Oct 22, 2019

Hubble Space Telescope captures best view yet of interstellar comet

Gif: NASA/ESA/D. Jewitt (UCLA)

The Hubble Space Telescope has given us our best view yet of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov on its way through our solar system.

Details: The new photos of the comet show it in blue light speeding along, about 420 million kilometers (261 million miles) from Earth.

“Because another star system could be quite different from our own, the comet could have experienced significant changes during its long interstellar journey,” Amaya Moro-Martin of the Space Telescope Science Institute said in a statement.

Background: 2I/Borisov is just the second interstellar object seen on a path through the inner solar system. By studying its chemical composition, the comet could tell us how similar or different other solar systems might be compared to our own.

Go deeper: Astronomers giddy about 2nd interstellar object in 2 years

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Ina Fried

10 mins ago - Technology

Cisco, Sony postpone events amid continued protests

Screenshot: Axios (via YouTube)

Cisco said Monday night that it is postponing the online version of Cisco Live, its major customer event, amid the ongoing protests that have followed the killing of George Floyd.

Why it matters: Cisco joins Sony, Electronic Arts and Google in delaying tech events planned for this week.

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Ina Fried

16 mins ago - Technology

Twitter suspends fake antifa account tied to white nationalists

Twitter said Monday that it has suspended an account named "ANTIFA_US" which it says was tied to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa. Over the weekend, the account had called for violence and its posts had widely circulated online.

Why it matters: It's the latest example of social media being used to exploit and sharpen the very real divisions in American society. It's also the latest example of Twitter more aggressively rooting out false information on its platform.

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Rebecca Falconer

Updated 31 mins ago - Politics & Policy

The latest: George Floyd protests nationwide

Police officers wearing riot gear push back demonstrators outside of the White House on Monday. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AFP via Getty Images

Protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued for a seventh day across the U.S., with President Trump threatening on Monday to deploy the military if the unrest continues.

The latest: Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized federal police in a tweet Monday night for using munitions earlier in the day "on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of (DC Police Department) officers more difficult." "Shameful!" she added as she urged residents to go home and stay safe.

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