Supermassive black hole

Supermassive black hole

A spinning supermassive black hole lives in the heart of the nucleus of NGC 1365, a nearby galaxy some 56 million light-years away -- and now we know how fast it's spinning!

Astronomers have directly measured the spin of a black hole for the first time by detecting the mind-bending relativistic effects that warp space-time at the very edge of its event horizon -- the point of no return, beyond which even light cannot escape.

We also now know that supermassive black holes are inexorably linked to the galaxies that encircle them.

For example, the size of a supermassive black hole appears to have a direct correlation to the galaxy where it exists. Almost a decade ago, researchers calculated that the mass of a supermassive black hole appeared to have a constant relation to the mass of the central part of its galaxy, known as its bulge (think of the yolk in a fried egg). This 1 to 700 relationship supports the notion that the evolution and structure of a galaxy is closely tied to the scale of its black hole.

Other studies found another strong correlation. This one was between the mass of a supermassive black hole and the orbital speed of stars in the outer regions of their galaxy where the direct gravitational influence of the supermassive black hole should be weak: the larger the black hole, the faster the outer stars travel.

Thus it's now believed that black holes are not only common throughout the Cosmos but they play a fundamental role in the formation and evolution of the Universe we inhabit today.

In fact, we would not be here without them. 

Earth like planets

Earth like planets

A new study has estimated that we will be able to detect oxygen in the atmosphere of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars within the next decade.

This would be a huge leap forward in the search for extraterrestrial life.

A new study finds that we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a habitable planet orbiting a white dwarf (as shown in this artist's illustration) much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star. Here the ghostly blue ring is a planetary nebula -- hydrogen gas the star ejected as it evolved from a red giant to a white dwarf. (Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA))

Even dying stars could host planets with life -- and if such life exists, we might be able to detect it within the next decade. This encouraging result comes from a new theoretical study of Earth-like planets orbiting white dwarf stars. Researchers found that we could detect oxygen in the atmosphere of a white dwarf's planet much more easily than for an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star.

Electronic Telekinesis from Temporary Tattoo

Electronic Telekinesis from Temporary Tattoo

Electronic devices are getting smaller, thinner and more flexible — taking them into areas other electronics can’t go. One place is the mind. Electrical engineer Todd Coleman at the University of California at San Diego, for example, is using super-thin flexible electronic “tattoos” to read brain wave activity in a non-invasive way and use that data to control machines.

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Coleman’s devices, which about the width of a human hair, stick to a person’s forehead and detect electrical signals from the brain. In previous studies, his team found that study participants could remotely fly airplanes around a room using their mind. These people were not wearing the thin tattoo-like stickers but wearing electrode caps that pick up brain wave activity. But if such control can come from the cap, it could be possible to shrink it down to the stick-on tattoo level, which Coleman says his team is working on.

The small, flexible devices could also be put on the throat and behave as subvocal microphones through which people could communicate silently and wirelessly and perhaps improve speech recognition in smartphones.

EXCELLENT IDEA OF THE DAY: Tooth Tattoos

“We’ve demonstrated our sensors can pick up the electrical signals of muscle movements in the throat so that people can communicate just with thought,” Coleman told Txchnologist.

via Txchnologist

Credit: Todd Coleman, University of California at San Diego