Search

Placeholder Content Image

Property from a galaxy far, far away heads to the market

<p dir="ltr">The time has come for dreams to be realised, particularly if you’re someone with a passion for outer space - or more specifically, a galaxy far, far, away - and want to live among the stars while keeping your feet planted firmly on the ground. </p> <p dir="ltr">Approved plans for a <em>Star Wars </em>light cruiser-inspired property are heading to the auction block, with a Melbourne-based IT specialist launching his 131 Pipers Creek Road campaign on May 4 - better known as ‘Star Wars Day’. </p> <p dir="ltr">With a price guide of $1.05m-$1.15m, the 2.42ha block in Kyneston is perfect for any buyer with enough passion to carry out Shyam Avatapalli’s galactic-level plans. </p> <p dir="ltr">As Avatapalli explained, his intention was to either build the home and sell it, or just to sell it along with the appropriate permits. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s inspired by one of the space ships from one of the older films and The Mandalorian TV series, called a<em> Star Wars</em> light cruiser,” he told <em>Herald Sun</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve always been a <em>Star Wars </em>fan and always like to think outside of the box when designing or building something.”</p> <p dir="ltr">It isn’t the first unique approach to property planning that Avatapalli has taken, with his own home in Donvale boasting a kitchen that also draws heavy inspiration from<em> Star Wars</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">The potential Kyneston home’s location was selected for its otherworldly and treeless landscape, with Avatapalli even securing a permit for “a low cost culvert crossing” over the block’s creek, along with those for the property itself. </p> <p dir="ltr">The five-bedroom home was designed in collaboration with an architect, and would feature Colorbond steel as well as a hallway resembling one aboard a fictional spacecraft, and three water tanks that may draw Boeing 747 jet engine’s to mind, as they were inspired by the real-life planes.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for where the hallway’s ‘middle cylinder’ might come from, Avatarpalli intends to put the buyer in contact with an art dealer who could help them to get their hands on a jet engine “built by Rolls Royce in the 1970s”. According to Avatarpalli, it would even be from a “real British Airways flight”.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Ray White’s Brendan Milner said, “the sky was the limit” for the property’s next proud owner, as well as noting that they were likely to be someone searching for “a bit of a wow factor, one-off property, with eccentric taste that goes with the design …</p> <p dir="ltr">“Because it’s a spaceship anyone with an otherworldly fascination would definitely have an interest.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: realestate.com.au </em></p>

Real Estate

Placeholder Content Image

New Australian telescope to help find far-flung galaxies

<p dir="ltr">A new multi-lensed telescope will give Australian astronomers a new set of eyes to search for and study ultra-faint galaxies and astronomical objects in the southern hemisphere.</p> <p dir="ltr">Appropriately named the Huntsman Telescope, the instrument is made up of 10 Canon super-telephoto lenses and has begun science operations at the Siding Spring observatory in north-central NSW, near the town of Coonabarabran.</p> <p dir="ltr">Along with spying distant astronomical objects and galaxies, the telescope is expected to be used to view transient astronomical events, such as sudden explosions of stars.</p> <p dir="ltr">Scientists hope to use the Huntsman to further our understanding of how galaxies form and evolve, how they engage with structures around them, and what happens when galaxies collide.</p> <p dir="ltr">According to Dr Lee Spitler, the Principal Investigator of the Huntsman Telescope, the telescope’s work will be crucial for understanding what could happen if our Milky Way Galaxy ever collided with its neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, which is theorised to occur in 4.5 billion years.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Huntsman Telescope is pioneering the way in which we view our Southern skies by capturing images of the faintest galaxy structures that conventional telescopes simply couldn’t,” Dr Spitler said in a <a href="https://spaceaustralia.com/index.php/news/new-huntsman-telescope-turns-its-eyes-sky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2b971d8-7fff-8d04-3a74-6ad790618068"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“The ability to observe the remnants of galaxies colliding with each other and searching for the faintest and smallest galaxies in the Universe will help us understand the potential fate of the Milky Way in the far distant future.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/08/huntsman-telescope.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Huntsman Telescope looks deep into space at the Siding Spring Observatory. Image: Macquarie University</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Though named after a spider, PhD candidate Sarah Caddy said the Huntsman Telescope’s ten individual “eyes” was inspired by the northern hemisphere’s Dragonfly Array program, but its technology has been pushed even further.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Huntsman’s new suite of powerful computers enable each lens or ‘eye’ of the Huntsman to operate independently of each other. This will allow the telescope to autonomously detect ultra-fast transient events like stellar flares from distant stars or even more exotic phenomena like aiding the search for origin of fast radio bursts that continue to elude astronomers,” Ms Caddy explained.</p> <p dir="ltr">“After the success of Dragonfly in the northern hemisphere, it certainly makes sense to have a similar facility here in the Southern Hemisphere to access parts of the sky that Dragonfly can’t. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Not only that, but Australia is home to many world-class radio telescope facilities. Combining data from radio surveys of the southern sky with Huntsman optical data will help us piece together a more complete view of how galaxies evolve.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“Even the geographical location of Australia is important for Huntsman’s transient science goals. Huntsman will contribute to the growing number of Australian rapid response facilities aiming to capture events like the optical counterparts to Fast Radio Burst and Gravitational Wave progenitors.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are so excited to see the project move from the commissioning phase into full-time science mode, and I can’t wait to see how this amazing new facility will help Astronomers explore our Universe in the years to come,” she concluded.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-105d4c57-7fff-bfbf-50d3-215a65a3ee12"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Macquarie University</em></p>

Technology

Placeholder Content Image

James Webb Telescope captures oldest galaxy

<p dir="ltr">After its <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/technology/nasa-releases-highest-resolution-images-of-infrared-universe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first images</a> spread like wildfire across the internet, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is believed to have broken the record for the oldest galaxy ever detected.</p> <p dir="ltr">Scientists from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center of Astrophysics have identified a 13.5-billion-year-old galaxy called GLASS-z13, which dates to 300 million years after the Big Bang.</p> <p dir="ltr">The previous record-holder was a galaxy known as GN-Z1, spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016, with its light taking 13.4 billion years to reach Hubble.</p> <p dir="ltr">The team of researchers, who shared their findings in a pair of preprints published on Wednesday, also identified another galaxy, GLASS-z11, which is roughly the same age as GLASS-z13.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-52462869-7fff-9362-ee05-0113f733676e">"We found two very compelling candidates for extremely distant galaxies," Rohan Naidu, one of the researchers who detected GLASS-z13 in Webb's data, told <em><a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=35871X943606&isjs=1&jv=15.2.4-stackpath&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fwebb-space-telescope-found-oldest-and-most-distant-known-galaxy-2022-7&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Farticle%2F2329601-jwst-has-found-the-oldest-galaxy-we-have-ever-seen-in-the-universe%2F&xs=1&xtz=-600&xuuid=388e4cc6413616544971c2f592b98908&abp=1&xcust=xid%3Afr1658964936510ffc&xjsf=other_click__auxclick%20%5B2%5D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Scientist</a></em>. </span></p> <p><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/07/glass-z13-1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The red circle captured by the James Webb Space Telescope is believed to be the oldest galaxy ever observed. Image: Naidu et al, P. Oesch, T. Treu, GLASS-JWST, NASA/CSA/ESA/STScI</em></p> <p dir="ltr">"If these galaxies are at the distance we think they are, the universe is only a few hundred million years old at that point."</p> <p dir="ltr">Researchers told the publication that these two galaxies are relatively small compared to the Milky Way galaxy, which is 100,000 light-years wide. In comparison, GLASS-z13 is approximately 1600 light-years wide, while GLASS-z11 is 2,300 light-years in diameter.</p> <p dir="ltr">"With the advent of JWST, we now have an unprecedented view of the universe thanks to the extremely sensitive NIRCam instrument," researchers explained in the <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2207.09434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preprint</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though the JWST commenced science operations in mid-July, it is expected that it will help scientists uncover more about the universe’s age and evolution. </p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://webb.nasa.gov/content/science/firstLight.html#:~:text=Webb%20will%20be%20a%20powerful,darkness%20of%20the%20early%20universe." target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA attributes this</a> to its ability to peer further back in time - as far as the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang - allowing for the discovery of previously unseen galaxies.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9589b833-7fff-c5fc-c0d6-834b46d8fe93"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Naidu et al, P. Oesch, T. Treu, GLASS-JWST, NASA/CSA/ESA/STScI</em></p>

Technology

Placeholder Content Image

Samsung delaying Galaxy Fold launch due to screen issues

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A report from </span><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/samsungs-galaxy-fold-smartphone-release-delayed-11555941705?mod=e2tw"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Wall Street Journal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has suggested that Samsung are pushing the breaks on the Samsung Galaxy Fold, which is the brands latest phone.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Galaxy Fold is a phone that is bendable, but people have found it too flimsy. The Fold has been plagued with bad press since the announcement, but not all complaints have been legitimate.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some had issues with the size of the phone, but that can be overlooked as the users adjust to their new device.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, other issues are more pressing. Some users, who were too excited about their new phone to read the instructions, peeled off the protective film that is necessary for the device to function properly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Those who keep the film on report a large crease down the middle of their phone that is frustrating to look at.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">After one day of use... <a href="https://t.co/VjDlJI45C9">pic.twitter.com/VjDlJI45C9</a></p> — Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevekovach/status/1118571414934753280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">17 April 2019</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some are folding the phone like it’s built to do, but are losing the function of the other screens. Journalists who have been given the phones as trials are reporting these problems, which can be seen in the tweet below.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> <p dir="ltr">The screen on my <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GalaxyFold?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GalaxyFold</a> review unit was completely broken and unusable just two days in. Today Samsung has replaced my review unit, and I am waiting on an official statement. <a href="https://t.co/VXionV5PsO">pic.twitter.com/VXionV5PsO</a></p> — Gautam Tandon (@TheGautamTandon) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheGautamTandon/status/1118804506618335237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">18 April 2019</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Samsung have released a statement addressing the issues with the phones:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We recently unveiled a completely new mobile category: A smartphone using multiple new technologies and materials to create a display that is flexible enough to fold. We are encouraged by the excitement around the Galaxy Fold.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“While many reviewers shared with us the vast potential they see, some also showed us how the device needs further improvements that could ensure the best possible user experience.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“To fully evaluate this feedback and run further internal tests, we have decided to delay the release of the Galaxy Fold. We plan to announce the release date in the coming weeks.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Initial findings from the inspection of reported issues on the display showed that they could be associated with impact on the top and bottom exposed areas of the hinge. There was also an instance where substances found inside the device affected the display performance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We will take measures to strengthen the display protection. We will also enhance the guidance on care and use of the display including the protective layer so that our customers get the most out of their Galaxy Fold.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We value the trust our customers place in us and they are always our top priority. Samsung is committed to working closely with customers and partners to move the industry forward. We want to thank them for their patience and understanding.”</span></p>

Technology

Placeholder Content Image

There’s a beaming face smiling at earth from a distant galaxy

<p>Hubble scientists recently discovered a galaxy cluster – also known as massive structures that exert a gravitational pull strong enough to warp the spacetime around them. This galaxy cluster resembles a face with two bright eyes, a button nose and a smile.</p><p>The curving image that resembles a grin is an effect called gravitational lensing, which is essentially light bending. Here's how NASA explains it:</p><p>“In this special case of gravitational lensing, a ring – known as an Einstein Ring – is produced from this bending of light, a consequence of the exact and symmetrical alignment of the source, lens and observer and resulting in the ring-like structure we see here.”</p><p>The Hubble Space Telescope orbits Earth at about five miles per second; a complete spin takes 97 minutes. The Hubble routinely delivers these images from deep space, helping us further understand big concepts like the age of our universe.</p><p>One of Hubble’s most famous images is called the eXtreme Deep Field, the farthest-ever view of the universe, which reveals thousands of galaxies billions of light years away.</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/02/australia-oldest-man-knits-for-penguins/" target="_blank">Australia’s oldest man knits mini-sweaters for injured penguins</a></strong></span></em></p><p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/02/woman-has-not-smiled-in-40-years/" target="_blank">This woman hasn’t smiled for 40 years to prevent wrinkles</a></strong></span></em></p><p><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/news/news/2015/02/new-stroke-research/" target="_blank">Doctors pioneer new stroke treatment with amazing results</a></strong></span></em></p>

News

Our Partners

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.