NASA has taken new measurements of a black hole that’s just one galaxy over—and the results are pretty staggering. The black hole, known as M87, is so big that you could fit roughly 6.6 billion of our suns inside it. Black holes that huge are a rare find,…
Continue reading …With floodwaters starting to recede, the toll in Australia is at 25 and expected to climb given the dozens of people still missing, reports the AP . As the state’s premier put it: “Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the history…
Continue reading …After rocketing to popularity and then just as quickly to scorn, Chatroulette has finally figured out a way to make money—off, of all things, all those naked chatters. New content control features were introduced last year, and even though you’ll still see the odd penis—about once an hour,…
Continue reading …Kay Bailey Hutchison won’t be running for reelection in 2012, she announced today in an open letter saying she wanted to live “full-time in Texas with my family.” The three-term Republican said that announcing the move early “should give the people of Texas ample time to consider who my successor…
Continue reading …Environmentalists won a big victory today in the debate over mountaintop mining: The EPA took the rare step of revoking a permit for a massive site in West Virginia, ruling that it would foul the water for residents in that region of Appalachia, reports the Charleston Gazette . Mountaintop mining involves…
Continue reading …Fox hunting was banned in England, but you can still enjoy a sporting day on your horse, with a pack of dogs hunting a slightly different type of game: man. The Coakham Hunt began its manhunts—“for fun,” its website reassures—long before fox hunting and other types of hunting…
Continue reading …Europe is a little like a classic Greek tragic hero, brought low by a singular act of hubris: the creation of the euro. In a lengthy piece in the New York Times , Paul Krugman argues that the euro was always a dubious idea, but European leaders “engaged in magical thinking”…
Continue reading …When Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time yesterday, it was no fluke. Doctors today gave their most upbeat update yet: She’s moving her arms and legs on command—a sign that both sides of her brain are responding—and keeping her eyes open for 15 minutes at…
Continue reading …A Canadian couple, desperate to reclaim their missing dog, has offered an unusual reward: They’ll name their soon-to-be-born first child after whoever finds her. Sara and Dan Cannon’s 16-month-old Bernese Mountain dog disappeared from their backyard on Jan. 4, reports the New York Daily News . Fearful that someone might have…
Continue reading …Women are usually in short supply at the World Economic Forum, the business world’s annual getaway in Davos, Switzerland. And this year, organizers are doing something about it. They’ve demanded that at least one out of every five senior executives companies send to the event be a woman, the Guardian…
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