A new angle of study for unveiling black hole secrets
Peer-Reviewed Publication
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 9-May-2026 21:16 ET (10-May-2026 01:16 GMT/UTC)
An international collaboration of physicists including researchers at Washington University in St. Louis has made measurements to better understand how matter falls into black holes and how enormous amounts of energy and light are released in the process. The scientists pointed a balloon-borne telescope called XL-Calibur at a black hole, Cygnus X-1, located about 7,000 light-years from Earth.
Several leading quantum gravity theories predict that there is a dependence of the speed of light on photon energy, which would bridge incompatibilities between general relativity and quantum physics. A collaboration between the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), the Centre for Space Studies and Research (CEREs-UAB), the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and the University of Algarve (Portugal) has sought to prove this dependence based on the analysis of astrophysical observations of very energetic light from gamma-ray emissions from very distant sources. With unprecedented accuracy, the research shows that the speed of light remains a universal constant.
The research team led by Dr. Jang SeGyu at the Functional Composite Materials Research Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Oh Sang-rok) and the research team led by Professor Choi Siyoung at the Department of Bio and Chemical Engineering of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST, President Lee Kwang-hyung) announced the development of a high-density BNNT protective shield. This shield, created by densely-packed BNNTs, is robust, efficiently conducts heat, and effectively blocks cosmic radiation.