Science Friday host Ira Flatow spotlights how Prof. Scott Hughes has shifted the wavelengths of gravitational waves into the range of human hearing, creating an audible experience that allows listeners to experience the “ripples in space-time made by the tremendous mass of colliding black holes.”
Popular Science reporter Leto Sapunar spotlights the efforts of MIT researchers who are investigating the origins of a fast blue optical transient nicknamed “the Cow.” To research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham, “this looks like a sign that matter is closely orbiting a ‘newborn’ black hole or a type of neutron star called a magnetar, and the matter shines with x-rays each time it completes a quick orbit,” writes Sapunar.
Newsweek reporter Robert Lea spotlights how MIT researchers traced the source of a bright blue cosmic explosion to the birth of a neutron star or black hole. “We have likely discovered the birth of a compact object in a supernova” says research scientists Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “This happens in normal supernovae, but we haven’t seen it before because it’s such a messy process. We think this new evidence opens possibilities for finding baby black holes or baby neutron stars.”
Gizmodo reporter Isaac Schultz writes that MIT astronomers have found that a black hole or neutron star may have been produced by a burst of stellar light, known as “the Cow." “I think the Cow is just the beginning of what is to come,” explains research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “More such objects would provide a new window into these extreme explosions.”
New Scientist reporter Leah Crane writes that astronomers have found evidence that a large stellar explosion detected in 2018 was likely caused by a dying star that gave birth to a neutron star or small black hole. “People have been suspecting that these kind of extreme explosions could be the birth of black holes or neutron stars, but this is a final piece of evidence that I think really settles the case,” says research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham.
MIT researchers have uncovered evidence that the creation of a new black hole or neutron star caused a strange blue flash of light in space that was detected in 2018, reports Téa Kvetenadze for Forbes. An explanation for the event was elusive until researchers “focused on the X-rays emitted by the flash and found the Cow was producing a pulse of X-rays every 4.4 milliseconds.”
CNET reporter Monisha Ravisetti writes that MIT researchers have found that a super-bright stellar explosion detected in 2018 likely gave rise to a new black hole or neutron star. "Usually, I dare not say 'first time,'" explains research scientist Dheeraj "DJ" Pasham. "But I truly think this is the first time that you have direct confirmation, so to say, that a star dies and you immediately see the baby compact object."
Researchers from MIT and other institutions have been able to observationally confirm one of Stephen Hawking’s theorems about black holes, measuring gravitational waves before and after a black hole merger to provide evidence that a black hole’s event horizon can never shrink, reports Caroline Delbert for Popular Mechanics. “This cool analysis doesn't just show an example of Hawking's theorem that underpins one of the central laws affecting black holes,” writes Delbert, “it shows how analyzing gravitational wave patterns can bear out statistical findings.”
Axios reporter Miriam Kramer writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers suggests that all black holes go through a similar cycle when feeding, whether they are big or small. “Black holes are some of the most extreme objects found in our universe,” writes Kramer. “By studying the way they grow, scientists should be able to piece together more about how they work.”
Boston Globe reporter Charlie McKenna writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that the way black holes evolve as they consume material is the same, no matter their size. “What we’re demonstrating is, if you look at the properties of a supermassive black hole in the cycle, those properties are very much like a stellar-mass black hole,” says research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. The findings mean “black holes are simple, and elegant in a sense.”
Academic Times reporter Monisha Ravisetti writes that a new study by physicists from a number of institutions, including MIT, finds that supermassive black holes devour gas just like their smaller counterparts. “This is demonstrating that, essentially, all black holes behave the same way,” says research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a 10 solar mass black hole or a 50 million solar mass black hole – they appear to be acting the same way when you throw a ball of gas at it.”
New Scientist reporter Leah Crane writes that researchers from the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories have potentially detected primordial black holes that formed in the early days of the universe. “When I started this, I was expecting that we would not find any significant level of support for primordial black holes, and instead I got surprised,” says Prof. Salvatore Vitale.
Boston Globe reporter Charlie McKenna writes that MIT researchers have used the spin of black holes detected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors to search for dark matter. "In reality, there is a much broader set of theories that predict or relies on the existence of these very ultra-light particles,” says Prof. Salvatore Vitale. “One is dark matter. So they could be dark matter. But they could also solve other open problems in particle physics.”
A new study by MIT researches finds that some masses of boson particles don’t actually exist, reports Monisha Ravisetti for The Academic Times. “[Bosons] could be dark matter particles, or they could be something that people call axions, which are proposed particles that could solve problems with the magnetic bipoles of particles,” says Prof. Salvatore Vitale. “Because they can be any of these things, that means they could also have an incredibly broad range of masses.”
Andrea Ghez ’87 speaks with Carol Stabile of Ms. magazine about the importance of representation in encouraging more women and people of color to pursue careers in STEM fields. Ghez recalls how her science teacher in high school encouraged her to apply to MIT, describing the experience as “'a lovely early lesson in how to persevere,’ that helped her to develop what she described as the muscle to persevere, and to turn problems into opportunities to grow and learn.”