EverythingScience

As our black hole images get more detailed, we may find Einstein wasn't quite right about them New research suggests future images of black holes could be precise enough to allow scientists to determine if these objects are accurately described by Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, general relativity — or if they are best modeled by alternative theories. Such black hole research is possible due to breakthroughs in black hole imaging pioneered by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which revealed the first image of a black hole in 2019. This image focused on the supermassive black hole at the heart of the distant galaxy M87. In fact, our galaxy has its own central supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) — and the EHT collaboration revealed an image of that one too, in 2022. However, it's important to recognize that black holes are, by definition, regions of space at which the influence of gravity becomes so great that not even light has the necessary velocity to escape. Thus, the images captured by the EHT don't actually show the black holes themselves. Rather, they trace blisteringly hot matter that whirls around these voids. What we are effectively seeing in the images of M87* and Sgr A* are the shadows of these black holes. The latest study's team proposes that images of these shadows could be so detailed one day that they could potentially show tiny deviations from general relativity. These will allow scientists to investigate what the "recipe" is to actually describe black holes. "We developed a practical, simulation-backed way to compare images of the hot gas around black holes predicted by Einstein's general relativity with images predicted by deviation from general relativity," research lead author Akhil Uniyal of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China told Space.com. "Running realistic three-dimensional simulations of gas and magnetic fields for many hypothetical black-hole spacetimes produced synthetic images and defined image-comparison metrics that quantify how different two images are. "The key result is that while many alternatives look very similar to the 'standard' black hole at today's image quality, the differences grow predictably as imaging resolution and fidelity improve, establishing that next-generation horizon-scale imaging could tell Einstein's black holes apart from non-Einstein black holes." An illustration of future black hole images showing a subtle variation between those described by general relativity and those not. (Image credit: Luciano Rezzolla/Goethe University) Source:Space.com @EverythingScience

New Webb data suggests that black holes in the early Universe are growing faster than we expected in early galaxies - and also growing faster than the galaxies that host them. esawebb.org/news/weic2522/ Source: @NASAWebb @EverythingScience

Blue Origin Will Increase New Glenn Thrust 15-25% and Make Rocket Bigger Source:NextBigFuture @EverythingScience

840 million women: The rate of violence against women has barely changed in 25 years Violence against women remains one of the world's most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with very little progress in two decades, according to a landmark report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners. Nearly 1 in 3 women—estimated 840 million globally—have experienced partner or sexual violence during their lifetime, a figure that has barely changed since 2000. In the last 12 months alone, 316 million women—11% of those aged 15 or older—were subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. Progress on reducing intimate partner violence has been painfully slow with only 0.2% annual decline over the past two decades. For the first time, the report includes national and regional estimates of sexual violence by someone other than a partner. It finds 263 million women have experienced non-partner sexual violence since age 15, a figure experts caution is significantly under-reported due to stigma and fear. "Violence against women is one of humanity's oldest and most pervasive injustices, yet still one of the least acted upon," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "No society can call itself fair, safe or healthy while half its population lives in fear. "Ending this violence is not only a matter of policy; it is a matter of dignity, equality and human rights. Behind every statistic is a woman or girl whose life has been forever altered. Empowering women and girls is not optional, it's a prerequisite for peace, development and health. A safer world for women is a better world for everyone." Efforts face funding cuts amidst mounting needs The new report, released ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls observed on 25 November, represents the most comprehensive study on the prevalence of these two forms of violence against women. It updates 2018 estimates released in 2021. It analyzes data between 2000 and 2023 from 168 countries, revealing a stark picture of a deeply neglected crisis and critically underfunded response. Despite mounting evidence on effective strategies to prevent violence against women, the report warns that funding for such initiatives is collapsing—just as when humanitarian emergencies, technological shifts, and rising socio-economic inequality are further increasing risks for millions of women and girls. For instance, in 2022, only 0.2% of the global development aid was allocated to programs focused on prevention of violence against women, and funding has further fallen in 2025. Widespread and lifelong risks Women subjected to violence face unintended pregnancies, a higher risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections and experiencing depression. Sexual and reproductive health services are an important entry point for survivors to receive the high-quality care they need. The report underscores the reality that violence against women begins early and risks persist throughout life. For example, in the past 12 months alone, 12.5 million adolescent girls 15–19 years of age or 16% have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner. While violence occurs in every country, women in least-developed, conflict-affected, and climate-vulnerable settings are disproportionately affected. For example, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand) reports a 38% prevalence of intimate partner violence in the past year—more than three times the global average of 11%. A call for action—and accountability More countries than ever are now collecting data to inform policies, yet significant gaps remain—particularly on non-partner sexual violence, marginalized groups such as indigenous women, migrants, and women with disabilities, as well as data from fragile and humanitarian settings. Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Children With Autism, ADHD, And Anorexia Share a Common Microbe Imbalance A new, small study suggests children with autism, ADHD, and anorexia share similarly disrupted gut microbiomes, which, by some measures, have more in common with each other than with their healthy, neurotypical peers. Led by researchers from Comenius University in Slovakia, the study used stool samples to assess the gut microbiomes of 117 children. The exploratory study included 30 boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 21 girls with anorexia nervosa, and 14 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The remaining samples were from age- and sex-matched healthy and neurotypical children, providing a control group. The ratio of two dominant groups of microbes in the human gut, Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes, was higher across all three disorder groups than was typically seen in the control group. "This increase in Bacteroidetes, especially in ASD, and a decrease in Firmicutes, particularly in ADHD and AN, corresponds with findings in inflammatory diseases, where altered ratios have been linked to glucose metabolism, inflammation, and satiety regulation," the authors write. In the ADHD and autism groups, the richness of microbiome species was lower than usual. The researchers measured higher levels of Escherichia, microbes that typically hang out in our body without causing damage, yet cause serious infections when elevated in numbers or migrate out of place. Desulfovibriobacteria were more abundant in children with ADHD and girls with anorexia nervosa. These bacteria are known for living in low-nutrient, waterlogged environments, where they reduce sulfate as a source of energy. They also commonly reside in the human gut, but at low levels, potentially causing disease when they grow out of balance. Meanwhile, children with ADHD and girls with anorexia nervosa both harbored fewer Faecalibacterium than their peers. This bacterium is usually quite abundant in healthy human microbiomes, and lower levels have been associated with inflammatory conditions like irritable bowel disease, colorectal cancer, and depression. "Notably, certain resemblances were observed in the microbiotic taxa abundances across all patient cohorts, underscoring the conceivable influence of gut microbiota composition on the behavioral manifestations of mental disorders," the authors conclude. We know diet has a direct impact on the diversity and species that make up our gut microbiomes: less variety on the menu typically means less variety in our gut flora. Source:ScienceAlert @EverythingScience

Can you be-leaf it’s fall? We sure can — especially with NASA’s PACE satellite! PACE can detect subtle shifts in leaf color that our eyes can’t see, helping scientists track changes in fall foliage to better understand these ecosystems. Now that’s some good leaf peeping! 🍁 Source: @NASAEarth @EverythingScience

First draft of climate pact lands at COP30 in Brazil Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Earliest Chemical Traces of Life on Earth Discovered in 3.3-Billion-Year-Old Rock Fossilized remnants of ancient carbon from the heart of South Africa's Mpumalanga province have just yielded the earliest chemical evidence yet of life on Earth. According to a new analysis using machine learning, fragmentary traces of carbon from the Josefsdal Chert, dating back 3.33 billion years, are the earliest and most confident detection of biotic chemistry found on Earth to date. In addition, the team's work identified the oldest evidence for photosynthesis to date in rocks 2.52 and 2.3 billion years old, from South Africa and Canada, respectively – pushing back the documented timeline for the process by more than 800 million years. "Our results show that ancient life leaves behind more than fossils; it leaves chemical 'echoes'," says mineralogist and astrobiologist Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science in the US. "Using machine learning, we can now reliably interpret these echoes for the first time." Time, decay, and geology are not kind to the traces life leaves behind – and the greater the passage of time, the greater the opportunity for degradation. In addition, the first life to emerge on Earth would have been tiny microbes, scientists believe, whose physical remnants would have been dramatically altered in the billions of years since they first wiggled around in the primordial damp. That's not to say they left no traces. Based on their physical structure, formations such as stromatolites are interpreted as the remains of microbial mats, vast communities of microbes so numerous that they left behind layers in ancient rock. There is also black chert and shale, as well as carbonate formations, within which ancient, fragmentary traces of fossilized carbon have been retained over eons. It's difficult to determine with certainty, however, whether these sooty remnants of highly altered carbon were produced by biological or non-biological processes. Now, a team led by Hazen, in a paper with Carnegie Science astrobiologists Michael Wong and Anirudh Prabhu as first authors, developed a way to positively identify ancient carbon produced by life. Source:ScienceAlert @EverythingScience

Fake survey answers from AI could quietly sway election predictions Source:Phys.org @EverythingScience

Our Solar System Is Moving 3x Faster Than Scientists Expected How fast and in what direction is our solar system moving through space? This question, though simple in appearance, plays a central role in testing modern cosmological theories. A team led by astrophysicist Lukas Böhme at Bielefeld University has now uncovered results that call the standard cosmological model into question. Their findings were recently published in Physical Review Letters. “Our analysis shows that the solar system is moving more than three times faster than current models predict,” says lead author Lukas Böhme. “This result clearly contradicts expectations based on standard cosmology and forces us to reconsider our previous assumptions.” A New Look at the Radio Galaxies of the Sky To measure the solar system’s motion, the team examined the distribution of radio galaxies—distant galaxies that emit strong radio waves, a form of electromagnetic radiation with long wavelengths similar to those used in radio communication. Because radio waves can pass through dust and gas that obscure visible light, radio telescopes can detect galaxies that optical instruments cannot. As the solar system travels through the universe, its motion produces a faint “headwind,” causing slightly more radio galaxies to appear in the direction of motion. This difference is extremely small and can only be identified through highly precise observations. Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience

X-59 has officially completed its first flight ever! The NASA X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took to the skies for the first time Oct. 28, marking a historic moment for the field of aeronautics research. ✈️A culmination of all the right stuff: go.nasa.gov/3K3QsnC Source: RT@NASAaero @EverythingScience

Scientists Overturn 20 Years of Textbook Biology With Stunning Discovery About Cell Division Researchers at the Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) in Zagreb, Croatia, have uncovered that the protein CENP-E, once thought to function as a motor pulling chromosomes into position during cell division, actually serves a different purpose. Rather than dragging chromosomes, CENP-E stabilizes their initial connections to the cell’s internal “tracks,” ensuring they are properly aligned before being separated. In a complementary study, scientists also discovered that centromeres—small structures within cells once believed to work independently—actually guide this essential protein to help maintain accurate cell division. These findings overturn more than twenty years of established textbook knowledge and have major implications for the life sciences, as mistakes in this process are linked to cancer and genetic disorders. Every second, trillions of times over, the human body performs an extraordinary feat. A single cell prepares to divide, containing three billion DNA letters, and somehow guarantees that both daughter cells inherit precise copies of this genetic code. When that precision falters, the outcome can be devastating. Even one misplaced chromosome can disrupt development, lead to infertility, or trigger cancer. Cell division is among the most exacting processes in biology. For decades, researchers believed they understood at least one of the key components involved: CENP-E, described as a molecular motor responsible for pulling stray chromosomes to the center of the cell to ensure proper division. The explanation was tidy, convincing, and ultimately incorrect. Two new studies from RBI, published in Nature Communications and led by Dr. Kruno Vukušić and Professor Iva Tolić, have redefined that understanding and proposed new mechanisms for how CENP-E functions. Dr. Vukušić, a leading young researcher in cell biology, completed his postdoctoral work within an elite ERC Synergy team and is now preparing to form his own research group at RBI. Professor Tolić, an internationally recognized cell biologist who heads the Laboratory for Cell Biophysics at RBI, has received two ERC grants and is a member of EMBO and Academia Europaea. Together, their combined expertise revealed that CENP-E is not the system’s motor but its regulator—the crucial switch that activates at just the right time to ensure flawless coordination of chromosome movement. “CENP-E is not the engine pulling chromosomes to the center,” Vukušić says. “It is the factor that ensures they can attach properly in the first place. Without that initial stabilization, the system stalls.” Source:SciTechDaily @EverythingScience