We're about to get a new perspective on some of the most extreme objects in the universe. Tomorrow NASA will launch its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission, or IXPE, to measure X-rays released by black holes and neutron stars.

The satellite is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Live coverage of the launch will be available on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The spacecraft, which is the collaborative effort of NASA and the Italian Space Agency, carries three telescopes. While IXPE isn't as big as NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory, it is the first space observatory of its kind. The satellite will be able to see an often overlooked aspect of cosmic ray sources called polarisation.

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Advances in X-ray astronomy

"The launch of IXPE marks a bold and unique step forward for X-ray astronomy," said Martin Weisskopf, IXPE's principal investigator, in a statement. "IXPE will tell us more about the precise nature of cosmic X-ray sources than we can learn by studying their brightness and colour spectrum alone."

X-rays are a highly energetic wavelength of light that are born from extremes. In space, this includes powerful magnetic fields, collisions between objects, explosions, scorching temperatures and rapid rotations. This light is practically encoded with the signature of what created it, but Earth's atmosphere prevents X-rays from reaching the ground. This is why scientists rely on X-ray telescopes in space.

Polarised light also bears the unique stamp of its source and what it passed through on the way. While waves of light can vibrate in any direction, polarised light only vibrates in one direction.

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Understanding extreme cosmic objects

Using IXPE to study the polarization of cosmic X-rays could help scientists better understand the remnants of exploded stars, like black holes and neutron stars, their environments and how they produce X-rays. This perspective on extreme cosmic objects could also reveal the answers to larger fundamental questions about physics.

"IXPE will help us test and refine our theories of how the universe works," Weisskopf said. "There may be even more exciting answers ahead than the ones we've hypothesized. Better yet, we may find whole lists of new questions to ask!"

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The satellite's eyes on the universe include sensitive polarization detectors, which were made in Italy. The telescopes will observe the X-rays and feed them into the detectors, which can capture images of the X-rays and measure their polarization.

"This is going to be groundbreaking in terms of X-ray data acquisition," Weisskopf said. "We'll be analyzing the results for decades to come."

Indonesians are used to dealing with natural disasters. Their country sits on the Ring of Fire, a band around the Pacific Ocean that sets off frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. But Mount Semeru's eruption on the island of Java Saturday was different.

Days of heavy rain had gradually eroded Semeru's lava dome, a mound of hardened lava that acts like a volcano's plug, which partially collapsed.

It was this "dome avalanche" that Indonesian volcanologists believe triggered the eruption, according to the country's geological chief, Eko Budi Lelono, from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

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"Based on photos and data, we can compare the size of the dome before and after the December 4 eruption. We can see a big mass of the dome's volume was lost after a heavy spell of rain that day," he said.

A lava dome can be unstable and collapse for several reasons, but there is growing understanding that heavy rain can be one of them.

The role of rain in this case has raised questions around whether climate change could bring more frequent eruptions of this kind.

That's a concern, because eruptions caused by lava-dome collapse tend to be stronger and more destructive than other types, scientists told CNN.

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Saturday's blowout created what's known as pyroclastic flow, which are fast-moving clouds of lava, gas and ash.

The temperature of these clouds are typically between 800 to 1,000 degrees Celsius, Eko said.

It can move fast — sometimes around 10 kilometres an hour, but up to 100 km/h — and can be impossible to run from.

More than 30 people were killed in the weekend eruption and searchers are looking for dozens more people missing. Thousands of buildings were damaged, many buried under heavy piles of ash that shrouded homes in entire villages.

The force of this eruption was bigger than usual. Semeru shot ash some 15 kilometres up into the air, when it's typically just hundreds of meters, and the pyroclastic clouds reached more than 12 kilometres on land, much further than the usual five kilometres, Mr Eko said.

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Millions of Indonesians live near the foot of volcanoes, where the soil is particularly fertile and good for growing crops. More than 8,000 live within ten kilometres of Semeru.

They sometime get warnings that Semeru — one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes — will erupt as its activity increases, but rain-triggered events like this are harder to predict, Heather Handley, a volcanologist at Monash University in Australia, told CNN.

Continued global warming is projected to bring more extreme rain events to many parts of the world, raising concerns that these larger eruptions could come with little or no notice at all.

Scientists don't know this is necessarily going to happen, but more have been asking that question since 2018, when Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano erupted after days of heavy rainfall.

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"People have been thinking about the relationships between climate and triggers of volcanic eruptions," Ms Handley said.

"There's still a lot to explore that we don't know yet, so but it's good to think about other external driving mechanisms of volcanic eruption that we might otherwise have missed."

Handley explained that there are several ways increased rain and global warming more generally could impact volcanic eruptions.

Memes helped millions of Australians laugh through lockdown in 2021.

About 3.6 million have been tweeted by Aussie accounts this year and Twitter has revealed our favourite: "When you…"

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The versatile meme gets an unfair leg up given how many different ways it can be used but it was the country's go-to in August — Australia's biggest meme month on Twitter — which coincided with the start of Melbourne's sixth lockdown and Sydney's continued confinement.

#COVID19 was knocked off by #auspol as the nation's most tweeted hashtag.

Australian of the Year Grace Tame (@TamePunk) who proudly criticised the Prime Minister and backed Brittany Higgins, was the country's third most tweeted about "figure" behind K-Pop groups BTS (@BTS_twt) and Black Pink (@ygofficialblink).

#March4Justice was among Australia's top 10 most-used hashtags.

January may feel like a lifetime ago but the wave of amateur investors who blew up GameStop's stock price hasn't been forgotten.

The movement, which took hold on Reddit, drove sub US$20 ($28) stock as high as US$347 ($484) in a little over two weeks.

A video on the subreddit 'r/wallstreetbets' of a New York billboard displaying that rise was the most upvoted post on the platform in 2021, with the topic claiming the top three spots.

Meanwhile, a lobster diver who "recently survived being inside a whale" beat out Bill Gates and Bethesda's Todd Howard for the most upvoted AMA (Ask Me Anything) as photogenic bees and ducks from the animal kingdom dominated Reddit's top three livestreams.

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Cryptocurrency continues to drive the biggest chunk of Reddit's 366 million posts so far this year; r/dogecoin, r/superstonk, r/cryptocurrency, r/amcstock and r/bitcoin were among the top five most viewed communities.

Gamers united to celebrate EA losing exclusive rights to making Star Wars video games but it was Genshin Impact, League of Legends, Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy XIV that caught the most Reddit attention.

Like on Google Search, the NBA led football, the NFL, wrestling and MMA as the world's most-viewed sport subreddits.

Netflix's Squid Game exploded in September, but the superpower of our Marvel, Star Wars and DC heroes dominated the movie and TV categories. T

he announcement that Dune would be getting a sequel in theatres was the most upvoted post in the r/movies subreddit.

Reddit's overall most viewed topics of 2021 so far:

1. Cryptocurrency
2. Gaming
3. Sports
4. Weddings
5. Health and Fitness
6. Food and Drink
7. Movies and Television

Twitter's most popular hashtags in Australia looked like this:

CCTV of two cars linked to the Sydney CBD murder of Bilal Hamze, and an alleged attempted murder of another man in the city's north, has been released by police.

Just before 10.30pm on Thursday, June 17, emergency services were called to the intersection of Bridge and Pitt Streets in the CBD, after reports a man had been shot by an unknown person in a black Audi.

The man – who has since been identified as 34-year-old Hamze – was treated at the scene before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where he later died.

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A short time later, police found a burnt-out Audi at Fleming Street, Northwood.

Separately, on Saturday, August, 14, police tried to stop a Mercedes on Walker Street, North Sydney.

The driver failed to stop and following a short pursuit, the Mercedes was found abandoned on Miller Street, Cammeray, and seized for forensic examination.

It's alleged the occupants – described as two men in dark-coloured clothing – had earlier approached a nearby Toyota Camry and threatened the 76-year-old male driver with a gun, before fleeing the area in the man's vehicle.

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In September, detectives charged two men – aged 31 and 19 – for their alleged roles in that incident. They remain before the courts.

Since that time, an extensive canvass of CCTV has identified that the Mercedes used in the alleged murder attempt was captured travelling with the Audi used in Hamze's murder, in the weeks before his death.

Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said investigators believe the same person may be responsible for the cloned number plates which were found to be in use on the Audi and the Mercedes.

"We're appealing to anyone who may have seen these vehicles travelling or being stored together – in any part of Metropolitan Sydney – to come forward and contact police," Superintendent Doherty said.

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"Of note, both vehicles are depicted travelling westbound in the M4 East Tunnel about 15 minutes apart on Thursday, May 27, 2021, and have been identified on traffic cameras across the Sydney metropolitan area after that time."

He said the Audi was also captured on CCTV using the Sydney Harbour Bridge both before and immediately after the Hamze shooting.

"Both the murder of Bilal and the alleged murder attempt at North Sydney have obvious familial and organised crime related links, with this CCTV revealing a further link to the possible acquisition and storage of the vehicles," Superintendent Doherty said.

"We know these stolen luxury cars are kept in garages and unit blocks across Sydney until they are later used to facilitate deadly public place shootings and other violent crimes.

"We're particularly interested in anyone who may have seen these cars travelling around Sydney in May and June this year, or who was perhaps approached through social media or other means to store one of these cars on their property."

The Homicide Squad commander also said police now believe a fleet of cars allegedly being used in these crimes are stashed across the city, with parking spots secured over Facebook marketplace or Gumtree.

"There's people who may have these vehicles stored in their garages or car spaces now and they can come forward," Detective Superintendent Doherty said.

"There's other people that would know and be responsible for directing the sourcing of these vehicles, storing of these vehicles and then directing people to commit both murders and shootings ."

Anybody with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A woman has died after her car was washed away in a rapidly rising flood in Brisbane's west.

Emergency services were called to Lancing Street, Pullenvale, about 4.40pm on Wednesday when a witness saw a white sedan get washed away.

Queensland Police Inspector Daniel Bragg said it took a swift-water rescue team and other police several hours to find the car in an "extremely challenging operation".

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A 75-year-old Taringa woman was found dead in the car, which a tree had fallen on top of.

"The storm this afternoon did come over very quickly," the regional duty officer said.

"And I'm advised that the floodwaters here rose very very quickly. 

"The reality is here, I suppose, if it's flooded forget it. 

"Can I encourage drivers to stop and not go anywhere near flooded waters."

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Thunderstorms battered Brisbane with heavy rain on Monday, including more than 60mm in an hour at Pullenvale.

Inspector Bragg, describing the incident as "absolutely tragic", said conditions made the search for the woman even more difficult.

"When the police first arrived, the waters were moving very rapidly and they were also rising very rapidly," he said.

"They formed the view that the waters were extremely dangerous and extremely treacherous. 

"So the swift water rescue team were immediately brought in to assist in retrieving that vehicle."

He warned drivers to steer clear of flooded roads.

"When you're driving on the road and you see water across the road, you need to drive with extreme caution," he said.

"If it is flooded, then don't drive through it because things like this can unfold so quickly and before you know it things are out of your control."

A health practitioner from Bondi, in Sydney's east, has been permanently banned from operating after claiming he could reverse autism, and prescribed pills that contained elevated levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic.

Rama Prasad prescribed the medication to a three-year-old which contained quantities of the toxins which are unacceptable by Australian standards.

The Health Care Complaints Commission has found there was no evidence for this treatment.

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It also said that as a "non-registered health practitioner" he misrepresented being a doctor.

Mr Prasad also provided care without the necessary qualifications and prescribed Ayurvedic medicine that he had a financial interest in without disclosing it.

Ayurveda is a pseudoscientific alternative medical system with roots in India.

"Sadly, this is not uncommon, there are a lot of these types of quack practitioners out there that are really preying of families, particularly of young children who have just been diagnosed with autism," Nicole Rogerson, CEO of Autism Awareness Australia said.

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The Commission has deemed Mr Prasad "poses a risk to the health and safety of members of the public".

He is now "permanently prohibited from providing, or causing to be provided, any health services, either in paid employment or voluntarily, to any member of the public".

The replacement buses for Sydney's Inner West light rail service are costing taxpayers thousands of dollars a day.

The Inner West light rail has been shut down for up to 18 months after cracks were discovered in all 12 trams.

Buses are replacing the service while the fleet is fixed.

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9News can reveal the cost of the light rail shutdown for taxpayers, which includes the replacement buses, drivers and marshalls.

Documents show Transport for NSW is forking out as much as $90,000 a day.

Over the next 18 months of the predicted shutdown, it will add up to close to $50 million.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet today spoke about the transport challenges during the National Press Club in Sydney.

"Trains crack. Sometimes there are challenges with ferries. Yes, there are always going to be problems," Mr Perrottet said.

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Opposition Leader Chris Minns said NSW taxpayers "need to know their money is falling through the cracks".

"This is coming straight out of the pockets of the taxpayers of NSW," Mr Minns said.

"They're not getting value for money, the commuters aren't getting a service and the government insists nothing's gone wrong."

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It comes after other issues have been discovered in Sydney's transport services, including cracks in one of the new Manly ferries.

Several welding defects have been discovered on the Emerald-class Balmoral.

"We have safety issues with trams, safety issues with ferries and trains, all built overseas," Jo Haylen, the Shadow Transport Minister, said.

Mr Perrottet said there will be more of a focus on onshore manufacturing in the future.

"We will be having a much greater focus, even though we lead the way now, when it comes to taking NSW to the next level when it comes to onshore manufacturing," he said.

Collingwood super-fan Jeffrey "Joffa" Corfe will stand trial after pleading not guilty to two charges of sexual abuse towards a minor.

The 61-year-old fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court today, accused of abusing a 14-year-old boy in Coburg in Melbourne's north in 2005.

Mr Corfe was today committed to trial and had his bail extended.

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As part of his bail conditions, Mr Corfe will not be able to travel overseas and he will have to stay at a nominated place of residence.

He will also not be allowed to make any contact with the alleged victim or the alleged victim's legal team.

Mr Corfe will go before the County Court in Melbourne for a pre-trial hearing in January.

First home buyers are being given exclusive rights to buy 100 apartments in Melbourne's inner-north.

The offer comes as new data shows investors are muscling out younger buyers.

Melbourne resident Nick Bond, 27, has been searching for his first home all year, but auctions have become a constant losing battle.

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Investors always seem to have that a bit of extra coin to spend on properties, compared to first home buyers.

"You'd be lying if you said it wasn't a little bit deflating," he told 9News.

However, today he has been told 100 new apartments in Melbourne's inner-north are only available to first home buyers, with investors being kept away.

Three new developments across North Melbourne, Preston and Northcote will carry the offer.

"I'd be pretty excited about that," Mr Bond said.

"This is pretty much exactly where I want to live."

First home buyers are being invited to plan ahead and buy with a deposit of just 3 per cent.

General manager of property developer MAB David Allt-Graham believes there will be "really strong interest" from first home buyers.

Construction of the complexes will begin in the next six months and for the next eight weeks, first-home buyers have their exclusive pick of the apartments.

The apartments will be ready to move into by mid-2024.

By Soumya Bhamidipati of RNZ The future of 24 stolen dogs is up in the air as an animal welfare organisation refuses to hand them over, while police demand they are returned to the owner.Animal charity Helping You Help Animals…