black

What black holes can teach us about traffic jams

by

Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute, host of “Ask a Spaceman” and “Space Radio,” and author of “How to Die in Space.” Sutter contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One big reason black holes are feared is that once you go in, you can’t … Read more

U.S. Records Reveal Bias against Muslim and Black Citizenship Applicants

by

The U.S. associates two statues with the cornerstones of its republic. The two figures are the Statue of Liberty, her torch lighting the way for immigrants, and Lady Justice, blindfolded to avoid bias from the eyes in the court. The reality is that people, not statues, make decisions about immigration. And in the courts and … Read more

A Man Had a Stroke. Three Months Later His Tongue Turned ‘Hairy’ And Dark

by

A man in his 50s presented to doctors in India a black, hairy tongue after suffering a stroke, according to a report by JAMA Dermatology. The man had left-sided weakness from a stroke three months prior and was put on a pureed diet, doctors said in the report published Wednesday. A thick, black coating had covered most … Read more

Supermassive black holes: Characteristics and formation

by

Only a handful of supermassive black holes have been confirmed by scientists, but the universe could be filled with billions of these gravitational giants.  Theoretically, if you compress a sufficient amount of matter into a small enough space, it will create such a powerful gravitational field that nothing — not even light — can escape … Read more

Wormholes Could Help Solve an Infamous Black Hole Paradox, Says Fun New Paper

by

What happens to information after it has passed beyond the event horizon of a black hole? There have been suggestions that the geometry of wormholes might help us solve this vexing problem – but the math has been tricky, to say the least.   In a new paper, an international team of physicists has found … Read more

Giant radiation bubbles created by monster black hole feeding frenzy, new study suggests

by

Two giant bubbles of gamma rays and X-rays that erupted from the center of the Milky Way may stem from a supermassive black hole‘s feeding frenzy at the heart of the galaxy, a new study finds. Recently, the X-ray telescope eROSITA onboard the Spektr-RG space observatory discovered a pair of gigantic X-ray-emitting bubbles, each about … Read more

‘Heartbeat’ of Black Holes Solves Decades-Old Mystery of Plasma Jets

by

Fluctuating light from a black hole, observed over 15 years, has revealed more about the way these enigmatic objects feed. First, a structure called a corona forms around the outside of the event horizon. Then, powerful jets of plasma launch from the poles, punching material from the corona out into interstellar space at speeds close … Read more

Giant Bubbles Expanding From The Milky Way Could Be Explained by a Single Event

by

Two sets of giant bubbles that extend thousands of light-years above and below the plane of the Milky Way could have been produced by the same event, in spite of their significant difference in size.   They’re called the Fermi bubbles and the eROSITA bubbles, and astronomers believe they were the result of activity by … Read more

Why Sex Chromosomes Matter When It Comes to Heart Disease

by

Most mammals, including humans, have two sex chromosomes, X and Y. One sex chromosome is usually inherited from each parent, and they pair up as either XX or XY in every cell of the body.   People with XX chromosomes typically identify as female, and people with XY chromosomes typically identify as male. The genes … Read more