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NPR
Science
C.V. Vishveshwara in 2007 in Oak Park, Illinois.

C.V. Vishveshwara's Revolutionary Black Hole Research Turns 50

Dec 29, 2020
Before scientists were even sure black holes existed, an Indian astrophysicist did the math behind Einstein's predictions of what would happen if two black holes collided.
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NPR
Space
Scientists with the European Southern Observatory say system HR 6819, seen in this artist's rendering, is composed primarily of two stars (orbits in blue) and a newly discovered black hole (orbit in red). The black hole is invisible, but it makes its pre

Scientists Find Nearest-Known Black Hole, In Distressingly Fitting Metaphor

May 06, 2020
The black hole is roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth — and more than 2,000 light-years closer than the next one known. What's more, scientists say, it may be just "the tip of an exciting iceberg."
NPR
Science
Rich Isaacson, seen in his backyard in Pentagon City, Va., wrote his thesis on gravitational waves and says he always thought their existence would be proved sometime during his career. But he didn't realize that trying to see them would become his caree

Billion-Dollar Gamble: How A 'Singular Hero' Helped Start A New Field In Physics

May 19, 2019
In the 1970s, Rich Isaacson was presented with what seemed like a crazy idea: using lasers to detect gravitational waves. It became the biggest project the National Science Foundation had ever funded.
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NPR
Space
The first-ever image of a black hole was released Wednesday by a consortium of researchers, showing the "black hole at the center of galaxy M87, outlined by emission from hot gas swirling around it under the influence of strong gravity near its event hor

Earth Sees First Image Of A Black Hole

Apr 10, 2019
Every image you've ever seen of a black hole has been a simulation. Until now. "We have seen what we thought was unseeable," said Event Horizon Telescope Director Shep Doeleman.
NPR
Space
Scientist Corey Gray and his mother, Sharon Yellowfly, are pictured at one of the two massive detectors that make up the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. One facility, where Gray works, is in Washington state, and the other is in Loui

How A Cosmic Collision Sparked A Native American Translator's Labor Of Love

Mar 31, 2019
On April 1, astronomers will start two huge machines and continue hunting for ripples in space-time. One scientist gets his mom to translate news of each discovery into her native language, Blackfoot.
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NPR
Book Reviews
Physicist Stephen Hawking on Oct. 10, 1979, in Princeton, New Jersey.

'Brief Answers To The Big Questions' Is Stephen Hawking's Parting Gift To Humanity

Oct 16, 2018
The physicist's posthumous book highlights his belief in the rationality of nature and on our ability to uncover its secrets — and a faith in science's ability to solve humanity's biggest problems.
NPR
The Two-Way
An artist's rendering shows the Milky Way where a supermassive black hole lies at the center. A dozen smaller black holes have now been detected, and a new study suggests the monster is surrounded by about 10,000.

Center Of The Milky Way Has Thousands Of Black Holes, Study Shows

Apr 04, 2018
The supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy appears to have a lot of company, according to a new study that suggests the monster is surrounded by about 10,000 other black holes.
NPR
13.7: Cosmos And Culture
Artist's rendering of the first planet outside of our solar system to be imaged orbiting a brown dwarf star, called the 2M1207 system.

Is Humanity Unusual In The Cosmos?

Apr 02, 2018
Commentator Adam Frank talks with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb about exo-civilizations, techno-signatures, and the search for alien life — living or long-gone.
NPR
13.7: Cosmos And Culture

The Universe According To Albert Einstein: Relativity

Mar 14, 2018
When Einstein, born 139 years ago on Wednesday, came onto the science scene, physics was in crisis. New ideas were badly needed — it was the perfect moment for a trailblazer, says Marcelo Gleiser.
NPR
13.7: Cosmos And Culture
Clifford Johnson is the author of a new graphic novel about the nature of the universe.

'The Dialogues' Takes On Physics And Reality In Words And Pictures

Feb 23, 2018
Commentator Adam Frank interviews physicist Clifford Johnson, who has taken a new approach to the exploration of questions about the nature of the universe — the graphic novel.
NPR
The Two-Way
Image of galaxy SDSS J1354+1327 (lower center) and its companion galaxy SDSS J1354+1328 (upper right). The inset panel to the right is a four-color image that combines Hubble exposures with Chandra X-ray observations.

Researchers Spot Massive Black Hole In Double 'Burp'

Jan 12, 2018
The cosmic sinkhole is at the center of a galaxy 800 million light-years from Earth and supports the theory that such objects can switch their power output on and off in relatively short time-scales.
NPR
The Two-Way
Gravitational wave observatories, like this one in Italy, use giant arms to measure tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time.

Astronomers Strike Gravitational Gold In Colliding Neutron Stars

Oct 16, 2017
In an astonishing discovery, astronomers used gravitational waves to locate two neutron stars smashing together. The collision created 200 Earth masses of pure gold, along with other elements.
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NPR
13.7: Cosmos And Culture
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) co-founders Rainer Weiss (left) and Kip Thorne appear during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2016.

Nobel Winners' Work In Physics Began With Albert Einstein

Oct 03, 2017
Three scientists won the prize after a 25-year-long search of the cosmos for gravitational waves — the waving of space — the one test missing for Einstein, says astrophysicist Marcelo Gleiser.
NPR
Science
An artist's rendering depicts what happened when a black hole devoured a star in 2011 and ejected some of the stellar remains in a jet of particles pointed at Earth. This blazing quasar, or "blazar," was far enough away that it posed no harm to Earthling

Some Bizarre Black Holes Put On Light Shows

Jan 04, 2017
Black holes aren't all doom and gloom. Some of these incredibly dense matter-suckers fling powerful jets of light and charged particles — the space version of a fireworks show.
NPR
Science
Lasers and mirrors are used to carefully measure shifts in space-time. To avoid contamination, protective clothing must be warn at all times.

How To Catch The Biggest Wave In The Universe

Aug 17, 2016
An L-shaped machine in Louisiana is hunting for some of the most powerful waves in existence: gravitational waves. This wave detector acts like a giant tape measure to capture bends in space and time.
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NPR
The Two-Way
The Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Observatory measures tiny changes in the length of its 2.5-mile-long arms. There are two detectors: one in Washington state and one in Louisiana (pictured).

Gravitational Waves From Colliding Black Holes Shake Scientists' Detectors Again

Jun 15, 2016
For the second time in recent months, scientists say they have picked up distortions in space and time. The find suggests smaller-sized black holes may be more numerous than many scientists thought.
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NPR
The Two-Way

Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Common Than Anyone Imagined

Apr 06, 2016
A black hole with about 17 billion times the mass of our sun has turned up in another remote galaxy. Astronomers now think these mass-eating monsters may not be so rare after all.
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NPR
The Two-Way
The Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Observatory measures tiny changes in the lengths of each of its 2.5-mile-long arms. The arms stretch and squeeze as gravity waves pass by.

Einstein, A Hunch And Decades Of Work: How Scientists Found Gravitational Waves

Feb 12, 2016
Behind the headlines and news conferences announcing the discovery were decades of hard work, hundreds of scientists and more than a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
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NPR
The Two-Way
The Laser Interferometer Gravity-Wave Observatory measures tiny changes in the lengths of each of its 2.5-mile-long arms. The arms stretch and squeeze as gravity waves pass by.

In Milestone, Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves As Black Holes Collide

Feb 11, 2016
A U.S.-led team says it has seen waves in space-time from two black holes merging together. It is the first time humanity has directly detected such waves.
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NPR
The Two-Way
Each LIGO detector has two arms. Space-time ripples will stretch one of the arms and squish the other. Lasers can measure the change.

Scientists Aflutter Over Gravitational Wave Rumors

Feb 09, 2016
If the rumors are true, then humanity is about to learn a lot about the heaviest stuff in the universe.
NPR
The Two-Way
The newly discovered quasar, indicated in red at top right, was first detected via a 2.4-meter telescope at China's Yunnan Observatory, whose dome appears at bottom right.

Astronomers Discover A Supermassive Black Hole Dating To Cosmic Dawn

Feb 26, 2015
It's enormous, and it grew relatively quickly — less than 900 million years after the Big Bang.
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