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  • Contact from another world: Thousands of space radio signals reach Earth

    According to Canadian astronomers, Earth has received numerous radio signals from space, some of which are suspected to be messages from extraterrestrial sources, NY Post reported. As per the report, 50 of the messages are said to be coming from “repeating sources”.

    Canadian astronomers discover thousands of deep space radio signals reaching Earth

    The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment has reported the discovery of 25 new repeating sources. They are also referred to as fast radio bursts (FRBs), originating from the depths of the universe. The experiment employs a powerful radio telescope in British Columbia to capture these signals.

    The CHIME/FRB collaboration has labeled these FRBs as “one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy.” Yet, there is concrete evidence indicating that they came from a location beyond the Milky Way galaxy.

    “Most of the thousands of FRBs that astronomers have discovered to date have only ever been seen to burst once. But there is a small subset that have been seen to burst multiple times,” the collaboration stated.

    “One of the big questions is whether the repeating FRBs and those that don’t repeat have similar origins.”

    Dr. Ziggy Pleunis unveils significant revelation about enigmatic FRBs

    According to Dr. Ziggy Pleunis, who authored the study, the recently published research revealed that some of the enigmatic FRBs were not arbitrary signal emissions.

    “We can now accurately calculate the probability that two or more bursts coming from similar locations are not just a coincidence,” Dr. Pleunis said.

    This technology’s progress has provided Earth’s leading experts with greater insight into what lies ahead.

    The development of the CHIME telescope, which has the ability to scan the northern sky daily, has resulted in an increased interception rate of FRBs “from a few tens, to thousands in recent years.”

    The repeating sources of FRBs are considered to be of “uniquely valuable” criteria to astronomers as they can be reobserved in greater detail.

    Firstly, identifying a source as a repeater allows it to be observed in greater detail with other telescopes. Secondly, a larger number of bursts provides a more comprehensive understanding of the range of emissions that a particular source can produce.

    “FRBs are likely produced by the leftovers from explosive stellar deaths.” Pleunis added. “By studying repeating FRB sources in detail, we can study the environments that these explosions occur in and understand better the end stages of a star’s life.”

     

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  • 7.0-magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia

    Indonesia's geological agency has ruled out a tsunami after the epicentre was detected to be at a depth of 594 km.

    An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck the north coast of Java in Indonesia Friday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was recorded in the sea 96 km north of Tuban around 3:25pm IST.

    Indonesia's geological agency has ruled out a tsunami after the epicentre was detected to be at a depth of 594 km.

    The quake was strongly felt in Surabaya, Tuban, Denpasar, and Semarang, reported Reuters quoting a spokesperson for Indonesia's Disaster Agency.

    "There is no damage reported so far because the quake is very deep," Muhari said. "I don't think there will damages but we are still monitoring."

    The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) put the magnitude at 6.5 with a depth of 592 km (368 miles).

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  • News presenter generated with AI appears in Kuwait

    A Kuwaiti media outlet has unveiled a virtual news presenter generated using artificial intelligence, with plans for it to read online bulletins.

    “Fedha” appeared on the Twitter account of the Kuwait News website on Saturday as an image of a woman, her light-coloured hair uncovered, wearing a black jacket and white T-shirt.

    “I’m Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let’s hear your opinions,” she said in classical Arabic.

    The site is affiliated with the Kuwait Times, founded in 1961 as the Gulf region’s first English-language daily.

    Abdullah Boftain, deputy editor in chief for both outlets, said the move is a test of AI’s potential to offer “new and innovative content”.

    In future Fedha could adopt the Kuwaiti accent and present news bulletins on the site’s Twitter account, which has 1.2 million followers, he said.

    “Fedha is a popular, old Kuwaiti name that refers to silver, the metal. We always imagine robots to be silver and metallic in colour, so we combined the two,” Boftain said.

    The presenter’s blonde hair and light-coloured eyes reflect the oil-rich country’s diverse population of Kuwaitis and expatriates, according to Boftain.

     

     

    “Fedha represents everyone,” he said.

    Her initial 13-second video generated a flood of reactions on social media, including from journalists.

    The rapid rise of AI globally has raised the promise of benefits, such as in health care and the elimination of mundane tasks, but also fears, for example over its potential spread of disinformation, threat to certain jobs, and to artistic integrity.

    Kuwait ranked 158 out of 180 countries and territories in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2022 Press Freedom Index.

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  • Speaker Must Decide In Reasonable Time: Court On Sena Disqualification Row

    Speaker Must Decide In Reasonable Time: Court On Sena Disqualification Row

    The top court said that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time.

     

     

     

    New Delhi: The Supreme Court today said that it cannot disqualify the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and rejected the submission to reinstate Uddhav Thackeray as chief minister because the latter had chosen to resign instead of facing a test of strength in the assembly.

    After the verdict, Uddhav Thackeray said that people who had left his party had no right to ask him questions, and if Eknath Shinde has any morality he should submit his resignation.

    A five-member Constitution bench led by the Chief Justice of India, which had been hearing a batch of petitions filed by both the groups of the Shiv Sena from February this year, today ruled that the exercise of discretion by the then Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari to conduct a Floor Test was not in accordance with the Constitution of India.

    The whip has to be appointed by a political party, the court observed.
    The Supreme Court referred its 2016 judgment in the Nabam Rebia case to a larger bench for judgment in the case of the defection of 16 MLAs in June 2022 from the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena.

    The Thackeray faction had sought disqualification of the MLAs under the anti-defection law of the country.

    The top court said that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within a reasonable time.

    The top court said there were no communications relied on by the Governor indicating that the dissatisfied MLAs wanted to withdraw support to the government. The Governor erred in relying on the resolution of a faction of MLAs of Shiv Sena to conclude that Uddhav Thackeray had lost the support of the majority of MLAs.

    It stated that the status quo cannot be restored as Uddhav Thackeray did not face the Floor Test and tendered his resignation. Hence, the Governor was justified in administering the oath to Eknath Shinde with the support of the largest party BJP.

    The Supreme Court said that a Floor Test cannot be used as a medium to settle inter and intra-party disputes.

    The Nabam Rebia judgment had held that Speakers cannot issue disqualification notices when a notice seeking their removal is pending.

    The Supreme Court also said the Speaker if he finds that the motion for his removal is not as per procedure, then he could proceed with the petitions seeking disqualification of the MLAs.

    The top court held that the Speaker's decision to appoint Bharat Gogawale (Eknath Shinde) as the whip of the Shiv Sena party was illegal. The top court said that the Speaker should recognize only the whip appointed by the political party.

    The judgment was delivered by a five-judge bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha.

    The five-judge bench delivered the judgment on a batch of cross-petitions filed by Uddhav Thackeray and chief minister M Eknath Shinde factions on the Maharashtra political crisis.

    The then-governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's decision to invite Shinde to form the government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party after Thackeray chose to resign.

    The court had earlier reserved the order after all the parties concluded their arguments.

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  • Third Blast Near Punjab's Golden Temple In A Week, 5 Arrested

    A low-intensity explosion occurred around 1 am today near Heritage Street in Amritsar's Punjab. This is the third explosion that has taken in five days.

    New Delhi/Amritsar: 

    Five people have been arrested by the Punjab police following an explosion near the Golden Temple in Amritsar late last night.

    A low-intensity explosion occurred around 1 am today near Heritage Street in Amritsar. It is the third explosion that has happened in five days.

    "Amritsar low-intensity explosion cases solved," the Director General of Punjab Police said.

    The first explosion occurred on May 6, and the second on Monday. The site of the low-intensity blast that took place today, is nearly two kilometres from Heritage Street near the Golden Temple, a popular tourist spot in the city.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Punjab Police collected forensic samples from the site of the blast and are probing the incident.

    Preliminary reports suggest that no triggering mechanism was used in the explosion, sources said.

    The explosive used in the two blasts on Heritage Street in Amritsar were packed with two health drink cans.

    One person was injured in the explosion that took place on Monday. No detonator was found, and the police said it appeared that the explosive used in the blast was kept in a container.

    The police said the explosive was crudely made, and no shrapnel was used

    One person was injured, and the glass facades of some buildings were damaged in the blast on May 6.

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