Month: December 2015

The ALMA Telescope’s antennas are seen under a starry night sky. (credit: Christoph Malin)

Scientists and amateur astronomers have long been fascinated by the possibility of a "Planet X" at the edge of the solar system that may explain some apparent anomalies in the orbits of planets such as Neptune and Uranus. However, in recent years, astronomers have largely ruled out the possibility of a large, unseen planet far beyond the orbit of Pluto.

Research groups from Sweden and Mexico have now submitted pre-prints of two research papers to arXiv (here and here) that claim to have discovered a massive object at the edge of the solar system. Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile during 2014 and 2015, the astronomers spied "a new blackbody point source" that appears to be moving in conjunction with the Alpha Centauri star system, about 4.3 light years from Earth.

The authors do not believe the new object is part of the Alpha Centuari system, however, because if it were that far away, such a star would have been bright enough to be seen before. Rather, they offer several explanations for the object, which one of the research teams named "Gna." Perhaps most notably, they suggest a "Super Earth" at a distance of about 300 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, or about six times further than Pluto is at its aphelion. Another explanation is a "super-cool" brown dwarf (too big to be a planet, too small to be a star) at about 20,000 AU from the Sun.

(credit: david reid)

Chubb, the company famous for its eponymous locks and other safety equipment, is to offer its clients in the UK the first ever "troll insurance." Chubb personal insurance policy holders will be able to claim up to £50,000 towards expenses that include professional counselling, relocation due to online abuse, or time spent off work.

Cyberbullying is defined by the insurer as "three or more acts by the same person or group to harass, threaten or intimidate a customer," the Financial Times reports.

The inclusion of cyberbullying into Chubb's policies is a result of a survey of the target audience and brokers.

(credit: John Robertson)

Amidst rows of battered tables and chairs, some which look as though they've survived a few rough terms at a British state school, the world's best Kick Off 2 players are preparing to compete. The venue—nestled in the heart of Dublin and a stone's throw from the infamous Temple Bar district—is the former Williams and Woods chocolate factory, a grubby graffiti-covered building that's home to the city's burgeoning creative community.

Glamorous it is not, but there's a sense that this event belongs here. The gutted interior, with its peeling walls and windows that haven't been cleaned in years, give the building an artistic vibe, a feeling that what's created here might stand the test of time. This is not the kind of building that is concerned with trivial matters like fashions and trends—and I suspect that's exactly how the players like it.

After all, Kick Off 2 is hardly fashionable. Released in 1990 for the Amiga and Atari ST, the classic football game was a strong competitor to the Sensible Soccer series. Both were played from a birds-eye view, and both used just a single button to pass, shoot, and tackle. Misdirection and razor-sharp movements, as opposed to any intimate knowledge of skill moves or speciality shots, were the key to success.

(credit: US Embassy London)

A former staffer at the United States Embassy in London pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple counts of stalking, extortion, and computer fraud, among others.

Earlier this year, Michael C. Ford was formally charged in a federal court in Atlanta with running his elaborate sextortion scheme against hundreds of women—incredibly, primarily from his heavily monitored, government-owned work computer.

According to government prosecutors, Ford would write to women, saying he had obtained nude photographs of that victim. This was the case for one woman, dubbed "Jane Doe One," an 18-year-old woman in Kentucky. Ford wrote to Jane Doe One, demanding that she send videos of "sexy girls" undressing in changing rooms. He threatened to publish sexually explicit photos of her if she did not comply.