Apple fell nearly 4% on Thursday and sparked a rout in U.S. equities after reports that China has

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Blancpain X Swatch: could this be the “innovative” collaboration they say it is? The Swatch collaborations are back after a viral launch of the Omega MoonSwatch back in March last year. Marking the 70th anniversary of the “Fifty Fathoms” collection, luxury watchmaker Blancpain says collaborating with Swatch will create a “playful” and “unexpected” version of its so-called “iconic” scuba diving watch. The watch was built for French combat divers who required reliable watches that function underwater. Now, the two well-known watch brands are teaming up for a “non-limited collection” which will feature five models full of “joie de vivre,” – which loosely translates to “enjoyment of life”. A press release by Blancpain noted the brands are “diving into the five oceans of the blue planet, combining the best of both brands with innovative, bioceramic, water-resistant timepieces and a mechanical movement with a 90-hour power reserve”. But does this collaboration really meet the hype? With the brands finely crafted advertisements in newspapers across the United States, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times – teasing consumers for what is to come, could this be what watch lovers hoped for? Here is everything you need to know about the Blancpain X Swatch collection collaboration When will the Blancpain X Swatch collection launch? Watch lovers, have no fear as the Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms drops worldwide on 9 September, according to an Instagram post by Swatch on 4 September. Since its announcement, Swatch and Blancpain have released several teasers – getting fans excited for what is yet to come. “The collection faithfully reproduces all the Fifty Fathoms hallmarks, such as superior water resistance, outstanding legibility, mechanical movement secured rotating bezel, and anti-magnetic protection,” Swatch said in one of its Instagram posts and people loved it. One user commented under the post “Shut up and take my money,” while another said: “Much better than Swatch-Omega collab!!!”. What will the collection look like? Blancpain X Swatch will be launching five models with a “unique and patented blend of two-thirds ceramic and one-third biomaterials derived from castor oil.” Each model is named after the world’s five oceans while featuring different bright colours with the words “Blancpain Fifty Fathoms X Swatch inscribed inside.” The colours are the Atlantic Ocean in blue, the Arctic Ocean in red, the Pacific Ocean in yellow, the Indian Ocean in green, and the Antarctic Ocean in white. For Blancpain President and CEO Marc A. Hayek, this collaboration is highly symbolic: "Without Swatch, the Swiss watch industry would simply not have survived and enjoyed such a wonderful destiny. “This collection is a source of pride for me. We owed it to ourselves to work with this brand that is as much a pioneer as we are – a reality vividly proven with this collection. Swatch has brilliantly reinterpreted our iconic model, in its own way, with its own vision,” Hayek adds. “As a keen diver myself, I really appreciate the attention to detail in this collection and the many references to the Fifty Fathoms. The fact that it is water-resistant to a depth of 91 metres – corresponding to exactly 50 fathoms, a nautical unit of depth – is a fantastic nod." I want to know more about the models and price points Watch fanatics, we’ve got you covered with all you need to know about each model, style and price point, according to the Swatch website. First up we have the Arctic Ocean: Price: £340 Case Material: Beige Bioceramic case including crown Case diameter: 42.4mm Case thickness: 14.4m Lug to lug distance: 48.0 mm Movement: SISTEM51 mechanical movement Water resistance: 50 fathoms (91/300ft/9 bar) Glass: Biosourced material with anti-scratch coating Hand, hour markers, 60 minutes diving scale: Grade A Super-LumiNova Bezel: One-direction rotating bezel in beige Bioceramic material with anti-scratch coating insert in orange Strap: NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea Pacific Ocean Price: £340 Case Material: Yellow-orange Bioceramic case including crown Case diameter: 42.3 mm Case thickness: 14.4 mm Lug-to-lug distance: 48.0 mm Movement: SISTEM51 mechanical movement Water resistance: 50 fathoms (91 m / 300 ft / 9 bar) Glass: Biosourced material treated with an anti-scratch coating Hands, hour markers, 60 minutes diving scale: Grade A Super-LumiNova Bezel: one-direction rotating bezel in warm yellow Bioceramic material with anti-scratch coating insert in black Strap: NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea Atlantic Ocean Price: £340 Case Material: blue Bioceramic case including crown Case diameter: 42.3 mm Case thickness: 14.4 mm Lug-to-lug distance: 48.0 mm Movement: SISTEM51 mechanical movement Water resistance: 50 fathoms (91 m / 300 ft / 9 bar) Glass: Biosourced material treated with an anti-scratch coating Hands, hour markers, 60 minutes diving scale: Grade A Super-LumiNova Bezel: one-direction rotating bezel in ocean blue Bioceramic material with anti-scratch coating insert in black Strap: NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea Indian Ocean Price: £340 Case Material: green Bioceramic case including crown Case diameter: 42.3 mm Case thickness: 14.4 mm Lug-to-lug distance: 48.0 mm Movement: SISTEM51 mechanical movement Water resistance: 50 fathoms (91 m / 300 ft / 9 bar) Glass: Biosourced material treated with an anti-scratch coating Hands, hour markers, 60 minutes diving scale: Grade A Super-LumiNova Bezel: one-direction rotating bezel in green Bioceramic material with anti-scratch coating insert in black Strap: NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea Antarctic Ocean Price: £340 Case Material: ice white Bioceramic case including crown Case diameter: 42.3 mm Case thickness: 14.4 mm Lug-to-lug distance: 48.0 mm Movement: SISTEM51 mechanical movement Water resistance: 50 fathoms (91 m / 300 ft /9 bar) Glass: Biosourced material treated with an anti-scratch coating Hands, hour markers, 60 minutes diving scale: Grade A Super-LumiNova Bezel: one-direction rotating bezel in ice-white Bioceramic material with anti-scratch coating insert in dark grey Strap: NATO strap made from recycled fishing nets removed from the sea Where can I buy the Blancpain X Swatch collection? The non-limited collections mean the collaboration is set for continuous rollout, so the good news is – you won’t have to rush to the nearest Swatch store to grab yours as soon as possible. With the worldwide launch taking off on 9 September, you can purchase your selected watch in the nearest Swatch store. What is bioceramic made of? Swatch first began converting its collections to use a new bio-sourced plastic derived from castor oil in 2020. This new plastic is also combined with ceramic to create “bioceramic”. Noted by Swatch as a “recipe for innovation,” now, similar to the MoonSwatch, this year’s collab is housed in Swatch’s hybrid plastic-ceramic material. But what makes this watch slightly more pricy is the inside, built-in with an automatic movement in place of quartz. Despite the fancy upgrade, the Bioceramic Scuba Fifty Fathoms gives buyers the chance to wear the branded name on their wrists for hundreds of pounds. Read More Period and fertility tracking apps scrutinised over data security concerns World’s largest wind turbine breaks record for power generated in a single day AI can help generate synthetic viruses and spark pandemics, warns ex-Google executive Inside the world of luxury watch robberies as owners warned ‘Rolex Rippers’ could be watching them Best smartwatches for kids 2023 – GPS, cameras, games and more

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A huge bubble of galaxies that is one billion lightyears across could be a remnant of the ripples caused by the Big Bang, according to astronomers who have mapped the structure. The structure, named Hoʻoleilana by University of Hawaii scientists, is thought to have been caused by so-called Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs). These were ripples in the particles of the early Universe in the period following the Big Bang, when planets, solar systems and galaxies were not yet fully formed. As the ripples went outward, they created areas of density in the particles, causing bubble-like structures in which galaxies eventually coalesced. Until now, the BAOs were just a prediction – part of the wider Big Bang theory. No specific structures in the Universe had been found which mimicked their patterns. But Hoʻoleilana fits the description of these huge cosmic bubbles perfectly, according to Brent Tully, who led the study at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. “We were not looking for it. It is so huge that it spills to the edges of the sector of the sky that we were analyzing,” he said. “As an enhancement in the density of galaxies it is a much stronger feature than expected. The very large diameter of 1bn light years is beyond theoretical expectations. “If its formation and evolution are in accordance with theory, this BAO is closer than anticipated, implying a high value for the expansion rate of the universe.” The bubble is absolutely huge. It is made up of several superclusters, structures which themselves are thought to be among the Universe’s largest arrangements of matter. This includes the Hercules Supercluster, the Corona Borealis Supercluster and the Sloan Great Wall. All of these structures contain thousands of galaxies. In the middle of Hoʻoleilana sits the Bootes Supercluster and the Bootes Void, an immense space of nothingness which is an incredible 330m lightyears across. Daniel Pomarede, from the CEA Paris-Saclay University, who contributed to the research, said: “It was an amazing process to construct this map and see how the giant shell structure of Ho’oleilana is composed of elements that were identified in the past as being themselves some of the largest structures of the universe.” The research was published on 5 September in The Astrophysical Journal. 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.