Daily Archives: March 9, 2021

I am sure you have all read and written the words Big Bang Theory several times in your school during Science class and that's what everybody believes about how Universe came into existence. But, recently four scientists from different parts of India, including two from Bengaluru, have challenged this old theory through their finding on the observation of the red shift in the light spectrum. Therefore, we thought of reminding you about the Big Bang Theory, who gave it to the world and why it is challenged now?

What is the Big Bang Theory?The Big Bang Theory tell us how the universe came into existence. Scientists and astrophysicists believe thatthe Universe was born out of a highly compressed, dense and microscopic point called singularity. This exploded with a huge force some 13.8 billion years ago, resulting in everything arising from that singularity moving outward in all directions. From this, all cosmic matter was formed at different stages until now.

Who gave this theory and who coined the phrase Big Bang to it?Georges Lematre, a Belgian priest, first suggested the big bang theory in the 1920s, when he said that the universe began from a single primordial atom. It was Fred Hoyle, an English Astronomer who coined the term Big Bang during one of the interviews broadcasted on BBC radio. He also stated that the first life on Earth only beganin the space.

Did the scientists prove the Big Bang Theory scientifically?There is no particular evidence or proof priorto the Singularity phenomena. It is also believed that nothing can be proven true of false when it comes to natural science. However, the detailed measurements of the expansion of the universe show that Big Bang might have happened 13.8 billions of years ago and that is the exact age of the universe.

Who has challenged the Big Bang Theory recently?Prof Sisir Roy from the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru,Arindam Mal from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabadand Sarbani Palit and Ujjwal Bhattacharya from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata have published a research paper and challenged the Big Bang Theory.

What are these four scientists and astrophysicists from India trying to prove in their research paper?The Big Bang theory is supported by the understanding that the shift of light towards the red band in the spectrum is continuous and uniform in nature. It is an indication of all matter including galaxies and all cosmic matter moving outwards steadily. But the four scientists have revealed findings contrary to the continuous and uniform nature of movement of light towards the red band of light in the spectrum.Theresearchers have found that the red shift does not occur in a uniform manner, but in recurring stages, what they refer to as periodicity in red shift

Did any other theories challenge the Big Bang Theory earlier?This is not the first time that the Big Bang theory has been challenged, the previous challenges were based on much smaller sample sizes. The Steady State Theory, Gravitational Lending Model, Tired Photon Hypothesis, Variable Mass Hypothesis have all challenged the Big Bang theory in the past.

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What the FAQ: What is the Big Bang theory and why is it being challenged by four Indian scientists? - EdexLive

Black holes, those gravitational monsters so named because no light can escape their clutches, are by far the most mysterious objects in the universe.

But a new theory proposes that black holes may not be black at all. According to a new study, these black holes may instead be dark stars home to exotic physics at their core. This mysterious new physics may cause these dark stars to emit a strange type of radiation; that radiation could in turn explain all the mysterious dark matter in the universe, which tugs on everything but emits no light.

Related: The 11 biggest unanswered questions about dark matter

Thanks to Einsteins theory of general relativity, which describes how matter warps space-time, we know that some massive stars can collapse in on themselves to such a degree that they just keep collapsing, shrinking down into an infinitely tiny point a singularity.

Once the singularity forms, it surrounds itself with an event horizon. This is the ultimate one-way street in the universe. At the event horizon, the gravitational pull of the black hole is so strong that in order to leave, youd have to travel faster than light does. Since traveling faster than the speed of light is utterly forbidden, anything that crosses the threshold is doomed forever.

Hence, a black hole.

These simple yet surprising statements have held up to decades of observations. Astronomers have watched as the atmosphere of a star gets sucked into a black hole. Theyve seen stars orbit black holes. Physicists on Earth have heard the gravitational waves emitted when black holes collide. Weve even taken a picture of a black holes shadow the hole it carves out from the glow of surrounding gas.

Related: The 12 strangest objects in the universe

And yet, mysteries remain at the very heart of black hole science. The very property that defines a black hole the singularity seems to be physically impossible, because matter cant actually collapse down to an infinitely tiny point.

That means the current understanding of black holes will eventually need to be updated or replaced with something else that can explain whats at the center of a black hole.

But that doesnt stop physicists from trying.

One theory of black hole singularities replaces those infinitely tiny points of infinitely compressed matter with something much more palatable: an incredibly tiny point of incredibly compressed matter. This is called a Planck core, because the idea theorizes that the matter inside a black hole is compressed all the way down to the smallest possible scale, the Planck length, which is 1.6 * 10^ minus 35 meters.

Thats small.

With a Planck core, which wouldnt be a singularity, a black hole would no longer host an event horizon there would be no place where the gravitational pull exceeds the speed of light. But to outside observers, the gravitational pull would be so strong that it would look and act like an event horizon. Only extremely sensitive observations, which we do not yet have the technology for, would be able to tell the difference.

Radical problems require radical solutions, and so replacing singularity with Planck core isnt all that far-fetched, even though the theory is barely more than a faint sketch of an outline, one without the physics or mathematics to confidently describe that kind of environment. In other words, Planck cores are the physics equivalent of spitballing ideas.

Thats a useful thing to do, because singularities need some serious out-of-the-box thinking. And there might be some bonus side-effects. Like, for example, explaining the mystery of dark matter.

Dark matter makes up 85% of the mass of the universe, and yet it never interacts with light. We can only determine its existence through its gravitational effects on normal, luminous matter. For example, we can watch stars orbit the centers of the galaxies, and use their orbital speeds to calculate the total amount of mass in those galaxies.

In a new paper, submitted Feb. 15 to the preprint database arXiv, physicist Igor Nikitin at the Fraunhofer Institute for Scientific Algorithms and Computing in Germany takes the radical singularity idea and kicks it up a notch. According to the paper, Planck cores may emit particles (because theres no event horizon, these black holes arent completely black). Those particles could be familiar or something new.

Perhaps, they would be some form of particle that could explain dark matter. If black holes are really Planck stars, Nikitin wrote, and they are constantly emitting a stream of dark matter, they could explain the motions of stars within galaxies.

his idea probably wont hold up to further scrutiny (theres much more evidence for the existence of dark matter than just its effect on the motion of stars). But its a great example of how we need to come up with as many ideas as possible to explain black holes, because we never know what links there may be to other unsolved mysteries in the universe.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Black holes might be darkish stars with 'Planck hearts' - The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette

Black holes are the most enigmatic objects in the universe. They form when massive stars collapse in on themselves, under their own gravity when they run out of nuclear fuel. Inside black holes, matter is compressed to a single point, the infamous singularity where time ends.

The existence of black holes poses is a paradox. It is as if physics destroys itself. As such, black holes play a role in science similar to that of atoms a century ago. According to the laws of physics at the time, atoms could not exist. But experiments taught us that nature had found a solution. This eventually led to the discovery of quantum theory which changed the way we conceive the world and opened up a technological revolution that continues today.

Black holes are the atoms of the 21st century. Their existence reminds us of the biggest open question in physics: how to reconcile the macroscopic world of gravity and cosmology with the quantum world of nuclear and particle physics. We have every reason to expect that the unification of these two perspectives will be as revolutionary as the discovery of quantum theory a century ago. But how can we experiment with black holes? This is where gravitational waves come in.

When black holes in the distant universe collide and merge, they shake the very fabric of space, creating wavelike disturbances of space-time, known as gravitational waves. These gravitational waves travel outward at the speed of light, rippling undisturbed through the universe and carrying a truly immense amount of energy. In its final instant, a single merger of a black hole pair can emit more energy into gravitational waves than the combined power of all light radiated by all the stars in the observable universe.

Yet, the amplitude of gravitational waves is extremely small because space-time is extraordinarily stiff. Nevertheless, on 14th September 2015, by ingeniously employing laser interferometers to monitor the length of several miles long vacuum tubes to a precision of a thousandth of the width of a single proton, the LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations (LVC) succeeded for the first time to detect a burst of gravitational waves passing through our planet. Analysis based on Einsteins relativity theory revealed that this resulted from the inward spiral and merger, more than a billion years ago, of a pair of black holes of around 30 solar masses each. Subsequent observation runs harvested several tens of such gravitational wave bursts, originating from a wide variety of coalescing black holes and neutron stars.

These groundbreaking detections unlock the dark side of the universe. Gravitational waves provide a new sense for scientists to explore the universe. Their observation yields access to hitherto unexplored regions of the universe that are dark, including the environment near black holes, or where light cant penetrate, such as the earliest stages after the big bang. Their rich discovery potential spans fields ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to nuclear physics and high-energy physics.

However, to exploit the scientific potential of gravitational waves, a new observatory is needed. This is Einstein Telescope, a stunning marvel of engineering envisaged as a triangular configuration of six nested laser interferometers with 10km arms constructed deep underground, operated at cryogenic temperatures and employing innovative technologies in optics, metrology, seismic isolation plus sensor and control systems.

Einstein Telescope is the European entry ticket to take the lead worldwide in gravitational wave science. Funded through Interreg V-A Belgium The Netherlands and Euregio Meuse-Rhine programmes, a Consortium of nearly 20 research institutions and universities from The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France are collaborating on a prototype, Einstein Telescope Pathfinder, conceived to develop and de-risk some of the key novel technologies on which Einstein Telescope relies.

With the political support of five European countries, Belgium, Poland, Spain and The Netherlands, led by Italy, the Einstein Telescope Consortium comprising about 40 research institutions and universities, located also in France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, has submitted a proposal to the 2021 update of the ESFRI roadmap of the European Strategic Forum for Research Infrastructure to realise Einstein Telescope.

When Einstein Telescope will be operational in the early 2030s, it will annually detect up to a million gravitational wave bursts from sources distributed throughout the entire universe. Employing new computing methods based on artificial intelligence, its data will enable scientists to probe the nature of gravity under the most extreme conditions and to read the universes history with unprecedented precision all the way back to the dark ages, the era before the formation of the first stars.

Einstein Telescope is what one terms a cathedral project, the modern equivalent of the grand church buildings, that has the potential to inspire grand new ideas that fundamentally change the way we look at the world.

Of course, some feel that limited resources for science should be deployed in areas such as those addressing climate change, rather than blue-sky research. These views can be persuasive, but are misleading. Fundamental research is every bit as important as directed research, and through the virtuous circle of science and innovation, they are mutually dependent. Facilities of the calibre of Einstein Telescope act as magnets that bring together bright minds from a wide range of backgrounds and countries in a stimulating eco-system in which creative and innovative research, ground-breaking entrepreneurship and unique educational opportunities reinforce each other and thrive.

Colliding black holes matter because the mind-bending concepts and the sheer depth of the questions they encourage us to explore, provide a uniquely powerful trigger to reimagine our world. And it is the power to reimagine that will ultimately be humanitys biggest asset in the coming decades when we carve out our long-term future on this planet of ours and beyond.

*Please note: This is a commercial profile

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Gravitational wave science in Europe: Einstein Telescope and beyond - Open Access Government

Guardians of the Galaxy #11 just dealt the team a massive blow thanks to a brutal attack by Marvel's most ruthless cosmic gods.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy #11 by Al Ewing, Juann Cabal, Federico Blee & VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.

In the current Guardians of the Galaxy run, Peter Quill's gone from a Star-Lord to the far more powerful Master of the Sun. While he and his teammates try to process his return to the cosmos and their role in saving it, those questions will have to wait for bigger problems that are even more pressing than Knull's King in Black invasion. Those problems are the Dark Olympians, the Greek Gods who Quill blew up earlier on in the series using a singularity bomb. Since returning, they've broken bad and have started feeding off of planets.

As Quill tries to get all hands on deck for the battle against the gods in Guardians of the Galaxy #11, Zeus' crew operates in a proactive manner and deals them a massive blow by incinerating the Bowie spaceship, seemingly killing several key Guardians.

RELATED:Guardians of the Galaxy: Why the MCU's Next Cosmic Hero MUST Be Cammi

Guardians #11 opens with Quill worried about what's to come as the Olympians are more focused and fierce than ever before. He and the reticent Nova/Rich Rider are basing the fight on Daedalus-5, a planet they left to rot after Annihilus used Galactus to raze the place in Annihilation, but they know they're not ready. It's a dead, emotional space and the perfect barren battleground, but the team isn't where they need to be mentally for such an overwhelming fight.

It doesn't helpthat an incensedGamora returns with Drax and their team to smack Quillacross the face for abandoning her and living a whole life without her. Meanwhile, there's also turmoil betweenthe likes of Moondragon and Phyla-Vell. As Rich notes, it's the worst possible time to be imploding.

Before everyone can patch things up, sadly, time runs out and the Olympians arrive. However, as Groot tries to pilot the Bowie, he, Rocket Raccoon, Marvel Boy and the heroic Hercules, go up in flames when an energy bolt strikes it. Their alliance is already low on numbers, and Hercules would have been invaluable in the fight against the other gods, so Quill is especially taken aback by the carnage.

RELATED:Doctor Doom Is Joining Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Considering their family ties, Hercules mighthave even held the key to their redemption, but now that's seemingly off the board. Taken with Groot's powers, Rocket's weapons and aerial expertise and Noh-Varr's prowess as a Kree soldier, the loss of these heroes is huge for the team. While all these members will likely return in the next issue for the team's new Avengers-like roster, it remains to be seen how they survived or otherwise returned to active duty.

Luckily, Quill has the powers of the sun in him, as well as new abilities, and Nova isn't exactly a pushover, either. But given the might of Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Hermes, Athena and the other gods, they really could have done with help. Still, Rocket's sneaky enough to fake the heroes' deaths, so this quartet could be playing possum, ready to make a grand entrance and ambush the evil Greek pantheon.

KEEP READING:The Guardians of the Galaxy Taught Marvel's Newest Masters of the Mystic Arts a Lesson

King in Black: Thunderbolts Gives Even More Marvel Villains a Second Chance

I'm a former Chemical Engineer. It was boring so I decided to write about things I love. On the geek side of things, I write about comics, cartoons, video games, television, movies and basically, all things nerdy. I also write about music in terms of punk, indie, hardcore and emo because well, they rock! If you're bored by now, then you also don't want to hear that I write for ESPN on the PR side of things. And yes, I've written sports for them too! Not bad for someone from the Caribbean, eh? To top all this off, I've scribed short films and documentaries, conceptualizing stories and scripts from a human interest and social justice perspective. Business-wise, I make big cheddar (not really) as a copywriter and digital strategist working with some of the top brands in the Latin America region. In closing, let me remind you that the geek shall inherit the Earth. Oh, FYI, I'd love to write the Gargoyles movie for Disney. YOLO.

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Guardians of the Galaxy WANNIHILATED by the Dark Olympians Marvel's Deadliest Cosmic Gods - CBR - Comic Book Resources

An astonishing discovery.Ancient Planet

According to a new analysis, ScienceAlert reports, a meteorite found last year in Algeria is actually older than the Earth itself.

Instead, an international team of scientists behind the research say, it appears to be a remnant of an ancient protoplanet making the space rock an extraordinary curiosity that could offer unprecedented insights into the early years of our solar system.

ScienceAlert reports that the rock asteroid was quickly identified as unusual after its discovery in the Erg Check sand sea last May, since unlike most meteorites, it had clearly been formed by a volcano a suggestion that it had originated as part of a planets crust.

But as described in a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an analysis of radioactive decay of the samples isotopes now shows that it formed around 4.566 billion years ago. Thats a bit longer than the Early has been around, meaning that its likely part of a different and probably now long-gone world.

Its not immediately clear what protoplanet the asteroid might have originated from.

But since its now the oldest magmatic rock ever identified, the researchers wrote in their paper, its almost certain to be an object of intense further analysis. And what scientists find by studying the ancient shard could shed new light on the history of our star system.

READ MORE: This Is a Piece of a Lost Protoplanet, And Its Officially Older Than Earth [ScienceAlert]

More on ancient planets: Jupiter May Have Absorbed a Smaller Planet

As a Futurism reader, we invite you join the Singularity Global Community, our parent companys forum to discuss futuristic science & technology with like-minded people from all over the world. Its free to join, sign up now!

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Scientists Believe They Found a Chunk of an Ancient Planet in Africa - Futurism

Researchers have discovered the remains of what may be the worlds earliest domesticated wolves in a cave in southwest Germany. Describing the fossils in the journal Scientific Reports, they explain that the specimens could not be classified as either ancient wolves or modern dogs, but encapsulated almost the entire breadth of genetic diversity of all contemporary and ancient dogs and most wolves.

It is generally accepted that the domestication of wolves first occurred around 16,000 years ago in Eurasia, although whether this process began in a single location or took place at several sites simultaneously is not known. Regardless of what may have been going on elsewhere, though, it seems that the residents of the Gnirshhle cave in what is now Germany had already begun to tame wolves at this time, and may therefore have been the worlds first dog breeders.

This small but hugely significant cave is located in the Hegau Jura region, which was inhabited by the Magdalenian cultures towards the end of the Pleistocene.

After analyzing the morphology, genetics, and isotopes of the Gnirshhle canid remains, the researchers noted that the specimens seem to be descended from multiple ancient wolf lineages, including one that doesnt match any other canid lineage from the region. This implies that the caves residents may have tamed and reared wolves from numerous subpopulations, some of which originated outside of Europe.

Results of the isotope analysis indicated that the canids consumed a low-protein diet that differed greatly from that of wild wolves, thereby suggesting that they had been fed by humans. "Thus, we consider the Gnirshhle canids to likely represent an early phase in wolf domestication facilitated by humans actively providing a food resource for those early domesticates," explain the researchers.

Commenting on these findings, study author Chris Baumann explained that the closeness of these animals to humans and the indications of a rather restricted diet suggest that between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago, wolves had already been domesticated and were kept as dogs. Its worth noting, however, that Gnirshhle may not have been the only site of wolf-domestication at this time, and the researchers are keen to point out that similar processes may have been occurring elsewhere.

A closer examination of the specimens mitochondrial genomes allowed the team to identify specific wolf and dog genes, which they were then able to trace back to a common ancestor that lived roughly 135,000 years ago. While this doesnt necessarily mark the point at which domestication began, the researchers say it provides an upper time limit of such events.

Summing up their findings, the study authors explain that while we cannot address the question of the domestication event's singularity, our results support the hypothesis that the Hegau Jura was a potential center of early European wolf domestication.

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Earliest Domestication Of Wolves May Have Occurred In A Single Cave In Germany - IFLScience

Belfast The public is invited to a virtual conversation on Tuesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. when Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo and debut author Gregory Brown discuss Browns just-released novel, "The Lowering Days." The free event is co-hosted by Left Bank Books in Belfast and the Bangor Daily News.

"The Lowering Days" is set in a fictional town on the Penobscot River in Midcoast Maine. The towns paper mill, which provided paychecks while it polluted the water, is shuttered. Just as Japanese investors show interest in reopening the mill, a teenage girl from the Penobscot National Tribe sets fire to the plant. Some townspeople see her defiant action as an act of environmental justice; many others call it criminal mischief. Her act sets loose a series of long simmering grievances, ending in a cycle of violence that tears the communityand two familiesapart.

The narrator of Browns novel is a doctor who, in looking back at his teens in the 1990s, sees the fire as the catalyst that brought social and environmental change to his community, while at the same time changed the trajectory of his life. In his telling of the story, he conjures a rich understory of water, air and forestsreflecting on how they are seen and used, and what they mean in the deepest reaches of a cultures memory.

In a recent interview with the Bangor Daily News, Brown, who grew up in Belfast in the 1980s and 1990s, said his story is a mixture of all the various pockets of the Midcoast and along the Penobscot River that I absorbed. The fiction that often interests me the most is that kind that lets the mythology and folklore of a place shine out from behind the recognizable, real-life details.

Kerri Arsenault, author of "Mill Town" and a correspondent for The Boston Globe, writes that Browns most urgent story. . . is one that has largely been untolda modern day Penobscot National reckoning with the manacles of the past.

Richard Russo ("Chances Are," "Empire Falls," "Everybodys Fool"), Browns conversational partner on March 23, calls the novel a lush, almost mythic portrait of a very specific place and time that feels all the more universal for its singularity. Theres magic here.

Brown holds a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University and a masters in fine arts from the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop. His work has appeared in Tin House, The Alaska Quarterly Review, Epoch, and Narrative Magazine. He has received scholarships and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. He lives in Cumberland County, Maine with his family.

To order copies of "The Lowering Days," call Left Bank Books at 207-338-9009 or email info@leftbankbookshop.com.

To register for the free event, visit leftbankbookshop.com and click on the events tab or click here.

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Author conversation features Brown, Russo - Belfast - Waldo - Republican Journal - Republican Journal

Elon Musk wants to send people to spacelots of them. Besides the 100,000 he envisions sending to Mars each time its closely aligned with Earth, hes determined to make commercial space flight a thing sooner rather than later. Taking a ride into space obviously wont be cheap, so the prevailing assumption is that the passengers on these flights will be uber-rich. But on at least one early mission, this wont be the case, because a Japanese billionaire is giving away eight spots.

Yusaku Maezawa announced in a tweet on Tuesday that hell be selecting his spaceflight companions from all over the world, emphasizing that he wants people from all kinds of backgrounds to apply.

Yesterday morning Maezawa tweeted that hed already received over 100,000 applications from 216 different countries, with India, Japan, the US, UK, and France topping the list.

Maezawa made much of his fortune from a fashion retail website called Zozotown, which he launched in 2004 and has since grown to be Japans largest such retailer. Forbes lists his net worth as $2 billion.

He signed on with SpaceX as its first commercial passenger in 2018, saying he planned to invite several artists to join him on the mission. In this latest announcement, he seems to have expanded his definition of artist to include anyone who sees themselves as an artist or is working on some kind of creative project.

Slightly more specifically, Maezawa said, hes looking for people who can push the envelope to help other people and greater society in some way and are willing to support other crew members who share similar aspirations. Given that he already has a huge pool of applicants, hell undoubtedly find many people who meet these requirements.

There are no details yet about what kind of preparation or training the crew members will need to undergo before the mission, but it will likely be similar to that planned for the Inspiration4 crew (a month ago SpaceX announced its targeting no earlier than the fourth quarter of this year to launch its first all-commercial astronaut mission, which will include three donated seats of its own, going to individuals not yet named).

SpaceX plans to train that crew in orbital mechanics, microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing, as well as making sure they know their way around the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft. Theyll also need to complete emergency preparedness training, exercises for properly putting on and taking off their spacesuits, and mission simulations. Its a lot, but probably not more than youd expect for someone whos not an astronaut to be able to go to space.

Theres no mention of psychological testing or training, but it wouldnt be surprising if that was a component as well; whos to say that even the most brave and calm among us wont have some sort of meltdown once trapped in a metal cylinder thousands of miles from home? The trip will last at least six days, as it takes three to get to the moon and three to get back.

The spacecraft planned for the mission is SpaceXs Starship. 160 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter, Starship hasnt had great luck with its recent test flights; the most recent one just took place yesterday, and though it landed successfully, it exploded on the landing pad shortly after. The two preceding rockets exploded on contact, so it does seem theres been some improvement.

Maezawas flight is slated to take place sometime in 2023. Whether this timeline ends up panning out will likely depend largely on safety, and as it stands right now, SpaceX has some substantial ground to cover.

But heyin a time when many people wont even fly to a neighboring state, we may as well fantasize about a not-too-distant future in which we can not only fly to other countries again, but fly off the planet entirely. You can put in your own application to be part of Maezawas creative space crew here.

Image Credit: SpaceX

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Applications Are Open For a Free Trip Around the Moon on a SpaceX Rocket - Singularity Hub

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Imagine a dystopian world where the government has become increasingly immoral and art is the only form of escape. Seven brave individuals come together to form a band and rise up as vigilantes, making music that moves people and preserves the craft.At least, thats how one ofGreyspot Syndicate'smembers, Udon, imagines it.

Were all different the guys from the Cliff, he says.

The band members have known each other since they were kids. All Oak Cliff natives, Greyspot Syndicate consists of seven wildly entertaining characters who have one thing in common: no filter.

Were different, but were similar, too," Udon says. "All Dallas enough to hang with each other. But theres one thing that keeps us together and its that each one of us stands out in our own way. Shamelessly. Thats what we have in common.

And stand out they do. One of the most entertaining squads around, each member of Greyspot Syndicate is outrageously unique. (Extraordinarily, Udon says.)

Every member brings something strange and novel to performances, which sets them aside individually. This is where Udon got the idea for his story, a narrative hes converting into a manga or anime-style graphic novel.

Its been in my head for years no, centuries, he says.

The artist never considered himself a writer until he began making music.

Oddly enough, I write like a doctor," he says, "but its like all my creative strengths came from a sense of curiosity, like, I dont know how this is going to turn out. Almost like a mental freedom. A brief reprieve from it all.

The saga goes that seven rebels fall in each others paths and become intertwined through a common sense of wonder and expression. Most certainly, through a common sense of humor. Some of the funniest, weirdest guys in the game, theyll be sure to have you laughing while you sing along. At times they all wear suits for a performance, while in a series of music videos they take turns wrestling with someone in a panda suit. Greyspot Syndicate is full of surprises.

First is Udon, who sports a curled, handlebar mustache and speaks with an eerie, eloquent tone. Then theres Steez Ronin, the leader in the room, wild and outgoing onstage and off. Tyler, Blockparty, is the most silent character, serious and hardcore the last one to call himself an artist. Next is Durty Redd, the realist in the group and a smooth-talking baritone. Prince Ace is the lone wolf and poet. Hood Spaghetti is the natural trendsetter with an avant-garde style and sense of humor thats uncomfortable but somehow fitting. Last is J4 Mane, known for his antics. Each show, you can find J4 in some sort of strange getup.

I guess that kind of led into my idea of doing something different each show. ... Its more about standing out, as if our shows dont do that enough. J4 Mane

I had an idea to do some dumb shit, J4 Mane says. The suits kind of coincided with a fashion project we were working on, Designer Artillery, which was weapons made by clothing designers. Like, Balenciaga brass knuckles, a Burberry b staff, Ferragamo flame thrower.

Picturing the gang in designer artillery draws an image that could be straight from an anime manga. Perhaps Udons story is more relative than he thought.

I guess that kind of led into my idea of doing something different each show,"J4 continues. "Its more about standing out, as if our shows dont do that enough.

While each member of the Syndicate sticks out, J4s antics give him a kooky singularity. Hes shown up on stage in a motorcycle helmet, a top hat, a birthday hat and even performed an entire set blindfolded. And while the group has been making music for some time now, what inspired all the foolery is simple: boredom.

I mean, weve made music since we were young, J4 says. But we got bored and shit sounded good. So we started doing more performances and having fun with it.

Greyspot Syndicate has become more than a group of musical performers, but one of all-around artists. Like in Udons tale, this gang of misfits shares a passion for creating. In the world he illustrated in his story, where art has seemingly reached its pinnacle, the Syndicate continues to find new strengths in themselves both as a group and as individuals through music.

Were all head ass in our own ways, and seeing how the world responded to us as a unit as an entity was pretty fuckin nice, Udon says. Its strange how so much talent can arise in one syndicate. Iron sharpens iron.

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Greyspot Syndicate Is a Music Group With a Cast of Shameless Characters - Dallas Observer

China's growth story, in a nutshell, is built onimitation worth billions of dollars. Chinese progress is not driven by ingenuity, for the country is sometimes called the "world's photocopier". All things available in the West have a Chinese variant, which is usually cheaper, less durable, and indistinguishable at first glance.

For a long time, patent laws in China permitted the replication of products. In the name of import substitution, Western duplicates flooded the market.

After Deng Xiaoping opened the floodgates in the late 70s, foreign producers were able to access the untapped Chinese market. With the investment, China went from being a photocopier to a factory, but there was still no ingenuity. Under Xi Jinping, China wants to shed this tag and emerge as original and inventive - qualities that are not easily enforceable.

What is China's solution?China is scooping up many patents and trademarks through forced technology transfers - a simple, shrewd, and extremely unfair practice whereby the government offers a condition to a foreign firm attempting to enter the Chinese market. Essentially, China asks companies to share technology in exchange for access, which was also one of the reasons for the trade war with the US.

Since the mid-1980s, China has a patent system that is not largely enforced. In most democracies, enforcing a law like this isn't an issue. But behind China's great wall of secrecy, laws are more political than judicial. China's makeover plan to go from a copier to a creator fits in perfectly with Xi Jinping's larger global ambitions - to go from an ally to an alliance leader; from an aspiring power to a world-beating hegemon.

Also read:Is China really leading in the global war for patents?

But there's a catch. China's makeover as a creator is largely cosmetic 20 per cent of products in China are counterfeit. It's so popular that they even have a word for it called "Shanzhai". China will have to start from the bottom to reinvent itself as a creator. China loves singularity - one leader, one party, and one culture and China does not have an entrepreneurial culture.

The country doesn't have room for diversity of thought but exceptions remain, like Alibaba's Jack Ma and Tencent's Pony Ma. But instead of celebrating them, Beijing wants to make an example out of them. After Jack Ma criticised Chinese regulators, Jack is now out of China's top three richest men.

Also read:UN says China still remains biggest source of applications for international patents

Instead of creating world-beating ideas, China has been content with copying them. Some companies like Huawei have had limited success. But since Chinese companies come with the baggage of Chinese politics, they are never welcomed with open arms. Xi Jinping is on a mission to change this, but what if he is the problem?

The Chinese have invented an array of things from gunpowder, the compass, paper currency, and long-distance banking. They never had a problem with innovation until the Communist regime came to power.

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Why China`s makeover plans to go from `photocopier` to `creator` have gone astray - WION