Why Aren’t We Curious About the Things We Want To Be Curious About?

Daniel T. Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia, writes: You can learn anything on the internet, so why do I so often learn things I don’t want to know? When I’m surfing the web I want to be drawn in by articles on Europe’s political history or the nature of quasars, but I end up reading trivia like a…

Scientists start mapping universe’s hidden web

Maps of the long filaments of gas that hold the universe together might one day help trace and unveil dark matter. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/map-universe-hidden-web-dark-matter…

Space dragons: Researchers observe energy consumption in quasars

Quasars are the universe’s brightest beacons; shining with magnitudes more luminosity than entire galaxies and the stars they contain. In the center of this light, at the heart of a quasar, researchers think, is an all-consuming black hole. Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-09-space-dragons-energy-consumption-quasars.html…

Astronomers reveal true colors of evolving galactic beasts

Astronomers have identified a rare moment in the life of some of the universe’s most energetic objects. Quasars were first observed 60 years ago, but their origins still remain a mystery. Now researchers at Durham University, UK, have spotted what they suggest is a “brief transition phase” in the development of these galactic giants that could shed light on how quasars…