Wednesday, May 7, 2025

BIG Wrap

Suspect arrested in string of shootings targeting homeless

A masked gunman struck five times in nine days in New York and Washington DC. Two of the men died. One's tent was set on fire, after he was stabbed and shot. On Tuesday, only two days after a multi-state manhunt was launched, DC police said a suspect had been arrested and charged with homicide. DC's Metropolitan Police Department had posted photos of the suspect, offering a reward up to $55,000 for tips that led to his...

Search for Planet 9 continues

Our solar system has eight planets. In 2006, astronomers reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, the same class that contains Eris, Sedna, Quaoar, Ceres, and perhaps many more small bodies. These are defined approximately as bodies that orbit the Sun but that are not large enough (unlike regular planets) to gravitationally dominate their environments by clearing away material. Astronomers wonder if there might be a ninth planet undiscovered but lurking in the outer reaches of...

Even moderate light exposure during sleep harms heart health – study

Close the blinds, draw the curtains, and turn off all the lights before bed. Exposure to even moderate ambient lighting during nighttime sleep, compared to sleeping in a dimly lit room, harms your cardiovascular function during sleep, and increases your insulin resistance the following morning, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. "The results from this study demonstrate that just a single night of exposure to moderate room lighting during sleep can impair glucose and cardiovascular...

Shenzhen locked down amid coronavirus outbreak

China's government responded Sunday to a spike in coronavirus infections by shutting down its southern business centre of Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million people, and restricted access to Shanghai by suspending bus service. Everyone in Shenzhen, a finance and technology center that abuts Hong Kong, will undergo three rounds of testing after 60 cases were reported Sunday, reports Medical Xpress. All businesses except those that supply food, fuel, and other necessities were ordered to close or...

Iran fires missiles at northern Iraqi city

Iran's Revolutionary Guards force says it targeted an Israeli "strategic centre" with missiles that struck the Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil overnight. Twelve missiles hit areas around the U.S. consulate overnight, causing material damage and wounding one civilian, the Kurdistan Regional Government said. The U.S. said no Americans were hurt, and that its facilities were not damaged in what it called an "outrageous attack." Israel's military and government declined to comment on Iran's claim. But Kurdish officials accused...

Crypto-currency cash machines ordered closed

All U.K. crypto-currency cash machines (ATMs) are operating illegally and must be shut down, the Financial Conduct Authority has announced. Crypto-ATMs look like regular cash machines and let people buy crypto-currency, such as Bitcoin, using their bank cards. But no company offering crypto-currency services in the U.K. has a licence to operate a crypto-ATM. The FCA said all such machines must be shut down or it will take action. According to crypto-ATM directory Coin ATM Radar, there are...

The dark side of the universe – how black holes became supermassive

Black holes are among the most compelling mysteries of the universe. Nothing, not even light, can escape a black hole. And at the centre of nearly every galaxy there is a supermassive black hole that is millions to billions of times more massive than the Sun. Understanding black holes, and how they become supermassive, could shed light on the evolution of the universe. Three physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have recently...

Online survey cheats cast doubt on compensated internet research

A warning from researchers at the University of South Florida: scam artists are taking advantage of online surveys that pay for participation – a method of market research that has become more common since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This conclusion stems from a study that began just before the start of the pandemic in 2020. The Florida Department of Health Bureau of Tobacco Free Florida funded the USF College of Public Health and...

Hawaiian corals show resilience to warming oceans

A long-term study of Hawaiian coral species provides a surprisingly optimistic view of how they might survive warmer and more acidic oceans resulting from climate change. Researchers found that the three coral species studied did experience significant mortality under conditions simulated to approximate ocean temperatures and acidity expected in the future – up to about half of some of the species died. But the fact that none of them completely died off – and some actually were thriving by the end...

The Internet is under threat

The world, both physical and digital, finds itself in unprecedented times as the conflict in Ukraine rages. Corporate giants such as Meta, Google, and Apple, who have always framed themselves as neutral tech firms, are now pinning their political colours to the mast – banning products in Russia in response to its invasion. Meanwhile, the Internet itself is changing for Russian users – with Twitter and Facebook blocked, TikTok not allowing Russian users to post, and...