Astronomers in Australia have confirmed the discovery of hundreds of galaxies hidden by the Milky Way and a gravitational anomaly known as the Great Attractor.
Until now, the galaxy-rich region of space some 250 million light-years away has been obscured by the stars and dust of the Milky Way.
"The Milky Way is very beautiful of course and it's very interesting to study our own galaxy but it completely blocks out the view of the more distant galaxies behind it," Lister Staveley-Smith, a professor at the University of Western Australia, said in a press release.
Hundreds of galaxies found hiding behind the Milky Way
Alex Baer: Pinging in the Brain
Some stories seem to fade as soon as they appear, while others keep popping back into awareness, wanted or not.
In the language of The Hunt for Red October, which we screened again Sunday, some stories are "one-ping-only," while others pull "Crazy Ivans" for months and months at a whack.
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Yes, we have no TV access in our Little Boonieville, so our screen is used in a quaint, old-fashioned way, as a monitor for selected discs -- movies, documentaries, TV shows. Yes, we miss the still somewhat-sane channels, like PBS or BBC, but we do not yearn for the wallet-hosing expenses associated with cable, satellite dishes, pay-per-peek, uplinks, downloads, nor wireless brain-stem implants, where you change channels by winking and wincing.
Wife of ISIS Figure Charged in American Woman's Death
The wife of a now-deceased Islamic State leader was charged Monday for her alleged role in last year's death of American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller.
Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, 25, the widow of former ISIL leader Abu Sayyaf, allegedly conspired to provide support to the terrorist group, often forcibly holding Mueller in the couple's homes where she was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by ISIL chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Mueller died in February 2015.
Alex Baer: Landmark Decisions
And now, a word about Landmark Decisions: Boxy.
(No, not like the hyper vlogger, nor like those who boil down everything to thinking in-or-outside of that very same box -- but, well, squarish. You know, like a box -- not, um, square-ish, like not being hip or very uncool. Uh, to quote a Monty Python sketch: Wait, I'll come in again...)
As I has begun: Landmark Decisions -- no, wait, hang on, hang on. No running away in panic is required here. There'll be no airing of legal briefs, or any other kind, here today -- much to the relief of all concerned.
No, I was starting to warm up on the weirdly interwoven subjects of Time, Change, Culture, Cars, and Architecture.
Alex Baer: Tales of Doctor Truebeem
It would be so much easier if election laws specified a new tag line at the end of every candidate's campaign ad: a one-line summation of what, exactly, the candidate's overall goal, plan, and aim was all about.
I think you'll admit the current format doesn't help much, where the candidate is heard saying, "I'm M. T. Poseur, [or Ecoli Ebola-Zika, or whoever] and I approved this message."
This gets into trickier ground, though, of course. Who is to say what, exactly, any candidate really, truly stands for -- what he or she really hopes to accomplish? It triggers the whole who-watches-the-watchers Orwellian nightmare.
Alex Baer: Good 'n' Plenty
This way to the time machine: Back when one had to fight pterodactyls in the schoolyard at recess, in order to keep hold of one's snacks, there was a terrible candy called Good & Plenty. It was white and day-glow, neon pink, before there was day-glow anything, and only just as neon was itself being tamed to do electrical tricks.
It was terrible junk -- a chalky outer shell with a hard, black licorice center -- but, it was dirt cheap. It was also pay dirt for the non-discriminating 5-year-old on a budget.
Yes, the downside was that it was horrible, but the upside was that there was a lot of it. Somehow, the combination worked. Such is youth.
Utah legislators back plan to declare porn a health crisis
Utahns castigated the adult entertainment industry in a legislative hearing Friday on a proposed resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis.
Jenny Brown, a member of the Utah Coalition Against Pornography board, said many are scared of the industry because of the "fierce" way it goes after people in court. Brown said it's time for children's rights to be acknowledged and that no one has a right to harm another person.
Alex Baer: Checks Bounced Daily
Let me guess: You're short of breath, your palms are sweaty, and you're not sure where to run and hide. In fact, you suspect this could be the Big One, ala Fred Sanford's eternal get-ready warning to the previously departed Elizabeth. You imagine this must be how the first lungfish felt, when they heaved themselves out of the primordial ooze, and up onto the shore, trying to evolve workable lungs, right on the spot, while hanging out in a Darwinesque While-You-Wait Bait and Tackle Shoppe.
Don't worry about it. It's only one of a couple things -- or, maybe, today's combo platter. I mean, it could be your body struggling with a severe disease or sudden medical condition, but, I'd urge caution here. This is a year evenly divisible by four -- so, your symptoms could mean at least three different things:
Bridge case defendants in court seeking Christie office docs
The two former allies of Gov. Chris Christie charged in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case are in court seeking documents the governor's office wants to keep confidential.
Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly are accused of orchestrating the closures of access lanes to the bridge in September 2013 to punish a local mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election.
Their trial on wire fraud and civil rights counts is scheduled for mid-May.
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