Sci-tech
Astronomers find rare star system may produce gamma-ray burst: Aussie research
The Wolf-Rayet stars must be rotating extraordinarily fast to fling off all that matter - almost fast enough to tear themselves apart, the study said. However, the data on the plume presented a conundrum: the stellar winds were expanding 10 times faster than the dust. "The only way we get such a system to work is if the Wolf-Rayet star is spewing out gas at several speeds", co-author Benjamin Po... [Full Article...]
Scheer has 'concerns' about Ford's move to scrap planned French-language university
Ford said his government inherited a $15 billion deficit, making the new university, along with three new English post-secondary institutions, not feasible right now. "The United Sates cut [corporate taxes] a lot, so we all know - Ontario, Ottawa and Quebec - that we're in a position where we have to make a move to be competitive with the United States", he said. [Full Article...]
NASA announces landing site for Mars 2020 Rover
This is a hairy time, when NASA waits for word from InSight on whether the arrival was successful. According to NASA, landing on Mars is hard and only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars - by any space agency - have been successful. [Full Article...]
MPs warned that blocking May's deal could stop UK's European Union withdrawal
Spain is threatening to oppose a deal on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union unless it gets assurances over the disputed peninsula of Gibraltar. The move breaches the DUP's deal with May and throws further doubt over whether she has the numbers to approve a draft Brexit deal in parliament. [Full Article...]
What Makes Wombats Produce Cube-Shaped Poop?
Yang and her team concluded that the well-defined shapes were made by variations in the elasticity of a wombat's intestinal walls. Wombats are the only known species capable of producing them organically, using the regular shapes to prevent the stools rolling away from piles built for communication. [Full Article...]
SpaceX, drugs and Elon Musk, a heady mix that Nasa is monitoring
The review, first reported November 20 by the Washington Post , will start early next year and last for several months, and will include extensive interviews with personnel at both companies to examine how they implement cultures of workplace safety, rather than technical issues regarding the crewed spacecraft the companies are developing. [Full Article...]
California wildfire death toll rises to 77
Volunteers in white coveralls, hard hats and masks poked through ash and debris Sunday, searching for the remains of victims of the devastating Northern California wildfire before rains forecast this week complicate their efforts. Mr Trump praised the emergency services. "I want great climate and we're going to have that and we're going to have forests that are very safe". She said she was a... [Full Article...]
Leonid meteors to light up the weekend, could turn 'stormy'
It takes place when Earth moves across the orbital path of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Just face north or northwest and look up...there may be a dozen or so per hour! The meteors appear to fly away from a point located within the Sickle of Leo (hence the name " Leonids "). [Full Article...]