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What is in a black hole

Astronomers reveal content of Black Hole Jets: Positively Charged Atoms

"An international team of astronomers has answered a long standing question about the enigmatic jets emitted by black holes, in research published today in prestigious journal Nature. Jets are narrow beams of matter spat out at high speed from near a central object, like a black hole. "Although they have been observed for decades, we're still not sure what they are made of, or what powers them," ESO astronomer Dr María Díaz Trigo, lead author of the study, said. Click here to read more.

Image: This is a model of the black hole system with the jets that have been found to contain atomic matter. Credit: J. Miller-Jones (ICRAR) using software created by R. Hynes.

Right now a case is being heard before the United States Supreme Court on whether a gene sequence known to cause breast cancer (BRCA 1 and BRCA 2) can be patented by one company. This is one of the cases where the social and ethical implications of scientific discoveries have come to the fore. A private company has argued that since it "discovered" these genes only they could develop and administer tests for this gene. This, of course, means that many women will have no access to such potentially life-saving diagnostic strategies. Further this would hinder the progress of science itself as entities other than the patent holder would not be allowed to study or observe genes. This case is being heard by the court now and the pharmaceutical company is being opposed by public interest groups and association of scientists. For more information you can access the argument here.

Image Acknowledgement: http://geneed.nlm.nih.gov/index.php