Eight in 10 students have issues with literacy, the lowest performance in a study of 57 countries.

The mystery behind the brightest explosion ever seen has finally been solved. In October last year, the Earth was hit by a blast that came to be known as the Brightest of All Time. It was recorded by telescopes across the world, and scientists have been scrambling to explain it ever since. Now researchers believe they may understand why that gamma ray burst was quite so intense. It was pointed directly at Earth and pulled along a large amount of stellar material. That’s according to a new paper published in the journal Science Advances. While scientists have suggested before that the brightness of the blast was the result of its angle, but some mystery remained: the edges of the jet could not be seen. “The slow fade of the afterglow is not characteristic of a narrow jet of gas, and knowing this made us suspect there was an additional reason for the intensity of the explosion, and our mathematical models have borne this out,” said Hendrik Van Earthen from the University of Bath. “Our work clearly shows that the GRB had a unique structure, with observations gradually revealing a narrow jet embedded within a wider gas outflow where an isolated jet would normally be expected.” The work is described in a new paper, ‘A structured jet explains the extreme GRB 221009’, published in the journal Science Advances. Read More Scientists demonstrate wireless power transmission from space for first time Whistleblower alleges UFO crashes – and a cover-up to keep them secret Watch: Strawberry moon lights up skies over UK

Temperatures in central Tokyo have soared to nearly 9C (16F) above the seasonal average, as the extreme heat

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 14, 2023--

Players have until Fortnite Summer Escape ends on July 18 at 9 a.m. ET to earn free summertime cosmetics, visit Sunswoon Lagoon, and use holiday-themed weapons.

By Jack Queen Comedian Sarah Silverman and two authors have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Meta Platforms and

The NBA 2K24 daily spin locations differ in Current and Next Gen, but claiming your daily prizes is the same across all platforms.

Donald Trump is continuing to relish the news that cocaine was discovered at the White House, moving on from suggesting that it belonged to his successor Joe Biden and the latter’s son Hunter Biden, who has spoken out frankly about his past struggles with addiction, to claiming that the Biden administration is withholding the CCTV footage that might reveal the truth. “Where are the White House SECURITY TAPES, like the ones I openly and happily gave to Deranged Jack Smith, which will quickly show where the Cocaine in the White House came from???” he asked on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday evening. “They already know the answer, but probably don’t like it!” Meanwhile, the former president’s own son, Donald Trump Jr, has been branded “a big baby” by Australian home minister Clare O’Neil after he cancelled a planned speaking tour of the country, citing visa issues. “Geez, Donald Trump Jr is a bit of sore loser,” Ms O’Neill wrote in a series of posts on Twitter that were later deleted. “Donald Trump Jr has been given a visa to come to Australia. He didn’t get cancelled. He’s just a big baby, who isn’t very popular.” Read More Trump marks Independence Day by sharing vulgar attack on Biden and ominous 2024 warning Trump-appointed judge blocks Biden agencies from communicating with social media platforms Ex-New York congressman pardoned by Trump is planning to run again in Florida Truth Social’s merger partner reaches $18m settlement with SEC

'Marvel's Spider-Man 2' developers Insomniac wanted to create something "very different" with Venom.

A study of 150 stones dating back 1.4m years shows early humans were deliberately crafting spherical shapes – but nobody knows why. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem made findings after analysing the limestone balls which were unearthed in Ubeidiya, a dig site in Israel’s Jordan Rift Valley. Scientists have previously speculated that the stones, which were discovered in the 1960s and serve no discernable purpose, became round after being used as hammers. But the university’s team reconstructed the steps required to create the so-called spheroids and found they were part of a “preconceived goal to make a sphere”. The researchers used 3D analysis to retrace how they were made based on the markings and geometry of the spheroids. They concluded that the objects were intentionally “knapped”, the technique used to shape stone by hitting it with other objects. Antoine Muller, a researcher at the university’s Institute of Archaeology, said: “The main significance of the findings is that these spheroids from ‘Ubeidiya appear to be intentionally made, with the goal of achieving a sphere. “This suggests an appreciation of geometry and symmetry by hominins 1.4 million years ago.” Early humans clearly had some reason for making the balls, but what exactly that is remains a mystery. He said: “We still can’t be confident about what they were used for. A lot of work needs to be done to narrow down their functionality.” 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.

It is possible to mourn something you love while celebrating its loss. RIP your Google

Here's what you need to know about Season 1