A black hole makes history

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4/14/19 Hello! What a week in science it has been! The unveiling of the first picture of a black hole was such a historic moment.  Our main story of the black hole reveal is below, but there's so much more to this story we want to share. Maria Temming offered a deep dive into the technology that made this image possible. You can explore the history of our knowledge of black holes in an interactive timeline. From his Context blog, Tom Siegfried offered (what else?) context on this historic moment and the history of "invisible stars." Emily Conover spoke to Kazunori Akiyama, one of the first people to set eyes on the iconic image. And Emily, Lisa Grossman and Helen Thompson created a beautiful video explaining the challenges of capturing a black hole and how the Event Horizon Telescope pulled it off. There are more stories to tell about this black hole and the team that captured it, and we'll tell them in the days to come. And there was plenty of exciting science right here on Earth this week, too, so let's dive in. And thank you, as always, for reading. -Mike Denison, audience engagement editor The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics  Astronomers used a network of telescopes around the world to take a picture of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87. Read More Climate change made the Arctic greener. Now parts of it are turning brown. Arctic browning could have far-reaching consequences for people and wildlife, affecting habitat and atmospheric carbon uptake as well as increasing wildfire risk. Read More Fossils suggest a new hominid species has been found in a Philippine cave The newly dubbed Homo luzonensis lived at least 50,000 years ago, scientists say. Read More Ketamine cultivates new nerve cell connections in mice Helping the regrowth of synapses may be the key to the drug’s antidepressant effects. Read More NASA’s Twins Study reveals effects of space on Scott Kelly’s health Ten research groups studying the twin astronauts found long-term spaceflight can alter a person’s physiology and gene activity. Read More Mathematicians may have found the fastest way to multiply huge numbers A new theoretical method for multiplying enormous figures appears to achieve a speed first predicted decades ago. Read More Why some low-income neighborhoods are better than others Levels of violence, incarceration and lead exposure in a neighborhood can predict a low-income child’s future earnings and outcome, a study suggests. Read More Antarctica’s iceberg graveyard could reveal the ice sheet’s future Drilling deep into the seafloor beneath Antarctica’s “Iceberg Alley” could reveal new clues about how quickly the continent has melted in the past. Read More Our brains sculpt each other. So why do we study them in isolation? Studying individual brains may not be the way to figure out the human mind, a social neuroscientist argues.  Read More Chickens stand sentinel against mosquito-borne disease in Florida To learn where mosquitoes are transmitting certain viruses, Florida officials deploy chickens and test them for antibodies to the pathogens. Read More Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |   Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science & the Public 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US