Monster Black-Hole Twin Found Inside Galaxy’s Belly: A galaxy already known to have one ginormous black hole at its core has been found to actually have 2 of these cosmic giants, a new study reveals. Astronomers discovered the second black hole at the center of the galaxy Markarian 739, which is 425 million light years from Earth. The 2 black holes are separated by about 11,000 million light years. Both black holes are intensely active and classified as “supermassive.”
Is All the Wild Weather Connected? In the winter there was record snowfall across the Northeast. Record rainfall and floods in the Ohio Valley followed in April and May. The Southwest has been plagued by drought for months, while tornadoes have devastated the Midwest and South. Record heat is scorching most of the country this week–just days after snow fell in Hawaii. And meteorologists are predicting a harrowing hurricane season. According to experts, La Nina and global warming are both partly responsible. However, natural atmospheric variability has also come into play this year. There have been increases in the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.
But the link between global warming, La Nina, and this year’s violent tornadoes is unclear. Thermodynamic instability combined with wind shear are the “perfect storm” that leads to tornadoes. But only one of those factors was increased while the other decreased, so the data are inconclusive as to why so many violent tornadoes this year.
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