Heart of darkness ASTRONOMERS have pinpointed the black hole at the centre of our galaxy with unprecedented accuracy by watching three stars wheel around it. Five years of observations at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii by Andrea Ghez of the University of California at Los Angeles show the black hole's gravity pulling on the stars. This proves that … News
Westminster Diary I CAN'T remember a time when the tabloids, broadsheets and newscasters were so preoccupied with soaring crime statistics. Rachel Nowak's recent report on work by the University of Technology in Sydney and elsewhere on the usefulness of trace elements from documents—ransom notes, altered business contracts and the like—in catching criminals seemed timely (22 July, p … Opinion
Trailblazer ONE WEEK in 1997, a mouse of a galaxy between the shoulders of Hercules turned into a monster. "It was rather inconspicuous before," says Heinz Völk, who watched the action from the island of La Palma. "But all of a sudden it became the strongest source we've ever seen." This outburst from the galaxy Markarian … Features
Marvellous machinery John Lienhard's The Engines of Our Ingenuity is a stunning book, endlessly insightful, deeply interesting and easy to read. It is crammed with anecdote and amusement. You hardly realise that what you are enjoying is really a survey of technology and culture and how they have influenced each other through the ages. If you lend … Books & Arts
Feedback IS IT POSSIBLE for the environmental impact of two hydroelectric schemes over 100 kilometres apart to be precisely the same? Could two dams blocking two different rivers have identical effects on wildlife? Apparently so, if we believe the international consultants Ernst & Young. According to press reports in India, the company produced a report on … Regulars