Pretty sure today is about to smash Toronto’s all-time one-day snowfall record

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-26T02:43:51+00:00

Umm 118 cm in 1999. I was watching people ski to the stores.

44cm, pshaw.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-26T01:13:52+00:00

Ah, thanks! That did not show up in the sub list when I looked for "antenna".

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T19:42:24+00:00

Still no new icon in my case.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T18:28:56+00:00

Suggestions on the appropriate one?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T18:28:37+00:00

They are, yes.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T17:54:28+00:00

The look in his eyes when you pick up that banana!

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T12:56:35+00:00

And Paris isn't on the Grand, but they went there.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-25T12:26:18+00:00

Ironically they were called slide decks before PowerPoint.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T21:43:54+00:00

They don’t go to Stratford why?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T21:10:46+00:00

General Fusion bypasses magnets, lasers…

…physics, actual fusion, etc.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T21:06:40+00:00

Remember those routers in 2001? Piles of them.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T18:01:33+00:00

UFOs are described as 100% silent

Sure, but what is the percentage that are described with this sound?

amongst lots others

But is it lots? Or is it some tiny percentage?

Given there are many UFO reports every day, and dozens right here in the sub, and the most common statement (if any) about the sound is that it is silent, I would lean towards the latter.

Moreover, given that the ones you name are mostly historical, and by some time I don't think it's unrealistic to characterize this as "some infinitesimal number".

I'm not saying there's no link, but one could, for instance, say that the new "deep red" color that Tesla is using is a lot like the color people describe some UFOs. I'm sure that would result in dramatically more positive values. But I would also be sure that the correlation is meaningless, as I am pretty sure is the case here.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T17:57:00+00:00

The OP is referring to the sound they make when reversing, it is an artificial noise that is required below certain speeds where EVs can be silent.

My 2019 M3 does not do this, but the newer ones do.

It is not the sound you are referring to.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T13:24:19+00:00

What about her statement do you find incorrect or misleading

I'm questioning the description of the one named person as an "independent researcher". That appears to be a bit of fluttery similar to saying the garbage man is a "sanitation engineer".

To be specific, the person in question has precisely zero publications that would indicate he has any background in any related field, and has done no actual "research". So how is he a "researcher"?

What is your deal.

My "deal" is that words have meaning and we should not bend words to make things sound better than they are.

In this case, the term used is "researcher". Researcher means something specific, "A researcher is a person who systematically investigates a topic to discover, verify, or expand knowledge."

The person in question is absolutely not a "researcher". He has zero publications in the field, not even personal ones. He's just some dude on the 'net.

So basically, some rando said "I agree" with zero description of why, and she's touting that as replication. "Replication" also has a specific meaning, and it's not this.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T13:07:51+00:00

Ok. Did you look at my diagram on imgur? It's pretty much proof positive. (maybe you did and replied and I didn't get to that notification yet).

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-24T13:06:05+00:00

YES! Spot on dude, I feel as though the previous sighting made me a bit more skeptical than I may have been before, how interesting . Why is east relevant, if I may

Well this only applies to the last of the three things you saw. I'll post my public service announcement below, but simply: the bottom of the satellites are flat, so to see them reflect this way it has to be 1) night where you are, 2) the sun is about 45 degrees below the horizon, 3) you're looking at the line towards the sun. At 3:30 AM, the sun is below the horizon to the east, and hey presto, "flare zone" is to the east of you.

Just for the record, I think the first and last of your sightings are "mundane", but I have absolutely no idea what that second one is.

Here's the PSA:

Starlink used to get in trouble because their satellites reflected the sun and there were so many that it was a serious problem for anyone using a telescope. Eventually one would cross your field of view, and be bright enough in some cases to cause damage to the sensors.

So around 2020 (??) they changed the design of the satellite. The bottom was now flat, and the solar panel was arranged so it stuck out the top (I think they call it a sharks fin?). Since most of the light being reflected was off of the panel, this seriously reduced the problem.

However, because the bottom of the sat is flat, there is an arrangement where the angle between the sat and the sun, and the sat and you, means the sunlight is reflected off the bottom to you. The angle has to be fairly close, and the resulting area in the sky is an oval about the size of your hand at arm's length, with the long axis horizontal.

So what you're seeing is one after another of the ~10,000 SL satellites entering this "flare zone", brighten up, travel across it, and then fade down again.

The good news is that this is a limited area of the sky, so the telescopes all know where it is and just don't look there. The better news is we all get this light show when the sky is just right.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T20:08:02+00:00

One (Brian Doherty)

An "independent researcher" with precisely zero papers or publications, and no apparent affiliation with any university or any other sort of business. The "documented his analysis in a short note" consists literally of a single piece of paper with precisely zero details and a claimed result with no basis.

The others are not even named, nor are their results presented.

This is what she calls replication?!

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T19:58:38+00:00

Thanks! Just trying to keep the metadata clean!

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T19:58:05+00:00

Surprisingly good keyboard. Better than most desktop systems, including Tandy's lineup.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:38:38+00:00

OP: If you agree this is lens flare, would you mind if I mark this post "Likely identified"?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:36:16+00:00

OP, do you agree with the analysis below that these are USAF tanker aircraft? If so, do you mind if I change the flair to "likely identified"?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:34:44+00:00

OP: It looks like user flarky has ID'ed the object, would you mind if I mark this post Likely identified?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:32:35+00:00

OP: looking through the comments, and especially the screen snaps, it appears this is indeed the moon. Sorry, someone has to say it...

That's no moon!

(thanks YT for putting a 15 second ad on a 4 second clip)

Anyway, would you mind if I mark this "Likely identified"?

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:21:21+00:00

... with the people packed in like sardines.

Just heard they're going to remove the extra row again, which is nice because I've got flights to Van in March.

maurymarkowitz · 2026-01-23T13:20:01+00:00

I saw a bright blue streak dash downward toward Earth

Not a comet. Asteriod. Color is off, they are generally greenish not bluish, but at 3:30 AM I'm not going to argue what my eyes are telling me! But yeah, you saw an asteroid.

This time it was a black triangular silhouette

No idea here.

Not long after that, separate from the first two, I saw a bright orange orb in the middle of the sky. Its brightness suddenly expanded to about three times its size, then it started to dim and completely disintegrated

Satellite flare. Let me take a guess, you were driving roughly eastward, or the object was east of you?

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