Supermassive black hole binaries form naturally when galaxies merge, but scientists have only confidently observed a very few of these systems that are widely separated. Black hole binaries that closely orbit each other have not yet been measured. In a paper published today in Physical Review Letters, the researchers suggest hunting down the hidden systems by searching for repeating flashes of light from individual stars lying behind the black holes as they are temporarily magnified by gravitational lensing as the binary orbits.
Gravitational lensing technique unveils supermassive black hole pairs
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Polls consistently show overwhelming support for measures like universal background checks and raising the minimum age for gun purchases. But Congress rarely acts. A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [...]
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A study involving the UAB has analyzed the effect of foreign trade and immigration on the success of both right- and left-wing populist parties. The analysis reveals how the importation of products that require low-skilled [...]
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As members of the public increasingly turn to AI chatbots to understand their world, even subtle latent biases in the underlying models could affect public understanding of the present—and past.This post was originally published on [...]
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Australians routinely encounter misinformation in their everyday online lives, and it’s not just limited to politics or pandemics, according to new research in collaboration with QUT’s Digital Media Research Center. The study, “Everyday encounters with [...]
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If you gathered every American with a prison record into one contiguous territory and admitted it to the union, you would create the 12th-largest state. It would be home to at least 7 million to [...]
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The COVID-19 pandemic introduced uncertainty, fear, and an unparalleled economic shock, resulting in the most extensive government stimulus package—totaling $2.9 trillion—in U.S. history. According to a new study, those stimulus checks more often went to [...]
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Like so many sectors of the economy, the news industry is hurtling toward a future where artificial intelligence plays a major role — grappling with questions about how much the technology is used, what consumers [...]
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In recent years, studies and media reports have blamed growing partisan hostility in the U.S. for shattered marriages, broken families, ruined holiday dinners, and increased stress. New CU Boulder research suggests it may have an [...]
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People who prefer structured, rule-based explanations may find conspiracy theories appealing because they offer a clear, ordered explanation for events that feel chaotic. New research led by Flinders University has found that understanding how someone [...]
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Yes or no? It’s a simple question that now drives more than US$13 billion (£9.7 billion) a month on prediction markets—companies like Polymarket, PredictIt and Kalshi.This post was originally published on this site
