A supermassive black hole, 4,000 times larger than the one at the centre of the Milky Way, has been spotted by astronomers.

from Crikey ….

Julie Bishop on her own legal past: the interview with a partner

Among the more fascinating letters to editors are those from lawyers.

Surely an editor somewhere must have a wall of framed threats from lawyers, which cause either considerable mirth or lots of pain.

"Swedish ambassador goes berserk over Assange,'' read Monday's Wiki-tweet. It rang a bell, as it bounced around the globe, for while most diplomats are polite to the point of somnambulism, my sole encounter with the Swedish ambassador had been distinguished by rage (his). This rage, rooted in WikiLeaks, had itself been Wikileaked.

from politicoz ….

from Crikey …..

'Hacking democracy': a tool to streamline our Right To Know

from Crikey ….

Keane: Bishop and her fierce battle with the English language

Can two of the biggest question in physics be solved with just one theory?

Two of the biggest mysteries in physics - what dark matter is made of and why matter dominates over antimatter - might be solved in one go

Can science fully explain what we mean by the self, identity and human values, or are we just the victims of neuro-scientific hubris? Don't worry, there's no need to choose sides, says Julian Baggini

The self: why science is not enough

More than two weeks ago (8 November 2012) I noticed a small open water drain being covered with what I suspect was green algae... My guess at the time was that I could be wrong. The bloom was not total... It could have been just weeds, but having seen blooms before, I took a picture... Picture above by Gus Leonisky. 

This small drain, coming from Moore Park, flows into the Alexandra Canal which in turn flows into the Cooks River which in turn flows into Botany Bay, Sydney...