82693251
submission
silentcoder writes:
Astronomers from two universities in Cape Town, South Africa, today announced a discovery made by the SKA/MeerKat radio-telescope. A cluster of super-massive black-holes spewing out radio-jets. What was astounding is that all the black holes were spewing out their radio jets in the same direction. This means they must all be spinning along exactly the same plane despite being many megaparsecs apart. The only explanation is that the spin came from a shared origin, present in the early universe. This fundamentally alters existing models of the early universe as it introduces a previously unknown variable that current simulations do not include. Lead author Professor Andrew Russ Taylor said of the discovery: "This is a very exciting time to be an astronomer".
14055582
submission
silentcoder writes:
Lucasfilm has sent a cease and desist letter to the poducers of a powerful hand-held laser device meant primarily for industrial work claiming it resembles the lightsabers from the copyrighted Star Wars films too much. The manufactuers, Hong-Kong based Wicked Lasers, deny any correlation between their product and the lightsabers in the films. An interesting side question arises however: can a company owning the idea for a fictional technology later prevent somebody from creating a real product even if is directly inspired ? Would Steven Spielberg be able to stop anybody from making a time-machine in an automobile? Will Lucasfilm be going after the Martin Aircraft Company next because Boba Fett had a jetpack ?
6949514
submission
silentcoder writes:
Scientists at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa today announced the discover of a previously unknown species of dinosaur. The new species was named Aardonyx Celestae from the Afrikaans word for "earth" and the Greek for claw,. Earthclaw which is particularly interesting as it provides a crucial link between the early dinosaurs and the later giant Sauropods was discovered during a routine dig on a farm the northern FreeState (South-Africa's most central province). Two other species were discovered on the same site, but their announcement will only happen later after further laboratory testing has been done.
