Sunday Overnight Open Thread - March 2, 2025 [Doof]

Howdy Hordelings, and welcome to the first Sunday ONT of March! Did the month come in like a lion for you, or like a lamb? Is that still a thing? Anyway, there's plenty of fun and interesting stuff here for you. Come on in!

Dots in the Nighttime Sky

Did you see the "parade of planets" on Friday night? I looked for it. I saw a bunch of twinkling stuff in the sky. Some were probably planets. Couldn't really tell you. But it supposedly was pretty cool.

Photo captures 7 planets in a line over Earth — possibly for the 1st time ever

A stunning photo has captured all seven of our neighboring planets in Earth's sky at the same time, possibly for the first time ever.

The composite image, captured by astrophotographer Josh Dury, shows Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Venus, Neptune and Mercury in alignment thanks to a rare "planetary parade" [which took] place this weekend for the first time since 1982.

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"Seven (arguably, 8 ) is a feat that to my prior knowledge has not been achieved before," Dury told Live Science in an email — suggesting that if we include Earth itself, visible in the foreground, the image's planet total comes to eight. "This image could hold a record for being the first of its kind to photograph all the planets of the solar system, blended into a stitched panoramic image."

Dury captured the image just after sundown on Feb. 22 from The Mendip Hills — a range of limestone hills in Somerset in the U.K.

To achieve this photographic feat, Dury created a composite shot made up of several panes, with each pane captured in multiple exposures.

Also on Friday

Grandfathers Everywhere Approve

All 50 States Have Now Introduced Right to Repair Legislation

Legislation under the moniker “right to repair” has now been introduced in all 50 states, marking a major milestone in this grassroots consumer movement.

GNN has reported on the march of right to repair laws across the US, but also the kind of entrepreneurialism they engender: like an aftermarket auto parts company that makes replacements for well-known faulty components in automobiles.

Passed in New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California, and Oregon, Wisconsin just became the final US state to introduce some sort of right to repair laws.

In broad terms, all of these bills would generally guarantee a consumer’s right to access replacement parts for devices and machines, repair manuals or other relevant documents for expensive products, diagnostics data from original manufacturers, and even in some cases, such as automobiles, appropriate tools necessary for maintenance.

They may also ban the use of technological protection measures, sometimes called “software locks” that are designed to restrict repair only to authorized repair technicians.

“Americans are fed up with all the ways in which manufacturers of everything from toasters to tractors frustrate or block repairs, and lawmakers are hearing that frustration and taking action,” Nathan Proctor, right to repair director for consumer rights group PIRG, told 404 Media’s Jason Koebler, who has been tracking right to repair legislation for 10 years.

He details that at first, big tech and big engineering, such as Apple, John Deere, and others, ardently lobbied against these bills, saying that trade secrets protections would be violated if they were forced to turn over diagnostics, telemetry, or other insider data to non-company actors.

The progressive difficulty with which modern products, particularly electronics, are designed prevents most amateurs from being able to repair them if they break.

AOP - you here tonight? This story likely gains your approval!

Visually Satisfying

Not really sure what I'm learning though

Geometry

pic.twitter.com/NuvR73awAc

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 2, 2025

DJ Doof – This Date in History Version

Born on this day in 1950: American singer and drummer Karen Carpenter

Name a sweeter voice than Karen Carpenter’s.

Gen X were lucky to have heard, and loved, her. pic.twitter.com/cFIshcH5Da

— Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) December 14, 2024

In 1975 Karen Carpenter, lead singer of The Carpenters was considered the best drummer in the world.

This is her at the age of 18. pic.twitter.com/DScOt0V4dF

— 🎸 Rock History 🎸 (@historyrock_) February 1, 2025

On this day in 2008: Canadian guitarist, singer, Jeff Healey, died of cancer. Healey lost his sight to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes when he was 8 months old, resulting in his eyes being surgically removed.

On this day in 1999: Dusty Springfield died after a long battle against cancer, aged 59. The British singer had her first UK hit single in 1963 with this song...

Tonight's ONT brought to you by New Science

posted by Open Blogger at 10:00 PM

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