(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Clues to a black hole’s origins can be found in the way it spins. This is especially true for binaries, in which two black holes circle close together before merging. The spin and tilt of the respective black holes just before they merge can reveal whether the invisible giants arose from a quiet galactic disk or a more dynamic cluster of stars.
Astronomers are hoping to tease out which of these...
(BBC News) The U.S. and Russia have exchanged jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in a U.S. prison for 12 years.
President Joe Biden said Griner was safe and on a plane home from the United Arab Emirates.
"I'm glad to say Brittney's in good spirits... she needs time and space to recover," he said at the White House.
Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport in February for possessing...
(University of Cambridge) Two-million-year-old DNA has been identified for the first time – opening a "game-changing" chapter in the history of evolution.
Microscopic fragments of environmental DNA were found in Ice Age sediment in northern Greenland. Using cutting-edge technology, researchers determined that the fragments are one million years older than the previous record for DNA sampled from a Siberian mammoth bone.
The ancient DNA has been used to map a two-million-year-old ecosystem that weathered extreme climate...
(BBC News) Twenty-five people have been arrested in raids across Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
The group of far-right and ex-military figures are said to have prepared for a "Day X" to storm the Reichstag parliament building and seize power.
A man named Heinrich XIII, from an old aristocratic family, is alleged to have been central to their plans.
According to federal prosecutors, he is one of two alleged ringleaders among those arrested...
(BBC News) If you want to know what the government's COVID plan is in China, look at what it does rather than what it says.
Take Beijing for example.
There has not been a significant drop in infections, yet public transport now no longer requires a PCR test result, bars and restaurants are slowly re-opening, and in some cases people are being allowed to isolate at home after catching COVID instead of going into centralised quarantine...
(BBC News) Indonesia's Mount Semeru volcano has erupted, sending ash billowing into the sky and sparking evacuations on the country's main island, Java.
Authorities raised the volcano's warning status to the highest level, meaning its activity had escalated.
No injuries have been reported, but nearly 2,000 people were evacuated from the area around the volcano.
People have been urged to keep at least 8 km away, as "hot avalanches" of lava poured from Semeru.
The increased threat level...
(The Wall Street Journal) Iran’s attorney general said the country had disbanded its so-called morality police and is considering altering the requirement that women cover their heads in public, a move that analysts said was aimed at peeling away support for anti-government protests.
Mohammad-Jafar Montazeri outlined the steps Saturday, saying the law requiring veils, known as hijabs, was under review by Iran’s Parliament and judiciary, and that the morality police had been abolished, according to government-run...
(University of California, Berkeley) During World War II, U.S. citizens came together. They ate less meat and planted victory gardens. They lowered thermostats and rationed their gasoline. Republican, Democrat – it mattered little; against a common enemy, civilians were willing to sacrifice on behalf of U.S. interests.
That was 80 years ago, when the political climate was less rife with partisan animosity. In 1960, 10% of parents said they would be uncomfortable if their child married...
(BBC News) Around 10,000 troops have surrounded the city of Soyapango in El Salvador as part of a massive crackdown on gangs, President Nayib Bukele has announced.
All roads leading to the city have been blocked, and special forces have been searching houses for gang members.
Officers have also been stopping everyone attempting to leave the city and checking identity papers.
The operation is part of a massive crackdown on gangs after a surge in violence earlier...
(BBC News) The European Union looks set to approve a cap on the price of Russian oil after Poland gave its backing.
The plan, which stops countries paying more than $60 USD a barrel, needed the agreement of all EU states.
Poland announced its support on Friday after being reassured the cap would be kept at 5% lower than the market rate.
A price cap put forward by the G7 group of nations in September aims to...
