The first discovery of 2 colliding black holes just fundamentally changed our perception of the universe

NASA

A team of scientists just announced a groundbreaking discovery that encompasses everything from Albert Einstein's theories about the laws of physics to the fundamental way we approach our study of the universe.

On Thursday at a news conference in Washington, D.C., the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, made up of more than 1,000 scientists worldwide, publicly released results that had been secretly circulating among the scientific community for the past few weeks: the first detection of a phenomenon called gravitational waves that came from two colliding black holes.

This is the first time humans have detected the merging of two black holes, and it is also themost compelling evidence we now have that black holes truly exist.

Black holes are a mysterious breed of cosmic beast whose gravitational pull on their surrounding environment is so great that nothing escapes — not even light.

This makes them impossible to see with the naked eye, difficult to detect, and even tougher to study. As a result, black holes continue to boggle the minds of the most brilliant astrophysicists.

But now, thanks to a $620 million machine called Advanced LIGO, short for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, astrophysicists have a new tool to spy on these elusive creatures.

Russia warns of new WORLD WAR if Syria peace deal is not agreed

Bombing: Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces have been conducting a heavy bombing campaign in Syria

Russia has warned of a permanent World War if the conflict in Syria is not resolved.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also warned against any ground operations by U.S. and Arab forces.

Medvedev, on the eve of a security conference in Munich, said the United States and Russia must exert pressure on all sides in the conflict to secure a ceasefire.

Asked about Saudi Arabia's offer last week to supply ground troops if a U.S.-led operation were mounted against Islamic State, he said:

"This is bad as a ground offensive usually turns the war into a permanent one. Just look at what happened in Afghanistan and many other countries. I don't need to remind you what happened in poor Libya."

This $28-million yacht can run on all-electric power

Wider Yachts

Wider has completed the first sea trials of the Wider 150 superyacht, an all-aluminum ship with a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system.

Designed by Fulvio de Simoni and overseen by Tilli Antonelli, the 150-foot yacht functioned smoothly throughout each test and achieved its forecasted goals.

Wider 150 reached a top speed of 15 knots in diesel-electric mode and utilized new technology to reduce sound and vibrations to a minuscule level.

The battery banks that comprise the heart of the superyacht’s power system were carefully scrutinized. Supplied by ESTechnologies in the Netherlands, the batteries used in the Wider 150’s zero-emission mode were tested over several days to ensure the yacht is capable of running exclusively on battery and generator power.

Disappearing act: Twitter reports flatlining user growth

Twitter set out to build a virtual town square bustling with billions of people. But it's starting to look more like a novelty stand as the masses flock to other services that strike a more personal chord.

The San Francisco company showed no user growth at all in a fourth-quarter report released Thursday, the clearest signal yet that the one-time trendsetter is struggling to remain relevant. That leaves it with 320 million monthly users — roughly one-fifth the size of Facebook.

CEO Jack Dorsey is working hard to reconfigure the decade-old service. That's trickier than it sounds, since he also needs to avoid alienating a core of devoted users who depend on it to tweet their thoughts and track issues that matter to them.

Dorsey took a step in that direction Wednesday, announcing plans to tweak Twitter's timeline to highlight tweets that the service will appeal the most to each user, instead of only presenting them in reverse chronological order. He also has hinted that Twitter may lift its long-standing 140-character limit on the length of each tweet.

Human error' may have caused German train crash, media say

German authorities were on Tuesday investigating how two commuter trains collided head-on, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens injured, despite having been fitted with automatic braking systems to prevent such accidents.

German media reports said Wednesday that human error was likely to blame for the high-speed crashnear the southern spa town of Bad Aibling, when one of the trains sliced into the other and ripped a hole in its side.

But German police rejected the reports as "pure speculation". "Discard that, we reject that," a spokesman told local broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Newspaper group RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschand (RND), citing sources close to the investigation, said a signalling station worker had manually disactivated the automatic signalling system to let the first train – which was running late – go past. The second train then forged ahead on the same track in the opposite direction, before the first was able to split off where the line divides into two.

The Bild newspaper reported that manually disabling the signalling would have disactivated the automatic braking systems.

Police said they were no longer looking for a missing person in the train crash that has killed 10 and injured dozens in a rural area in southern Germany. Police spokesman Stefan Sonntag said Wednesday that after contacting all hospitals in the region, authorities concluded that there was nobody missing after Tuesday's crash.

Shocking new ISIS video shows four-year-old British boy dubbed 'Jihadi Junior' blowing up four alleged spies in a car bomb

The four year old British boy dubbed 'Jihadi Junior' has been filmed detonating the bomb which kills four ISIS prisoners in the group's latest execution video.

Isa Dare, the son of Muslim convert Grace 'Khadija' Dare from south east London, pushes the button that blows up four alleged spies sitting in a white car behind him.

Standing triumphantly next to the charred remains of the car, his hand raised to the sky, the boy then yells: 'Allahu Akbar.'

It is the second time the young boy, who was brainwashed after his mother took him to Syria three years ago, has appeared in one of the extremists' propaganda videos.

Isa Dare, the son of Muslim convert Grace 'Khadija' Dare from south east London, pushes the button (pictured) that blows up four alleged spies sitting in a white car behind him

His grandfather told of how the child begged him to save him just days before he was forced to appear in the first video last month.

In what was seen as a 'promotion' of this latest murderous release, Dare was made to declare: 'We are going to kill the kuffar [non-believers] over there' - before pointing to the men killed in today's video.

Today's video, which is believed to be shot in ISIS's de facto capital of Raqqa, was entitled: 'They are the enemy so be aware of them.'

One by one, each man confessed to either spying on, or conspiring against, ISIS. They were later seen handcuffed to the inside of a car - with a look of utter fear in their eyes.

Before they were killed, the senior ISIS commander standing next to the boy threatened British Prime Minister David Cameron for arming the terror group's enemies in Syria.

He said: 'You will never fight us except behind fortified fortresses or behind walls.

'So no David Cameron, you’ve given the whole world more certainty in this [inaudible]. You’ve only done two things. 

How The Nigerian Students Youth Corpers Discount Card works *Visit www.nsyc.com.ng #NSYCDC @nsycdc

Its Really Simple
1. New and current students during their academic year can apply and enrol for the NS&YC
discount card all year round.
2. Corp members when deployed to their respective states can apply and enrol for the NS&YC
discount card when they are through with their 3 weeks orientation camp training.
3. Once this card has been issued and activated, the bearer can purchase various brands of goods
and services at a discounted price ranging from 5% to 50% discount depending on the service provider
and product seller.
4. The card will have a large number of local and National businesses offering discounts to NYSC
members in Nigeria.
Visit http://nsyc.com.ng/
Twitter & Instagram @nsycdc
Facebook Nigerian students youth corpers discount card