#featurenews

By Euen Seok Lee - 01043170055

(The New York Times / Isaac Lawrence—Getty Images) [AP News,Reuters,The New York Times,BBC News] - WE ARE IN DANGER. Is this what experts and researchers out there wanted to say? I believe everyone must have heard about the term Artificial intelligence. But is it truly helping us or it has some critical issues that affect our human being?

First of all, what actually is Artificial Intelligence? Artificial Intelligence which also being called as AI is an area of computer science that emphasize the creation of intelligent machines that work and behave like a human being. It is true that by the invention and application of AI (Artificial Intelligence), our life has gained a huge innovation and helped us to take a huge step forward in terms of technology. Now the application of AI has been done in many different fields including our smartphones, smart cars and drones, social media feeds, music and media streaming services, video games, online ads network, navigation and travel, banking and finance, smart home devices as well as security and surveillance. 

However, does it only raise a positive implication throughout our lives? The experts and researchers answer a ‘NO’ and the reason can largely be categorized as two which are unemployment issues and misuse issues.  

(BBC News - Getty Image)

By the implication and application of AI in our daily bases, it actually taking our jobs aways leading to many working fields been taken away by machines. And this issue is much more concerning in developing countries which in needs of the traditional growth path. Even many optimists say that by such implication of AI in many fields will rapidly boost up productivity, many more are still being concerned that AI will, in fact, will hold the traditional growth path by replacing the conventional jobs with robots. 

According to research at Oxford, around 40% of the jobs in Europe, almost 50% of the jobs in USA, and for sure the greater amount in developing countries will be in danger of being replaced by AI over the coming decades. A threat of AI always been a concern from the beginning of its creation leading human being make a law of robotics, based on these three agreements. A robot may not injure a human being, a robot must obey the orders given by human being except when the orders conflicting with the previous law, and a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the previous laws. 

(Wired - Louise Matsakis)

Another concern raised by the application of AI in our daily lives is a fact that it would pose a risk of being misused by hackers. We all know that artificial intelligence has been implied in many fields including autonomous cars, drones and many more. As the usage of AI is significantly been increased, this rapid development in AI is raising various risks including hacking issues. Possibly hacking attacks that would cause autonomous car crashes or even turn commercial drones into weapons against people are being a huge concern for many experts which also being a reason why there are the three rules of robotics. 

Sources:

AP News 

https://apnews.com/6034c9ce1af347ec8da996e39b29c51b

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-tech/artificial-intelligence-poses-risks-of-misuse-by-hackers-researchers-say-idUSKCN1G503V

BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47852589

The New York Times

By: Yi Hyun Jun - 01043170125

Source of image: https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&biw=1920&bih=967&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=JLHCXPjQKbjXz7sPtOa2mA0&q=avengers+endgame+china&oq=avengers+endgame+china&gs_l=img.3..0l9.75529.76695..76836...0.0..0.91.433.6......1....1..gws-wiz-img.......0i67.uUYbBNJBRyU#imgrc=9NpLjxcZ3Dh1dM:

[AP, Reuters, BBC] Who hasn’t watch Avengers: Endgame? Who hasn’t seen any superhero films? Who hasn’t had a superhero that you like? On April 24th, 2019, the best superhero film Avengers: Endgame hit the world film records. Anyone interested in background news? Here is some news that related to Avengers.

              Many staffs who are working as a ‘superhero’ staffs gathered all together in order to make one the huge movie called ‘Avengers’. Anthony and Joe Russo, main directors of the Avengers gathered around whenever they had a moment, even in between takes of “Captain America: Civil War”.  Whoever watched ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ knows they weren’t kidding around with the superhero films.  Then, what precisely that implies for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is something of a state mystery. Feige said that this will be "conclusive," however. “People can debate and discuss what that means before they see the movie,” Feige said. “But for us that means concluding the first three phases, the first 22 films in the MCU, so that everything thereafter is a new start. The films of Avengers were one of the hottest films between 2012-2019.                           Whenever the new films regarding Avengers out, they got one of the top records in every country due to perfect age targeting. Almost all age level of people loves these films because young people will love some fantasy stories and enjoying talking about that. Also, as an old people, these films are their childhood memory. The most important factors that films should take care before they release are the targeting ages and the timing. We can see that this Avengers: Endgame was released in very perfect time where people are waiting so bad.        

    Source of image: https://www.google.com/search?q=avengers+endgame&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjU_cyanO3hAhVX4nMBHX1oB-wQ_AUIDigB&biw=1920&bih=967#imgrc=ZrxVUXAQFmFUnM:

  Marvel superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” set an opening-day record in China with an estimated $107.2 million in ticket sales, distributor Walt Disney Co said. The movie, the last part of a story told crosswise over 22 Marvel movies including mainstream characters, for example, Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow, crushed numerous records to turn into China's most astounding earning remote motion picture on first day when it was discharged on Wednesday, two days before its U.S. screening. The movie, additionally the quickest to hit the 500-million-yuan mark in ticket deals, overwhelmed films crosswise over China on Wednesday, totaling in excess of 80 percent all things considered. Some debut tickets were coveted to the point that they were being sold on the dark market for in excess of 500 yuan ($74.14), versus a normal of 60 yuan crosswise over films across the nation.      

           "The achievement can be inferable from the almost 20 Marvel movies in the course of recent years. From that, the Marvel establishment has developed and held a great deal of Chinese fans." Financier Great Wall Securities said in an examination note that the last ticketing offers of "Avengers: Endgame" could be as high as 4.8 billion yuan, which would make it the second best-performing movie in China after Wolf Warrior 2.  It would likewise be twofold of what its last continuation, "Avengers: Infinity War", made in the nation - 2.4 billion yuan in 2018.  Furthermore, the film could be a lift to China's movies showcase during Chinese shoppers' melting away enthusiasm for going to films this year, examiners said.      

          As this film called Avengers: Endgame hit the world records and be one of the most famous film in the world, we are gladly looking forward to see new Avenger films if possible.

Source:

AP News: https://www.apnews.com/335d230fb20b4111a1b70c3f462bbebb

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walt-disney-avengers-china/disneys-avengers-endgame-smashes-china-opening-day-record-idUSKCN1S021W

by Maria Stevany Buntaran/ 01043170010

AP News/ Ahn Young-joon

[AP News, Reuters, CNN] – Super Junior, Big Bang, Got7, who is not familiar with those names? Those who are not fans of K-pop will still have surely heard of these names. Yes, they are the names of boybands from South Korea, the new mecca of pop culture.

Over the past decade, Korean dramas, Korean songs, and Korean brands, and even Korean tourism have become very popular. Their fans do not come only from Asia, but also all over the world. The Korean Wave (K-Wave), as many called this phenomenon, seemed to be everlasting. In fact, the more popular Korea gets, the more careful it becomes in maintaining this image. The government is eager in advertising its tourism destinations. The entertainment industry is pushed to the limit to constantly introduce new concept of music and film. The talents are strictly protected and managed. Consequently, the K-Wave spreads stronger and faster. This virus is however seemed to have found its antidote, as dirty scandal has aroused from its a-list celebrities.

South Korean entertainment industry has always been striving to ensure that their talents are perceived as perfect by the fans. Their familial and romantic matters are undisclosed, avoiding possible comments from the fans. Often times, idols are required to sign contract where they are not permitted to have romantic relationship for several years after the debut. This is used by the agency to create an available and accessible image of the idols, encouraging the fantasy of the fans who want to date them. After the ‘probation period’ has ended, though, fans already have too much power in the popularity of the idols. Many cases happened where these idols’ dates are bullied.

Adding to the stress, the industry is notable in setting a high bar for their talents to meet. Many of their idols are recruited from a very young age, even school-agers. They are expected to be multitalented, intensively trained for all kinds of entertainment branch, music, dancing, and acting. Their appearance is equally important to their performance, pressuring them to go through strict diet and fitness. Many of this long and precarious journeys do not end in convenient and glammed-up future, as not all trainees become mega idols and mega idols eventually get sick from the paparazzi and the headlines.

These over the top demands push idols to seek refuge and refreshment on their own. Unfortunately, this time, they look for it in motel rooms, involving 1,600 women, all non-consensually forced to engage in sexual intercourses. This does not stop. The tapes are widely distributed through Kakao Talk group chats and other online platforms for subscribing viewers. The crimes apparently involved 2 Korean superstars Big Bang Seungri for being one of the members of the groups, and Jung Joon-young for distributing, being a group member, and one of the men in the sex tapes.

On March 14th 2019, Seoul Police finally arrested the stars for the alleged voyeurism. Following the scandal, the two stars have bowed and apologised in front of press and announced their retirement from the industry. They also stated themselves that they will cooperate with Seoul Metropolitan Police for the investigation, a sincerity confirmed by the police.

AP News/ Ahn Young-joon

Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun is arrested not only for the sex tapes, as he has also been providing illegal sexual services for his foreign investors. These services are used by Lee to attract foreign businessmen to invest in his multiple business ventures. Seung-hyun, who is nicknamed as Korean Great Gatsby is famous for his extravagantly luxurious lifestyle. All is funded from his share as a member of 44-million-dollar-worth music band, Big Bang and his Music and Ramen franchises. The sexual bribery claim has however been denied by the 28-year-old idol.

Since the scandal broke out, home of Big Bang boyband, YG Entertainment’s stock price has dramatically plummeted by more than 17 percent in only two days. While the number is slightly rebounded on Wednesday after firing Seungri, YG has already suffered a value loss of $159 million compared to January.

Jung Joon-young has also been fired by his agency, MAKEUS Entertainment. This is not Joon-young first sex allegations, as he had been similarly charged in 2016. The case was eventually closed due to insufficient evidence and did not affect even a bit of Jung’s popularity, as he could make his way back right after the charges.

This scandal has given opportunity for woman associations to protest. Hashtag #MeToo again becomes virally used to support women who have been used for the videos. These women criticised the VIPs and also Korean socio-culture who has always overvalued men, a culture commonly found particularly in East Asia. As a consequence, the rape culture has always highlighted men and their toxic masculinity, compromising their immoral ways of using sex for fame and wealth. Women in the country are commonly seen merely as objects by the men, explaining why many of the perpetrators do not feel guilty of committing sexual crimes. These threats are not limited to women of lower rank. Women idols and trainees have been used to provide illegal sexual services to VIP men. The hashtag #MeToo is not the only pro-women movement in South Korea. Not long ago, a street protest, using tagline “My Life is Not Your Porn,” filled the country after 20,000 spy cameras are found in the nation-wide public toilets to take naked and upskirt photography. All these cases, especially those who include stars and VIPs are never really been solved, even with all the street movements.

The South Korea sex scandal visualises the dark side of South Korea and its entertainment industry, displaying flaw of its K-Wave. The flaw is located right at its heart, the talents and surrounding culture, proving that the K-Wave might not be as everlasting after all.

Sources:

AP News

https://www.apnews.com/6f8bb8a3ca204d54b93c28c6514283dc/gallery/media:cfcbed31b64545129f35d7297e28aa6d

Reuters

https://www.apnews.com/6f8bb8a3ca204d54b93c28c6514283dc/gallery/media:cfcbed31b64545129f35d7297e28aa6d

CNN

(AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

By Muhammad Alfizar 01043170087

[AP, Reuters, BBC] The devastating Yemen war that spearheaded by Saudi Arabia since 2015 is not only affected within the conflict parties of Houties rebels and Yemenis government but also civilian causalities due to the war or instabilities that resulting famine around Yemen. 

As Geert Cappelaere, Middle East director for UNICEF, the U.N.’s emergency fund for children, said authorities on “all sides” of the conflict are impeding aid groups — and increasing the risk that the country will descend into widespread famine. “This has nothing to do with nature,” Cappelaere told the AP. “There is no drought here in Yemen. All of this is man-made. All of this has to do with poor political leadership which doesn’t put the people’s interest at the core of their actions.”

(BBC, The houthi rebel movement took full control of the capital Sanaa in 2015) 

To elevate this suffering many humanitarian organization form UN and WFP to send food aid to food shortage. However, since 2018 WFP as the supplier of the food aid determined that there is foul play on the food distribution by the rebel Houthis. The founding focuses on the distribution of the food that being sell in the black market controlled by the rebels and stop the access of the food distribution to the starving population in the rebel control cities. As the director of David Beasley, executive director of the U.N.’s food program, said “certain elements of the Houthis” are denying the agency access to some parts of rebel territory — and appear to be diverting food aid. The food aid was repackaging and sold by the merchant, the ineffectiveness of the security to diverse the food and ensure the law enforcement is almost nill. The Problem further compounded with raiding the food storage by military and people who already starving. 

(Source)

https://apnews.com/bcf4e7595b554029bcd372cb129c49ab

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-food/wfp-says-yemen-food-aid-being-stolen-in-houthi-run-areas-idUSKCN1OU0P1

By: Stephanie Fenuela - 01043170012

[AP, Reuters, BBC]  When I was a kid, I remember the moment in the residential park with two neighbors and we play ‘Truth or Dare’. Even when I knew the risk of playing it is to either do something challenging or either telling them my secrets, whenever I got ‘truth’, I will make sure that they can be trusted. Secret or privacy is something sensitive and can be considered as our deepest interest. Especially in politics, state’s interest is something that is veiled and unpredictable.  The famous American whistle blower, Edward Snowden, succeed to leaked highly confidential United States government’s information to the public on 2013. Snowden received asylum protection from Russia and build Freedom of Press Foundation to protect journalist from government supervision.

Source: Reuters.com  In this democratic-media era, journalist become more daring to report news and criticize government actions. Julian Assange is another version of Snowden. Assange was born in Australia on 1971 and grow as a smart researcher who loves internet and excellent at mathematics and physics. But his mastery in internet been used for hacking purposes together with his friend and he got accused because of it. He did not imprison because he did not reoffend, so he just fulfill his fined obligations. After that, he works with Suelette Dreyfus who focused on internet research, writing books about computers skills. Even as a researcher, Assange still concerned about government policies, justice, and how to dig deeper powerful parties’ interest. On 2006, Assange with his friends build Wikileaks. It does not have any relation with Wikimedia like Wikipedia, but Wiki simply means any website that allows creating and editing of a webpage through browser. Like its name, Wikileaks publish leaked controversial and confidential state’s or public figure’s information in a form of raw data from anonymous sources. Wikileaks have published Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin private emails, excavate ‘Panama Papers’ issue, and the most significant one that bring Assange being caught is the documents and cables about US war in Iraq and Afghanistan. When he was about received extradition, he seeks for asylum protection from Ecuadorean embassy in London. For seven years he lives there until April 11th 2019, he arrested by London Metropolitan Police and will be extradited to United States.  The Ecuador president, Lenin Moreno stop granting his asylum protection because even inside the embassy, Assange still intervene other state’s internal affair which he published in Wikileaks. 

Source: wikileaks.org

Febe Christian/01043170092

(Reuters, The Guardian, AP) After there were thousands of lawsuits that J&J powder caused cancers, for decades the company has been trying to shore up weakening sales using advertisements that are aimed at specific types of woman.

Image from: CNBN.com

Johnson & Johnson and its signature Baby Powder has been pressured for quite a long time. In 2006, cosmetic talc such as Baby Powder was beginning to be classified as “possibly carcinogenic” by an arm of the World Health Organization when women had been using it as a genital antiperspirant and deodorant for many years. Talc supplier Luzenac America Inc was the one that started including that information on its shipments to J&J and other customers.

But J&J still looked for ways to sell more Baby Powder to two main groups of longtime users: African-American and overweight women. J&J then turned their proposals into action, and distributed Baby Powder samples through churches and beauty salons in African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods, did promotions with weight-loss and wellness company called Weight Watchers and launched a $300,000 radio advertising campaign aimed to “curvy Southern women 18-49 skewing African American.”

After pediatricians started warning the danger to infants inhaling talc, adults have been the main users of Johnson’s Baby Powder since at least the 1970. As adults became ever more crucial to the brand – accounting for 91 percent of Baby Powder use by the mid-2000s – J&J honed its powder pitches to court a variety of targeted markets, from teen-focused ads touting the product’s “fresh and natural” qualities, to promotions aimed at older minority and overweight women.

Today, women who fall into those categories make up a large number of the 13,000 plaintiffs alleging that J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower, a powder brand the company sold off in 2012, caused their ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.

Many of the ovarian cancer lawsuits have blamed the disease on perineal use of J&J cosmetic talcs – a claim supported by some studies showing an association between such use and increased cancer risk. The most recent cases have alleged that J&J’s talc products contained asbestos, long a known carcinogen.

Award in Johnson & Johnson cancer case

In California, jury has awarded $29m to a woman who claimed that Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder-based contained asbestos that caused her cancer. The California superior court in Oakland marks the latest defeat for the healthcare conglomerate facing more than 13,000 talc-related lawsuits nationwide.

Johnson & Johnson argued that the woman had fundamentally failed to show that its baby powder contains asbestos. They also stated that they respect the legal process and reiterate that jury verdicts are not medical, scientific or regulatory conclusions about a product.

The company that is based on New Jersey denies that its talc causes cancer, and that it has shown that it is safe and asbestos-free from numerous studies and tests by regulators worldwide.

The lawsuit was brought by Terry Leavitt, who said she used Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower – another powder containing talc sold in the past – in the 1960s and 1970s and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017. It was the first of more than a dozen talc cases against the company scheduled for trial in 2019. The nine-week trial began on 7 January and included testimony from nearly a dozen experts on both sides. The jury deliberated for two days before delivering its verdict.

Jurors found the talc-based products used by Leavitt were defective and that the company had failed to warn consumers of the health risks, awarding $29.4m in damages to Leavitt and her husband. The jury declined to award punitive damages.

Image from: Evan Allgood

J&J has already known from a long time about asbestos in its baby power

It is reported by Reuters that there are documents that show consulting labs as early as 1957 and 1958 found asbestos in J&J talc. According to the Reuters story, further reports by the company and outside labs showed similar findings through the early 2000s. But Johnson & Johnson denied the report and stated that thousands of independent tests by regulators and the world’s leading labs have proven that its baby powder never contained asbestos.

Image by: Dan Peled

Reuters cited documents released as part of a lawsuit by plaintiffs claiming that the product can be linked to ovarian cancer. The New Brunswick, New Jersey company has battled in court against such claims and called the Reuters report “one-sided, false and inflammatory.”

When the report by the Reuters news service came out, it made the company’s stock to fell for $14.84, or 10 percent, making it the most severe single-day decline since 2002.

Sources:

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-marketing/

AP: https://www.apnews.com/118c26257e434a53959d6f827f4115b9

Jenny Sukhwita - 01043170015

Women play with powdered colours Holi festival celebrations in Amritsar, India. Image by https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/03/20/10/holi-festival-3.jpg?width=1368&height=912&fit=bounds&format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=70

(AP, Reuters, Independent, Times of India) – Who does not love playing with colours? Playing with colour has always been fun to a lot of people from different age. Each colour has different meanings. Who does not love colour? Well, everybody does, from a very young age until adult. India recently burst with colour in celebration of Holi.

Hindu festival of Holi is popularly known as the “Festival of Colours”, “Festival of Spring”, or “Festival of Love”. As time goes by, this festival now celebrated by the non-Hindu people around the world, although the festivities predominantly occur in India and Nepal. The two–days celebration signifies the victory of good over evil and marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring. The use of colours in the festival is tied to stories about Lord Krishna.

This festival can be found in Hindu mythology, which tells the story of a demon, Holika and her brother, Hiranyakashipu. As the king, he believed that everyone should worship him as god. However, his own son, Prahlada, worship the Hindu god, Vishnu, and not him. Because of his son’s disobedience, the king and his sister, Holika planned to kill Prahlada by burning him in a pyre. When Holika tried to kill Prahlada, a magical shawl flew from Holika’s shoulder to Prahlada and Vishnu, the god that Prahlada worship appeared as half man and half lion and killed the king. Therefore, on the night before Holi, the bonfires are lit to signify the burning of Holika and the victory of good over evil. Other legends pertaining to Holi tells us the tale of the love shared between Hindu gods, Radha and Krishna.

Image by https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/mar/21/holi-a-festival-of-colours-in-pictures#img-4

Colour is sprayed from a temple during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India. Image by https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2019/03/20/10/holi-festival-8.jpg?width=1368&height=912&fit=bounds&format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=70

This year, the celebration took place on Wednesday 20th March and ends on Thursday 21st March. Although the time of the event took place in March to mark the end of winter, the date can vary, depends on the moon. Some of the biggest celebrations take place in the temples of Vrindavan, a town in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, in which according to legend, is the place of the Hindu god Krishna played Holi with his consort, Radha. The festival split into two events, where it begins with Holika Dahan, which is the burning of pyres on the night before the main festivities and culminating with Rangwali Holi on the next day.

During the celebration, those who take part in the festivities sing, dance, and cover each other with gulal, which is a fine powder that comes in variety of colours and dyed water. The colours of the rainbow are all symbolic in Hinduism. Red represents sensuality, green symbolizes life and happiness, yellow is believed to represent knowledge, white signifies purity, while blue symbolizes determination. Inside the temples, priests spray pink and gold colours at hundreds of Hindu devotees with their arms raised in prayer as they sing religious hymns.

Although it is fun, celebrated by applying colours can damage your skin and hair. It is advised that before joining the festival, people should take care of their skin and hair by applying oil to their face, exposed skin and hair to protect against staining colour. Once the celebrations are over, it is also recommended to take shower as soon as possible to remove the colours using warm water.

Sources:

Reuters - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-religion-holi/india-bursts-with-color-in-celebration-of-holi-idUSKCN1R229A

AP - https://www.apnews.com/afs:Content:780810059

BBC - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35888534

The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/mar/21/holi-a-festival-of-colours-in-pictures

New York Post - https://nypost.com/2019/03/20/celebrating-the-colorful-holi-festival/slide-1/

Independent - https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/holi-2019-hindu-festival-of-colour-when-is-it-celebrate-india-nepal-powder-a8801616.html

By: Irsyad Ardrika Soedirlan / 01043170070

Source of image: BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47873592

[ AP, Reuters, BBC ] The universe is filled with lots of mystery things that has been either discovered or has not been discovered by human. The universe is endless, and no one knows where the start of the universe is and where it ends. Lots of planets and stars fill up our universe. It has been said that there is actually more than just one solar system in this universe, but we could never be sure. A lot of phenomena has happened in the universe that has been seen such as a meteor shower and an explosion of a star. Recently, the world was shocked by a phenomenon captured by photo and it turns out what scientist has unveiled a “black hole”.

A strange looking object appeared in the sky on April 10, 2019 as it resembles something that is not explainable due to the fact that we never seen such things like this in the past. The object resembles a shape of a ring with the color bright red with a mixture of blood red. The mysterious looking object was spotted across the far distance in the galaxy. The “thing” being observed was still unclear before there was a clear justification in the form of a photo. After some confirmation, scientist has confirmed that the mysterious object observed in the galaxy is a black hole and this is the first photo of the black hole that is observed clearly through a telescope. The observation was gathered and collected from eight different radio telescopes located around the world. The observation shows a glance of red gas surrounding the black hole, which was obtained from an event called Event Horizon Telescope (EHT).

Before, it was thought that the finding of a picture of black hole was impossible and would be hard to find a legit evidence. It was predicted before by Einstein’s theory of relativity about the existence of a black hole even though he was a bit skeptical before. Since the theory was presented, astronomers have acquired magnificent evidence of the existence of a black hole.

Source of image: The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/10/black-hole-picture-captured-for-first-time-in-space-breakthrough

The black hole is located far away from earth and it is approximately 500 million km away from earth and it is significant to be able to capture such thing that is located far away from earth using 8 telescopes from around the world. The black hole measures about 40 billion km across, and it is million times bigger than the size of earth. The discovery of the black hole was said to be found in a galaxy called M87, also known as Messier 87, which was explained by Prof Heino Falcke, Radboud university in Netherlands to the BBC news.

“The size of the black hole is larger than our entire solar system and” he said.

“The mass of the black hole is 6.5 billion times the sun and this is probably the only black hole we ever seen and probably is the largest thing in the universe” he continued.

Source of image: BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47873592

The picture above shows the location of the observation through 8 telescopes around the world in the event of Event Horizon Telescope.

Before this image was taken through the telescope, scientist has not been able to give a valid evidence to what a black hole actually looks like in the eyes of a human. Scientist could only provide an imaginary explanation to what could a black hole looks like.

“Black holes are very hard to examine in the galaxy because it is one of the most complex questions raised about space and even about our existence” said Dr. Ziri Younsi from University College London, who is part of the collaboration of EHT.

Source of image: The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/science/black-hole-picture.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The image above shows the eight telescopes assembled in the event of Event Horizon Telescope which helps to take the first image of a black hole.

This finding has been significant, and it has been one of the highlights for the start of 2019.  Such phenomena have caught a lot of people’s attention and it has finally answered most of our questions regarding to what a black hole looks like. When scientist saw the first picture of the black hole, their expectation has been fulfilled of what to expect of how a black hole actually looks like. “We have been waiting for the answer for the longest time and thanks to the evolving of technology, we are getting closer and closer to the truth” said Jessica Dempsey, co-discoverer and deputy director of the East Asian Observatory Hawaii.

Sources: 

AP -  https://apnews.com/05d573dd29924452a491431922d22e61

Reuters - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-exploration-blackhole/seeing-the-unseeable-scientists-reveal-first-photo-of-black-hole-idUSKCN1RM1OP

The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/apr/10/black-hole-picture-captured-for-first-time-in-space-breakthrough

The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/science/black-hole-picture.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage