Black Holes Could Help Life Thrive, Not End It

 

Black holes may not be as life-destroying as we thought. A surprising study reveals that the powerful radiation from active galactic nuclei (AGN) – supermassive black holes in their energetic phase – might actually help protect life on nearby planets.

By triggering ozone formation in atmospheres already rich in oxygen, this radiation could shield against harmful rays, setting up a feedback loop that makes life more resilient. The project came together thanks to a serendipitous meeting on a cruise ship, cutting-edge simulations, and a collaboration between astrophysicists from Dartmouth and the University of Exeter.

Black Holes and Galactic Radiation

At the center of most large galaxies, including our own Milky Way, sits a supermassive black hole. Interstellar gas periodically falls into the orbit of these bottomless pits, switching the black hole into active galactic nucleus (AGN)-mode, blasting high-energy radiation across the galaxy.

It’s not an environment you’d expect a plant or animal to thrive in. But in a surprising new study in the Astrophysical Journal, researchers at Dartmouth and the University of Exeter show that AGN radiation can have a paradoxically nurturing effect on life. Rather than doom a species to oblivion, it can help assure its success.

Simulating the Effects on Life

The study may be the first to concretely measure, via computer simulations, how an AGN’s ultraviolet radiation can transform a planet’s atmosphere to help or hinder life. Consistent with studies looking at the effects of solar radiation, the researchers found that the benefits—or harms—depend on how close the planet is to the source of the radiation, and whether life has already gained a toehold.

“Once life exists, and has oxygenated the atmosphere, the radiation becomes less devastating and possibly even a good thing,” says Kendall Sippy ’24, the lead author of the study. “Once that bridge is crossed, the planet becomes more resilient to UV radiation and protected from potential extinction events.”

How UV Light Boosts Ozone

The researchers simulated the effects of AGN radiation on not only Earth, but Earth-like planets of varying atmospheric composition. If oxygen was already present, they found, the radiation would set off chemical reactions causing the planet’s protective ozone layer to grow. The more oxygenated the atmosphere, the greater the effect.

High-energy light reacts readily with oxygen, splitting the molecule into single atoms that recombine to form ozone. As O3 builds up in the upper atmosphere, it deflects more and more dangerous radiation back into space. Earth owes its favorable climate to a similar process that happened about two billion years ago with the first oxygen-producing microbes.

Earth’s History Offers Clues

Radiation from the sun helped Earth’s fledgling life oxygenate, and add ozone, to the atmosphere. As our planet’s protective ozone blanket thickened, it allowed life to flourish, producing more oxygen, and yet more ozone. Under the Gaia hypothesis, these beneficial feedback loops allowed complex life to emerge.

“If life can quickly oxygenate a planet’s atmosphere, ozone can help regulate the atmosphere to favor the conditions life needs to grow,” says study co-author Jake Eager-Nash, who is currently a postdoc at the University of Victoria. “Without climate-regulating feedback mechanisms, life may die out fast.”

What If Earth Were Closer to a Black Hole?

Earth, in real life, is not close enough to its resident black hole, Sagittarius A, to feel its effects, even in AGN-mode. But the researchers wanted to see what could happen if Earth were much closer to a hypothetical AGN, and thus exposed to radiation billions of times greater.

Recreating Earth’s oxygen-free atmosphere in the Archean, they found that the radiation would all but preclude life from developing. But as oxygen levels rose, nearing modern levels, Earth’s ozone layer would grow and shield the ground below from dangerous radiation.

“With modern oxygen levels, this would take a few days, which would hopefully mean that life could survive,” says Eager-Nash. “We were surprised by how quickly ozone levels would respond.”

When they looked at what could happen on an Earth-like planet in an older galaxy, with stars clustered closer to its AGN, they found a much different picture. In a “red nugget relic” galaxy like NGC 1277, the effects would be lethal. Stars in more massive galaxies with an elliptical shape, like Messier-87, or our spiral Milky Way, are spread out more, and thus, farther from an AGN’s dangerous radiation.

The Stars Align Aboard the Queen Mary 2

Sippy came to Dartmouth with a keen interest in black holes, and by the end of second term, had joined the lab of Ryan Hickox, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Later, while debating a potential senior project on AGN radiation, fate intervened.

Heading to England for a sabbatical in 2023, Hickox booked a trip on the Queen Mary 2 so he could bring his dog, Benjamin. Aboard the ship, he got to chatting with an astrophysicist from Exeter, Nathan Mayne, who was a guest speaker on the ship. They quickly realized they had a mutual interest in radiation, and that the PALEO software Mayne had been using to model solar radiation on exoplanet atmospheres could be applied to the more powerful rays of an AGN.

Modeling Alien Atmospheres

The encounter would clear the way for Sippy to work with Eager-Nash, then a PhD student in Mayne’s lab. Using the programming language Julia, they input into their model the initial concentrations of oxygen, and other atmospheric gases, on their Earth-like planet.

“It models every chemical reaction that could take place,” says Sippy. “It returns plots of how much radiation is hitting the surface at different wavelengths, and the concentration of each gas in your model atmosphere, at different points in time.”

Discovery of a Feedback Loop

The feedback loop they discovered in an oxygenated atmosphere was unexpected. “Our collaborators don’t work on black hole radiation so they were unfamiliar with the spectrum of a black hole and how much brighter an AGN could get than a star depending how close you are to it,” says Hickox.

Without the kismet that brought the two labs together, the project might never have happened. “It’s the kind of insight you can only really get by combining different sets of expertise,” he adds.

After graduating from Dartmouth, Sippy left for Middlebury College, to work as a post-baccalaureate researcher in the lab of McKinley Brumback, Guarini PhD ’20. Brumback had worked in Hickox’s lab as a PhD student and is now an assistant professor of physics at Middlebury studying accreting neutron star X-ray binaries.

She brought a unique perspective to the project. In the X-ray binaries that she studies, a neutron star pulls matter from a normal star, causing in-falling material to heat up and emit X-rays.

X-ray Binaries and Fast Physics

While an AGN can take up to millions of years to flip between active and inactive states, X-ray binaries can change in mere days to months. “A lot of the same physics that applies to AGNs applies to X-ray binaries, but the time scales are much faster than for an AGN,” she says.

Brumback contributed to the AGN analysis and served as a “slightly removed reader” to make sure the paper was accessible to non-experts, she says.

“Thanks to Kendall’s excellent writing, it definitely was!”

website: popularscientist.com

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Scientists Create Compact Laser That Could Revolutionize Chipmaking and Quantum Devices

 

A new solid-state laser produces 193-nm light for precision chipmaking and even creates vortex beams with orbital angular momentum – a first that could transform quantum tech and manufacturing.

Deep ultraviolet (DUV) lasers, which emit high-energy light at very short wavelengths, play a vital role in areas like semiconductor manufacturing, high-resolution spectroscopy, precision material processing, and quantum technology. Compared to traditional excimer or gas discharge lasers, DUV lasers offer better coherence and lower power consumption, making it possible to build smaller, more efficient systems.

Breakthrough in Solid-State Laser Development

In a recent study published in Advanced Photonics Nexus, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced a major breakthrough: a compact solid-state laser system that can generate coherent light at a wavelength of 193 nanometers. This specific wavelength is a key tool in photolithography, the process used to etch detailed patterns onto silicon wafers, which are essential for building modern electronic devices.

How the 193-nm Laser System Works

The new laser system runs at a 6 kHz repetition rate and uses a custom-built Yb:YAG crystal amplifier to produce a base laser at 1030 nm. This laser is split into two paths: one is converted through fourth-harmonic generation into a 258-nm beam with 1.2 watts of output power; the other powers an optical parametric amplifier to generate a 1553-nm beam with 700 milliwatts of power. These two beams are then combined using cascaded lithium triborate (LBO) crystals to produce the target 193-nm light, delivering an average output of 70 milliwatts and a narrow linewidth of under 880 MHz.

First-Ever 193-nm Vortex Beam

The researchers also introduced a spiral phase plate to the 1553-nm beam before frequency mixing, resulting in the generation of a vortex beam carrying orbital angular momentum. This marks the first time a 193-nm vortex beam has been produced from a solid-state laser. Such a beam holds promise for seeding hybrid ArF excimer lasers and could have significant applications in wafer processing, defect inspection, quantum communication, and optical micromanipulation.

Future Potential and Impact

This innovative laser system not only enhances the efficiency and precision of semiconductor lithography but also opens new avenues for advanced manufacturing techniques. The ability to generate a 193-nm vortex beam could lead to further breakthroughs in the field, potentially revolutionizing the way electronic devices are produced.

website: popularscientist.com

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How Fast Is Your Immune System Aging? Scientists Just Built a Clock To Find Out

 

The HZI team has developed an AI-powered computer model that, for the first time, reveals the aging process at the cellular level.

As we age, our immune system ages as well. We become more susceptible to infections, vaccinations become less effective, and the risk of developing immune-related disorders such as autoimmune diseases increases.

“In order to better understand how and where exactly the immune system changes with age and which factors trigger or accelerate aging processes, we need to focus on the players of our immune system – the immune cells,” says Prof. Yang Li, head of the department “Computation Biology for Individualised Medicine” and Director of the CiiM.

Yang Li’s team set out to answer a key research question: How does aging affect different types of immune cells? To explore this, the researchers analyzed thousands of transcriptome datasets—records of all active genes in a cell at a given time—for five distinct immune cell types. These datasets were compiled from publicly available sources and scientific literature.

In total, the team examined data from more than two million individual immune cells, collected from blood samples of approximately 1,000 healthy individuals ranging in age from 18 to 97. Using this extensive dataset, they developed a machine learning model to track cellular aging. The result was a computational tool they named the Single-Cell Immune Aging Clock, designed to map how immune cells change over time.

Discovering Aging Markers

“We were able to identify specific genes for each type of immune cell that are involved in important immunological processes and whose activity changes during the aging process. These serve as marker genes for the respective immune cell type and as a reference in the subsequent application of the model,” explains Yang Li. “Incidentally, the genes we identified play a decisive role in the development of inflammatory processes. It is well known that aging processes are particularly associated with inflammatory processes. We were able to confirm this once again with our study.”

Case Study: COVID-19 and Immune Aging

The research team then applied the aging clock in two case studies using patient data. They wanted to find out how a COVID-19 infection or a tuberculosis vaccination affects the aging processes within the different immune cell types. In COVID-19 patients, aging processes were only evident in one type of immune cell, the so-called monocytes. However, in people with a mild course of the disease, aging was significantly less pronounced. “Our results suggest that severe infections can cause our immune cells to age more quickly,” says Yang Li. “But – and this is good news – these changes seem to be reversible: After about three weeks, as COVID-19 patients slowly recover, the monocytes start to return to their original age profile.”

Case Study: Tuberculosis Vaccination and Immune Rejuvenation

In the second case study, the researchers used the aging clock to look at the age of different immune cell types in people who had been vaccinated against tuberculosis. Here, the team discovered an interesting correlation: The vaccination had very different effects within one immune cell type, the so-called CD8 T cells, depending on how much inflammation was going on in the body. However, in people with high levels of inflammation, the vaccination had a rejuvenating effect on the immune cells.

“The Single-Cell Immune Aging Clock opens up incredibly exciting insights into cellular aging processes within different immune cell types for the first time,” says Yang Li. “It is a powerful tool that could be used in the future to uncover further dynamics of immune aging, to better understand the effects of infections and vaccinations and to develop new approaches for therapies and preventive measures that promote healthy aging.”

website: popularscientist.com

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New Organic Solar Cells Set Efficiency World Record

 

A research team from Nuremberg and Erlangen has set a new record for the power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic modules (OPV). The scientists from Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE), and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN), a branch of Forschungszentrum Jülich, in cooperation with the South China University of Technology (SCUT), designed an OPV module with an efficiency of 12.6 percent over an area of 26 square centimeters (4 square inches). The former world record of 9.7 percent was exceeded by 30 percent.

This is the highest efficiency value ever reported for an organic photovoltaic module. It was confirmed by a certified calibrated measurement under standard testing conditions by the independent certification laboratory of Fraunhofer ISE (Freiburg) in September 2019. The multi-cell module was developed at the Solar Factory of the Future at the Energie Campus Nürnberg (EnCN) in a coating laboratory with a unique megawatt pilot line for thin-film photovoltaics, which was designed and implemented with financial support by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs.

A new record has been set for the power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic modules (OPV), exceeding the former world record of 9.7 percent by 30 percent.

“This breakthrough shows that Bavaria is not only a leader in the advancement of photovoltaic installations, but also occupies a leading position in the development of future technologies,” emphasizes Hubert Aiwanger, Bavarian State Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.

Organic solar cells usually consist of two different organic components, possessing the necessary semiconductor properties. In contrast to conventionally used silicon, which is manufactured by energy-intensive melting processes, organic materials can be applied directly from solutions onto a carrier film or glass carrier.

On the one hand, this reduces manufacturing costs, on the other hand, the use of flexible, lightweight materials allows for new applications, such as mobile devices or clothing, even if the efficiency is not yet comparable to that of traditional silicon solar cells.

The record module consists of twelve serially connected cells and has a geometric fill factor of over 95 percent. The minimization of inactive areas was achieved through high-resolution laser structuring, as developed and optimized in recent years at the “Solar Factory of the Future.”

“This milestone in organic semiconductor research shows that the latest performance developments with certified cell efficiencies of over 16 percent are not limited to the laboratory scale, but ready to be scaled up to the level of prototype modules,” explains Prof. Christoph Brabec from FAU, director at HI ERN, and scientific director of the Solar Factory of the Future, a research group of ZAE Bayern.

Due to their design, the efficiency of complete photovoltaic modules is always slightly lower than that of individual cells. A part of the module area, for example, is always inactive since it is used for the interconnection of the individual cells. With an increasing module area, the losses caused by the electrodes’ electrical resistance increase as well.

The record module consists of twelve serially connected cells and has a geometric fill factor of over 95 percent. This part of the module area actively contributes to the power generation. With respect to its active area, the module even achieves an efficiency of 13.2 percent. The minimization of inactive areas was achieved through high-resolution laser structuring, as developed and optimized in recent years at the “Solar Factory of the Future.” 

website: popularscientist.com

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NASA Reveals 5 Million Images of Gravity Waves Rippling Through Earth’s Sky

 

NASA’s AWE mission just released millions of gravity wave images from space, unveiling atmospheric forces that ripple through the sky and affect our tech on Earth. It’s a whole new window into space weather.

After completing its 3,000^th orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) has released its first set of scientific data. This milestone marks a major step in studying how subtle changes in Earth’s upper atmosphere can lead to disturbances, and how those disturbances can affect technologies like satellites, communications systems, and GPS on Earth and in space.

“We’ve released the first 3,000 orbits of data collected by the AWE instrument in space and transmitted back to Earth,” said Ludger Scherliess, principal investigator for the mission and physics professor at Utah State University. “This is a view of atmospheric gravity waves never captured before.”

Five Million Images, Now Publicly Available

Now available online, the dataset includes over five million images of nighttime airglow and atmospheric gravity waves, captured by AWE’s four onboard cameras. It also contains processed data showing temperature patterns and airglow intensity, offering insight into the surrounding air and the movement of the waves.

“AWE is providing incredible images and data to further understand what we only first observed less than a decade ago,” said Esayas Shume, AWE program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are thrilled to share this influential data set with the larger scientific community and look forward to what will be discovered.”

Mapping Waves Across the Globe

Atmospheric gravity waves are naturally occurring features of Earth’s atmosphere, shaped by weather systems and the planet’s terrain. While scientists have studied these waves for years, observations have typically been limited to a few ground-based locations. AWE now enables a much broader, space-based perspective.

“With data from AWE, we can now begin near-global measurements and studies of the waves and their energy and momentum on scales from tens to hundreds and even thousands of kilometers,” Scherliess said. “This opens a whole new chapter in this field of research.”

Data from AWE will also provide insight into how terrestrial and space weather interactions affect satellite communications, navigation, and tracking.

“We’ve become very dependent on satellites for applications we use every day, including GPS navigation,” Scherliess said. “AWE is an attempt to bring science about atmospheric gravity waves into focus, and to use that information to better predict space weather that can disrupt satellite communications. We will work closely with our collaborators to better understand how these observed gravity waves impact space weather.”

The Advanced Mapper Behind the Mission

The tuba-shaped AWE instrument, known as the Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper or AMTM, consists of four identical telescopes. It is mounted to the exterior of the International Space Station, where it has a view of Earth.

As the space station orbits Earth, the AMTM’s telescopes capture 7,000-mile-long swaths of the planet’s surface, recording images of atmospheric gravity waves as they move from the lower atmosphere into space. The AMTM measures and records the brightness of light at specific wavelengths, which can be used to create air and wave temperature maps. These maps can reveal the energy of these waves and how they are moving through the atmosphere.

Overcoming the Challenges of Space Imaging

To analyze the data and make it publicly available, AWE researchers and students at USU developed new software to tackle challenges that had never been encountered before.

“Reflections from clouds and the ground can obscure some of the images, and we want to make sure the data provide clear, precise images of the power transported by the waves,” Scherliess said. “We also need to make sure the images coming from the four separate AWE telescopes on the mapper are aligned correctly. Further, we need to ensure stray light reflections coming off the solar panels of the space station, along with moonlight and city lights, are not masking the observations.”

Toward a Global, Seasonal Understanding

As the scientists move forward with the mission, they’ll investigate how gravity wave activity changes with seasons around the globe. Scherliess looks forward to seeing how the global science community will use the AWE observations.

“Data collected through this mission provides unprecedented insight into the role of weather on the ground on space weather,” he said.

AWE is led by Utah State University in Logan, Utah, and it is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory built the AWE instrument and provides the mission operations center.

website: popularscientist.com

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