Awesome! Thanks for contacting the professor and posting the reply.

Ah, yes, I missed that. Thank you.

Good question. According to this article, the process going on with Betelgeuse does sound like the same or very similar to the process described in OP’s article.

The great dimming [of Betelgeuse] was caused by the star spitting out a lump of gas and dust, like chewing gum: or what scientists call a “surface mass ejection” caused by an “anomalously hot convective plume”.

OP’s article doesn’t say that the Old Smokers they found are red super-giants but since they called them old smokers, I’m inclined to think that they are. Also because they say that smoke contains much higher levels of heavy elements than is common in the region which would also be consistent with older stars. The article doesn’t say whether or not the stars puff out smoke on a regular schedule like Betelgeuse does, but then maybe they haven’t been watching them long enough to see a pattern yet.

It does seem like they found a bunch of older stars that are pre-supernova, just like Betelgeuse is, and burping out clouds of gas and dust.

Every cat is different. We have one cat that goes nuts for plastic springs, another loves little furry ball toys, another loves balls made of crinkly plastic material. Last Halloween my wife bought a bunch of mini ping pong balls that have a sticker making them look like eyeballs. All our cats love those things. They also all love fishing pole toys.

I recommend getting a variety of toys and seeing what your cat loves best.

Just your quote, that says such people who give up some liberty don’t deserve any. I suppose you didn’t mean it that way but it seemed harsh.

Fair. Old Ben meant it harshly, I’m sure.

As for the internet being a public space where privacy shouldn’t be assumed, I have to disagree. There is far too much activity on the net that would never be conducted in a place where there is no assumption of privacy. Clearly things like banking matters need to be private and secure, but I include in this things like romantic matters. If any government can access any data on the internet that they want they any oppressive government will do so. In addition, any opening for government will be exploited sooner or later by criminals as well.

Essential in the sense of privacy being central to our nature. We all deserve, and indeed, need our privacy. In the USA, the 4th Amendment guarantees “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” without sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Any reasonable modern interpretation of that amendment should include electronic documents and communication.

I’m not sure why you would think that I believe tick-tockers should not have privacy protection. Any app that invades the users 'privacy should be banned for the same reason that end-to-end encryption should not be banned. If Tick-Tock refuses to respect the privacy of people’s non-Tick Tock communication then the app should be banned.

Benjamin Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

This still applies.