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Two supermassive black holes are circlling each other–or they were, a million years ago, in a galaxy far away. In all probability, that galaxy is now being torn apart by the titanic equivalent of 100 million supernovas. So, did any civilizations experience the end of their worlds in that galaxy? If so, they would have been able to calculate the moment of their destruction down to the last second, an to have known about it for a very long time.
At the center of every galaxy – according to Einstein’s theory of general relativity – sits a light-sucking black hole that weighs the equivalent of millions or even billions of suns. Though normally quiescent, they can eat stars and gas for breakfast and belch quasars brighter than their own galaxy. read more
The possibility of solving two of the most pressing problems in developing countries at the same time – inadequate supplies of pure drinking water and inadequate waste disposal systems – may now be at hand. For the Omniprocessor – designed by Janicki Bioenergy and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – will soon be turning human waste in Dakar, Senegal into pure drinking water, electricity, and pathogen-free ash.
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The mysteries of Rapa Nui – or Easter Island – have puzzled explorers, tourists and scientists for centuries. When was it first settled? Where did the settlers come from? How did they carve and move the moai – the giant statues they carved from volcanic rock? What did these figures represent? And what became of these people and their culture – which had dwindled so dramatically by the time the Europeans came across this remote yet inhabited island? Over the years, theories have been vigorously asserted then replaced by the discovery and interpretation of new evidence.
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