For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of a throng of black holes crowding near the center of an ancient globular cluster. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/group-black-holes-found-globular-cluster-ngc-6397…
Tag: Black
The First Black Hole Ever Discovered is More Massive Than We Thought
Neel V. Patel, writing at MIT Technology Review: Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes when he published his theory of general relativity in 1916, describing how gravity shapes the fabric of spacetime. But astronomers didn’t spot one until 1964, some 6,070 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. Geiger counters launched into space detected cosmic x-rays coming from a region…
Second Google AI Ethics Leader Fired, She Says Amid Staff Protest
Alphabet’s Google on Friday fired scientist Margaret Mitchell, she said in a Twitter post, after weeks of being under investigation for moving thousands of files outside the company amid a battle over research freedom and diversity. From a report: Google’s ethics in artificial intelligence research unit has been under scrutiny since December’s dismissal of scientist Timnit Gebru, which prompted protest from…
Meet Elizabeth Ann, the First Cloned Black-Footed Ferret
Her birth represents the first cloning of an endangered species native to North America, and may bring needed genetic diversity to the species. From a report: Last year, Ben Novak drove across the country to spend New Year’s Eve with a black-footed ferret. Elizabeth Ann had just turned 21 days old — surely a milestone for any ferret but a particularly…
Astronomers publish map showing 25,000 supermassive black holes
An international team of astronomers has published a map of the sky showing over 25,000 supermassive black holes. The map, to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies. The astronomers, including Leiden astronomers, used 52 stations with LOFAR antennas spread across nine European countries. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronomers-publish-supermassive-black-holes.html…
Endangered black-footed ferret cloned for the first time
The adorable clone, named Elizabeth Ann, was created using cells that were frozen more than three decades ago. Source: https://www.livescience.com/endangered-black-footed-ferret-cloned.html
First black hole ever detected is more massive than we thought
New observations of the first black hole ever detected have led astronomers to question what they know about the Universe’s most mysterious objects. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-black-hole-massive-thought.html…
How To Fall 35,000 Feet and Survive
Massachusetts-based amateur historian Jim Hamilton, who developed the Free Fall Research Page — an online database of nearly every imaginable human plummet, documents one case of a sky diver who, upon total parachute failure, was saved by bouncing off high-tension wires. Contrary to popular belief, water is an awful choice. Like concrete, liquid doesn’t compress. Hitting the ocean is essentially the…
Our interview with 5-time NBA All-Star Chris Webber about his Sports Activism online course, new on Coursera
By Shantelle Williams-Valadié, BOLD ERG Chair and Associate Director, University Partnerships, Coursera In the 1968 Olympics, medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos punched defiant fists into the summer air, decrying oppression of Black communities in the country whose colors they wore on their tracksuits. The act seized the world of sports and was widely condemned […]
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Welcoming Morehouse College to the Coursera partner community
Morehouse College launches sports activism course taught by NBA All-Star Chris Webber By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer at Coursera I’m excited to announce our partnership with Morehouse College as we continue to expand our engagement with leading institutions, including historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. Morehouse College, a leading producer of […]
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