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Northern California’s Historic Railroad Track May Transform into 300-Mile Hiking Trail
More than a century ago, a railroad was constructed to shuttle passengers and redwood logs between San Francisco and Humboldt Bay.
Now the since-abandoned train track could be transformed into a 307-mile pathway through remote, wild country along California’s North Coast, a move advocates hope will create a world-class outdoors destination and jump-start the economy.
The Great Redwood Trail moved closer to realization this week with the release of a document mapping out the planning, construction, and management of the trail in Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties, or the northern portion of the envisioned path. Segments in Sonoma and Marin counties will be planned separately.
“I would put it in the category of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail — these large, landscape-scale trails that provide an experience for people to see areas that they just would never have access to otherwise,” said Caryl Hart, chair of the California Coastal Commission and board member of the Great Redwood Trail Agency, which is tasked with developing the path.
If realized, the project would be the longest so-called rail trail in the country, generally following the defunct track through towering redwoods and along rushing rivers teeming with salmon. The relatively flat trail would accommodate hikers, bikers, and horseback riders while potentially providing an economic infusion to small towns struggling amid the decline of logging and rise of legal cannabis.
Officials say it’s probably 20 years away from completion but will move forward section by section. Tribes are being consulted to guide the project, officials said, but some have claimed they’re being sidelined.
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Further Support for Gravitational Wave Background in the Universe
The discovery of the gravitational wave background in 2016 marked a significant milestone in our understanding of the Universe. This groundbreaking discovery was further validated by the release of a second data set from the European Pulsar Timing Array, along with the addition of data from the Indian Pulsar Timing Array. These complementary studies have provided more evidence for the existence of the gravitational wave background, shedding light on the cosmic phenomena that shape our universe.
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime that are generated by violent processes such as merging black holes and colliding neutron stars. Predicted by Einstein in 1916 as part of his General Theory of Relativity, these waves have the ability to travel through space, largely unimpeded by any obstacles in their path. The first detection of gravitational waves in 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed their existence, originating from a gravitational merger between two black holes located 1.3 billion light years away.
The recent confirmation of the gravitational wave background by the European and Indian Pulsar Timing Arrays indicates that we are detecting a combined signal from the mergers of supermassive black holes. This random distribution of gravity waves that permeates the Universe offers a new avenue for studying the cosmos, akin to the Cosmic Background Radiation. The collaborative efforts of various observatories and research institutions have enabled us to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Universe.
Utilizing pulsar timing arrays as galaxy-sized detectors, researchers have been able to monitor and analyze the pulse arrival times of galactic pulsars on Earth. By detecting subtle patterns in these signals, they can uncover the presence of the gravitational wave background. The latest study led by J. Antoniadis from the Institute of Astrophysics in Greece delves into the implications of the low-frequency signals observed in the recent data releases from various pulsar timing array systems.
The accumulation of data from multiple sources has provided undeniable evidence for the existence of the gravitational wave background. With ongoing Pulsar Timing Array projects, the signals of the low-frequency gravity waves will become more distinct, offering a wealth of opportunities to explore the Universe in this novel way. The focus now shifts towards interpreting these signals to unlock the secrets of the cosmos.
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