The Anglian phylarchy

The oldest Yankee capitol has been found, where the Venerable Bede said it would be found: Rendlesham. The Anglians held this capitol from AD 570 to 720 after which, I guess, they moved it. Rendlesham's hall was made of wood, being in an unstony part of Britain, so wasn't easy to find.

The kingdom is most famed these days for Sutton Hoo, which is close to Rendlesham but not in it. Probably because Sutton Hoo was... a grave, for king Raedwald to be exact. Although, based on his grave-goods: "king" and "rex" might be pushing it. Malak would be the best Semitic term, or gwasileus in Linear B because he seems to have bent it for the Merovings, the true sharru / wanakes of the sixth-seventh turn of the Century. A monk naming himself Augustine came to Cantwareburh and converted them to the Anglian rite in AD 597 - although, interestingly, made less headway among then-divergent Britons. (Also of note, perhaps, is that the Cantware king Aethelbert wasn't calling himself a Jute by then...)

After Augustine's ascension to the saints AD 605 the Merovings lost control of a lot of things, including, like, control of the Franks; Kent and Essex - the Anglians tell us - broke from all Christianity. East Anglia stayed loyal to Christ (read: to the Franks) which bought them political autonomy, to end in independence after Christianity didn't require Continental control anymore.

After AD 720 the Anglians would trundle along until the 800s when the Norsemen put paid to the whole place, possibly forcing today's division Suffolk and Norfolk. I don't know why there exists no "West Anglia" unless it's just Massachusetts.

Shades of Akītu

Tonight, Jews worldwide begin the process of purification which is Yom Kippur. Davila has pointed (at a remove) to the history of this holy day.

As so often in modern "Judaism" the meaning of this day has shifted. Sukkot(h) was the holiday for which Yom Kippur was a mere preparation. One major reference to Kippur comes within the Holiness Code - Lev 17-26 - which postdates the core of Ezra. (Nehemia / 2 Esdras, I dunno. Qumran semifamously dinno either.) Thereby Lev 16 looks sus, as well: postEzra preHoliness?

The priesthood of Torah sans Lev 16/17-26 is Egyptian if you follow Freud; counterEgyptian if Manetho (nowadays Carmichael). But akītu was Bavli and its Kuppuru, not all that different from the Judaeans'. Ezra didn't play up "kippur" but, these scholars argue, maybe his successors did.

Congratulations to Svante Pääbo fitzBergström

If anyone deserves a Nobel for Physiology it's Svante Pääbo natural son of Nobel laureate Bergström.

Twitter replyfolk are pointing out the Nobel is for Physiology or Medicine and saying the RNA vaccine deserves it more. Other replyfolk are saying the jury is still out at best, which it's not-out for the discovery of the freakin' Denisovans. Then there's the tosh about "LGBT representation" which, I think, Pääbo would rather not the scientific-community consider. (He's "B" - if that.)

In all seriousness and with all due respect, Pääbo is about the most-deserving recipient of a biology-Nobel in my lifetime.

Project Hail Mary

Yesterday afternoon I bought Andrew Weir's Project Hail Mary which this evening I have finished. I didn't buy it last year; I had the suspicion I could get a used copy soon-enough. Last weekend was soon enough, $10 hardcover.

I don't like this book enough to avoid spoilers, but I like you dear reader enough to forewarn you that spoilers be forthcoming. Also I am sequestering the Kulturkrapf upon which other reviewers have insisted.

Weir for this book takes themes from Asimov's B tier of novels, of which I caught The Gods Themselves (language translation, alien genitalia, a new energy-source for good or for ill) and The Stars, Like Dust (dying suns, forced amnesia). In their spirit, I guess, Weir's science depends on some conceits as are likely unlikely, like a star-eating chemical organism that absorbs... neutrinos. But if you're watching any "kino" with faster-than-light travel or alt-universes then you don't get to complain.

More unfortunate is that 40 / ο² Eridani (A) seems not to own the advertised planet. This prospective superearth was un-found during the runup to publication, which is how come the Wikipedia page looks messy right now [UPDATE 2/20/23: and how]. It was always unlikely given 40 Eridani A shares its space with a binary of smaller stars revolving a common barycentre; one of them is white-dwarf so has blown up and imploded already. Thus, you'd think, nuking A's planets. Thus, before any of this even formed, making a hash of A's disc.

As for novel quality: it's just The Martian In Space. ο² was likely chosen in the first place only because of Star Trek lore re: Vulcan. The book's protag is Weir's self-insert who loves science carnally, whose interpersonal relationships revolve around work - here with an alien rather than with a crew across dozens of millions of km of space. Where Weir's avatar is left to himself, he solves all problems by himself. This worked for Matt Damon in The Martian - perforce; it does not work where Damon (or Gosling I hear) is on Earth with some access to staff. Later we do learn of this character's personal flaws but not before we see how AWESOME he is, at SCIENCE. Some editor needed to stop there, flip back to the beginning, and Aristotle the sh1t out of the earlier chapters.

I am glad I did not pay full price for this.

Andy Weir is called out

I bought Andrew "Andy" Weir's Project Hail Mary today and in advance of a review, I'll discuss how #woke it isn't.

Mary Robinette Kowal came to The Bezos Blog May 2021 to float problems - which, she insinuates, be Problematics. To whit: the main character instantly genders the alien as a male, even though it's herm. And there's not enough rainbow in space. Thus, Kowal.

I noted independently of Kowal - because she doesn't even notice - that the main character doesn't ever call the star 40 [ο²] Eridani "Qayḍ", that bogus Arabic name which the IAU has foisted upon it. As "ο²" implies, the dot we 40°N'ers see over the long winter nights is an asterism of not one, not even three but four stars; the Arabs, with their lens-less observatories, called the whole mess "Bayḍ" like Bayer called it "Omicron Eridani". Well now Bayḍ is the big star behind the three small stars.

Kowal, I believe, has noted that Weir might be a fat target. He's not a Protected Group. Kowal by contrast has access to Washington Post. Also Weir didn't take a lot of chances with this book, which is not a very good book (as I'll note tomorrow); but it sold units.

ISLAMOPHOBIA 10/12 Why didn't Kowal think of mentioning Qayḍ?

Oxygen fugacity in six ex-planets

With h/t ToughSF: Oxygen fugacities [pdf]. This is by that trick by which we can look at planetary compositions after their star has gone red-giant and cracked them open. We looked at 23 of such pollutants almost a year ago. Fugacity, in the life of the planet, is-here-was effective partial pressure, which for oxidisers results in how thoroughly surface minerals get rusted.

The 2019 list incorporated 1) SDSS J1043+0855 [WD 1041+092?]; 2) WD 1536+520; 3) GD 40; 4) SDSS J0738+1835 [alias WD J0738+1835 probably]; 5) WD 1226+110 [=SDSS J122859.93+104032.9]; and 6) WD 1145+017. Of these I cannot find the fifth in the November table and I'm guessing on the first, although each had got some hype elsewhere 2015-16. WD 1145+017 had the Olivine Websterite so was the Earthlike. Wish I could've met you...

Alexandra E. Doyle et al. tell us why we like Olivine Websterite: Oxygen Fugacity. 1) Periclase Clinopyroxenite, 2) Periclase Dunite, 3) Periclase Wehrlite, and 4) Dunite have this; as did whatever made up 5). Note that these three Periclase minerals are alien to us. Still, Doyle's crew noted from the proportion of iron rust in the dwarfs that the planets used to be generally similar to the terrestrial worlds here including Vesta excepting Venus (whose surface rocks are unreachable).

I repeat: these stars skewed A and F in life. The planets were Hadean, caught before their mantles were right. Don't count them out, says Doyle; if the star gives it a chance, so should astrobiologists. It might be that exotic periclase degrades to an Earthlike mineral as the planet cools and maybe even after some chloroplast takes root.

Dienswasser

China went looking for water-ice in the Martian tropics and didn't find none. Zimmerman has been suggesting that we look to the glaciers instead.

Yesterday we got major news from the south pole. Not just water ice; actual fluid.

At some point I need to run some sums on an Ice Gun in the Martian antarctic, aiming just as high as Phobos, or a reasonable Zylon dangle therefrom.

DIG MOAR 10/28: big ice blocks from 20 meters under Amazonis. That's 25° north. In fairness to the Chinese a meteor had to find it for us.