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Astronomers May Have Found the Closest Black Hole to Earth

Black holes might be black, but they are not necessarily invisible. They come in a variety of sizes, from minuscule to supermassive, with a key common feature: a boundary known as the event horizon, beyond which light cannot escape. Black holes near an object such as a star, however, can brighten when they feed, flaring […]

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People Don’t Have to Succumb to Anxiety during this Pandemic

Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, taught that the human ability to make choices gives us a unique resilience, since our fate is not simply a function of fate or fortune. Frankl noted that even in the most devastating, inhumane conditions, finding meaning, purpose and hope can engender emotional strength and the capacity to […]

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Comets Prevent Ether from Accumulating in Space

Originally published in January 1859 Credit: Scientific American Advertisement “The question of the utility of comets has always held a conspicuous place. S. W. Fullom, well known as the author of some pleasant books, suggests a use for comets in his Marvels of Science: Descartes, Euler and many others believed that there is a subtle […]

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Menopause Predisposes a Fifth of Women to Alzheimer’s

Scientific American May 2020 Being female is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Why? This is how memory loss begins, Sophie tells me: You show up at work, forgetting that you are supposed to be at a breakfast meeting with a client. You blank on the names of your neighbors. Soon enough you walk into a […]

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Did Galileo Truly Say, ‘And Yet It Moves’? A Modern Detective Story

“And yet it moves.” This may be the most famous line attributed to the renowned scientist Galileo Galilei. The “it” in the quote refers to Earth.  “It moves” was a startling denial of the notion, adopted by the Catholic Church at the time, that Earth was at the center of the universe and therefore stood […]