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Did you know that a human could theoretically outrun a T-Rex?!

Based on fossil evidence, T-Rex’s top speed was about 12 mph, while a human can run faster than that.

Culture

Telescopes Images a Real Black Hole

For years, humanity relied on artistic interpretations of black holes to visualize these elusive cosmic objects. That changed in 2019 when the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration captured the first real image of a black hole. Now, they've improved upon that, imaging the same black hole at different frequencies and at the highest resolution yet.

The team expanded the light spectrum used, reaching up to 345 GHz, and combined this with previous images of the black holes at the center of galaxy M87 and Sagittarius A, which were taken at 230 GHz. This has produced multi-colored views of the regions just outside the black holes. Scientists from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory published these findings in The Astronomical Journal.

"At 345 GHz, our images are sharper and more detailed, likely revealing new properties—some expected, others perhaps not," said co-lead author Alexander Raymond from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The EHT achieves its high resolution by linking radio dishes across the globe using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). With the EHT already spanning the planet, the only way to get clearer images was to increase the frequency of observations, which is what the team has done. Co-lead author Sheperd Doeleman, founding director of the EHT, explained, “This new ‘color vision’ helps us separate the effects of Einstein’s gravity from the hot gas and magnetic fields feeding the black holes.”

This is the first time VLBI has been used at 345 GHz. Previous attempts faced challenges like water vapor in the atmosphere, which weakens signals at higher frequencies. The key breakthrough was improving the sensitivity of the EHT by enhancing the instrumentation and waiting for optimal weather conditions. These advancements pave the way for high-resolution movies of the event horizon around black holes, a goal of the next-generation EHT project (ngEHT), which will add new antennas and enhance existing ones. This will boost the EHT’s imaging capabilities by tenfold, allowing scientists to capture more detailed images and eventually, movies of black holes.

World News

Spain Turns Olive Pits into Fuel

Spain's olive oil industry is finding a new use for olive pits: biofuel. Spain produces half of the EU's olive oil, and now olive growers are selling the pits for heating homes, powering oil mills, and even fueling airplanes.

Olive pits, which make up 8-10% of the crop by weight, were once seen as waste. Now, about 400,000 tons are processed annually. During oil production, pits are separated, cleaned, and dried to be used like wood pellets in stoves, grills, and fireplaces. Pablo Rodero from the Spanish biomass association Avebiom says that everything is used now, comparing olives to pigs in terms of waste efficiency. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which drove up heating costs, further boosted the demand for olive pits as fuel.

One-third of olive pits are refined and sold for around €300 per ton, equating to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour for home heating. The rest are used on farms or sold to power industrial boilers. Energy company Cepsa even uses olive pits in a sustainable aviation fuel blend, which powered 200 flights from Seville last year.

Environment

Vertical Strawberry Farm

In Virginia, Plenty Unlimited has launched what it claims is the world’s first indoor strawberry farm.

The company’s AI-driven system is designed to grow produce with peak-season flavor year-round, almost anywhere. Every day, AI processes over 10 million data points from 12 grow rooms, adjusting conditions to meet the plants' changing needs. The farm uses 97% less land and up to 90% less water than traditional farms, and its controlled airflow pollination method is said to be more efficient than using bees.

Located in Richmond, the farm will grow more than 4 million pounds of strawberries annually in under 40,000 square feet by using vertical farming on 30-foot towers. The strawberries will be sold under the Driscoll’s brand, with the first crop expected in stores by early 2025. Plenty says their vertical farming technology allows for greater yield and consistent quality, and CEO Arama Kukutai describes the Richmond farm as a model for future food production in an unpredictable climate.

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Mind Stretchers

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A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:

The moon is my mother, The sea is my dad. I have a million brothers. When I reach land, I'm dead. What am I? - A Wave

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