REPUBLIC, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 25, 2023--

It feels like every time black holes are discussed and studied by the scientific community, there are new findings that blow our tiny minds. It’s been revealed that black holes actually regurgitate or “burp up” the stars that they eat years after the event. Experts made the discovery by studying tidal disruption events (TDEs). These events take place when stars are close enough to supermassive black holes, to be destroyed by the process of spaghettification. Studying these moments over a number of years after the black holes seemingly swallowing stars with no trace, the experts found that up to 50 per cent of them "burp up" the remains. Yvette Cendes is a research associate at the Havard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and head author on the study. Speaking to Live Science, she said: "If you look years later, a very, very large fraction of these black holes that don’t have radio emission at these early times will actually suddenly 'turn on' in radio waves. "I call it a 'burp' because we’re having some sort of delay where this material is not coming out of the accretion disk until much later than people were anticipating." The material was re-emitted between two and six years from 10 out of 24 black holes which were studied by Cendes and the team. It has the potential to change the way the scientific community thinks about black holes. "There was a second peak, the two black holes re-brightened, and that's completely new and unexpected," Cendes said. "People were thinking that you'd have one outflow, and then it's kind of done. So this observation means these black holes can 'turn on' and then 'turn on' again." Meanwhile, a low intergalactic grumbling is emanating from deep space, according to scientists – and again, it’s black holes that are providing us with new discoveries. Astronomers say they detected the first-of-their-kind low frequency ripples, described as a “cosmic bass note” of gravitational waves, which is thought to be caused by supermassive black holes merging across the universe. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

Elon Musk has shared his thoughts on whether aliens really exist out there in the universe. The 52-year-old billionaire is CEO of SpaceX, which manufactures and launches rockets into space with the "goal of enabling people to live on other planets," and now he's given his take on whether there is life beyond Earth. Musk appeared via video link at the International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan on Thursday (October 5) where his ambition to launch his Starship spacecraft to Mars was discussed, along with what future endeavours into space will look like. While aliens were also mentioned, Musk said he has seen "no evidence" they exist. "People often ask me if I’ve seen any evidence of aliens and I unfortunately have seen no evidence of aliens yet," Musk said. "We are the aliens, as far as I can tell." He added: "And I think if anyone would know, it would probably be me, and I’ve not seen any evidence of aliens. "So, what that perhaps suggests is that this tiny candle of consciousness that is humanity is all that exists in a vast darkness, and we should do everything we can to ensure that the candle does not go out." It's not the first time Musk has discussed this topic as he shared a similar opinion during an interview in April with with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson. However, he added that if knew aliens were real he would tweet this information out to the world. "I'm, you know, very familiar with space stuff," he said. "I’ve seen no evidence of aliens. I would immediately tweet it out. "That’d be probably the top tweet of all time. 'We found one, guys!' It's the jackpot with some 8billion likes." Definitely worth keeping an eye on Musk's tweets then, you know, just in case... Meanwhile, the business magnate has claimed he is in fact an alien himself. "I keep telling people I’m an alien, but no one believes me," Musk recently tweeted. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 1, 2023--

Apple has announced “Tap to Pay on iPhone”, a new update that turns its device into a payment system. Until now, most small businesses have used separate devices such as those made by Zettle, which pair with a phone and allow them to take payments on cards or phones. Now the new feature does away with the need for such additional hardware, turning the iPhone into a card reader itself. The new update is focused on small and medium businesses, Apple said, though it will also be coming to the Apple Store soon. And while the update is for those businesses that take payments, it could mean that paying for things could look very different for customers, too. It means that shops need only install a compatible app – such as those made by Stripe and Zettle – alongside an updated iPhone. That iPhone will then turn into a card reader, being able to accept not just iPhones and Apple Watches with Apple Pay, but also other digital wallets and traditional plastic payment cards. All that is needed to use the new tool is an iPhone Xs or later, that is running the latest software update. The tool will not work on other Apple hardware, such as iPads. Apple has included a range of privacy and security features into the system. Transactions are encrypted and processed using the iPhone’s Secure Element, meaning that Apple is not able to track who has purchased something or what they have bought. The system also uses a standardised payment screen, which means that users will be able to check they are being charged the right fee and that it is a legitimate transaction. Apple first unveiled Tap to Pay on iPhone in the US, early last year. There, Apple Pay and other contactless systems have less widespread adoption, though the system worked in much the same way. “We’ve seen Tap to Pay on iPhone transform the checkout experience for so many different types of businesses, and we’re thrilled to now support merchants across the U.K. by offering an easy, secure, and private way to accept contactless payments using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone, with no additional hardware needed,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. “Small and medium-sized businesses have long played a vital role in the U.K. economy, and alongside payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we’re making it easier than ever for U.K. businesses to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business.” Read More You can now download the huge new iPhone update – if you dare iPhone users urged to check their photo library amid fears they could be deleted Twitter to stop TweetDeck access for unverified users

The Modern Warfare 3 maps available at launch on Nov. 10 will be 16 remastered maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009), including Rust, Terminal, and Scrapyard.

Facebook owner Meta is to make approximately 490 full-time employees redundant across its Irish operations. The roles are being cut from a number of teams including finance, sales, marketing, analytics, operations and engineering. Employees at Meta Ireland were notified on Wednesday they were potentially impacted by a global restructuring which was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier this year. In March, Meta revealed it plans to cut about 10,000 jobs globally, just four months after it axed 11,000 workers. The company said it will comply with Irish legal requirements in relation to redundancy timelines and processes. Meta, which is also the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp, said the decision does not impact its “commitment to Ireland”, adding it will continue to be the international headquarters and base for several important company functions. The final number of redundancies will be determined by a collective consultation processes.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 20, 2023--

To get the Fortnite Heartburst Emote for free, players must purchase the limited-time cosmetic from the Item Shop's Celebrating Women tab.

By Katie Paul NEW YORK Meta is releasing a commercial version of its open-source artificial intelligence model Llama

Hong Kong kicked off a new crypto regulatory regime in a bid to nurture a digital-asset hub, a

There's a big downside to Prime Day deals: even when you spot a great bargain,