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Researchers at University of Waterloo has captured the first image of a dark matter web that connects galaxies.
(td;lr quick spoiler)

Dark matter comprises circa 25% of the universe, it doesn't emit, absorb or reflect light, which has traditionally made it largely undetectable, except through gravity. Using the technique of weak gravitational lensing, an effect that causes the images of distant galaxies to warp slightly under the influence of an unseen mass such as a planet, a black hole, or in this case, dark matter. The effect was measured in images from a multi-year sky survey at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

Yale University succeeded in March 2017 to create a 3-D visualization of reconstructed dark matter clump distributions in a distant galaxy cluster, using data from the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields.

Ever thought that this headline was a shit happens event?
2017-04-09 Passenger Violently Removed From Overbooked United Airlines Flight

And sometimes one can be unlucky twice?
2017-04-12 United is Heavy-Handed Again: Boarded, Seated Passenger Threatened With Cuffs to Disembark

No! United Airlines is at third strike right now 2017-04-15:
  * A couple says they were kicked off a United flight on the way to their wedding
  * A bride and groom were kicked off their United Airlines flight from Houston this weekend as they traveled to Costa Rica for their wedding.

Td;lr: Married couple finds their seats in economy class taken up by a sleeping man. By courtesy they just sit down on seats three rows away which happened to be in economy plus class on a flight which is half empty. They asked to upgrade but were refused and then headed to their assigned seats. However by then the airline had decided that they were rule breakers and must be thrown off regardless.

Details: United Airlines flight number 1737 on 2017-04-15. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (Houston, Texas) on Saturday to Liberia, Costa Rica.

Last time after the second incident, the stock took a fall from 69.8 to 69 US$ (UAL). One can ask how much this will cost in market value decimation? and customers dropping them? what will the economist and MBA, CEO, Oscar Muñoz say?

It seems like almost every day a new story comes out about yet another unsavory practice by Uber.

First it was the sexual harassment allegations and apparent cover up, then it was the angry rant by their CEO, then an expose concerning their deceptions to avoid law enforcement scrutiny.

As if that weren't enough, Google/Waymo then sued Uber for the theft of documents by Tony Levandowski. Uber and Levandowski's lawyers continue to stonewall Google's lawyers and the courts.

And now, it seems that Uber has been skimming fares by quoting one (higher) fare to customers and another (lower) fare to drivers, then pocketing the difference.

So what is it with these folks? Is their culture so ethically sparse that this seems normal? Or does every corporation act this way and these guys just aren't very slick?

I hope Uber gets sued into oblivion. Sadly, the folks who perpetrate this stuff are protected by the corporate veil. They should go to PMITA prison until they lose all sphincter control.

Guys, I lurve arguing with you lot dearly but when I look at my message box and it says I have 35 messages from comment replies after taking a two hour nap, that's just too many to bother with. Anything over 20 and I'm probably just going to skip replying to any of them. My apologies.

U.S. should pursue controversial geoengineering research, federal scientists say for first time

The United States government office that oversees federally funded climate research has recommended studies into two areas of geoengineering research, marking the first time scientists in the executive branch have formally called for studies in the controversial field. The move, part of a climate science planning report sent today to Congress, will likely further normalize discussion of deliberate tinkering with the atmosphere to cool the planet, and of directly collecting carbon from the sky, both topics once verboten in the climate science community.

Geoengineering is discussed in two paragraphs in the 119-page plan.

Scientists, often working on their own time have published hundreds of theoretical or modeling papers with plans for sun blocking to carbon extraction. But National Science Foundation declined funding. Peter Eisenberger’s proposed demonstration of a carbon extraction machine fared poorly since the department’s carbon-capture program focuses on coal.

What could go wrong.... *duck*

Considering that the article "Teacher Resignation Letters Paint Bleak Picture of US Education". Really paints a bleak picture when one reads the comments. It seems the system is designed to screw you regardless how you act.

So if you were to start elementary or high school right now. What advice would you have wanted?

Run away and study the GPA in a cottage for 10 years?

What is the gold tips that makes school way easier to handle and still come out with grades enough for university without becoming an empty machine?

The Swedish prime minister, who wrote in February

Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.

now says

I commented to @cnni on the terror attack in central Stockholm earlier today. Now it's confirmed that four are dead.

after a beer lorry was stolen and crashed into a department store.

update: The Local has more details.

I haven't posted a journal entry in a while and it's a slow day at work, so buckle up; here we go!

In my last entry, I said that my wife was pregnant, and I was pretty bummed because this girl that I had barely started seeing decided to end things. It's been almost 9 months since then.

The pregnancy went pretty well. I found it really interesting to see how my wife's body changed and read about all the developmental milestones of the little bundle of cells that was growing in her belly. She downloaded some phone app that every week would list some things that were being developed that week, and then would compare the size of the fetus to a vegetable. This week, your baby is the size of an avocado. The next week might be an orange, then eventually pineapple, and finally a small watermelon.

Throughout the pregnancy, we would go in for ultrasounds. We wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise, so we made sure to tell the technicians not to tell us anything we didn't need to know. As the pregnancy nears completion, the doctors appointments get more and more frequent (Thank Jeebus I live in socialist Canada). During on of those appointments, the doctor wheeled in this ancient ultrasound machine and started looking to make sure the baby was upside down and in position for delivery. The doctor wasn't able to see the baby's head in the right position, and so scheduled us in for a modern ultrasound to see what was going on. We learned that our baby hadn't flipped yet.

As soon as it was confirmed that we had a breech baby, they gave us the option to schedule a c-section. My wife really wanted to have the natural birth experience, so we looked into other options. Apparently, there is a procedure that can be done where the woman is given muscle relaxants, and then a doctor massages the belly to manually manipulate the baby into position. This procedure is quite painful, and doesn't have a very good odds of success (something like 60%) and there is a chance that you might go into labor, or they may have to do an emergency c-section if the baby is in distress.

We decided to try it out. I took the day off work and we headed to the hospital. Before the procedure we went for another ultrasound, and it was found that the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, and there wasn't enough slack to allow for them to flip it. With no other choice, we scheduled a c-section delivery.

As delivery day inched closer, we were getting more and more excited to meet our baby. Finally the big day arrived, and we were at the hospital bright and early at 7:00am. We waited for quite a while, but around noon, we were told it was time to get ready. They took my wife away and gave her the epidural, then I was allowed into the operating room. The next thing I remember is holding my baby girl. She was (and still is!) so beautiful, with lots of copper hair! I cried. It was amazing to finally hold her in my arms. My wife was still strapped to the operating table and was being sewn up, so I got to show her to my wife.

We were released from the hospital a day later. It was surreal experience bringing her home for the first time. We had a steady flow of friends and family coming over, and it was actually pretty stressful (we are both introverts).

Our little girl is now 3 months old, and cute as a button (when she is not crying, anyways). When she looks into my eyes and smiles, my heart melts.

Just before the birth, I volunteered here at SN to be an editor. Just as I started actually posting stories, we found out our baby wasn't in birth position, and then things have been crazy ever since. Now, when I have a moment, I don't really have the energy/motivation to actually do the editing/posting work here. I'm really sorry guys, but it looks like you have done just fine without me. Maybe one day I'll be able to contribute again.

Anyways, I think I'll end things here. Maybe next time I'm bored at work, I'll post my experience with being a first time father (hint: the first 3 months, at least, are mostly terrible with moments of joy).

Mayor Catherine Pugh vetoed legislation Friday that would have raised the minimum wage in Baltimore [state of Maryland, US] to $15 by 2022, leaving the measure's future in question.

The council — which next meets on April 3 — would need 12 of its 15 members to vote to overturn the veto. On Friday, the 12-member coalition that originally backed the higher wage began to disband.

Councilman Edward Reisinger of South Baltimore said although he voted to pass the bill, he would not support a veto override. Over the next seven years, the Pugh administration estimated the bill would cost the city $116 million, including the expense of paying city workers a higher minimum wage.

Reisinger said the cost is especially concerning given the city's outstanding fiscal challenges: a $20 million deficit, a $130 million schools budget shortfall and new spending obligations associated with the U.S. Department of Justice's police consent decree.

"The mayor has some very persuasive arguments," Reisinger said. "Baltimore City doesn't have a money tree."

Pugh also was concerned that requiring employers in the city to pay a higher minimum wage could send them fleeing to surrounding jurisdictions. That would worsen unemployment in the city and make it harder for low-skilled workers and ex-offenders to get jobs, she said.

She emphasized that Baltimore's minimum wage is increasing along side the rate statewide. The rate in Maryland will rise to $9.25 on July 1 and $10.10 a year later.

So here we have all the usual ugly concerns about minimum wage laws on display. It encourages employers to move, it makes more poor people unemployed, and it significant drives up costs for employers who don't or can't move (here, the City of Baltimore - $116 million in additional cost on top of a budget of $2.64 billion).

Got to say, the green look on the site is actually *really* nice. If it was a few shades darker though, we'd be too close that the site that shall not be named.