A ring of light surrounding the center of NGC 6505,a nearby galaxy is captured by the European Space Agency's Euclid telescope, an example of an Einstein Ring.
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ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li
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European Space Agency
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Topline:
A rare ring of light surrounding a galaxy nearly 590 million light-years from Earth has been discovered by a space telescope that scientists hope will uncover more cosmic phenomena throughout the universe, the European Space Agency announced Monday.
More details: The ring of light, known as an Einstein Ring, was discovered in September 2023 by Euclid, a space telescope on a six-year mission to map out the cosmos by observing billions of galaxies. Photos of the Einstein Ring show a bright ball of light in the center with a bright, cloudy ring around it.
Some background: The first known Einstein Ring — a phenomenon named after Albert Einstein, who predicted the bending of light through his theory of relativity — was discovered in 1987. Several have been discovered in the decades since, though it is unclear how many exist. An Einstein Ring is a ring of light around a form of dark matter, galaxy or cluster of galaxies, says Mustapha Ishak, an astrophysics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.
What's next: The alignment creating the Einstein Ring will remain for some time, allowing astronomers to continue studying it, Ishak says.
Read on ... to learn more about the science of Einstein Rings.
A rare ring of light surrounding a galaxy nearly 590 million light-years from Earth has been discovered by a space telescope that scientists hope will uncover more cosmic phenomena throughout the universe, the European Space Agency announced on Monday.
The ring of light, known as an Einstein Ring, was discovered in September 2023 by Euclid, a space telescope on a six-year mission to map out the cosmos by observing billions of galaxies. Photos of the Einstein Ring show a bright ball of light in the center with a bright, cloudy ring around it.
The ring is surrounding NGC 6505, a galaxy that astronomers say is nearby, though it is hundreds of millions of light-years away.
NGC 6505itself is not new to scientists and has been studied since the 19th century, Jacqueline McCleary, assistant professor of physics at Northeastern University says. The Einstein Ring, which had never been seen around this galaxy before, was suddenly easy to find because of Euclid's high resolution and sensitivity.
"You'd think that after generations of telescopes have looked at this thing for a century and change, we'd have figured out everything that there is to know about it, right? Wrong," McCleary tells NPR. "With other previous generations of telescope, this Einstein Ring was essentially drowned out by the light of this big galaxy."
The first known Einstein Ring — named after Albert Einstein, who predicted the bending of light through his theory of relativity — was discovered in 1987. Several have been discovered in the decades since, though it is unclear how many exist.
A close up of the center of galaxy NGC 6505 with the Einstein Ring around it.
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ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li
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European Space Agency
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An Einstein Ring is a ring of light around a form of dark matter, galaxy or cluster of galaxies, says Mustapha Ishak, an astrophysics professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.When light from a galaxy bends while moving past a massive object, such as another galaxy or cluster of galaxies, and reaches the telescope, this perfect alignment of all three makes the ring visible to the observer.
NGC 6505 is in alignment with another galaxy that is 4.42 billion light-years away and has never been observed and does not have a name, the ESA says.
"It looks to us like a ring because light is focused at that place in the shape of a ring," Ishak tells NPR.
They are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen with a telescope like Euclid.
An Einstein Ring is also considered a strong gravitational lensing pattern, saysXiaosheng Huang, a physics and astronomy professor at the University of San Francisco. Gravitational lensing is when a massive object warps time and space, causing light to become distorted and bend as it moves around the object.
"This effect can result in several types of image configurations," Huang tells NPR about strong gravitational lenses, adding that the Einstein Ring is the most striking one.
The alignment creating the Einstein Ring will remain for some time, allowing astronomers to continue studying it, Ishak says. And telescopes like Euclid likely will give scientists a better understanding of dark matter, invisible matter that has gravitational effects, Huang says. But McCleary hopes it will lead to more "dramatic discoveries" and give scientists a peek into the mysteries of the universe.
"We'll be able to study distant old galaxies from early in the universe's history in far better detail and in far greater numbers than we have been able to up to this point," McCleary says.
Cato Hernández
covers important issues that affect the everyday lives of Southern Californians.
Published December 10, 2025 4:16 PM
A file photo of an ink-based printer.
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Neilson Barnard
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The L.A. City Council has voted to create a new ordinance that bans the sale of certain single-use ink cartridges from online and local retailers.
Why now? L.A. is recommending that a ban target single-use cartridges that don’t have a take-back program or can’t be refilled. That's because they’re winding up in the landfill, where, L.A. Sanitation says, they can leach harmful substances into the ground.
What’s next? The City Attorney’s Office is drafting the ordinance. It will go before the council’s energy and environment committee before reaching a full vote.
Read on ... to see how the ban could work.
Los Angeles could become the first city in the U.S. to ban ink cartridges that can be used only once.
The L.A. City Council unanimously voted Wednesday to approve the creation of an ordinance that prohibits their sale. The move comes after more than a year of debate over the terms.
Why the potential ban
This builds upon the city’s effort to reach zero waste, including phasing out single-use plastics. You’re likely familiar with some of those efforts — such as only getting plastic foodware by request and banning single-use carryout bags at stores. Multiple plastic bans have been suggested, like for single-use vapes and bag clips, but now it’s ink’s turn.
The cartridges are tough to dispose of because of the plastic, metal and chemicals inside, according to the city. They’re also classified as regulated waste in the state because they can leach toxic substances into the environment, such as volatile organic compounds and heavy metals.
That poses a problem. L.A.’s curbside recycling program can’t recycle the cartridges, and while its hazardous waste program can take them, a significant portion end up in landfills.
Major printer manufacturers and some ink retailers have take-back programs for used cartridges so they can get refilled. However, L.A. Sanitation says there are certain single-use cartridges that don’t have recovery programs. These are usually cartridges that work with a printer but aren’t name brand.
How outlawing them could work
LASAN has spent months figuring out what a ban would cover — and it hasn’t been without pushback. The city’s energy and environment committee pressed the department back in September on how effective a ban would be.
Ultimately, the committee moved it forward with a promise that LASAN would come back with more details, including environmental groups’ stance, concrete data to back up the need and a public education plan.
The department’s current recommendation is that the ordinance should prohibit retail and online establishments from selling any single-use ink cartridge, whether sold separately or with a printer, to people in the city. Retailers that don’t follow the rules would get fined.
So what does single-use mean here? The ban would affect a printer cartridge that:
is not collected or recovered through a take-back program
cannot be remanufactured, refilled or reused
infringes upon intellectual property rights or violates any applicable local, state or federal law
Any cartridges that meet one of these points would fall under the ban, though you still could get them outside L.A.
The proposed ordinance will go to the committee first while LASAN works on a public education plan.
If it ends up getting approved by the full council, the ban likely would go into full effect 12 months later.
Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published December 10, 2025 3:36 PM
Cal State Dominguez Hills faces significant budget pressure.
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Julie Leopo
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LAist
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Topline:
Faculty, students, alumni and community partners are demanding the California State University, Dominguez Hills, administration withdraw a proposal to eliminate six academic programs.
Why it matters: In addition to fewer academic options, according to the California Faculty Association — the union that represents CSU professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches — an estimated 40 jobs will be eliminated at Cal State Dominguez Hills if this plan is approved.
What the university says: "The university’s current financial constraints limit our ability to invest in new or expanded programs that could meet those needs," university spokesperson Lilly McKibbin said via email.
She added that no final decisions have been made and that the process to end a program would give faculty a chance to "review data and hear from the campus community."
What educators say: “These programs are not expendable — they are essential,” said Stephen McFarland, a labor studies professor at the campus and a CFA executive board member. “Eliminating them would narrow students’ opportunities at a moment when they need more pathways, not fewer.”
The backstory: The CSU system is facing a $2.3 billion budget gap, despite tuition increases. The gap is rooted in cuts to state funding and increased labor costs. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sophie Kinsella, who wrote the massively popular "Shopaholic" book series, has died. The writer, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was 55 years old. Last year, she announced she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.
'Shopaholic' series: Kinsella's novels were a sensation; they sold tens of millions of copies and were translated into dozens of languages. The first two books in the Shopaholic series were adapted into the 2009 movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.
Read on ... for a 2019 interview with Kinsella.
Sophie Kinsella, who wrote the massively popular Shopaholic book series, has died. The writer, whose real name was Madeleine Sophie Wickham, was 55 years old. Last year, she announced she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2022.
Her death was announced on Instagram on Wednesday: "Despite her illness, which she bore with unimaginable courage, Sophie counted herself truly blessed — to have such wonderful family and friends and to have had the extraordinary success of her writing career. She took nothing for granted and was forever grateful for the love she received."
Kinsella's novels were a sensation; they sold tens of millions of copies and were translated into dozens of languages. The first two books in the Shopaholic series were adapted into the 2009 movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.
In an NPR interview from 2019, she said her novels focused on young women and their travails, even though she was herself a mother with five children.
"I just think there's something exciting about the time of life where you're on the lookout for opportunities in all directions. You're looking at your career. You're looking at finding someone to love. Everything is ahead of you," she said. "And for me, the — kind of the wide, open horizon is so exciting. There is something exhilarating about meeting a stranger in a coffee shop and thinking, 'Where's this going to go?'"
Makenna Sievertson
covers the daily drumbeat of Southern California — events, processes and nuances making it a unique place to call home.
Published December 10, 2025 2:29 PM
The Alphabet Streets neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. Pepperdine's Disaster Relief Clinic assists survivors with an array of legal issues as they recover and rebuild from January's fires.
Why it matters: Faculty, students and volunteers at Pepperdine University were on the ground within days of the Eaton and Palisades fires offering free legal assistance and relaunching its Disaster Relief Clinic, which provided pro bono services after the Thomas and Woolsey fires in 2017-18.
Why now: “We provide really good legal help for people that have been damaged by the fire[s],” David A. DeJute, the clinic’s director, told LAist. “It makes me feel like I'm providing something of value and worth back to the community.”
The backstory: Since then, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law's Disaster Relief Clinic has assisted more than 300 fire survivors with hundreds of hours of free legal services, according to the university.
Read on ... to learn more about the Disaster Relief Clinic.
Faculty, students and volunteers at Pepperdine University were on the ground within days of the Eaton and Palisades fires offering free legal assistance and relaunching the Disaster Relief Clinic, which provided pro bono services after the Thomas and Woolsey fires in 2017 and 2018.
Since then, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law's Disaster Relief Clinic has assisted more than 300 fire survivors, according to the university. The clinic has helped recover at least $750,000 in FEMA assistance and millions more from insurance claims.
“We provide really good legal help for people that have been damaged by the fire[s],” David A. DeJute, the clinic’s director, told LAist. “It makes me feel like I'm providing something of value and worth back to the community.”
About the clinic
The clinic is designed to help fire survivors with a wide variety of legal issues they may face as they go through the recovery and rebuilding process, including having to find rental housing, working with remediation companies to clean up ash and navigating insurance policy limits.
Pepperdine University faculty, students and volunteers were on the ground within days of January's fires, offering free legal assistance to survivors.
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Courtesy Pepperdine University
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DeJute, who’s also an adjunct professor with Pepperdine’s law school, said the weeks after the fires were a “little like triage” as the clinic focused on helping people prioritize their next steps.
“When you have someone in your family die, you experience trauma and shock and remorse, and nobody is surprised that it affects your mood and your ability to process information,” he said. “Same thing happens when you've lost your home.”
DeJute said some of the most common legal issues that come up at the clinic have to do with FEMA applications, landlords and price gouging.
If a survivor needs more help than the clinic can handle, like with litigation, it will refer them to other lawyers who’ve agreed to take clients pro bono, according to Pepperdine.
The clinic also has trained around 600 lawyers to bring free legal services to their own communities after a disaster, according to the university. DeJute said that includes a student who stepped in to help after the deadly flash flooding in Texas this summer.
A survivor’s story
Pergrin Jung’s family home was “completely destroyed” in the Palisades Fire in what he described to LAist as “the worst days of our lives.”
Jung, like many other survivors, wasn’t sure how to start picking up the pieces.
“Not only were we in a state of shock,” he said. “But also, none of us really knew what the next steps would be.”
Jung reached out for help with an insurance claim for his homeowner’s policy and said the clinic was a “staple” every step of the way. He said students and staff helped explain the legal system, gave feedback on letters he sent to the insurance company and guided his strategy throughout the process.
“Having this resource made all the difference to us,” Jung said. “They were invaluable.”
The clinic is run by Pepperdine faculty, staff and law students who get hands-on experience operating as attorneys under DeJute’s supervision.
The students are tasked with communicating with clients, diving into details of their legal needs, pushing back against price gouging and managing issues with mortgage companies, to name a few.
Taylor Wedlock, a third-year law student, said the clinic was an opportunity to do her part for the community, especially after her father, an L.A. fire captain, spent about a week fighting the Palisades Fire.
“We weren't just doing FEMA appeals or applications,” she told LAist. “We're going to … help to get this survivor his instruments back so he can so he can start his, you know, his musical career again.”
Wedlock said the clinic helps students apply what they learn in law school textbooks and lectures while exploring the more personal aspect of being a lawyer.
Wedlock recalled the relief in her client’s voice when she got approved for FEMA rental assistance after more than six months of denials, for example. She said she considers that one of her major wins of the semester.
“It may seem impossible to come back from such devastation, but there are options,” Wedlock said. “There are a lot of people who are willing to help.”
How to get involved
People seeking disaster-related legal assistance from the clinic can fill out the request form here. (Please note: A staff attorney or law student will respond to each request, but filling out the form doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship, according to Pepperdine.)
