Bubble-forming super-massive black hole found

Last Updated: Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 15:25

 0

 5

Tags: Black hole, Bubbles in space, LOFAR Telescope

Washington: Bubbles in space! Astronomers have discovered giant bubbles in the Universe powered by a massive black hole, with a mass six billion times that of the Sun.

Astronomers used a brand-new radio telescope to produce one of the best images ever made at the lowest frequencies of a galaxy 2000 times more massive than Milky Way, hosting in its centre one of the most massive black holes discovered so far.

Researchers found that this bubble is surprisingly young, just about 40 million years, which is a mere instant on cosmic time scales. Like symbiotic species, a galaxy and its central black hole lead intimately connected lives. Some black holes actively accrete matter.

Part of this material do not fall into the black hole but is ejected in a narrow stream of particles, travelling at nearly the speed of light. When the stream slows down, it creates a tenuous bubble that can engulf the entire galaxy. Invisible to optical telescopes, the bubble is very prominent at low radio frequencies.

The new International LOFAR Telescope is ideally suited to detect this low frequency emission. Astronomers produced one of the best images ever of such a bubble, using LOFAR to detect frequencies from 20 to 160 MHz.

"The result is of great importance", says Francesco de Gasperin, lead author of the study that is being published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

"It shows the enormous potential of LOFAR, and provides compelling evidence of the close ties between black hole, host galaxy, and their surroundings," de Gasperin said.

The image was made during the test-phase of LOFAR, and targeted the giant elliptical galaxy Messier 87, at the centre of a galaxy cluster in the constellation of Virgo.



Every few minutes this black hole swallows an amount of matter similar to that of the whole Earth, converting part of it into radiation and a larger part into powerful jets of ultra-fast particles, which are responsible for the observed radio emission.



"This is the first time such high-quality images are possible at these low frequencies", says professor Heino Falcke, chairman of the board of the ILT and co-author of the study.

PTI

Now, a test to detect cancer, HIV with naked eye

 

More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on stumbleupon Share on email

Agencies : London , Mon Oct 29 2012, 15:09 hrs

Scientists have developed a new ten times cheaper ultra-sensitive sensor test to detect the early stages of several cancers and viruses, including HIV, with the naked eye.
Researchers from the Imperial College London claim that their visual sensor technology is ten times more sensitive than the current gold standard methods for measuring biomarkers.
These indicate the onset of diseases such as prostate cancer and infection by viruses including HIV. The colour of a liquid changes to give either a positive or negative result.
Researchers say their sensor would benefit countries where sophisticated detection equipment is scarce, enabling cheaper and simpler detection and treatments for patients.
The team tested the effectiveness of the sensor by detecting a biomarker called p24 in blood samples, which indicates HIV infection.
"Unfortunately, the existing gold standard detection methods can be too expensive to be implemented in parts of the world where resources are scarce," Professor Molly Stevens, from the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering, said.
"Our approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation and it is ten times cheaper, which could allow more tests to be performed for better screening of many diseases," said Stevens.
Researchers also tested samples for the biomarker called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which is an early indicator for Prostate Cancer. The team say the sensor can also be reconfigured for other viruses and diseases where the specific biomarker is known.
The sensor works by analysing serum, derived from blood, in a disposable container. If the result is positive for p24 or PSA, there is a reaction that generates irregular clumps of nanoparticles, which give off a distinctive blue hue in a solution inside the container.

If the results are negative the nanoparticles separate into ball-like shapes, creating a reddish hue. Both reactions can be easily seen by the naked eye.
The team also said that the sensor was so sensitive that it was able to detect minute levels of p24 in samples where patients had low viral loads, which could not be diagnosed using existing tests such as the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test and the gold standard nucleic acid based test.
"We have developed a test that we hope will enable previously undetectable HIV infections and indicators of cancer to be picked up, which would mean people could be treated sooner," researcher Roberto de la Rica, said in a statement.

Worth your salt

Amin Ali, TNN | Sep 12, 2012, 12.00AM IST

Article

Comments

inShare

Read more:therapy|Salt Room Therapy|salt|physician|Feliks Boczkopwski|Eastern Europe

0

In which we spy on all things newsy and quirky that are worth a glance...

Have you heard about Salt Room Therapy? This drug-free treatment is the latest buzzword among people suffering from chronic respiratory and skin problems. It replicates the Halo Therapy — an ancient line of treatment in which dry aerosol micro particles and minerals were used to treat respiratory diseases. Practised in the old salt mines in Eastern Europe since the early 19th century, the treatment came to be later associated with spas in the region.

The process: The temperature, salt level and humidity of the room are fixed according to the treatment being sought. You need to breathe the air containing negatively-charged dry salt particles during an hour-long session. Since particles of bigger size usually cannot penetrate beyond the nose or throat, it is the smaller salt particles — known for their anti inflammatory properties — that enter the lungs and cleanse the system. In India, the facility is available in Kochi and Delhi.

Disclaimer: Consult your personal physician before going for any therapy.
Salt facts
In 1843, Polish physician Dr Feliks Boczkopwski documented that the miners at Wieliczka salt mines did not suffer from lung diseases.
Use of caves as therapy centres started when German physicians noticed improvements in the respiratory health of patients who hid in salt caves to escape bombing during World War II.