Australian Ariarne Titmus has set a new world record on the way to a decisive victory in the women’s 400-meter freestyle on the opening day of the world swimming championships, with silver for American Katie Ledecky and bronze for Erika Fairweather of New Zealand

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At least 25 people were injured in an explosion at an industrial plant northeast of Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Astronomers have discovered a new way that stars can die. In a study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, experts have worked out that a minute-long gamma-ray burst of light, which occured in 2019 and evidence a star dying, happened because stars collided within the densely crowded environment near the supermassive black hole at the centre of an ancient galaxy. Normally gamma-ray bursts (GRB) last around two seconds and happen when stars collapse. “For every hundred events that fit into the traditional classification scheme of gamma-ray bursts, there is at least one oddball that throws us for a loop,” said study coauthor Wen-fai Fong, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, in a statement. “However, it is these oddballs that tell us the most about the spectacular diversity of explosions that the universe is capable of.” Over time, astronomers have observed three main ways that stars can die, depending on their size. Lower mass stars like our sun shed their outer layers as they age, eventually becoming dead white dwarf stars. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Massive stars burn through the fuel-like elements at their core and shatter in explosions called supernovas. Doing so can leave behind dense remnants like neutron stars or result in the creation of black holes. A third form of star death results when neutron stars or black holes begin to orbit one another in a binary system and spiral closer to one another until they collide and explode. But the new observation suggests a fourth type of death. “Our results show that stars can meet their demise in some of the densest regions of the universe, where they can be driven to collide,” said lead study author Andrew Levan, an astrophysics professor at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, in a statement. “This is exciting for understanding how stars die and for answering other questions, such as what unexpected sources might create gravitational waves that we could detect on Earth.” “The lack of a supernova accompanying the long GRB 191019A tells us that this burst is not a typical massive star collapse,” said study coauthor Jillian Rastinejad, a doctoral student of astronomy at Northwestern, in a statement. “The location of GRB 191019A, embedded in the nucleus of the host galaxy, teases a predicted but not yet evidenced theory for how gravitational-wave emitting sources might form.” “While this event is the first of its kind to be discovered, it’s possible there are more out there that are hidden by the large amounts of dust close to their galaxies,” said Fong, who is also a member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics at Northwestern. “Indeed, if this long-duration event came from merging compact objects, it contributes to the growing population of GRBs that defies our traditional classifications.” You learn something new every day. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Amazon.com Inc.’s $1.4 billion deal for vacuum cleaner firm iRobot Corp. risks being derailed unless the firms fix

Liam Payne is on the road to recovery, as he revealed that he was recently hospitalised due to a kidney infection. The singer, 29, took to Instagram on 25 August to share the news, while he announced that his upcoming tour - which was supposed to start next month - is going to be postponed. He expressed that his doctors advised him to focus on his health, after he’d been hospitalised due to a kidney infection. “It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we have no other choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America,” he wrote in the caption, alongside a video of himself. “Over the past week I’ve been in hospital with a serious kidney infection. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctors orders are that I now need to rest and recover.” While Payne expressed that he was “beyond excited to play” music, he acknowledged that fans will soon be refunded for their tickets. However, the former One Direction member also added that the new dates haven’t been decided yet. “To all of you who have bought tickets, I’m so sorry. We’re working to reschedule the tour as soon as we possibly can, but for now we will be refunding the tickets. So, please look out for updates from your point of purchase,” he wrote. “Thanks as always for the love and support, and look forward to seeing you soon.” In his video, the “Bedroom Floor” singer went on to describe how he’d been a “bit unwell” recently, following the “bad kidney infection”. “We started rehearsals, and I’ve just been advised that now is not the right time for me to be out on the road, trying to recover from this,” Payne said. “I have the best people around me at home trying to help me recover as we speak.” He also added that he hopes that when the time comes, he could “put on an even bigger show” for his fans. According to the National Health Service, hospitalisation as a result of kidney infection can occur for a variety of reasons - such as when a patient is severely dehydrated, unable to swallow or keep down any fluids or medicines, or has a weakened immune system. Fans rushed to the comments section of Payne’s video, where they sent him sweet messages and hoped for him to make a healthy recovery. “Always got your back, champ,” one wrote, while another added: “Get well soon! Love you and here for you forever and always.” A third wrote: “Sending one massive BIG hug your way.” The tour was initially set to kick off on 1 September in Lima, Peru, with his final show in Mexico City, Mexico, on 12 September. In July, Payne made his official return to his YouTube channel, where he discussed how excited he was to go back on tour. He also spoke candidly about his health, after finishing a 100-day rehabilitation stay and was nearly six months sober. Payne went on to admit that prior to sharing the YouTube video, he removed himself from the public eye for his mental well-being. “I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually, because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognise anymore,” he explained. “And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.” In the YouTube video, the “Strip That Down” singer also discussed his appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast, Impaulsive. Payne expressed regret for some of the things he said about Zayn Malik, after professing that there were “many reasons why he disliked” his former One Direction bandmate. “I think for me, a lot of what I said just came from the wrong place,” Payne recalled. “I was so angry at what was going on around me that instead of taking a look inwards I decided to take it outwards.” Payne said he thought his anger stemmed from frustrations with his career and, rather than reflecting privately, he took his feelings out on others. He added that he “wanted to apologise” for his behaviour. Read More Liam Payne apologises for Zayn Malik comments as he completes 100 days in rehab Zayn Malik discloses ‘underlying issues’ that led to him quitting One Direction: ‘We got sick of each other’ Liam Payne says he’s over 100 days sober: ‘I feel amazing’ ‘Boy moms’ receive backlash for teaching sons how to cook - but for the wrong reason This is how stress affects different parts of the body Chris Pratt’s daughters give him a glittery makeover

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