A rogue black hole is beaming energy from a nearby dwarf galaxy

Astronomers detected a black hole displaced nearly a kiloparsec from the center of a dwarf galaxy 230 million light-years away. Unlike most, it is actively feeding and producing radio jets, making it one of the most convincing off-nuclear cases ever confirmed. The discovery reveals that black holes can grow and shape galaxies even when not in the core, reshaping theories of cosmic evolution.

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The Universe’s first magnetic fields were shockingly weak, but changed everything

Primordial magnetic fields, billions of times weaker than a fridge magnet, may have left lasting imprints on the Universe. Researchers ran over 250,000 simulations to show how these fields shaped the cosmic web, then validated the results with observations. Their study sets a stricter upper limit on the fields’ strength, aligning with other data and suggesting important consequences for early star and galaxy formation.

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NASA just confirmed its 6,000th alien world. Some are truly bizarre

NASA has confirmed 6,000 exoplanets, marking a major milestone in humanity’s quest to understand other worlds. From gas giants hugging their stars to planets covered in lava or clouds of gemstones, the diversity of discoveries is staggering. With upcoming missions like the Roman Space Telescope and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, scientists are getting closer to detecting Earth-like planets, and possibly signs of life.

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Scientists just found the hidden cosmic fingerprints of dark matter

Scientists at Rutgers and collaborators have traced the invisible dark matter scaffolding of the universe using over 100,000 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies. By studying how these galaxies clustered across three eras shortly after the Big Bang, they mapped dark matter concentrations, uncovering cosmic “fingerprints” that reveal how galaxies grow and evolve.

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Cosmic simulations that once needed supercomputers now run on a laptop

Astronomers have long relied on supercomputers to simulate the immense structure of the Universe, but a new tool called Effort.jl is changing that. By mimicking the behavior of complex cosmological models, this emulator delivers results with the same accuracy — and sometimes even finer detail — in just minutes on a standard laptop. The breakthrough combines neural networks with clever use of physical knowledge, cutting computation time dramatically while preserving reliability.

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Stormy cluster weather could unleash black hole power and explain lack of cosmic cooling

'Weather' in clusters of galaxies may explain a longstanding puzzle. Scientists have now used sophisticated simulations to show how powerful jets from supermassive black holes are disrupted by the motion of hot gas and galaxies, preventing gas from cooling, which could otherwise form stars.

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