A coalition of 15 states, members of European Union, has announced plans to build the biggest telescope in the world. The mirror inside the telescope will measure 39 metres across – four times wider than today’s biggest telescope – and it will be so powerful that astronomers will even be able to observe dark, rocky planets far beyond our solar system. The European Southern Obser…
status. There will be major industrial return for all members. The next project engineering phase is worth about 90 million Euros. Phase 1 of the project, due to start in 2015/16, was valued at around 360 million Euros. The cost of the last phase was always uncertain and depended on knowing exactly where the SKA would be built and the final design it would take; but a sum of 1.2 billion Euros was…
mers and engineers used an instrument called Pionier, which replaces a multitude of mirrors with a single optical microchip. Although the first attempt to combine the four telescopes happened in March 2011, it did not really work, said Jean-Philippe Berger, a French astronomer involved in the project. But this time, it was already pretty clear that all the instruments were working correctly, Jean-…
…confirmation,” she said. • James Webb’s main mirror has around seven times more collecting area than Hubble’s 2.4m primary mirror • The sunshield is about 22m by 12m. There will be a 300-degree difference in temperature between the two sides • James Webb’s instruments must be very cold to ensure their own infrared glow does not swamp the observations • The mission will laun…
…the precise positions of some two billion galaxies out to about 10 billion light-years from Earth. Euclid was selected as a “medium class” mission, meaning its cost to ESA should be close 475 million Euros. The fact that member states are going 125 million Euros beyond this “guide price” gives an indication of just how highly this mission is regarded. “ESA have reali…
Australia has launched one of the world’s fastest telescopes tasked with surveying outer space and probing the origins of stars and galaxies. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) in Western Australia’s outback has 36 antennas with a diametre of 12 m (40 ft) each. The A$152 million ($155 million) telescope is expected to capture radio images, starting from Friday. A…
“Bicholim Conflict” was voted a “good article” – a Wikipedia badge of honor – and sat happily on the online encyclopedia for more than half a decade. But editors have lately discovered a small issue with the site’s meticulously written 4,500 word article detailing the 17th century Bicholim Conflict. It was entirely made up. After five years of featuring the piece, which tells th…
ything could happen. I feel the mayor should do something about that. The children should be our first priority, no matter what else is going on in the city.” Zak, a former Cleveland police officer of 30 years, believes the community is feeling the effects of the city’s cuts in the police force. “The first thing a city should do is protect its citizens,” he said. Although police cannot be on the s…
Solar Impulse, a solar-powered plane, has landed in Rabat, Morocco, after flying from Spain, completing the second leg of its pioneering journey. Pilot Bertrand Piccard landed the Solar Impulse in Rabat, 19 hours after taking off from Madrid. The plane – the size of a jumbo jet – was powered by 12,000 solar cells turning four electrical motors. The 2,500 km-trip (1,550 miles), begun i…
mount of material and a great range of conditions,” the Cardiff University, UK, researcher said. To provide a sense of scale, the Horsehead Nebula, also known in the catalogues as “Barnard 33″, is about five light-years “tall”. Hubble telescope sees the Horsehead in near-infrared light. Herschel, on the other hand, goes to much longer wavelengths. This allows it to se…
…9; time It has long been known that the two galaxies have been heading in the general direction of each other. They are separated by about 2.5 million light-years, but are converging at something like 400,000 km/h (250,000 mph). The new Hubble data provides fresh insight on when and how a union is likely to unfold. This is possible because the orbiting observatory has measured in finer detail than…
…The study also updates a distance estimate for a seventh galaxy, placing it further back in time than any object previously identified. Called UDFj-39546284, this is seen when the cosmos was less than 3% of its current age. The new Hubble telescope investigation was led by Richard Ellis from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and colleagues at Edinburgh University, Jim Dunlop and Ros…
…is currently a unique view on the cosmos, looking at wavelengths of light far beyond those we can see but giving information that we cannot get from wavelengths we can. Among its other discoveries, in 2011 WISE spotted in a “Trojan” asteroid ahead of the Earth in its orbit. But with the latest results, WISE has come into its own as an unparalleled black hole hunter. “We’ve…
…atory’s systems to start to warm from their ultra-frigid state in the coming days, blinding one of its two instruments. Nonetheless, Planck has gathered more than enough data since its launch in 2009 to complete its mission goals. “We have had a flood of data – much more data than originally anticipated, and now we are in the frantic phase,” revealed Jan Tauber, the Europea…
An image of a “barred spiral” galaxy that could help us better understand our own Milky Way has been captured by Hubble space telescope. Most of the known spiral galaxies fall into this “barred” category – which are defined by the pronounced bar structure across their centres. The presence of this structure may be an indication of a galaxy’s age. Two-thirds of…
…were coming from an Earth-size planet. It couldn’t be due to anything else.” Both planets are believed to be rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate, and very hot. Kepler-20f is a baking 426 C and Kepler-20e a scorching 726 C. The solar system is not hugely like our own, though. In our solar system small, rocky worlds orbit close to the Sun and large, gas giant worlds orbit farther o…
Whitney Houston’s premature death at 48 in Beverly Hilton Hotel triggered a slew of media speculation and rumors about her alleged drug use and troubled personal relationships. Now, a Vanity Fair article has shed new light on Whitney Houston’s personal life and last days in Los Angeles, three months after she was found drowned in a hotel bathtub. One of the more bizarre anecdotes is recount…
…me photos, he is reading Friday’s copy of the Communist Party newspaper Granma. Fidel Castro led Cuba after the revolution in 1959, first as prime minister (1959-1976) and later as president. In 2006, surgery took Fidel Castro out of public view. His brother Raul became acting president. In February 2008, Fidel Castro officially handed over power to Raul who has been leading the country sinc…
NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a dark, planet-sized Death Star-like object flying close to the sun on Monday. The black Jupiter-sized orb is briefly engulfed in light from the sun, then flies off into space. A video edited from the Solar Dynamics Observatory’s photos inspired a wave of speculation on YouTube. The imagery was captured by NASA’s space telescope and edited toge…
…round-based telescope which produces images ten times sharper than Hubble. It was built to study molecular clouds like the one around the red giant R Sculptoris which is 780 light years from Earth. At 16,000ft up in the Chilean Andes the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is also the highest such machine on Earth. The Atacama desert was chosen for its dryness and clarity. A uniqu…
…a records what is happening before a patient’s eyes and fires beams of near infrared light on to the retinal chip. The creates an electrical signal which is passed on to nerves. Natural light is 1,000 times too weak to power the implant. The researchers said: “Because the photovoltaic implant is thin and wireless, the surgical procedure is much simpler than in other retinal prosthetic…
Intel confirms details of the first smartphone to be powered by one of its processors. The XOLO X900, made by the Indian manufacturer Lava, will go on sale on 23 April priced at about 22,000 rupees ($420). Lava has teamed up with Indian retail chain Croma to distribute the device across the country. The move follows Intel’s previous failed attempt to break into the smartphone market. A tie-…
Anthony Castro – son of Ariel Castro, the prime suspect in the abduction of three Cleveland girls – interviewed missing Gina DeJesus’ mother for a local newspaper, with no idea she was being held captive at his father’s house. Anthony Castro, 31, said he was absolutely stunned when he heard about what his father has been accused of, after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michele Knig…
r will be attached to a 1,900 square mile array of telescope antenna, and will be built to “suck in” in radio telescope data which will “see” 13 billion years into the past IBM is to investigate using 3D “stacks” of computer chips to achieve the enormous computing power required by the Square Kilometre Array. This extremely powerful survey telescope will have millions of antennas to collect radio…
…d close to the screen of the tablet it ignores touch-input from the users’ hands and “samples” the ink at 600 dpi (dots per inch). The ARM-based version will be available with either 32 GB (gigabytes) or 64 GB of storage. Microsoft said they would be priced at a similar rate to other tablets using the same type of processor built by other firms. It added that the Intel-based vers…
Chris Brown and Karrueche Tran back together?Chris Brown and his ex girlfriend Karrueche Tran engaged in a very raunchy Twitter exchange on Saturday and it appears the rumors that they are back together may very well be…
Kim Kardashian shows off growing baby bump in bikiniAs she proudly showed off her bump in a simple bikini Kim Kardashian proved she is finally at ease with her new shape. Looking happy and healthy, her hair in braids and skin…
Eurovision 2013: Russia calls Azerbaijan's failure to award any points as outrageous actionRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called Azerbaijan's failure to award any points to Russia's entry in this year’s Eurovision song contest as "outrageous". Sergei…
Brad Pitt says he felt he was wasting his life while married to Jennifer AnistonBrad Pitt has revealed he felt he was wasting his life on drugs while he was married to Jennifer Aniston. In yet another blow to his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt…
George Michael fell out of his car at 70 mph while travelling on a four-lane stretch of M1 motorwayAn M1 motorway driver has described the moment she nearly ran over George Michael as he lay covered in blood on the road after falling from his car at 70 mph. Katherine Fox,…
Lady Gaga is back in her favorite high heels after recovering from hip surgeryLady Gaga has been reunited with her favorite heels as she hit the town in New York in her trademark super high boots. Lady Gaga's re-emergence comes after she was seen…
Chris Brown and Karrueche Tran back together?
Miranda Kerr wardrobe malfunction during shooting for her make-up range Kora Cosmetics
Kim Kardashian shows off growing baby bump in bikini
US immigration bill passes Senate panel with 13-5
Xbox One: Microsoft unveils its next-generation console which goes on sale later this year
Dominique Venner: Suicide inside Notre-Dame de Paris
Eurovision 2013: Russia calls Azerbaijan’s failure to award any points as outrageous action
Brad Pitt says he felt he was wasting his life while married to Jennifer Aniston
Did Amanda Berry’s 911 dispatcher curse at her?
Christie Brinkley poses in a swimsuit at 59
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn drop his kids off at school
George Michael fell out of his car at 70 mph while travelling on a four-lane stretch of M1 motorway
Lady Gaga is back in her favorite high heels after recovering from hip surgery
Travis Alexander home becomes tourist attraction
Carl Pistorius: Oscar Pistorius’ brother acquitted in Marietjie Barnard’s death case
Jose Manuel Barroso urges full tax data exchange
Why penguin can’t fly
Apple among America’s big tax avoiders
North Korea releases Chinese fishing crew
Efrain Rios Montt genocide and crimes against humanity conviction overturned
Hilaria Baldwin joins husband Alec at Cannes Film Festival 2013 to promote his documentary Seduced and Abandoned
Jennifer Lawrence wears blue body paint to portray X-Men’s Mystique
Oklahoma tornado kills at least 51 people as two entire schools flattened in Moore
Ray Manzarek dead: The Doors co-founder dies aged 74 after long battle with cancer
Christine White dies in a nursing home in Washington at the age of 86
Brazilian husband caught cheating wife as lover escapes from window
Travis Alexander case: Jodi Arias’ attorneys file motion for mistrial
Laura Fernee claims she is too pretty to work
Full spring cleaning burns more calories than running a marathon
Face Trainer: Training balaclava claims to tone up saggy faces