The brightest stars may owe their origin to black holes

Astronomers at the Chandra X-ray Observatory are agog with findings that may very well trash traditional theories and view the bleak and enigmatic black holes of the Milky Way as originators of new stars. While older theories have held that black holes are the galaxy's destructive forces, these scientists believe that the evidence lies in disks of gas inhabit the vicinity of the black holes to support the new ”star-spawning” theory.

The enigma that surrounds the black holes has spurred numerous science fiction space adventures with the shrunken star remnant's invisible but violent pull even dragging light out of shape into its mysterious vortex. The study that was conducted by the University of Leicester's Sergei Nayakshin and Max Planck Institute's Rashid Sunyaev dwelled into the possibility of black holes playing constructive roles in the galaxies. The spiral Milky Way that supports the earth's solar system on one of its several arms radiating from its core also contains a black hole at its center surrounded by a cluster of stars.

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The birth of TV gadgets

DO you find the MRT rides boring despite the hundreds of songs on your iPod? How would you like to watch Desperate Housewives on it to while away the time?

The updated version of the original iPod has a 6.35cm screen on which you can watch music videos and even TV programmes. --AP
Now you can, thanks to the new iPod video player launched by Apple Computer yesterday.

The tech giant has forged a deal with Walt Disney that will allow users to watch their favourite TV shows while on the move.

''It's a stunner and yes, it does video,'' said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs while unveiling the portable video player with a 6.35cm colour screen on which users can watch music videos, TV programmes and display photos as well.


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Cosmic cooperation

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia I wonder what the Russian spaceflight pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, one of the greatest futurist visionaries of the 20th century, would have made of the latest Chinese space mission. In 1903, at the dawn of wood-and-canvas aviation, Tsiolkovsky had already come up with the idea of a multistage rocket and calculated what speed would be needed to reach escape velocity and achieve Earth orbit. It was Tsiolkovsky who authored the famous utopian formulation "The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but humanity can't remain in its cradle forever" - probably the single most quoted sentence among advocates of human space exploration everywhere.

With two Chinese astronauts having blasted off early Wednesday and now in orbit of the Earth and with an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut currently crewing the International Space Station, it's worth reflecting on the fact that Tsiolkovsky didn't say that it was the Russians who would outgrow the terrestrial cradle, or the Americans, or any other nation for that matter. Rather he was concerned with the fate of the entire species. In any case, the maturation he was referring to presumably precluded such adolescent rivalries as superpower competition.

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China astronauts blast into space

China has successfully launched its second manned spacecraft, carrying two Chinese astronauts into orbit.

The lift-off, from Jiuquan in the Gobi desert, was shown live on state television and included views from a camera on the outside of the craft.

The mission is expected to see the Shenzhou VI orbit the Earth for five days, during which the astronauts will carry out experiments.

It comes almost exactly two years after China's first manned space flight.

In a sign of growing official confidence about the programme, the launch was announced in advance and broadcast in full on state television.

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