Scientists find dense ring around dwarf planet, but can't quite explain why it's there
CBSN
New telescope data has revealed that a dwarf planet in the outer reaches of the solar system has a dense ring around it, leaving scientists and astronomers confused as to why.
Scientists at the European Space Agency announced Wednesday that data and observations of the planet Quaoar which was collected between 2018 and 2021 —from ground-based telescopes, and the space-based telescope Cheops — led them to the discovery.
The ESA disclosed that Quaoar crossed in front of a succession of distant stars, blocking their light as it passed, in an event called an occultation. When the planet blocked that light, scientists were able to see its ring.
London — As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl.
Vaughan Gething was elected as the new first minister of Wales on Wednesday, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K. Gething was elected to lead the government by members of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, four days after winning the contest to be leader of Wales' governing Labour Party. He secured 27 of 51 votes in the legislature, the Senedd, where Labour is the biggest party.
Errekunda, Gambia — Lawmakers in Gambia will vote Monday on legislation that seeks to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, or FGM, which would make the West African nation the first country anywhere to make that reversal. The procedure, which also has been called female genital cutting, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers.