1. The theory that primordial black holes collide with neutron stars to create heavy elements explains the lack of neutron stars in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, a long-standing mystery. Credit: University of California, Los Angeles
2. A black hole captured by a neutron star. Credit: Alexander Kusenko/UCLA

UCLA physicists have proposed new theories for how the universe’s first black holes might have formed and the role they might play in the production of heavy elements such as gold, platinum and uranium. A long-standing question in astrophysics is whether the universe’s very first black holes came into existence less than a second after the Big Bang or whether they formed only millions of years later during the deaths of the earliest stars.

Alexander Kusenko, a UCLA professor of phys...

Brian J. O’Roak, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular and medical genetics, OHSU, January 4, 2017. Credit: OHSU/John Valls

Autism spectrum disorder affects ~1 out of every 68 children in the US. Despite expansive study, the origin and risk factors of the complex condition are not fully understood. To better understand the root causes, an team led by researchers at OHSU in Portland, Oregon has applied a new systematic analysis to a cohort of 2,300 families who have a single child affected with autism. The study focused on identifying and characterizing low-lying genetic mutations that may have been missed in previous research, given these mutations are only present in a fraction of the bulk DNA of an individual.

Known as postzygotic mosaic mutations, or PMMs, these genetic changes occur ...

Scaffolds in a compound solar cell filled with perovskite after fracture testing. Credit: Dauskardt Lab/Stanford University

Packing tiny solar cells together, like micro-lenses in the compound eye of an insect, could pave the way to a new generation of advanced photovoltaics. In a new study, the Stanford team used the insect-inspired design to protect a fragile photovoltaic material, perovskite from deteriorating when exposed to heat, moisture or mechanical stress. The results are published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science (E&ES).

“Perovskites are promising, low-cost materials that convert sunlight to electricity as efficiently as conventional solar cells made of silicon,” said Reinhold Dauskardt, a professor of materials science and engineering and senior author of the study...

Geometric configuration of Apollo seismic stations and deep moonquake source regions. The lunar globe was taken from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC)coutresy of NASA, and Apollo stations and deep moonquake nests were marked by the study’s authors. Credit: NASA and Kawamura et al/Journal of Geophysical Research/AGU

The same gravitational force responsible for creating tides on Earth could be causing deep quakes on the moon, a new study confirms. A new analysis of data gathered by the Apollo missions confirms that tidal stress – the gravitational pull of the moon on the Earth and of the Earth on the moon – is responsible for causing deep moonquakes, the lunar equivalent of earthquakes.

Seismometers placed on the moon during the Apollo 12, 14, 15 and 16 missions revealed the m...