Free Comic Book Day 2024: Get Marvel Comics 'Star Wars #1' for free

May 4, 2024

Happy Star Wars Day to one and all!

Shining like the twin suns of Tatooine to help celebrate Star Wars Day 2024, that annual occasion where we're all citizens of George Lucas's galaxy far, far away, we've got a collectable pair of Marvel Comics releases that'll have you cheering like a tribe of joyful Jawas scavenging in a giant junk pile.

For the first time ever, May the 4th coincides with Free Comic Book Day. So in perfect synchronicity, Marvel is offering up "Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1," which provides two galactic adventures penned by distinguished "Star Wars" writers Greg Pak and Charles Soule and drawn by acclaimed artists Ibraim Roberson and Ramon Rosanas.

"Are there Rebel survivors stranded on Hoth? Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca mount a dangerous rescue mission to Echo Base! Lightsabers! Blasters! Snowtroopers! All-out action amongst the wreckage of AT-AT walkers, Rebel airspeeders and frozen weapons of mass destruction!

"Darth Vader also employs a surprise character from the past to help him find Luke Skywalker. But Sabé, former handmaiden of Padmé Amidala is also on a quest for the son of Vader. Having worked for him as an Imperial Commander, Sabé has enough resources to cause chaos for anyone who stands in her path. How will this affect the Dark Lord's plans to remove Palpatine from power?"

Next out of the gate and fresh off the presses is a big birthday salute to "Episode 1," due to this month also being the silver jubilee of 1999's "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." Casting its space opera magic into the festivities this week just prior to Star Wars Day is Marvel's "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1."

Written by Greg Pak ("Planet Hulk") and paired with interior art courtesy of talented Irishman Will Sliney ("Spider-Man 2099") and a main cover from veteran illustrator Phil Noto, this 32-page expanded one-shot delivers an anthology of stories based on the prequel film. Inside, fans will discover tales centered around young Anakin's dream of becoming a Jedi Knight, Shmi Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks, and tales of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi set in the aftermath of the Battle of Naboo.

Here's the official synopsis and a preview gallery below:

"Explore the earliest days of ANAKIN SKYWALKER with never-before-seen, revelatory moments set before, after, and between the scenes of the classic movie! Featuring the dream of a JEDI, the gift of a TUSKEN, the heart of a GUNGAN, the ache of a mother and the horror of a hero!"

"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1" arrived on May 1.

However and wherever you honor this geeky occasion, Happy Star Wars Day and May the 4th Be With You!

https://www.space.com/star-wars-free-comic-book-day-2024

Einstein Challenged: Exploring the “Cosmic Glitch” in Gravity

MAY 3, 2024

Moving one step closer to understanding mysteries at the edge of the universe.

A group of researchers at the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia have discovered a potential “cosmic glitch” in the universe’s gravity, explaining its strange behavior on a cosmic scale.

For the last 100 years, physicists have relied upon Albert Einstein’s theory of “general relativity” to explain how gravity works throughout the universe.

General relativity, proven accurate by countless tests and observations, suggests that gravity impacts not simply three physical dimensions but also a fourth dimension: time.

“This model of gravity has been essential for everything from theorizing the Big Bang to photographing black holes,” said Robin Wen, the lead author on the project and a recent Waterloo Mathematical Physics graduate.

Challenges at Cosmic Scale

“But when we try to understand gravity on a cosmic scale, at the scale of galaxy clusters and beyond, we encounter apparent inconsistencies with the predictions of general relativity. It’s almost as if gravity itself stops perfectly matching Einstein’s theory. We are calling this inconsistency a ‘cosmic glitch’: gravity becomes around one percent weaker when dealing with distances in the billions of light years. “

For more than twenty years, physicists and astronomers have been trying to create a mathematical model that explains the apparent inconsistencies of the theory of general relativity. Many of those efforts have taken place at Waterloo, which has a long history of cutting-edge gravitational research resulting from ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration between applied mathematicians and astrophysicists.

Historical Context and Research Efforts

“Almost a century ago, astronomers discovered that our universe is expanding,” said Niayesh Afshordi, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Waterloo and researcher at the Perimeter Institute.

“The farther away galaxies are, the faster they are moving, to the point that they seem to be moving at nearly the speed of light, the maximum allowed by Einstein’s theory. Our finding suggests that, on those very scales, Einstein’s theory may also be insufficient.”

Modifying Einstein’s Theory

The research team’s new model of a “cosmic glitch” modifies and extends Einstein’s mathematical formulas in a way that resolves the inconsistency of some of the cosmological measurements without affecting existing successful uses of general relativity.

“Think of it as being like a footnote to Einstein’s theory,” Wen said. “Once you reach a cosmic scale, terms and conditions apply.”

“This new model might just be the first clue in a cosmic puzzle we are starting to solve across space and time,” Afshordi said.

https://scitechdaily.com/einstein-challenged-exploring-the-cosmic-glitch-in-gravity/

Mysterious Spiral 'UFO' Sightings Reported Across US, Europe

May 03, 2024 at 10:55 AM EDT

Social media users have reported mysterious spiral UFO sightings across the United States and Europe this week, with one witness saying they saw an object in the night sky that was "omitting some sort of haze."

Sightings were reported in Ukraine and Finland, as well as in cities in Arizona and California.

Interest in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), also known as UFOs, peaked last year after several experts testified before a Congress committee in July 2023 that they could pose a threat to national security.

A Gallup poll conducted in 2021 found that 41 percent of Americans believe alien spacecraft have visited Earth, up eight points from 33 percent in 2019.

Multiple users on X, formerly Twitter, published footage and images of what they saw.

"Somebody, please tell me this isn't a UFO…Completely clear skies, and I see a super blurry white light (no flashes like a plane), coming straight at me horizontally," one person wrote on Friday.

"It then goes straight up and FREAKING [DISAPPEARS]. Checked, and there we NO rocket launches or anything like that (either way a rocket would've emitted a different color light). I was able to get this much on camera. SOMEONE EXPLAIN PLZ," they added.

Another X user responded, saying that they "saw this very same thing" in Arizona.

"Came from the west, it hovered and looked like it is surrounded in a fog, then suddenly just disappeared into itself….JUST like this video… I'm SO GLAD others got it on camera!" they wrote.

One X user noted that there was "haze" around the object, despite the clear night skies.

"UFO sighting in Santa Barbara. Clear skies, you can even see the stars in the video but the light was omitting some sort of haze around it," they said.

Another person wrote, "UFO in Palm Springs tonight. Just recorded this on an iPhone 14 in Palm Springs with no cloud cover what so ever. Then it vanishes."

A similar looking object was sighted in Helsinki, Finland, according to footage posted to Reddit.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Alpha Centauri, a Ukrainian non-profit educational project, said on X that a mysterious white flash that was spotted over some regions of the country on Thursday evening was the exhaust spiral from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base.

"Mysterious objects in Ukrainian skies again! Over some regions of the country, the second stage of the Falcon 9 vehicle could be seen launching two WorldView Legion satellites," Alpha Centauri wrote.

Newsweek reached out to SpaceX for comment by email.

https://www.newsweek.com/ufo-sightings-california-arizona-europe-1897031

You Can Buy Alien Abduction Insurance In Minnesota, But There’s A Catch

May 1, 2024

I've been following weird news for quite some time. I frequently share stories of UFO or UAP sightings in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. But, this is something I've never heard of: Alien Abduction Insurance. It turns out it's an actual policy you can buy. There have even been a couple of times it's paid out.

How does alien abduction insurance work?

You can buy the policy for a one-time premium for $24.95. If you want a paper copy you'll have to pay $29.95. You really need to read the fine print on it, because it's not easy to have a successful claim.

The only company offering it is St. Lawrence Agency in Florida, but you can buy it wherever you live.

You can buy the coverage from the St. Lawrence Agency in Florida. There have been other companies that have offered it, but currently, according to USA Today, this is the only place you can get coverage. They've sold thousands of policies since 1987, and google shows their phone number is 407-257-8360.

You're going to need the alien who abducted you to sign off on the claim.

This is where it gets ridiculous and you discover it's clearly a joke. You need to have proof you were abducted. A signature from an alien who was onboard during the time of abduction would be sufficient.

But wait, there actually have been two successful claims.

In New York, a cab driver had a successful claim after he had been telling his friends for years about his abduction. Also, a train conductor from New York filed a claim with a polaroid picture that was taken onboard the alien craft. He said the lighting was bad, and that's why the photo didn't turn out. St. Lawrence Agency paid both of these claims.

The policy pays $10 million over 10 million years.

So this is clearly a gag gift. If you do have a successful claim it pays out $1 a year for 10 million years.

https://b105country.com/ufo-insurance-minnesota/