Chilean telescope uncovers one of the oldest star clusters in the galaxy

By Georgina Torbet Published March 24, 2019

Color composite GSAOI+GeMS image of HP 1 obtained using the Gemini South telescope in Chile. North is up and East to the left. Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF; composite image produced by Mattia Libralato of Space Telescope Science Institute

An ultra-high definition image captured by the Gemini South telescope in Chile has uncovered one of the oldest star clusters in the Milky Way. The cluster, called HP 1, could give clues to how our galaxy was formed billions of years ago.

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“Ultra-sharp adaptive optics images from the Gemini Observatory allowed us to determine the ages of some of the oldest stars in our Galaxy,” Leandro Kerber of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Brazil, said in a statement. “HP 1 is one of the surviving members of the fundamental building blocks that assembled our Galaxy’s inner bulge.”

The team used a technique called adaptive optics which removes the distortions in light caused by Earth’s atmosphere. That allows the telescope to see stars in great detail, which allows their age to be determined. The HP 1 cluster is estimated to be 12.8 billion years old.

“This star cluster is like an ancient fossil buried deep in our Galaxy’s bulge, and now we’ve been able to date it to a far-off time when the Universe was very young,” said Stefano Souza, a Ph.D. student at the USP, who worked on the research team, said in a statement. “These are also some of the oldest stars we’ve seen anywhere.”

HP 1 is known as a globular cluster, which is a collection of stars bound together by gravity. Globular clusters tend to be located near the center of the galaxy, but HP 1 and other similar clusters imaged by Hubble have shown that they can also be found further out in the galactic bulge. As a very old cluster, HP 1 is lacking in heavy elements like metal, and this was the first clue that it could be used as a chemical tracer of our galaxy’s evolution.

“HP 1 is playing a critical role in our understanding of how the Milky Way formed,” Kerber said. “It is helping us to bridge the gap in our understanding between our Galaxy’s past and its present.”

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Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

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Waymo faces questions about its use of onboard cameras for AI training, ads targeting

Two people exit a Waymo taxi.

In an iconic scene from the 2002 sci-fi film Minority Report, on-the-run Agent John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, struggles to walk through a mall as he’s targeted by a multitude of personalized ads from the likes of Lexus, Guinness and American Express, everytime hidden detectors identify his eyes.
It was clearly meant as a warning about a not-so-desirable dystopian future.
Yet, 23 years later that future is at least partlially here in the online world and threatens to spread to other areas of daily life which are increasingly ‘connected’, such as the inside of cars. And the new testing grounds, according to online security researcher Jane Manchun Wong, might very well be automated-driving vehicles, such as Waymo’s robotaxis.
On X, Wong unveiled an unreleased version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggests the California-based company is preparing to use data from its robotaxis, including interior cameras, to train generative AI models and to offer targetted ads.
“Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests,” the Waymo’s unreleased privacy statement reads. “You can opt out of sharing your information with third parties, unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the service.”
Asked for comments about the unreleased app update, Waymo told The Verge that it contained “placeholder text that doesn’t accurately reflect the feature’s purpose”.
Waymo’s AI-models “are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads,” spokesperson Julia Ilina said.
Waymo’s robotaxis, which are operating on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, do contain onboard cameras that monitor riders. But Ilina says these are mainly used to train AI models for safety, finding lost items, check that in-car rules are followed, and to improve the service.
The new feature is still under development and offers riders an opportunity to opt out of data collection, Ilina says.
But as we all get used to ads targeting based on everything that’s somehow connected to the web, it seems a once-distant vision of the future may be just around the corner.

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A new electric vehicle startup—quietly backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos—is building something bold in Michigan. Not just a car, but a whole new idea of what an EV company can be. Slate Auto is a stealthy new automaker with one mission: ditch the luxury-first EV playbook and start from the affordable —which most drivers actually seek.
The start-up has been operating out of public sight since 2022, until TechCrunch found out about its existence. Of course, creating a little mystery about a potentially game-changing concept is a well-tested marketing approach.
But Slate truly seems to approach EVs in a very different way than most: It isn’t debuting with a six-figure spaceship-on-wheels. Instead, it's targeting the holy grail of EV dreams: a two-seat electric pickup truck for just $25,000. Yep, twenty-five grand. That’s less than a tricked-out golf cart in some neighborhoods. Slate is flipping the Tesla model on its head. Tesla, but also the likes of Lucid, BMW, and to a certain degree, Rivian, all started with high-end vehicles to build brand and bankroll future affordable car. But Slate wants to start with the people’s pickup—and letting it grow with you.
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Backing up this idea is an equally bold strategy: selling accessories, apparel, and utility add-ons à la Harley-Davidson and Jeep’s MoPar division. You’re not just buying a vehicle; you’re buying into a lifestyle. Think affordable EV meets open-source car culture.
Slate's approach isn't just novel—it's almost rebellious. At a time when other startups risk folding under the weight of their own lofty ambitions, Slate is keeping things lean, scalable, and customer focused. The company reportedly plans to source major components like battery packs and motors from outside suppliers, keeping manufacturing costs low while focusing energy on design, experience, and upgrade paths.
Sure, it’s all been kept under wraps—until now. With plans to begin production near Indianapolis by next year, the wraps are about to come off this EV underdog.
While, at least in spirit, the U.S. market has been dominated by high-end EVs, Slate’s “start small, scale with you” philosophy might be just the jolt the industry needs.

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Kia EV 9

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After all, when Kia announced it was switching production of the EV9 to the U.S. from South Korea in 2023, it largely based its decision on its EVs being eligible for the $7,500 tax credit on new EV purchases offered under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
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As for the EV6, 2025 marks the first time its production takes place stateside, and most of its trims have also become eligible for the full tax credit.
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The full credit should still be available for those who lease the vehicles, as leasing does not have the same sourcing requirements under the IRA.
Another big unknown for the GT trims is whether the U.S.’ 25% tariffs on all imported vehicles will again be applied. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump paused most tariffs announced in early April for 90 days.
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