📌 Expanding Universe, Chokehold Trial, More

Two years of data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has found the universe is expanding rapidly.

The data of a study validated the Hubble Space Telescope's finding that the rate of the universe's expansion is faster — by about 8% — than would be expected based on astrophysicists’ knowledge of the initial conditions in the cosmos and its evolution over billions of years.

Astrophysicist Adam Riess of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, lead author of the study and a 2011 Nobel laureate in physics, said: “Our understanding of the universe contains a lot of ignorance about two elements — dark matter and dark energy — and these make up 96% of the universe. This is no small matter.”

Dark matter, thought to comprise about 27% of the universe, is a hypothesized form of matter invisible but is inferred to exist based on its gravitational effects on ordinary matter — stars, planets, moons, all the stuff on Earth — which accounts for roughly 5% of the universe.

Dark energy, believed to comprise about 69% of the universe, is a hypothesized form of energy permeating vast swathes of space that counteracts gravity and drives the universe's accelerating expansion.

The Big Bang event 13–14 billion years ago initiated the universe, and it has been expanding ever since. Scientists in 1998 disclosed that this expansion was accelerating, with dark energy as the hypothesized reason.

“Exactly what size is it (the discrepancy)? Is the mismatch at the lower end, 4–5%, or the higher end, 10–12%, of what the current data allows? Over what range of cosmic time is it present? These will further inform ideas," Riess said.

Former Marine Daniel Penny was acquitted on Monday in the death of a street performer on the New York subway.

Penny was facing a single charge of criminally negligent homicide after the judge dismissed the more serious second-degree manslaughter charge on Friday due to a deadlocked jury.

Penny claimed he was defending other passengers on the subway in May 2023 when he choked Jordan Neely. The Michael Jackson impersonator was acting erratically and shouting about being hungry and being willing to die, kill, or go to jail.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Penny acted recklessly by maintaining a chokehold on Neely for about six minutes. Penny, 26, did not testify, however, his defense team argued the former Marine’s sole intention was to subdue Neely until police arrived.

The case sparked a nationwide debate as communities grapple with issues of homelessness, public safety, and vigilantism.

Following Neely’s death, demonstrations broke out across New York City, with activists demanding justice. At the same time, Penny garnered significant public support, raising millions for his legal defense fund.

Introducing Willow, a state-of-the-art quantum chip with significant advancements in error reduction and speed.

Willow reduces errors as more qubits are added, addressing a key challenge in quantum error correction pursued for nearly 30 years.

The chip performed a benchmark computation in under five minutes, a task that would take the fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years.

Hartmut Neven, Founder and Lead of Google Quantum AI, said, “The next challenge for the field is to demonstrate a first useful, beyond-classical computation on today's quantum chips that is relevant to a real-world application.”

The chip demonstrated exponential error reduction, achieving ‘below threshold’ status, a critical milestone in quantum error correction. Neven said advanced AI will significantly benefit from access to quantum computing.

“Quantum computation will be indispensable for … training and optimizing certain learning architectures and modeling systems,” Neven said. It will help discover medicines, design more efficient batteries for electric cars, and accelerate progress in fusion and energy alternatives, he said.

Rupert Murdoch’s three adult children will retain control over their father’s media empire upon his death, a Nevada court ruled.

Murdoch had tried to wrest away their power and give it all to his oldest son. Murdoch took three of his adult children, James, Elisabeth and Prudence, to court as he tried to completely remove their voting power over the trust Murdoch set up.

The current trust structure gives all four adult children equal voting power over Murdoch’s empire, which includes Fox News and News Corp, but Murdoch wanted to give Lachlan, his oldest son and most likeminded child, complete control over the media companies.

Representatives for Murdoch did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Adam Streisand, one of Murdoch’s lawyers, said Murdoch planned to appeal the decision. Lawyers for James, Elisabeth and Prudence have not spoken publicly about the decision.

Robert Thompson, a media scholar based at Syracuse University, said: “The Fox model has worked very well. … I’m not completely convinced that these Murdochs are going to, in the end, be able to really revolutionize the behemoth that Dad created.”

John Dramani Mahama has won a chance to rewrite his legacy, being declared the winner on Dec. 8 of Ghana’s general election.

Mahama was voted out of office in 2016 by what was then the highest margin in the post-independence history of the west African nation amid corruption scandals and an energy crisis that had crippled the country.

But he has made a comeback, winning 56.55% of the total valid votes cast according to the country’s Electoral Commission. It is the largest margin of victory in a Ghanaian election since 1996. Voter turnout was 60.9%.

Ghanaians headed to the polls amid rising poverty and a high cost of living. The country is currently receiving US$3 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Inflation, allegations of corruption, the high cost of living and rampant illegal mining all led to protests over the past two years.

Mahama has proposed a “24-hour economy” that seeks to boost economic activity by supporting businesses to operate continuously over 24 hours in key economic hubs. Mahama has promised to create job opportunities in emerging fields such as agribusiness, digital technology and renewable energy.

A 26-year-old man was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.

Luigi Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald's in the town of Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 280 miles west of New York City, on Monday after a customer at the fast-food outlet recognized him.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was found in possession of a gun and a handwritten document that indicated “motivation and mindset,” police said. Mangione then appeared in a Pennsylvania court to be arraigned on five initial counts and was denied bail.

Just hours later, New York investigators charged Mr Mangione with murder and four other counts, including firearms charges.

Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back last Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare, the medical insurance giant he led, was holding an investors' meeting.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen became the first Brazilian skier to finish on a World Cup podium when he placed second in a giant slalom.

In Beaver Creek, Colorado, on Sunday, Pinheiro Braathen celebrated the achievement in truly Brazilian — and Pinheiro — style: with a samba dance on the podium, the Brazilian flag wrapped around his waist, and cowboy boots on his feet.

"I came onto the circuit to make a difference. I came here to be myself and hopefully be an inspiration to the outcasts out there, to the people that feel a bit different, to follow their own path,” Pinheiro Braathen said.

Pinheiro Braathen’s mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He had raced for Norway until abruptly retiring a little more than a year ago after getting into a dispute with the Norwegian ski federation following modeling work for a rival brand of the federation’s clothing supplier.

In March, Pinheiro Braathen announced his comeback for Brazil, a federation that had not been represented on Alpine skiing’s World Cup circuit since 2016.