Latest news with #Earths
Geek Tyrant
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
James Gunn Says Two Heroes from Superman's Metahuman Mural Will Play a Big Role in the DCU — GeekTyrant
When Superman dropped earlier this month, James Gunn sparked interest when he revealed there was a mural to look out for in the Hall of Justice. It is a massive metahuman mural, a vibrant showcase of DC Comics history packed with obscure heroes, Golden Age legends, and characters we never expected to see referenced on the big screen. In a recent chat with IGN, Gunn revealed that at least two of the characters depicted on that wall will have a significant role in the DCU moving forward: 'Listen, fans have done a pretty good job, I think they've found all of the different characters,' said Gunn. 'But yeah, I will just say that in one of our scripts we're working on two of those characters are kind of important.' That's it. That's all he would say, but for DC fans, that's enough to send the speculation machine into overdrive. The breakdown of the mural confirmed appearances from over two dozen characters spanning centuries of DC lore. Here are some highlights: Madame Xanadu – A founding member of the Demon Knights and former protégé of Merlin. Silent Knight – A medieval superhero from 6th-century England. Exoristos – An exiled Amazon from Themyscira, predating Wonder Woman herself. Black Pirate – A swashbuckling 16th-century vigilante who met his end in Opal City. Miss Liberty – A heroine from the American Revolution. Whip Whirlwind / Max Mercury – A speedster who can't fully access the Speed Force, often bouncing through time. Max has mentored legends like Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Impulse. Super-Chief – A Pre-Columbian Iroquois warrior with meteorite-granted powers. El Diablo – A cursed cowboy who's crossed paths with Jonah Hex and Jason Blood. Iron Munro – A post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman stand-in for WWII-era stories. Sandman (Wesley Dodds) – The gas-mask-wearing vigilante with a sleeping gas gun. Amazing Man (Will Everett) – A '60s Olympian turned meta-human. Zatara – Legendary magician and father of Zatanna. Liberty Belle – A WWII-era heroine with speed and strength who later married Johnny Quick. Bulletman & Bulletgirl – Gravity-defying crimefighters from the Golden Age. TNT & Dan the Dyna-mite – A positively charged teacher and his negatively charged sidekick with explosive synergy. Phantom Lady – WWII heroine with invisibility and illusion powers. Atomic Knight – A 1960s hero operating in the 'post-apocalyptic future of 1992.' Freedom Beast – African successor to B'wana Beast with animal-merging powers. Wildcat (Ted Grant) – Heavyweight boxer turned costumed crimefighter. Vibe – '80s breakdancing hero with sonic powers. Gunfire – A '90s hero who turns any object into an energy weapon. Maxwell Lord – Already seen in Superman, holding the Firestorm Matrix in the mural. That's a deep cut DC history lineup right there. Gunn confirmed that these two mystery characters are tied to the same upcoming project, but he didn't say if that project is a movie, a live-action series, or an animated show. Naturally, fans are already piecing together the clues: Exoristos feels like a strong candidate for Paradise Lost, the Amazon-centric prequel series set in Themyscira. As an ancient Amazon warrior, she fits perfectly into that mythological setting. Max Mercury is another standout. Not only does he appear twice on the mural (as both Max Mercury and his alias Whip Whirlwind), but his time-jumping speedster lore could easily tie into The Flash or a Speed Force-focused project. Then there's Maxwell Lord, already played by Sean Gunn in Superman. He's holding the Firestorm Matrix in the mural, which could mean a Justice League International–style project—or even something Firestorm-related. But Gunn isn't giving anything away. He left fans with one final tease: 'In one of our scripts we're working on two of those characters are kind of important.' That's it. Two characters. One script. Endless speculation. What do you think? Which two heroes do you believe will show up first—and in what project? Drop your theories below!
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Is THIS where aliens are hiding? Scientists discover a 'super–Earth' planet 35 light–years away – and it might have the right conditions to support life
It's one of the biggest unanswered questions in science. Are there aliens out there, and if so, where are they hiding? Now, researchers may have taken a huge step towards answering this question. Using NASA 's TESS space telescope, a team from Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets has detected a 'super–Earth' 35 light–years away that might be habitable. The planet, called L 98–59 f, is one of five worlds found orbiting a red dwarf star called L 98–59. However, it is the only one with the right conditions to support life. 'Finding a temperate planet in such a compact system makes this discovery particularly exciting,' said Charles Cadieux, lead author of the study. 'It highlights the remarkable diversity of exoplanetary systems and strengthens the case for studying potentially habitable worlds around low–mass stars.' The planet, called L 98–59 f, is one of five worlds found orbiting a red dwarf star called L 98–59 L 98–59 was first discovered in 2019, and was originally confirmed to have just four planets around it. However, by carefully reanalysing data collected from ground–based and space–based telescopes, the team was able to identify a fifth planet. This planet does not transit its host star – meaning it doesn't pass directly between us and the star. However, its presence was confirmed through subtle variations in the star's motion. The scientists believe the planet receives about the same amount of stellar energy as Earth does from the sun. Excitingly, this places it 'firmly' within the habitable zone – a region where water could remain in liquid form. The new study also sheds light on the four other planets orbiting the star. The innermost planet, L 98–59 b, is about 84 per cent the size of Earth, and about half its mass. Meanwhile, the two inner planets are believed to be similar to Jupiter's moon, Io, with extreme volcanic activity. Finally, the fourth planet may be a 'water world', the experts say. 'With its diversity of rocky worlds and range of planetary compositions, L 98–59 offers a unique laboratory to address some of the field's most pressing questions: What are super–Earths and sub–Neptunes made of?' asked René Doyon, co–author of the study. 'Do planets form differently around small stars? Can rocky planets around red dwarfs retain atmospheres over time?' Having found the fifth planet and learned more about the other four, the team now hopes to use James Webb – NASA's most powerful telescope – to study the star system in more detail. 'With these new results, L 98–59 joins the select group of nearby, compact planetary systems that we hope to understand in greater detail over the coming years,' said Alexandrine L'Heureux, co–author of the study. 'It's exciting to see it stand alongside systems like TRAPPIST–1 in our quest to unlock the nature and formation of small planets orbiting red dwarf stars.' PLANETARY SYSTEM L 98-59 The planetary system and its star - which are only around 35 light years away - are both called L 98-59. The planets in this system are the following, from closest to the star to further away: - L 98-59b: This rocky planet has half the mass of Venus (4.868×1024 kg). It's likely dry, but might have small amounts of water. It's smaller than the Earth but still bigger than Mars. - L 98-59c: Likely dry, but might have small amounts of water - L 98-59d: About 30 per cent of the mass of this planet could be water (but note that this would not be liquid water at the planet's surface) - L 98-59e: Has a 'year' of 12.8 days and is at least three times more massive than the Earth (a 'super-Earth'). Its temperature is thought to be only a few ten degrees warmer than that of the Earth. - L 98-59f: In the habitable zone of the star, meaning liquid water may exist at the surface of this planet
New Straits Times
21-07-2025
- General
- New Straits Times
How Malaysians can push back Earth Overshoot Day
LETTERS: Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) marks the date when humanity's demand for ecological resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that same year. In 2025, this day falls on July 24, 2025, about a week earlier than in 2024, when it was marked on Aug 1. This means we are consuming natural resources at a faster rate than before, deepening our ecological deficit. This year's EOD highlights a disturbing fact: humanity is living as though we have 1.8 Earths to support our consumption patterns. Since 1970, we have been in ecological overshoot. Our cumulative ecological debt has now grown to the point where Earth would need 22 years to regenerate what we have used. This represents an unsustainable path and a warning that we cannot continue business as usual. For Malaysians, this is not just a global issue but also a local one. As consumers, we must reflect on how our everyday habits contribute to this imbalance. From excessive energy usage and food waste to overreliance on single-use plastics and imported goods, each choice adds up. What can Malaysian consumers do? Buy only what you need. Avoid impulsive purchases and reduce waste, especially food waste. Store food properly and finish leftovers. Choose items with less packaging or bring your bags and containers. Support the local economy. Buy locally made goods and produce. This reduces the carbon footprint from transportation and helps strengthen our local economy. Conserve energy. Turn off lights and appliances when not in use. Use energy-efficient equipment. Consider using solar-powered solutions where possible. Repair instead of throwing things away. Reuse items when you can, and recycle properly. Encourage children and family members to do the same. Join community efforts and support local environmental programmes, such as tree planting or clean-up drives. Talk to friends and neighbours about small lifestyle changes that can make a big difference. As a nation, we have a shared responsibility to protect the Earth. If we fail to change course, future generations may face severe environmental challenges that range from extreme weather and resource shortages to biodiversity loss. If we take action today, we can move the date of Earth Overshoot Day later each year. This would be a sign that we are moving toward balance and sustainability. Let us be remembered not as the generation that used up the Earth, but as the one that restored it.
Daily Mirror
18-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mirror
Jupiter was once massive enough to hold 2,000 Earths says research
Jupiter, the largest planet in our Solar System, is 11 times wider than Earth, and has a mass 2.5 times greater than all of the rest of the planets combined Astronomers have made an astonishing discovery that Jupiter, the biggest planet of our solar system, was once so colossal it could have enveloped 2,000 Earths. Jupiter takes the crown as the most ancient planet in our system, having emerged from the cosmic detritus that remained after the Sun's birth 4.6 billion years ago. The gas giant's girth is a staggering 11 times that of Earth, which NASA likens to comparing a grape to a basketball in terms of size. Indeed, Jupiter's mass is a hefty 2.5 times that of all other planets in the solar system put together. Yet, fresh research has unveiled that Jupiter's past form was even more immense than its current state – complete with a far mightier magnetic field. "Our ultimate goal is to understand where we come from, and pinning down the early phases of planet formation is essential to solving the puzzle," explained Caltech's planetary science professor Konstantin Batygin. "This brings us closer to understanding how not only Jupiter but the entire Solar System took shape." To unravel the mysteries of Jupiter's growth and subsequent shrinkage, astronomers Batygin and Fred Adams from the University of Michigan studied the planet's diminutive moons, Amalthea and Thebe, reports the Manchester Evening News. With a tally of 95 known moons, Jupiter ranks second in the solar system's moon count. It trails behind Saturn's impressive collection of 274. Amalthea and Thebe are the tiniest and closest companions among Jupiter's four major Galilean moons. Researchers have delved into the orbital dance of Jupiter's moons to deduce the gas giant's past enormity, revealing that a mere 3.8 million years after the Solar System's first solids took shape, Jupiter was already bulking up to 2 to 2.5 times its present mass. They also discovered that back then, its magnetic field was a whopping 50 times more potent than it is now. "It felt remarkable that two relatively minor moons provided such clear evidence of Jupiter's early state," Batygin confessed to "The real excitement was achieving this result independently of complex accretion models that depend on a series of assumptions." Adams marvelled: "It's astonishing that even after 4.5 billion years, enough clues remain to let us reconstruct Jupiter's physical state at the dawn of its existence." So why has Jupiter been on a slimming trend? The study suggests that Jupiter's once mighty magnetic field yanked in material from its surroundings, beefing up the planet by approximately 1.2 to 2.4 Jupiter masses every million years. But as the cosmic buffet ran out, Jupiter's own gravitational pull made it contract, thus becoming more compact and spinning up its rotation rate. Jupiter continues to gradually shrink even today. As its surface and core cool down, the core compresses and heats up, causing the planet to slowly bleed energy. This intriguing research has been detailed in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
This supermassive black hole is eating way too quickly — and 'burping' at near-light speeds
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers have witnessed a distant supermassive black hole devouring its surrounding matter so rapidly that it is "burping" out excess mass at nearly a third of the speed of light. The discovery was made when researchers studied the supermassive-black-hole-powered Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) of a Seyfert galaxy located about 1.2 billion light-years away. The black hole, designated PG1211+143, has a mass around 40 million times that of the sun and powers a bright quasar. This made it a prime target for astronomers seeking to understand how supermassive black holes grow by feeding on, or "accreting," matter. The team examined the black hole using the European Space Agency (ESA) X-ray spacecraft XMM-Newton, finding an influx of matter equivalent to the mass of 10 Earths flowing to the object over a period of just five weeks. The matter falling around the black hole settles into a flattened cloud of gas and dust called an accretion disk, from which material is fed to the central black hole. But even this monstrous black hole can't stomach so much matter, leading to some serious indigestion in the form of outflows travelling at around 0.27 times the speed of light. That's about 181 million miles per hour, or 100,000 times the top speed of a Lockheed Martin F-16 jet fighter. These outflows followed the black hole's inflow of matter with a delay of a few days, heating matter around the AGN to temperatures of several million degrees. This generated radiation pressure that pushed excess matter away from the central region of PG1211+143. Because stars form in galaxies from excesses of cold, dense gas, these high-speed outflows could be starving PG1211+143's surrounding space of the building blocks for new stars, both by heating gas and dust and by pushing that material away. That means studying these high-speed outflows from this black hole could help scientists to discover how black hole eruptions transform galaxies from hubs of star birth to a more quiescent existence. Related Stories: — Scientist image 3-million-light-year-long 'cosmic web' ensnaring 2 galaxies for 1st time — 'Superhighways' connecting the cosmic web could unlock secrets about dark matter — How does the Cosmic Web connect Taylor Swift and the last line of your 'celestial address?'years "Establishing the direct causal link between massive, transient inflow and the resulting outflow offers the fascinating prospect of watching a supermassive black hole grow by regular monitoring of the hot, relativistic winds associated with the accretion of new matter," team leader Ken Pounds from the University of Leicester said in a team's research was published on June 10 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)
