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Detecting extremely distant stars, or those closest in time to the big bang, can provide insights into the first few chapters of the history of our universe. In 2022, the Hubble Space Telescope broke its own record, and spotted the most distant star yet. This star, nicknamed Earendel, emitted its light within the universe’s first billion years.

Spotting, and confirming, the distance of the star is just the beginning, though. That’s where NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope comes in. Webb’s initial observations of Earendel have revealed insights into the star’s type, and even the galaxy surrounding the star. Future analysis of Webb spectroscopic observations of Earendel and its host galaxy, the Sunrise Arc, could also reveal information about brightness, temperature, and composition.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has followed up on observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of the farthest star ever detected in the very distant universe, within the first billion years after the . Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument reveals the star to be a massive B-type star more than twice as hot as our sun, and about a million times more luminous.

Microsoft first launched Bing Chat six months ago, and the company says it has “seen nine consecutive quarters of growth on Edge,” most likely thanks to the fact Microsoft had locked Bing Chat to its own browser. There have also been over 1 billion chats on Bing Chat and over 750 million images generated using the service.

Windows Copilot, powered by Bing Chat, is also coming to Windows 11 soon. Microsoft is currently testing this sidebar in builds of Windows 11, and it’s looking like it will likely roll out to all Windows 11 users later this year.

A massive extinct whale may have just stolen the title of biggest animal ever. According to a paper published today in, the creature—dubbed Perucetus colossus—could have weighed as much as 340 tons—nearly 75% more than the largest blue whales, the all-time record holder. That estimate comes from a 39-million-year-old partial skeleton unearthed in Peru. Even if the calculation turns out to be an overestimate, the animal was clearly huge, experts tell. The rotund giant would likely have been too sluggish to chase small but abundant critters like krill, the researchers say. Instead, its manateelike proportions (above in artist’s reconstruction) suggest it fed on the sea floor—though without a skull to examine, whether it was similarly vegetarian or preferred a more carnivorous diet remains a mystery.