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In the far future, we could reveal detailed views of distant worlds by turning our home star into a gravitational lens Diagram showing a conceptual imaging technique that uses the sun’s gravitational field to magnify light from exoplanets. This would allow for highly advanced reconstructions of what exoplanets look like. We now know of more than 5,000 exoplanets beyond the solar system. What we really understand about each of these worlds, though, is barely anything at all. Most of them have been seen only indirectly from their shadows as they cross in front of the stars they orbit. The...

Florida police released the mugshot of the 10-year-old boy they publicly arrested and perp walked for allegedly threatening a mass shooting at his elementary school. Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who touts himself as Florida's 'law and order sheriff,' defended publicly exposing the juvenile by saying 'a child pulling a trigger equals the same aftermath.' Daniel Issac Marquez, 10, was arrested Saturday and charged with making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting after sending a text about Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral. The boy's alleged text read: 'I scammed my friend' and included a Google image of...

He warned scientists to use caution in using the practice of METI, or “Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence” for fear it could provoke an alien invasion. But Caballero conceded that the odds of extraterrestrials wiping out the human species is about the same as the planet being destroyed by a “global catastrophe asteroid.” He wrote that such an event takes place once every 100 million years, so humans are in all likelihood safe for the time being.

It was supposed to be a clear-cut, unambiguous invasion. Vladimir Putin’s much larger, richer, and more bellicose Russia staged a shock-and-awe attack on a much smaller, poorer Ukraine. He intended to decapitate the government in Kyiv. Then he would annex the eastern half of the country, and quickly consolidate his easy wins in preparation to ratchet up pressure to force western Ukraine into the Russian Federation.The rest is history. The Russian military proved ill-equipped and ill-supplied. It was poorly led, with a high percentage of low-morale, conscript troops. Russia had no viable strategic plan to capture, much less hold, the...

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink” (Proverbs 31:4).

Video LinkFemale Uke refugee women are being asked tone it down in Sweden so as not to stir up the male Muslim population.

Warm Weather Concealment SOLVED.

A tabernacle valued at $2 million was stolen from a Roman Catholic church in Brooklyn over Memorial Day weekend, according to the New York Police Department. Officials also say statues of angels flanking the church altar were decapitated over the weekend. The tabernacle theft likely occurred sometime between 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Saturday at St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church near Slope Park, according to police officials. How did vandals accomplish this much damage at the church? Police say power tools were used to "forcefully cut open" the altar and access the 18-karat-gold tabernacle — which has been part...

The school police chief faulted for having officers stay back during a gunman's deadly siege at a campus in Uvalde, Texas, last week is free to take his elected seat on the City Council, the mayor said Monday. Peter Arredondo, the chief of police for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, was said to be the incident commander who ordered officers to remain outside during the more-than-hourlong siege at Robb Elementary School last week. Despite the ultimate presence of city, state and federal law enforcement officers who presumably could have pulled rank and assumed command, Texas Department of Public Safety...

Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has revealed the difficulties he faced after contracting Covid-19. The 34-year-old contracted the virus in early January, as reported by CNN. In an interview with Argentinian broadcaster TYC Sports on Monday, Messi noted that when he initially became unwell with Covid-19, he experienced the typical symptoms of the virus — sore throat, coughing and fever. However, when the initial effects cleared up, the seven-time Ballon D’Or winner continued to struggle with respiratory issues. “It left me with after effects. It left me with after effects in my lungs. I came back and it...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Diane Murray struggled with her decision all the way up to Election Day. But when the time came, the 54-year-old Georgia Democrat cast a ballot in last week’s Republican primary for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. While state law allowed her to participate in either party’s primary, she said it felt like a violation of her core values to vote for the Republican. But it had to be done, she decided, to prevent a Donald Trump -backed “election denier” from becoming the battleground state’s election chief. “I feel strongly that our democracy is at risk, and that...

"Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. "Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." Matthew, Chapter 9 1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man...

Years before Ray Liotta landed meaty roles in “Field of Dreams” and “Goodfellas,” the charismatic actor was rolling in dough at a pizzeria in Cranford, NJ. Liotta was boyhood pals with Vincent Preziosi, Jr., whose mom, Ronnie, now 93, and dad, Vincent Sr., started Pizza House/Pizza Chef in Newark in the 1950s before relocating the business to Cranford in 1970. Liotta worked at the pizzeria during his high summer vacations from 1971 to 1973. “We were making $3.50 an hour back then,” Preziosi Jr. recalled. “Ray was a great worker. … He used to show before me. He was a...

China has made the second-largest incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters. Taiwan’s defence ministry said late Monday it had scrambled its own aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the latest Chinese activity. In recent years, Beijing has begun sending large sorties into Taiwan’s defence zone to signal dissatisfaction and to keep Taipei’s ageing fighter fleet regularly stressed.

A headache-prone Pokemon character given away in KFC children's meals has become China's most wanted toy, selling for up to US$200 (S$274), as people seek ways to express their frustrations over Covid-19 lockdowns. KFC began handing out Psyduck in China on May 21, ahead of a promotion for Children's Day on June 1, and the toy has become a focal point for social media users angered by weeks of lockdown. One video, showing the character, known as Koduck in Japan, holding a sign saying "I don't want to take Covid testing" in one wing, and "I want to go out...

As soon as Stranger Things: Season 4 dropped on Netflix, English singer-songwriter Kate Bush's 1985 hit, Running Up That Hill (Deal With God) started sprinting up the iTunes and Spotify charts, as a new generation of audience started to discover the powerful song after it was featured significantly in the show. According to LA Times, Running Up That Hill was top on iTunes on Sunday (May 29). It is also currently #13 on Spotify's Daily Top 200. People have also apparently been searching for the song after the season debuted last week, so Google-search traffic has also spiked. The song...

...Following the horrific massacre of schoolchildren and teachers last week in Uvalde, Texas -- which followed the horrific massacre of mostly Black shoppers at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York -- the NRA went ahead with its planned annual convention in Houston. The convention reportedly attracted thousands of protesters and repelled a handful of scheduled performers, who withdrew after the killings in Uvalde. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also backed out, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott canceled his appearance, doing a pretaped video instead. That trouble is hardly all-encompassing -- major speakers such as former President Donald Trump and...

Surviving in microgravity One of the biggest challenges for human colonisers will be staying fit and healthy on Mars. Studies have shown that transitioning from one gravity field to another can affect spatial orientation, head-eye and hand-eye coordination, balance and locomotion. Astronauts also experience changes to bone and muscle in space. ‘Moreover, the fluids in the body shift upward to the head in microgravity, which may put pressure on the eyes and cause vision problems,’ NASA added. ‘If preventive or countermeasures are not implemented, crews may experience an increased risk of developing kidney stones due to dehydration and increased excretion...

A top Kremlin official on Monday disputed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is getting progressively worse amid rumors that he may have cancer.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a response to the reports, saying that Putin “makes public appearances on a daily basis.”“You can see him on TV screens, read, and listen to his speeches. I don’t think that a sane person can suspect any signs of an illness or ailment in this man,” he added. “I’ll leave it on the conscience of those who disseminate such rumors despite daily opportunities for everyone to see how he and...