A new EU project plans to expand adventures in the cosmos with a suitably space-age technology: lasers. The INPHOMIR initiative is developing the lasers to enhance spacecraft sensors. By emitting tiny pulses of light, the devices could improve the precision of satellite navigation. Their accuracy stems from their resistance to the harsh conditions of space.
Enlarge / The Milky Way's central black hole is in a very crowded neighborhood. (credit: UMass/D. Wang/NASA/STScI)
Supermassive black holes are ravenous. Clumps of dust and gas are prone to being disrupted by the turbulence and radiation when they are pulled too close. So why are some of them orbiting on the edge of the Milky Way’s own supermassive monster, Sgr A*?
Enlarge (credit: Getty | Bettmann)
If you were to envision the kind of accident that would cause a person’s bowels to explode out of their body, you might imagine some sort of gruesome stabbing or grisly car accident. You’d probably never imagine that something as commonplace and harmless as a sneeze would cause this kind of ghastly injury—but that’s exactly what happened to a Florida man earlier this month.
The man had recently had abdominal surgery and was suffering from wound dehiscence—where his surgical scar wasn’t healing properly.