Lifeboat Foundation

A molecule common to Earth and usually associated with life has been detected in the depths of space by scientists.

Carbonic acid (HOCOOH), which you may know as the chemical that makes your soda fizzy, was discovered lurking near the center of our galaxy in a galactic center molecular cloud named G+0.693–0.027, a study published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed.

This marks the third time that carboxylic acids—this class of chemicals, often thought to be some of the building blocks of life —have been detected in space, after acetic acid and formic, and the first time that an interstellar molecule has been found to contain three or more oxygen atoms.

Discover cosmic enigmas: Ohio State’s study on neutrinos and supernovae unveils new insights into the universe’s hidden interactions.

Part 1 of a 2-part mini-lecture series given by Prof. Leonard Susskind, director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics.

An “out there” theory inspired the development of the Dark Matter Radio, a device that could explain the mysterious matter that makes up 85 percent of the mass of our universe.

One clue comes from the observation that most galaxies contain massive black holes at their centers. That has led to the proposal that galaxies form around black holes which act as seeds for this process.

But there is a problem with this idea. If it is true, something must stop stars from falling into black holes as they form, but nobody knows what.

Now a new theory of black holes explains this process. The new theory “gives a general mechanism by which a central black hole can catalyze galaxy formation,” says Stephen Adler, at Princeton University in New Jersey.

When two black holes merge to form a single one, it can zoom off at an extraordinary pace – but scientists have found that it does have a speed limit.

By Leah Crane

The way in which supermassive black holes grew to tremendous sizes in the early universe has been a mystery for astronomers, but the puzzle could soon be solved.

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist and philosopher who specializes in quantum mechanics, cosmology, and the philosophy of science. He is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and an external professor at the Sante Fe Institute. Sean has contributed prolifically to the public understanding of science through a variety of mediums: as an author of several physics books including Something Deeply Hidden and The Biggest Ideas in the Universe, as a public speaker and debater on a wide variety of scientific and philosophical subjects, and also as a host of his podcast Mindscape which covers topics spanning science, society, philosophy, culture, and the arts.

#physics #quantum #philosophy #mathematics.

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Finding supermassive black holes with masses billions of times greater than the sun under a billion years after the Big Bang has scientists confused how these cosmic titans got so big so quickly.