Latest news with #EHT
Cision Canada
3 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
The Royal Horse Show is proud to announce Ecclestone Horse Transport as Presenting Sponsor of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto
TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2025 /CNW/ - The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is pleased to announce Ecclestone Horse Transport as Presenting Sponsor of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto at the 103rd Royal Horse Show. This world-class competition is the marquee show jumping event at The Royal and the only Canadian qualifier on the Longines FEI World Cup™ circuit. This expanded partnership with Ecclestone Horse Transport marks a milestone for the Canadian company as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. Since 2023, EHT has served as Official Transporter of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, overseeing equine logistics with professionalism and care. This year, the company steps into a more prominent role, reflecting The Royal's shared commitment to excellence in service and long-standing support of equestrian sport in Canada. "The Royal has always been magical for me," said Kyle Ecclestone, President and Founder of Ecclestone Horse Transport. "From childhood memories to now supporting the athletes and horses behind the scenes, it's been a constant throughout my life. Presenting this class during our 10th year is a full-circle moment I'll never forget." Founded in 2015, Ecclestone Horse Transport has become one of the nation's most trusted names in equine transportation, moving horses of all breeds and disciplines across North America and abroad. Built on horsemanship, reliability, and a deep understanding of the sport, EHT plays a critical role behind the scenes at The Royal Horse Show, one of the most prestigious indoor equestrian events in the world. The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto draws many of the world's top-ranked riders to the city, all competing for valuable points toward qualification for The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. For Canadian fans, it is a rare opportunity to witness elite show jumping talent on home soil, where international sport meets national tradition. "Having a Canadian company like Ecclestone Horse Transport so deeply involved in this year's event is a powerful reminder of how homegrown businesses can help shape the future of our sport. Their ongoing commitment to the equestrian community reflects the very spirit of The Royal: tradition, excellence, and connection," said Cyrus Cooper, Chief Executive Officer, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Steeped in history, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair has been a Canadian tradition since 1922, when it was founded to unite rural and urban communities in the years following the First World War. Today, it remains a living link to the country's heritage and an essential part of equestrian sport's pathway in Canada, inspiring the next generation to discover horses, take lessons, and one day compete at the highest levels. The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Toronto Presented by Ecclestone Horse Transport takes place on Saturday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m. in the Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place. Tickets include same-day admission to the full Fair experience. Visit for tickets and additional event information.
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Scientist's Plan to Visit a Black Hole in 100 Years Is Wild. It Might Also Work.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: It may be possible for a swarm of ultralight nanocrafts—propelled by a laser and traveling at a third of the speed of light—to make it to a black hole within about a century. For a spacecraft like that to reach a black hole in such a relatively short time, there would have to be a black hole 20-25 light-years from Earth, and none so close have been observed yet. Observing a black hole so close could answer questions that might warp the rules of physics. On April 10, 2019, a black hole broke the internet. The first-ever image of a black hole—starring the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87—was published by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In an equally impressive follow-up, our own galaxy's supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A*, sometimes shortened to Sag A*) would be imaged by EHT three years later. So, we can finally see these things. What we can't yet do is send a spacecraft to one. But astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi (from Fudan University in China) has a vision. He sees a visit to a black hole happening within the next century—if we can develop a spacecraft light enough to be shot through space by a laser beam, that is. While Sag A* is a staggering 26,000 light-years from Earth, and Gaia-BH1 (the closest known stellar-mass black hole) is 1,560 light-years away, they may not be our only visitation options. Bambi thinks there could possibly be a smaller black hole hiding as close as 20 to 25 light-years away. He may be (approximately) right. While 20 light-years may be something of a stretch, in 2023, a team of researchers from the University of Padua in Italy and the University of Barcelona in Spain found that there could be stellar-mass black holes as close to Earth as 150 light-years away. These alleged black holes are thought to exist in the Hyades open cluster—a horde of stars, close in age and chemical composition, held loosely together by their gravitational pull. When the team ran simulations that were supposed to end up matching the mass and size of the cluster, the only way they could reach those numbers was by including black holes. Whether these black holes actually exist, however, remains to be proven. They will be exceedingly difficult for telescopes to observe because, as their name implies, black holes emit no light. And stellar-mass black holes lack the massive accretion disks that made it possible to image the M87 black hole and Sag A*. On top of that, even if—as Bambi suggests in a study soon to be published in the journal iScience—the closest black holes are slightly further from us than 20-25 light years away, and hypothetically could be reached by a spacecraft traveling at the speed of light over a century and a half, there is still the issue of creating a spacecraft light and fast enough to trek over there. The proposal? Micro-spacecraft with light sails. These have been proposed as a way to observe distant objects up close before—the Breakthrough Starshot initiative is looking to send a swarm of nanocrafts to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. And those nanocrafts are similar to what Bambi is considering. No heavier than a paperclip, these tiny space probes with microchips on board will be attached to light sails propelled by a ground-based laser. Breakthrough Starshot is aiming for speeds of up to 100 million miles an hour (a third of the speed of light), and Bambi is pushing for about the same. Spacecraft traveling at a third of the speed of light would only take 70 years to reach a black hole 20 to 25 light-years away (and data beamed back from the mission will take another two decades to reach us). If there are none that close, their next port of call would be the Hyades cluster—a journey that would take at least 420 years. Now, none of this can be done before the technology is actually developed. But Bambi thinks that the lower costs and technological advancements needed for a nanocraft swarm may actually evolve within 30 years. 'It may sound really crazy, and in a sense closer to science fiction,' he said in a recent press release. 'But people said we'd never detect gravitational waves because they're too weak. We did—100 years later. People thought we'd never observe the shadows of black holes. 'Now, 50 years later, we have images of two.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Scientist's Plan to Visit a Black Hole in 100 Years Is Wild. It Might Also Work.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: It may be possible for a swarm of ultralight nanocrafts—propelled by a laser and traveling at a third of the speed of light—to make it to a black hole within about a century. For a spacecraft like that to reach a black hole in such a relatively short time, there would have to be a black hole 20-25 light-years from Earth, and none so close have been observed yet. Observing a black hole so close could answer questions that might warp the rules of physics. On April 10, 2019, a black hole broke the internet. The first-ever image of a black hole—starring the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87—was published by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). In an equally impressive follow-up, our own galaxy's supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A*, sometimes shortened to Sag A*) would be imaged by EHT three years later. So, we can finally see these things. What we can't yet do is send a spacecraft to one. But astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi (from Fudan University in China) has a vision. He sees a visit to a black hole happening within the next century—if we can develop a spacecraft light enough to be shot through space by a laser beam, that is. While Sag A* is a staggering 26,000 light-years from Earth, and Gaia-BH1 (the closest known stellar-mass black hole) is 1,560 light-years away, they may not be our only visitation options. Bambi thinks there could possibly be a smaller black hole hiding as close as 20 to 25 light-years away. He may be (approximately) right. While 20 light-years may be something of a stretch, in 2023, a team of researchers from the University of Padua in Italy and the University of Barcelona in Spain found that there could be stellar-mass black holes as close to Earth as 150 light-years away. These alleged black holes are thought to exist in the Hyades open cluster—a horde of stars, close in age and chemical composition, held loosely together by their gravitational pull. When the team ran simulations that were supposed to end up matching the mass and size of the cluster, the only way they could reach those numbers was by including black holes. Whether these black holes actually exist, however, remains to be proven. They will be exceedingly difficult for telescopes to observe because, as their name implies, black holes emit no light. And stellar-mass black holes lack the massive accretion disks that made it possible to image the M87 black hole and Sag A*. On top of that, even if—as Bambi suggests in a study soon to be published in the journal iScience—the closest black holes are slightly further from us than 20-25 light years away, and hypothetically could be reached by a spacecraft traveling at the speed of light over a century and a half, there is still the issue of creating a spacecraft light and fast enough to trek over there. The proposal? Micro-spacecraft with light sails. These have been proposed as a way to observe distant objects up close before—the Breakthrough Starshot initiative is looking to send a swarm of nanocrafts to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. And those nanocrafts are similar to what Bambi is considering. No heavier than a paperclip, these tiny space probes with microchips on board will be attached to light sails propelled by a ground-based laser. Breakthrough Starshot is aiming for speeds of up to 100 million miles an hour (a third of the speed of light), and Bambi is pushing for about the same. Spacecraft traveling at a third of the speed of light would only take 70 years to reach a black hole 20 to 25 light-years away (and data beamed back from the mission will take another two decades to reach us). If there are none that close, their next port of call would be the Hyades cluster—a journey that would take at least 420 years. Now, none of this can be done before the technology is actually developed. But Bambi thinks that the lower costs and technological advancements needed for a nanocraft swarm may actually evolve within 30 years. 'It may sound really crazy, and in a sense closer to science fiction,' he said in a recent press release. 'But people said we'd never detect gravitational waves because they're too weak. We did—100 years later. People thought we'd never observe the shadows of black holes. 'Now, 50 years later, we have images of two.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life? Solve the daily Crossword
NDTV
19-06-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Is Our Black Hole Defying Physics? New AI Study Challenges Theories
Astronomers, using AI and high-throughput computing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's CHTC, have unlocked new insights into Sagittarius A* - the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy. By training a neural network on millions of simulations, researchers found the black hole is spinning near its maximum speed, with its axis of rotation aimed toward Earth. The findings are based on data from the Event Horizon Telescope and offer fresh understanding of black hole behaviour. The AI also suggests that the emission near the black hole is primarily from extremely hot electrons in the accretion disk rather than a jet, and that the magnetic fields in the disk behave differently than previously thought. This research, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, was made possible by high-throughput computing, a distributed computing method pioneered by Miron Livny, which allowed researchers to process a massive amount of data efficiently. "That we are defying the prevailing theory is, of course, exciting," says lead researcher Michael Janssen, of Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. "However, I see our AI and machine learning approach primarily as a first step. Next, we will improve and extend the associated models and simulations." "The ability to scale up to the millions of synthetic data files required to train the model is an impressive achievement," adds Chi-kwan Chan, an Associate Astronomer of Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona and a longtime PATh collaborator. "It requires dependable workflow automation and effective workload distribution across storage resources and processing capacity." "We are pleased to see EHT leveraging our throughput computing capabilities to bring the power of AI to their science," says Professor Anthony Gitter, a Morgridge Investigator and a PATh Co-PI. "Like in the case of other science domains, CHTC's capabilities allowed EHT researchers to assemble the quantity and quality of AI-ready data needed to train effective models that facilitate scientific discovery." The NSF-funded Open Science Pool, operated by PATh, offers computing capacity contributed by more than 80 institutions across the United States. The Event Horizon black hole project performed more than 12 million computing jobs in the past three years. "A workload that consists of millions of simulations is a perfect match for our throughput-oriented capabilities that were developed and refined over four decades", says Livny, director of the CHTC and lead investigator of PATh. "We love to collaborate with researchers who have workloads that challenge the scalability of our services."
Japan Forward
19-06-2025
- Science
- Japan Forward
Black Holes: What They Are and What They're Not
このページを 日本語 で読む Almost everyone has heard the term "black hole" — it's one of the most recognizable concepts in modern science. But with that familiarity comes a lot of misunderstanding. While some misconceptions are too technical to unpack without advanced knowledge, this article focuses on several common ones about black holes that can be explained relatively clearly. People often describe a black hole as "a hole in space-time." Even experts sometimes use this phrase, but it's just a metaphor. In reality, a black hole has a surprisingly simple structure. It consists of only two parts: the singularity, where all the black hole's mass is compressed into a single point, and the event horizon that surrounds it. The event horizon isn't a physical substance like a membrane or mist. No matter how closely you look, there's nothing that resembles a surface. A black hole isn't literally a hole or a vortex, and it's not a traditional celestial object. It's better understood as a region of space-time with extreme properties. One of the most striking features is that beyond the event horizon, space behaves like time. It "flows" only inward toward the singularity, just as time only moves forward for us. This one-way flow is what gives the black hole its "hole-like" reputation. So, the metaphor of a "hole in space-time" likely comes from this defining feature: a region of severely distorted space-time from which nothing can return. If "observing a black hole" means directly detecting radiation from the singularity or the event horizon, then this idea is mostly correct. Hawking radiation, the thermodynamic radiation of black holes, is too weak to be detected for the foreseeable future, so it can be ignored in this discussion. In practice, though, observing a black hole usually means finding evidence of its presence through indirect methods. In that sense, there are several reliable ways to do it. The most common method is to observe electromagnetic radiation, such as strong X-rays or radio waves. The black hole itself does not emit radiation, but it pulls in a large amount of matter, usually gas or dust. As the material spirals inward, it heats up due to friction and compression, producing intense radiation. While other cosmic objects can also emit radiation, the extreme brightness and compactness of the source often point to a black hole. In the case of supermassive black holes, we can even map the surrounding radiation in enough detail to image the black hole's "shadow." The first image of this kind was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global network of radio observatories. In April 2017, the EHT imaged the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 in the Virgo constellation. The image was released to the public on April 10, 2019. To observe a black hole this way, there must be nearby matter to interact with. But since space is mostly empty, black holes with visible material around them are relatively rare. That's why many remain hidden from direct observation. Fortunately, newer indirect methods have made it possible to detect more of these hidden black holes. One is gravitational lensing, where a black hole bends the light from more distant stars. Another is the detection of gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time produced when black holes collide. These techniques have opened exciting new paths in astrophysics, helping scientists better understand black holes and the structure of the universe. The idea that black holes are dangerous probably comes mainly from science fiction. However, in reality, black holes don't indiscriminately suck in or tear apart everything nearby. It's true that black holes have incredibly strong gravity, but that's mainly because their mass is packed into an extremely small space. In fact, their compactness allows matter, and even light, to get much closer to the center than with other objects of the same mass. Stars or planets have physical surfaces or atmospheres that prevent such close approach. (©Sankei) In fact, if the Sun were suddenly replaced by a black hole of the same mass, Earth and the other planets would continue orbiting just as they do now. We'd lose sunlight, which would be catastrophic for life, but Earth wouldn't be pulled in or torn apart. Whether something falls into a black hole depends on how close it is and whether it can change its speed or direction. As long as it stays outside the event horizon — the point of no return — it can still escape. That's why we can observe light and matter swirling just outside black holes. There's also a common idea that anything near a black hole gets stretched and ripped apart, a process nicknamed "spaghettification." This effect is real, but it mostly applies to smaller black holes. In those cases, tidal forces — differences in gravity across an object — become extreme just a few hundred kilometers from the center. A person or spacecraft getting too close would be torn apart long before reaching the event horizon. However, for supermassive black holes, which are millions of times the mass of the Sun, you wouldn't be torn apart or feel any discomfort even near the event horizon. In fact, you might not notice anything unusual at all as you cross that boundary. The reason for this big difference lies in the gravitational field around the black hole. For ordinary celestial bodies ike Earth, the difference in gravity over such a small distance is too weak to notice. In fact, even over a small distance, like from your toes to your head, there is a slight difference in gravitational strength. But near a black hole, where gravity grows stronger the closer you get to the center, the more significant this difference becomes. The varying strength of gravitational pull across an object can become so extreme that it stretches and tears the object apart. Again, the distance from the black hole at which these extreme forces occur depends on the black hole's mass. (©Laura A Whitlock, Kara C Granger & Jane D Mahon) The distance from the singularity to the event horizon, called the Schwarzschild radius, is also determined by the black hole's mass. The Schwarzschild radius grows much more rapidly than the distance at which extreme tidal forces begin to emerge. Because of this difference, the larger the black hole, the safer it is to approach — up to a point. Once you cross the event horizon, there's no coming back. And the deeper you go, the stronger the tidal forces become. Eventually, even in a supermassive black hole, those forces would tear you apart before you reached the center. Larger objects like stars don't fare any better. Even supermassive black holes can shred them before they reach the event horizon. So, if you're planning a trip near a black hole, leave the stars behind — and whatever you do, don't fall in. Because black holes are often described as objects in space, it's easy to picture them having a solid, dark surface. But as explained earlier, a black hole isn't really a celestial object. It's more accurate to think of it as a region of space-time with extreme properties. As mentioned before, you can actually get quite close to a large black hole without immediately being affected. But even up close, you wouldn't see a wall, a membrane, or a swirl of darkness. The event horizon — the point of no return — has no visible surface and gives no physical warning. If you crossed it, you wouldn't feel anything special. No bump, no jolt, no sudden shift. In fact, you might not realize you've passed it at all. But once you do, escape becomes impossible. You'd be on a one-way path toward the singularity. If black hole tourism ever becomes a thing, it's safe to assume there'd be clear warnings posted: "Do Not Enter: Black Hole Ahead ." The gravity would already be distorting your view of space around you, but without a visible marker, you wouldn't be able to tell where the event horizon actually is. The rumor that particle accelerators could create black holes and destroy the Earth began during the construction of CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The idea even shows up in some science fiction stories, so you may have heard it before. But given that Earth is still intact, we can safely say this fear is unfounded. A particle accelerator at CERN. (©Maximilien Brice) The concern arose because the LHC is capable of producing particle collisions at extremely high energies. Furthermore, some theoretical models also propose the existence of "extra dimensions" beyond the four we experience. If these extra dimensions exist and are larger than expected, it's theoretically possible — though extremely unlikely — that tiny black holes could form in these collisions. Furthermore, this scenario depends on several optimistic assumptions. First, we don't yet know if extra dimensions exist. And even if they do, the conditions needed to produce black holes are probably not met by the LHC. More importantly, if the LHC could create black holes, nature would already have done so. That's because cosmic rays, which are high-energy particles from space, routinely strike Earth's atmosphere with far more energy than the LHC can generate. These natural particle collisions have been happening for 4.6 billion years, all over the planet. If high-energy collisions could destroy Earth, it would have happened long ago. Even in the unlikely event that the LHC did create a tiny black hole, it wouldn't be dangerous. According to theory, it would vanish almost instantly due to a process called Hawking radiation. Even if Hawking radiation turned out not to occur, any black hole produced would be traveling so fast that it would escape Earth's gravity and fly off into space. And if, against all odds, such a black hole somehow stayed trapped by Earth's gravity, it would be smaller than an atom and would absorb almost nothing as it orbited through the planet. By the time it finally settled at Earth's core, millions or billions of years later, the Sun would have reached the end of its life, likely engulfing or incinerating the Earth long before any black hole could do serious harm. NASA Science Editorial Team. （Aug 13, 2019） "Shedding Light on Black Holes". NASA Sara Rigby. （Mar 30, 2021） "7 black hole 'facts' that aren't true". BBC Science Focus. Amanda Bauer & Christopher A Onken. "Black hole truths, myths and mysteries." Australian Academy of Science. Author: The Sankei Shimbun このページを 日本語 で読む
