NGC 7674, seen just above the center, is a luminous spiral galaxy with a powerful active nucleus. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team

A study using multiple radio telescopes confirms that supermassive black holes found in the centers of galaxies can form gravitationally bound pairs when galaxies merge. “The dual black hole we found has the smallest separation of any so far detected through direct imaging,” said David Merritt, professor of physics at Rochester Institute of Technology The supermassive black holes are located in the spiral galaxy NGC 7674, ~400 million light years from earth, and are separated by a distance less than one light year...

Schlemm’s canal (green) plays a fundamental role in draining the aqueous humor (white arrows) from the anterior chamber of the eye to blood circulation. If the aqueous humor is not able to flow out freely, elevated intraocular pressure damages the optical nerve causing glaucoma and eventually blindness. Credit: IBS

Biologists have found an explanation for the increase in intraocular pressure in glaucoma and a promising therapeutic option to rejuvenate the eye. Researchers at the Center for Vascular Research, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), have identified a new mechanism involved in the development and progression of glaucoma, and found a potential therapeutic option to treat it. Glaucoma is the second cause of irreversible blindness, after cataracts. It affects about 3...

A rendering of protons, neutrons and electrons in an atom.

The particle could be used in battery creation and for other industrial purposes. A team in the lab of Puru Jena, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Humanities and Sciences, has created the most stable tri-anion particle currently known to science. A tri-anion particle is a combination of atoms that contains three or more electrons than protons. This discovery is novel because previously known tri-anion particles were unstable due to their numerical imbalance. These unstable particles dispel additional electrons, interrupting chemical reactions.

Jena et al used quantum mechanical calculations to create computer models to prove the stability of the BeB11(CN)12 tri-anion...

Computer renderings illustrating the design of micro-structured patchy particles. These tiny objects (1/4th of the size a red blood cell) are first created inside a computer using simulations and then fabricated in the laboratory. Image courtesy of Theodore Hueckel.

Playdough and Legos are among the most popular childhood building blocks. But what could you use if you wanted to create something really small – a structure less than the width of a human hair? It turns out, a team of chemists has found, this can be achieved by creating particles that have both playdough and Lego traits. These “patchy particles,” described in the latest issue of the journal Nature, are 1/200th the width of a human hair and can form endless architectures from a handful of basic pieces...