Astronomers found a high energy neutrino – a cosmic ray – that apparently originated during a “tidal disruption event,” that is, when a supermassive black hole shredded a distant star. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/origin-cosmic-ray-when-black-hole-shreds-star…
Tag: messenger
Ghost particle from shredded star reveals cosmic particle accelerator
Tracing back a ghostly particle to a shredded star, scientists have uncovered a gigantic cosmic particle accelerator. The subatomic particle, called a neutrino, was hurled towards Earth after the doomed star came too close to the supermassive black hole at the center of its home galaxy and was ripped apart by the black hole’s colossal gravity. It is the first particle…
Happy birthday to Galileo, born February 15
One of our greatest astronomers, Galileo Galilei, was born February 15, 1564. His discoveries with the improved telescopes he made changed the way we view the universe – and got him in trouble with the church. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/galileos-birthday-feb-15-1564…
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster review: Bill Gates’s call to arms
Bill Gates admits he isn’t the perfect messenger on climate change. But his latest book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, is a fine primer on how to get ourselves out of this mess Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266498-how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-review-bill-gatess-call-to-arms/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
The 1st sign of intelligent life beyond Earth?
Physicist Avi Loeb of Harvard believes we should take seriously the idea that ‘Oumuamua – the 1st known object to pass through our solar system from interstellar space – might have been created by an alien civilization. His new book is called “Extraterrestrial.” Source: https://earthsky.org/space/book-avi-loeb-extraterrestrial-1st-sign-of-intelligent-life…
MESSENGER saw a meteoroid strike Mercury
Telescopes have captured meteoroids hitting the Moon and several spacecraft imaged Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 smacking into Jupiter in 1994. But impacts as they happen on another rocky world have never been observed. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-messenger-meteoroid-mercury.html…
Dropping WhatsApp? Despite Privacy Concerns, Nostalgia Drives Users to ICQ
Here’s an interesting tidbit from The Wall Street Journal:
ICQ was a pioneering, mid-1990s internet messaging service then used on bulky PCs on dial-up. It was a precursor to AOL Instant Messenger, and was last in vogue when the TV show “Friends” was in its prime and PalmPilots were cutting edge. It’s been modernized over the years, and now is an app…
Pebble Founder Says His New App Brings iMessage To Android With a Little ‘Trickery’
Beeper is a forthcoming app from the founder of Pebble that claims to be a hub for all your messaging services, including support for iMessage on Android. Gizmodo reports: Instead of managing half a dozen apps for keeping in touch with friends, family, and co-workers, Beeper allows you to funnel everything to one interface. According to its website, the app supports…
Pfizer To Supply US With 100 Million More Vaccine Doses
Pfizer and partner BioNTech agreed to supply an additional 100 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the U.S., as the country seeks to widen its immunization program and revive its economy. From a report: The agreement brings the total number of doses to be delivered to the U.S. to 200 million, the companies said Wednesday in a statement. The drugmaker…
FDA Panel Endorses Moderna’s Coronavirus Vaccine
Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted easily and quickly to recommend that the agency give emergency use authorization to Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine. CNN reports: The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 20-0 with one abstention to recommend EUA for the Moderna vaccine, which is very similar in design, composition, safety and efficacy to Pfizer/BioNTech’s…