January 2013

Astronomers claimed that they have discovered the biggest ever black hole in the small galaxy called NGC 1277 which is situated around 250 million light years away from our planet. This galaxy constitutes the mass equal to 17 billion suns. The biggest ever black hole sits in the NGC 1277 galaxy in Perseus constellation. This gigantic black hole forms around 14 percent of the mass of host galaxy. When compared with the 0.1 per cent of the usual black hole, this massive black hole adds the mass which is equal to 17 billion suns.  The NGC 1277 galaxy as well as many others would alter the theories about how these galaxies and black holes evolve. This galaxy is merely 10 percent of the mass as well as size of the Milky Way, the galaxy in which Earth is situated. Even though the size of NGC 1277 galaxy is small, but the gigantic black hole which sits in the galaxy is 11 times wider as the orbit of Neptune around the Sun. A team member of the discovery at The University of Texas at Austin claimed that the galaxy is almost the black hole and possibly this was the first object in the genre of galaxy-black hole systems. Apart from this, the gigantic black holes were also observed in huge blobby galaxies known as ellipticals. Astronomers observed that at the moment there were three mechanisms which explained association of black holes with the properties of their host galaxies. However which of these theories best explains the association is still under confusion. The primary issue is the lack of proper data. Astronomers merely have the mass of less than 100 black holes found in the galaxies. However, measuring the mass of black holes is time consuming and cumbersome at the same time.  Consequently, the astronomers have developed obby-Eberly Telescope Massive Galaxy Survey in order to know about the galaxies which are worth following up. Astronomers studied about 700 galaxies out of 800 using their telescope. 

Gene Discovered That Identifies Your Time of Death

Researchers at the Division of Neurology, University of Toronto in third week of November discovered the common gene alternate which can influence the time you wake up every morning as well as the time of the day when you are most likely to die. In the research, the scientists identified that variant of the gene which can virtually affect the whole population. The discovery identifies the variant which can determine when a person will die. The research is said to be surprising and is going to help in planning the medical treatments. This research will also help in analyzing the medical condition of the weak patients. According to the researchers, there is a biological clock within us which can help in regulating various aspects of the human biology as well as behavioral patterns and these include times when a person can perform brilliantly, their preferred sleeping patterns as well as timing of the psychological processes. This biological clock can also influence timings of the medical events such as heart attack and stroke.
It has been found that earliness or lateness of the biological clock within the body can be inherited. Experiments on animals suggest that this earliness or lateness can also be influenced by certain kinds of genes. In the research, wake-sleep patterns of people were compared along with their genotypes. The researchers found out single nucleotide (nucleotides are responsible for making the basic units of RNA and DNA molecules) near the gene known as Period 1. At this site, around 60 percent people have nucleotide base A or Adenine and 40 percent have G or Guanine. There are two pairs of chromosomes in the individuals, which is why there are around 36 percent chances of two As, 16 percent having two Gs and 48 percent having both As and Gs at the site. It is this genotype which affects the pattern of each person. For example, people with A-A genotype usually wake up one hour earlier than the people with genotype G-G. Those with A-Gs genotypes wake up in middle. Expression of Period 1 gene remained lower in brains as well as white blood cells of individuals with G-G genotype than with A-A genotype, but only in day. Virtually, all the physiological processes include a circadian rhythm which means that these occur in the certain parts of a day. There is a circadian rhythm of the death as well and it has been found that people will most likely die in morning hours, especially around 11 am on an average.

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