At the heart of the Milky Way, just 27,000 light-years from Earth, there is a supermassive black hole with a mass of more than 4 million suns. Nearly all galaxies contain a supermassive black hole, and many of them are much more massive. The black hole in the elliptical galaxy M87 has a mass of 6.5 billion suns. The largest black holes are more than 40 billion solar masses. We know these monsters lurk in the cosmos, but how did they form?
Simulations suggest the early universe helped black holes grow big, but not in the long run
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Rape, as a crime, is widely deplored. Society and media condemn rapists, and rape and other sexually-related crimes carry potentially heavy prison sentences when perpetrators are convicted. So why, given this apparent intolerance for rape, [...]
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In order to get elected, politicians need to signal their philosophy, principles, and values to potential voters. Beyond their policy positions, many candidates also strive to cultivate a personal brand by carefully choosing their language [...]
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The road to genocide doesn’t begin with bullets and mass graves, but with more subtle violations.This post was originally published on this site
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Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) linguists have analyzed murals in Lithuania’s second-largest city as elements of a “linguistic landscape”—a concept that views language as both visual and spatial. Their study reveals that street art in [...]
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In an era when social media blurs the line between public and private speech, how do people decide whether to speak their minds or stay silent?This post was originally published on this site
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Twenty-five years ago, on October 31, 2000, the United Nations unanimously adopted its landmark Security Council Resolution 1325 (WPS 1325). The resolution on women, peace and security reaffirmed “the important role of women in the [...]
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The spread of dubious headlines on social media isn’t just a right-wing thing—it’s a social media thing, according to new research from Cornell.This post was originally published on this site
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The 2024 General Election was one of the most dramatic in British history, as voters turned away from the two traditional giants—Labour and the Conservatives—in record numbers. Thirteen different parties and six independents won seats [...]
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When chatting with friends these days, there’s a good chance Americans are talking about politics, and they’re more likely to be talking with people they agree with politically instead of crossing lines of belief.This post [...]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in a military uniform, announced on Oct. 26, 2025, that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered missile. If true, such a weapon could provide Russia with a unique military capability [...]
