oddball

Like going to the store to buy dog food and coming back with a duck, researchers with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory may have uncovered a significant insight into how masers (nature's lasers) are formed while conducting a routine study of the "oddball" star MWC 349A using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). It came in the form of a previously unseen jet of ejected material being launched away from the star at "impossibly high speeds," according to the NRAO. MWC 349A, which resides 3,900…

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded almost 800 miles off the Southern California coast Tuesday night, an “oddball” event that made little impact but drew intrigue from scientists because of its location. “It’s a decent size, but that’s a location that is just not common,” said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena. “I’ve been watching earthquakes for going on 40 years, and I don’t remember anything that big in that location.” The temblor occurred roughly in line with San Diego.Since…

You’ve not known humiliation until you’ve had John Malkovich pant “Walk of shame!” at you as you skulk back to your motel room. That is one bizarre moment in this halting and derivative thriller, which exists somewhere on the continuum between erotic and psychological. Malkovich puts in a batty turn as a motel owner that would have had “paycheque” written all over it except for his co-producer credit.The shamee in question is Sky (Lilly Krug), a permanent resident at the motel who, thanks to a chance encounter in a…