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The latest Science News articles for residents and businesses of Australia from National and International resources.

 

Super big black hole from early universe farthest ever found

Astronomers have discovered a super-size black hole harkening back to almost the dawn of creation.

It's the farthest black hole ever found.

A team led by the Carnegie Observatories' Eduardo Banados reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday that the black hole lies in a quasar dating to 690 million years of the Big Bang. That means the light from this quasar has been traveling our way for more than 13 billion years.

Banados said the quasar provides a unique baby picture of the universe, when it was just 5 percent of its current age.

It would be like seeing photos of a 50-year-old man when he was 2 1/2 years old, according to Banados.

"This discovery opens up an exciting new window to understand the early universe," he said in an email from Pasadena, California.

Quasars are incredibly bright objects deep in the cosmos, powered by black holes devouring everything around them. That...


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The Best Websites For Unique Gifts, Stocking Stuffers And More

Every holiday season we try and get a unique gift for our loved ones. Only to realize that finding super niche and specific gifts is a difficult task. So we panic and retreat back to our old ways, gifting a boring candle, body lotion, or scarf. (#momsdeservebetter)

This year, to help you follow through on that wish, we’ve rounded up the best websites for unique gifts, stocking stuffers, and more. Let’s stop the re-gifting of every candle known to mankind with these 12 websites and stores that do all the heavy lifting for you.

Of a Kind

Shop hundreds of emerging fashion, home, and jewelry designers at Of a Kind.

AHAlife

This globally curated marketplace carries tons of inspiring objects in home, wellness, accessories, and more.

Cratejoy

Cratejoy is your one stop shop for all things subscription-based. Whether you're trying to satisfy the introvert, beauty-addict, bookwork, or...


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Palestinians Say Trump's Jerusalem Move Ends U.S.-Led Peace Process. Israelis Aren't So Sure

Donald Trump always said he wasn’t going to follow the rules.

But he also said that he was going to do everything in his power to broker what he called the “ultimate deal”: a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. The odds of that happening on his watch seemed to slip further from sight Thursday as the region reacted to Trump’s controversial declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The unwritten rules advising against such a move were put in place half a century ago, after Israel seized control of Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem during the Six Day War. This playbook for presidents became all the more important after Israel and the Palestinians entered into a peace process in 1993, which promised to deal with Jerusalem and five other thorny issues such as borders and refugees in “final status” talks.

Those talks never quite got off the ground — or were...


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Mysterious black hole discovered at the dawn of the universe - New Atlas

At a distance of about 13 billion lightyears, the most distant supermassive black hole known so far has been spotted by an international team of astronomers. That incredible distance means the object dates back to the time when the first stars blinked on, which raises the question of how a black hole that big arose so soon after the universe began.

The newly-discovered black hole is part of a quasar, meaning it sits at the center of a cloud of gas that it's slowly swallowing. As the gas falls into the black hole, it speeds up, heats up and brightens, which allows astronomers to see them from across the universe.

"Quasars are among the brightest and most distant known celestial objects and are crucial to understanding the early universe," says Bram Venemans of the Max Planck Institute, co-author of a study describing the discovery.

This quasar was first identified in data from...


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The Mac Observer's iPhone X Troubleshooting Guide - The Mac Observer

The iPhone X doesn’t have too many problems, but if something does happen, you can use our iPhone X troubleshooting guide for some DIY tech support. No guide can cover every single issue though, and if the problem keeps persisting you’ll want to bring it to Apple’s support team. Here are some general things you can do.

Note: If we come across any new issues iPhone X users may be experiencing, we’ll update this guide.

Restart & Reset

“Did you turn it off and back on again?” is a popular adage in tech support, but sometimes it can actually help. The iPhone X doesn’t have a home button, so here’s how to force a restart:

  1. Press and release the Volume Up button
  2. Press and release the Volume Down button
  3. Press and hold the Power button until you see the Apple logo onscreen

If you’re having Wi-Fi or Bluetooth issues, you can reset your iPhone X’s network settings to see if that...


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Giant cooling rotors aim to breathe new life into Barrier Reef - The Times

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Bernard Lagan, Sydney

Bleaching has killed or damaged much of the coral along the Great Barrier Reef, which is the world’s largest living thingRICK LOOMIS/GETTY IMAGES

Huge rotating pumps will be installed in the Coral Sea in an attempt to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from climate change by cooling it.

Eight of the solar-powered devices will be placed over a section of the reef near Cairns in Australia’s far north.

It is hoped that they can ward off bleaching that has either damaged or killed coral on swathes of the 2,300km long reef, the world’s largest living thing.

The machines, mounted on pontoons, use large rotating pumps to draw cooler water from 30 metres below the surface and propel it over the coral to re-create cold currents around the reef that have been weakened by warming seas. The cooler...


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Watch The Game Awards 2017 live right here at 8:30 PM ET tonight - BGR

There’s no telling when or if video games will ever be taken as seriously as film or television, but The Game Awards is the first video game awards show that actually treats games with some degree of reverence. Produced and hosted by games journalist Geoff Keighley, the fourth edition of The Game Awards will air on Thursday night at 8:30 PM ET, with tons of awards to hand out and several exciting reveals set to take place throughout the night.

If you’ve never tuned in for the ceremony before, you should know that The Game Awards are similar to other awards shows, with well-known members from the industry presenting trophies to the development teams behind the year’s best games. There will also be a live performance by Phoenix at some point in the show.

If you want to watch the show, you’re in luck: it’ll be streaming on just about every platform imaginable. We have the YouTube...


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New Era Starts For Holden And HSV - The Motor Report

A new era begins for HSV and Holden as the two Australian companies re-commit to a partnership with a new direction for future products. Headlining its first few models will be the US-sourced Chevrolet Camaro and Silverado, as well as Holden’s high-riding dual-cab Colorado ute. 

Adorning the front of Holden vehicles tuned by HSV will be a new logo design of the tuning shop’s helmet and lion badge.

The brand hasn’t changed its logo since its inception 30 years ago but says it is a contemporary upgrade and consistent with Holden’s transition from local-manufacturer to importer.

“The Australian market is shifting and, like Holden, we’re shifting with it,” HSV managing director Tim Jackson said.

“The current logo has served us well over many years, but as the business transitions to encompass a far broader array of product offerings, this new logo represents a new and expanded brand...


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Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon review: from Alola with love - The Sydney Morning Herald

Last year's entry in the insuppressible but somewhat tired Pokemon series was the first in a long time to try something new, and it was incredibly successful. Moving to the tropical Alola region — with its mix of old and new monsters — and taking an axe to some of the most arbitrary holdovers from earlier games, Sun and Moon were something special.

This year's Ultra editions are not sequels to those games, but they add just enough that you couldn't say they were simply enhanced editions either. These games offer mostly the same Pokemon and basically the same story we saw last year, but with twists and additions that will entice hardcore fans to double-dip.

Powerful new monsters abound in this familiar adventure. Powerful new monsters abound in this familiar adventure. 

Just like last time players explore Alola and build their roster of monsters, take on a series of trials to prove their worth, stop a nefarious plot and solve the mystery...


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As Bitcoin continues to surge, Coinbase becomes the most downloaded iPhone app in the US - 9to5Mac

Bitcoin has been surging at an unprecedented pace over the last few days, starting the week at just under $10,000 and rocketing to over $18,000 for a brief period today. Now, in conjunction with the crytpocurrency’s rise, popular Bitcoin wallet Coinbase has become the most dowloaded app in the United States…

Spigen TEKA RA200 Airpods Earhooks Cover

As first noted by Recode, Coinbase ranked around 400th on the free chart in the App Store less than a month ago, but has spiked to #1, beating out the likes of YouTube, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram.

Bitcoin’s value has increased by over 2,000 percent since last December. It started at under $800 and currently sits at around $17,550, having briefly touched $18,000 earlier today.

Coinbase’s rise to the top of the App Store comes as another Bitcoin service suffered a major breach today. As reported by Reuters, cryptocurrency mining...


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Obama talks at climate change summit as mayors sign charter

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday told a summit of mayors driven to act after President Donald Trump rejected the Paris climate accord that cities and states are the "new face of American leadership" on climate change.

Obama, who did not mention Trump by name, made a quick appearance at the conference hosted by his former chief of staff, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. He said it was an "unusual time" with the U.S. as the only country to walk away from the Paris agreement, but it was a chance for local leaders to come together and fulfill promises the country has made.

"Ultimately the work is done on the ground," Obama said. "Cities and states and businesses and universities and nonprofits have emerged as the new face of American leadership on climate change."

Chicago officials billed the North American Climate Summit, which began Monday evening, as the first of its...


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This map shows just how serious Elon Musk’s tunneling plans are

When Elon Musk first suggested that he wanted to solve LA’s traffic problems with a series of underground highways, most of us thought he’d spent a few too many late nights huffing rocket fuel. When he started digging a hole in the parking lot of SpaceX’s LA headquarters, I honestly believed he was prepping a nuclear bunker for the coming war.

But six months later, Musk’s Boring Company appears to have made real progress on its first test tunnel, which means we have to start taking Musk’s plans seriously. And if you look at this newly-published map of Musk’s proposed tunnel routes, you can see that he does intend to change LA’s infrastructure forever.

Don't Miss: This $30 home security cam with 14 days of free cloud storage sells out every time we mention it

The Boring Company recently published a map on its website outlining where the tunnel network would initially go. The...


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Steve Bannon: Roy Moore Has More 'Honor and Integrity' Than Mitt Romney

(FAIRHOPE, Ala.) — Populist firebrand Steve Bannon savaged national Republican leaders in a fiery call to rally voters behind embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore as the battle for the GOP’s soul spilled into a dirt-floor barn deep in rural Alabama.

Bannon, known best for his former role as President Donald Trump’s chief strategist, called GOP leaders in Congress “cowards” Tuesday night and attacked the party’s 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a draft dodger as he defended Moore, who is fighting several allegations of sexual misconduct and a Washington establishment that wants him to lose the Dec. 12 election.

“The days of taking it silently are over,” Bannon declared at a rally that drew hundreds of Moore supporters to a local farm in the southwestern corner of the state.

“They want to destroy Judge Roy Moore. You know why? They want to take your voice away,” Bannon said as...


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DeepMind's Groundbreaking AlphaGo Zero AI Is Now a Versatile Gamer - MIT Technology Review

During menopause a woman’s ovaries stop working—leading to hot flashes, sleep problems, weight gain, and worse, bone deterioration.

Now scientists are exploring whether transplanting lab-made ovaries might stop those symptoms. In one of the first efforts… Read more


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The biggest game of 2017 is getting its first major update - Business Insider Australia

In 2017’s biggest game, you parachute to an abandoned island with 100 real players. You’re unarmed, and so is everyone else, but the island is rife with weaponry to be scavenged and used.

The goal once you land: Survive.

That’s the basic premise of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” the biggest game of 2017: Be the last person standing of 100 in a massive fight to the death. With such a thrilling, Hunger Games-esque premise, it’s no surprise that the game has been such a breakaway hit – it’s the most-played game on the world’s largest game service, Steam.

“PUBG” is only available on PC at the moment, but it’s also on the cusp of launching on Xbox One (the game arrives December 12). Though “PUBG” has only featured the one main map since its soft launch back in March, a second map is about to be added – and we just got our first real look at it! Here’s what we know about “Miramar,” the...


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I am blown away by the battery life in the new iPhone X - Business Insider Australia

  • The best feature in the new iPhone X is the phone’s super-long battery life.
  • As someone who’s owned the phone for nearly a month, I’ve never had my battery dip below 40%.
  • At the end of each day, on average, my iPhone X has about 60% battery left.

I love the iPhone X. Face ID is an excellent replacement for Touch ID, and I love the new edge-to-edge screen.

But the feature that truly sells me on this phone, and has me convinced it’s the best iPhone ever made, is its battery life, which blows me away on a daily basis.

I received my iPhone X almost a month ago, on November 10. And with medium-to-heavy daily usage – exploring this new phone in the first place, keeping brightness all the way up, opening my phone dozens to hundreds of times a day to text and browse the web, and even relying on this phone to get through a couple of really long stints at the airport – not once have I seen my...


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Smartphone Guts Are Coming To Windows Laptops, And It Could Triple Your Battery Life - Gizmodo Australia

For years, Microsoft and others have been trying to figure out how to get Windows running on chips other than x86 processors most commonly made by Intel and AMD. The hope is that by broadening the platform to makers of mobile devices, Windows on ARM-based chips will lead to cheaper, more accessible systems than the standard laptops we have now.

Microsoft's first major attempt was with Windows RT back on the original Surface, but that went so badly, it almost tanked the entire platform. Then, for years, the topic was largely forgotten until late last year. In December 2016 Microsoft announced a partnership with Qualcomm to bring full Windows 10 (and not some gimped RT-like variant) to Snapdragon processors -- the same family of chips found in most Android phones. That brings us to now, where almost another full year after that initial statement, we finally have some real...


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Mysterious black hole discovered at the dawn of the universe - New Atlas

At a distance of about 13 billion lightyears, the most distant supermassive black hole known so far has been spotted by an international team of astronomers. That incredible distance means the object dates back to the time when the first stars blinked on, which raises the question of how a black hole that big arose so soon after the universe began.

The newly-discovered black hole is part of a quasar, meaning it sits at the center of a cloud of gas that it's slowly swallowing. As the gas falls into the black hole, it speeds up, heats up and brightens, which allows astronomers to see them from across the universe.

"Quasars are among the brightest and most distant known celestial objects and are crucial to understanding the early universe," says Bram Venemans of the Max Planck Institute, co-author of a study describing the discovery.

This quasar was first identified in data from...


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Oculus Rift Core 2.0 tries to push VR forward - SlashGear

While virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality have all, or separately, been hailed as the next wave of computing, the truth is they haven’t taken off outside of a still small minority in the tech industry. One reason is the prohibitive cost of PC-powered VR equipment. The other is that few people find any use of the technologies, especially VR, outside entertainment and a few niche serious applications. Oculus, perhaps the pioneer of this VR renaissance, wants to at least change the latter with the upcoming Rift Core 2.0 release that adds both serious work and a pinch of whimsy to the VR platform.

When most people, even tech savvy ones, hear of VR, they will often think of games, immersive and interactive fiction, and make-believe worlds. They aren’t wrong, of course, as those are the primary experiences enabled by the technology. They need not be the only ones, of...


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'Very strange' fossil of 'swanlike' dino a breakthrough - NEWS.com.au

A SMUGGLED fossil has revealed a bizarre swanlike creature with razor-sharp “killer claws” and a duck-billed snout — and it has left scientists baffled.

The beast, which some are dubbing the “swanasaurus”, would have walked the earth 75 million years ago.

It is stumping experts because it is one of the only semiaquatic dinosaurs discovered and they believe its flippers and long ostrich-like legs would have made it adept at moving on both water and land.

“It’s such a peculiar animal,” said Dennis Voeten, a palaeontology researcher at Palacky University in the Czech Republic, speaking with AP.

“It combines different parts we knew from other groups into this one small animal.”

The creature, about 45cm tall and its full curled-up skeleton was found in a sandstone rock.

“When I saw the fossil the first time, I was shocked,” said Andrea Cau, a palaeontologist at the University of Bologna...


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