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Black holes are very important for galactic formation.

Astronomers have discovered that the supermassive black holes in the centers of early galaxies are much more massive than expected. These surprisingly hefty black holes offer new insights into the origins of all supermassive black holes, as well as the earliest stages of their host galaxy’s lives.

In nearby, mature like our Milky Way, the total mass of stars vastly outweighs the mass of the big black hole found at the galaxy’s center by about 1,000 to 1. In the newfound distant galaxies, however, that mass difference drops to 100 or 10 to 1, and even to 1 to 1, meaning the black hole can equal the combined mass of its host galaxy’s stars.

This picture of unexpectedly massive black holes in fledgling galaxies comes from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA’s latest flagship observatory. Until JWST, which launched in late 2021, astronomers were generally limited in their studies of distant black holes to stupendously bright quasars, composed of monster, matter-devouring black holes that completely outshine the stars in their host galaxies.

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And that, according to the researchers, is exactly what the AI did, identifying whether prints from different types of fingers came from the same person with 75 to 90 percent accuracy, the BBC reported.

“It is clear that it isn’t using traditional markers that forensics have been using for decades,” study co-author Hod Lipson, a roboticist at Columbia University, told the broadcaster.

The researchers trained their AI model on a database of 60,000 fingerprints. Lead author Gabe Guo, a senior undergrad at Columbia University, told CNN that the AI was able to look beyond finger features known as “minutiae” that detectives have relied on for centuries.

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Through exquisite, millimeter-scale, formation flying, the dual satellites making up ESA’s Proba-3 will accomplish what was previously a space mission impossible: Cast a precisely held shadow from one platform to the other, in the process blocking out the fiery sun to observe its ghostly surrounding atmosphere on a prolonged basis.

Ahead of the Proba-3 pair launching together later this year, the scientists who will make use of Proba-3 observations were able to see the satellites with their own eyes. Members of this team will test hardware developed for the mission during an actual terrestrial solar eclipse over northern America next April.

The two satellites are currently undergoing final integration in the premises of Redwire near Antwerp in Belgium. They were paid a visit by the Proba-3 Science Working Team, a 45-strong group of solar physicists coming from all across Europe and the wider world.

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ICFO and Qurv researchers have fabricated a new high-performance shortwave infrared (SWIR) image sensor based on non-toxic colloidal quantum dots. In their study published in Nature Photonics, they report on a new method for synthesizing functional high-quality non-toxic colloidal quantum dots integrable with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology.

Invisible to our eyes, shortwave infrared (SWIR) light can enable unprecedented reliability, function and performance in high-volume, computer vision first applications in service robotics, automotive and consumer electronics markets. Image sensors with SWIR sensitivity can operate reliably under adverse conditions such as bright sunlight, fog, haze and smoke. Furthermore, the SWIR range provides eye-safe illumination sources and opens up the possibility of detecting material properties through molecular imaging.

Colloidal quantum dots (CQD) based image sensor technology offers a promising technology platform to enable high-volume compatible image sensors in the SWIR. CQDs, nanometric semiconductor crystals, are a solution-processed material platform that can be integrated with CMOS and enables accessing the SWIR range. However, a fundamental roadblock exists in translating SWIR-sensitive quantum dots into key enabling technology for mass-market applications, as they often contain heavy metals like lead or mercury (IV-VI Pb, Hg-chalcogenide semiconductors). These materials are subject to regulations by the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), a European directive that regulates their use in commercial consumer electronic applications.

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