It can be challenging for us humans to wrap our brains around really massive numbers. Even the scale of a million or billion is pretty hard for most people to really comprehend. So prepare yourself to think big, because scientists have recorded the largest and most distant black hole flare to date, and the numbers around it are pretty staggering.
The event occurred at an active galactic nucleus, also known as an accreting or feeding black hole, that they predict is 500 million times more massive than our sun and is located 10 billion light years away. The researchers suspect that this flare was caused by a tidal disruption event, where the gravity of the AGN may have pulled a nearby star closer and consumed it. The team estimates that the star eaten by the black hole had a mass 30 times that of our system’s own sun. And according to the layperson blog post from Caltech about the event, “at its brightest, the flare shined with the light of 10 trillion suns.”
“This is unlike any AGN we’ve ever seen,” said Matthew Graham, who was a co-principal investigator on the study as well as a research professor of astronomy at Caltech and project scientist for the Zwicky Transient Facility, which first observed the black hole in question in 2018 along with the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey. The research about the AGN and its bonkers flare appeared in the journal Nature Astronomy.
A leafy neighbourhood in London, world-famous for its tennis tournament, has been named as having the best high street in the UK. Wimbledon Village, located in Merton, a borough of south-west London, has long been one of the capital’s most prestigious addresses.
The area has been growing in popularity in recent years and has also become a highly sought-after destination for homebuyers. Wimbledon Village has been named the best high street in the UK by estate agent Knight Frank. Sonia Cheng, an associate at Knight Frank, said: “Despite being in the capital, it truly offers a village-like feel – people greet each other in passing, and there’s a real sense of community.” The pretty town centre is full of handsome period buildings and open spaces. It boasts boutique stores, upmarket cafes and bars, while retaining its village feel. It is home to chains such as Gail’s and The Ivy, but also has lots of independent shops such as Wimbledon Books, the Ad Lib Gallery, and Michael Platt jewellers.
Wimbledon also benefits from being well connected for transport, it is accessible by train, tube, bus and tram. It takes less than 20 minutes to get to London Waterloo by train.
The neighbourhood also has a weekly farmers’ market, taking place every Sunday, with local vendors selling fresh produce, meat, fish, cheese, bread, and hot food.
The average house price in Wimbledon is between £824,234, according to Rightmove, and £864,535, according to Zoopla. Cheng said: “You can expect to pay around 30% more compared with some other parts of Wimbledon.”
It has been named as one of the best places to live in London by The Sunday Times for two years in a row, naming the Green, Parkside, Murray Road, and Belvedere Square as the best areas in Wimbledon as a whole.
Also making Knight Frank’s list of the UK’s best high streets are Marlow in Buckinghamshire, Clifton Village in Bristol, and St John’s Wood in London.
The estate agent used data to identify and rank the UK’s “timeless high streets” that offer “community health, prosperity, and enduring desirability”.
House of the Dragonhas been hiding one final Targaryen character, and he’s set to finally appear in season 3. House of the Dragon season 3 has recently wrapped filming, ending a several-month-long shoot to prepare the series for its planned 2026 release. This will include the introduction of several new characters, from James Norton’s Ormund Hightower to Tommy Flanagan’s Ser Roderick Dustin, and more.
From Game of Thrones to House of the Dragon, the number of Targaryens audiences have been introduced to has increased exponentially, but there are still more to come as the Dance of the Dragons barrels toward its finish. HBO has planned for two more seasons, meaning plenty of time to explore new characters. While there’s still some obscurity surrounding the casting, one of House of the Dragon’s many new characters will be Daeron Targaryen, another member of the royal family who will play a prominent role in the upcoming conflict.
Daeron Targaryen is the Third Son of Viserys I & Alicent Hightower
Tessarion flying off to war in House of the DragonHBO
House of the Dragon’s Targaryen family tree can be quite confusing, even for fans who have read Fire & Blood. Viserys and Alicent Hightower have four children: Aegon II, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron Targaryen. Daeron is only meant to be a few years younger than Aemond, but the TV series altered his upbringing to have him be raised in Oldtown, the seat of House Hightower in the Reach. This is why, in season 2, Alicent asks Sir Gwayne Hightower to tell her about her son and his character; she hasn’t seen him in years.
Given the differences between Daeron’s childhood and those of his brothers, who grew up in the Red Keep, Gwayne suggests that Daeron is a much kinder young man. It will be compelling to see how this gentle personality handles the oncoming war, as season 2’s montage ending saw the Hightower forces marching toward the conflict. The army was joined by Daeron’s young blue dragon, Tessarion, who had just grown large enough to take flight with a rider. They’re green as can be, and the war is bound to have a devastating effect on them.
House of the Dragon season 2 saw both the Black and Green factions have their ups and downs, but the general standing seemed favorable to Rhaenyra by the end. The recruitment of new dragonriders has elevated lowborn bastards into some of the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms, and Rhaenyra is now significantly ahead in the arms race that will determine the future of Westeros, even if Aemond still rides the largest and most powerful dragon in the Seven Kingdoms.
Daeron and Tessarion are both young and lack experience, but that won’t stop them from making an impact. As proven by Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, even smaller dragons and inexperienced riders can make a drastic impact on the politics of Westeros when placed in the right situation. Daeron will be a major player in House of the Dragon season 3, and there’s a reason he’s known in Game of Thrones history as “Daeron the Daring.”
‘House of the Dragon’s Daeron Casting Isn’t Clear
As mentioned, House of the Dragon season 3 has already wrapped filming, but HBO and Warner Bros. have yet to officially reveal the casting for this character. Various sources and social media accounts have shared behind-the-scenes photos and videos claiming that it’s child actor Charlie Gordon suited up as Daeron Targaryen on set, but until the studio makes an official announcement, it’s impossible to officially confirm anything.
House of the Dragon has been marked for a Summer 2026 release window, so the coming months will likely see trailers and more official information released. Given that it’s a child actor playing Daeron, HBO may be holding off on the news to protect the actor from online discourse. This is likely the right move, especially given the polarizing and often unsavory responses to choices made in season 2.
Republicans have been telling themselves all year that they have a mandate. Even when the country has shown clear indications that they are rejecting Trump and his agenda, Republicans continued to repeat that they have a mandate, like a mantra, they were trying to will into reality.
The real world arrived on Election Night 2025, and it has been a comprehensive drubbing of the president, his handling of the issues, and the state of the country.
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Democrats have swept every statewide race in Virginia. Democrats won the elections for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. As of the publication of this article, Democrats have flipped 7 House of Delegates seats, and have seen no Democratic incumbent lose their seat.
Donald Trump tried to meddle in the New Jersey gubernatorial election by illegally leaking Mikie Sherrill’s military records, but instead of it helping Trump-backed Republican Jack Ciattarelli, it led to Ciattarelli performing worse than Trump did in the state in 2024, and Sherrill looking like she is well on the way to a double-digit win.
Sherrill wrote on X after her win, “New Jersey, it is the honor of my life to earn your trust to become this great state’s 57th Governor. I promise to listen, lead with courage, and never forget who I serve.”
The Trump White House is already in complete denial about the stomping that they are receiving.
Apple added a ton of features and tweaks with iOS 26, including to the iPhone’s Lock Screen. Here’s how to customize your iPhone’s clock, including its size.
You can make your iPhone’s Lock Screen clock look just the way you like it.
The clock might be one of the most-used things on your iPhone, and you probably don’t realize it. Especially if you have a model with an always-on display, like the iPhone 17.
For even if you have an Apple Watch, glancing at your iPhone is often the easiest way to check the time. Yet the clock hasn’t changed all that much since the iPhone shipped in 2007.
Rapper RBX has sued Spotify, alleging that the Swedish audio company has failed to stop the artificial inflation of music streams for artists like Drake and is hurting the revenue other rights holders receive through the platform.
RBX, whose real name is Eric Dwayne Collins, is seeking a class-action status and damages and restitution from Spotify. RBX, along with other rights holders, receive payment based on how often their music is streamed on Spotify, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in L.A. on Sunday.
Spotify pays rights holders a percentage of revenue based on the total streams attributed to them compared with total volume of streams for all songs, the lawsuit said.
The Long Beach-based rapper said that rights holders are losing money on Spotify because streams of some artists are being artificially inflated through bots powered by automated software, even though the use of such bots is prohibited on the platform, according to the lawsuit.
For example, the lawsuit notes that over a four-day period in 2024 there were at least 250,000 streams of Drake’s “No Face” song that appeared to originate in Turkey, but “were falsely geomapped through the coordinated use of VPNs to the United Kingdom in attempt to obscure their origins.”
Spotify knew or should have known “with reasonable diligence, that fraudulent activities were occurring on its platform,” states the lawsuit, describing the streamer’s policies to root out fraud as “window dressing.”
Spotify declined to comment on the pending litigation but said it “in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming.”
“We heavily invest in always-improving, best-in-class systems to combat it and safeguard artist payouts with strong protections like removing fake streams, withholding royalties, and charging penalties,” Spotify said in a statement.
Last year, a U.S. producer was accused of stealing $10 million from streaming services and Spotify said it was able to limit the theft on its platform to $60,000, touting it as evidence that its systems are working.
The platform is also making efforts to push back against AI-generated music that is made without artists’ permission. In September, Spotify announced it had removed more than 75 million AI-generated “spammy” music tracks from its platform over the last 12 months.
A representative for Drake did not immediately return a request for comment.
RBX is known for his work on Dr. Dre’s 1992 album “The Chronic” and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 album “Doggystyle.” He has multiple solo albums and has collaborated with artists including on Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” and Kris Kross’ “Da Bomb.” RBX is Snoop Dogg’s cousin.
Artificial intelligence continues to change the way that the entertainment industry operates, affecting everything from film and TV production to music. In the music industry, companies have sued AI startups, accusing the businesses of taking copyrighted music to train AI models.
At the same time, some music artists have embraced AI, using the technology to test bold ideas in music videos and in their songs.
Robert Irwin, Alix Earle and Whitney Leavitt rocked, so too did Chicago, while one unfortunate couple rolled out of the competition asDancing With The Stars celebrated Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Night.
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On Tuesday night (Oct. 4), all eyes were on Irwin, once again, as the Australian conversationist and his dancing pro partner Witney Carson hit the main floor.
Drenched in red light, Irwin, son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin and younger brother of Bindi, who won the 21st season of DWTS, in 2015, transformed into a matador for a paso doble to The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump.”
The judges loved the routine, as Irwin and Carson were awarded 38 out of 40, matching their season-high from last week’s Halloween Night. Only the teams of Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy, and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas (both with 39/40), fared better.
No pairing has yet landed a perfect score in this 34th season of DWTS.
However, Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov failed to hit the right note with their contemporary dance to “Dream On” by Aerosmith, which came in at the bottom of the pack with 34/40. The lowest score of the night means elimination, so the actress and her pro partner are out. Live votes are cast during the East Coast airing and ends shortly after the final performance is completed.
Also on Rock Hall night, the group dances returned with a bang as the cast was evenly split in two, and teamed up alongside one of the co-hosts, Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro.
The winner wasRibeiro’s “Team Chicago” performance, with Danielle (team captain) and Pasha; Whitney and Mark; Jordan and Ezra; and Dylan and Daniella, earning a perfect 40/40.
Chicago, which was inducted into the Rock Hall in the class of 2016, provided the score with a rendition of “25 or 6 to 4.”
Dancing with the Stars airs live Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu. The finale will be on Nov. 25.
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Night Scores
Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach: 36/40 Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy: 39/40 Andy Richter and Emma Slater: 30/40 Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas: 39/40 Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov: 34/40 (ELIMINATED) Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten: 37/40 Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa: 38/40 Robert Irwin and Witney Carson: 38/40
The Lowdown star Ethan Hawke discusses the show’s season finale episode, “The Sensitive Kind.”
The actor teases what could happen next after the ending.
Plus, get an exclusive peek at an intimate conversation between Hawke and costar Kyle MacLachlan.
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Lowdown Season 1 Episode 8, “The Sensitive Kind.”]
The debut season of FX‘s ragtag noir The Lowdown, from creator Sterlin Harjo, came to an explosive ending as the mystery behind Dale Washberg’s (Tim Blake Nelson) death was unraveled by Tulsa’s resident “trusthstorian,” Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke).
The episode, “The Sensitive Kind,” opened up where the previous episode left off, moments after Lee had chased Akron businessman Frank (Tracy Letts) into the One Well Church helmed by Mark Russell (Paul Sparks). As Lee realized he’d stepped into some real potential danger amidst the neo Nazis, Marty (Keith David) entered the space and claimed he was undercover and taking Lee into custody.
The ruse lasted only seconds for the men to get out the door and into Lee’s van, but they didn’t get away unscathed as Marty got grazed by a stray bullet when the One Well group charged after them, guns ablaze. While the men ultimately got away, Lee faced the consequences of his actions when artist Chutto (Mato Wayuhi) broke his shop window in retaliation for his grandfather Arthur’s (Graham Greene) death, which was unknowingly put in motion when he called Betty Jo (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and she sent Frank in search of Dale’s lost will.
While Lee told Chutto the land Dale had wanted to gift Arthur belonged to him, the young man didn’t want it, and that left the reporter to rethink his next move. As he tried to piece his latest story together, Lee faced his relationship with his daughter, Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), who read a poem about his breakup with ex-wife Sam (Kaniehtiio Horn), which also forced Lee to reconcile his role as a father.
Shane Brown / FX
After he left Dale’s letters to his daughter Pearl (Ken Pomeroy), Betty Jo called Lee up, enraged and wanting answers, but that was exactly what Lee hoped for. The pair met in a neutral spot, and while Lee couldn’t say if the letters revealed that Donald (Kyle MacLachlan) was Pearl’s biological father, the conversation revealed that she had knowledge of Dale’s true death.
Lee took that and went off to write his story, but he recruited Marty to get Donald to a neutral location at Cyrus’s (Killer Mike) office to allow the political candidate an opportunity to read it first and offer a statement. Lee explained that Dale had been shot accidentally and was originally meant to be scared into selling his land. When Lee relayed to Donald that he had an opportunity to do something good with Dale’s legacy, he decided to gift the land to the Osage and cut ties with the wealthy power players in the area.
The episode concluded with Lee attending Sam’s wedding to Johnny (Rafael Casal), where he wished the newlyweds well, and set a boundary with his daughter, putting her best interest ahead of his own by telling her to stay full-time with her mother and stepfather. It was both a buttoned-up and open ending in a way that leaves us satisfied and hungry for more.
Below, star Ethan Hawke breaks down the finale’s highlights on community, filming alongside a star-studded ensemble, and the importance of story. (Plus, get an exclusive look at an intimate conversation between Hawke and MacLachlan in the video below).
I loved that book shop moment from the beginning, where Lee interacts with Dale, and later in the episode, when Donald asks if they ever met, Lee says he never did. Was he lying, or did he just not remember meeting Dale?
Ethan Hawke: It’s kind of wonderfully mysterious, isn’t it? In my imagination, Lee didn’t remember that he’d met him until right then, all of a sudden. Sometimes that happens to you. You’re like, “Oh, wait, I remember something I hadn’t remembered before.” But he doesn’t have the confidence to verbalize it. Or maybe he always remembered, I don’t know. But it kind of gets at the wonderful nuance of truth-telling and how we all shade and hide the truth for when it makes sense to us and when we want to. And that’s how a lot of accidents happen.
That confrontation at One Well Church when Marty has to step in and save Lee is tense. How was it filming that sequence?
It was such a strange day of shooting to have all these unbelievably talented people there. I mean, Tracy Letts is one of the great American playwrights, and there he is acting with us, and Tom McCarthy is a brilliant filmmaker himself, and he’s there. Keith’s so genuine, a bona fide legend. I’ve loved Paul Sparks’ acting forever; he is one of my favorite actors. And so it was a great group of people. One of the fun things about playing Lee is that he’s just always thinking on his feet. He doesn’t really have a plan, and sometimes he’s really brave but in a stupid way. None of it’s thought out, and I don’t think he thinks through that moment. He’s just chasing [Frank] into that church, not really thinking about what he’s going to do, and then he’s just a cat trying to stay alive.
Shane Brown / FX
Speaking of Lee not thinking things through, he ultimately got Arthur killed in the previous episode because he spoke too openly in front of Betty Jo, and Lee is on the receiving end of Chutto’s anger because of it. Was that a learning moment for him? Will he be more careful moving forward?
I think it’s what pushes the show into the deep end of the pool. It’s that sometimes all these characters — Lee and everybody — they’re breaking hearts and doing good and bad things simultaneously, and that’s the complexity and nuance of real life. Good guys don’t wear white hats and bad guys don’t wear black hats. I do think that scene that you mentioned with Chutto is the first real smack of humility that Lee gets. He sees himself as a caped crusader, and he’s forced to stare in the mirror and see that he’s not clean. And the great thing about that is if you can absorb humility the right way, it can lead to compassion. It’s what makes him able to make the necessary compromises to put aside the article he wants to write and write a different article that actually could serve a good purpose, and also helps him to be a good enough man and father to show up for his daughter at his ex-wife’s wedding.
Lee and Donald’s conversation in Cyrus’s office reveals that he didn’t know Betty Jo had gotten Dale killed. How important is it for Lee and Donald to share that moment of connection that leads to Donald handing over Dale’s land to the Osage?
Whether he’s doing that just to get out of trouble or whether he is doing it to be a good person, we don’t really know, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s doing the right thing. My favorite part of the show is when the season starts with Lee comparing Donald Washburg to Adolf Hitler, which is what we do when we want to demonize somebody today. The left wing calls people Adolf Hitler, the right wing calls people Nazis… And of course, at the end of the show, he realizes, this is a human being trying to play the cards he’s dealt. He thinks he’s a good person. He didn’t know that his brother was murdered; he wasn’t a part of it. He did look the other way when it was to his best interest, which is exactly what Lee’s done.
Shane Brown / FX
Did you know how Dale’s death really unfolded throughout filming, or did you learn when filming the finale episode? How did that process unfold?
The process was so mysterious. It really started with Sterlin having this idea for a show, and I don’t think he really knew exactly where it was going. He knew how it was going to end, and he knew what the feeling was. How we got there was mysterious to all of us. In a lot of ways, the show’s really about community, and the mystery is in service of the characters, which is why I love it.
In one of our first conversations about it, we talked through the wedding scene with the daughter and knew that was what it had to drive towards. It’s Lee’s journey about what it means to be a good man and how we can view our sensitivities as strengths and not weaknesses. The whole murder mystery part of it had some movement as we told the story. I used to make up stories for my kids when they would fall asleep, and sometimes, when you just let your subconscious roll, great stuff happens. They would fall asleep [and I’d be like] I’ve got to go write that down, but then I could never remember it.
Where do you think Lee and Francis stand after he tells her to live with her mother full-time? Is there a sense of rejection there?
It’s wonderfully nuanced because for the first time, he’s really trying to see what is in her best interest, and he sees that she has a good stepfather and that they have a good thing going, and that might be a great resource and value to her. He’s not seeing her life as a reflection of him, but as her own life. And so, in a way, it’s a mark of wisdom, and in another way, it’s really disappointing to her. She wants to be loved wholly and completely and blindly. And I think the feeling I get from that last scene is that they’re going to find their way, but I would love to do a second season just because her character’s getting to be a really interesting age and her problems are going to get more complicated. It’d be wonderful to see Lee try to parent a teenage daughter.
The full-circle nature of Lee gifting Samantha the painting he stole in the premiere episode is so satisfying. Is there more to uncover in terms of their history?
I think so, definitely. I mean, Tiio and Rafael are such great actors, and I would love to see the ongoing dynamics between all three of them. I would love to see future parent-teacher conferences where they all sit there and pick her.
Have there been any discussions about where the show might go if it’s picked up for Season 2?
Of course, we can’t help but daydream, but the truth is, I feel really proud of Episode 8. I love the way the show resolves, and I’m excited for audiences to see it. And the TV gods have to decide whether or not there’s an audience for it.
Ride-hailing firm Grab will roll-out robobuses in its home city of Singapore in early 2026, building on its large investment in autonomous vehicle technologies.
Grab co-founder and CEO Anthony Tan made the announcement Tuesday during the company’s quarterly earnings, covering the three months ending Sep. 30.
“Grab will continue to build new partnerships with more global remote driving and AV leaders, participate in more pilots to understand the operational conditions for different driverless services, and be part of the regulators’ efforts to improve transport connectivity through driverless technologies,” Tan said in prepared remarks.
Grab ran a successful pilot of autonomous vehicles in September, rolled out in partnership with WeRide, a Chinese robotaxi operator. Earlier this year, Grab announced it would make a “strategic equity investment” in WeRide, to be completed in the first half of next year.
Then, in late October, Grab also invested in U.S.-based May Mobility, another provider of autonomous vehicles. May Mobility started to provide commercial rides on robotaxis in the U.S. earlier this year.
In an Q&A with analysts, Tan called the investments part of a “long-term strategy to lead the adoption of AV and remote driving across Southeast Asia.” Yet he admitted that self-driving vehicles may have a steeper hill to climb in the region, due to lower labor costs compared to developed markets like the U.S. or Singapore. “It will require considerable time for the unit economics to reach parity with human drivers.”
Tan also suggested how Grab might upscale its current human drivers as it explores self-driving vehicles. “We see new kinds of jobs emerging. For example, drivers could be remote safety drivers, data labelers; they could change LiDARs, cameras, and so forth.”
A bumper quarter
In its most recent quarter, Grab reported revenue of $873 million, 22% higher than the same period the year before. The tech company reported double-digit growth in all three of its business areas: deliveries, ride-hailing and finance. Ride-hailing revenue grew 17% year-on-year to $317 million, deliveries grew 23% to $465 million, and financial services had the fastest growth at 39% to $90 million.
The company also hiked its profits forecast for the full year; it now expects $480 million to $500 million in adjusted EBITDA for 2025.
Still, Grab shares fell by 4.7% in U.S. trading on Tuesday, perhaps due to low growth in profit for the current quarter. Grab reported $17 million in net income, just slightly more than the $15 million reported a year ago.
During the earnings call, Tan also re-affirmed the firm’s commitment to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its workflow, to enhance both “internal efficiencies and external innovation”. Over 98% of Grab’s engineers now use AI to code, which accelerates their development cycles.
AI technology has also boosted user experience on its apps, Tan added, with visually impaired users benefitting from its boosted speech recognition abilities, which now recognizes speech across regional accents with a 90% accuracy rate, up from 46%.
