#air quality detector

[kimberlabtron]

Elemental (CHN) Analyzer LCHN-A10 is used to determine Carbon, Hydrogen and Nitrogen in macro amount of samples. Features dual stage furnace with pure oxygen flow for complete combustion, multiple detector, blended gas analysis, IR CO2 monitor detector, stackable auto loader etc. to ensure efficient performance and obtain reliable results.

[iaqdetectorss]

Why is Having Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Garages Beneficial?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that can be extremely dangerous when present in high concentrations. To ensure the safety of your household, it is important to have carbon monoxide detectors installed in key areas of your home.

One question that often arises is whether it is necessary to have a carbon monoxide detector in the garage. In this blog post, we explore the benefits of having carbon monoxide detectors in garages, the need for these devices, the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, how carbon monoxide detectors work, proper installation, and maintenance tips: https://www.iaqdetectors.com/blogs/why-carbon-monoxide-detectors-beneficial-in-garages

[snsnorthern]

Securing Commercial Kitchens with Gas Interlock Systems

Commercial kitchens are bustling environments where safety is paramount. The risk of gas leaks and fires makes it essential to implement effective safety measures. One such critical safety device is a gas interlock system, designed to prevent dangerous situations by ensuring that ventilation systems are fully operational before gas appliances can be used.

Understanding the Functionality of Gas Interlock Systems

A gas interlock system serves as a safeguard in commercial kitchens, ensuring that gas supplies are automatically cut off if ventilation fails. This prevents the accumulation of dangerous gases and reduces the risk of fire or explosion. These systems are crucial for maintaining a safe working environment in any establishment that uses gas appliances.

The Role of Gas Interlock Panels in Enhancing Safety

At the heart of every gas interlock system is the gas interlock panel. This control panel is responsible for monitoring the status of the ventilation system and controlling the gas supply. If a fault is detected, the panel immediately shuts off the gas, preventing potential hazards. The panel’s role is vital in ensuring that the interlock system functions correctly and efficiently.

Compliance with Safety Regulations through Gas Interlock Systems

In many regions, safety regulations mandate the use of gas interlock systems in commercial kitchens. These regulations are in place to protect both staff and customers from the dangers of gas leaks and inadequate ventilation. By installing a gas interlock system, businesses can ensure they are compliant with local laws and provide a safer environment for everyone.

Key Features of Modern Gas Interlock Systems

Modern gas interlock systems are equipped with various features designed to enhance safety and functionality. These include sensors that monitor air pressure and flow, alarms that alert users to faults, and manual override functions for emergencies. These features make gas interlock systems an indispensable part of any commercial kitchen’s safety protocol.

The Importance of Regular Maintenance for Gas Interlock Systems

To ensure that a gas interlock system continues to function correctly, regular maintenance is essential. This includes checking the integrity of the ventilation system, testing sensors and alarms, and ensuring that the gas interlock panel is operating as intended. Regular maintenance helps to prevent system failures and ensures that the kitchen remains a safe environment.

Integrating Gas Interlock Systems with Other Safety Measures

While gas interlock systems are critical, they should be part of a broader safety strategy. This strategy might include fire suppression systems, regular staff training, and the use of personal protective equipment. Integrating gas interlock systems with these additional safety measures ensures comprehensive protection against potential hazards.

Choosing the Right Gas Interlock System for Your Kitchen

When selecting a gas interlock system, it is crucial to consider the specific needs of your kitchen. Factors such as the size of the kitchen, the type of gas appliances used, and local safety regulations will influence your choice. Investing in a reliable system tailored to your kitchen’s requirements ensures optimal safety and compliance.

Conclusion: Prioritize Safety with Advanced Gas Interlock Solutions

Commercial kitchens must prioritize safety to protect both staff and customers. A gas interlock system is an essential component of any kitchen’s safety measures, ensuring compliance with regulations and preventing dangerous incidents. To explore reliable gas interlock solutions, visit snsnorthern.com.

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[jcmarchi]

Researchers develop a detector for continuously monitoring toxic gases

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/researchers-develop-a-detector-for-continuously-monitoring-toxic-gases/

Researchers develop a detector for continuously monitoring toxic gases

Most systems used to detect toxic gases in industrial or domestic settings can be used only once, or at best a few times. Now, researchers at MIT have developed a detector that could provide continuous monitoring for the presence of these gases, at low cost.

The new system combines two existing technologies, bringing them together in a way that preserves the advantages of each while avoiding their limitations. The team used a material called a metal-organic framework, or MOF, which is highly sensitive to tiny traces of gas but whose performance quickly degrades, and combined it with a polymer material that is highly durable and easier to process, but much less sensitive.

The results are reported today in the journal Advanced Materials, in a paper by MIT professors Aristide Gumyusenge, Mircea Dinca, Heather Kulik, and Jesus del Alamo, graduate student Heejung Roh, and postdocs Dong-Ha Kim, Yeongsu Cho, and Young-Moo Jo.

Highly porous and with large surface areas, MOFs come in a variety of compositions. Some can be insulators, but the ones used for this work are highly electrically conductive. With their sponge-like form, they are effective at capturing molecules of various gases, and the sizes of their pores can be tailored to make them selective for particular kinds of gases. “If you are using them as a sensor, you can recognize if the gas is there if it has an effect on the resistivity of the MOF,” says Gumyusenge, the paper’s senior author and the Merton C. Flemings Career Development Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering.

The drawback for these materials’ use as detectors for gases is that they readily become saturated, and then can no longer detect and quantify new inputs. “That’s not what you want. You want to be able to detect and reuse,” Gumyusenge says. “So, we decided to use a polymer composite to achieve this reversibility.”

The team used a class of conductive polymers that Gumyusenge and his co-workers had previously shown can respond to gases without permanently binding to them. “The polymer, even though it doesn’t have the high surface area that the MOFs do, will at least provide this recognize-and-release type of phenomenon,” he says.

The team combined the polymers in a liquid solution along with the MOF material in powdered form, and deposited the mixture on a substrate, where they dry into a uniform, thin coating. By combining the polymer, with its quick detection capability, and the more sensitive MOFs, in a one-to-one ratio, he says, “suddenly we get a sensor that has both the high sensitivity we get from the MOF and the reversibility that is enabled by the presence of the polymer.”

The material changes its electrical resistance when molecules of the gas are temporarily trapped in the material. These changes in resistance can be continuously monitored by simply attaching an ohmmeter to track the resistance over time. Gumyusenge and his students demonstrated the composite material’s ability to detect nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas produced by many kinds of combustion, in a small lab-scale device. After 100 cycles of detection, the material was still maintaining its baseline performance within a margin of about 5 to 10 percent, demonstrating its long-term use potential.

In addition, this material has far greater sensitivity than most presently used detectors for nitrogen dioxide, the team reports. This gas is often detected after the use of stove ovens. And, with this gas recently linked to many asthma cases in the U.S., reliable detection in low concentrations is important. The team demonstrated that this new composite could detect, reversibly, the gas at concentrations as low as 2 parts per million.

While their demonstration was specifically aimed at nitrogen dioxide, Gumyusenge says, “we can definitely tailor the chemistry to target other volatile molecules,” as long as they are small polar analytes, “which tend to be most of the toxic gases.”

Besides being compatible with a simple hand-held detector or a smoke-alarm type of device, one advantage of the material is that the polymer allows it to be deposited as an extremely thin uniform film, unlike regular MOFs, which are generally in an inefficient powder form. Because the films are so thin, there is little material needed and production material costs could be low; the processing methods could be typical of those used for industrial coating processes. “So, maybe the limiting factor will be scaling up the synthesis of the polymers, which we’ve been synthesizing in small amounts,” Gumyusenge says.

“The next steps will be to evaluate these in real-life settings,” he says. For example, the material could be applied as a coating on chimneys or exhaust pipes to continuously monitor gases through readings from an attached resistance monitoring device. In such settings, he says, “we need tests to check if we truly differentiate it from other potential contaminants that we might have overlooked in the lab setting. Let’s put the sensors out in real-world scenarios and see how they do.”

The work was supported by the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC), the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

[universalinfo]

Making Your Home Radon-Free with Detectors

We all pour energy and effort into creating homes that not only provide shelter but also act as our refuge from the outside world. With the innovation of tools like the radon home detector, we've been given a chance to bolster the safety of these cherished spaces. These homes, lovingly crafted, mirror our personalities, memories, and hopes. The essence of a home is its guarantee of comfort and security, where every member can genuinely relax. However, in our pursuit of the ideal haven, our attention often gravitates toward the palpable and immediate risks. We may promptly fix that creaking floorboard or swiftly replace a malfunctioning security camera, but some dangers, particularly the invisible ones, might escape our notice. Prime among these is radon.

A stealthy and unseen gas, radon covertly infiltrates our living spaces, undermining the very foundation of safety we work hard to establish. But, thanks to modern advancements, we're not defenseless. Employing a radon home detector allows us to detect and address this silent menace. Leveraging this technology, we strengthen our homes' protective barriers, paving the way for genuine peace of mind.

What is Radon, and Why Should We Be Concerned?

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas. It originates from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water. When it enters our living spaces, radon becomes a health risk. In fact, prolonged exposure to high levels of radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, next only to smoking.

Now, this might make you wonder: How do I know if radon is in my home? The answer is straightforward—a radon home detector.

The Importance of Radon Home Detectors

Imagine a scenario where you could be alerted to potential dangers even before they pose any real threat. A radon home detector does just that. While we can't see or smell radon, a radon home detector is designed to sense it.

Regularly checking your home for radon with a radon home detector is crucial. Why? Because radon levels fluctuate. Today's safe levels might rise tomorrow. Without a radon home detector, you'd never be the wiser with Luft.

Choosing the Right Radon Home Detector

There are different types of radon home detectors available in the market. Some are short-term, while others offer long-term monitoring. It's essential to pick one that suits your needs.

Short-Term Detectors: These are generally less expensive and can measure radon levels for a few days to a couple of months. They provide quick results and are a good starting point if you suspect a problem.

Long-Term Detectors: If you're looking for something more lasting, these detectors measure radon levels for more than three months. They give a better understanding of year-round radon levels in your home.

But remember, any radon home detector you choose should meet the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) performance criteria.

Where and How to Set Up Your Radon Home Detector

Placement is key. Radon gas typically moves up from the ground, so basements and ground-level rooms are primary areas of concern.

Here are some pointers for setting up your radon home detector:

Avoid Drafts: Radon readings can be affected by drafts. So, steer clear of windows or exterior doors.

Place Away from Humidity: Bathrooms, kitchens, or laundry rooms are not ideal due to the high humidity levels.

Ground Level or Basement: As radon comes from the ground, placing your radon home detector in the basement or on the ground floor is best.

Don't fret! Your radon home detector will come with instructions, making setup a breeze.

Taking Action on Your Results

So, you've got your results from the radon home detector. What next?

If radon levels are within safe limits, that's great! However, it's a good idea to continue monitoring. Remember, radon levels change. On the other hand, if radon levels are high, don't panic. There are professional radon mitigation services that can help reduce radon levels in your home.

Conclusion

Our homes, for many of us, are more than just structures; they are the embodiment of our dreams, memories, and aspirations. Each corner tells a story, and every room resonates with laughter, love, and moments shared with family and friends. However, the essence of these spaces is not only defined by the visible comforts they provide but also by the unseen safety measures we integrate. Among the hidden threats we face, radon emerges as a silent adversary. Its invisibility might make it easy to ignore, but its potential risks are undeniable.

Thankfully, modern technology offers a beacon of hope in the form of the radon home detector. This device doesn't merely detect; it empowers homeowners. Acting as a constant guardian, it monitors our spaces, ensuring that radon levels remain in check. When anomalies arise, it promptly alerts us, allowing for timely interventions. Investing in a radon home detector is more than just a purchase; it's a statement that underscores our commitment to creating a safe, healthy environment for ourselves and our loved ones.

Read More:

Radon Awareness

[harmeet-saggi]

Can You Breathe Easy in the Midst of Air Pollution?

Are you aware of the air you're breathing right now? Have you ever considered the quality of air in your city, or how it might be affecting your health? In a world where air pollution is an ever-present concern, it's crucial to understand the air quality around you and take proactive measures to safeguard your well-being. This blog explores the alarming reality of air pollution in the world and the essential health precautions recommended by doctors to help you breathe easy in the city of dust and smog.

[pathetic-gamer]

me, an hour ago: "fuck, the stove is on! what do we do?" [immediately does all the wrong things]

PSA: What NOT to do when you smell gas

In this situation, we got home to a smell of gas throughout the house and discovered our gas stove was on without a flame. it was only a tiny stream, and everything turned out fine, but here's a brief list of everything we did wrong:

NOTE: this is for if you smell significant amounts of gas, not a blanket list for all possible gas situations. (If you aren't aware, the methane**/natural gas used in houses smells vaguely like sulfer, or rotten eggs - this is an additive, since it has no natural smell. It's a very recognizable smell, once you've smelled it once. It's not the same smell as gasoline.)

1. If your stove has an electrical/spark ignition, do NOT turn it off.

Spark ignitions often spark when turning on *and* off. Spark + Gas = Boom. Boom is bad. Avoid boom.

Instead, turn off the gas at the source, i.e. the physical valve at the meter. There may be a smaller valve near the stove. If you don't know where the shutoff is, the fire department will find it.

2. Do NOT turn on (or off) vents or fans.

In fact, don't flip any electrical switches - that includes lights, plugging in or unplugging appliances, etc. These cause sparks. Spark + Gas = Boom.

Also, don't start your car. obviously.

3. Do NOT open windows

counterintuitive, I know. This is mostly because you want to prioritize your exit, but it's also to keep the fumes from spreading outside, where you should be waiting for the ~professionals~ to come handle it.

4. DO take all people and pets outside.

Do this very first!! (one thing we actually did right - go us!)

This is obviously because you don't want to go boom, but you also don't want to suffocate. Gas is poison!

NOTE: the gas from your stove is probably methane (natural gas); carbon monoxide is what you get when methane burns, which is why your kitchen needs to be well-ventilated and the stove shouldn't be left burning for long periods of time, but the natural gas itself is *also* potentially deadly. Carbon monoxide detectors dont detect natural gas, so that's what the odorous additive is for.

Inhaling natural gas causes nausea, headaches, dizziness, and makes you just generally woozy, and eventually causes you to lose consciousness and potentially suffocate, just like carbon monoxide does. We don't want that.

5. DO call the fire department/emergency line

They'll check for other leaks, shut gas off if needed, then test for air quality and eventually clear your house for reentry. It takes like 1-2 hours for the gas to dissipate, generally.

Yay, you survived! Congrats!!

NOTE: if you find the stove has been left on with a flame, or it's on with no flame but you don't smell gas, then you should be safe to just open windows and turn on vents and fans to air it out.

idk, this was actually pretty scary, especially when we realized how much of our immediate response was wrong and could have turned a dangerous situation into a real disaster.

tl;dr: If you smell gas when you shouldn't be smelling gas, just get all the people and animals outside, shut off the gas line, and call the fire department or gas company. don't fuck around with gas. you're not overreacting, you're taking the proper safety measures.

**CORRECTED FROM ORIGINAL VERSION. Original said propane, but it's very much not propane, it's methane. too much Hank Hill on the brain, clearly.

[vasthi-instruments12]

[aprvtio]

Air-Guardian CF-20 Air Quality Monitor for CO2, PM2.5, PM10, TVOC, HCHO, AQI, Temp, Humidity

Make invisible air pollution visible, and see what’s in the air you breathe. Humans breathe about 28800 times a day. 95% of our homes have air quality problems and pollution factors, but we can't really know the air we breathe every day. Our CF-20 air quality detector uses laser sensors to accurately detect a variety of pollution factors in the air, like PM2.5, PM10, CO2, HCHO, TVOC, temperature and humidity. Especially since the outbreak of COVID-19, many medical experts and air scientists have shown that poor air quality can seriously affect people's health. The high concentration of carbon dioxide indicates that the current environmental ventilation effect is terrible, which increases the risk of virus transmission. In addition, too high humidity, excessive dust, harmful gases emitted by furniture and construction waste will aggravate allergic symptoms. The CF-20 air quality monitor can be used in homes, schools, gyms, offices, and restaurants, alert you to unsafe levels via an indicator light and track air quality, which help you to improve the quality of life. Track temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2), TVOC, Formaldehyde (HCHO) and particulate matter (PM2. 5, PM10) in your space, know the air which you have breath, keep your family safe by using the CF-20 air quality sensor.   IGH ACCURACY INDOOE AIR QUALITY MONITOR

The CO2 detector is designed with advanced Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) technology, and it provides highly accurate measurements. The accuracy can reach ±50ppm or ±5% of reading. The sensor has a long service life, up to 15 years.

                                                                                                                            EASY TO USE

Just press the start button on the top of the product and you will get the current air quality data. All parameters are clearly displayed on the LCD screen. When the value exceeds the air health value, the indoor air quality monitoring will give an audible alarm.

Better Air, Better Life

For patients with allergic symptoms, maintaining good air quality can reduce the recurrence rate of allergy. At the same time, good air quality can also comfort the mood, help breathe, and reduce the possibility of headache and cough. According to scientists, a health air environment will also reduce the speed of virus infection too.

[quinnyundertow]

The Cult Leader’s Quarry

TW: NSFW 18+ , canon typical violence, murder, stalking, self-harm

CHAPTER 3 NOOSE DRAWS TIGHTER

Your home is embarrassingly sparse. The furniture is clearly secondhand from some local goodwill or flea market. The items are all mismatched and of varying levels of quality but it’s obvious the current owner cares for everything. This is what they call house poor. You spend so much on rent that the rest of your aspects of life suffer. He expected nothing more from a pathetic monkey.

The late afternoon sun paints the room in this orange glow as Suguru Geto crosses your living area. He walks in an oddly ethereal style, his robes moving almost imperceptibly. He pauses to pick up some gaudy decorative items off your side tables. He peers at them briefly before moving to the small bookcase you own. It’s mainly filled with manga trash and fantasy drivel. Though a few authors catch his eye towards the bottom, Murasaki Shikoku, Sei Shonagon, Leo Tolstoy, Fukumi Shimura, Sun Tzu, Osamu Dazai. So you’re not as stupid as he thought. For a monkey that is. He plucks out the book Colors of a Mother by Fukumi Shimura. It's an unpretentious book with nothing on the blue cover but the title and author. Turning it over in his hands he studies it for a moment. He hadn’t seen any sign you had a child. What a strange reading choice. Without another thought he pockets the book in his robes.

He’s wasting time, who cares that the monkey can read the classics. Refocusing, he takes a small black device no bigger than a pencil’s eraser. Due to his naturally tall form he doesn’t need a step stool to simply apply the tiny camera to the kitchen’s smoke detector in a way that looks inconspicuous. If Satoru wanted to destroy his curses, Suguru would just have to utilize technology rather than sorcery. There’s this voice screaming in the back of his head that he’s wasting time away from his true objective of eradicating all non-sorcerers. Nothing that voice says now matters. He has isolated himself so completely from other adults these last two years. That something about you has him coming back for more. He will devour and disassemble you; but tonight just doesn’t feel right. Not now, he can’t wait for that moment really. But he needs something more from you first. He’s not sure yet what that thing is.

Continuing his tour of your home, he notes your bedroom is surprisingly childish. You have stuffed animals strewn around the room, a thick fluffy comforter and hanging string lights. He can’t help the tiny smile that creeps on his face at the idea of the corporate woman he’s seen sleeping here at night. Speaking of corporate women, you should be home any minute now. He quickly places a camera in your bedroom before entering the messiest room in the house so far, the bathroom. You had been in a rush this morning. A makeup bag lay on your sink. Taking up your perfume he sprays a little in the air just to get a whiff. A shiver runs through him as he takes the scent in. He decides he wants to play a game with you. He picks up your toothbrush and sets it down in the opposite way you had it before. Would you notice? There’s a wall vent in the bathroom the perfect height for a voyeur's camera. He easily pops off the cover to set his camera inside when he can’t help but freeze. There’s already a camera inside the vent. It’s an older clunkier model that can’t stream but it can certainly be programmed to run at certain hours and record during them.

He feels his blood thrumming loud in his ears. Who has been spying on you? You’re his quarry, his target, his prey. Who was infringing on his territory? He barely hears your key in the front door lock before he applies his camera into a different area and leaves the older model for now. He slats the vent home and flicks off the bathroom light as you enter the main room. You’re all sighs as you shuffle around the kitchen and dining room. He’s sure you’ll have to pee soon and slips into your tub shower and stands behind the curtain.

The fact that you could find him here. Or that he could jump out and be on top of you at any second has him feeling a new type of elation he never had before. All his nerve endings are on fire as the bathroom light flicks on. The navy shower curtains is dark enough to obscure his figure. You give another long sigh and the intimate noises that follow give him an instant boner. You’re peeing while thinking you're alone. He isn’t even able to enjoy the full experience as he’s instantly is reminded of the other camera in the vent. He needs to take care of that. The idea that someone else is taking advantage of your private moments, the ones meant only for him, is going to drive him mad.

There’s the sound of your clothes hitting the floor and Suguru has an anticipatory knot his throat. One of your dainty hands reaches blindly into the shower and turns the water on. The cold water blasts his clothes but he barely feels it beneath his racing pulse. If you see him here it’s game over for you. He will either have to kill you or force you into a state where you are unable to tell anyone.

His breathing is picking up but the sound of the shower is masking it. When you step past the shower’s billowing curtain he’s going to grab you by the shoulders and slam you into the shower wall. He’ll let the freezing water spray you down. Your skin will erupt into goosebumps while your nipples harden painfully. You’ll be so terrified-

There’s a noise as you leave the bathroom. You must have forgotten something in your bedroom. Despite the fantasy's allure he exits the bath quickly. He isn’t ready for this new game to end yet.

He’s creeping to the bathroom exit when he sees a pair of your used panties at the top of your dirty clothes pile. He doesn’t even hesitate a moment before he swiftly pockets them. Geto is out of your apartment and riding the elevator to the first floor before you even return to the bathroom.

The longer he walks down the streets the more his mind works itself up into a frenzy. His consciousness is in turmoil. Why hasn’t he killed you yet? Is he getting weak? Is his resolve really that shaky? He pauses at a crosswalk on his journey to the train station. A monkey approaches him from the sidewalk. Her hips are swaying and hair is meticulously styled, “Hey handsome, looking-“ her spiel is interrupted by screams as the curse he let loose melts away her features until she’s no more than a mummified husk. He continues walking when the crosswalk indicates he’s safe to and ignores all the hysterical bystanders who just saw that monkey spontaneously combust.

So he isn’t weak, he didn’t feel anything when he murdered that woman. If anything he feels relief that one more monkey will no longer be on this planet. So you are his problem. Oddly enough that irritates him more. He pulls out the soft pink panties he had stolen off your floor. He holds them tightly in his fist as his jaw works in annoyance. He’s going to throw them into the next trash bin he passes. The entire walk home, bin after bin goes by and his grip on your cloth only tightens.

He’s doing mental gymnastics in order to justify not throwing them away. They were his reward; his trophy for his troubles. No one needed to know where it was from. He was the master of his own universe; he could do what he wished.

When he finally arrives home and locks the office door behind him his grip loosens. His fingers are slightly cramped from the extended vice grip they were held in. Little crescent moons dot the palm of his hand from his nails pressure. In a way he felt like a giddy teen once again doing something forbidden. He and Satoru had stolen panties before as a dare. This somehow felt far more satisfying.

Opening his hands he spread the cloth to view the whole article. It was cute, soft, and slightly stained at the crotch. Did someone turn you on today or were you naturally this wet? He couldn’t help but shiver as he lifted the garment to his face. He presses the softness to his cheek and inhales deeply the musky scent of you. His eyes roll back in his head as he continues to breathe you into him. He can’t wait to spread your thighs and get it from the source. Looking at the slightly damp crotch he tentatively licks, and then sucks at the fabric. There’s not enough there to taste your essence but the fact that your pussy dripped on this spot for hours today is enough to drive him wild.

He’s slipping open his robes. He doesn’t need to totally remove them to pull out his rock hard member. His tip is a furious scarlet with pearls of precum drooling from it. He’s rougher with himself than he normally would be. Your panties are pressed to his face so he can smell you all around him. He milks himself harshly and unforgivingly. He’s jerking himself to a fucking monkey. Ensuring he doesn’t enjoy the process as much as he could, he squeezes himself in a way that he will likely show bruises tomorrow. At the moment of his climax he releases his twitching cock. Slumping against the door he whimpers as he ruins his own orgasm. His hips are bucking in want, wishing for that gentle attention found in the afterglow. As long as he’s lusting over this damn monkey he doesn't intend to allow himself any real relief.

~~

It’s Thursday evening and you have been absolutely swamped at work this week. Your boss is genuinely a nice guy but when he’s getting reamed out by the higher powers, you and Zoe end up having to help with whatever unreasonable request is handed down. Instead of leaving around six both of you had pulled a late one tonight only leaving after ten PM.

The two of you sat in a smaller mom and pop restaurant, the tables on the floor are surrounded by cushions for seating. A half eaten massive bowl of ramen sits in front of you, along with an almost complete third beer. You are somewhat decent at holding your alcohol but tonight it’s hitting a little harder than normal and you are basking in that feeling.

Your attention is jerked up when Zoe slams her second beer down looking satisfied. Unlike you, Zoe cannot hold her alcohol at all and is generally reduced to a good natured giggly drunk by the evening’s end.

You're pushing around some noodles before putting them in your mouth with a lament, “What’s the buddhist version of hell.”

Zoe cackles, “We’re probably already in it. Look around you, ain’t it swell.” Suddenly a pair of chopsticks are pointing directly at your face just an inch away from your nose. Guessing you are thinking about your encounter with that monk earlier this week she continues, “You need to let that shit go. Didn’t you go past his temple when you saw him the second time? If anything, you're the stalker at this point.” Zoe eyes closed, is nodding to herself now as if someone else has made a really good point in the conversation.”

You pout heavily picking up a fishcake experimentally before putting it back into your bowl. “I wasn’t thinking about him and I didn’t call him a stalker..”

There’s a shuffling beside your booth as the third and final party member stumbles back from the restroom. He’s a lanky guy, his legs go on forever as he awkwardly sits back beside Zoe. “Let’s not use our chopsticks to point at others.” He chides lightly, tapping her arm.

Staring at her arm still stretched across the table Zoe reluctantly puts it down with a frown. “Y/N needed a scolding because she thinks she's got beef with a Buddhist Monk.”

You wave your hands quickly in embarrassment gesturing for Zoe to shut up. Unfortunately, all that did was grab your bosses interest even more. You quickly try to dissuade that interest. “I’m overreacting, really. I just ran into this monk two times and each time he just stared down like I spit on Buddha.”

Your boss tilts his head. He tends to take things seriously and apparently this would be no different. He raises a pale hand with bitten down fingernails; to rub the side of his hooked nose. “A Monk? Are they one of those culty types out of that former time association building?”

You gape up at him, which gains you an awkward but pleased smile in return, “Higuruma, how did you know that?”

He laughs under his breath so the motion is there but not the noise, “I make it my business to know what’s going on around here. I haven’t felt inclined to go to a service myself as it’s all mumbo jumbo hogwash but I’ve heard a man in monk's robes runs the place and has a decent following so far. His followers proclaim he can perform healing miracles.”

Zoe’s listening attentively despite being totally smashed and leaning against the wall for support, “Eugh, gross. Y/n, maybe walk on the opposite side of the street from now on.”

You nod at Zoe’s comment, “I have been and that seems to have worked.”

Your boss Higuruma Hiromi tilts his head to the side while watching you, “Did he say something to harass you?”

Your face is totally flushed with humiliation at this point. You are clearly overreacting and Higuruma’s kindness is just slamming that point home, “No he hasn’t said a word to me, please don’t concern yourself.”

Your boss waves for the check while mulling everything over, “You're not exactly one for theatrics. Let me know if something changes, we had better head out now if we want to make the last trains home.”

Unlike most corporate drinking, it didn’t feel forced at all when you were both invited out by Higuruma. He was unassuming and sincere, kept his private life to himself and never overstepped work boundaries like so many other men did in the workplace.

Exiting out into the cool air you watched pretty little puffs waft by from your exhales. The sidewalk was surprisingly busy considering the hour. Ahead of you Zoe gives a bit of a stagger causing you to giggle as Higuruma shakes his head in an affectionate manner before putting his arm through hers to give her balance. You can’t help but smile lightly at their backs. They would make a cute couple.. then again you didn’t even know if Higuruma was single.

It was at that point a chill went up your spine. Goosebumps rippled down your limbs and you reflexively pulled your arms to you and rubbed yourself to keep warm. You felt this undercurrent of unease, a creeping anxiety, like a predator was stalking you from the bushes. You keep walking with your group but you couldn’t help looking over your shoulder trying to see what gave you that ominous feeling. You aren’t the tallest person in the world but you figure a man in monk's robes would stick out like a sore thumb…..a man in monks robes? Why would you assume it was that monk again? You are really being weird about this whole thing. There was absolutely no one behind you that was paying you any mind. You need to stop drinking if this is how it affects your anxiety.

You turn to catch up with your group and when you do dark blue and gold catch your eye across the street. On the opposite side of the road walks the man who has been haunting your thoughts lately. The way he strolls down the sidewalk is as if he has nothing else in the world to do. Not only is he on the wrong side of the street but he’s still behind you by a block or so and isn’t even looking your way. Yet the goosebumps remain.

You turn and rush forward, bumping interesting others in order to catch up with your small group. Once within talking distance you realize there’s nothing for you to say. The man is simply existing and you’re freaking out. He’s probably on his way back to his temple which is on the way to the station. The level of panic you feel thrumming through your veins is uncalled for. You decide to stay closer to your group, feigning being unaffected, as you try with all your might not to look over your shoulder anymore to see if he’s still there.

“That’s the place right?” Higuruma nods, talking over his shoulder to you. You finally allow yourself to turn but instead of stopping at the temple’s building you're looking further back trying to find that man again walking along the sidewalk. Your gaze goes from person to person with no luck. He’s no longer on the sidewalk and you overreacted again. The guy in question probably entered his “workplace”. Higuruma watches you, puzzled as you look further behind the place for a moment and then give him your assent.

“Yeah.. that’s the place he was standing outside of when his cocksure buddy spilled my coffee and then asked me out to replace it.”

Zoe gave a fit of giggles at that, “Some men have no tact. Is it safe to assume you said no?”

You can’t help but blush at her correct assumption, “Kind of? I think. I don’t know, I ran like hell when I saw that Monk standing there all pissy.” Your group is crossing the street at an intersection close to the subway system. You can’t help but feel relief as the building fades from sight.

Zoe is leaning against Higuruma who is trying to keep a straight face as he holds her up under her arm. He fails when her next words are, “Maybe he just needs to get laid. God knows you do y/n.”

Your older boss chokes and has a minor coughing fit at the topic change, “Allllright Zoe, you’ve lost your talking privileges.” You’re scanning all three of your train passes as you head down a long group of stairs.

Zoe decides to ignore the memo and continues, “I am not judging, I need to get laid too. That’s why we’re going clubbing tomorrow evening. You can come too but you gotta loosen up a little guruma.”

His face is bright red and he looks like he's regretting everything that brought him to this point in his life. “I’ll go ahead and pass on that one Miss Zoe. I'm a little old for clubbing..also not really sure that’s appropriate as I’m your superior..”

The station is bustling with people trying to get home before the last train at midnight. There’s that loud overhead beeping letting you know the train you need is about to leave the station and the three of you race into the car and into a row of sideways seats. You couldn’t help but enjoy Zoe giving your boss the third degree. You had thought he was attractive and tried to hit on him for a while after being hired, to no avail. The man took his job as a defense attorney way too seriously for a woman to distract him.

The banter is natural and amusing as the two bicker lightly over things that don’t matter. You find yourself laughing lightly, just letting the booze marinate in you as the train leaves the station and moves towards your home. You are the second to last stop while Zoe is two before you. “Are you even able to get home safely Zoe?”

Your friend nods before flexing her arm, “You dare doubt me?” she gives a shit eating grin as Higuruma eyes her skeptically.

“I think I’ll walk Miss Zoe home. Just to be sure.” He mutters. If it was anyone other than Higuruma Hiromi you would never allow your girlfriend to be walked home by a man alone. But this man had an ironclad code of conduct and was one of those rare people you felt you could trust with your life. He sees the absolute worst of humanity every day. Trying to defend the innocent in cases that are labeled unwinnable. Sometimes his code of ethics is all he can rely on at the end of the day.

Nodding you let your body be gently jostled by the train car.’You aren’t exactly excited to be going home yourself. In fact, everyday this week you seem to dread it a little more. It had gotten to the point where you practically begged the complex's maintenance group to change your locks yesterday.

Little things had been around everyday this week. Your toothbrush, placed opposite of how you normally left it. Your makeup bag left unzipped with the smell of your perfume in the air. Those two were odd but could be explained as thoughtlessness.

Then came the harder things to explain. When collecting your dirty laundry to take to the communal washroom your dirty panties were nowhere to be found. You scoured the whole apartment trying to prove to yourself that you had just accidently left them in an odd spot to no avail. The straw that broke the camel's back was when you woke yesterday morning. One of your kitchen chairs had been pulled into your bedroom while you slept and was left for you to find facing your bed.

Once your heart was out of your throat and you could breath without hyperventilating you called the maintenance crew to get a fresh lock. That way if the landlord had lied about changing the locks before you moved in and/or had lost a spare key. It would be handled. While it isn’t a big change, you 're happy with the fact that you took initiative and got it done.

The train ride is short as you doze in your seat. Something about the warmth of the train car and the close proximity of friends gave you this sense of invulnerability. When the overhead announcer pages Zoe’s stop you look over to see Higuruma struggling with Zoe’s dead weight. You laugh at his face as the two leave the train. The doors close after a moment and the steady rhythm once again picks up. Your eyes are falling shut a little longer every time you blink. That is until an eerily familiar voice emanates from the seat directly in front of you, “Are you trying to be victimized?”

Chapter 2 —————————————Chapter 4

Taglist: @divinedolliebun

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[stvrlightvngel]

As the seasons transition and the days grow shorter and cooler, it's the perfect time to embrace a fall refresh! Much like we enjoy a spring cleaning, a fall cleaning is essential to prepare for the cozy months ahead. Let’s dive into the key areas to focus on during your autumnal tidying spree. Remember, you can tailor your fall cleaning to suit your unique needs and preferences, making it as detailed and delightful as you wish!

🍂 Forgotten Spaces

With more time spent indoors, it's crucial to improve your home's air quality. Make sure to dust all those often-overlooked areas: nooks and crannies, ceiling fans, the tops of cabinets and refrigerators, vents, air returns, and blinds. A thorough dusting will help ensure a fresh and clean environment throughout the season.

🌰 Clean Your Linen

As we cozy up more during the colder months, don't forget to give attention to all your linens. Freshen up your curtains, rugs, blankets, sheets, pillowcases, furniture covers, and mattresses, along with any other fabric-covered furniture that may have been overlooked during the warmer seasons.

🍂 Deep Clean

Give your home a thorough deep clean by tackling the walls, baseboards, doors, door handles, light fixtures, and appliances. Don't forget to clean your fridge and freezer, washing machine, dryer vent, and replace your shower curtain as well as batteries in any detectors in the home for a fresh start.

🌰 Outdoors

Don't forget about the exterior of your home as the weather changes. While I don’t worry too much about the yard after the last cut (leaves are great for the ecosystem and fun for kids), it’s important to keep walkways clear. Keep a rake and broom handy for this task. Consider power washing your house and sidewalks, cleaning out your gutters, and hosting a yard sale to declutter. Additionally, check your pantry and donate any food you no longer plan to use.

[usafphantom2]

I flew the SR-71 Blackbird in the Cold War, here’s why it was so important

Hush KitSeptember 29, 2022

SR-71 In the Cold War

By BC Thomas

The SR-71 has the deserved reputation of being the most unique air-breathing aircraft ever built. No other could fly as fast, as high, or carry thousands of pounds of equipment above 80,000 feet. It was the primary strategic reconnaissance asset for the Free World during the latter 25 years of the Cold War. The SR-71 could sustain continuous Mach 3+ flight for over an hour while obtaining the highest quality reconnaissance information from multiple sensors, and with aerial refueling, the aircraft could have circumnavigated the Earth in one flight. The aircraft was one of the first to employ stealth technology, thereby ensuring that the airplane was almost invisible to radar. Its speed and altitude also cloaked its presence. During this time of sparse reconnaissance satellite coverage over potential enemy targets, the SR-71 could sneak up, gather vital information, and leave the area without warning, and often without notice.

The SR-71 was never successfully intercepted by surface-to-air missile or aircraft. It had a state-of-the-art electronic defensive system which would defeat an incoming missile’s homing and steering. Detectors on board would alert the crew of a missile launch instantly and, since the SR-71 did not normally fly at its maximum speed or altitude, the aircraft’s defense was simultaneously to jam the missile’s guidance while accelerating, climbing, and turning with 45º of bank. No surface-to-air missile could out-turn, thus hit, an SR-71, a fact demonstrated many times, especially during the Vietnam War. Attempts to shoot down an SR-71 continued until August 25, 1981, which was the last time an enemy (North Korea) fired a surface-to-air missile at an SR-71; that mission was flown by Maury Rosenberg, pilot, and Ed McKim, Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO).

It missed.

We carried an array of sophisticated sensors and recorders which could glean reconnaissance data with cameras capable of high-quality photographs horizon-to-horizon. We also had radar imagery capable of one-foot resolution. This was the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS), which could deliver readable radar pictures night or day, bad weather or clear. I’m no photo interpreter, but even I could tell what was pictured. The SR-71 also carried electronic intelligence (ELINT) systems which are still classified. We advertised that the SR-71, within 24 hours notification, could be over any target on earth and be capable of surveying 100,000 square miles of terrain each hour. It was no idle boast.

The SR-71’s potential versatility is not widely known. Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, the genius designer of all ‘Blackbirds’, was diligent in assuring that the Mach 3+ Blackbird aircraft could fulfil several roles, if needed for national contingencies. The first version was the A-12 aircraft, built for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This was a single-person airplane and carried as principal sensor, one very high-resolution optical camera.

A differently capable aircraft was the YF-12, the Mach 3+ fighter/intercepter version of the Blackbird’s basic design. It was developed as part of Kelly Johnson’s “Universal Aircraft” concept of adapting the fore-body section to accept reconnaissance equipment, air-to-air missiles, or four nuclear weapons. Thus, the Mach 3+ Blackbird type could have been straight reconnaissance, a nuclear bomber, an interceptor, or recon/strike. There is at least one video, available to the public, which shows an actual missile launch from a YF-12 at Mach 3. I’ll add parenthetically that it was also outfitted to be a Mach 3 drone-launch vehicle, but the first test deployment of the D-21 drone failed and resulted in the loss of the Blackbird M-21 launch aircraft.

So it was versatile. But did it deliver?

By the late 1950s, we knew the Soviet Union had better, more capable rocket launch systems than any North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country. This was dramatically evidenced by two sudden leaps in Soviet advanced technology: 1957, Sputnik, the first artificial satellite; 1961, first man in space to orbit the Earth. These notable achievements shocked the people of the United States and indeed, the Western World.

Knowledge of the military and industrial strength of Communist states was extremely important, and reconnaissance missions against the Soviet Union started as early as 1947. Several American aircraft conducted these flights: the RB-29, RB-47, RB-50, C-130, PB4Y-2, U-2, and the Ryan 147 remotely piloted vehicle (RPV). Reconnaissance flights penetrated Soviet airspace, overflew the land mass, and many were shot down. The Los Angeles Times, 11/12/1992, reported that 40 such reconnaissance aircraft were lost and 200 American airmen died conducting these flights. That number of lost personnel was confirmed by Paul Glenshaw in his article: “Secret Causalities of the Cold War,” Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, December 2017.

So aerial reconnaissance flights against potential enemies (the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, the Middle East) were a top priority. These flights had to be conducted routinely and had to be survivable.

The SR-71 was developed to fill that need. From 1966 to 1990, the SR-71 flew over 3,500 operational reconnaissance missions while logging 11,000 hours in a flight environment which was most hostile: aircraft skin temperature averaged 620º F, outside air pressure was 0.4 pounds-per-square-inch (psi), altitude was 15-16 miles straight up, aerodynamic damping was low, and true airspeed was typically 2,000 to 2,100 miles-per-hour, making pitch controllability critical.

For operational survivability, the SR-71 was one of the safest military aircraft, as no Air Force crew member was killed while flying one, a testament to outstanding aircraft maintenance and crew training. A remarkable record given its extreme flight envelope and potential attack risk.

I’ll summarize the importance of the SR-71 missions by quoting Paul Crickmore, noted aviation historian and Blackbird author, in a letter to me.

“In theatre, the SR-71 proved the concept of high-Mach, high-altitude flight, to obtain vital aerial reconnaissance. The SR-71 regularly conducted reconnaissance missions in the skies over North Vietnam – particularly around Hanoi in 1968-70 which at the time, was the most highly defended area on the planet.”

“The Blackbirds provided superior flexibility compared to satellites, time after time, specific examples—Yom Kippur War 1973, Yemen 1979, Cuba 1977—1990, Lebanon October 1983 (following the truck-bomb attack killing over 240 US Marines), Libya 1986, The Persian Gulf 1987, but perhaps most importantly, the on-going monitoring of Soviet nuclear submarine fleets for the US Navy—particularly the Northern Fleet with their submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), capable of hitting large areas of the United States, as well as all Allied Countries.”

“The simultaneous, synoptic coverage of information gathered by the SR-71’s sensors, provided the intelligence community and national leadership—with photographic imagery (PHOTINT), radar imagery (RADINT) and electronic intelligence (ELNT), that unquestionably helped to keep the Western World free.”

Richard H Graham, Colonel, USAF (ret) was an SR-71 Instructor Pilot, Squadron Commander, 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Commander, and assigned to the Headquarters USAF (Pentagon) to supervise Programs and Resources as a Strategic Force Programmer. His evaluation of the SR-71’s worth as a reconnaissance asset is quoted from his book: “SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of the Blackbird, The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane.”

“…the synoptic coverage (displaying conditions as they exist simultaneously over a broad area) provided by the SR-71 was far superior to satellite reconnaissance. Broad-area coverage from different approach angles, in a relatively short time span, produced considerably better intelligence than a predictable, single satellite pass, every ninety minutes. In 1990, the SR-71 was the only airborne reconnaissance platform that could penetrate hostile territory, accomplish wide-area synoptic coverage, and still survive. It could also be tasked reasonably quickly and had the element of surprise.”

Photographs of two SA-2 surface-to-air missiles which were launched against SR-71 #976, July 26, 1968 in the vicinity of Hanoi, Vietnam. Tony Bevacqua (Pilot), Jerry Crew (RSO).

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@hush_kit via X

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[latestparis-style]

My sister and I made French toast from a recipe in a fanfiction. And we took a lot of pictures.

Welcome to the LatestParis_Kitchen.

For the last year or so, my sister and I have made a fun hobby of reading the most bizarre Phantom of the Opera fanfictions we can find. Out loud, tossing the phone back and forth to each other by chapter. Neither of us read it beforehand, and it's a 10/10 experience.

There's a POTO fanfic on Wattpad by the name "Angel In Hell". It's by user: momenttodebruh. Read the fic. It's the epitome of the perfect, unhinged Y/n fic. With loads of iconic lines. My sister and I quote this fic like it's a popular TV show. Seriously, it got to the point where my mother repeated one of lines because we said it so often. This fic is (intentionally or not) hilarious and a masterpiece.

In the fic, the protagonist, a Y/N my sister and I dubbed "Bitch", makes her "famous French toast™" to impress the manager into hiring her as a chef at the opera house.

The best part?

The recipe is followable with exact quantities given.

Here are screenshots from the fic:

I refined it to this recipe:

You know, just in case you're a freak who wants to try this.

My sister, Beth, and I have joked about "Bitch's famous French toast™" every time we make regular French toast, and today is the day we decide if her recipe would make us hire her.

Beth can make a mean French toast, so let's see how Bitch's famous recipe measures up.

Here's all the ingredients. We are following this shit as closely as possible, so no half batch. 6 eggs and all.

We thought we would only need four slices of bread. God were we mistaken.

Just as a side note, Beth and I were doing this while our parents were out to dinner, so we're on a time crunch. Sorry for any blurriness in the photos!

Here's the 6 eggs. This is the least gross looking photo I managed to take. Also, Beth is method acting, look at the Victorian lace on those sleeves.

MAY I PRESENT THE TEASPOON OF THE ONLY SEASONING! CINNAMON Y'ALL!

We added the vanilla extract here too, but I believe it didn't change much.

Okay, so we used our four slices only to discover that there was half the batter left. Beth suggested we make it to freeze. She has much more hope in Bitch's Famous French Toast than I do, but I agreed. We were drenching these slices, so maybe you could get more out of this recipe.

haha, this is where shit hits the fan, or egg hits the pan? Anyway, the house started to get a little smoky. Our house has smoke detectors connected to the alarm system, so if they go off, the firetrucks are coming. We burnt about half the French toast, so I took the smoke detectors off the walls. Then the alarm started... beeping? It wasn't blaring, thank God, but I'd never heard it beep before, so Beth opened all the windows to air out the house, and I had to awkwardly call my dad like: "heh, we made French toast, so if you get a call, don't let the fire trucks come. oops."

Only after that did I realize that the alarm was beeping because I took the smoke detectors off the walls.

So I put those back on.

We were simultaneously laughing our asses off while flipping out about the possibility of firefighters coming to our house because of a fanfic. It was fun. Certainly intensified this experience.

And in the end we had...

A strangely eggy, flavorless stack of "Bitch's Famous French Toast"

Some of them were very burnt, but that's down to Beth and me. Y/N doesn't hold any blame.

Look at all that toast (eight fucking slices) and keep in mind that Firmin canonically eats the entire stack. And, AND! It was so good, in the next chapter, he call for it to be served to the whole opera house.

Beth quote: "It really just tasted like eggs. The cinnamon didn't do much, but because the egg soaked into the bread so much, it had this strange, bizarre custardy quality?"

Her rating: 4/10

I, as a person with celiac disease, had to make it on gluten-free bread. It's worse that way: 3/10

After eating, uh, some of the French toast and freezing the rest for a moment of hungry desperation, we sat on the couch to collect ourselves. I started typing up this post, when our upstairs TV miraculously turns on (it turns on with any change in the room's lights, and it's extremely annoying).

What is it playing?

KITCHEN FUCKING NIGHTMARES

Which, in fairness, we had been watching earlier. Gordon Ramsay was speaking to our souls while we sat on that couch.

Side note, please don't take this as us hating on this fic. It was our single biggest inspiration while writing "A Girl's Desire" and we genuinely adore it for all it's worth.

If the author sees this, I will be starstruck.

[ammg-old2]

Now that the world’s most powerful space telescope is finally up and running, we’re in for a constant stream of stunning images of the universe. Just a ton of galaxies everywhere, more detailed than you’ve ever seen them, and too many stars to count—all of it sparkling with an intensity that humankind hasn’t captured before.

Not every interesting image from the James Webb Space Telescope is going to be a pretty picture, though. Some will be charts, like the one that NASA unveiled last week, all lines and dots and squiggles. That chart doesn’t have the special oomph of Webb’s view of galaxy clusters, or the wow factor of the Carina Nebula snapshot. But the unassuming chart, and the many others like it that Webb will produce over the next 20 years, is quietly thrilling in its own way. These images will stretch our imagination about what the worlds that exist far beyond our solar system are like.

You do have to know what you’re looking at, first. The chart reveals detailed information about the atmosphere of a giant, gaseous exoplanet with Jupiterlike qualities. WASP-96b resides about 1,150 light-years from us, tracing a loop around its own sun in just 3.5 Earth days. Its temperatures are higher than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 538 degrees Celsius). By measuring starlight that passed through the exoplanet’s atmosphere, Webb was able to detect the unmistakable signature of water, and even found evidence of clouds. On a planet as scorching as this one, clouds are really something else. It’s so hot that rock can condense in the air the way that water does here on Earth. Which means that on WASP-96b, the clouds are made of sand.

Sand! When Nikole Lewis, an astrophysicist at Cornell, told me this, I nearly fell out of my chair. “There are lots of things that will condense, other than water, given the right pressure and temperature conditions,” Lewis explained, as if she hadn’t just upended my idea of something as seemingly simple as clouds. I looked out my window, at the clouds of this planet, fluffy white poofs hovering in a blue sky, and Earth suddenly felt like exactly what it was, one of many, many planets in the universe, each with its own story and potentially its own kind of atmosphere. This is what Webb is poised to do: transform exoplanets in our mind from unknowable cosmic objects to very real places with alien skies.

Astronomers so far have discovered more than 5,000 of these exoplanets using other space telescopes and ground-based observatories. They’re quite skilled at discerning, upon discovery, an exoplanet’s orbit, mass, density, and other fundamental properties. And they’re getting better at teasing out information about their atmospheres. The Webb mission will send that particular effort into overdrive, revealing hidden details in targets that astronomers have already studied, uncovering the unknowns of worlds that they couldn’t reach before, and detecting, perhaps, the molecules that we know to be associated with the presence of life.

Webb observes exoplanet atmosphere this way: The space telescope aims its gaze at a star system and waits, basking in the incoming light. When a planet comes into view, moving—from our perspective—across the face of the star, the world blocks a little bit of starlight. But some light makes it through, and it filters through the planet’s atmosphere on its way out. The light arrives at Webb carrying the chemical signatures of any gases in those cloudtops. The telescope’s detectors break apart the light, like a glass prism splitting sunlight into rainbow colors. Astronomers pore over those data, picking out signs of familiar molecules and compounds, and then display them all on a plot known as a spectrum.

In the WASP-96b spectrum, the peaks indicate the presence of water vapor. To spot the evidence of clouds and haze in there, it helps to be a trained astronomer. “When there are clouds and hazes in the atmosphere, they will actually cause the water vapor—those signatures, those big humps you’re seeing—to be muted, so they’ll actually be a little bit lower than we expected,” Lewis explained. “That’s because the light is also passing through those clouds and hazes, and that’s subduing the strength of that water-vapor feature.”

When NASA released the snapshot of WASP-96b’s atmosphere, Lewis and her colleagues raced to see how the findings compared with other observations of the exoplanet, particularly by the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb had spent only a few hours observing the exoplanet and its star, and yet the error bars on the new data were far smaller than previous, more time-consuming efforts, Lewis said. And Hubble hadn’t detected any signs of clouds at all. The exoplanet spectrum looked as magical to exoplanet scientists as that galaxy-strewn deep field was to galaxy researchers. Just as Webb can produce galaxy-strewn deep fields in a fraction of the time it took Hubble, Lewis said, “we can do the same thing with exoplanets, where we only need to observe the planet, say, once or twice, as opposed to 10 times,” in order to find the little features they’re most interested in.

Astronomers want to use Webb to spot compounds more intriguing than water, such as oxygen, methane, and carbon dioxide—or, better yet, more than one in the same atmosphere. “If you, like, took some water and some methane and put them in a box and left them at room temperature on Earth, they’d actually combine into carbon dioxide, and you wouldn’t expect there to be any methane left over,” Megan Mansfield, an astronomer at the University of Arizona who will use Webb to study exoplanets, told me. “The only reason we have methane in the Earth’s atmosphere is because it’s constantly produced by life.” Finding some particular combination of gases that shouldn’t appear together, not unless some form of life was producing at least one of them—that’s the dream.

As intriguing as such a detection would be, Webb won’t show us definitive proof of alien life. The space telescope can only reveal the presence of something intriguing, leaving astronomers to work out the exact cause. Astronomers are still locked in a heated debate over the origins of a gas that might be present in Venus’s atmosphere, and that planet is right next door. This kind of work will be even more difficult when scientists are dealing with planets many light-years away. “I don’t think we’ll necessarily be able to say there’s definitely life on a planet, but I think it is possible that we would find some really interesting planets that we’d want to follow up on,” Mansfield said—potentially with a whole new space telescope. When astronomers first started talking about building a telescope like Webb more than 30 years ago, exoplanets had not yet been discovered. It was only later, as exoplanet science began to blossom into a real field, that the necessary technical capabilities were added.

But until the next great space telescope comes along, Webb will familiarize us with the range of alien atmospheres in the cosmos. Nearly one-quarter of the telescope’s first year of observations will be devoted to studying exoplanets. Astronomers can search for other kinds of atmospheric gases, and other, weirder clouds. They can even use the data to infer what might lay beneath the clouds, and make predictions about alien surfaces. They can form theories about how and when these planets formed, telling us better stories about the worlds beyond us, including small, rocky planets like Earth, orbiting at just the right, cozy distance from their star—potentially habitable worlds.

When NASA says “habitable,” it doesn’t mean that we could live there, or even visit. Even our closest planetary neighbors, located 4.2 light-years away in the star system known as Proxima Centauri, would take tiny robotic spacecraft, equipped with little more than some cameras and curiosity, several decades to reach. The Webb telescope can help us become more familiar with all kinds of alien worlds, but we can only marvel from afar, looking to the data—at the little peaks and valleys on a plot—to guide our daydreams about what these places might be like. Knowing the mass of an exoplanet is no doubt scientifically useful, but it doesn’t exactly jolt the mind. Clouds of sand, though? That’s pretty out-there.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Mission to Map the Elevation of Earth

Kevin Kregel had his lucky fishing hat firmly in place, complete with an array of fishing tackle above the floppy brim and a chinstrap cinched up tight. It was time to try the fly-cast maneuver. Commander Kregel wasn’t out for trout on a mountain stream. He was at the controls of the space shuttle Endeavour. Instead of wielding a fly-fishing rod, he and the crew of the 97th shuttle mission were preparing to whip a slender, 200-foot-long mast into place on day two of their 11-day quest to create an unprecedented map of Earth.

With one end mounted in the orbiter’s payload bay and the other cantilevered out into space, the mast was a central part of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). It was also the longest instrument ever flown aboard a space shuttle. A detector at the end of the mast and one nestled inside the shuttle bay were ready to collect reflections from a radar beam aimed at Earth below. First, there was the matter of swinging the fragile mast around to precisely orient the instrument in orbit. Doing it with a detector as heavy as a grand piano attached to the far end was going to be the tricky part.

Closing Mapping Gaps

Nearly a quarter century after the mission to map the world, the SRTM’s data still yields results. Just this year, it aided in wildfire forecasting for Iran’s Zagros Mountains, tracking soil erosion in South Africa, assessing flood risk on the coast of Brazil, and even determining how the locations of power-generating wind turbines affect real estate values. Tens of thousands of research papers are published every year that rely on SRTM maps for these and other environmental, economic, agricultural, and public safety studies.

Back when Endeavour launched on February 11, 2000, much of Earth’s surface was a mystery, topographically speaking. No one knew the precise heights of many of the world’s mountains or the depths of the valleys between them. Where height information did exist, topographical maps varied in quality and scale from country to country. The result was an incomplete patchwork of maps.

Prior to 2000, correcting these mapping deficiencies had proven elusive. Most imaging satellites had a hard time seeing through cloud cover, particularly over portions of South America and Africa; it was expensive to fly mapping instruments on planes crisscrossing remote regions; and in some cases, countries denied access to airborne mapping efforts due to political conflicts. Scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory set out to solve the problems with an instrument that could see through clouds and map much of the planet over the course of a single space shuttle mission.

Their solution was the SRTM instrument that now hangs from the ceiling in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Fairfax County, Virginia. Only a fraction of its fragile mast extends from the golden canister where it was stored for the trip to orbit and back. Fully deployed, the trusswork of slender rods would reach two-thirds the length of a football field. When packed away, the entire thing collapsed like an accordion to fit in the canister, which is a bit taller than the average adult.

The radar system at the heart of the SRTM instrument had flown twice on Endeavour for prior mapping efforts. During those missions, the instrument offered two-dimensional views of the ground from orbit. By combining data from different vantage points, NASA scientists produced stereoscopic images that revealed stunning 3D topographic views. But the need for multiple passes over the locations slowed the process, and while clouds are transparent to radar, changes in the atmosphere between orbits limited the quality and accuracy of the resulting maps. The missions primarily focused on areas of scientific interest in South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania, covering about 10 percent of the planet’s surface on each of the two flights.

With a radar antenna mounted at the end of the SRTM mast and another inside the shuttle bay, the new instrument could continuously view Earth in 3D, ensuring that atmospheric changes from one orbit to another were no longer a problem. Because it could capture images in a single pass over any given area, the SRTM would be able to scan large areas of the planet and reveal detailed topography nearly ten times faster than its predecessor. In total, the SRTM collected elevation data over 80 percent of Earth’s landmass in a single flight, with coverage spanning the areas visible in the maps at the top of this page.

Fishing for Data

If not for the weightlessness of orbit, a thousand-pound radar antenna would have been far too heavy for the delicate mast to handle. But even in space, there’s still the problem of inertia—the resistance of things with mass to changes in motion. That meant that the SRTM mast was going to flex whenever the spacecraft turned to put the instrument in position to map the planet below. Despite its rigid design, the long mast would act like a spring, with the antenna wobbling at the end after any shuttle maneuvers.

“It’s a very small angle wobble, less than a degree,” said Scott Hensley, a senior research scientist at JPL who helped develop the SRTM instrument, “but it translates into big error.” The motion would have amounted to inaccuracies on the order of a thousand feet (300 meters) in features on a topographical map.

The JPL design team had anticipated the flexing and installed a system of gas jets at the end of the mast to counteract the wobble. “It was a really clever idea,” Hensley said. “It worked for like a day and a half, and then I think it froze, so it no longer ejected the gas.” Fortunately, engineer Bill Layman had outlined a fly-casting contingency plan in the event of a problem with the jets. Which brings us to Kregel and his fishing hat.

Layman’s fly-cast maneuver mimicked the motions that sport fishers use when casting with long, flexible fly-fishing rods. In order to rotate the SRTM mast into position, Kregel and Endeavour pilot Dominic Gorie first applied a short burst with the shuttle’s thrusters, comparable to the initial flick of a fly rod. That caused the mast to bend backward slightly as the shuttle turned, and then to rebound forward. When the mast straightened out, a second burst of the thrusters sped up the shuttle’s rotation, mimicking the forward portion of a cast. The timing and strength of the thrusts were tuned to prevent further vibrations as the mast swung into place. Reversing the thruster procedure brought everything to a quiet, vibration-free halt, with the radar system in position to start mapping.

Unlike the frozen gas jets, the fly-cast maneuver relied on the shuttle’s limited supply of thruster propellant. That meant the technique had the potential to cut the mission short. But Kregel and Gorie managed the fly-cast maneuver to reposition the SRTM on six occasions with enough efficiency to leave plenty of propellant to complete the full mapping schedule. The deft piloting allowed the shuttle team enough time to collect elevation data over most of Earth’s landmass, between the southern tip of Greenland and the southern tip of South America.

Read more about SRTM’s treasured maps in the story’s second installment.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and SRTM coverage boundary data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Photos and illustration from the NASA image and video library, STS-99. Story by James Riordon/NASA’s Earth Science News Team.

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Safeguarding Your Home's Air Quality with Radon Detector

While many potential dangers in the home are visible or at least detectable by our senses, radon operates in stealth mode. It doesn't give off a scent or show any visual sign, making it easy to overlook. This sneaky nature is what makes it particularly dangerous. By the time its adverse effects are felt health-wise, one might have already been exposed for an extended period. That's why a proactive approach, using a radon detector for home safety, becomes indispensable.

The Science Behind Radon

Radon is not just any ordinary gas; it is a byproduct of a natural process. Uranium is commonly found beneath our feet, in the soil, and in rocks that make up the Earth's crust. As uranium undergoes radioactive decay, radon is produced. The problem arises when this gas, which is meant to dissipate harmlessly into the atmosphere, finds its way into our living spaces.

The same qualities that make our homes comfortable, like insulation and sealed windows, can trap radon, allowing it to build up. With a radon detector for home use, homeowners can become aware of the unseen rise in radon levels and take the necessary precautions.

Why Traditional Detection Methods Fail

For most potential threats or issues around the home, our senses play a pivotal role. A burnt fuse often results in a peculiar smell. Mold presents visible patches on walls or ceilings. But radon sidesteps these conventional detection methods. Its colorless, odorless, and tasteless nature makes it a silent invader of our homes.

Therefore, relying on our senses won't suffice. This emphasizes the importance of having a specialized radon detector for home spaces. Such detectors are tailored to pick up on radon's specific attributes and warn homeowners long before the gas reaches dangerous levels.

Making the Choice: Active Versus Passive Detection

When considering radon detectors, it's essential to understand the differences in the types available. Passive detectors, such as charcoal canisters, absorb radon over a specified period, after which they are sent to a lab for analysis. Active detectors, on the other hand, continuously monitor radon levels and usually provide digital readings.

Regardless of the type, ensuring you have a radon detector for home safety is paramount. After all, when it comes to the well-being of our families, it's always better to be in the know and prepared to act.

Choosing the Right Detector

There are various models and types of radon detectors in the market. When searching for a radon detector for home use, it’s vital to find one that's reliable and easy to use. Digital detectors offer quick and precise readings, while passive detectors might need to be sent to a lab for results. Reading product reviews and consulting with experts can aid in making an informed decision.

Placement Matters: Where to Install Your Detector

The location of your radon detector is critical. Radon often enters homes through cracks in floors, walls, or foundations. As a result, the ideal spot for a radon detector for home safety is the lowest living area of the house, like a basement. It’s also recommended to avoid placing it near windows or doors, as outside air can interfere with the readings.

Regular Checks and Maintenance

Just like any other household equipment, a radon detector requires regular check-ups. Batteries need to be changed, and the device should be recalibrated from time to time. Ensuring that your radon detector for home safety is in optimal working condition will give you peace of mind, knowing that you're actively protecting your home with Luft.

What If Radon Levels Are High?

Discovering elevated radon levels can be concerning. But there’s no need to panic. Having a radon detector for home use means you're already ahead, as you're aware of the problem. The next step would be to consult with a professional who can guide you on mitigation measures. Often, improving ventilation can help reduce radon levels in the home.

Making a Radon-Free Home

Keeping our homes radon-free is more than just about installing a detector. It’s also about understanding where radon comes from and how it affects our living spaces. By sealing cracks and ensuring proper ventilation, we can reduce the risk. And of course, having a reliable radon detector for home use in place ensures that we’re always a step ahead.

Conclusion

While the threats that radon presents are undeniable, they're also manageable. With knowledge and the right tools in hand, we can ensure that our living spaces remain safe and free from harmful radon gas. A radon detector for home use is not just a device; it's a commitment to the well-being of those we care about. As homeowners, it's our responsibility to stay informed and take proactive measures. After all, the air we breathe in our homes should be nothing short of clean and safe.

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Air Quality Testing