TIME reporter Jeffrey Kluger writes that MIT researchers have designed an algorithm to produce an image of a black hole. Kluger explains that the algorithm will allow researchers “visualize the event horizon that surrounds the black hole at the center of our own galaxy.”
A team of astronomers, including MIT Prof. Michael McDonald, has observed a black hole feasting on cold gas. BBC News reports that the team “discovered a supermassive black hole and saw clouds speeding towards it at 800,000 mph. The observation supports a theory black holes feed on clouds of cold gas.”
MIT graduate student Katie Bouman speaks with Ben Johnson of Marketplace about the algorithm she and her colleagues developed to allow people “to see the first image of a black hole.” Johnson notes the algorithm has uses beyond space exploration and could also potentially be used for MRI imaging.
MIT researchers have developed a new algorithm to compile data gathered by the Event Horizon Telescope and create an image of a black hole, reports James Griffiths for CNN. The algorithm will “fill in the gaps and filter out the interference and noise caused by our own atmosphere,” Griffiths explains.
Washington Post reporter Brian Fung writes that MIT researchers have developed an algorithm to create images of black holes by compiling data from radio telescopes around the world. Fung writes that the algorithm “could give us the first true images of a celestial phenomenon that, for decades, we've left to artists to imagine and describe with pictures.”
An algorithm developed by MIT researchers could help produce the first image of a black hole, reports Ryan Mandelbaum for Popular Science. Mandelbaum explains that the algorithm gathers data from radio telescopes around the globe and then uses “other images from space as references to craft a sort of mosaic that best matches the data from the telescopes.”
Boston Globe reporters J.D. Capelouto and Olivia Arnold write that MIT researchers have developed an algorithm aimed at producing images of black holes. MIT graduate student Katie Bouman notes that while there are predictions of what a black hole might look like, “it’s great to actually be able to probe it and…construct those images.”
The researchers involved with the successful detection of gravitational waves have been honored with a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, reports Joseph Ax for Reuters. "This is the first time we've seen the full force of Einstein's theory of gravity at work,” says Edward Witten, head of the selection committee.
New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye writes that the scientists of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration have been honored with a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their work successfully detecting gravitational waves.
Inside Higher Ed's Carl Straumsheim speaks with Dr. Peter Fritschel about how LIGO researchers selected Physical Review Letters to publish the team’s discovery of gravitational waves. After LIGO members cast their votes, Fritschel explained that PRL was a “pretty clear winner,” citing its reputation as a “premier journals for physics results.”
Prof. Matthew Evans speaks with Joshua Sokol of New Scientist about the LIGO findings. “Until this detection, there was a question about the existence of binary black hole systems,” Evans explains. “So it is a pleasant surprise for us to have detected them.”
DAWN profiles Prof. Nergis Mavalvala, highlighting her work on LIGO, and what inspired her interest in physics and the hunt for gravitational waves. “Even when Nergis was a freshman, she struck me as fearless, with a refreshing can-do attitude,” says Robert Berg, a professor of physics at Wellesley College.
Profs. Rainer Weiss and Nergis Mavalvala speak with Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s On Point, about the detection of gravitational waves. “We fully expect, as with every revolution in astronomy, that when you open a new way of looking at it [the universe] you will learn things that I can’t even tell you yet,” says Weiss.
Joshua Sokol writes for New Scientist that the detection of gravitational waves will allow researchers to explore the universe’s most exotic objects. “Imagine you’re playing the movie of the universe. This is going to be the end of the silent movie era in astronomy because you have just added sound,” says Senior Research Scientist Erik Katsavounidis.
WBUR's Bruce Gellerman speaks with Prof. Nergis Mavalvala about what the detection of gravitational waves means for the future of astronomy. “The discovery itself is spectacular, but it’s the potential for what comes next that’s even bigger,” says Mavalvala. “We are really witnessing the opening of a new way of doing astronomy.”