JWST Finds Black Hole Between Galaxy Cores, Hinting at Rare Direct Collapse Birth
Astronomers have detected a weird black hole that is causing its galactic host to wobble like a top in the throes of “direct collapse” in the earliest phase of creation in the universe. The unique thing about this object is where it is located: between a pair of colliding galaxies, not in the nucleus of either one. That bizarre orientation suggests that instead of forming from a dying star’s wreckage, the black hole might have formed from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust — something researchers had long suspected was possible but nobody had ever seen.
JWST Uncovers Rare Black Hole Between Merging Galaxies, Backing Direct Collapse Theory
As per the Yale-led COSMOS-Web survey team, the Infinity Galaxy was created through a head-on merger of two disk galaxies. Lead researcher Pieter van Dokkum explained that the black hole’s location was the biggest surprise. Instead of being housed in either galactic nucleus, it sits between them, aligning with the velocity of the surrounding ionised hydrogen gas. The black hole is actually so strangely positioned and moving so quickly in relation to its host galaxy that it might even have been formed in its current spot, supporting the “heavy seed” idea.
The JWST find indicates supermassive black holes existed even 500 million years after the Big Bang, something previously believed only possible through the strong compression of gas around galaxies.
Alternative explanations, including a runaway black hole or one from a third, unseen galaxy, were ruled out by the researchers. Preliminary measurements show the black hole’s velocity matches that of the surrounding gas, strengthening the direct collapse hypothesis. X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra and radio signals from the Very Large Array also confirm that the black hole is actively feeding.
Though not definitive, this finding represents some of the strongest observational evidence for direct collapse so far. “This is really something we have not seen before,” Van Dokkum mentioned, adding that both galaxy nuclei also house active supermassive black holes, which would make it a unique triple-black-hole system and a tantalising object for further research.
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A rare interstellar object has been spotted in our solar system, making it the second known object to cross over from outside our cosmic neighbourhood and arrive near our planet. 3I/ATLAS is seen here while about 290 million miles (465 million kilometres) from Earth, when it was journeying inbound on its trip to our vicinity of the solar system. This icy wanderer, first detected by the ATLAS survey on July 1, marks just the third known object from beyond our solar system to be identified, following in the cosmic footsteps of 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
Massive Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Offers Rare Glimpse Into Alien Planetary System Origins
As per a statement from the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, which oversees the International Gemini Observatory, 3I/ATLAS offers a valuable chance to study the building blocks of alien planetary systems. “The sensitivity and scheduling agility of the International Gemini Observatory has provided critical early characterisation of this interstellar wanderer,” mentioned NSF program director Martin Still. At an estimated 12 miles (20 km) in diameter, 3I/ATLAS is much larger than its predecessors, making it easier to analyse.
Images show the comet with a bright, compact coma — the envelope of dust and gas surrounding its core — and other data suggest it could be older than our own solar system. Believed to have originated from the Milky Way’s outer thick disk, 3I/ATLAS may hold clues to the conditions in far-off star systems that once harboured it. Though the discovery is thrilling to some, the comet poses no threat to the Earth as it makes its fleeting visit.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is expected to make its closest pass by the Sun on Oct. 30, when it will fly 130 million miles inside the orbit of Mars. It comes closest to Earth in December, when it is 170 million miles away. Because of its odd orbit, it’s never coming back.
Astronomers around the world are turning toward a piece of an interstellar comet that broke off using a telescope too distant to study, by necessity, as a rare chance to probe the nature of an object from another star and its solar system of origin.
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The Boeing CST-100 Starliner, a crew capsule for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, has been plagued by persistent problems. Its first crewed test flight in June 2024 was cut short by technical failures, including helium pressurization leaks and multiple thruster malfunctions. NASA ultimately elected to return Starliner to Earth without its crew, keeping the astronauts aboard the station for safety. With those problems unresolved, NASA now says the capsule will remain grounded until around 2026, and its next mission will likely be uncrewed.
Technical Setbacks and Grounding
According to NASA, During its June 2024 Crew Flight Test, Starliner suffered serious propulsion issues. Multiple helium leaks were detected in the service module’s pressurization system, and five of the capsule’s 28 fine-control thrusters failed during approach to the ISS. NASA and Boeing extended the crew’s station stay while engineers traced the problems to thermal and seal failures in the thruster “doghouse” enclosures.
Ultimately NASA decided to bring Starliner back to Earth empty, concluding the test without its astronauts aboard. Boeing and NASA have since conducted extensive ground testing to validate fixes: engineers at NASA’s White Sands facility are firing thrusters in varied sequences to refine thermal models, and Boeing has added new insulation shunts and thermal barriers in the thruster housings to prevent overheating.
Future of the Starliner Program
Boeing’s delays have reshaped NASA’s Commercial Crew plans. NASA officials say Starliner may even fly one more uncrewed test before carrying astronauts. Starliner development is now billions over budget: its original $4.2 billion contract has grown by roughly $2 billion in extra costs. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has flown 11 ISS crew missions and its NASA contract has climbed toward $5 billion amid extra flights added while Starliner lagged. NASA still views Starliner as a critical backup to Dragon and aims to certify it for crew rotations by late 2025 or early 2026.
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NASA, Starliner, Boeing, Crew Flight Test, SpaceX, Commercial Crew, Thruster Failure, Helium Leak, CST-100, Spaceflight, Crew Dragon, Space Missions
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Science
Quantum Leap: Scientists Achieve Magic State Distillation on Logical Qubits for the First Time
Scientists have shown the elusive phenomenon of quantum computing that could create the way for fault-tolerant machines, which are much powerful than any of the supercomputers. Magic state distillation is the process which was proposed 20 years ago; however, the use of logical qubits has puzzled scientists since then. It has long been considered crucial for making high-quality resources, called magic states, required to complete the quantum computer’s potential. It has been possible on plains, till now, by which the high-quality magic states are purified so that the complex algorithms can use them. It has not been possible on the logical qubits.
According to Science Daily, the groups of physical qubits sharing the same data are configured for detecting and correcting the errors which frequently disturb the quantum computing operations. However, the scientists with QuEra said that they have demonstrated magic state distillation for the first time on logical qubits. The findings were published on July 14, 2025, in the journal Nature.
Path to Fault-tolerant Quantum Computing
Quantum computers would not be fulfilling their promise without this process. They use qubits as their building blocks and make use of quantum logic, the set of rules and operations that control how quantum information is processed for running the algorithms and processing data. It is challenging to run the complex algorithms together with maintaining amazingly low error rates.
Physical qubits are noisy, which implies that the calculations are often disrupted by factors such as temperature fluctuations and electromagnetic radiation. This is the reason why so much research has taken place on Quantum Error Correction.
With the distillation process, the faithfulness of the magic state increased for any input. This shows that the fault-tolerant magic state distillation has worked in practice. Further, it implies that the quantum computer uses both logical qubits and magic states of higher quality for running non-Clifford gates.
Scientists say that the shift has been observed for a few years. It was challenging to make the quantum computers, with the detection and correction of errors. However, the scientists have successfully done it.
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