Largest Black Hole yet / Earth-like planet confirmed / Assange wins right to appeal

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/05/new_black_hole_discovery_uc_berkley_scientists_find_largest_black_hole_yet.html

Above is a link to an article about astronomers finding the largest black-hole to date.  A super-massive BH that weighs as much as 21 billion times the weight of our sun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, an earth-like planet has been confirmed about 600 light-years away with an average temperature of 22 degrees celcius.  It would be a perfect candidate to host liquid water, although it is not yet known if the planet is made of mainly liquid, rock or gas.

Article here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16040655

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/02/wikileaks_founder_loses_extradition_appeal.html

Above is an update on Julian Assange and his attempts to remain in Britain, so he is not extradited to Sweden where he can be questioned for alleged sexual assault (but mainly because the U.S. will likely try to bring him to the States to face charges)

I don't have much sympathy for Mr. Assange, even if he is innocent of the charges in Sweden. Sure, his group helped to promote more transparency in governments...but they also directly contributed to the deaths of soldiers and under-cover operatives by releasing troop positions/strategies and secret information on spies working abroad.

Also.... despite the millions of classified documents released, I can't think of any huge names that have been exposed or any big cases brought against ppl for their crimes. Maybe I just haven't heard about them?   Still I have to ask myself was it worth it?? 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally is an article by Dr Michio Kaku, giving an update on the neutrinos that seemed to out-race a beam of light.  

http://bigthink.com/ideas/41222

‎"A couple of months ago, physicists at CERN, Switzerland, claimed they had found a fatal flaw in Einstein's theory of relativity........... After some criticism, they refined their experiments this week, made more precise measurements, and still confirmed their original findings. "

This is pretty huge, although it all does seem to come down to the GPS (which uses relativity itself, to calculate the differences in time between earth and space).  Apart from possibly punching a hole in much of Einstein's theory, if relativity is wrong, so is string theory and the possibility of other dimensions/universes is diminished.

C.K.