I’d like to talk about Betelgeuse. As far as I’ve heard from astronomers and science communicators, Betelgeuse has at most 10,000 years left, not 100. However, we can’t be sure of the exact timeframe. In other words, it could happen at any moment within these 10,000 years. It might even happen tomorrow. Its dimensions are astounding because if you were to replace the Sun with Betelgeuse, it would engulf most of the planets in our solar system. But precisely this is the reason for its relatively short lifespan. Our Sun has about 4 billion years “left”.
I’ve also heard about constellations and “zodiac signs”, meaning the Sun’s position relative to a specific constellation in a given month. Over the 2,000 years since they were invented, the constellations have shifted, so when people say someone is, for example, a “Capricorn”, they should actually be a “Sagittarius” now.
DylanD
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Russia has never been a democracy, including when it was called the Soviet Union. And now it is trying to spread its non-democracy to neighboring territories, forcibly bringing under its control people who are trying to be free and independent. This really reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Endless propaganda to its own citizens, dividing them into right and wrong, positioning itself against the entire world as the “villain”. Just like in https://edubirdie.com/examples/fahrenheit-451/ that is surely well-known to everyone. And you know, I think it works. I’ve come across several videos with interviews from Russia, and many citizens support such actions. It reminded me of an experiment I read about, if I’m not mistaken, with a group of chimpanzees. They had a banana on a string, but when someone tried to take it, the whole group received a negative stimulus in the form of being splashed with water. The monkeys learned not to do it, and even beat the one who tried. Gradually, the monkeys in the group were replaced one by one, and it ended with no one in the group knowing why the banana couldn’t be taken, but they all continued to beat anyone who tried. Many citizens of that country can’t really say why democracy is bad and wholeheartedly support any totalitarian decisions of the government because “it’s accepted here”.