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SO ENDS this article on the genetics of an extraordinary and hugely successful evolutionary strategy that hijacks the host reproductive system. Parasites are known to manipulate host behavior in equally extraordinary ways, causing them to suicide in order to perpetuate the parasite; there seem few limits to how deeply life forms can be hacked, a sobering thought. https://lnkd.in/dXjWp9f View in LinkedIn

“THE INNER STRUCTURES of quasars (the accretion disk, the BLR, and the dust torus) are all within the sphere of influence of the SMBH, where the most important processes associated with accretion are occurring (e.g., winds and outflows, photoionization, chemical enrichment, dynamical evolution, etc.).” ( SMBH = supermassive black hole; BLR = broad emission line region). https://lnkd.in/dEvc7DF View in LinkedIn

GALACTIC REACH OF SIGNATURES. “The inner regions of quasars emit most of the luminosity of these accreting BHs, and produce copious diagnostic features in the observed rest-frame UV-infrared spectrum. The basic structure of quasars consists of an accretion disk surrounding the BH that produces the intense ionizing radiation needed to power the broad emission line region (BLR), the dust torus, and the narrow emission line region (NLR), which extends to galactic scales.” ( BH = black hole). https://lnkd.in/dEvc7DF View in LinkedIn

“QUASARS (luminous Active Galactic Nuclei, or AGN) are among the most luminous extragalactic objects in the Universe. Powered by rapid mass accretion onto the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of distant galaxies, quasars are beacons marking growing massive black holes (BH) and their host galaxies to the farthest reach of modern telescopes (e.g., a recently discovered quasar at z ∼ 7.5.” https://lnkd.in/dEvc7DF View in LinkedIn

POWER SOURCE. “Quasars discovered at z > 6 − 7 are powered by SMBHs up to 10(10)M⊙.” (M⊙ = unit of sun’s mass; SMBH = supermassive black holes). https://lnkd.in/devi4ZN View in LinkedIn

GROWING NUMBER. “More than 200 quasars have now been discovered at z>6.” https://lnkd.in/devi4ZN View in LinkedIn

“Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.” https://lnkd.in/dzfABjG View in LinkedIn

JUPITER’S EXTREME H2O. “Rearrangements of those hydrogen bonds, which take place as temperature and pressure are varied, give rise to a large family of complex network structures beyond the “ordinary” hexagonal form of ice. Water molecules can form cages around hydrophobic species such as methane to form clathrate hydrates.” https://lnkd.in/dKBrrak View in LinkedIn

NEW PAPER ON LUMINOUS QUAZARS. “As the most luminous non-transient objects that can be observed in the early universe, high-redshift quasars are indispensable tracers of early black hole growth, the formation of the first massive galaxies in the universe, and the history of cosmic reionization.” https://lnkd.in/devi4ZN View in LinkedIn

OCCAM’S RAZOR. “Attempts to understand the release of quantum information from macroscopic black holes in terms of quantum path integrals seem to require very exotic intermediate configurations of multiple wormholes, but these ignore the possibility of a much simpler path integral in a black hole to white hole scenario.” The end of this interesting paper. https://lnkd.in/dUKnus8 View in LinkedIn