Gravitational Waves Reveal Secrets of Black Hole Mergers

The American Mars rover discovered in soil samples it took minerals that may indicate that in the past microbial life existed on Mars.
Analysis of the composition of the samples in instruments that the rover carries showed that they contain two minerals rich in iron and phosphorus which on Earth are created mainly in the activity of bacteria and other microorganisms in a watery environment like swamps.

However these minerals can also apparently form in inorganic processes that do not require the involvement of living organisms.
The discovery therefore is far from providing real evidence that life indeed existed on the neighboring planet.
The Mars rover operates in the area of Jezero crater since it landed on the planet in 2021.
When Mars was a wet planet more than three billion years ago this crater was probably a large lake.
It was chosen as the research site because on Earth life developed in a watery environment and researchers believe that if life as we know it ever existed on Mars an environment in which there were once water gives us the best chance to find signs of it.

Last year operators of the rover identified an interesting rock formation in an area called Neretva Vallis a wide river delta that flowed into the lake.
In the area of the meeting between river water and lake water clay deposits were created and last year operators identified rocks dotted with dark grains similar to poppy seeds and about a millimeter in size.
On Earth such formations are often identified with fossil deposits of bacteria inside rocks and already with the discovery in July 2024 researchers rushed to announce possible signs of ancient life on Mars.

A few days after the discovery the rover drilled into one of the rocks and took samples of these grains. Researchers analyzed their composition with several instruments of the rover and concluded that they contain two minerals rich in carbon phosphorus sulfur and iron oxides.
In an article published this week researchers note that it appears the minerals formed in oxidation and reduction reactions after their deposition and at relatively low temperatures.
However they note that only deep testing with instruments on Earth will allow determining precisely how and when the minerals were formed.

In sediment formations like these on Earth these minerals are often a by product of the metabolism of bacteria that break down organic matter.
However a senior scientist emphasized that what is described here is a possible biological signature of an element molecule material or formation that maybe has a biological source but more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn about the presence of life or its absence.
This is not the first time a Mars rover has discovered materials that may be of biological origin but also have another explanation.

Only last year researchers operating the older twin rover identified relatively large organic molecules on Mars.
In that case too the discovery may hint at the existence of bacteria or similar life forms in the ancient past of Mars but it is very far from providing conclusive evidence.
The rover was originally intended among its missions to be the first step in a more complex plan to bring samples from Mars for analysis on Earth.
It takes interesting soil samples and stores them in special sealed containers.

A future mission was supposed to follow collect the containers gathered in certain areas and launch them to Earth.
However last year the plan was canceled because of its high costs.
The agency turned to private companies to propose alternative plans but none has yet been chosen. Black holes on the waves.
A new discovery of gravitational waves confirms old theories about processes related to black holes. The waves were identified in sensors in the United States at the beginning of the year and the findings were analyzed by an international research team.
According to the researchers the wave measured in this observation is the strongest gravitational wave identified so far.

It gave an exceptional opportunity to test the theory and also to confirm an early prediction that the merging of black holes can only cause their growth not their shrinking.
The existence of gravitational waves was predicted within general relativity.
According to the theory bodies with large mass create ripples in space time or gravitational disturbances that can be measured.
However these are very weak oscillations and very hard to detect amid background noise on Earth.

It took one hundred years of experiments before the prediction was first confirmed when in September 2015 researchers identified gravitational waves in a detector using tiny vibrations in a long laser beam.
The source of the waves identified then was a collision and merger of two black holes billions of years ago.
Since then detectors have identified many similar events and the study of gravitational waves has provided new tools for astronomical research and for identifying energetic events.
In the early seventies researchers published a theoretical prediction regarding the merger of black holes.

According to their prediction the surface area of a black hole called the event horizon is directly related to its mass.
Therefore they calculated that in the merger of black holes which adds mass the event horizon of the new black hole must be larger than the sum of the surface areas of the black holes before the merger. The new identification of gravitational waves made it possible for the first time to measure the mass of black holes before and after the merger and confirm the prediction.
Researchers found that while the total surface area of the two black holes before the collision was about two hundred forty thousand square kilometers the event horizon area of the new black hole created in the merger was about four hundred thousand square kilometers.

Researchers also confirmed another prediction that most of the properties of black holes can be calculated based on two parameters only mass and rotation speed.
Thanks to the clarity of the signal they were able to detect two tones of the black hole sounds and see that they behave as predicted.
The publication of the discovery together with marking the decade since the first identification of gravitational waves allows researchers to celebrate the success of using gravitational waves for astrophysics.

The system that currently includes three detectors is expected to be joined in the coming years by another detector in India.
Research in the field is only beginning.
Bring you metals from the Moon.
A company announced that the prototype of the system it is developing to produce oxygen and metals from lunar soil has passed the main development stage and is ready for a field test on the Moon next year.
Lunar soil contains large amounts of metal oxides meaning compounds with oxygen of metals like iron aluminum silicon titanium and more.

The system is an oven that melts lunar soil at high temperature allowing separation of oxygen vapor and metal vapor and obtaining pure oxygen and various metals at high purity.
Oxygen on the Moon can be used for breathing for producing water with hydrogen a process that also generates electricity and also as an oxidizer for rocket fuel.
The metals can be used for production and construction on the Moon as well as other compounds produced in the process.
Silicon oxide for example is the raw material for glass used to produce solar cells for electricity windows and more.
In 2023 engineers of the company already demonstrated the production of a tiny solar cell the size of a coin from materials found in lunar soil.

The use of local planetary resources or ISRU is today a central component in many plans to maintain long term presence on the Moon Mars and other places because it reduces the dependence of people there on Earth.
The company did not provide in the statement practical details about the system such as the scale of production demonstrated its energy consumption or the mission in which the company intends to demonstrate its operation on the Moon.
Metal crystals produced on Earth from materials available in lunar soil in the experiment system.