Blandford’s major contributions range from energetic jets ripping forth from colossal black holes to cosmic “magnifying” glasses to gravitational waves.
Physicists at SLAC and Stanford propose that the influence of cosmic rays on early life may explain nature’s preference for a uniform “handedness” among biology’s critical molecules.
Just like we orbit the sun and the moon orbits us, the Milky Way has satellite galaxies with their own satellites. Drawing from data on those galactic neighbors, a new model suggests the Milky Way should have an additional 100 or so very faint satellite galaxies awaiting discovery.
A cheap technique could detect neutrinos in polar ice, eventually allowing researchers to expand the energy reach of IceCube without breaking the bank.
Matching up maps of matter and light from the Dark Energy Survey and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope may help astrophysicists understand what causes a faint cosmic gamma-ray glow.
As the massive LSST camera project reaches its culmination, Hannah Pollek is one of the engineers in the clean room each day putting the pieces together.