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When it comes to dramatic and awe-inspiring pictures of space, few can contend with what appears to be a pic of, well, nothing at all: a fascinating image of what seems to be a hole in the fabric of space, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Described as a "cosmic keyhole" by experts, the phenomenon caught by the telescope is what's known as a reflection nebula – part of the debris left behind by the formation of a newborn star, or in this case, a small, multiple star system known as V380 Orionis in the constellation Orion. The ghostly celestial object you see here, named NGC 1999, is around 1,350 light-years from our planet; not far from the Orion Nebula – a star factory of significant size that happens to be the closest of its kind to Earth. (ESA/Hubble & NASA, ESO, K. Noll) That gap in the middle of the reflection nebula really is an empty part of space, though astronomers initially thought it might be a Bok globule : a dense and cold cloud, made up of g...

A new validation study published this month puts the blood oxygen feature of the Apple Watch to the test. According to the results of the study, the Apple Watch Series 6 is able to “reliably detect states of reduced blood oxygen saturation” in comparison to medical-grade pulse oximeters. Here’s how the study came to determine this… How reliable is the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor? As spotted by MyHealthyApple , the study was published this month in the Digital Health open access journal. The objective of the study was to investigate “how a commercially available smartwatch that measures peripheral blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) can detect hypoxemia compared to a medical-grade pulse oximeter.” For the study, researchers recruited 24 healthy participants. Each person wore an Apple Watch Series 6 on their left wrist and a pulse oximeter sensor on their left middle finger (the Masimo Radical-7). The participants breathed via a breathing circuit with a three-way non-rebreathing valve ...

The Louisiana Supreme Court has suspended a Baton Rouge judge without pay for 180 days for abusing her power to hold people in contempt. East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court Judge Charlene Charlet Day, who has held the seat since 2011, violated the law when she issued a bench warrant that resulted in a teacher being arrested at the school where she works, the high court ruled Friday. The Louisiana Judiciary Commission, which investigates complaints of judicial conduct, recommended the six-month suspension in July, finding that Day violated rules of conduct and committed “willful misconduct” when she locked up litigants for contempt of court. Day was directed to pay the commission a $6,260 fine. The justices unanimously agreed that a suspension was warranted, though one thought a less-severe penalty was required, The Advocate reported. “Judge Day’s conduct harmed the integrity of and respect for the judiciary,” Justice William Crain wrote in the prevailing opinion. “When a judge abuses ...

A supermassive black hole was observed belching up a star it gobbled up three years earlier — leaving astronomers puzzled by the delayed intergalactic indigestion. “This caught us completely by surprise — no one has ever seen anything like this before,” Yvette Cendes, the lead author of a new study analyzing the unprecedented phenomenon, said . In October 2018, astronomers witnessed a small star being ripped to shreds and swallowed when it wandered too close to a black hole in a galaxy located 665 million light years away from Earth, according to the study published last week in Astrophysical Journal. The violent feast itself isn’t unusual, however, when the black hole started mysteriously regurgitating stellar matter in June 2021, scientists were left scratching their heads — because there was no evidence it had eaten another star, the study found. “It’s as if this black hole has started abruptly burping out a bunch of material from the star it ate years ago,” Cendes, a research ass...

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- "With a case like this, it's a case that sticks with you." Four years ago, Angelica Castro was a 21-year-old mom who faced murder charges for the death of her baby girl, who was less than six months old. Sean Sangree, Supervising Deputy District Attorney, had the case since day one. He says Castro initially denied knowing what happened to her baby, but later claimed she might have accidentally hit the infant while they were napping together. Medical experts testified about about the young victim's extensive injuries. "Abusive head trauma, and she had a number of injuries she had throughout her body that indicated they have inflicted injuries, not accidental," Sangree said. Back in April, Castro pleaded guilty to second degree murder. Shortly after, she tried withdrawing her plea and fired her attorney. "A new attorney was appointed to her, and that was litigated over the last few months," Sangree said. "Today, the cou...

A homeless woman has been charged with the murder, rape and torture of a 12-year-old Paris girl, who was found stuffed inside a suitcase with her throat slashed – and the numerals 1 and 0 bizarrely placed on her chest. Dahbia B., 24, originally from Algeria, was indicted Monday in connection with the grisly killing of Lola Daviet, 12, whose mutilated body was found with her hands and feet bound with tape, the Mirror reported. “The alleged murderer somehow earned her victim’s confidence and led her into a cellar below the building, where the attack happened,” a law enforcement source said, according to Metro UK. “The attacker had been talking about selling organs and body parts, but none of this makes sense,” the official said, adding that “the suspect is believed to suffer with serious psychological problems. She was living on the street, but had friends and family in the Paris area.” Chilling surveillance video from Friday shows the alleged killer and Lola near the building where the ...

A Houston-area woman has been arrested after authorities say she fatally stabbed her daughter in the neck at a park and wrapped her in plastic and mesh bags. Melissa White Towne, 37, has been charged with capital murder, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Gonzalez Tweeted that the incident happened around noon Sunday at Spring Creek Park in Tomball, a city about 40 minutes northwest of Houston. It’s unknown how the incident unfolded, but Gonzalez said Towne allegedly cut or stabbed her child at the park and drove her to the hospital. She requested a wheelchair because “her daughter’s body was hurting,” HCSO told KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston. Hospital staff found Towne’s 5-year-old daughter in her Jeep Cherokee, partially wrapped in plastic and mesh bags, Gonzalez said. “The child had what appeared to be a laceration and possible ligature marks on the child’s neck,” he said. The girl, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead. Gonzalez said Monday that Town...

Standing in a Spokane courtroom Thursday morning, Tatyanna Presnell, boldly addressed the ex-police officer who sexually assaulted her in her own home. “I am rising out of the ashes and becoming a survivor,” Presnell said. Nathan Nash, 39, was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison Thursday after a jury convicted him in August of raping Presnell and another woman during follow-up visits for physical assaults to which he responded in his role as a Spokane police officer. Nash was convicted of third-degree rape of Presnell and acquitted of second-degree rape. She filed a claim against the city in September, alleging the police department ignored “red flags” in Nash’s behavior and allowed him to use his uniform to prey on women. Another woman, who is now 41 and doesn’t want to be publicly identified, testified that Nash raped her on a follow-up visit, when she thought he was there to photograph her injuries. The jury convicted him of second-degree rape with aggravating circumstances in...

The Posey County woman who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in her husband’s death was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Peggy Higginson of Wadesville pleaded with Posey County Circuit Court Judge Craig Goedde to be lenient with his sentencing. Judge Goedde sentenced Higginson to the maximum sentence of 30 years for the shooting of her husband, Troy Higginson, back in 2018. “Our family couldn’t have asked for much more,” said Tyler Higginson, Troy’s son. “Unfortunately, my dad can’t come back, but we at least got some justice and closure.” Judge Goedde stressed prior to handing down the sentence that the aggravators “heavily outweighed the mitigators” in this case. This means that the factors for a greater sentence outweighed the factors for a lighter sentence. “I think the max sentence is what she needed, that’s what she deserved,” said Lindsey Bronaugh, Troy’s daughter said. “So inside I was so excited, because my dad finally got the justice he deserved.” Higginson was originally charge...

A farmer has pleaded guilty in connection with the murder of two Wisconsin brothers over a cattle deal. According to a news release from the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office, Garland Nelson pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and the burning and disposal of Nick Diemel and Justin Diemel. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole. Nelson avoided the death penalty as part of his plea deal, WDAF-TV reports. The Diemel brothers were the operators of Diemel’s Livestock, which dealt with the trade of cattle and other livestock, and Nelson agreed to feed and pasture the cattle. Nelson also agreed to sell loads of cattle and send Diemel’s Livestock the profits, WDAF reports. Nelson was sent cattle from November 2018 through April 2019. According to WDAF, Nelson sold, traded, and/or killed many of the Diemels’ cattle without providing the brothers with payment. Nelson allegedly defrauded the Diemels by continuing to send them bills for feed and yardage fo...