One of the most striking predictions of Einstein’s theory of special relativity is probably the best known formula in all science: E = mc2. Today, exactly one hundred years after its first formulation, this equivalence has been verified to be correct at least to an accuracy of 4 parts in 10 000 000 ! These measurements, at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, and the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), represent the most precise verification of the relation between mass and energy ever a

Search for missing galaxies in high-speed galactic gas clouds ’comes up empty,’ Pitt researcher finds

A team of astronomers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Universitäts-Sternwarte München in Munich, Germany, announced today in a paper presented at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C., that their search for dwarf galaxies in fast-moving clouds of gas has yielded no results, leading them to suggest alternative avenues of research

For the past few months, Bob O’Dell has been mapping the winds blowing in the Orion Nebula, the closest stellar nursery similar to the one in which the sun was born.

New data from the Hubble Orion Heritage Program, a major observational effort by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004 and 2005, have given the Vanderbilt astronomer the information he needs to measure the stellar winds with unprecedented detail, and he reported his early results on Jan. 11 at the annual meeting of the American

In the most comprehensive study of Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the enigmatic supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, astronomers — using nine ground and space-based telescopes including the Hubble Space Telescope and the XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory — have discovered that Sgr A* produces rapid flares close to the innermost region of the black hole in many different wavelengths and that these emissions go up and down together.

This insight into the frequent bursts of r

Black holes are creating havoc in unsuspected places, according to a new study of images of elliptical galaxies made by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The discovery of far-reaching explosive activity, due to giant central black holes in these old galaxies, was a surprise to astronomers.

The Chandra data revealed an unsuspected turmoil in elliptical galaxies that belies their calm appearance in optical light. Astronomers believe massive clouds of hot gas in these galaxies hav

Two new studies show the ’eating habits’ of black holes at the center of young galaxies

An analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest view of the universe offers compelling evidence that monster black holes in the centers of galaxies were not born big but grew over time through repeated galactic mergers.

“By studying distant galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), we have the first statistical evidence that supermassive black-hole growth i

Tests at leading magnetic labs shed light on nanotube mystery

In new experimental research appearing in this week’s issue of Physical Review Letters, a Rice University-led team of nanoscientists and electrical engineers has flipped the switch on ’dark excitons’ in carbon nanotubes by placing them inside a strong magnetic field.

The research offers new insight into the fundamental optical properties of semiconducting nanotubes, hollow straw-like molecul

MIT/Harvard work reported at American Astronomical Society

Scientists have found new evidence that black holes are performing the disappearing acts for which they are known.

A team from MIT and Harvard has found that a certain type of X-ray explosion common on neutron stars is never seen around their black hole cousins, as if the gas that fuels these explosions has vanished into a void.

This is strong evidence, the team said, for the existence of a theoretical bor

Work presented at American Astronomical Society meeting

MIT scientists and colleagues have found a black hole that has chiseled a remarkably stable indentation in the fabric of space and time, like a dimple in one’s favorite spot on the sofa.

The finding may help scientists measure a black hole’s mass and how it spins, two long-sought measurements, by virtue of the extent of this indentation. Using NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, the team saw identical p

How does matter spiral its way to the center of a galaxy and into the mouth of a supermassive black hole? A new study provides the best glimpse yet at the death spiral of material as it descends into the core of a galaxy hosting a large black hole. The study predicts that, barring obstructions, the galactic debris will take about 200,000 years to make a one-way trip through the inner regions of the galaxy and into oblivion.

An international team of scientists led by Kambiz Fathi at Rochest

RIT/STScI astronomer presents at American Astronomical Society meeting

A massive cluster of red supergiants–super-sized stars on the verge of exploding–was recently discovered in the Milky Way by a group of stronomers using infrared technology to penetrate the thick dust that cloaks much of the galaxy.

Only a few hundred such stars are known to exist in the galaxy, with the previous largest collection of them containing only five. These are the biggest stars: a singl

Galaxy’s warp explained by Magellanic Clouds plowing through dark matter halo

The most prominent of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies – a pair of galaxies called the Magellanic Clouds – appears to be interacting with the Milky Way’s ghostly dark matter to create a mysterious warp in the galactic disk that has puzzled astronomers for half a century.

The warp, seen most clearly in the thin disk of hydrogen gas permeating the galaxy, extends across the en

The digitalising of information has opened up a great number of possibilities for many economic sectors which, using new technologies, have managed to considerably bring down costs of the various processes involved in their economic activity. Likewise, the spread and development of Internet has provided them with the possibility of making use of new schema for the faster and more economic distribution of materials than before, as well as immediate access to a potentially worldwide market. Never

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have found that gold “shines” in a different way at the nanoscale, and the insights may lead to new optical chips for computers or for switches and routers in fiber networks.

The nanoscale refers to a size one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Materials that small exhibit entirely different properties from conventional materials. Specifically, temperatu

University of Iowa researchers have found a star orbiting a “medium-sized” black hole — about 1,000 times more massive than the sun — in the nearby starburst galaxy M82, a development that may help explain how medium-sized black holes form and evolve, according to a paper to be published in the Jan. 5 issue of Science Express, the online version of the journal Science.

Philip Kaaret, associate professor in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Physics and Astron

Purdue University engineers have developed a wind tunnel that is the only one of its kind in the world capable of running quietly at “hypersonic” speeds, helping researchers to design advanced aircraft and missiles.

No other wind tunnel runs quietly while conducting experiments in airstreams traveling at Mach 6 – six times the speed of sound, said Steven Schneider, an aerospace engineer and professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Researchers will