I didn't think we'd ever see a Cavinder in orange and green again‚ but here we go

Was Biden's Uncle Eaten By Cannibals&;#63;

A newly discovered black hole has a mass 33 times that of the Sun. This comfortably exceeds the previous record for a stellar black hole in our galaxy‚ which was around 20 solar masses‚ and has helped confirm theories about how an object of this mass could form.The largest stars end their lives as supernovae that produce black holes from their cataclysmic explosions. These black holes have considerably less mass than the stars they came from because so much has been thrown off during their lifetime and in the supernova event. Without question‚ many such black holes are lurking in our galaxy that we have little chance of spotting. Fortunately‚ a large proportion of the exploding stars were part of binary systems‚ or sometimes even larger groups‚ when they lived. Some companions get thrown off by the force of the supernova to wander the galaxy alone‚ but those that are more massive or more distant survive and orbit the black hole‚ alerting us to its presence.When stars are observed to wobble on a regular basis it means that some other object’s gravity is affecting them. Sometimes this can be a fainter star we can’t see – or even a planet – but in the case of one new discovery‚ that’s not possible. The object causing the star 2MASS J19391872+1455542 to make an 11.6-year circle has a mass thousands of times greater than the largest planet. If it was a star‚ it would be so intensely bright we could probably see it with the naked eye.An invisible mass that big has to be a black hole – one around 50 percent bigger than Cygnus X-1‚ our galaxy’s previous largest known remnant of such an explosion.Gaia BH3 compared with the largest stellar black hole we had previously discovered‚ and a typical example. Black holes' mass is proportional to their radii‚ not their volume.Image Credit: ESO/M. KornmesserThe discovery was made by combing through data from the Gaia telescope‚ which tracks the movements of the stars with staggering precision. It’s the third time this type of search has led to such a discovery‚ so the object is known as Gaia BH3. Besides its immense mass‚ Gaia BH3 is 2‚000 light-years away in the constellation Aquila – not quite down the street‚ but if the Milky Way was a large city‚ this would be the next suburb. “No one was expecting to find a high-mass black hole lurking nearby‚ undetected so far‚” said Pasquale Panuzzo of the Observatoire de Paris in a statement. &;quot;This is the kind of discovery you make once in your research life.&;quot;Gaia observations alone might have some other cause‚ but a large international team used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to confirm the measurements and reveal more.       We might expect that if objects like this can be overlooked in our own galaxy‚ we’d know nothing of their presence elsewhere. Surprisingly‚ that is wrong. Gravitational waves have alerted us to the existence of even larger stellar black holes billions of light years away. However‚ since this only works when two objects whose mutual orbit has decayed collide it happens very rarely‚ and we only know of a handful of cases‚ all at vast distances.Astronomers’ working hypothesis for such large black holes‚ which have exceeded expectations‚ is that they come from very metal-poor stars: ones formed almost entirely from the hydrogen and helium produced in the Big Bang. Such stars had the potential to be far more massive than those in the modern universe. They’re also thought to lose less mass through stellar winds‚ preserving that mass to black hole formation.It’s an idea that makes sense‚ but one we can’t prove using black holes detected by gravitational waves. That has changed with Gaia BH3. Stars in binary systems usually have similar compositions‚ other than in the rare cases where they didn’t form together‚ or the somewhat more common ones where one star ate a planet large enough to noticeably boost its metal content.Using the VLT’s Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph Dr Elisabetta Caffau and co-authors confirmed that J19391872+1455542 is indeed very metal-poor‚ making it likely the star that became Gaia BH3 was too. J19391872+1455542 is a very old star‚ as we would expect for something so metal-poor‚ and despite having a mass three-quarters that of the Sun has begun the process of turning into a red giant. A full analysis of Gaia BH3 will not come until at least late 2025‚ but the team responsible for the discovery wanted to give other astronomers a chance to take a look themselves‚ maximizing the opportunities to learn more.The discovery is published open access in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Of all the many XCOM adjacent turn-based strategy games on PC‚ Steamworld Heist might just be the one that makes you feel the coolest. A heist game all about leading your steampunk robot pirate crew through a series of tactical spaceship shootouts‚ its unique bullet-bouncing gambit makes for some incredibly satisfying and deep strategy‚ so I was very happy to hear that Steamworld Heist 2 is bringing it back later in 2024. Ahead of that‚ you can grab the first game - itself an impressive 96%-rated on Steam - for basically a dollar right now to see what you’ve been missing. Continue reading Snag the coolest 2D XCOM style heist game for $1

Fallout 5 could be anything‚ and set anywhere in the world. We all have our own personal visions for Bethesda’s RPG sequel. Maybe it picks up from the sacred Fallout New Vegas somewhere in the Mojave‚ or maybe it’s a direct sequel to Fallout 4‚ and connects somehow to Boston. Heck‚ we could even go back to the origins‚ and the world of isometric Fallout and Fallout 2. With Starfield still relatively close in the rearview mirror‚ and The Elder Scrolls 6 seemingly in the works‚ Bethesda has a lot going on. Fallout 5 news remains sparse. One studio legend however offers some insight into the development process and potential waiting time of the apocalypse RPG game. Continue reading Starfield and Skyrim legend explains why Fallout 5 may take time

How do you increase your Manor Lords approval rating&;#63; You’ll no doubt want to achieve a lot in your time as an omnipotent ruler. Whether that translates to a huge‚ sprawling empire‚ or a cozy hamlet‚ you’ll need a lot of happy people to achieve your vision. The more that your residents approve of you‚ the more you’ll get out of them; it’s a mutually beneficial situation‚ really. With the Manor Lords release date upon us‚ players are figuring out the best ways to build their region‚ and no matter your end goal‚ a high Manor Lords approval rating is vital. If you aren’t doing a good job‚ your citizens could revolt‚ or even abandon you completely. Here’s how to improve your approval rating so you can be the best leader you can be. Continue reading How to increase your Manor Lords approval rating MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best city builders‚ Best PC strategy games

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands‚ the Borderlands spin-off title released in 2022‚ is getting a comic book tie-in series titled 'Land of the Giants' later this year‚ as reported by our sister site GameRant.

A new study of the skeletal remains of two women discovered at the Middle Neolithic (4250-3600 B.C.) site of Saint-Paul-Trois-Ch&;acirc;teaux in southern France has revealed they were ritually murdered by an agonizing method still utilized today by the Mafia: by tying their necks to their bent legs until they inevitably strangled themselves. The Italian mob calls this torturous execution method “incaprettamento” (literally “ingoatment” because they’re strung up like goats on a spit)‚ but the Neolithic version one-ups even the cruelty of organized crime by burying the victims alive. Saint-Paul-Trois-Ch&;acirc;teaux in the central Rh&;ocirc;ne Valley was a gathering site in the Middle Neolithic‚ not a residential settlement. Excavations have unearthed numerous silos and pits containing broken grindstones‚ sacrificed dogs‚ ceramics and pebble fills. There are also human remains in some of the pits‚ notably in two pits covered by a wooden structure aligned with the summer and winter solstices. One of those pits‚ pit 69‚ is shaped like a storage silo‚ but it has no traces of seeds or of having been burned (a sanitizing practice for actual storage silos). It contained the skeletons of three women‚ one in the center of the pit positioned on her left side with a vase near her head‚ the other two underneath an overhang. The second was on her back with her legs bent and a heavy piece of grindstone placed on her skull. The third was on her stomach with her neck on the chest of the second woman. Her knees are bent too and she had two pieces of grindstone on her back. Looking into the pit from above at the time of the burial‚ only the first woman would have been visible. The other two women were obscured by the overhang. They were also crammed into the space‚ so much so that the grindstone pieces must have been forcefully inserted when the bodies were put in position. If they were still alive‚ in conjunction with their positioning beneath the pit’s overhang‚ then they could no longer move‚ and breathing became very difficult. Furthermore‚ since the initial descriptions‚ numerous forensic studies have been conducted on individuals in similar positions with pressure applied to them‚ resulting in their deaths. In such a position‚ death occurs relatively quickly‚ even if the victims were not drugged or beaten. The prone position induces inadequate ventilation and a decrease in the blood volume pumped by the heart‚ which can lead to pulseless electrical activity arrest and/or cardiac arrest by asystole. This diagnosis‚ formerly known as positional asphyxia‚ could now be better defined as “prone restraint cardiac arrest.” Some individuals are more sensitive than others‚ but cervical compression is an aggravating factor‚ as is obstruction of the nose and mouth. The intriguing position of the lower limbs of woman 3 is also noteworthy. Her legs collapsed to the side as the body decomposed‚ and from their placement on the corpse‚ it appears that the knees would have been bent at slightly over 90° with the legs held more or less vertically. Given the woman’s prone position‚ this suggests a potential case of homicidal ligature strangulation. In this scenario‚ the woman would have been on her abdomen with a ligature attached to her ankles and neck. The fact that the woman was obstructed by grindstones and the overhang of the storage pit‚ coupled with the possibility of a tie connecting her ankles to her neck‚ supports the hypothesis of a deposit while she was still alive. Otherwise‚ the physical constraints could have been less severe‚ especially considering that the grindstones were not visible from the outside. There is evidence of incaprettamento having been used as a method of human sacrifice from other Neolithic sites in Europe. The research team documents the practice in rock art scenes and in burials from 16 graves at 14 archaeological sites stretching from the Czech Republic to Spain and ranging in date from around 5400 B.C. to 3500 B.C.

New research project investigates the resettlement history of the Iron-Age city of Hazor in Israel A new research initiative at the University of Oldenburg in...

The research notes similarities between the carvings in southern Peru and the ayahuasca-induced art of the Amazon's Tucano people.