation Ophiuchus, is a reminder of the variety of stellar types and ages we find in our galaxy. What kind of technosignature might we be able to detect at a distance of about 20,000 light-years, and would ancient clusters like these in fact make reasonable targets for a search? Many factors go into our expectations as we formulate search strategies. This image was taken with the Wide Field Camera of Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credit: ESA/NASA.

https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2021/03/17/technosignatures-and-the-age-of-civilizations/

What if Planet Nine is a Mini Black Hole

2021-03-18T02:39:28Z

What if Planet Nine is a Mini Black Hole

Some astronomers believe there is a massive planet, far beyond the orbit of Neptune, orbiting the sun — but after years of searching, scientists have not found this theoretical world, which they've dubbed "Planet Nine."

This has spurred theorists to consider a radical hypothesis: Perhaps Planet Nine is not a planet but rather a small black hole that might be detectable from the theoretical radiation emitted from its edge, so-called Hawking radiation.

For centuries, astronomers have used variations in planetary orbits to predict the existence of new planets. When a planet's orbit doesn't quite line up with predictions based on everything else we know about the solar system, we need to update our physics (by, say, getting a better theory of gravity) or add more planets to the mix. For example, scientists' inability to accurately describe Mercury's orbit eventually led to Einstein's theory of relativity. And, on the opposite end of the solar system, strange behaviors in the orbit of Uranus led to the discovery of Neptune.

In 2016, astronomers studied a collection of extremely distant objects in the solar system. Called trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), these tiny, icy bodies are left over from the formation of the solar system, and they sit in a lonely, dark orbit beyond that of Neptune (hence the name).

Honda Bringing Two EV Models To The 2024 lineup

2021-03-13T04:26:54Z

Honda Bringing Two EV Models To The 2024 lineup

Honda's first electric vehicles for the US are starting to take shape. After a January report naming two EVs coming for America from the Japanese automaker, the Associated Press reported Thursday on remarks from an executive confirming the plans. Dave Gardner, Honda America's sales boss, said confirmed details from the past report saying one EV will be for Honda, and the other will be for Acura.

He further confirmed these two EVs will roll on General Motors' EV architecture and should launch for 2024. Honda confirmed the information with Roadshow, which lines up pretty squarely with the report a couple months ago.

NASA To Test SLS Engine Again On March 18

2021-03-13T04:08:04Z

NASA To Test SLS Engine Again On March 18

After experiencing a recent short test, with insufficient data, NASA Space Engineers will attempt to gather a full data set for their latest Moon rocket.

Good luck to the NASA Group on this upcoming test

I'D Love To Change The World

2021-03-10T07:01:11Z

I'D Love To Change The World

TMobile To Start Tracking Customer Data Soon

2021-03-09T21:05:40Z

T-Mobile will start sharing your info with advertisers by default

The new privacy policy goes into effect next month

T-Mobile is starting a new program that collects and shares data with advertisers in order to show you ads more relevant to your interests. Customers will be included by default, but will be allowed to opt out. The carrier announced the change in a privacy policy update last month, and it was spotted by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The new policy will affect both T-Mobile and Sprint customers, since the companies merged last year, and will allow the carrier to share info like your browsing data and the apps you use. The policy will go into effect on April 26. The company clarified that the info it collects won't be tied to your name, but it will link to a unique mobile advertising identifier.

Rapid 3D printing method moves toward 3D-printed organs

2021-03-07T04:14:58Z

Rapid 3D printing method moves toward 3D-printed organs

Technique speeds up conventional 3D printing by 10-50 times

Date:: March 6, 2021
Source:: University at Buffalo
Summary:: A research team is a 3D printing method called stereolithography and jelly-like materials known as hydrogels to develop a 3D printing method that's 10-50 times faster than the industry standard. The team says its progress toward 3D-printed human tissue and organs -- biotechnology that could eventually save countless lives lost due to the shortage of donor organs.; READ MORE:

MOODY BLUES - TUESDAY AFTERNOON

2021-03-07T00:29:01Z

MOODY BLUES - TUESDAY AFTERNOON

Garmin G3000 startup Cessna Citation CJ3+

2021-03-06T23:43:06Z

Garmin G3000 startup Cessna Citation CJ3+

Using Black and White Filters to Improve Your Photos

2018-10-24T03:20:42Z

Using Black and White Filters to Improve Your Photos

In photography, you’re always looking for that extra percentage improvement in your work. One of the best ways you can quickly get this improvement is by using a black and white filter.

Those interested in black and white photography should know about the various filter options available to them. In this article, you’ll discover how to get more dramatic photos simply by changing the color of light coming into your camera.

So read on and find out which filters those are, and when and where best to use them. Now you’ll know all there is to know about the black and white filter options!

Using yellow, orange or red filters on a partially cloudy day will give you good results.

The Classic Black and White Filter Group

The workhorse filters for black and white photography are undoubtedly the red, orange and yellow filters. These filters can add more punch and drama to your scene, so let’s take a look at what they do and why they’re important.

Yellow Filter

Adding this filter to the front of your lens will add more contrast, which will lead to a more dramatic look. The main way this happens is that the yellow filter will darken the skies while keeping the clouds white. To get the most out of this you’ll need to be photographing on a partially cloudy day. The filter will also add more contrast to the foliage for your nature landscapes. Now, if you’re a cityscape photographer those darker skies will make a skyscraper building jump out of the frame more. This filter will reduce the amount of light coming into the camera, so be aware of this and compensate by increasing the exposure value if needed.

Buildings will stand out more against the sky when you use filters.

Orange Filter

You may have guessed that using orange as opposed to yellow will in effect dial up all of the effects that the yellow filter makes. Whether you want to darken those skies more is an artistic choice, but it’s always worth having an orange filter in the bag to give you that option. This filter further reduces the amount of light coming into the camera by about 1 stop.

Digital Photo School

Alien Life Might Be Purple?

2018-10-24T03:06:30Z

Alien Life Might Be Purple?

That's the conclusion of a new research paper that suggests that the first life on Earth might have had a lavender hue. In the International Journal of Astrobiology, microbiologist Shiladitya DasSarma of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and postdoctoral researcher Edward Schwieterman at the University of California, Riverside, argue that before green plants started harnessing the power of the sun for energy, tiny purple organisms figured out a way to do the same.

Alien life could be thriving in the same way, DasSarma said.

"Astronomers have discovered thousands of new extrasolar planets recently and are developing the capacity to see surface biosignatures" in the light reflected from these planets, he told Live Science. There are already ways to detect green life from space, he said, but scientists might need to start looking for purple, too. [7 Wild Theories on the Origin of Life]

Purple Earth

The idea that the early Earth was purple is not new, DasSarma and his colleagues advanced the theory in 2007. The thinking goes like this: Plants and photosynthesizing algae use chlorophyll to absorb energy from the sun, but they don't absorb green light. That's odd, because green light is energy-rich. Perhaps, DasSarma and his colleagues reasoned, something else was already using that part of the spectrum when chlorophyll photosynthesizers evolved.

That "something else" would be simple organisms that captured solar energy with a molecule called retinal. Retinal pigments absorb green light best. They're not as efficient as chlorophylls in capturing solar energy, but they are simpler, the researchers wrote in their new paper published Oct. 11.

Retinal light-harvesting is still widespread today among bacteria and the single-celled organisms called Archaea. These purple organisms have been discovered everywhere from the oceans to the Antarctic Dry Valley to the surfaces of leaves, Schwieterman told Live Science. Retinal pigments are also found in the visual system of more complex animals. The appearance of the pigments across many living organisms hints that they may have evolved very early on, in ancestors common to many branches of the tree of life, the researchers wrote. There is even some evidence that modern purple-pigmented salt-loving organisms called halophiles might be related to some of the earliest life on Earth, which thrived around methane vents in the ocean, Schwieterman said.

United growth plan shows no sign of letting up in 2019

2018-10-24T02:59:21Z

United growth plan shows no sign of letting up in 2019

15 OCTOBER, 2018 SOURCE: FLIGHT DASHBOARD BY: EDWARD RUSSELL WASHINGTON DC

United Airlines is prepping for another year of aggressive domestic capacity growth in 2019, hot on the heels of its successful expansion this year. The Star Alliance carrier loaded the latest network additions from its Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles hubs over the weekend, part of a strategy to recapture its "natural share" of the US market by growing 4-6% annually through 2020.

“With more than 40 new domestic routes added this year, we remain committed to expanding our network to offer customers even more choices in their travel destinations,” says Ankit Gupta, vice-president of domestic network planning at United. “The expansion to Hilton Head Island from three of our hub cities and the introduction of New York’s only nonstop service to… Pensacola, are just some of the ways we are responding to customer interest and demand.”

FlightGlobal.com

Skywest Plans on Flight a Large Number of 50 Passenger Jets, into the Future.

2018-08-22T03:54:21Z

Skywest Plans on Flight a Large Number of 50 Passenger Jets, into the Future.

“We see a tremendous opportunity long-term to have that aircraft serve small communities,” Childs told the International Aviation Forecast Conference in Denver Aug. 20. “We have not [parked our smallest RJs], and we likely will not.”

Utah-based SkyWest Inc., which operates SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines—both regional feeders for mainline carriers—had a 583-aircraft fleet as of June 30. More than half—298—were either Bombardier CRJ200s or Embraer ERJ135/145s.

It plans to end the year with 585 aircraft, continuing a trend of right-sizing its fleet so it is large enough to capitalize on opportunities, but small enough to be somewhat isolated from demand fluctuations.

Since ending 2014 with 717 aircraft, SkyWest steadily has reduced its fleet, ending each year with fewer aircraft than it had at the start. It also has adjusted its ratio of smaller aircraft to dual-class models from a 70/30 split in 2014—including some turboprops—to the 51/49 split projected for year-end 2018.

Stolen Horizon Air Q400 Barrel Roll !!

2018-08-12T05:43:33Z

Stolen Horizon Air Q400 Doing a Barrel Roll

Stolen Horizon Air Q400 ATC Audio!

2018-08-12T05:18:18Z

Stolen Horizon Air Q400 ATC Audio!

How to Choose a Lens for Night Sky Photography

2018-06-20T03:35:34Z

How to Choose a Lens for Night Sky Photography

There is a big distinction to be made when it comes to night sky photography, which is whether or not you plan on photographing the stars in the night sky. If you do not plan on including stars in your shots, things are a lot simpler for you. That is true in a lot of ways, in that you don’t need to worry as much about the clouds and weather, the impact of the moon, or light pollution.

When it comes to lens selection, it means that you can pretty much use whatever lens you want. Therefore, if that is the type of night photography you plan to do, continue using whatever is your favorite lens at present.

Issues doing Night Sky Photography

On the other hand, if you plan on shooting the night sky and capturing the stars, things get trickier. This stems from two facts. The first is that starlight is extremely dim. It is only a tiny, tiny fraction of what you have at sunset (let alone the middle of the day). Even moonlight is many times more powerful.

The second issue is that the stars are moving across the sky (or, rather, that the earth is spinning, but it appears as though the stars are moving to your camera). This is happening more quickly than you might realize.

As a result, you need to do everything possible to maximize exposure, and you need for that to happen quickly. In other words, the dim light means that you need a lot of exposure. Exposure stems from a combination of three things: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

In other types of photography, you might simply open up the shutter for a long time. In night sky photography, however, you don’t have that luxury since the stars are moving. That means your shutter speed is going to be capped somewhere between 15 and 30 seconds. If you expose any longer, the camera will pick up that movement and it will show up as tails or blur in your pictures. That won’t work.

That means you’ll have to look at the other two exposure options – ISO and aperture. To deal with the dim light, you will have to crank up your ISO to at least 3200 and in many cases 6400. At present, that’s about as high as you should go. Even if your camera goes up to something like ISO 25,600, as many cameras do these days if you use an ISO that high you risk noise completely taking over your picture.

Use a Fast Lens

Because of these caps on shutter speed and ISO, the only remaining exposure control is aperture. To maximize exposure and still successfully capture the night sky, you will need a fast lens. How fast?

A lens that opens up to f/2.8 or wider is ideal. A lens with a maximum aperture of f/4.0 is acceptable. Anything less than that (meaning a higher f-number) probably won’t work. This is one situation where your kit lens might serve you well. Most kit lenses open up to f/3.5 at their widest focal length, which is actually 1/3 stop brighter than your typical f/4.0 lens.

As a side-note, you might be worried about depth of field when using these large apertures. You need not worry about that though. You will always set your focus at infinity and everything in your scene will be on that plane of focus. Even if there are objects in the foreground, at wide angles things quickly go to infinity on your lens. Unless something is very close to you (say, within 10 feet or so), it will be on the same plane of focus and depth of field will not be an issue. If you want to include anything closer than that, you’ll likely need to focus stack.